Transcripts from Soviet Archives

VOLUME X -1930

Section V. Red Army

Help from the political department of the Red Army about mistakes in the Red Army units during dispossession of kulaks. March 15, 1930

March 15, 1930

Top secret

On errors in parts during dispossession

The task of carrying out all party, political and political educational work in the Red Army in connection with the slogan of eliminating the kulaks as a class, as well as the task of helping in connection with the sowing campaign and collectivization by some parts of the Red Army, was completely misunderstood, which, in turn, led to a number of gross mistakes. Some units understood the task of helping civilian organizations as the direct participation of military personnel (sometimes armed) in carrying out dispossession. The deployment of propaganda and repair brigades to the village and the missions of the commanding staff of the Red Army on assignments from local organizations took on such a massive and protracted nature that they not only distracted attention from combat training, but also directly affected the performance of combat training tasks. Command, the political apparatus and party organizations of individual units, making the first two mistakes, not only did not always politically ensure these measures in terms of their consistency and conformity to the party line, but also allowed the most ugly, criminal phenomena bordering on the disruption of party policy. It is also unacceptable that military units, taking practical part in dispossession of kulaks, did it without the knowledge of their higher commanders and did not always inform them about what had happened in time.

Here are some examples:

The Medynsky District Committee of the All‐Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) decided to ʺdispossessʺ the merchants and dispossessed of the city. It was decided to involve the 243rd rifle regiment, located in the town of Medyn, in this operation.

On January 28, the regiment was assembled on alert. The secretary of the district committee Lavrushin in a five‐minute speech spoke about the upcoming operation. The regiment greeted this message with applause and immediately performed with the orchestra into the city.

The Red Army men and the regimentʹs command personnel were divided into brigades and, having received instructions ʺto take everything, take every last rag, and the rags will go to the scrapʺ, these brigades went to take property from persons marked on special lists. The brigades really took away all the property, including the blankets from under the children. They searched the women. The selected property was transported by carts of the artillery battalion and put into the shed of the consolidated company. The safety of the property was not guaranteed. At the same time, local workers allowed the Red Army soldiers to take various small things for themselves: pocket lamps, books, soap, brushes, etc.

The commander and the military commissar of the regiment allowed the participation of the regiment in this operation, they themselves took part in it and did not inform the command of the division. The regimentʹs party organization did not take any steps in connection with this ʺoperationʺ.

In this fact, there is a direct misunderstanding of the role of the Red Army and its tasks at the moment, not only the participation of the regiment in measures that are a direct distortion of the partyʹs policy, but also outright outrages committed due to the lack of leadership of the command and the party organization of the regiment.

A number of documents issued by the division, in particular, Order No. 6, in which it was proposed to the units to have the task of ʺdirect participation in the elimination of the kulaks as a class,ʺ give every reason to believe that the leadership of the divisionʹs political department had such views and such an understanding of tasks that were not could have their reflection in the shelves.

In a special resolution of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Union, it was noted that ʺthe participation of the 243rd rifle regiment in the confiscation of property from merchants and disenfranchised in the city of Medyn is absolutely unacceptable and contrary to all instructions.ʺ

The Revolutionary Military Council of the Union issued a severe reprimand to the division commander and the chief of the divisionʹs political department for insufficiently clear leadership, dismissed the commander‐commissar of the regiment from his posts with a ban on holding the post of sole chief for a year and a pompolit with a ban on performing leading responsible political work during the same period.

The order of Division No. 6, incorrectly orienting the units, was canceled.

It was proposed to re‐elect the bureau of the regimentʹs party organization.

Facts of a smaller scale, but similar to the “Medynskiy dispossession” took place in the BVO and LVO.

At the plenum of the Petrovsky village council of the Karachevsky district of the Bryansk district (BVO), it was decided to begin the liquidation of kulak farms. For dispossession of kulaks, brigades were created, in which the servicemen of the 2nd territorial armored regiment were introduced, who worked in the area for the sowing campaign.

The foreman of one brigade ‐ the commander of the armored platform Tokarev, the platoon commander Ivanov and another Red Army soldier committed a number of outrages during their work. They arrested and beat the father of a middle‐class Red Army soldier, who was labeled a bandit fist. They took him to the regiment headquarters bound.

The same Tokarev in order to close the church in the local village. Petrovsky gathered the youth, brought them to church, made a speech about the ʺwithering awayʺ of religion and issued a decision to close it. Dances were organized in the church immediately after the meeting. The military commissar of the regiment Vetlugin approved the actions of Tokarev.

