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SMERSH acted as a watchdog on the loyalty of Soviet military forces, maintaining a network of informers within the Soviet Army, Navy, and Air Force. It is estimated that some 12% of Soviet military personnel were agents or informers.<ref>Ian Dear, Michael Richard and Daniell Foot, eds., ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=qC0OgOHAHVkC The Oxford companion to World War II]'' (Oxford University Press, 2001) ISBN 0198604467, p. 792</ref> SMERSH was also responsible for shooting defecting soldiers and arresting those who escaped from German captivity. SMERSH conducted investigations of military and civilian personnel suspected of anti-Soviet activities, and tried suspects before tribunals composed of three SMERSH officers.<ref>Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=9QoDpq88MCgC Spy book: the encyclopedia of espionage]'' (Random House, 1998) ISBN 0375702490, p. 518</ref>
SMERSH acted as a watchdog on the loyalty of Soviet military forces, maintaining a network of informers within the Soviet Army, Navy, and Air Force. It is estimated that some 12% of Soviet military personnel were agents or informers.<ref>Ian Dear, Michael Richard and Daniell Foot, eds., ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=qC0OgOHAHVkC The Oxford companion to World War II]'' (Oxford University Press, 2001) ISBN 0198604467, p. 792</ref> SMERSH was also responsible for shooting defecting soldiers and arresting those who escaped from German captivity. SMERSH conducted investigations of military and civilian personnel suspected of anti-Soviet activities, and tried suspects before tribunals composed of three SMERSH officers.<ref>Norman Polmar and Thomas B. Allen, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=9QoDpq88MCgC Spy book: the encyclopedia of espionage]'' (Random House, 1998) ISBN 0375702490, p. 518</ref>
SMERSH recovered the charred remains of [[Adolf Hitler]], [[Eva Braun]], [[Josef Goebbels]] and his wife and six children, and reburied after some time in an obscure location in Magdeburg, Prussia. SMERSH kept alive a [[conspiracy theory]] for many years that Hitler had possibly survived and escaped to [[South America]] while the hunt for other Nazi war criminals continued for several decades. The exact details of SMERSH's activities in recovering the corpses of Hitler and his immediate inner circle never emerged until the late 1980s and 1990s.
Starting in 1943, SMERSH was responsible for identifying foreign scientists and data to be obtained via the Soviets' atomic espionage program.<ref>Kent Hunter, "[http://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=F7EVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6w0EAAAAIBAJ&dq=smersh&pg=3661%2C460673 How Russian Experts Produce Atomic Bombs]," ''Milwaukee Sentinel'', September 24, 1950, Section A, p. 1</ref> SMERSH was also responsible for seeking out and blackmailing, kidnapping, or "liquidating" dissidents, defectors and other opponents of the Soviet regime.<ref>Ronald Seth, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=x5nZAAAAMAAJ The executioners: the story of SMERSH]'' (Grosset & Dunlap, 1970)</ref> In 1945, SMERSH agents arrested Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who was then serving in the Soviet Navy.<ref>Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, [https://books.google.com/books?id=7Q7-CDK0G24C ''The Gulag Archipelago: An Experiment in Literary Investigation'', Vol. 1], Tr. Thomas P. Whitney (HarperCollins, 2007) ISBN 0061253715, p. 16</ref> In May 1946, SMERSH was disbanded, its functions transferred the Third Chief Directorate (Main Administration of Counter-Intelligence [GUKR]) of the MGB. (Some writers refer to this unit, as well as the pre-1943 O.O., as "SMERSH.")<ref>See for example John Griswold, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=uariyzldrJwC Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations And Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories]'' (AuthorHouse, 2006) ISBN 1425931006, p. 184; Denis Collins, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=15gfIulH4D8C Spying: the secret history of history]'' (Black Dog Publishing, 2004) ISBN 1579123953, p. 122; Deborah Cadbury, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=e4g_jgwzXzoC Space Race: The Epic Battle Between America and the Soviet Union for Dominion of Space]'' (HarperCollins, 2007) ISBN 0061176281, p. 67</ref>
Starting in 1943, SMERSH was responsible for identifying foreign scientists and data to be obtained via the Soviets' atomic espionage program.<ref>Kent Hunter, "[http://news.google.co.uk/newspapers?id=F7EVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=6w0EAAAAIBAJ&dq=smersh&pg=3661%2C460673 How Russian Experts Produce Atomic Bombs]," ''Milwaukee Sentinel'', September 24, 1950, Section A, p. 1</ref> SMERSH was also responsible for seeking out and blackmailing, kidnapping, or "liquidating" dissidents, defectors and other opponents of the Soviet regime.<ref>Ronald Seth, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=x5nZAAAAMAAJ The executioners: the story of SMERSH]'' (Grosset & Dunlap, 1970)</ref> In 1945, SMERSH agents arrested Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who was then serving in the Soviet Navy.<ref>Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn, [https://books.google.com/books?id=7Q7-CDK0G24C ''The Gulag Archipelago: An Experiment in Literary Investigation'', Vol. 1], Tr. Thomas P. Whitney (HarperCollins, 2007) ISBN 0061253715, p. 16</ref> In May 1946, SMERSH was disbanded, its functions transferred the Third Chief Directorate (Main Administration of Counter-Intelligence [GUKR]) of the MGB. (Some writers refer to this unit, as well as the pre-1943 O.O., as "SMERSH.")<ref>See for example John Griswold, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=uariyzldrJwC Ian Fleming's James Bond: Annotations And Chronologies for Ian Fleming's Bond Stories]'' (AuthorHouse, 2006) ISBN 1425931006, p. 184; Denis Collins, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=15gfIulH4D8C Spying: the secret history of history]'' (Black Dog Publishing, 2004) ISBN 1579123953, p. 122; Deborah Cadbury, ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=e4g_jgwzXzoC Space Race: The Epic Battle Between America and the Soviet Union for Dominion of Space]'' (HarperCollins, 2007) ISBN 0061176281, p. 67</ref>