Viktor Abakumov(1908-1954)

Viktor Abakumov is a Soviet statesman. Colonel General (GB Commissar of the 2nd rank). Deputy People's Commissar of Defense and Head of the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence 'SMERSH' of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR, Minister of State Security of the USSR. From 1921 to 1923 he served as a volunteer orderly in the 2nd Moscow Brigade of Special Purpose Units. During the campaign to promote workers into the Soviet apparatus, Abakumov was promoted through trade unions to the People's Commissariat of Trade of the Russian SFSR. In January 1930, he was appointed to the position of deputy head of the administrative department of the trade and parcel office of the People's Commissariat of Trade of the Russian SFSR and at the same time secretary of the Komsomol cell. From 1931 to 1932 he worked as head of the military department of the Zamoskvoretskiy Komsomol district committee. From 1933 he worked as a commissioner of the economic department of the OGPU, then of the economic department of the GUGB NKVD. In 1934, he was appointed to the position of operational commissioner of the 3rd branch of the Gulag Operations Department. In December 1936, Abakumov was awarded the special rank of junior lieutenant of state security. From 1937 to 1938, he worked as an investigator of the 4th (secret-political) department of the GUGB NKVD, deputy head of the 4th department of the 1st directorate of the NKVD, head of the 2nd department of the GUGB NKVD. From December 1938 he acted as chief, and on April 27, 1939 he was confirmed as head of the NKVD department for the Rostov region. In April 1943, Abakumov was appointed head of the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence SMERSH and Deputy People's Commissar of Defense. On May 7, 1946, Abakumov was appointed to the post of Minister of State Security of the USSR.