February 8 p. From the Petrovsky village council, the kulak Kurochkin was delivered to the GPU representative with the following note: “Simultaneously with this, I am sending the peasant Kurochkin and informing him that he has come under the heading of kulaks and is being liquidated as a class. Deprived of voting rights, and his property was confiscated. Vetlugin ʺ. The families of the Red Army also fell under dispossession, for example, the family of the Red Army soldier of the OGPU troops Tyulin, who pays 21 rubles. tax.

The Red Army men and members of the brigade behaved ugly. They broke property, declaring: ʺItʹs always like this with us ‐ push, push, itʹs a military matter,ʺ they say. Citizen Tyulina said that her chest was broken and part of her property was taken away (in connection with this case, a number of civilian workers were dismissed from their jobs. Tokarev was brought to justice and the head of the special [part] of Bryansk was reprimanded. prosecutorʹs office).

Several military workers of the 29th rifle regiment were involved in the dispossession of kulaks in the Kholmogorsk region (LVO). In dispossession of kulaks, a number of outrageous excesses were allowed: the property taken away was sold, distributed to the poor, some of it was appropriated by some party and Soviet workers. There was a case when property was confiscated from a citizen deprived of the right to vote for dementia.

Peasants with. Peskovatka Ostrogozhsky env. surrounded the village council and began to demand ʺan end to collectivization.ʺ The case ended with the crowd armed with stakes and pitchforks driving representatives of the local authorities out of the village.

The district committee of the party decided to immediately remove the kulaks and active participants in the speech. The commissar of the 1st Western Cavalry Regiment of the Yukavdivision allocated a detachment of 100 sabers, which made the withdrawal almost without resistance from the population. There was only one case when a crowd attacked one of the posts, but was dispersed without gunfire or violence. This incident took place on January 25 of this year. g.

Another detachment of the regiment was sent to remove those who spoke in connection with the collectivization of the kulaks in the village. Nizhny Ikorets. The detachment was met by a crowd of two thousand and, in order to avoid complications, returned back. At night, the detachment arrived at N. Ikorets for the second time and carried out the operation without any excesses.

January 29 p. the peasants with. Podserednogo Ostrogozhsky district gathered to the village council shouting: ʺGive us the socialized horsesʺ, ʺDo not bother us and we will not bother you.ʺ The crowd set in motion stones, bricks and stakes. The local police were unable to do anything.

At the request of the secretary of the district committee in the village. Atrial from the 57th Infantry Regiment of the 19th Division was sent a car with a machine gun. In order to stop the crowd crowding the policemen, upward fire from a machine gun was opened. The crowd scattered. The police and the GPU seized 25 people who instigated the speech and an unreliable element. Among them there are 7 changeovers.

On January 31, a kulak performance took place in the village. Cossack of the same district. About 2,000 peasants laid siege to the village school, where local workers took refuge. One battalion of the 57th rifle regiment of the 19th division came to the rescue. By the time the battalion arrived, the school was destroyed, and local workers managed to escape. Seized 47 instigators of the speech.

The battalion stopped at the village. Streletsky. Then a message was received that in the neighboring village. In Budyonny, the same riots occur that several communists were killed. The battalion set out for Budyonny, where, as it turned out later, there was a performance of several hundred people, an attempt on the life of local workers, etc. By the time the battalion arrived, everything was calm in the village.

From here the battalion, on its own initiative, went to the village. Repink and S. Maryevka, aiming to detain the priest and a group of kulaks. Pop, with the assistance of the deputy chairman of the village council, managed to escape. The peasants became worried about the arrest of the ringleaders. The Red Army soldier of the machine‐gun company then fired two rounds of cartridges from the machine gun. 25 people and the deputy chairman of the village council were arrested.

The battalion marched out and participated in all these operations without the permission of the regiment command.

In the village of Troitsky, Ostrogozhsky env. January 31, p. A crowd of peasants attacked the shock brigade, set fire to the village council and the barn with the semssud.

The regimental school of the 57th cavalry regiment came forward to eliminate the riots. In the meantime, the representative of the GPU, without hindrance, removed the kulaks.

