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Transcripts from the Soviet Archives VOLUME XII SECRET REVIEWS 1932Red Army
Memorandum of the OGPU on the state of the formed and in transit units of the Red Army. 11 February 1932
Archive: F. 2. Op. 10.D. 20.L. 149‐155. Copy
February 11, 1932, No. 40116
Top secret
Central Committee of the All‐Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) to Comrade Stalin;
Chairman of the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars of the USSR, Comrade
Molotov,
NKVM, Comrade Voroshilov
Moods
The political combat state of the units, both emerging and on the way, continues to be, in the main, quite stable.
Of the negative manifestations, it should be noted that some command personnel continue to register unwillingness to serve in the army in connection with a business trip and a depressed mood due to concern about the family.
Division [ion] artillery reserve [a] of the Commander‐in‐Chief. The platoon commander, Kirillovich, noted in the previous report, again spoke out: ʺNo matter how they keep me in the army, I will leave the army.ʺ
12th Pskov [s] artillery division [ion]. The command staff of the 5th battery Semenov, Schmidt and Ogaryshev said: ʺWhat will become of our wives after our departure, unreliable people live in the neighborhood of the apartments, they will offend their wives, and even things will be stolen, the division command is unlikely to take them under its protection.ʺ
The bulk of the Red Army personnel has a positive attitude. There is an increasing attraction to the party and the Komsomol. The Red Army men assure them of their readiness ʺto fight staunchly against every white pack.ʺ
Negative sentiments are recorded in insignificant numbers and mainly express dissatisfaction with the secrecy of the trip.
12th Pskov [s] artillery division [ion]. Red Army soldier Dmitriev, b / n, middle peasant, among the Red Army men said: ʺWhat is cheating us on the command staff ‐ they said that we were going to an exercise, and they were being taken to the Far East to fight.ʺ
The facts of a / c performances are recorded in isolated cases.
Division [ion] artillery reserve [a] of the Commander‐in‐Chief. Red Army soldier Tsarev, b / p, middle peasant, spoke: ʺWe are poorly fed and dressed, in the old army the soldier lived better, in order to improve our situation, you need to speak in an organized way before the commandʺ Tsarev did not receive support from those around him.
Desertion
During the reporting period, one more case of desertion of a Red Army soldier was recorded. From echelon No. 7018 from st. Shilka of the Trans‐Baikal Railway deserted the Red Army soldier Bubnov, a native of the village. Rybinsk in the same area of the VSK.
Decoding the secrecy of a business trip
Despite the warning about the secrecy of the trip, individuals from the command staff of some units preparing for departure by their actions contribute to the decoding of the trip.
12th Pskov [s] artillery division [he]. Pom. of the political division Evdokimov, having invited the platoon commander Bobrov and Titov, told them: ʺNow we need to press on combat training, so as to be ready at any moment.ʺ After that, the command staff had the impression that something was expected.
The headquarters of the 12th Pskov artillery division [ion] invited all the Red Army men to send their own things home in parcels. This caused a lot of talk and speculation about sending the division to some business. Before leaving, relatives of the servicemen came to the headquarters to say goodbye.
The commander of the pulrota, Marchenko, a member of the All‐Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, told the wife of the military instructor of the Pskov Pedagogical School Udalova about the dispatch of the division to the East.
Highlighting bad horses
During the formation of the 12th Pskov artillery division, the divisional veterinarian of the 56th div [izii] Korsunsky sought to allocate for him such horses ʺwhich are not a pityʺ, subject to rejection for uselessness. Similar horses, by order of Korsunsky, were allocated: from the 56th artillery regiment ‐ 15, from the 167th regiment ‐ 9, from the 19th corps [usny] artillery regiment ‐ 8. All half sick, old, with signs of ringworm.
These horses were replaced by the measures taken. Korsunsky is being prosecuted.
Sending faulty aircraft to OKDVA
A preliminary examination of the R‐6 aircraft that arrived in Khabarovsk revealed many malfunctions. The air arrow cradle does not rise; if it is lowered in the air, the aircraft is forced to land with the cradle lowered. Aircraft parts are not numbered making assembly difficult. The exterior decoration of the aircraft is unsatisfactory.
Dispatch of aviation property for other purposes
Several cases of dispatch from Moscow of various aviation assets to the wrong address were recorded. In Khabarovsk, along with the R‐6 planes, three carriages with aviation assets for the school of aviation technicians, located in Irkutsk, arrived. At the end of November, six tanks of Baku gasoline arrived at the OKDVA Air Force, intended to someone unknown, as a result of which the Oil Syndicate took them back.
Crash prevention
On the stretch near the station. Thelma unknown intruders placed sleepers on the rails, which could have caused the train wreck. An investigation is underway.
Movement flaws
Recently, there have been several cases of crashes of passenger and freight trains on the line of movement of trains, which affects the movement of trains.
February 3 this year train No. 713 with a closed semaphore passed the Barok * post of the Tomsk railway, on the stretch it overtook the train No. 709 in front and crashed 12 cars. Traffic on the stretch was closed for 11 hours, as a result of which echelon No. 3008/3009 (with artillery) was delayed for 3 hours.
February 5 this year on the Kuriga * ‐Shapka stretch due to a break in the rail, 6 cars of train No. 402 went off the rails. Traffic on the stretch was closed for 13 hours.
February 5 this year on the stretch Izvestkovaya‐Birakan Ussuriyskaya railway. at the international carriage of train No. 2, the bandage burst, as a result of which 2 cars went off the rails. In the accident 6 people were lightly wounded, no one was killed. Traffic on the stretch was closed for 15 hours. Echelon No. 3010 (with artillery), as a result, was delayed by 3 hours and 45 minutes.
February 2 this year in echelon number 7009 (118th rifle regiment, 40th rifle division) on the stretch of st. In‐Bira (not far from Khabarovsk) the train burst, after the burst the head part of the train was immediately stopped, the tail part ran into the head part, causing a blow that damaged 2 cars. One Red Army soldier received a slight injury.
The course of the call of a variable composition in Sibkrai
The call‐up of a variable composition, translated into a frame of reformed units, is going on in Sibkrai, in the main, successfully. Of the negative aspects in the conduct of the draft, influencing its course, the following are noted: a) the lack of mass explanatory work in a number of regions; b) the lack of accurate registration of the recruiting [emmy] composition in military enlistment offices; c) the weakness of the organization of the call.
As a result, along with the mostly successful course of the prize [sign] campaign, in a number of districts there are facts of non‐appearance of conscripts and negative statements on the part of some conscripts who fell under the influence of a / s agitation, who are becoming more active in connection with the call of socially elements.
Some regional organizations did not develop explanatory work around the draft, as a result of which the grassroots organizations made a number of excesses, deceived the conscripts about the purpose of the collection, which the kulaks did not hesitate to use for a / s campaign.
Bolotninsky district. The chairman of the RIK Khusanov and the secretary of the RK VKP (b) Alekseev did absolutely nothing to develop a mass explanatory work, as a result of which many distortions were allowed in the region. So, the chairman of the Yegorovskoe s / s suggested that all the draftees gather at the village council on January 10, taking 1 pair of underwear with them, [but] did not announce the purpose of the gathering. In the Sheremetyevo r / s, RIKʹs authorized representative Popova, a member of the All‐Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), even tried to arrest a representative of the RVC for announcing the essence of the event to the recruits, qualifying it as ʺcounter‐revolution and disclosure of our secrets.ʺ
In the village. Krasilovka, authorized by RIK Bolotin, not finding the house of the conscript Zhigulin, began to examine his property, forcefully broke into a barn, found 10 poods there. wheat, 6 poods. oats and 5 poods. flour, all this confiscated and sold. The returned conscript threatened to kill him.
In the village. Shelkovnikovo the last cow was confiscated from the conscript Nikulin (family ‐ 7 people), authorized by RIK
Siljankin. Similar facts took place in other villages. Materials on the authorized RIK were transferred to the Regional Committee of the AllUnion Communist Party of Bolsheviks.
