officer, recruiting and running agents. He was in effect the GRU ille-
gal rezidentfor Western Europe. In 1937, following the assassination
by the NKVDof his colleague and friend Ignatz Poretsky, Krivitsky
decided to defect to the United States in the autumn of 1937.
Unlike other early defectors, Krivitsky took a very public stance,
meeting with anti-Stalinists and writing articles for the popular press,
appearing before a congressional committee, and authoring the pop-
ular best-seller In Stalin’s Secret Service. Krivitsky in 1938–1940
came under intense pressure from American communists and fellow
travelers, who sought his extradition to the Soviet Union. Krivitsky
survived due to the support of a small coterie of anti-Stalinist intel-
lectuals. He traveled to Canada and then to London, where he was de-
briefed in detail by the British intelligence and security services. His
information identified important Soviet spies in London and gave the
British leads to moles deep within the British establishment, which
were not followed up.
Krivitsky continued to speak and write about the Soviet intelligence
services and their threat to the United States. In February 1941 he
traveled to Washington and was found dead—an apparent suicide—in
his hotel room. Krivitsky had frequently told his supporters that the
Soviet services would kill him and try to make it look like a suicide.
There still is no convincing evidence to prove whether Krivitsky was
murdered or committed suicide. His death silenced an important wit-
ness, who was providing accurate information about the scope of So-
viet intelligence operations inside the United States.KRUGLOV, SERGEI NIKIFOROVICH (1907–1977).As a member
of the Communist Partyapparatus, Kruglov took part in the ruthless
purging of the Komsomol in the mid-1930s. In late 1938 he was lat-
erally transferred into the NKVDand made deputy people commis-
sar for personnel, probably at Lavrenty Beria’s behest. In the next
18 months, Kruglov efficiently purged the service. During World
War II, Kruglov was moved through a series of posts, frequently
serving as the security service representative with major military for-
mations. He was twice decorated with the Order of Lenin. He was re-
sponsible for security matters at the Yalta and Potsdam conferences
in 1945 and was made a Knight of the British Empire (KBE) for his
questionable services to the British.KRUGLOV, SERGEI NIKIFOROVICH (1907–1977) • 13906-313 G-P.qxd 7/27/06 7:56 AM Page 139