When the school left the village. Troitsky, the crowd followed her with the written slogans ʺDown with the robbers!ʺ, ʺDown with the collective farms!ʺ

The school arrived in the village. Burst, where the representative of the GPU also carried out the withdrawal of kulaks. Having received a message that in the village. The peasant girls stripped the demobilized Red Army soldier, the party candidate, beat him, drove him barefoot in the snow, etc., the school headed there. From there, the school, by order of the regiment commander who arrived, returned to the village. Snatch to support the operation. The withdrawal of fists was accompanied by resistance.

February 1 of this year a detachment of 50 people from party members and members of the Komsomol of the 57th rifle regiment at the request of the secretary of the Ostrogozhsky district committee made a speech in the village. Platovo to suppress the peasant uprising on the occasion of the withdrawal of part of the kulaks. The rebels drove the militia and civil communists out of the village, dispersed the village council, elected a headman, established an observation post, sent out outposts and appealed to neighboring villages with an appeal for an uprising.

Upon arrival of a detachment of the 57th regiment in the village. Platovo, he was surrounded by a crowd of 2500‐3000 people. Children walked in front, then women and men behind. The head of the detachment ordered to shoot upwards from a machine gun. The crowd scattered. But when the detachment proceeded to arrest, some parts of it were again attacked. One of the civilian communists was wounded by the crowd, others were threatened with reprisals. Seeing the desperate situation of the civilian communists, the two junior commanders fired and killed one of the attackers. Another was killed by shooting back by civilian communists. The crowd scattered.

The absolutely unwarranted and unjustified facts of armed participation of military units and groups in the work of civilian organizations include the following:

In with. Shishovki of the Voronezh District of the Central Black Earth Region January 12 with. fermentation began in connection with the kulak agitation against the collective farms. It went so far as to beat up a number of local workers. Under the onslaught of a crowd of two thousand, a small group of communists left the village. The military commissar of the 56th regiment with 12 communists, the secretary of the district committee and the chairman of the executive committee left for the village. Shishovki to restore order. They were greeted with stakes and stones. Calm was established without the use of weapons. Kulaki ‐ organizers of the performance, removed from the village.

In the village of Rechki, Novgorod environs. Under the influence of the priests (sending out appeals, meeting meetings, etc.), when the priest was arrested, the peasants began to worry and threw them to the village council, freeing the priest, carried him home in their arms, assigned guards to protect him and ʺoutpostʺ to the bell tower.

The head of the special department of the 16th division went to the place. He ordered to send a detachment. 26 people of the Red Army and command staff left for the village. Having arrested the leaders, the detachment returned to Novgorod. In this case, there was no need to send a Red Army detachment. The detachment was formed without the knowledge of the command and the political department of the division. Before arriving at the place, the detachment did not even know about the purpose of its dispatch, the political essence of the case was not explained to the Red Army men. When removing the bells in the village. Zlynka Zinovievsky env. (UVO) gathered about 400 women. They armed themselves with sticks and stones, beat the chairman of the village council and two policemen. The policemen fired upward, but to no avail. Then the political instructor (43rd regiment) of the ukpenta called on the alarm a company of pre‐conscripts. The prerecruits were met with stones, and one of them was hit with a stick. Only after two volleys upward did the crowd begin to disperse. The company cordoned off the church and posted a field guard.

On the night of January 29‐30, the Vinnytsia Okrotdel of the GPU (UVO) carried out an operation to remove a politically unreliable element from the regions. A sapper company of the 96th division took an active part in this operation. 9 people were arrested, who were temporarily under the protection of 4 separate committees and 9 Red Army men at the saprots.

3 cavalry division (UVO) allocated 50 people for the removal of counter‐revolutionary elements; 91 cavalry regiment (SAVO) assigned a platoon commander to protect the arrested kulaks; brigade 90 cavalry regiment allocated 2 junior commanders to escort the kulaks.

There are data on the participation of individual servicemen in dispossession of kulaks and the removal of kulaks from the 25th cavalry regiment, 27th cavalry regiment, etc. All of the above facts ‐ the diversion of servicemen to direct work in connection with the collectivization, sowing campaign and the elimination of the kulak as a class took place in a disorganized manner, almost without any leadership and without the permission of the district and divisional command. The direct result of such participation was the diversion of the attention of units from the issues of combat training, which is completely unacceptable in todayʹs tense international situation.