Slavgorodsky district. The secretary of the RK VKP (b) Baranov and the chairman of the RIK Shelest categorically refused to carry out mass explanatory work, citing the need to ʺcarry out the call without wide publicity.ʺ Regional organizations do absolutely no work to provide the families of conscripts with food, meanwhile, the difficulties in the region have already aggravated so much that the families of the conscripts will inevitably starve.
Nazarovsky district. The representative of the RIK, brigadier Musachenko (district inspector), when announcing to the chairmen of the village councils about the call of the change‐makers, took a nondisclosure order. Such subscriptions were selected from four village councils. The chairman of the Nikolsky village council, following Musachenkoʹs instructions, when announcing the order to the conscripts, said: ʺThe mobilization is carried out in secret, and you do not tell anyone about it, even your relatives.ʺ
Deficiencies in accounting for variable composition
Some regional organizations did not know the number of conscripts, categories to be conscripted, etc. In some regions, summons were sent to all persons born in 1908‐1909. Disabled people released from military service, railroad workers registered with special registration, nonmilitary personnel, etc., came to the assembly points. There were facts of the appearance of unaccounted for changeers and distribution of summons to changemen who do not live in these areas.
Appearance of the summoned
Bogotolsky district. 12% of recruits did not show up at the assembly point.
Nazarovsky district. Of the 250 conscripts, 236 people turned up. Berdsk region. Of the 385 people, 325 people turned up.
Achinsk region. Out of 416 people 80 did not show up.
Recruiting
Tomsk region. Conscripts with. Apaevo Shukov and Biryukov got drunk, started a fight, fired each other with shotguns and did not appear at the assembly point.
Bogotolsky district. The conscripts of the Volsky s / s in the number of 8 people due to drunkenness together with the deputy. of the previllage council did not appear on time at the assembly point.
Pavlovsky district. In most of the districtʹs village councils, recruiting was observed among the change‐overs, conscripts in groups of 10, drunk, walked through the villages with obscene songs, and sought money from passing citizens for wine.
The mood of the conscripts
With a completely stable mood of the overwhelming mass of conscripts, there are cases of expressing concern for the fate of the family and fearing the possibility of war, and those who fell under the kulak influence express their unwillingness to serve and defend the Soviet power.
Slavgorodsky district. The conscript Zaitsev said in a group of peasants: ʺI am going to the army, the remaining family does not have a piece of bread, and if the government does not provide it, then I will not defend such power.ʺ
Kosikhinsky district. The peremennik Yudin, a middle peasant, said: ʺProbably, there will soon be a war, and we will not be able to resist the Japanese, we have neither bread, nor livestock, and in general agriculture has been destroyed, there are naked and hungry people on collective farms.
Pavlovsky district. Peremennik Kuznetsov, a well‐to‐do one, said: ʺI will fight them, as soon as I get into position, I immediately fought, let those who are dear to the Soviet power fight, it cut my whole neck over the years, took everything away and want us to protect them.ʺ
The mood of the population in connection with the appeal
The bulk of the population has a positive attitude towards the call. Only on the part of the kulak‐prosperous stratum, individual farmers and an insignificant part of the middle peasants, poor peasants and collective farmers, who fell under their influence, is a / s activation recorded, expressed in a / s agitation, the spread of provocative rumors ʺabout the outbreak of warʺ, statements about the inevitable defeat and overthrow of the Soviet authorities and appeals to deal with the communists in case of war.
Tatar region. “There will be war soon, the Japanese will come, hold on, activists, they will show you how to organize collective farms and carry out procurement. I personally will gladly hang the heels of the communists ”(Ryzhkov, a poor man, connected with the kulaks).
Slavgorodsky district. “Now wait, our time is approaching when the chairman of the village council will build a church, and you, Vergovsky, will put the cross on the church, which you took off during the closing of the church. Our time will come, we will cut you all out and not leave one alive ”(Shumeiko, a former member of the church council, is antiSoviet).
Achinsk region. “Our Japanese are already marching, and soon all the communists and partisans will be kaput, we will outweigh everyone and kill them like dogs. I am a fascist, and I will show you how to rob people ”(Bobrovʹs fist).
Deputy OGPU Chairman Balitsky
F. 2. Op. 10.D. 20.L. 149‐155. Copy .
Memorandum of the STR of the OGPU on the political and economic state of the former Red partisans. December 25, 1932
December 25, 1932, No. 68746
Top secret
Based on materials from the GPU of the Ukrainian SSR, PP OGPU BSSR, SKK, VSK, ZSK, NVK,
Yakutia, Crimea, the Urals, Leningrad region and the Northern Territory
Political sentiments of former partisans
In recent years, the unhealthiest sentiments recorded among the politically backward part of the former Red partisans have been linked to grain procurements. In certain regions (the Ukrainian SSR, SKK, VSK, etc.), the performances of individual partisans were noted, in which they declare that they will oppose grain procurement by all means: “We will not surrender a pound of bread, we are not afraid of threats, starvation is the worst thing for us” ( former partisan ‐ chairman of the collective farm of the Dnepropetrovsk region of the Ukrainian SSR).
Particularly sharp attacks against the Soviet regime in connection with grain procurements were noted by individual partisans in the JCC. There is a tendency towards organized protest among some guerrilla groups. ʺWe did not fight to take away the last from the grain growers, we need to take rifles and beat the communists.ʺ
In a number of villages (Slavyanskaya, Poltavskaya, etc.), former partisans collect signatures with a petition to pardon rural officials convicted of sabotaging grain procurements.
Similar tendencies among former partisans were noted in the Ukrainian SSR, where in the Dikan district of the Kharkov region. the former middle peasant partisan said: ʺOne person cannot oppose the campaign, but if we all act collectively, the authorities will not do anything to us.ʺ
A significant part of the former Red partisans and Red Guards are dissatisfied with the poor implementation of the benefits provided, especially in the area of supply. It should be noted that while in some urban points some work is being done in this respect, in rural areas the supply of the partisans is extremely poor.
Noteworthy is the statement of a former red partisan who was detained in the VSK for breaking the lock from a grain barn: “I myself conquered the Soviet power and I know that it is ours, I was beaten by gangs, and now I am sitting hungry. Children cry, asking for bread, and where can I get it. Instead of giving us bread, they tell us that we are counterrevolutionaries. Bondage made me go to break the lock. ʺ
In the Alar district of Vostsibkrai, the district police managed to give the partisans 42 cm of manufactory by the 15th anniversary of [October], and in Vologda (Sevkrai), 150 m of the manufactory, 15 pairs of menʹs shoes and 15 pairs of womenʹs (undersized) were allocated for the partisans at commercial prices ... Moreover, it was proposed to redeem these items before 10:00. November 9, which the partisans could not do.
In the Ukrainian SSR and Sevkrai, during rallies on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the October Revolution, the rest of the partisans threw out remarks: ʺGive me bread, we will work.ʺ
In one of the villages of the Donetsk region. The Ukrainian SSR, a former partisan who spoke at the rally, said: “Comrade peasants, we, partisans, have won freedom, freed you from the yoke of the capitalists, but your conditions are now worse than they were under the old system. You are under great oppression; at the right moment we will go to your aid and rescue you from the oppression and yoke. ʺ
The activities of the kulatsky and k.‐r. element
Considering the dissatisfaction of certain groups of partisans in connection with grain procurements and other issues, as well as the weakness of mass work among them, the kulaks and c. elements stepped up their activities, carrying out among the partisans K.‐R. rebel agitation. The methods of activity of the kulaks attract attention. In some regions (the Ukrainian SSR, ZSK, NVK) the kulaks arrange special drinking parties, in which they process the partisans. In the Gadyachsky district of the Kharkov region. kulaks systematically drunk the former partisan‐activist, as a result, the latter completely retired from social work and became a / c element, declaring: “I used to kill priests and nobles, but now, in case of a change, I will kill party members and activists who do not give us the opportunity to live ʺ.
