The Cheka - Lenin's Soviet Secret Police

The Cheka was the first Soviet secret police and stood for: All-Russian Extraordinary Commission to Combat Counterrevolution and Sabotage. The Red Terror (1918) was an important element of the Russian Revolution that showed the violent character of the Bolshevik regime led by Vladimir Lenin. The Cheka was led by Felix Dzerzhinsky. Underlaying causes were the Left-SR uprising and the assassination attempt on Lenin by Fanny Kaplan. Hundreds of thousands of people would die at the hands of the Cheka.
History Hustle presents: The Cheka - Lenin's Soviet Secret Police.
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SOURCES
- A People's Tragedy. A History of the Russian Revolution 1891-1924 (Orlando Figes).
- Russia in Flames. War, Revolution, Civil War 1914 - 1921 (Laura Engelstein).
- Lenin, Stalin, and Hitler. The Age of Social Catastrophe (Robert Gellately).
IMAGES
Images from commons.wikimedia.org.
VIDEO
Video material from:
• Historical Scenes from...
Historical Scenes from Russian Revolution 1917 and Civil War 1918
• Historical Footage of ...
Historical Footage of Stalin and Lenin
• The October Revolution...
The October Revolution in Petrograd (1917)
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SOUNDS
Freesound.org.
Wanna join forces and do a collaboration? Send me an email at: [e-mail]

[@HistoryHustle]

OCTOBER REVOLUTION (1917): kzbin.info/www/bejne/h3jbg2SpltOsr7c RED TERROR (1918): kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZpKtiGiYfrV5fNk

[@DeadnWoon]

It is easy to recognize a foreigner when listening to how he/she pronounces that abbreviation. The accent in it falls on the second syllable. It is actually cheh-KAH.

[@HistoryHustle]

@Graf von Losinj Watch the video and also the previous one about the Red Terror to see there isn't a ripple of acceptance.

[@HistoryHustle]

@@DeadnWoon ok

[@thanos_6.0]

Soviet citizen: Cheka: So you have choosen death!

[@HistoryHustle]

Pretty much yeah..

[@MarvelousSeven]

Is it weird I read that in Christopher Lee's voice?

[@thanos_6.0]

@@MarvelousSeven Nope

[@chris123abc]

The knock at the door in the middle of the night.....

[@HistoryHustle]

Scary stuff...

[@oceanhome2023]

A Dark and Stormy night that was true Hell

[@johnmacaroni105]

Gangsters

[@mariyanadobreva8724]

The random violence was probably on purpose, so nobody could feel safe.

[@HistoryHustle]

True.

[@theodorossarafis7370]

So true. Nobody will object due to the fact that he was going to be executed with his entire family. So everybody kept quite

[@cindys9491]

Exactly. The Terror

[@insaneyoungster6223]

No I think it was caused by the paranoia of counter-revolution

[@HistoryOfRevolutions]

Vladimir Bukovsky once wrote: "This dream of absolute, universal equality is amazing, terrifying, and inhuman. And the moment it captures people's minds, the result is mountains of corpses and rivers of blood"

[@JacenSolo0]

A man who believes in the unchanging nature of humans writes.

[@shergy1000]

Communist theory may have moved on but their actions for 100 years show they are not willing or capable of changing. Just dreaming of this utopia when we are all equally poor and equally unhappy. Apart from the wealthy leaders of this utopia who have everything imaginable. That's not human progress more like regression when we were serfs under an authoritarian fuedal system.

[@JacenSolo0]

@@shergy1000 Equally poor is a common myth of socialism. All would be paid at least 1st stage according to what they produced but everyone will get what they need. Not hard to understand.

[@shergy1000]

@@JacenSolo0 Sounds super in theory but you don't take account of human nature and power over others. That's why Communism/ Socialism never works. It's no myth. It's fact. You always end up with rich corrupt rulers and everyone else is equal and poor. You live in a fantasy world if you think everyone will get along just fine with socialism. How many more people have to die trying this system out?

[@shergy1000]

@@JacenSolo0 The road to hell is always paved with good intentions. Another thing Karl Marx was wrong. The sooner you people realise that the better this world will be.

[@hulkhogan5605]

Stefan is a historian par excellence with an eye for the unusual and for things “ censored”, or disregarded, by the run of the mill historians , writing or narrating history from a certain “angle”, and to prove a certain point . Stefan is free of all such ‘encumbrances’, and brings to his viewers unadulterated facts and rare gems of observation that are most enlightening ! Bon voyage Stephan , keep going !

[@HistoryHustle]

Will do, Hulk. Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@esse534]

The History Hustler omits that Bolsheviks were mostly Jews

[@hulkhogan5605]

@@esse534 this could well have been the case since they were more politically astute and well organised , Stefan , while he tries to take a wide and comprehensive view , steers clear of making “loaded”, inferences , that may give offence to certain sections of his viewers , and that should be how historians should go about their trade , proffer ‘unvarnished’, facts and let the viewers draw their own conclusions

[@tysonmcchickennuggets4805]

I liked watching your vid! Cheka was an interesting secret police service at the time, not much is really talked about them, all you hear today is about the KGB and the NKVD.