March 15, 1930

Head of the Experience Sector of the Organizational Distribution Department of PURKKA, Chernevsky

Dispatched: 1) Bulin; 2) Litunovsky; 3) Shaposhnikov; 4) Kuibyshev; 5) Baranov; 6) Muklevich; 7) Stalin; 8) Ordzhonikidze; 9) Petukhov Art. inspection. PUR and QC; 10) Bulatov; 11) Berry; 12) Lande; 13) Ulrich; 14) Uborevich; 15) Eideman; 16) Cipher; 17) Degtyarev; 18) Slavin; 19) Volodin; 20) Hahanyan; 21) Kozhevnikov; 22) Yp ...; 23) Duganov; 24) Aronshtam; 25) Idelson; 26) Yastrebov; 27) Mesis; 28) Donenko; 29) Kireev; 30) Okunev; 31) Beginning. Department of PUR; 32) Sedyakin; 33) Pompolit I cavalry corp.; 34) Pompolit II cavalry corps; 35) Pompolit III cavalry corps.

Review No. 18 INFO OGPU extracts from the Red Army documents for May 1930 (The mood of the Red Army units) Not earlier than the beginning of June 1930

Not earlier than the beginning of June 1930

Compiled by 3 Info OGPU

Top Secret ʺKʺ Series

This review is compiled on the basis of materials sent from the PP of the OGPU of the Moscow region, BVO, IPO, SVO, TsChO, NVK, Western regions, NCC, Transcaucasian], GPU, Ural, Central Asia, Ukrainian SSR, Nizhny Novgorod region, Kazakhstan and Bashkiria.

In total, 892,271 documents passed through the named bodies in May. 383743 of them were read, i.e., 43% (last month ‐ 40.3%). 19269 positive statements were drawn up, which is 5% in relation to the documents read. 12816 negative statements, i.e., 3.3%.

Confiscated 2876, i.e., 0.74%.

1. Attitude towards collectivization and dispossession

In total ‐ 6569 messages.

Of these, 5692 are positive, i.e., 86.2%.

Negative ‐ 908, i.e., 13.8%.

“... Here we have to face a combat situation: to destroy the kulak as a class, there are a lot of arrested persons, we have to liquidate the gangs. I see the peasants being brought in, and my heart breaks. There is nothing to be done, you have to be silent. ʺ ʺTOʺ. 33 cavalry division ‐ Bashkiria.

ʺDamn them with their team, if you can get out of it, then sign out, let them not torture you.ʺ ʺTOʺ. 8th Infantry Regiment ‐ Transcaucasia.

“... Such a vague life has come that it is impossible to live. I knew well how the peasants live, they take off their last shirts, and how many are in jail. Iʹll write to you for Krasnodar. How many men have chased! There are no places in prisons and now they began to imprison in the military registration and enlistment office. As soon as we go to the city, we cannot pierce it with a cannon: all are wives, mothers, who brought shamovka to their husbands. I don’t know how long the Soviet regime will have this kind of slaughter, when they will stop fighting the peasant”. ʺTOʺ. 22 artillery regiment ‐ SKK.

“Do you see how the authorities and the state take care of us? Now there is no help from them, but they say a lot about us: ʺRed Army, Red Army.ʺ The question is, who am I protecting? Our hungry mother and wife, we stand to protect their hunger. See who we have to protect. What the hell is a communist, a Bolshevik, or a bourgeois when Iʹm dying of hunger or constant malnutrition and a half‐starved existence?! Do you think the service here is easy? It differs little from the tsarist army, only in that there is no corporal punishment. ʺ ʺTOʺ. 3rd communications regiment, Ukrainian SSR.

“I think if I’ll finish my service, then I’m still mute to the house, I have absolutely no desire to go to the team, since I’m already two rocky live, I don’t want to live like this, then I don’t want to live like this anymore. You canʹt beat me to sit down. ʺ ʺANDʺ. 75th artillery regiment, Ukrainian SSR.

“Donʹt give taxes, they donʹt have the right to take from you if they have nothing to give. If they come into the yard, hit them on the head with a stick and drive them out. ʺ ʺANDʺ. 13 cavalry regiment, Ukrainian SSR.

2. Attitude towards war

In total ‐ 811 messages.

Of these: positive ‐ 516, i.e., 63.7%, negative ‐ 295, i.e., 36.3%.

“Soon a war is possible, and only the dead return from there. These are my thoughts now. They, like flies, circle in my head. ʺ ʺANDʺ. Kaveskadron ‐ Western Region.

ʺI notify you that do not join the collective, for there will be a war, foreign states are preparing strongly against the Soviet state.ʺ ʺTOʺ. 7th Infantry Regiment ‐ Transcaucasia.