One of the participants of the liquidated in the ZSK K.‐R. rebel organization, a former red partisan, talking about how he came to the K.‐R. During the interrogation, he said: “Sometimes I expressed my discontent among fellow villagers. The fists immediately began to draw me into drinking, during which they told me that the partisans had conquered power, and that they were sitting hungry, undressed and unclothed. I gradually moved away from politics and campaigns and took the path of open counter‐revolution. ʺ
Guerrilla Cell Trends
Heated by the kulak and k.‐r. element of the anti‐Soviet part of the former Red partisans in a number of regions of the Union is still showing tendencies to create special partisan associations capable of protecting the interests of the partisan masses (Ukrainian SSR, VSK, ZSK).
In some regions (ZSK, Sevkrai), there were cases when regional partisan and Soviet organizations allowed the convocation of partisan conferences, at which partisans expressed their ʺgrievancesʺ and put forward demands for the organization of a ʺbureau of partisan cellsʺ.
In the Onega region of Sevkrai, at a partisan rally, the former head of the partisan detachment, who spoke in a debate on the international situation, said: “We cannot endlessly tighten the holes on the straps. We have come to a dead end; I propose to create a society of red partisans to protect our interests. ʺ
Organizational Ph.D. activities of former red partisans
In a number of regions, the kulak‐prosperous and decayed part of the former Red partisans is taking the path of an organized struggle against
Soviet power. During the reporting period, 15 kr were opened. formations in the Ukrainian SSR, 4 in the Sevkrai, 4 in the DVK, 2 in the VSK, etc., consisting mainly of former partisans. Tendencies towards organized k.‐r. The struggle of this part of the partisans is characterized by the testimony of a former partisan‐participant K.‐
R. organization, opened in the Soloneshensky district of the ZSK: “I come from a kulak family. Since 1929, a number of my relatives have come under repression by the authorities, in particular, my brotherʹs mother and wife were dispossessed and sent to the north, where my mother died. As a result of this, although I was in the past a partisan and defender of Soviet power, I developed a certain prejudice against the soviet government,
A significant part of the partisan c.‐r. formations have a pronounced insurgent character. K.‐r. the insurgent organization in the VSK (Nizhneudinsk and Tulun districts) was preparing for an uprising under the slogan: ʺDown with collectivization, for free labor and free trade, long live the peaceful inhabitants, peasants and workers.ʺ At the time of the uprising, the organization had in mind to arrest communists and rural activists, attracting peasants to its side.
Distribution of bogus ordinances
During the reporting period, a fictitious government decree on benefits for former Red partisans and Red Guards was distributed in the NVK and in a number of regions of the Ukrainian SSR (Kiev, Donetsk, Kharkov, Odessa, Vinnitsa and other regions).
In the Ukrainian SSR, a member of the central partisan commission, the director of the Kharkov Chemical Plant and a number of district officials are implicated in the distribution of fakes.
In the NVK, the spread of fakes occurred under the following circumstances. In August of this year. a group of former Red partisans working at the Stalingrad mechanized timber‐handling base received an extract from a fake, on the basis of which the partisans chose a ʺbureauʺ of 3 people. The secretary of this ʺbureauʺ made a number of demands to the administration. The latter were not satisfied, then he sent an extract from the fake to the editorial office of the Izvestia newspaper, from where after a while the bureau received the full text of the fake.
When checking this circumstance, it turned out that the acting. head department of readersʹ letters of the newspaper ʺIzvestiaʺ Schwartz, a member of the CPSU (b), having one copy of the fake, ordered to remove 30 copies from it and send it on occasion in the form of answers to inquiries.
Having received a request from the above‐mentioned bureau, an employee of the department of readersʹ letters Voronov (a member of the Komsomol), without checking the copy of the forgery that he had, sent it to the address of the “bureau”. Head By this department, Kolesnikova (a member of the CPSU), giving the order to send the fake, also did not look at it in detail. Thus, all 30 copies] of the named fake were sent to various addresses.
A similar fact took place in the office of the chairman of the All‐Russian Central Executive Committee, from where in May, a similar fake was sent to the NVK in an attitude signed by the secretary of the chairman of the All‐Russian Central Executive Committee, comrade Zimin, and a member of the All‐Russian Central Executive Committee, comrade Chitaev. Both comrades, having signed the relationship, did not pay attention to the application, and the clerk, due to negligence, sent the fake without looking at it.
Along with the spread of a fictitious government decree in Gagra and Krasnodar (SKK), the spread of fictitious orders with the inscription ʺHero of the Revolutionʺ was discovered. Orders were made in Odessa by one handicraftsman and distributed at a price of 35 rubles. ‐ metal and 65 rubles. ‐ silver. The Gagra partisan commission issued special certificates for these ʺordersʺ. ʺOrdersʺ managed to acquire a number of local officials.
Mass work among the partisans
The main reasons for the creation of the above unhealthy moods among the unstable, backward part of the former Red partisans are: the lack of mass work among the partisan masses and the weak work of local partisan commissions.
Due to the lack of mass political work among some of the partisans, drunkenness and domestic decay are observed. In the Melekessky district of the SVK, for example, the entire leadership of the district commission drank himself to death. In another village, partisans systematically drunk, engage in fights, and terrorize the population. One of the partisans who took part in the invitation of the priest, in a conversation with fellow villagers, said: ʺLet someone dare to drive out the priest, I will disperse and chop everyone.ʺ
The weakness of mass work was especially revealed in the days before
October. Materials received from a number of OPTU PPTs indicate that in most of the regions of the Ukrainian SSR, Yakutia, Crimea, Sevkrai, SKK, VSK, NVK, Leningrad region and the Urals, no preparatory work among the former Red partisans for the celebration of the October anniversary was deployed. In some areas, preparations for celebrating the October Revolution began only at the end of October, after appropriate instructions from the regional decision‐making organizations informed about the situation, and, in general, all the work was carried out mainly in urban centers.
Head of SPO OGPU Molchanov
Pom. Head of the OGPU SPO Lyushkov
True
Help. Secretary of the OGPU SPO Svetlov
Dispatched:
1) Menzhinsky; 2) Berry; 3) Balitsky; 4) Prokofiev; 5) Poskrebyshev (for Stalin); 6) Molotov; 7) Kaganovich; 8) Postyshev; 9) Rudzutaku; 10‐17)
OGPU; 18) in the case; 19‐20) in the department.
F. 2. Op. 11.D. 1524.L. 20‐26. Certified copy .
Other questions and incidents
Special summary of the SPO OGPU No. 2 on the response of the population of the city and village to the events in Manchuria. February 28, 1932
Archive: F. 2. Op. 10.D. 508.L. 53‐67. Certified copy
February 28, 1932, No. 51436
Top secret
Interest in the events unfolding in the Far East has recently increased sharply on the part of the urban and rural population. In parallel with the increased vigilance of the ongoing events on the part of the bulk of workers and collective farmers, there is a significant activation of all class aliens and a / c elements in the city and countryside, counting on the Sino‐Japanese war as the beginning of a general intervention against the Soviet Union.
Workers
The conflict in the Far East is causing a certain social upsurge on the part of the main cadres of industrial workers, who express their readiness to stand up to defend the Soviet borders at the first call. The main characteristic feature of the mood of the broad masses of the workers remains an increasing vigilance towards unfolding events. The following performances by workers are characteristic:
“Japan in China is taking over position by position. This is all done with the aim of dragging the USSR into the war. Japan seeks to seize the Chinese Eastern Railway in various ways and drag us into the war. Having occupied Manchuria, Japan will threaten the Soviet Union.
ʺ
“If we have to fight, then we will fight, the working hand will not flinch, and we will not succumb to the bourgeoisie” (Leninsky mine, ZSK).