[@alexfrank1831]

Wow, just by crossing out a number he sentenced 1.500 people to death in just one day. Incredible stuff thanks for sharing!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply 👍

[@daveberntson4081]

It should be remembered that the "executioners" were being watched, and failure to exhibit enthusiasm for torture and killing could very well get you marked as a weak person, or worse, as a counter revolutionary yourself. Sympathy and empathy were dangerous traits, and Stalin was just as bad as Lenin in that regard.

[@HistoryHustle]

Fair point.

[@AtticusHatzis23483]

Evidence? What the fuck is that?

[@Invicta556]

I remember reading zbout the Cheka, the way they used fear and terror was shocking. I was supprised the amount of Lithuanians in high positions at Lubyanka.

[@HistoryHustle]

True.

[@tnickknight]

Later, many Lithuanians would become Nazi supporters. There are vile people in all societies. The same is true EVERYWHERE

[@mammuchan8923]

Superb video you sure know how to pack a fascinating story into 11 mins! I think whenever an organisation has long and euphemistic name like that you must know there’s going to be trouble. It is shocking how utterly and randomly brutal the Cheka were. That story about the note passed to Lenin😱😱😱

[@HistoryHustle]

Indeed, brutal times it was. Thank you as always for your reply!

[@Greg-yu4ij]

When I see that Soviet flag behind you it makes me sad because even after the holodomor, the gulag archipelago, etc our youth still don’t get it.

[@HistoryHustle]

Ok.

[@joaquimalbertosousamendes5623]

@@HistoryHustleHow about the hakenkreuz?

[@joaquimalbertosousamendes5623]

@joseph_goebbels606your picture says it all

[@samuelarney9224]

​@joseph_goebbels606didn't Joseph Goebbels participate in the same types of activities?

[@PhebTellEm]

Oh sure and Japanese-American interment and Warcrimes in places such as Iraq and Vietnam are alright, huh?

[@Keifsanderson]

Loving your content and enthusiasm. I hold you right up there with The History Guy. Thank you for doing this!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for replying!

[@darrensussex1153]

Great video thank you. Proof that Lenin was a monster. Let's stop history repeating itself

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply!

[@MedicMarc22]

Life is simple. I see History Hustle post a new video, I watch and learn. Thank you for all the great videos! Keep up the fantastic work!

[@HistoryHustle]

Thank you!

[@stepanovtakiov9311]

Thanks for doing a video on this. I learnt something new. I don't think they taught us this. Keep up the good work Stefan. 👍👌

[@HistoryHustle]

👍👍👍

[@finnfyfe6082]

Stefan. Keep up the good work. I love the passion and the detail you have .

[@HistoryHustle]

👍👍👍

[@Geosputnik]

Russia needs a Nuremberg-type trial of the whole Soviet period. Many Bolshevik torturers are still revered in Russia and many streets and monuments still stand bearing their names…even metro stations. Sick.

[@HistoryHustle]

I understand. Russia is Russia, what can I say.

[@thanos_6.0]

You know, many critiziz japan for its historical revisionism. *But* there the revisionism gets heavily critizized from the japanese people itself. The situation in japan is slowly getting better. While the situation in Russia is getting worse. Putin even abused the 22 of june to push his revisionistik agenda: He passed a law that forbids people to insult Red Army veterans and to compare the Stalin dictatorship with the H*tler dictatorship. Let me just mention: Holdomore, Katyn and massdeportations. I even read in a german internet news article about an interview with Putin on the 22 of june, where he strate out lied: Stating that during WW2 the Red army didn`t come as avengers to the German people but as liberators. Don`t know if you call r*ping 2 million innocent women and children, 500.000 to 2 million dead through flight and expultion, and replacing one dictatorship with another "liberating". WTF?!

[@jerrynelson5289]

Peter Kono. Are you on meth ? Most people that were shot were not innocents, most of them were counter revolutionaries and murderers.

[@thanos_6.0]

@@jerrynelson5289 Bla bla bla

[@Saswata_97]

@@thanos_6.0 Yes. Many of them were true counterrevolutionary or murderers. At first counterrevolutionary strated the terror. There were 18-20 parallel governments at this time in Russia. And Red Terror was a response of The White Terror. At first counterrevolutionary killed political commisers of Bolshevik Party in Baku.

[@depow5217]

Thanks Stefan. Interesting history!

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@zackkilgore528]

Just discovered your channel and loving every bit of it

[@HistoryHustle]

That's great, Zack! Welcome to the channel 👍

[@nodaklojack]

Amazing share of history. Very enlightening. Thank you very much for this video.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for watching.