“There will be war, but we do not want war, we are on our guard. We have orders in Rostov ‐ they demand peasant horses. I advise you to sell the mare. ʺ ʺTOʺ. From the army, CCM.

3. Economic situation

Total ‐ 6401 messages.

Of these: positive ‐ 5259, i.e., 82%, negative ‐ 1152, i.e., 18%.

“I became thin, I didn’t look like a person, here these injections were tortured, the welding was bad, there was not enough bread, so there are guys who almost cry and say openly: “Give me bread”. ʺTOʺ. 37th regiment, SKK.

ʺThey feed us badly, they drive us a lot, they give us little bread, send me, itʹs very bad to live.ʺ ʺANDʺ. 163 Rifle Regiment, TsCHO.

4. Attitude towards service, discipline and relationships with command personnel

In total ‐ 9368 messages.

Of these: positive ‐ 4827, i.e., 51.6%, negative ‐ 4541, i.e., 48.4%.

ʺIt is boring and dreary, I am sitting in the barracks, as in a cage, I do not see any of my own ... Who serves in the Red Army, I consider the most unfortunate person, so I got into this coup.”? ʺTOʺ. 10th communications regiment, IPO.

“I ended up as a detached commander and thought there would‐be free time, but when I had to experience it, it turned out the other way around — even worse, but it depends entirely on the head of the school, because he set conditions for us that are a little different from the old army (Nikolaevskaya) ... Our boss is just a beast and everyone hates him for his rude attitude. ʺ ʺANDʺ. 5th communications regiment, Western region.

“The service is bad, the food is bad, we are now on the guard team. Letters are received from Siberia and Ukraine that there is no rain, everything in the city is issued according to books, probably there will be hunger. The Red Army men are unhappy: if they continue to rob in the fall as in winter, the army will probably revolt. ʺ ʺTOʺ. Kar [aul] team, Central Asia.

“And also, a lot of pressure on the Red Army soldiers during military training. They find fault with nothing: as a little guilty, they put them in the guardhouse; if the horse gets sick, then they threaten with prison, or when you stand in the stable and the horse hits the arm or the side, and the horse is shod and punches a wound, then they also give another outfit. The Red Army and the whole army say this: ʺIf there is a war, the commanders will not live.ʺ Not only that, but throwing notes about strict discipline. ʺ ʺTOʺ. 2nd artillery regiment, 2nd division, Central Asia.

“You’re alive, and I’ll probably die: they’re chasing ‐ there’s no salvation, soon there’s hikes, and here, before the hikes, my legs fall off. Everything takes place in social competition, everything needs to be fulfilled the target figures ‐ one hundred and twenty steps per minute, the hikes will be 25‐35 kilometers. ʺ ʺANDʺ. 27th Infantry Regiment, SKK.

“And we get it here! The discipline is several times cleaner than the Tsarʹs and everything must be done quickly. Get up, get dressed and build up ‐ 5 minutes (this is with windings), breakfast ‐ 10 minutes, etc.; lavatory within 500 steps and without the permission of the commander, do not go only outside the camp, but even in the lavatory. ʺ ʺANDʺ. 27th Infantry Regiment, SKK.

“They drive great, we get up at 5 oʹclock and go to bed at 10 oʹclock in the evening. I donʹt know if I will survive this service. I cannot imagine how I will suffer here. I will lay down my life, but I will not serve. I will go to court, but I will not survive such a difficult service. ʺ ʺANDʺ. 67 buy. regiment, Ukrainian SSR.

5. Vacation and demobilization mood

Total ‐ 914 messages.

“One comrade did not want to serve, so he cut off his right finger. For this case he was sentenced to three years in prison. ʺ ʺANDʺ. 14th Cavalry Regiment, Ukrainian SSR.

“Iʹd like to go to the village. When you go to the village, a telegram came from the village, write that your mother is very sick. ʺ ʺANDʺ. 84th artillery regiment, Moscow region.

“I was in the hospital, on the 16th I was discharged, I thought I’d run home, but it wasn’t there, but I still think I’ll run away. I decided either to earn an arrest for 20 days, or to go home for 3 months. Now there is such freedom at home, and here you sit, as if in a cage, you have to fly away at all costs. We have a lot of guys left, some on vacation, and some at all. ʺ ʺANDʺ. 16th Infantry Regiment, TsCHO.

