Special Folder Top Secret Copy No. 1 5 August 1944 According to the NKVD-NKGB of the Ukrainian SSR, recently, in connection with the advance of the Red Army units to the West and the departure of individual units of the NKVD troops stationed in the areas of the Rivne region, the OUN (Organization ofContinueContinue reading “On This Date: 1944 Report from Beria on Security Operations to Destroy Armed Ukrainian Partisan Formations”
Tag Archives: history
Korean War: Kicking Off the Soviet Propaganda Program
Translating History winds down its look at Korean War with four new translations, the last of our documents from this batch. Today’s post features evidence that most of the world was siding with the United Nations version of events, that the North Koreans invaded South Korea as puppets of the USSR. The Soviets, seeing theContinueContinue reading “Korean War: Kicking Off the Soviet Propaganda Program”
Russia’s Largest Supplier of Speedboats for Military and Coast Guard Struggles with its “Unfriendly” Foreign Components
A report published in June 2025 by the Almaz Central Marine Design Bureau reveals that there are still challenges that continue to stymie the Russian Federation’s efforts to completely phase out imported components, especially in the realm of shipbuilding. Almaz highlights foreign components its own design and production of high-speed boats for the Russian MinistryContinueContinue reading “Russia’s Largest Supplier of Speedboats for Military and Coast Guard Struggles with its “Unfriendly” Foreign Components”
Korean War, 1951: The North is Hesitant to Continue, but Stalin Finds the Conflict Too Useful to Allow it to End
Translating History continues its look at the early days of the Korean War with a new translation of a declassified Top Secret document from 1951, Document 5 in our series. Stalin’s position, as well as that of his entourage, regarding the Korean issue in the winter of 1951 is revealed by secret instructions from theContinueContinue reading “Korean War, 1951: The North is Hesitant to Continue, but Stalin Finds the Conflict Too Useful to Allow it to End”
Two Versions of the Beginning of the Korean War, Stalin and Gromyko Embrace the Lie
Translating History continues its look at the early days of the Korean War with two new translations of declassified documents from 1950. The materials in the collection contain two versions of the origin of the Korean War of 1950-1953 and the degree of guilt of the DPRK and ROK in unleashing it. One of themContinueContinue reading “Two Versions of the Beginning of the Korean War, Stalin and Gromyko Embrace the Lie”
Kremlin Suggests North Korea Slow its Roll in 1949, the Eve of the Korean War
Translating History has recently received a small bundle of declassified Russian-language materials related to Soviet diplomatic involvement in the Korean War, and will be publishing the translations thereof in the coming week. We hope they may be of interest to our readers. The materials can be divided into two groups. The first group includes officialContinueContinue reading “Kremlin Suggests North Korea Slow its Roll in 1949, the Eve of the Korean War”
November 1944: SMERSH Interrogates Treblinka Death Camp Executioner, a Soviet Red Army Deserter
During the military operations on the frontlines during the Great Patriotic War, the counterintelligence agencies “SMERSH” of the various fronts, armies, corps and divisions, along with carrying out the tasks assigned to them to combat enemy intelligence agents, simultaneously conducted investigations of Hitler’s atrocities, and carried out an active search for Nazi war criminals andContinueContinue reading “November 1944: SMERSH Interrogates Treblinka Death Camp Executioner, a Soviet Red Army Deserter”
Russian FSB Declassifies and Publishes Materials from Potsdam Conference Preparations
To mark the 80th anniversary of the 16 July 1945 kick-off of the Potsdam Conference between the leaders of the Soviet Union, United States, and Great Britain, the Russian Federation Federal Security Service (FSB) has published a handful of materials, freshly declassified for the occasion. The following was translated from information cobbled together from aContinueContinue reading “Russian FSB Declassifies and Publishes Materials from Potsdam Conference Preparations”
30 May 1945: Soviet Intel Report on Life in the American and British Zones of Occupation
Until we can get our hands on more material, this ends our collection of post-war Berlin reporting from a well-placed Soviet intelligence officer. In this, his final report (which was written almost concurrently with our previous post), he and his unnamed (redacted) colleagues wandered across the German countryside to see how life for the GermansContinueContinue reading “30 May 1945: Soviet Intel Report on Life in the American and British Zones of Occupation”
30 May 1945: Hitler’s Will, Himmler’s Pill, and Dönitz (Still)
Another Top Secret coded telegram from Berlin to Moscow, this time with the Soviet agent providing information about sweeping into Nazi command and control headquarters to search for, examine, and abscond with the “most “most interesting” documents for Stalin’s eyes. We learn some information about Hitler’s last will, including the appointment of Dönitz as hisContinueContinue reading “30 May 1945: Hitler’s Will, Himmler’s Pill, and Dönitz (Still)”
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