[@AlbertSpeerPhd]

You make quality videos, thank you from the Gulf of Texas.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks 👌

[@sergeantmajorgross4461]

thank you for your input Albert Speer

[@AlbertSpeerPhd]

@@sergeantmajorgross4461 You are quite welcome. Now, get back to work.

[@garcia83viz]

Awesome channel! Listen to this before work where the only thing anyone talks and it is sports

[@HistoryHustle]

Great 👍

[@bircottage]

The Cheka's methods of interrogation were worse than the Spanish Inquisition. One of the most brutal organisations ever.

[@HistoryHustle]

It sure was.

[@johnmacaroni105]

Then why hasn't Hollywood made a film about the Cheka?

[@joaquimalbertosousamendes5623]

@@johnmacaroni105 Because Hollywood is in the hands of the perpetrator

[@NBrioDaZueraRules]

@@joaquimalbertosousamendes5623 no it's not, the cheka were gentiles unlike hollywood, and that's why hollywood is anti-communist, anyone who thinks communism is jewish is himself a jew and a thoughtcriminal and 🇳 🇪 🇪 🇩 🇸 🇹 🇴 🇧 🇪 🇸 🇱 🇴 🇼 🇱 🇾 🇪 🇦 🇹 🇪 🇳 🇦 🇱 🇮 🇻 🇪 🇧 🇾 🇨 🇦 🇳 🇳 🇮 🇧 🇦 🇱 🇸 🇫 🇷 🇴 🇲 🇳 🇪 🇼 🇬 🇺 🇮 🇳 🇪 🇦

[@Elyseon]

​@@johnmacaroni105Because it would be too brutal and disturbing for mainstream audiences?

[@amerikanerfreund]

Really good content as usual. never a boing topic and condensed into a time scale which is meaningful but not too long. Longer shows would be fine - but in these days of so many good shows on KZbin- short documentaries are better- at this time. HH manages time and content perfectly.

[@HistoryHustle]

Many thanks. Timing is always a thing. I like to experiment with running time. Believe now that 8 - 13 minutes is the best but if a topic needs a longer coverage I'm willing to do that.

[@peteranddorothybowles5428]

Love your stuff V easy voice to listen to

[@HistoryHustle]

Great!

[@thegunslinger8806]

When Orwell was talking a boot on your face and being constantly monitored he was talking about the Cheka, the NKVD, the KGB and every other letter agency around in communist/socialist countries and yes even today in the american government.

[@HistoryHustle]

Putting the Cheka on a par with the current US government goes too far I think.

[@yuval5628]

​@@HistoryHustle give it time.

[@Elyseon]

Funny how Orwell wrote such commentary on a totalitarian police state when he was a snitch himself.

[@t.jjohnson6317]

I have never heard of the Cheka. Informative Big thanks

[@HistoryHustle]

Thank you for watching!

[@cindys9491]

Side comment: there is a Russian-language film (subtitled) called The Chekist, produced in 1992 just after the fall of the USSR. The film is extraordinarily brutal and violent, and definitely gives a sense of the irrational crescendo of sadistic and dehumanized violence that followed 1917. The lead chekist in the film is a strangely idealistic character who loses his sense of reality after countless executions.

[@ThisOLmaan]

well thanks for mentioning it i'll see if I can look it up and watch it, you think is similar to this video The Cheka ?

[@cindys9491]

@@ThisOLmaan well it's a lot more brutal than this video, but it gives a sense of the mentality and conflicting motivations of the chekists

[@ThisOLmaan]

@@cindys9491 : one person left a link of this movie called "Checist" i saw a couple or few of the preview images, and they looked brutal i could only imagine the real reality on the Red Terror, one of the pictures shows one soldier or Checka peoples, washining off the blood from the wall with a Water hose, after being executed so must of washed it off after many exacution, not just one but many.

[@cindys9491]

@@ThisOLmaan hmm that sounds like the same film, yep

[@HistoryHustle]

The Chekist is a chilling, well-made film. I've seen it some years ago.

[@caslinden1373]

Weer een mooie video man 👍

[@HistoryHustle]

Yes, dankjewel weer!

[@luxembourgishempire2826]

I ADORE your enthusiasm Stefan! Very interesting. I never knew about this secret police. Anyway keep up the good work! I love these Russia videos! Maybe you could do a short video on the Russian Republic 1917? You know between the end of the monarchy and Lenin? Under Alexander Kerensky? But only do it when you feel like you want to do it obviously.

[@luxembourgishempire2826]

@@Fahadalbassam07 😅😂👍 I like this channel. So.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks as always, LE! Once I'm in Saint Petersburg again, I'd love to do a short-lived state video on that!

[@TheJo201]

This was amazing l Learned a lot

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for watching!

[@PanzerLehr88]

GREAT VIDEO U ARE AWESOME 👌🏼👍🏼

[@HistoryHustle]

Nice to read, thank you 👍

[@AriadnesClew82]

Thanks!

