Anatoli Granovsky
Encyclopedia
Anatoli Granovsky was an NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....

 agent who defected to the West
Western world
The Western world, also known as the West and the Occident , is a term referring to the countries of Western Europe , the countries of the Americas, as well all countries of Northern and Central Europe, Australia and New Zealand...

 in 1946 and authored an autobiographical book about his career in Soviet intelligence. Granovsky was the son of a high-ranking Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 bureaucrat, Mickail Granovsky, who was a victim of the Stalinist Purges of the late 1930s. To find his father in the Soviet Gulag system
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...

, Granovsky allowed himself to be arrested by the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....

 on false charges and interred in the same penal system. As a result of his past friendships with the children of his father's high-ranking former colleagues, Granovsky was recruited as an NKVD agent to spy on those same acquaintances in July 1939. After defecting to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 in autumn 1946, Granovsky wrote the book I Was an NKVD Agent.

Early life

After his father was arrested by the OGPU on November 6, 1937, Granovsky's mother and siblings lived in social isolation and abject poverty, shunned by their neighbors in their Moscow apartment building. Though at first unable to find work, the teenage Granovsky was eventually employed as a turner's assistant in March 1938. In May, however, he was repeatedly questioned by the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....

 about his supervisor. The NKVD apparently wondered why the supervisor would give a job to the son of a man accused of crimes against the State. As a result of the interrogations Granovsky was fired, and in October 1938 his family moved from the apartment building to a room in a ramshackle house.

Joining the NKVD

On January 27, 1939, Anatoli Granovsky loitered slowly around Lenin's mausoleum
Lenin's Mausoleum
Lenin's Mausoleum also known as Lenin's Tomb, situated in Red Square in the center of Moscow, is the mausoleum that serves as the current resting place of Vladimir Lenin. His embalmed body has been on public display there since shortly after his death in 1924...

 in the Red Square
Red Square
Red Square is a city square in Moscow, Russia. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod...

 and told a plainclothes NKVD man that he wished to be taken to the local GUGB chief. Placed in Butirki Prison under deplorable conditions, Granovsky was interrograted repeatedly, often being beaten. He would be forced sign his name on blank sheets of paper, later to find his "confession" typed above it. On the night of April 20, 1939, Granovsky was transferred to a comfortable cell in Lubianka Prison in Moscow
Moscow
Moscow is the capital, the most populous city, and the most populous federal subject of Russia. The city is a major political, economic, cultural, scientific, religious, financial, educational, and transportation centre of Russia and the continent...

. After indirectly denouncing his father, Granovsky was recruited into the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....

 on July 20, 1939, to spy on his acquaintances among his father's former colleagues. Following the horrifying conditions of the prisons, Granovsky was immediately given money, a salary, and exemplary treatment, including medical operations to undo the effects of illness and injury borne on him by the interrogations and imprisonment.

NKVD Operations

Anatoli Granovsky underwent numerous intensive trainings as an NKVD agent, and was assigned to the army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...

 as a cover, serving as an officer in Anti-Aircraft Defense in Moscow. During this time he worked as an NKVD counter-intelligence
Counter-intelligence
Counterintelligence or counter-intelligence refers to efforts made by intelligence organizations to prevent hostile or enemy intelligence organizations from successfully gathering and collecting intelligence against them. National intelligence programs, and, by extension, the overall defenses of...

 agent, reporting individuals for corruption or other misuse of State resources. He remained in Moscow during the German invasion
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...

 of the USSR and met a young woman named Shura during the aftermath of a German bombing raid, quickly becoming infatuated with her. They began a relationship together, with Shura eventually revealing herself as a fellow NKVD agent. The relationship continued until Granovsky was informed of Shura's death.

As the Soviets went on the offensive in the second half of the war
Eastern Front (World War II)
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of World War II between the European Axis powers and co-belligerent Finland against the Soviet Union, Poland, and some other Allies which encompassed Northern, Southern and Eastern Europe from 22 June 1941 to 9 May 1945...

