Nkvd Quotes

“Не могу здесь удержаться от комментария, как в те времена люди понимали события.

Едва был убит Киров, как сейчас же все заговорили, что Киров убит по приказу Сталина. То же самое об Орджоникидзе. О Горьком упрямо говорили, что он отравлен, так как не был согласен со Сталиным. Никто никогда не отделял Сталина от НКВД. В Киев Сталиным был послан Вышинский, занял под свою резиденцию Октябрьский дворец и принялся подписывать смертные приговоры сразу под огромными списками. Многих убивали тут же во дворце и сбрасывали трупы из окон в овраг. Все Это Киев прекрасно знал, и даже на что уж темная, глухая Куреневка и та точно ориентировалась в событиях.

Поэтому, когда много лет спустя Хрущев занялся «разоблачениями» Сталина, в Советском Союзе это не составило новости. Новостью был лишь сам курс на «разоблачение» и нескончаемые ряды чудовищных подробностей.

И тут некие «честные коммунисты» стали бить себя в грудь и кричать, что они, оказывается, ничего не знали. Или, что знали, но верили, что уничтожаются подлинные враги. Или, что думали, будто во всем виновато НКВД, а любимый Сталин не знает, и партия — свята. Появилось много таких «честных коммунистов», отделяющих Сталина и партию от «ежовских» или «бериевских» преступлений.

Лицемеры. В душе все прекрасно все знали и понимали. Лишь только тот, кто НЕ ХОТЕЛ ЗНАТЬ — «не знал». И лицемерил, и спасался лицемерием, и был стоек в своем лицемерии, и не без его помощи выжил, и оказался уже настолько органически лицемерием пропитан, что и сейчас лжет, доказывая, что миллионы членов партии были так умственно недоразвиты.

Так после разгрома Гитлера некоторые «честные фашисты» заявляли, что они не знали о чудовищных злодеяниях в лагерях смерти, или, что верили, будто во всем виновато лишь одно гестапо.

Лицемеры. Еще раз повторяю: не знал лишь тот, кто не хотел знать [90—91].”
― Анатолий Кузнецов, Babi Yar: A Document in the Form of a Novel

“It was at gunpoint that I fell into every hope and allowed myself to wish from the deepest parts of my heart. Komorov thought he was torturing us. But we were escaping into the stillness within ourselves. We found strength there.”
― Rutha Sepetys

“Thieves and prostitutes. Our mothers were in that car, along with a teacher, a librarian, elderly people, and a newborn baby - thieves and prostitutes.”
― Rutha Sepetys

“Там" якщо й звільняють, то хіба тільки в землю.”
― Іван Багряний, Сад Гетсиманський

“Silence!” the NKVD captain snapped, raising his voice sharply before dropping it to a barely audible, growling bass.
“We cannot allow enemies of the people to be captured by the Germans — they are far too valuable material for enemy sabotage units.”
The State Security officer’s hard stare turned icy.
“Therefore, I order this: without delay, together with my men — select the healthy prisoners capable of continuing the march.
All the wounded and the sick — shoot them.”
— Volodymyr Shablia, Stone. Book One


Context note:
During a prisoner transport in Stalin’s USSR at the outbreak of World War II, Soviet security officers order the execution of wounded and sick prisoners to prevent their capture by German forces. The quote reflects the brutal logic of Stalinist repression, where human life was treated as expendable in the name of state security.”
― Володимир Шабля, Камінь. Біографічний роман. Книга перша. Перші кроки до світла та назад: Дитинство та занурення в ГУЛАГ.

“The prisoners, feral and maddened by thirst, tried to snatch discarded watermelon rinds lying along the road or to drink from muddy puddles nearby. At first, the NKVD guards simply shot those who dared rush toward the water. But soon the situation slipped out of control.
When a small puddle flashed in the sun, all the prisoners surged toward this miserable source of water, ignoring fear of death, desperate shouts, and gunfire from the guards. They fought wildly, beating one another for the right to press their lips to the life-giving moisture.
Peter reached the puddle among the first, but several men were already lying in it, gulping greedily and blocking others. In a fit of rage, Peter grabbed one of them by the clothes, flung him several meters aside, collapsed into his place — and fused his mouth to the water. He drank frantically. For the first few minutes, he felt nothing but a dizzying mix of rapture, pleasure, and joy as his thirst was quenched. Only when mud replaced water in his mouth did awareness of what was happening slowly begin to return.
— Volodymyr Shablia, Stone. Book One


Context note:
During a prisoner transport in Stalin’s USSR in the early years of World War II, extreme thirst drove Gulag inmates to the edge of madness. Even filthy puddles became objects of violent struggle, exposing how wartime Soviet repression reduced human survival to pure instinct.”
― Володимир Шабля, Камінь. Біографічний роман. Книга перша. Перші кроки до світла та назад: Дитинство та занурення в ГУЛАГ.

“Operational inquiry has established that Danylo Shablia assisted in the espionage activities of his son, Peter Shablia, helping him organize an anti-Soviet network in the settlement of Tomakivka at his place of residence.”
Peter read the paragraph in the middle of the page.
“As you can see, the document is signed, stamped, and fully prepared for dispatch. Your choice, therefore, is limited. You understand perfectly well what consequences such a response will have for your father,” the NKVD operative Kidman added smoothly.
Inwardly, he was triumphant. The fabricated report had worked exactly as intended. The staged performance had exceeded expectations—he could read it on Peter’s face.
Now I must not lose the initiative, the operative thought, careful not to betray his satisfaction.
“Well? Surely you understand that you have no alternative,” he pressed.
Peter understood. From fellow prisoners who had endured the brutal interrogations of Soviet counterintelligence, he knew what such accusations meant for a former prisoner of war: almost certainly execution.
But he also knew something else. He would never be able to live with himself as a secret informant for the NKVD. That, to him, was worse than death.
He felt it physically—the sense of being driven into a corner. As had happened before in moments of moral extremity, a red haze clouded his mind. Some uncontrollable mechanism inside him broke loose, awakening a furious force that swept aside calculation and fear.
“To hell with you and your threats!” he shouted, hurling the papers into the operative’s face. “I want no part of your methods—or your masters!”
He leapt to his feet, seized a chair, and flung it toward Kidman.
“Cut me to pieces if you must—but I will not become an informer! You’ll drag me back here only as a corpse!”
He stormed out, slamming the door so hard it echoed down the corridor. A group of startled onlookers scattered as he made his way back to the barracks
— Volodymyr Shablia, Stone. Book Four


Context note:
Set in 1942 during World War II, this scene portrays one of the coercive methods used by the NKVD—the Soviet secret police—to recruit forced informants inside labor camps. Prisoners were often threatened with fabricated charges against their relatives, including accusations of espionage or anti-Soviet activity, which could result in execution. By exploiting family loyalty and fear, the system sought to turn inmates into secret collaborators tasked with informing on fellow prisoners. The episode reflects the psychological warfare and moral pressure that defined Stalinist repression in Soviet labor camps.”
― Володимир Шабля, Камінь. Біографічний роман. Книга четверта. Перелам.: Єдність і боротьба протилежностей.