The operational measures carried out by the OGPU on the DCK over the past months to seize the ASE in the cities were greeted among the working masses of the DCK and VSK with an expression of full approval: we are not behind the enemyʹs back ”(worker in Nik [Olsk] ‐
Ussuriisk).
ʺThe GPU is doing it correctly that they are taking any
counterrevolution and yelling, the time is now alarming, they need to be removedʺ (workers of the construction bureau, AKO, Vladivostok).
At the same time, among some strata of workers, especially low‐skilled and recently come to production, passivity and misunderstanding of the meaning of the events were noted, which should largely be explained by poor explanatory work on these issues. Among these same strata of workers, there is a panic mood, aggravated by all sorts of provocative rumors, usually emanating from alien class and a / c elements in enterprises. The following fact is characteristic: a worker at the construction base of AKO Lugovtsev (Vladivostok), when asked by the party cell to apply for admission to the party, said: ʺThe enemy is behind his back, and these fools are joining the party, I am not crazy to join the party.ʺ
The infiltrated class‐alien a / c element increases the spread of all kinds of provocative rumors and defeatist agitation, making extensive use of the available individual facts of dissatisfaction with food difficulties, price increases and cases of delayed wages.
“If only someone started, there would be a massacre, all the collective farms would be smashed. Soon Japan will come, soon the end of the Soviets, soon we will lick the landownerʹs ass again, and we will be glad too. The Romanovs reigned for three hundred years, and even then they flew off, and this power will fly even better. ʺ
“Our communists will be hot soon. War with Japan is on the nose. But what will they go to fight with when we are already sitting hungry? In vain is the government hoping for the support of the workers ”(3 [avo] d im. Marty).
“The Soviet Union needs to be afraid of the Japanese. The peasantry is dissatisfied with the Soviet power: as soon as there is a war, peasant uprisings will immediately begin, because the Soviet government and the communists do not give life to the peasantry at all ”(construction of the Petrograd f [abri] ki‐kitchen).
“Events in the East are developing as they should. Now the Japanese are taking over China, and then they will take over the USSR. In no case should we miss this moment. Naturally, they will drive us ‐ workers and peasants ‐ to war, they will give us weapons. Having received weapons, we will have to disarm the commanders and deal with the existing government, and then, having taken power, we will do whatever we want. ʺ
Village
Collective farmers
Along with the positive sentiments of the bulk of collective farmers, there are a number of negative aspects, mainly among the wealthy strata.
Under the influence of intensified provocative rumors and extremely weak explanatory work, panic moods, cases of leaving collective farms out of fear of reprisals against collective farmers in the event of war, are recorded. For the same reason, there are tendencies towards a departure from active social work on collective farms.
The forced rates of grain procurement are regarded by individual collective farmers as the desire of the Soviet government to ʺpump out grain so that it does not go to Japanʺ, or ʺas a necessary measure to supply the armyʺ (VSK).
Barguzinsky aimak (BIS). In the Karmodun village farm, a middle peasant collective farmer said: “Nowadays different types of harvesting are going hard. This is because it takes a lot to supply the army. The war will begin soon. Japan, they say, is approaching Chita. ʺ
Sretensky district (VSK). The middle peasant collective farmer declares: ʺThe Soviet government is loading grain into the center of Russia, fearing that soon there will be a war with the Japanese, and Japan will get the bread.ʺ
CChO
Lebedyansky district. According to r [ayo] well, 85 farms left the collective farms. Motives for leaving ‐ ʺas if in the event of a war with us, which would not happen.ʺ About 20 of these farms went to no one knows where.
For the same reasons, 22 farms left the collective farms of the
Kirsanovsky district.
Kursk region. ʺWe must leave the collective farms now, while there is still no war, otherwise we will all be lost.ʺ
Borisoglebsk district. “The war will start ‐ we will not get it. We will have to take our horses and work as individual farmers. They will not understand whether you voluntarily went to the collective farm or by force, everyone will be cut in one arc. ʺ
Starooskolsky district. “The newspapers write that all the powers are preparing for war with us, and the Japanese have already declared war on us. It will be necessary to talk with our collective farmers, whether they will continue to sit on the collective farm, or will they wait for the noose. I am thinking of leaving one of these days. ʺ
In a number of cases, due to food difficulties and a shortage of manufactured goods, accompanied by kulak agitation, pronounced defeatist moods are recorded, which are often of a sharp a / c character. The following statements of collective farmers are characteristic in this respect.
Ukraine
“There is no need to regret the upcoming war, life has become so impossible that, perhaps, you have to wait for the arrival of the Japanese. It will not be worseʺ.
ʺTired of starving and walking ragged.ʺ
ʺLet the bourgeois power be better, but, probably, it will become easier to live in the countryside.ʺ
“For 14 years, we have seen nothing but hunger and poverty. Sovereignty does not reflect the interests of the peasantry. There is nothing wrong with foreigners coming, on the contrary, then life will improve. ʺ
ʺLet the Japanese or the Poles come, it wonʹt get any worse.ʺ
“At least the war began sooner, otherwise the authorities will drive us into a coffin with grain procurements. When there is mobilization, I will become a deserter and I will not go to war for conscience ”(Andreevka village).
CCM
Azov region. On the part of the collective farmers of the Aleksandrovskoe s / s, the following statements were noted: “We are not provided with food, fuel, clothing or footwear. We will all have to starve to death this winter. At least Japan would sooner be part of Russia, it would be much better than now. ʺ
Individual farmers
Panic and other negative moods are even more common among individual farmers. There were recorded cases of refusal of individual farmers to fulfill tasks for grain procurement, cattle procurement, etc. in anticipation of war and a change of power. In the Central Black Earth District, a number of cases of individual farmers refraining from joining collective farms ʺuntil springʺ were noted for this reason. Negative sentiments among individual farmers are especially developed in those areas where excesses were made during the conduct of economic political campaigns. The following facts are characteristic:
CChO
Lebedyansky district. In the villages of Tishovka, Gryaznovka, Radchino, Kalikino and other [ugie] individual farmers took a waitand‐see position with payments of funds, declaring: “We will wait until spring, weʹll see if there will be a war. If it starts, then there is nothing to pay money, but to buy everything that is possible with it ʺ
Similar sentiments take place in other regions as well. According to incomplete data, in 52 districts (Mordovsky, Dobrovsky, Starooskolsky, Dobrinsky, etc.), there were registered refusals to fulfill state assignments in the sole sector: for grain procurement ‐ 71 cases, meat procurement ‐ 62 cases, payment of funds ‐ 84. In the collective farm sector: for grain procurements ‐ 56 cases, meat procurement ‐ 34 cases and money ‐ 29 cases.
IPO
Sudogodsky district. Middle peat village Daniltsevo in a group of peasants said: “On the Manchu border, Japanese troops are taking part of our border, so war is inevitable. But the peasants are unlikely to go to the defense of the soviets, since they have suffered a lot from the local rulers of various outrages. ʺ
“By the spring we will have gotten rid of the Soviet regime, which mocks us, it remains to suffer a little from grain procurement and collectivization” (Bondari village, Chernukhinsky district).
“The Red Army will not fight Japan, because it consists of peasants who are well aware of how the state power starves the collective farmers and individual farmers with hunger ”(the mood of individual middle peasants in the Dvurechansky district [ayo] not).