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@jayschmarje6192]

I believe Lenin made the statement that " America rules by the check , the Bolsheviks would rule by the Cheka .... if memory serves accurately?

[@HistoryHustle]

Could be, haven't read it myself.

[@eliasstenman3710]

I searched for the quote on the internet but couldn’t find anything. Maybe he said that, but the quote has to have been quite obscure.

[@jayschmarje6192]

Elias Stenman Ah , the internet, I believe that this was a quote in an old book, pamphlet I found about 1980 s . When GHWBUSH made his New World Order address. September 11 , 1990 no one seemed to know the origin of that phrase. Then I found an old Textbook with a short description of the Declaration of INTER - dependence in 1992 . Searched the internet never came up until 2004 . So old books, pamphlets are a source not found on the Internet.

[@surinfarmwest6645]

"How many people in prison?" "1,500" One quick cross later and we have more room at the prison in the morning and no expensive lawyers trying to keep the case going.

[@HistoryHustle]

Think lawyers weren't around anyway.

[@cindys9491]

@@HistoryHustle except for Menzhinsky apparently (Dzerzhinsky's successor). I think he was a lawyer before leading the OGPU.

[@arrow1414]

There were no lawyers. And as it admitted the Checka wasn't an investigative organization anyway. If they think you were an enemy, you were dead.

[@simplicius11]

A fairy tale that originated in Time magazine on March 22,1948 in a cold war article about Beria.

[@davidraper5798]

Appalling but fascinating all the same. I do know that amongst themselves KGB and GRU officers were still calling themselves Chekists into the seventies and possibly later as well.

[@HistoryHustle]

True, the word of Chekists was informally kept in use.

[@shubhamsingh-lc8km]

You remind me of my 9th standard history teacher she was amazing telling off books details of India and Vietnam War and WW2.

[@HistoryHustle]

Ok, cool!

[@marckcarbonelloifveteran410]

Man, you look like a Volchevick. Good video!

[@HistoryHustle]

Dunno Volchevick, but thanks for your comment.

[@mrspeigle1]

Thanks for doing this work, the mental gymnastics people will go through separate Vladimir Lenin from the actions of the cheka is appalling, it is my hope that one day somebody will be removed from red square and placed in a museum where at will be surrounded by the evidence of his victim and the details of the crimes committed under his orders.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply.

[@erwinb3412]

Very good . Thank you . A social system , like the soviet dictatorship , that is not based on a rule of law , works like an army , where responsibility is only carried by a passed order in itself , that is easily carried out by the performer who receives it and who does not take reponsiblity for creating it , and the commander , who gives the order but does not take responsibility for actually performing it fysically . A system that has a rule of law , actually appoints responsibility to everyone's actions . That is what justice in a moral system is in the first place , and in the first and most important stage , to appoint responsibility . It are always the small hidden things , thoughts , words and details that really reveal the true nature and face of oppression .

[@HistoryHustle]

The Bolshevik system was oppressive indeed.

[@adamjones3818]

@@HistoryHustle The capitalist one is also oppressive

[@1sam-ef]

Look at the INGSOC logo (from Orwell's Nineteen Eighty Four) and the Soviet Cheka logo..........wow.

[@cindys9491]

I'm surprised at the statement that they had to get other ethnic groups to be Chekists, because many of these nations resented being invaded by the Reds and had tried to resist them. Was this a case of collaborators saying, "we couldn't beat them, so let's join them?"

[@HistoryHustle]

More or less yes. The Russian Civil War was an extreme chaotic period I hope to cover more from later.

[@esterherschkovich6499]

OMG What a time to live or not to live...frightening times!

[@HistoryHustle]

Indeed!

[@ursulaalemanpaz8389]

Por favor subtítulos en español!! Me encanta el tema!

[@HistoryHustle]

Haven't looked into it yet.

[@myriaddsystems]

In order words a death-squad

[@HistoryHustle]

yes.

[@thanos_6.0]

3.37 "social *extermination* " Hmmm, where have I heard that elsewhere?

[@HistoryHustle]

yeah..

[@Sentekuu]

The Cheka started by the Polish communist, how ironic...

[@HistoryHustle]

Oh well

[@kingerikthegreatest.ofall.7860]

Have you done a video on the stasi yet?

[@HistoryHustle]

Not yet much on the GDR.

[@johnmacaroni105]

Yeah the Stasi and their Zersetzung.... Gotta be done Bruv.

[@anthonytitone]

If the Cheka was inspired by the Okhrana than was the Okrhrana inspired by Ivan the Terrible’s Oprichnina?

[@HistoryHustle]

Could be yes.

[@paolojuangiuffre6925]

Checka members weren't less brutal than the Gestapo and SS. The soviet secret police saw mercy as a weakness as much their Nazi counterpart. There are some people who only condemn evil on one side instead of condemning it on both sides.

