Secret Policing and Discrimination

Nearly all Soviet business was government business, and nearly all government business was secret. No one could be selected for a white-collar or management role unless the KGB cleared them for access to government secrets at the level corresponding to the role. This gave the KGB oversight of the selection and promotion of the Soviet state’s responsible personnel. The KGB used the evidence held in its secret files to discriminate against candidates whose life experience and personal attributes gave grounds for suspicion. The evidence was called kompromat (“compromising evidence”). The chapter uses evidence from Soviet Lithuania to illustrate kompromat-based discrimination at work. Vetting based on kompromat valued loyalty over competence and conformity over diversity and originality. Discrimination on these lines protected the government’s secret business at the expect of the human capacities of the state.