The All-Russian Extraordinary Commission , abbreviated as VChK (Russian: ВЧК, IPA: [vɛ tɕe ˈka]), and commonly known as the Cheka (Russian: ЧК, IPA: [tɕɪˈka]), was the first Soviet secret police organization. … See more

The official designation was All-Russian Extraordinary (or Emergency) Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage under the Council of People's Commissars of the … See more

Suppression of political opposition
As its name implied, the Extraordinary Commission had virtually unlimited powers and could interpret them in any way it wished. No standard … See more

The Cheka engaged in the widespread practice of torture. Depending on Cheka committees in various cities, the methods included: being skinned alive, scalped, "crowned" with … See more

In 1921, the Troops for the Internal Defense of the Republic (a branch of the Cheka) numbered at least 200,000. These troops policed labor camps, ran the Gulag system, conducted See more

Number of victims
Estimates on Cheka executions vary widely. The lowest figures (disputed below) are provided by Dzerzhinsky's lieutenant See more

Cheka departments were organized not only in big cities and guberniya seats, but also in each uyezd, at any front-lines and military formations. … See more