[@charleswatson3419]

I think that anyone who watches this video is is well versed on the Soviet Secret Police... What we all want is to learn more about the organization... a deeper, more extensive, discussion about the Secret Police.. Disappointing.

[@HistoryHustle]

Ok.

[@johnmacaroni105]

Many were newly released prisoners who were murderers, that's why the outrageous senseless brutally of the Cheka, they were also made up with recruits from outside Russia, from the East, this is all documented... It's because of these atrocities that fascism started to rise in Europe years later when stories of these atrocities came to be known about..

[@nickpapagiorgio5056]

Ik heb Mijn koffie, and my eyes and ears are open and ready for learning prof. Stefan! One question I would have asked if in your class during this lesson is; Would things have gone differently in any way for the Cheka and the Bolshevik revolution if Lenin would have succumbed to his wounds after being shot by Kaplan????

[@rickglorie]

Interesting. At first infighting under the Bolsheviks, which would loosen their hold, which might have given the Mensheviks more room, which would have protracted the revolution, which would have ment lesser states in the Union, a weaker USSR which means "The whites" might have had a bigger chance etc. Even if the Bolsheviks goose stepped behind Lenin's successor, this would have protracted their revolution, who knows what that would haven done.

[@nickpapagiorgio5056]

@@rickglorie well said sir! All good points and my thoughts were very similar to the question also.

[@HistoryHustle]

Who knows how things would've turned out if Lenin would have succumbed to his wounds after being shot by Kaplan. Perhaps Trotsky would've lead Soviet Russia.

[@rickglorie]

@@HistoryHustle I wonder about that. Before Lenin came from Germany it was Trotski who ran the show. Why did he leave the reigns to Lenin? He was as brutal and effective as him to run the revolution? What was the ratio? There wouldn't have been the great purges of the Red Army in the thirties probably, but then again maybe no 5 year plans either. There's a nice "iffy" history story in there somewhere.

[@kleezer1]

This channel slaps

[@HistoryHustle]

Ok 👍

[@kleezer1]

@@HistoryHustle it's a good thing

[@HistoryHustle]

🙂👍

[@gibraltersteamboatco888]

Another great video BZ When you put lipstick on a goat it is still a goat, but there is no harm in trying. 'They Served The Cheka': Provincial Russian Billboards Honor Stalin's Executioners 2018 city of Vladimir bus stop billboard campaign.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for your reply.

[@gangstas9408]

salvage operation in Philippines is like cheka style

[@HistoryHustle]

Please explain.

[@zejdland]

In the early stages you can really see the internationalism of the soviet union which later turned into nationalism..

[@zejdland]

Especially in cheka which was so diversed.

[@HistoryHustle]

True.

[@yurifreis2598]

Yes, partly also because of the failure of the international revolution, which did not take place (as predicted by the Bolsheviks). With the consolidation of the Soviet state and the Soviet victory in World War II then more elements of nationalism and patriotism were absorbed by the communist movement, generating a mixture of elements of proletarian internationalism and patriotism/nationalism.

[@chrisdeal9945]

Fired 3 shots into Lenin , he hung on deaths door for a long time then made a " miracle " recovery . She should have done more practice shooting .

[@HistoryHustle]

Perhaps yes...

[@Maelli535]

Nice series, thanks. One small note, though: it's che-KA, the stress is on the second syllable.

[@HistoryHustle]

Check 👍

[@angryponyvulcanm6116]

Can you do a video on the ogpu?

[@HistoryHustle]

Won't do that anytime soon. Very niche. Perhaps the NKVD.

[@angryponyvulcanm6116]

@@HistoryHustle that would be interesting to see

[@HistoryHustle]

@@angryponyvulcanm6116 👍

[@pliedtka]

F... Feliks Dzierżyński, The Iron Felix - There were streets named after him, places of work. Better not to remember. There are still his monuments, streets with his name on former Soviet Union. 'Gestapo' as we called UB, SB in those days - the department of security. BTW, kind of reminds of Islamic Revolutionary Guards Secret Service, with many being Arabs not Iranians.

[@HistoryHustle]

Indeed, in Belarus and Russia there are still statues of Iron Felix.

[@SK-le1gm]

Bureaucracy corrupts; absolute bureaucracy corrupts absolutely.

[@HistoryHustle]

Ok.

[@ThePeachtree69]

We need to make sure socialism and communism as political and economic systems are reviled and seen for the dangers of promoting totalitarianism as they always lead to.

[@HistoryHustle]

Communism yes, socialism not per se I think.

[@siliaphilippou1532]

@@HistoryHustle capitalism caused crimes too such as the atomic bomb which killed innocent people but also the attacks on Vietnam and the dictatorships established in Chile, Guatemala and other countries with dimocratic socialist leaders. To sum up, every political system works according to its leaders and you cannot judge communism in general while it has worked with dimocratic ways too such as the leaders Al bahadur Shastri, javarhalal nehru, bharrat jagdeo and Ben bella

[@indoorkites420]

A factions on the Irish National Liberation Army would make a good video

[@HistoryHustle]

Perhaps one day 🍀

[@warrioroflight6872]

I can't tell you how happy it makes me whenever I see people like you shedding light on the true history of the Soviet Union. Maybe with your efforts, people will realize how evil that country was and stop glorifying it.

