Joseph Stalin and the Secret Police

Under Joseph Stalin, the secret police, also known as the NKVD, was very brutal. While its main function was to protect the state security of the Soviet Union, it achieved these goals through corruption and mass political repression. Anyone who was perceived as an "enemy of the state", or posed a threat to the people of Russia, was sent to forced labor camps, also known as GULAG camps. Under Stalin, standards for having evidence to arrest were very low. One could be arrested for seeming suspicious to a NKVD officer. Officers could also persuay by "physical means", which led to great amounts of beatings, torturing, and abuse by the NKVD. According to NKDV orders, any family members that were related to a "public enemy" were automatically repressed as well. During Stalin's tyrannical rule over Russia, purges were also facilitated by his secret police. Campaigns were created and conducted against all non-Russian nationalities, and anyone accused of fascism or other things against the beliefs of the Soviet Union.