NKVD

American  

1. in the U.S.S.R., the government's secret-police organization (1917–30; 1934–46).

---

NKVD British  

abbreviation

1. (formerly) People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs: the Soviet police and secret police from 1934 to 1943: the police from 1943 to 1946

---

Etymology

Origin of NKVD

From Russian N(aródnyĭ) K(omissariát) V(nútrennikh) D(el) “People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs”

Example Sentences

If Marina really was working for the NKVD, it’s possible she was assigned to keep an eye on Valentina.

From Literature

To understand Russia today, it is necessary to reach back to Stalin’s Great Terror, when the secret police were called NKVD.

From Washington Post

Vladimir Putin, who was formed, or deformed, in the KGB, successor to the NKVD, has continued the tradition that produced Mercader.

From Washington Post

In 2014, authorities extended the classification of secrets in the archives of the KGB and the NKVD, another Soviet secret police agency, until 2044, saying that their release would “jeopardize Russian security.”

From Washington Post

Russia’s FSB, successor to the KGB and the NKVD, “tried to block me from getting the documents,” Karagodin said.

From Washington Post