Russia unveils Stalin spy service describes “a special exhibition in Moscow [that] marks the 60th anniversary of Smersh’s founding.” What is (or was) Smersh?
The security organ, set up during World War ll, was one of the most powerful and dreaded tools of the Soviet wartime regime.Its name, taken from the Russian Smert Shpionam, or Death to Spies, was said to have been coined by Stalin himself.
Directly subordinated to the Soviet leader, it was used to infiltrate the Nazi secret services and to enforce order and loyalty on the war front.
I didn’t realize there was a real Smersh. Ian Fleming’s early Bond stories featured SMERSH (in ALL CAPS), but the movie versions (and later stories) featured the fictional SPECTRE.