[@HistoryHustle]

Feel free to share this video 👍

[@warrioroflight6872]

@@HistoryHustle Good idea. I'm generally fairly introverted, but maybe building a network of anti-socialist friends would be beneficial.

[@nikkibaugher2427]

Don't ask...just do....

[@HistoryHustle]

That's where it came down to.

[@fredsalter1915]

The evil that men do

[@HistoryHustle]

Indeed...

[@draug7966]

The Cheka: we Hunt counter-revolutionaries. Person: Ok but who are those counter-revolutionaries? The Cheka: uuhm, we don't know actually. We just like violence a lot.

[@HistoryHustle]

That's where it came down to.

[@coling3957]

i think ppl only joined for the swanky leather coats.

[@HistoryHustle]

They indeed had these outfits yeah...

[@coling3957]

Cheka yourself before you wrecka yourself .. as they joked in the good ole USSR :D

[@HistoryHustle]

lol

[@josh656]

Try the new and improved version, DNC FBi

[@HistoryHustle]

Little bit exaggerated don't you think?

[@shahrulamar5358]

Host of this video look like Lenin. 👍👍👍

[@HistoryHustle]

lol

[@shawnv123]

why did the cheka break up

[@HistoryHustle]

It got renamed.

[@hungthinhnguyen621]

It didn't.

[@tomabbott5259]

History hustle heres a question no one has yet asked,the reds had the cheka but what equivilant did the white army have in their ranks?

[@HistoryHustle]

Good question. I think the Whites were to disorganized to have such a force.

[@alejandrocasalegno1657]

At this time. be alive...................is the best reason to die!!!!!!

[@HistoryHustle]

Sad truth..

[@pippohispano]

The Cheka did other jobs too, like forming rearguard screening detachements to avert desertions (and shoot whoever tried to run from the batlefield. And they were not that "secret", actually is was quite the opposite: clad in leather , they made sure that everybody knew EXACTLY who they were! KHVOSTOV, Mikhail. "The Russian Civil War (I) The Red Army". London: Osprey Publishing Men-at-Arms Series 293, 1996, p. 14-15

[@HistoryHustle]

True, they had remarkable outfits. Thanks for sharing.

[@Elyseon]

A red Gestapo. Red fascism in its unfiltered, unmasked form.

[@Kurtlane]

And then in 1995 the KGB became the FSB. Which it remains today.

[@HistoryHustle]

True.

[@claudermiller]

1992. The Chekist. Russian movie. Incredibly disturbing.

[@HistoryHustle]

Agree.

[@carsten9168]

Ukraine did the right thing of de-communization in 2016. Among them, all the road and street names of communist Soviet killers, murderers, etc. were changed to Ukrainian and Russian freedom fighters, famous war generals, poets, artists, scientists, etc. I was there in 2010, 2011, 2015 and saw the new names in 2017. Good move by Ukraine !

[@HistoryHustle]

I believe the Lenin statues in some eastern parts initially remained but were then toppled in 2014-5 yes.

[@mamad_atofi8536]

Nice man❤️🤝🤍👌🏻

[@HistoryHustle]

👍

[@simonrinzler7803]

Some Vladimir Lenin impersonator hijacked your channel recently, do you know that?

[@HistoryHustle]

lol

[@simonrinzler7803]

@@HistoryHustle SO THAT'S WHY YOU AVOID THE WHITE MOVEMENT TOPIC. YOU'RE CHEKA AGENT

[@HistoryHustle]

If I was a Cheka agent I would elaborate on the white movement and their crimes...

[@simonrinzler7803]

@@HistoryHustle but all those videos about foreign SS units... Now I get it, YOU'RE NKVD AGENT

[@Chaotic.Chicken]

Hello

[@HistoryHustle]

Hey!

[@rudolphguarnacci197]

Good morning

[@jaroslaw959]

Po 2WŚ być może byli tacy ci chcieli by Dzierżynskiego uważać za Polaka, ale tak nie było. Dzierżynski nie był Polakiem. Natomiast Fanny Kaplan ( Kapłan ?) to była Polka .

[@HistoryHustle]

English please.

[@jaroslaw959]

KZbin have translations system or not. Any where why ?

[@BB-rt9nc]

What was the demographics of the bolsheviks?

[@HistoryHustle]

Ah yes, the antisemitic dog whistle. I always quote Orlando Figes (A People's Tragedy): "It must never be forgotten that while many revolutionaries were Jews, relatively few Jews were revolutionaries. It was a myth of the anti-Semites that all the Jews were Bolsheviks." He also wrote: "Not many Jews were Bolsheviks, but many of the leading Bolsheviks were Jews. To large numbers of ordinary Russians, whose world had been turned upside-down, it thus appeared that their country's ruin was somehow connected with the sudden appearance of the Jews in places and positions of authority formerly reserved for the non-Jews. It was a short step from this to conclude that the Jews were plotting to bring about Russia's ruin. The result was mass Judeophobia."

