What does NKVD mean in Between Shades of Gray?

Ruta Sepetys's stunning debut novel begins on June 14, 1941, as the NKVD (the Soviet secret police) pound on the door of the Vilkas family's home.

What does NKVD stand for?

NKVD. abbreviation for. (formerly) People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs: the Soviet police and secret police from 1934 to 1943: the police from 1943 to 1946.

What does Peerestan mean in English?

Peerestan- Russian word that means stop.

What are the main events in between shades of gray?

Do Lina and Andrius get married?

Though Andrius and Lina are separated after Lina and her family are moved from the first camp, Lina's letter in the epilogue shows that the two survived, reconnected, and eventually married.

Author Ruta Sepetys talks about the true history behind Between Shades of Gray

Is between shades of GREY a true story?

Based on the true stories of Baltic citizens, Between Shades of Gray is a detailed, riveting, and thought-provoking story of the terrors that the Baltic people faced during WWII under Stalin. In 1939, the Soviet Union occupied Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania and annexed them as part of the USSR.

How does Lina's family get to their new destination?

Thus, 15-year-old Lina Vilkas, along with her mother and younger brother, is deported from her Lithuanian home by the Soviet secret police in 1941, and begins a cattle-car journey through a series of forced-labor camps that will span 12 years and 6,500 miles.

What was the NKVD known for?

The main function of the NKVD was to protect the state security of the Soviet Union. This role was accomplished through massive political repression, including authorised murders of many thousands of politicians and citizens, as well as kidnappings, assassinations and mass deportations.

Does the NKVD still exist?

July 10, 1934: NKVD of the Russian SFSR ceases to exist and transforms into the all-union NKVD of the USSR; OGPU becomes GUGB ("Main Directorate for State Security") in the all-union NKVD.

Who started the NKVD?

In December 1936, Nikolai Yezhov established a new section of the NKVD named the Administration of Special Tasks (AST). It contained about 300 of his own trusted men from the Central Committee of the Communist Party.

What does KGB mean pronunciation?

KGB (plural KGBs) (electronics) Initialism of known good board.

What was the NKVD role in the Great Purge?

The NKVD began targeting certain ethnic minorities such as the Volga Germans, who were subjected to forced deportation and extreme repression. During the purge, the NKVD widely utilized imprisonment, torture, violent interrogation, and arbitrary executions to solidify control over civilians through fear.

What was Russian NKVD?

The NKVD People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (Russian : НКВД ; Народный Комиссариат Внутренних Дел) as a government department in the Soviet Union operated from 1934-1946 . It was the law enforcement agency which did the will of the All Union Communist Party.

What is the difference between the KGB and the NKVD?

The most important difference was chronological one, as NKVD and KGB never existed in the same time under such names. Bu the history of the Soviet organizations responsible for internal affairs was quite turbulent and might require additional explanation.

What is OGPU and NKVD?

OGPU was the secret police of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1934. It was after the Cheka and before the NKVD. Its official name was the Joint State Political Directorate.

Why do you think Elena smashed all her favorite china?

Elena smashes all of her fine possessions because she does not want the Soviets to take them and enjoy them, or sell them. She decides to destroy them herself because at least then their loss is her choice, not theirs.

Why is Elena getting weak and confused?

Ultimately, Elena perishes due to her own generosity—during the polar winter in Siberia, she gives away most of her bread rations, leading to physical weakness, illness, and her untimely death.

Why is Andrius surprised his mother has made it this far?

Ch 24-2: Why is Andrius surprised his mother has made it this far? She's not a hard person. Ch 24-3: What do you think qualifies someone to be on the list?

How long was Lina imprisoned?

In the epilogue: A man find letters written by Lina in a glass jar that was in a chest. Lina and Jonas survived, they were imprisoned for 12 years. Lina married Andrius.

What happens to Lina and Andrius?

(view spoiler) Lina and Andrius both survived. They found one another again when they returned to Lithuania and they got married.

Who is Andrius in Between Shades of Gray?

Andrius Arvydas: A handsome 17-year-old boy, whom Lina and her family meet on the train to the labour camps. He falls in love with Lina in exile, often sneaks food and supplies to the Vilkas family, and saves them a number of times with his knowledge of the happenings of the NKVD.

What is gulag system?

The Gulag was a system of forced labor camps established during Joseph Stalin's long reign as dictator of the Soviet Union. The word “Gulag” is an acronym for Glavnoe Upravlenie Lagerei, or Main Camp Administration.

What does KGB mean in Russia?

Read a brief summary of this topic. KGB, Russian in full Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti, English Committee for State Security, foreign intelligence and domestic security agency of the Soviet Union.

What are the Russian secret police called?

Cheka, also called Vecheka, early Soviet secret police agency and a forerunner of the KGB (q.v.).