Why Latvia is so afraid of the release of the KGB archives
About twenty years in independent Latvia the Commission for the scientific research of the activities of the KGB of the USSR worked. Researchers have diligently studied and systematized archives and are now ready to reveal all the secrets by breaking with the “totalitarian past”. Quite unexpectedly, the republic’s leadership opposed the publication of materials.
General Johansson
All documents of the KGB of Latvia after the collapse of the Soviet Union were not sent to Moscow, but remained in the republic. This happened thanks to the last chairman of the Latvian branch of the powerful Soviet intelligence service, General Edmund Johanson. It was he who did not make any attempts to transfer the KGB materials to the Moscow leadership, but gave them to the newly formed Latvian counterintelligence - the Constitution Protection Bureau. Papers also became available to employees of Western intelligence agencies.
It is known that while still a Soviet general, Johanson actively collaborated with Latvian nationalists who advocated the separation of Latvia from the USSR. This explains the fact that the new government did not pursue the former chairman of the state security of the republic. He calmly survived to retirement and issued memoirs, "Notes of the General Cheka." But before becoming chairman of the KGB, he worked in the Office "Z", specializing in the fight against ideological sabotage.
How did the KGB archives manage
In 1994, the new Latvian counterintelligence created the Center for documenting the consequences of totalitarianism. The organization was engaged in processing a huge array of party and state documents of the Latvian USSR, including the KGB archives.
Although the nationalists demanded that they be published immediately in order to identify those who collaborated with the Soviet secret service, the country's leadership categorically forbade this to be done. It adopted a law according to which the fact of cooperation with the KGB of a Latvian citizen can only be made public by court order and only in relation to civil servants or candidates for deputies of the Seimas. There were a number of other restrictions in the law. In addition, the entry into force of this legislation was postponed to 2014. Later, this period was extended by 50 years.
But society demanded the identification of accomplices of the "bloody regime", so the Commission for the scientific research of the KGB archives appeared. By May 2018, she was supposed to conclude which documents to publish and which not to.
The commission has “accumulated” so many interesting things that now they don’t know what to do with this “happiness”.
What managed to find
The result of the research exceeded all expectations. Everyone was surprised, except for senior management and counterintelligence, which had previously been in the know. It turned out that in a small but very proud Latvia, in Soviet times, there were tens of thousands of KGB full-time and non-staff agents, as well as other “informers”.
Everything is simple with counterintelligence; some of the KGB officers continued to work in the new republican intelligence agency. There is nothing strange about this. More interesting is the fact that in the studied lists there were many famous names. Some of them still occupy prominent posts or became famous in various fields. 583 people turned out to be some scientific workers and figures of Latvian culture in the KGB agent lists.
Thus, the publication of these materials can cause numerous scandals up to a split in society. Or not.
The retired KGB colonel Sergey Shestov spoke about the possible consequences of publishing archives:
Perhaps at the household level it will be so. But on a statewide scale, serious consequences are possible. Imagine that a statesman who throws lightnings towards Russia and advocates closer cooperation with the West was previously a simple Soviet “informer”.
General Johansson
All documents of the KGB of Latvia after the collapse of the Soviet Union were not sent to Moscow, but remained in the republic. This happened thanks to the last chairman of the Latvian branch of the powerful Soviet intelligence service, General Edmund Johanson. It was he who did not make any attempts to transfer the KGB materials to the Moscow leadership, but gave them to the newly formed Latvian counterintelligence - the Constitution Protection Bureau. Papers also became available to employees of Western intelligence agencies.
It is known that while still a Soviet general, Johanson actively collaborated with Latvian nationalists who advocated the separation of Latvia from the USSR. This explains the fact that the new government did not pursue the former chairman of the state security of the republic. He calmly survived to retirement and issued memoirs, "Notes of the General Cheka." But before becoming chairman of the KGB, he worked in the Office "Z", specializing in the fight against ideological sabotage.
How did the KGB archives manage
In 1994, the new Latvian counterintelligence created the Center for documenting the consequences of totalitarianism. The organization was engaged in processing a huge array of party and state documents of the Latvian USSR, including the KGB archives.
Although the nationalists demanded that they be published immediately in order to identify those who collaborated with the Soviet secret service, the country's leadership categorically forbade this to be done. It adopted a law according to which the fact of cooperation with the KGB of a Latvian citizen can only be made public by court order and only in relation to civil servants or candidates for deputies of the Seimas. There were a number of other restrictions in the law. In addition, the entry into force of this legislation was postponed to 2014. Later, this period was extended by 50 years.
But society demanded the identification of accomplices of the "bloody regime", so the Commission for the scientific research of the KGB archives appeared. By May 2018, she was supposed to conclude which documents to publish and which not to.
The commission has “accumulated” so many interesting things that now they don’t know what to do with this “happiness”.
What managed to find
The result of the research exceeded all expectations. Everyone was surprised, except for senior management and counterintelligence, which had previously been in the know. It turned out that in a small but very proud Latvia, in Soviet times, there were tens of thousands of KGB full-time and non-staff agents, as well as other “informers”.
Everything is simple with counterintelligence; some of the KGB officers continued to work in the new republican intelligence agency. There is nothing strange about this. More interesting is the fact that in the studied lists there were many famous names. Some of them still occupy prominent posts or became famous in various fields. 583 people turned out to be some scientific workers and figures of Latvian culture in the KGB agent lists.
Thus, the publication of these materials can cause numerous scandals up to a split in society. Or not.
The retired KGB colonel Sergey Shestov spoke about the possible consequences of publishing archives:
I think they will drink more alcohol. They will sit opposite each other, begin at first in a good way, and then they can reach assault. You are in the SS, and I am in the KGB, you are for the party, and I am against the party. A day or two they will drink and calm down.
Perhaps at the household level it will be so. But on a statewide scale, serious consequences are possible. Imagine that a statesman who throws lightnings towards Russia and advocates closer cooperation with the West was previously a simple Soviet “informer”.
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