[@NBrioDaZueraRules]

russians, and to think they were jews is a thoughtcrime, anyone who thinks communism is jewish is himself a jew and a thoughtcriminal and 🇳 🇪 🇪 🇩 🇸 🇹 🇴 🇧 🇪 🇸 🇱 🇴 🇼 🇱 🇾 🇪 🇦 🇹 🇪 🇳 🇦 🇱 🇮 🇻 🇪 🇧 🇾 🇨 🇦 🇳 🇳 🇮 🇧 🇦 🇱 🇸 🇫 🇷 🇴 🇲 🇳 🇪 🇼 🇬 🇺 🇮 🇳 🇪 🇦

[@staintrainors9249]

Yes my friend his grandfather he Lenin checka.. eh KGB stalin..

[@HistoryHustle]

Okay, interesting.

[@RoyalZarak]

If you want to know about the Gestapo and Nazis Plenty of videos But if you need to know about the Bolsheviks and the Che Ka, not many videos to be found Gee I wonder why Google and Facebook and Twitter and KZbin

[@HistoryHustle]

Generally more people are interested in the Nazis than in the Soviets. So vids about that bring more money. Simple.

[@johnmacaroni105]

Nonsense, Hollywood have bombarded the West with endless ww2 films and about nazis, even in Britain for a period of 25 years until about 1970, but of all the wars Britain have been involved in only a few films have been made about those wars compared to ww2 and nazis.. Not one film about the Bolsheviks and the Cheka from Hollywood or the British film industry of the 50s 60s, this was also during the cold war.

[@artofdance99]

Thank you but work harder on your pronunciations before you film them or put under titles for words that are hard for you to pronounce in English. Thank you . Good job

[@HistoryHustle]

Check, thanks.

[@sisyphusvasilias3943]

If you are shot by people inside your own movement... is it "Paranoid" to look for enemies everywhere?....The Russian Civil War was neighbors and family against each other.

[@HistoryHustle]

Kaplan wasn't part of the Bolsheviks.

[@sisyphusvasilias3943]

@@HistoryHustle Yes but she was a Anti-Tsarist Socialist wasn't she?? I wasn't specific but I meant the anti-Tsarists Revolutionary "movement"

[@HistoryHustle]

That's very broad since as I mentioned there was a violent struggle among these anti tsarist revolutionairies before and even more about the tsar was deposed.

[@sisyphusvasilias3943]

@@HistoryHustle Fair enough. She was a fellow revolutionary though and Lenin was not expecting to be in danger at that time, so the event taught him to be more cautious and wary. I don't think that was Paranoia (I;m not aware that Lenin suffered Paranoia...just mental fatigue, stress and ill-health)...he really did have a lot of people determined to kill him. Thanks for the discussion.

[@HistoryHustle]

That's true. As a revolutionary many people wanted to kill him. Lenin actually was very cautious but was a little too naive when Kaplan approached him.

[@zbena7044]

Mama Rosiya the only solution to split …

[@HistoryHustle]

?

[@patbyrneme007]

This is not a balanced historical account. I do not agree with the methods of the Cheka but this important issue cannot be dealt with in just ten minutes. For example, why not discuss the contradiction between Lenin and the Bolshevik's opposition to the death penalty under tsarism and its imposition a month after the October Revolution. Why not talk about the Rob the Robbers campaign that started off much of the arbitrary local imprisonment and execution by the Cheka. And why not deal with the opposition within the Communist ranks to this growing problem. The writings of the foreign Bolshevik Victor Serge. The important work against the Cheka by other socialists. The role of the Kronstadt Rebellion. There are really important issues here that need to be examined if you really want to defeat the Communist case on this. Not just using assertions from one side backed up by anecdotes. Nor should it be done in such a partisan melodramatic style which only appeals to the obviously rabidly anti-communist audience.

[@HistoryHustle]

Thanks for taking the time to watch and reply. There is of course much to be talked about. I could do a whole 30 minute video on it, but that's not the format. I discuss some of the topics you suggest in other videos. The Kronstadt Rebellion was in 1921 - this video focuses on 1918 - and is covered here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZzVp36dhK1nfas I don't agree with your statement that my style is partisan. Partisan are the right-wing comments below the video.

[@mraddisababa1057]

In Canada , the stasi are called the R.C.M.P. !

[@HistoryHustle]

Little bit exaggerated don't you think?

[@mraddisababa1057]

@@HistoryHustle The history of R.C.M.P. speaks for itself.

[@HistoryHustle]

I see.

[@esterherschkovich6499]

What is it??Please..