“One soldier, apparently, did not want to serve, then he took it and pierced his own eye. He was sentenced to 3 years of DOPR and 4 years of deprivation of rights. ʺANDʺ. 5th convoy regiment, BVO.

“We found one simulator who did not want to serve in the army and pretended that his leg would not bend, and he limped all the time. The guys at night spied that he was bending. Then, two days later, he comes to the doctor and shows him the wound to the very bone, and exactly two days ago he had nothing. It turns out that he burned his leg with nitric acid. He was arrested for this. On April 30 there was a trial, sentenced to three years in prison. ʺ ʺTOʺ. 38th Infantry Regiment, SKK.

6. Deconspiration

In total ‐ 2082 messages.

“Today, 2 machine‐gun battalions from two regiments ‐ 190 and 191 regiments ‐ at 10 oʹclock. evenings will be sent in combat gear to the border of the West, and then other battalions, but I donʹt know why the maneuvers were going on. ʺ ʺTOʺ. 190th Infantry Regiment, Western Region.

“Now, Ignatius, Sevastopol is not armed with barrows. I often have to go to the exit, and so, in which direction do not go from Sevastopol along the seashore, and everywhere on the banks there are batteries armed with 12‐inch cannons, and inside Sevastopol, in the bays, there are cruisers, armed with 12 12‐inch cannons and eighteen cannons 6 inches, so youʹll think about how to approach. ʺ ʺTOʺ. Antiaircraft artillery school, Crimea.

“We went to eliminate the gang in Dagestan. We were in the battle for four days; it was very difficult. We had 40 people in our company, of whom 18 were killed by gangs and many fell into a ravine. ʺ ʺTOʺ. 2nd rifle regiment, Transcaucasia.

“... Our situation is very serious, now they are under martial law. There is an uprising in Ingushetia and Chechnya, a lot of gangs have been organized there and they are opposing with the slogans ʺDown with Soviet powerʺ. We went to destroy these gangs. ʺ ʺTOʺ. Natskavshkola,

SKK.

“I ask you not to talk to anyone, otherwise it will be bad for me. Dad and Mom, I now work in my sapper battalion as a secret agent, and no one knows. I myself did not expect this, but they called me back to Vladimir, to the GPU, and let them examine me. I thought I was caught, but then they took the exam and said: ʺYouʹre a tough guy, and you can be entrusted with this job.ʺ I refused, but it didnʹt work. You, they say, are a member of the Komsomol, so you shouldnʹt give up this job, so I decided, and now I have been working for the second month already. ʺTOʺ.

Deputy Head of INFO OGPU

Gerasimova

Head of the 3rd department of INFO OGPU

Lobov

Dispatched:

1) Menzhinsky; 2) Berry; 3) Messing; 4) Evdokimov; 5) Prokofiev; 6) Bokiyu; 7) Blagonravov; 8) Olsky; 9) Kaul; 10) Agranov; 11) Velsky; 12) Apeter; 13) Shanin; 14) Vorontsov; 15) Lepin; 16) Dyakov; 17) Nikolaev; 18) Wiesel; 19) Zaporozhets; 20) Beginning. 5 dep. INFO; 21) Beginning. 1 dep. INFO; 22) Beginning. 2 dep. 00 OGPU; 23) In the affairs of the department.

Special report No. 7 / d according to the Red Army documents issued by the OGPU troops for August 1930. October 23, 1930

October 23, 1930

Series ʺKʺ Top Secret

This summary is compiled on the basis of materials sent from the PP of the OGPU LVO, BVO, IPO, TsCHO, SVK, NVK, SKK, Nizhny Krai, ZSK, Sevkrai, Ural, Transcaucasia, Central Asia, Bashkiria and Tatotdel

OGPU.

In total, 57,025 documents passed through these bodies in August.

52692 documents were read, i.e., 92% (98% in July). Of these, 3565 documents have a positive content, which is 7% in relation to the read (in July ‐ 8%). With negative content ‐ 1190 documents, i.e., 2% (in July ‐ 4.7%).

399 documents were confiscated, i.e., 0.7% (in July ‐ 1.2%).

1. Attitude towards party policy in the countryside

There are 573 messages in total. Of these, 450 are positive, i.e., 79%, negative ‐ 123, i.e., 21%.

Positive. “Grandpa, I advise you to join a collective, anyway, sooner or later, but everyone will be on the collective farms, because collective farming makes the work of the peasant easier. ʺ ʺANDʺ. 5th separate division of the OGPU, Arkhangelsk.

