The New Research Regarding Cooperation between S.O.E. - N.K.V.D. During WWII

The memorandum concluded by S.O.E.(Special Operations Executive) and N.K.V.D., (People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs-Народный комиссариат внутренних дел) in September 1941, obliged the two intelligence services to collaborate in a wide range of fields. The British wanted to take advantage of “the powerful communist N.K.V.D. during world war II network in Europe to destabilize the German-occupied countries by organizing sabotages and subversive actions. The Russians, on the other hand, did not want to organize sabotage operations in areas far from the front line, but were interested in contacting their Western European information network. The present article presents aspects of the co-operation between the two services in the light of the research we have undertaken in the London archives.