Moisei Shteinberg was Vladimir Bokov's immediate superior in the NKVD while stationed in Berlin. A Jew, he took a particular pleasure in making German civilians miserable after World War II, especially when the German Freedom Front launched its uprising. Bokov was wary of Shteinberg, fearing that his superior might be more devoted to his religion than to the Soviet Union. Bokov also wondered if Shteinberg might be a zek; his tough talk and callous indifference to the suffering of German civilians spoke of someone who'd been in a prison camp.