Negative. ʺI do not advise you to join the collective farm yet, since they are failing, and then it will be seen.ʺ ʺANDʺ.

ʺIf you are in a team, then check out, live alone.ʺ ʺANDʺ. Border detachment.

“I warn you once again, do not pay any tax, not a single kopeck, and if they demand it, give me a telegram right now. Do not take bonds either, drive everyone out of the yard, just do not be shy. ʺ ʺTOʺ. 12 Border detachment.

“Mom, don’t give the heifers, say: “Give me your son, I’ll give everything,” and, they say, I ask you not to bother me, and don’t drive me into the grave, just drive me to the neck from the yard”. ʺANDʺ. 6 dep. platoon, Sverdlovsk.

2. Attitude towards war

A total of 79 messages. Of these, 63 are positive, i.e., 80%, negative ‐ 16, i.e., 20%.

Positive. “You write to me that you have a war there; it is the kulaks who are campaigning to disrupt our grain procurement and autumn sowing campaign. We, border guards, are guarding our red borders tightly and cheerfully and do not let a single bandit pass. If we are attacked, we will give a tough rebuff. ʺ ʺANDʺ. BPO 37. Batum.

Negative. ʺI donʹt even think about my future life, because war is inevitable.ʺ ʺANDʺ. 15th separate division. Arkhangelsk.

“Mom, Iʹm in a very sad state, because there will be a war soon, I probably wonʹt be at home. ʺ ʺTOʺ. UPR.

3. Economy situation

There are 392 messages in total. Of these, 338 are positive, i.e., 86%, negative ‐ 54, i.e., fourteen%.

Positive. ʺThe uniforms are very good, woolen, they give work and weekend uniforms, breeches of dark blue cloth of the best quality.ʺ ʺANDʺ.

“We have a good shamovka, for lunch ‐ borsch with meat and pasta, for breakfast ‐ soup with meat, and sometimes ‐ barley porridge, so shamovka is very good.” ʺANDʺ.

ʺThe food is good, it couldnʹt be better, I donʹt think about going home.ʺ ʺANDʺ. Border detachment.

ʺServe well and feed for slaughter and dress well.ʺ ʺANDʺ. 9th regiment of VOGPU.

Negative. “I get 2 rubles here. 35 kopecks per month, yes, they calculate 2 rubles for the loan. and for tobacco (a dirty word) 35 kopecks. per monthʺ. ʺANDʺ. 15 software.

“I am in a decadent mood, since upon arrival in Tiflis we were given a vacation, because when we were on the operation, we were worn out. They promised to give us new uniforms, they dressed us in such junk, itʹs a shame to go for a walk, so I sit in the barracks like a prisoner. ʺ ʺTOʺ.

4. Attitude towards service and discipline

There are 767 messages in total. Of these, 489 are positive; 64%, negative ‐ 278, i.e., 36%.

Positive. “Explain to those who go to serve in the Red Army, let them not be afraid. Service in the Red Army is very good, not hard, they are fed well, they teach so that they should not believe the whisperers, bays, who are trying to undermine the authority of our Red Army by spreading various ridiculous rumors. ʺ ʺANDʺ. 2 cavalry regiment.

“I am prescribing to you as a comrade how they are brought up in the Red Army. True, discipline is good, but without discipline there is no Red Army. ʺ ʺANDʺ.

“Yegor Larionovich, you told us how you served before. But before we served for the tsar, for the landlords and so that they can make more money, but now we are defending the workers ʹand peasantsʹ government, which gave us a lot of new and good things and proved that we must fight for the workers and peasants. ʺ ʺANDʺ. 3rd regiment of the OGPU.

ʺI am thinking of staying on overtime as the conditions and relationships are excellent.ʺ ʺANDʺ. Border detachment of the OGPU.

“Serving well in the Red Army. There is no such oppression as officers and other superiors oppressed soldiers in the old days. ʺ OGPU border detachment.

Negative. “I sit and think that the unfortunate man who was born a Red Army soldier. The rear units abandon their barracks in a few days, and we, the border guards, the cannon fodder of the OGPU, have to blow our trumpets for another 6 months. I work as a watchman, that is, I guard, escort smugglers, spies and investigators. All the time I sit behind bars and, like Malyuta Skuratov, I pace around with the keys on my belt. ʺTOʺ. UPR.

