The collection of documents is based on the chronological principle. The organization and activities of state security bodies are represented by documents of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the highest bodies of state power and administration, and judicial institutions. First of all, they contain information about the events with which Stalin was acquainted, took part in their discussion and often gave his conclusion. The overwhelming majority of documents reflect the main activities of the bodies of the GUGB NKVD of the USSR. By their type, these are mainly special messages, orders, cipher telegrams, interrogation protocols from the archive of the FSB of the Russian Federation.