, Granovsky was trained and prepared for an operation to provide false information
Double agent
A double agent, commonly abbreviated referral of double secret agent, is a counterintelligence term used to designate an employee of a secret service or organization, whose primary aim is to spy on the target organization, but who in fact is a member of that same target organization oneself. They...

 to the Germans: He would parachute into German territory with other Russian soldiers and then (unbeknownst to his fellows) kill them, surrendering to the Germans as a disillusioned Russian defector, allowing him to deliver misinformation.

The mission never occurred, and Granovsky instead worked with Soviet and Soviet-allied guerillas behind German lines in eastern Europe as an assassin and saboteur, causing havoc.

In spring 1945 Granovsky was assigned to begin preparing to infiltrate the West after the end of the war
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, particularly the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, by posing as a refugee
Refugee
A refugee is a person who outside her country of origin or habitual residence because she has suffered persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or because she is a member of a persecuted 'social group'. Such a person may be referred to as an 'asylum seeker' until...

 with his wife, an alcoholic restaurateur
Restaurateur
A restaurateur is a person who opens and runs restaurants professionally. Although over time the term has come to describe any person who owns a restaurant, traditionally it refers to a highly skilled professional who is proficient in all aspects of the restaurant business.-Etymology:The word...

 whom he was to seduce and marry. The woman was eventually deemed an unreliable liability and Granovsky was reassigned to the military front.

When Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

 fell, Granovsky was one of the NKVD men who appropriated files and supplies from the Gestapo
Gestapo
The Gestapo was the official secret police of Nazi Germany. Beginning on 20 April 1934, it was under the administration of the SS leader Heinrich Himmler in his position as Chief of German Police...

 and other German agencies and sites, including the Reich Chancellery
Reich Chancellery
The Reich Chancellery was the traditional name of the office of the Chancellor of Germany in the period of the German Reich from 1871 to 1945...

, transferring such resources back to Moscow and Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....

. Granovsky was appalled at the conditions he saw upon Germany's defeat, especially the treatment of both Germans and captured Russians and eastern Europeans at the hands of the triumphant Soviet military: Germans were beaten and raped and Soviet P.O.W.s were often tyrannized and sent to the gulags for surrendering during the course of the war.

Post-World War II

Anatoli Granovsky was reassigned to appear as a sympathetic Soviet war veteran "fighter-poet" on tour in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, getting acquainted with the West and spreading pro-Soviet propaganda
Propaganda
Propaganda is a form of communication that is aimed at influencing the attitude of a community toward some cause or position so as to benefit oneself or one's group....

.

Later, working in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...

, Granovsky was charged with helping ensure de-Nazification and the reliability of the local Communist Party and police apparatus.

Defection

Granovsky, after working in eastern Europe, was reassigned a new cover as a member of the Merchant Navy in summer 1946. In Odessa Granovsky had been approached by the MGB, successor to the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....

, and asked to be their spy aboard the ship Petrodvorets, with which he would rendezvous in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...

 after traveling aboard another ship. On July 10, 1946, Granovsky arrived in Stockholm. On July 21 he slipped away from his colleagues in a crowd and went to see the assistant U.S. Military Attache. Because he could not speak English and the American could not speak Russian, they went the supervisory Military Attache, a Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 who spoke German (in which Granovsky was experienced).

The Americans refused to grant Granovsky asylum and he was arrested by Swedish authorities. On November 8, 1946, shortly before he was to be repatriated to Soviet authorities, which was a veritable death sentence, Granovsky was granted asylum by King Gustaf V
Gustaf V of Sweden
Gustaf V was King of Sweden from 1907. He was the eldest son of King Oscar II of Sweden and Sophia of Nassau, a half-sister of Adolphe, Grand Duke of Luxembourg...

 of Sweden.

See also

List of Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc defectors

Gulag
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...

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