Ukraine
“If Poles or someone else comes to Ukraine, then first of all they will begin to crack down on collective farmers, so now it is dangerous to join collective farms” (Lilevsky district [ayo] n). In some cases, defeatist sentiments turn into insurrectionary agitation:
CCM
Timashevsky district. The following statements of individual individual middle peasants deserve attention: “Let Japan come to us, she is not our enemy, our enemies here are collective farms. We welcome Japan. ʺ
Alexandrovsky district. The middle peasant Osipov in a group of fellow villagers said: ʺThe last bread is beaten out, so the Bolsheviks are out of spirits, Japan is running out, we must wait for a change soon.ʺ
Vostsibkrai
Taishet district. In with. Shelekhovo, a middle peasant in a group of peasants said: “There are battles on the border of China, the Reds are being crushed for nothing. White told the truth that they will return to us. Large detachments of partisans are coming to help the whites. ʺ
Borzinsky district. Strong middle peasant s. Turga said: “They are already moving up from China, but our rear is very unreliable. If only it started at the front, and the rear would immediately go against it. I will go straight to the forest if the front opens. ʺ
Kulaks and ASE villages
Along with the widespread dissemination of various provocative rumors about the war that has already begun with Japan and the defeats of the Red Army, about the formation of the army by General Semyonov, about the military actions of Poland, about uprisings within the USSR, etc., the kulaks and other ASE villages are almost everywhere conducting energetic agitation about the impending defeat and inevitable death of the Soviet regime, the inevitability of an uprising within the country, accompanying it with threats of reprisals against collective farmers, communists and activists in the event of a coup. The version is widespread in the DCK that Japan, having occupied China, will reach the DCK and form a buffer state there under the control of the Japanese and General Semyonov.
At the same time, there is an increase in kulak activity against collective farm development and calls for the elimination of collective farms as a ʺsecond corveeʺ. Noteworthy are the facts of kulaks going around the houses of collective farmers with the appropriate processing of the latter and agitation for withdrawal from the collective farms (TsChO).
The most active kulak‐prosperous, White Guard and other a / c elements, regarding the events as the beginning of the intervention, closely raise the question of the need for the timely organization of the masses within the USSR for the armed struggle against Soviet power. At the same time, the kulaks and the ASE proceed from the following assessment of the situation in the countryside: ʺThe collective farmers are all barefoot and naked, the people have suffered, day by day it is getting worse and worse.ʺ ʺInside the country, the people are angry with the Soviet regime, and from the beginning of the intervention there will be uprisings everywhere.ʺ
DVK
Yakovlevsky district. In with. In Novosysoevka, a group of wealthy people gathered in the house of the middle peasant (who is anti‐Soviet) to discuss the issue of the Manchu conflict. One of those present said: ʺOn the Ussuriysk road there will be a buffer state under the general management of the Japanese and Semyonov, for this we all need to act in an organized way so that all villages immediately oppose the USSR.ʺ All those present came to the unanimous conclusion that in the event of war it would be necessary to act in an organized way against the Soviet regime and support the Japanese. ʺ
Ukraine
“Japan is now conquering Manchuria and will strengthen there until spring, after which, together with our White Guards, it will oppose the Soviet Union. By this time, peasant unrest should begin in Ukraine, which will serve as a pretext for the introduction of foreign troops into Ukraine to establish order. We will soon outlive the Bolsheviks and still be able to use our forces for the good of Ukraine ”(former gendarme).
“We only need a good leader in order to crush Soviet power in the near future. As soon as the war starts, the peasants will join the gangs ”(former political bandit).
ʺThe only deliverance can be only war and our help to foreign troopsʺ
(former b [white] officer).
CChO
More [s] ‐Polyansky district. In Novovasilyevsk s / s, the kulaks managed to form a group of collective farmers, poor and middle peasants, who, in turn, campaigned among the collective farmers “not to hand over grain, not to give money and livestock, because war will be declared in spring ”.
Fist s. Gustoy (Lgovskiy district) in the apartment of a well‐to‐do, where 4 collective farmers were present, said: “I want to gather good guys and chop up all the swine asset. To do this, you just need to pick up the moment. It will be better if we speak in the spring, by that time the war will begin. Good guys will take part with me, and some of them are already there. ʺ
In with. Istomnoye, cases of fists visiting the houses of collective farmers have become more frequent. All visits boil down to talking about the need to quit the collective farms: “The biggest thing is that the collective farms will hold out until March, and then everyone will work for himself. There is not a single collective farm left in Siberia. ”
Medvensky district. In with. Znamenka kulak, reading a message to a group of collective farmers about the Japanese crossing the line of the Chinese‐Eastern railway, interpreted it as crossing the Kursk‐Voronezh railway. and immediately said: Get out of the collective farm immediately, the Japanese have already reached us. It will be bad for you if you wait for them. The newspapers write that there are no collective farms in many villages. ʺ
Oryol district. In with. Dubovik kulak, a former [inter] officer, declared in a group of wealthy and collective farmers: “I agree to be your commander, get organized. Time is coming to this. ʺ
VSK
Zhidkinsky district. In with. In [upper] Ildikan Razdobrev, a former active bandit accomplice, is conducting the following agitation: “Japan, having seized Manchuria, is now pulling its troops to the Soviet border, through which it has already transferred some units and started a war. There will be no mercy for collective farmers and communists, they will beat anyone, everyone. Anyone who wants to stay alive, let him leave the collective farm. ʺ
Kalmyk region
Fists with. The Yashalta of the Western Ulus, threatening reprisals to the collective farmers and activists, declare: ʺSoon they will show how to build collective farms, the leading collective farmers will be the first to cut off their heads.ʺ
Moscow region
Mozhaisky district. “Wounded Red Army men from the Japanese front are arriving in Moscow. A war broke out between Russia and Japan. Now the end of Soviet power and all our ordeals will come soon ”(village Khotilovo).
“The Siberian Territory with the kulak settlers has already been taken away by Japan. Japanese troops seize Russian lands, and soon the war with Japan will begin, then there will be no Bolsheviks. The peasantry is embittered and will not go to fight for the Bolsheviks, but will be against them ”(well‐to‐do, Klementʹevo village).
Some of the developing kulak groupings put forward the task of preparing an organized rebuff in the event of “reprisals against the kulaks in the first period of hostilities”.
“In connection with the impending war between Japan and the Soviet government, the Bolsheviks will undoubtedly declare terror over the kulaks and dispossessed people. Hence it follows that we must prepare for this in a timely manner in order to give an organized rebuff to the Red Terror ”.
Special settlers
The kulak activists from the special settlers noticeably revived their activities. Hopes for ʺearly release and the possibility of reprisals against those who dispossessed usʺ increased. The growth of rebel sentiments among certain groups of special settlers (VSK) is recorded.
LVO
“Our liberators will come soon; we will receive weapons and defeat all the communists. When the war begins, we will take what will fall into the hands of someone and we will slaughter the Bolsheviks. Finland will free us, then we will return home and show those who sent us. ʺ
VSK
“We need to select our own people who know how to carry weapons, and at the right time we will show you how to torture people. As in Siberia we will deal with, we will move to Ukraine ”.
ʺThe Japanese are currently chopping down the Chinese communists, they will soon reach ours, and we will go to their aidʺ (Kansk region).
Former red partisans
According to the GPU of the Ukrainian SSR, among certain groups of former red partisans‐individual peasants, defeatist, and in some cases, rebel sentiments were noted:
“I was a partisan and fought for the Soviet Union, and now Iʹm the first to go and beat the communists (former partisan, Mikhailovsky district
[ayon]).
“Spring will show how to rob the people, we will still dig sawed‐off pieces from the ground and beat the communists. Let only the Japanese declare war ”(Romensky district [aion], with Zhitnoe).
ʺIt is impossible to endure further, they took the last one, you need to keep your weapon ready, and as soon as a war breaks out, join the enemyʹs campʺ (Krolevetsky district [ayon]).
Intelligentsia
The urban intelligentsia is showing heightened interest in events in the Far East.
In the cities of the DCK, in connection with the seizure of the ASE, panic rumors and conversations are observed among part of the urban intelligentsia. Some groups of academics view these arrests as ʺa harbinger of important events.ʺ The following statements are characteristic: “There are mass arrests, what are they going to do next. After all, everything has been brought to its logical conclusion. There is no need to talk about the future now. They will come, take them away and hide them for many years ”(Professor of the Institute of Agriculture, Vladivostok).