[@pliedtka]

R.C.M.P - it's not like the Stasi, NKWD, SB from former the Eastern Block. Their methods were more 'efficient'. We couldn't travel like Canadians - even to obtain passport in order to travel within Eastern Block one had to apply for the passport to be released by authorities in some of the countries and first you had get one.

[@Cheka__]

I think this might be somewhat exaggerated. No organization is perfect.

[@HistoryHustle]

Please explain.

[@RickGrimes-tr3ug]

they lied about the Germans and NSDAP. You were the scourge Our Lady of Fatima talked about.

[@coreybm123]

Wasn’t Hitler and Stalin both freemasons?

[@HistoryHustle]

Not that I know.

[@johnmacaroni105]

Hitler's government closed down freemason lodges in Germany within a short time of coming to power.

[@joaquimalbertosousamendes5623]

Dzugashvilli was, 33rd degree.

[@JeepWrangler1957]

Always wondered why people would choose communism or socialism (same thing) over capitalism? Those that would surrender freedoms for security deserve neither. Benjamin Franklin

[@HistoryHustle]

Desperate times, desperate ideas.

[@JeepWrangler1957]

@@HistoryHustle people need to fight for their freedom rather than roll over.

[@someguy-bv3il]

Because they would rather to have purpose in their life . "If I were faced with a choice : prison or life of liberty without purpose I would choose the former, otherwise life would simply not be worth living" Felix Dzerzhinskiy

[@TheDavidjbartley]

So would you say that the FBI is evolving into something similar?

[@HistoryHustle]

Nope.

[@markothwriter]

The Checka killed ethnic Germans whenever they found them. There were ethnic Germans throughout Russia, but particularly on the Volga. About 40% of the Checka officers were Jewish.

[@HistoryHustle]

Your point? Ah yes, the judeobolshevik myth. I get this comment a lot. Either by anti-semites or by people who just picked up the wrong information. I quote Orlando Figes (A People's Tragedy): "It must never be forgotten that while many revolutionaries were Jews, relatively few Jews were revolutionaries. It was a myth of the anti-Semites that all the Jews were Bolsheviks." He also wrote: "Not many Jews were Bolsheviks, but many of the leading Bolsheviks were Jews. To large numbers of ordinary Russians, whose world had been turned upside-down, it thus appeared that their country's ruin was somehow connected with the sudden appearance of the Jews in places and positions of authority formerly reserved for the non-Jews. It was a short step from this to conclude that the Jews were plotting to bring about Russia's ruin. The result was mass Judeophobia."

[@lasselippert3892]

General William Graves, who commanded the American expeditionary force in Siberia, said that in Eastern Siberia anti-bolsheviks murdered one hundred times the people, the bolsheviks did.

[@HistoryHustle]

Your point?

[@lasselippert3892]

History Hustle The same point of this video, and your whole youtube channel. To let people know about history.

[@shergy1000]

Yeah but once the Bolsheviks won control of Siberia it was a very different story. Most of the gulag camps were in Siberia.

[@lasselippert3892]

Paul Francis Well yeah.. by then the white movement had been stomped out of existence.

[@jangrosek4334]

1) Graves never left Vladivostok. This is not exactly Siberia. 2) Graves never saw the West Siberian anti-Bolshevik uprising and its bloody suppression. 3) There is evidence that Graves provided secret support to the pro-Bolshevik forces and organized a failed anti-white uprising in Vladivostok. 4) After the war, Graves lost a case in an American court against Ataman Semyonov, the leader of the White Cossacks. In fact, American justice has recognized that Greaves is a slanderer and a liar.

[@shergy1000]

The most attacked and hated group were the Christians, Their churches were destroyed and the cheka used Cathedral basements and churches as places of murder and torture. Priests were pulled along the streets by their beards and made to do the most humiliating work. They were the only religious group treated as such. Jews were left alone as were their Synagogues. Mosques were destroyed much later when the Tartar and Kazar peoples were next to be targeted then exterminated.

[@HistoryHustle]

Your comment comes across an insinuating semi-antisemitic assertion I'd like to distance myself from. Actually, Jews were targetted by Stalin after WW2.

[@shergy1000]

@@HistoryHustle You are correct, Stalin did target any group he saw as a potential threat. The old "Trotskites"were still being targeted and false accusations made against them even after the war. Right before Stalin died he was concocting the "doctors plot" most of who were Jewish. Luckily he was either poisoned or died naturally.Communism has been mostly looked over compared to the Nazi's. Shouldn't history be about truth no matter who was involved? Rather than what the victors say?

[@FranceFreeL]

conspiracy theories incoming

[@sergeantmajorgross4461]

about what

[@HistoryHustle]

About what not...

[@FranceFreeL]

@@HistoryHustle Anti Semitism. when in reality no one was spared from the Cheka and Soviets irreligious

[@muhammadresky2300]

Too much talkings no videos action

[@HistoryHustle]

?