During the Great Patriotic War, the NKVD officers were engaged not so much in punitive missions aimed at Soviet citizens (as it is customary to think today), but intelligence and counterintelligence, identifying enemy spies, saboteurs, provocateurs and saboteurs. The latter were people of exceptional training, but they often "burned" for some trifle. For example, a brand new paper clip in documents, fresh glue or nails on the soles of boots.
In the 2010 Russian-Belarusian film Brest Fortress, there is one episodic character - a German saboteur disguised as a Soviet officer. Already during the morning Nazi attack on the Brest Fortress, he resorts to one of the defending outposts, where the NKVD officers had just dug in and were fighting. The saboteur demands that the soldiers retreat, arguing that there is no point in defending themselves and losing people, since Soviet reinforcements are already coming from under Kobrin.
To this proposal, one of the heroes of the film, a commander of the NKVD by the name of Weinstein, declares that he does not know the officer and asks to show documents and also show his boots. Weinstein instructs his foreman to check the soles of an unknown officer, arguing that the nails on German boots are square, and on Soviet ones - round. The sergeant major, checking the boots, takes the officer to show off, stating that the nails are square. The German begins to run away, after which he is killed by Weinstein. Having searched the body of the murdered man, the NKVD commander discovers a German SS badge on his chest, and the foreman declares that "the nails are round."
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This raises the question: were the Soviet and German tarpaulin boots really distinguished by nails, or were all this an invention of filmmakers. The answer to this question is unambiguous and simple: yes, the tarpaulin boots of the Germans and the Soviets really differed in the sole and shape of the nails. The only "but" is that the heads of the nails on the German tarpaulin were still not square, but pentagonal. By the way, the German boots were called "Marschstiefel". So something similar (shown in the film) could have really happened in June 1941.
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In the end, it only remains to recommend to everyone who has not seen to watch the film "Brest Fortress" in 2010. Against the background of most post-Soviet war films, this film is, if not the best, then definitely one of the best. I would like to warn you that the film is very difficult. In general, it is characterized by the words of the main character about the beginning of the war: "simple and scary."
Continuing the topic, read about Why did a German soldier need "hair" on a helmet.
A source: https://novate.ru/blogs/281219/52871/