JOURNEYS Mennonite Stories of Faith and Survival in Stalins Russia, John B. Toews, 1998

ed in communal dwellings. In the toz type of arrangement the individual peasant joined others in order to purchase machin¬ ery and work the land, but owned his own livestock, inventory and plot of land. NKVD The common designation of the Soviet secret police between 1934-43. The Bolsheviks first organized the secret police in De¬ cember 1917. Designated the “Extraordinary Commission for Struggle with Counter-revolution and Sabotage” {Cheka) it was called upon to eliminate all “counter-revolutionaries.” It was abol¬ ished in February, 1922, and replaced by the GPU {Gosudarztvennoe Politicheskoe JJpravlene or State Political Admin¬ istration), also known as the OGPU. Subordinated to the Com¬ missariat of the Interior, the GPU played a significant role in the implementation of party discipline as well as the First Five Year Plan. In July 1934, the OGPU was changed to the Narodnyi Kommissariat Vnutrennykh Del (NKVD). During 1943 the NKVD was divided into two commissariats, the NKGB which specifically took over the secret police functions and the NKVD which con¬ tinued in its other traditional roles. These commissariats were renamed as ministries in 1946, the Ministry of State Security {Ministerstvo Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti or MGB) and the MVD {Ministerstvo Vnutrennykh Del). In March 1954, the MGB was reorganized under the title KGB {Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti or Committe for State Security). Rehabilitation In a broad context the term encompassed two decrees issued by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR. The first (September 17, 1955) granted amnesty to those charged with col¬ laborating with the German occupation forces. The second (De- 226 JOURNEYS cember 13, 1955) granted Germans sentenced to perpetual exile in special settlements freedom of movement. It eventually resulted in the gathering of Mennonite communities around and in cities like Karaganda, Frunze and Dushambe. In later years the term was applied to any individual, living or dead, who had been cleared of all charges by a special tribunal. Sovkhoz (sovetskoe khoziaistvo) One of two basic types of farms introduced by the First Five Year Plan. This was a state farm, wholly owned by the Soviet government. In theory, it was run by a manager with hired labor. Sometimes designated as a “factory in the field,” it left the peasant with no property whatsoever or any power of decision in its day to day operations. Torgsin Special stores located in the towns and larger villages which only accepted payment in gold, silver, precious stones or foreign bank drafts and currency. Troika A term used to designate three-man NKVD boards with ex¬ traordinary legal powers to sentence prisoners without resorting to a normal trial. The Troikas were abolished in 1953. Work Army Inaugurated shortly after the German invasion in 1941, the Work Army operated separately from the Gulag system. In one sense it was a mechani