Prisoner of the OGPU, first published in 1935, is a firsthand account of the author's 4 years in the Soviet gulag (1928-32) at the hands of the Soviet secret police (known as the OGPU at the time, later renamed the NKVD, MGB, and KGB). At the time of his arrest, George Kitchin, a Finnish citizen, was working in Russia as a representative for an American firm. He was charged with violating an obscure regulation, held in prison, and then sent to a labor camp located in northern Russia where he describes the brutalities he endured and witnessed. The book also offers excellent insights into the running of the camps as Kitchin was able to work in the camp's administration offices (in addition to sometimes being sent to work on the timber-cutting and road-building labor crews).

The OGPU was one of several in a succession of state security agencies created by the Soviets. the first group was the Cheka, created by Vladimir Lenin on December 20, 1917. The main task of the Cheka was to combat counter-revolutionary activity, which included arresting, torturing, and executing thousands. Soldiers belonging to the Cheka were tasked with: policing labor camps, running the Gulag system, subjecting political opponents to arrests, detention, torture and execution, and subduing rebellions or riots by the workers or peasants. The Cheka was followed by the GPU, the State Political Directorate, in 1922. The GPU was renamed again in 1923 to the OGPU, the United State Political Administration.