“Arrests of scientific workers begin. Well, now one thing remains ‐ save yourself, who can. Many will go to jail, remember all their sins. The specialists will be taken away, and the five‐year plan will wait until new forces grow up ”(professor‐orientalist at DTU Klyukin).
“If they begin to arrest scientists, we must immediately take up the rods and run to Moscow” (scientist Savokhin).
“Arrests are the harbingers of important events. We are experiencing historical days, the city is preparing for military events, the public is leaving Vladivostok, all long‐distance trains are overcrowded, fleeing arrests ”(enemies).
Part of the rural intelligentsia (teachers, agronomists, etc.) predetermine the inevitability of the defeat of the Soviet regime in the coming war due to the weakness of our military equipment and the unreliability of our rear, especially in the countryside.
“The war will undoubtedly lead to the death of the Soviet government, which has not justified itself in the eyes of the villagers. Collective farmers are now not the mainstay of the government, and many of them not only will not join the army, but will themselves oppose the government. ʺ
“The Soviets are taking all measures to prevent a war, and this is understandable. All lies in the fact that our rear does not at all ensure the victory of the Red Army. The outbreak of hostilities should be marked by a widespread uprising of peasants and even workers against the government. ʺ
ʺThe army of Japan and other capitalist countries is better armed and more efficient than the Red Army.ʺ
“We see how Japan invaded Manchuria without much sacrifice and without difficulties. By the spring it will come to the Soviet Union. In our country, the political situation is such that just a spark is enough to ignite the fuss. After all, the peasantry is very angry with the authorities, and there is no need to think about support. If the rear is weak, then we will suffer the same fate as China. ʺ
Political parties and anti‐party groups
The available materials about the statements of individual members of the political parties and anti‐party groups indicate their maliciously defeatist orientation. Both the Mensheviks and Trotskyists believe that the entry of the USSR into the war with the capitalist world must inevitably lead to uprisings within the country and the fall of Soviet power.
The following data is characteristic: “This action by Japan for us, the workers, should not bring a worse situation than the one in which we are now. On the contrary, I would gladly replace our Soviet system and its leaders with Japanese imperialism. Rather, there would be such a power that would once [and] end our socialism once [and] forever ”(Omsk, locksmith worker, Trotskyist).
ʺThe moment when the USSR enters a period of war with intervention should be a favorable environment for the replacement of Stalinʺ (testimony at the preliminary investigation of the former Trotskyist Raikov).
“The Manchu events may be fraught with serious consequences for the Soviet Union, since here it is clear that not only Japan is playing a role, but other states as well. We should not get ahead of events ”(Novosibirsk, Menshevik).
“There was a strong smell of gunpowder in the East. This war will be a signal, and all opposition elements will use the shaky foundations of the Soviet system. The peasants are all against the soviet power, it is worth giving them only weapons against the soviets ”(Omsk, Menshevik).
“War is not profitable for co‐government. Due to material insecurity, workers and peasants are not politically stable. The Russian people have abandoned private property, they will not agree to sacrifice themselves in the war ”(Omsk).
“Our party leadership in matters of international politics is opportunistic, since proceeding from the policy of peace and building socialism in one country, limits the influence on events of a global nature (China). Events in China excite all countries and all classes. Our press is cowardly about this issue, the Comintern registers the facts of violence and only, at the same time, it is possible to mobilize the masses of the working people for the protest of the state, in which the proletariat freed itself from the violence of the imperialists of all countries and overthrew its own bourgeoisie. Stalin is afraid to do this, because all politics is based on his personal theories ”(Trotskyist).
[E] s [e] ry, prejudging the question of the collapse of the Soviet system in the event of a war, come to the conclusion that “it is necessary to activate and prepare for the coming events” in order to lead the necessary peasant uprisings at the very beginning of the war. At the same time, it is widely believed that the Soviet Union, out of fear of complications in the rear in case of war, will try to buy off the war at any cost.
CChO
“Europe understands very well that now is the most convenient moment to put an end to the Bolsheviks. Politicians are sitting abroad smarter than our inflated ministers. We need to be prepared to keep up with other political parties in case of events and take up our previous positions. It is difficult to determine in advance who will be in power, but one thing is clear that the communists will lose the war ”(Voronezh, SR).
“The Soviets were faced with the inevitability of a war, and a rather serious one. Japan is not China, and besides, the international situation has developed far from their favor. The decisive actions of capitalist Europe threaten the inevitable death of the communists. The proletariat abroad has long ago cooled down to the Bolsheviks, which frees the hands of the ruling circles. It is clear that in the struggle on two fronts with an external and internal enemy, the Communists will not be able to withstand. The war will give a new historical epoch, on the eve of which Russia has long been standing ”(Voronezh, SocialistRevolutionary).
“War is inevitable. Without it, the question of who should make history — the Bolsheviks or other political parties — cannot be resolved. Our policy and the policy of other socialist parties must justify the war as an inevitability or historical necessity ”(Voronezh, Socialist Revolutionary).
ZSK
An active exiled Socialist‐Revolutionary, in a conversation about the Manchu conflict, said: “Our opinion is that during the very first military operations with Japan, peasant uprisings can be expected, and we will need to take part in the leadership of these uprisings, but, most likely, there will be no war, since Soviet power will make all sorts of concessions, but will not allow military operations. It would be unprofitable for the Soviets to fight in the current situation, it would be the death of the Soviet government.
“If only the co‐government does not come into conflict with Japan, it will be so as not to disrupt construction and protect the rear from any shocks. The ongoing collectivization embittered the peasantry, and during the war it can do a lot of trouble for the Soviet government ”(Socialist‐Revolutionary, city of N [ovo] Siberian).
Head of SPO OGPU Molchanov
Operator Kagan
Correct:
Ass.. Secretary of the SPO OGPU Vesnovsky
Dispatched:
1) Menzhinsky; 2) Akulov; 3) Berry; 4) Balitsky; 5) Poskrebyshev (for Stalin); 6) Molotov; 7) Kaganovich; 8) Postyshev; 9) Rudzutaku; 10‐25) in the OGPU; 26‐47) to all PP OGPU; 48) in the case; 49‐50) in the department.
F. 2. Op. 10.D. 508.L. 53‐67. Certified copy .
Memorandum of the OGPU on the distribution of camp labor in the Far Eastern camps. April 27, 1932
Archive: F. 2. Op. 10.D. 20.L. 349‐351. Copy
April 27, 1932, No. 40297
Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) t. Stalin
Regarding the telegram of the secretary of the Far Eastern Regional Committee of the All‐Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Comrade Bergavinov, dated April 25, I inform you.
The Far Eastern camps currently contain 24,500 prisoners. 5,000 of them work on the Karymskaya‐Urusha line in accordance with the Central Committee resolution (removed from Bereznikikhimstroy). In May, it is planned to transfer 6 thousand prisoners to the Kolyma. Further transfer to the Kolyma, projected for June in the amount of 10 thousand people, will be coordinated with Comrade Berzin upon his arrival from Kolyma and when specifying the further needs of Dalstroy in manpower.
The remainder ‐ 3,500 prisoners ‐ will be used in the campʹs fisheries and economic enterprises (agricultural farms, tailors, shoemakers, etc.) serving the needs of the Far Eastern camp, and for fish ‐ and the needs of other camps.
In addition, in recent months, the camps at the DCK have undergone major economic shocks caused by their eviction from their premises and warehouses, which were occupied by the Red Army. The camps now have to rebuild and build, according to the assignments of the military intelligence, premises for the Red Army units.
It is not possible to send a new replenishment from other camps to the
Far East, since To fulfill the plan for the construction of the White SeaBaltic waterway, which has a labor shortage of over 20 thousand people, we have closed a number of camps, and the need of Belmorstroy has not yet been covered.
Comradeʹs proposal Bergavinov, I consider it completely wrong to entrust the krai with the distribution of the labor force in the camp for the following reasons.