ʺThe service is difficult, from 4 oʹclock in the morning, as I drink tea, until 2 oʹclock I do not eat anything, I disappear at the border hungry.ʺ ʺTOʺ. 17 software.

“Our life is very bad, every day, they were tortured, it’s hot to walk on a hike, it’s a real disaster.” ʺANDʺ. 7th regiment of VOGPU.

ʺThe guys here do not want to serve and shoot

themselves.ʺ ʺTOʺ. OGPU commandantʹs office.

“It’s so bad that they don’t let you go anywhere, and they let you go for 3‐4 hours, and you don’t know where to go, and you sit at home all the time, but you spend your whole life in outfits. Our life goes by like convicts, a little different in that we do not live behind bars. ʺ ʺTOʺ. 31 separate] div [ision].

5. Vacation and demobilization mood

In total ‐ 80 negative messages.

“I’m already tired of the service, I’ll never wait to get home, nothing comes straight to my mind, but only to go home as soon as possible”. ʺANDʺ. 7th regiment of VOGPU.

“Write urgently a telephone message that the mother is dying, but first send money out on the road, and from there I will find. As other comrades do, so I will do. ʺ ʺANDʺ. Border detachment.

“Mammas try to send a telegram that you are sick, but you must be told that the doctor is such and such. One comrade went home, his wife sent him a letter that she was sick, and he was on vacation for 10 days, then maybe they will let me go. I miss you so much that if they let me in, I would come on foot. ʺ ʺANDʺ. OGPU border detachment.

ʺI asked to send me something: either a letter, or a telegram that things are bad at home, otherwise they do not give a vacation, or Grigory can take a note from the doctor, only sooner.ʺ ʺANDʺ.

“If you could get a doctorʹs certificate stating that you are sick and sent a telegram, then they would let me go for ten days, but if you want to do this, then please try, do it, otherwise, by one telegram, they will not be released, or if you manage to get [and] attach the doctorʹs seal and stamp on plain paper, then letʹs go, Iʹll take it, or hospital forms with the seal, just go, Iʹll do the rest. ʺ ʺTOʺ. Chelyabinsk, VOGPU division.

6. Deconspiration

There are 335 messages in total.

“We went from the camps to Saratov for operational work, looked for silver and gold from the Nepmen, priests and cashiers, found money for 300 rubles. silver, they took everything that came from silver and gold ‐ crosses, rings, earrings, and the owners were arrested. In one night, they took more than 2,000 rubles. silver ʺ. ʺTOʺ. 7th regiment of

VOGPU.

“Our classes are now very serious. We study how to catch counterrevolutionaries, how to search houses, how to arrest, how to escort, and in general everything, everything serious. Itʹs hard to serve. ʺ ʺTOʺ.

“We often go on business trips to the mountains to fight bandits; in general, we often hear the whistle of bullets, and we [bandits] catch them and shoot them in packs in the basement. ʺ ʺTOʺ.

“I was in operation for 5 months. It was very bad for us in general. Our 7th year has endured very difficult difficulties. Many were wounded and killed. We have now arrived in Tashkent, i.e., July 25. In general, it was very difficult for us. All mountains and valleys climbed. We smashed the whole gang and caught the leader, and killed the leader. In general, the achievements are very good. ʺ ʺTOʺ. 10 cavalry regiment. Tashkent city.

“I am sending information, but I cannot give some information;

Comrade. Bam, since he got mugs etc.

1. Rifles	24	5. Podeumpovs	21
2. Machine guns	1	6. Get a cavalier.	7
3. Cartridge combat	3470 pcs.	7. Pomegranate 1914	sixteen
4. Underground infantry	24	8. Obmund. working.	25 ʺ

ʺTOʺ. 40th EPO.

P / P Head of INFO OGPU Zaporozhets Head of Section 3 Lobov

Correct: Secretary of INFO OGPU Kucherov

Dispatched: 1) Menzhinsky; 2) Berry; 3) Messing; 4) Evdokimov; 5) Kaul; 6) Prokofiev; 7) Bokiyu; 8) Blagonravov; 9) Olsky; 10) zalina; 11) Velsky; 12) Apeter; 13) Agranov; 14) Dyakov; 15) Zaporozhets; 16) Gerasimova; 17) Vorontsov; 18) Shanin; 19) Kondratyev; 20) Wiesel; 21)

Beginning. 1 branch; 22) In the affairs of the department.