Top secret

#794/B

March 5, 1940

CENTRAL COMMITTEE C.P.S.U.,
for comrade I.Stalin

Many former officers of Polish army, members of Polish counter-revolutionary organizations, Polish ex-policemen and scouts, active members of insurgent organizations, deserters, etc. are in the camps for war prisoners of NKVD USSR and in prisons of Western Ukraine and Byelorussia. All of them are sworn enemies of the Soviet government, full of hate and anger to the Soviet State. While being in camps, imprisoned officers and policemen conduct anti Soviet propaganda. Every one of them is waiting to be released from jail to join the struggle against Soviet government again. NKVD agents exposed some insurgent counter-revolutionary organizations. Former officers of Polish army and former policemen were leaders in all these organizations. Among the arrested deserters and frontier violators many members of counter-revolutionary espionage organizations were exposed. 14736 former officers, officials, landlords, policemen, warders, besiegers, and scouts are held under arrest (excluding soldiers and younger officers). More than 97% of them are Polish. Among them:

Generals, colonels, and lieutenant-colonels - 295
Majors and captains - 2080
Poruchik (1st lieutenant - Valera), podporuchik (2nd lieutenant - Valera), and khorunzhij (cornet - Valera) - 6049
Police officers and younger commanders of frontier troops and - 1030
Policemen, scouts, warders, gendarmes - 5138
Officials, landlords, besiegers, and Catholic priests - 144

In the prisons of Western Ukraine and Byelorussia 18632 persons are kept arrested. Among them:

Former officers - 1207
Former policemen, scouts, and gendarmes - 5141
Saboteurs and spies - 347
Former landlords, officials, and manufacturers - 465
Members of counter-revolutionary and insurgent organizations and different counter-revolutionaries - 5345
Deserters - 6127

Due to the fact that all of them are die-hard and inveterate enemies of the Soviet State, NKVD USSR considers it necessary:

I. Hand over to NKVD:

1). Cases on 14700 former Polish officers, officials, landlords, besiegers etc. who are kept in camps for war prisoners.

2). Also cases on imprisoned in Western Ukraine and Byelorussia 11000 members of counter-revolutionary and insurgent organizations, former landlords and Polish officers, officials and deserters - should be considered in special order, with applying to them the supreme penalty - shooting.

II. Conduct the legal proceedings in absence of the arrested, and without presentation of accusation to them, decision as to the sentence in the following order:

1). Of the persons finding in the camps for war prisoners - in accordance with references given by Administration for war prisoners of NKVD USSR.

2). Of the persons arrested - in accordance with the excerpts from the cases, given by NKVD of Western Ukraine and Byelorussia.

III. Entrust legal proceeding and the decisions on cases to the following three people:

Merkulov, Beria Kobulov*, and Bashtakov (chief of the 1st special department of the NKVD USSR).

People's commissar for internal affairs of USSR.
(L. Beria)

To be returned in 24 hours to the 2nd section of the specialized department of the Central Committee.