1. Only the complete centralization of the management of the camps from Moscow allows the OGPU to transfer camp labor as quickly as possible, to organize and carry out, according to the Central Committee decrees, such major works as Belmorstroy, Ukhtinskaya oil, Pechora coals, supplying Moscow and Leningrad with fuel, building second tracks and a number of other works.
2. The camps are supplied in a centralized manner and work according to the industrial financial plan approved by the OGPU in Moscow. This procedure eventually made it possible to completely transfer the camps to self‐sufficiency and remove them from the state budget.
3. Granting the regional committees the right to distribute the labor force in the camp and fix it at their discretion in certain jobs will deprive the OGPU of the opportunity to maneuver not only unskilled labor, but also qualified (carpenters, masons, locksmiths, concrete workers, etc.), as well as specialists often employed in the field outside their specialty.
4. There are tendencies in the provinces to disperse our labor force into small divisions for small objects.
The OGPU does not always seek to place this workforce on laborintensive facilities, which makes it easier to organize, guard and provide security services to prisoners.
I ask you to indicate comrade. Bergavinov on non‐interference in the distribution of labor in the camp.
Deputy Chairman of the OGPU Yagoda
F. 2. Op. 10.D. 20.L. 349‐351. Copy .
Special report of the OGPU on the fight against hooliganism, homelessness and theft in transport for April‐August 1932 31 August 1932
Archive: F. 2. Op. 10.D. 360.L. 100‐104. Copy
August 31, 1932
Top Secret
Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) t. Stalin
I
With regard to the fight against hooliganism and homelessness in transport, the OGPU has done the following:
1. By rail. and waterways, mobile and stationary brigades from the rifle guard were organized with the involvement of party members and Komsomol members ‐ the railway. workers and employees, acting under the leadership of the OGPU workers, at individual stations, on trains, hauls, wharves ‐ a total of 873 brigades of 3‐5 people each.
2. In the points most affected by hooliganism, permanent barriers were set up ‐ 243.
3. The escort of passenger, fast and courier trains by armed teams of the NKPS and OGPU shooters was introduced in the areas most susceptible to hooliganism.
4. In order to combat hooliganism, a hooligan element in transport was detained ‐ during April‐August 49,045 people, of which: April ‐ 10,047, May ‐ 7287, June ‐ 7565, July ‐ 9379, August ‐ 14,777.
5. Detained homeless ‐ 13,122 people. Of these: April ‐ 1303 people, May ‐ 1271 people, June ‐ 1771 people, July ‐ 1092 people, August ‐ 7685.
6. Investigative cases were opened ‐ 2573. Of these: April ‐ 444, May ‐ 449, June ‐ 418, July ‐ 466, August ‐ 796.
7. The hooligans detained at the crime scene were brought to trial ‐ 3558 people. Of these: April ‐ 567, May ‐ 620, June ‐ 498, July ‐ 618, August ‐ 1255, incl. 640 people were arrested in August, including: for breaking glass and throwing stones at trains 67 people, for imposing obstacles on the track ‐ 11 people, for shutting off brake valves and stopping trains on the way 16 people, for beating train crews 181 people, for brawl at stations 340 people, for other manifestations ‐ 640 people.
8. Investigative cases have been completed and passed by jurisdiction ‐ 2184, with a total number of accused ‐ 3111 people. Of these, 407 cases were completed in August, 706 people were charged. Only 115 cases were considered in courts out of those referred to jurisdiction in August, and the rest are at the stage of judicial review. In the cases considered, sentences were passed (mostly forced labor from 3 months to a year and imprisonment in a concentration camp for up to three years).
9. Fines for violation of mandatory regulations of the NKPS (minor hooligan offenses) ‐ 118,085 people. Of these: April ‐ 10,972 people for 59,039 rubles, May ‐ 15,652 people for 78,291 rubles, June ‐ 18,078 people for 117,862 rubles, July ‐ 20,957 people for 84,756 rubles, August ‐ 52 426 people for 128,318 rubles.
10. Fined for travel without a ticket on the railway. and waterways ‐ 129,054 people. Of these: April ‐ 17 860 people for 109 365 rubles, May ‐ 29 274 people for 250 269 rubles, June ‐ 23 541 people for 142 362 rubles, July ‐ 26 147 people for 225 091 rubles, August ‐ 32 232 people for 289,712 rubles.
A characteristic result of the whole complex of measures taken by the OGPU to combat hooliganism and criminal elements in transport is a sharp decrease in the number of cases of baggage theft from passengers and pickpocketing in August. So, in April 1095 cases of theft of things from passengers were registered, in May ‐ 998, in June ‐ 1014, in July ‐ 1073, in August ‐ 548.
II
With regard to the fight against theft of cargo and luggage on the railways of the OGPU, the following has been done recently.
1.April 16 of this year A special summary drew the attention of the NKPS leadership to the need to strengthen the fight against embezzlement through the NKPS, for which the latter was recommended to implement a number of specific preventive measures (fencing stations, increasing lighting, eliminating depersonalization in the area, etc.). 2. Developed by:
a) Order No. 36 / s of April 23, issued under the joint signatures of the NKPS, the OGPU and the Central Committee of the Railway, which (after listing the reasons for the theft) invited road directors to take a number of organizational and technical measures to streamline the operation of stations and ensure safety of goods. By the same order, under the chairmanship of the head of the OGPU DTO and the head of the OGPU DTO, road and regional commissions for cleaning the personnel of transport workers associated with commercial operations were organized;
b) Order No. 753/624 / C of August 10, issued under the joint signatures of the OGPU and the NKPS, in which, in accordance with the Decree of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars of the USSR of August 7, on the protection of property of state enterprises and institutions of public (socialist) property, roads were again given a number of instructions to strengthen the fight against cargo theft.
On August 10, a directive was given to the local authorities of the OGPU TO strengthen work along the Chekist line, to speed up investigative cases, etc .;
c) Circular No. 229374 (to directors of roads, trade unions and chiefs of DTO OGPU), issued under the joint signatures of the NKPS, TO OGPU and the Central Committee of the railway.
The circular states that the orders of the NKPS on combating theft in terms of prevention of any of the network roads have not been fulfilled. Road directors were again asked to implement directives on fencing stations, enhancing their lighting, etc. with the expectation of completing all these measures no later than September 15.
In view of the inoperability of the commissions to combat theft in transport, organized in December 1931 and headed by the deputy. directors of roads and chiefs of districts, these commissions were reorganized and their leadership was entrusted to the chiefs of the
DTO OGPU and ODTO OGPU.
In recent months, the OGPU authorities have discovered and liquidated a number of large thievesʹ organizations on the roads of the network, systematically engaged in theft of baggage and cargo from cars, station warehouses and goods yards.
Arrested for embezzlement: in May ‐ 2,438 people, of whom [on] transport ‐ 939 people, others ‐ 1499 people, in June ‐ 1950 people, of whom [on] transport ‐ 761 people, others ‐ 1189 people, in July ‐ 1792 people, of them [on] transport ‐ 676 people, others ‐ 1116 people, in August ‐ 2108 people, of them [on] transport ‐ 1200 people, others ‐ 908 people. A total of 8288 people, of whom [on] transport ‐ 3576 people, others ‐ 4712 people.
Conducted investigative cases: in May ‐ 1130, in June ‐ 1241, in July ‐ 1357, in August ‐ 892. Total: 4620 cases.
Convicted on the basis of the conducted cases: in May ‐ 671 people, of them [on] transport ‐ 233 people, others ‐ 438 people; in June ‐ 963 people, of them [on] transport ‐ 325 people, others ‐ 638 people; in July ‐ 765 people, of them [on] transport ‐ 225 people, others ‐ 540 people; in August ‐ 433 people, of them [on] transport ‐ 232 people, others ‐ 201 people. A total of 2 832 people, of whom [on] transport ‐ 1015 people, others ‐ 1817 people.
Of those convicted in August, 43 people were sentenced to the highest measure of social protection ‐ execution, 86 people ‐ for 10 years, 17 ‐ for 8 years, 61 ‐ for 5 years, the rest ‐ from 3 years and below.
Theft in transport decreased in August compared to previous months. If in May 3596 cases of theft were registered, in June ‐ 3688 and in July ‐ 4202 cases, then on August 29, only 2469 cases were registered, which is 58% in relation to July.
In August, the percentage of disclosure of theft also improved, reaching 44.4%, while in the period from May to June it reached an average of 29%.
In conclusion, it should be noted that the punitive measures of the OGPU will not give exhaustive results in the sense of eliminating thefts in transport, if the NKPS and the Directorate of Roads do not fully carry out all the necessary preventive measures developed by the OGPU and included in the above orders and circulars.
It is equally necessary to truly mobilize the wider transport community to combat theft. Meanwhile, there are cases of the opposite order, when trade‐union organizations evade active participation in the fight against theft.
OGPU Chairman Menzhinsky
F. 2. Op. 10.D. 360.L. 100‐104. Copy .
Memorandum of the OGPU on the struggle of the OGPU bodies against speculation and the methods of work of speculators. November 17, 1932
Archive: F. 2. Op. 10.D. 21.L. 337‐340. Copy
November 17, 1932, No. 40611
Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) t. Stalin
As a result of the measures taken under the decree of 23 August this year. 30,000 speculators were arrested on the fight against speculation by the OGPU bodies. A number of numerous groups of professional speculators have been uncovered, carrying out speculative work on a large scale in an organized manner. In connection with the measures under the decree, speculators have moved from the initial tactics of direct action on the market to various methods of disguise, nevertheless retaining the desire to create groupings.
Analysis of investigative materials on speculation cases shows that speculators mainly practice the following methods.
1. Creation by professional speculators of special speculative organizations from among the former traders, kulaks and dispossessed people, as well as a criminal and declassified element. The investigation established that some organizations of speculators simultaneously covered a number of cities, having warehouse‐safe houses. Organizations made extensive use of mail‐order operations and, in some cases, completely seized queues at commercial stores.
In the Kostroma region, not a group of 28 former traders, speculators, and former white officers was engaged in systematic speculation in goods, bringing them in luggage from Moscow, Leningrad and other cities in an organized manner. During the liquidation, large stocks of flour, sugar, cereals and other products were discovered.
In Novosibirsk, a group of 45 former traders, disenfranchised kulaks, homeowners and other non‐working element was discovered who were engaged in the resale of flour and other products in the markets of Novosibirsk and other cities. Having drawn into the group of market weighers, the organizers, along with speculation, weighed the buyers; up to 7500 poods of flour passed through the group.
An organized group of 40 speculators discovered in Leningrad seized the queues at commercial stores, buying up and reselling the purchased goods and products.
The merchants of the Shirabad region [ayo] na (Central Asia), having contacted the Tashkent ones, systematically sent parcels with flour; of those arrested, two merchants testified that in the last two days before the arrest they had sent parcels with a total weight of up to 15 poods.
In the case of a speculative organization in Kazakhstan, it was established that the apartment of an Almaty speculator, a former major owner, was a storage and safe house for speculators who came from Irkutsk, Semipalatinsk, Tashkent, Frunze, Dzharkent and other [ugikh] cities, as well as a place of speculative deals.
1. Entry of speculators to work in the state and cooperative apparatus with the special purpose of performing their own speculative operations under the flag of the state apparatus and at its expense.
In the Inzenskiy region [ayo] not (SVK) 3 agents of the Zagotskot, all the former traders, using the official certificates they had in their hands due to the nature of their service, organized and systematically bought up large quantities of cattle for themselves personally and sold it on the speculative market. During the search, 41 fresh skins and 4 large carcasses of meat not yet sold were found.
A professional speculator, being hired in the Talas district office of Zagotskot (Central Asia) as a gurtoprav, when driving herds of cattle, bought livestock from farmers for himself and exchanged it for the best cattle of Zagotskot, then selling it at speculative prices.
In the Atbashi region (Central Asia), speculators, having acquired a horse and a cart and hired to work in state institutions as carters, simultaneously transported the products they personally bought for speculation. 16 poods were taken from the carters Torkhunov and Ibragimov during the arrest. lard and 2 poods. cow butter, which products were supposed to be sold in Frunze.
2. Bribery by speculators by giving bribes to employees of various state and cooperative organizations and obtaining from them various kinds
of false documents for the purpose of disguise.
The clerk of the Gorky Territorial Collective Farm Union for bribes systematically issued fictitious travel certificates to speculators as collective farmers for trips to Moscow, Astrakhan and other cities with a ʺsowingʺ mark, which helped the speculators to expand their work on a large scale.
The investigation into the cases of speculators established as a mass phenomenon that in the Lankaran, Astrakhan, Zuvand districts of Transcaucasia, speculators through many village councils and collective farms receive fictitious documents for bribes and with them openly act as collective farmers in bazaars.
When a speculator was detained in Ivanovo‐Voznesensk, a fictitious certificate from the air defense missile system of the Nizhny Novgorod Automobile Plant was found that he allegedly worked at the plant and was on vacation. The certificate was bought by a speculator from a kulak from the village. Chigaevo (Kineshemsky district), who has friends from the plant.
3. Speech by speculators in bazaars under the guise of owners of scales and carts, meat cutters, and also under the guise of cold shoemakers and locksmiths.
In Ivanovo‐Voznesensk, the former butcher‐traders, acting as meat cutters, held 90% of the market meat trade in their hands, not only cutting but also buying and selling meat.
In Saratov and Astrakhan, dealers‐speculators, a significant stratum, have wedged themselves into disabled artels and patronage organizations, which maintain tents for cutting and hanging meat in the markets. Officially holding the positions of cutters, speculators were simultaneously engaged in the purchase and sale of meat. In Leningrad, detained speculators systematically appeared at railway stations and markets under the guise of carts, weighers and locksmiths, buying up various kinds of products.
6. The transition under the influence of repressions from bazaars to speculation, mainly in apartments and to the traveling type of speculation.
Covering up his activities, the reseller of agricultural products does not take the goods to the market, but sells them to different apartments, most often to a certain contingent of buyers. So, 2 speculators arrested in Minsk bought agricultural products exclusively in their apartment, the products were delivered to them by peasants associated with them from the village. Purchased products were sold out by apartment.
West [hellish] Siberia. The speculator moved from the bazaar to apartments. Groceries are brought to his apartment, and he resells goods from the apartment or walking from apartment to apartment (Tomsk, Leninsk‐ [Kuznetskiy], Anzherka, Novosibirsk).
SVK. The speculators have transferred the purchase and sale deals to apartments and houses and, for the most part, have switched to the traveling type of speculation.
7. At the bazaars, speculators now operate mainly only with samples, negotiating only prices; products are bought by speculators most often directly in the villages, and the delivery of products by the peasants themselves to the apartments of the speculators is determined in advance.
So, in the BSSR at the collective farm bazaar in localities. Pleshchenitsy, a group of 6 speculators, now liquidated, having agreed with the peasants to stop trading in the bazaars and to deliver food directly from the village to certain addresses, they launched speculation.
A group of Samara speculators of 4 people, buying livestock from villages, sent it to Samara through peasants from whom livestock was purchased, through them the slaughter of livestock was carried out, as well as the sale of meat both in bazaars and in commercial canteens.
A group of kulaks of the Uninsky district (Gorky Territory), who fled from dispossession, bought manufactured goods at the bazaars through the collective farmers, and through the collective farmers, in the exchange of goods, they bought agricultural products in the villages and through them sold them in the markets.
Deputy Chairman of the OGPU Yagoda
Head of ECU OGPU Mironov, F. 2. Op. 10.D. 21.L. 337‐340. Copy.