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Review of the political state of the USSR
Review of the political state of the USSR in November 1928
Top secret
December 1928
Moscow city
At the same time, an overview of the political state of the USSR for November 1928 is being transmitted. The review is compiled on the basis of data from the Information, Secret and Eastern departments of the OGPU.
This survey, in view of its top‐secret nature, should be kept on par with the code. Making copies and making extracts is not allowed in any case.
The PP of the OGPU and the heads of the provincial and regional departments of the OGPU can give an overview for reading to the secretaries of the regional committees, provincial committees, regional committees and the Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b).
When reviewing 6 applications and one table.
Deputy Chairman of the OGPU Trilisser
Head of the Information Department of the OGPU Alekseev
WORKERS
Food difficulties
In November, the situation with the supply of bread (compared to October) improved in a number of industrial provinces of the Central Region (Ivanovo‐Voznesenskaya, Nizhegorodskaya, Tverskaya), as well as in Leningrad and some cities of the North Caucasus (with the exception of Vladikavkaz and Temryuk of the Kuban
District). However, in the second half of November, in a number of industrial regions, the situation with the supply of grain deteriorated markedly. A significant aggravation occurred in Tula, Kazan, Votsk region, in the Urals, in Kiev, Lugansk, Sevastopol, Tiflis (queues are established from 2 am), Armenia (Allaverdi enterprises, Erivan). There are also interruptions in a number of non‐industrial cities ‐ Pochep, Starodub, Karachev, Bryansk province, Chernigov, Vladikavkaz (queues of 300 people), Kerch, Simferopol, Temryuk, Gori
(Transcaucasia). In early December, there was a sharp deterioration in the supply of bread in Baku (lines of 400‐500 people), Kharkov and in mid‐December in Moscow (lines for bread from 200 to 600 people). In a number of districts there are interruptions in the supply of cereals, animal and vegetable oil (Ural, Tver, Bryansk) and in some districts there is a shortage of vegetables. Due to the lack of products in
cooperation, workers are forced to partially purchase products from a private owner. Discontent is exacerbated by rising food prices in the private market. In Nizhny Novgorod in recent months milk from 12 kopecks. increased in price to 35 kopecks. per liter, animal oil from 80 kopecks. up to 1 rub. 50 kopecks per pound, eggs from 30 kopecks. up to 70 kopecks for ten, etc. There is no sunflower oil in the cooperation, private traders sell for 1 ruble. 60 kopecks per pound. The price of semibrittle flour on the market reaches 20 rubles. for a pood. In IvanovoVoznesensk, potatoes are sold on the market for 1 ruble. 80 kopecks per measure320, in cooperation ‐ 96 kopecks. (potatoes are often not available in cooperatives). In Luhansk, 80% milled wheat flour is sold at the market for 6 rubles. for a pood. On the basis of supply disruptions, there is talk among workers about the need to introduce a rationing system to resolve the issue of food (Kharkov, Kiev, Moscow). In the Urals, due to industrial difficulties in November, there were two strikes of seasonal workers: 90 workers of the Chernoistochensky forestry (Tagil district) and 100 workers of the Rykov (Verkhne‐Kamsky district).
Collective agreement campaign
By the end of November, the mass explanatory work on the part of the trade organizers for a number of enterprises in industrial regions had not yet begun, meetings of workers at enterprises to discuss collective agreements were sporadic, and attendance at meetings by workers was low. As a result of the missed deadlines, the campaign to renegotiate collective agreements may coincide with the re‐election of the Soviets, which will complicate the work.
It is characteristic that for some enterprises (Ukraine) by December with. even the question of the implementation of the old collective agreements has not yet been worked out.
At the first meetings to discuss collective agreements (Moscow), certain groups of workers showed tendencies to seek a general mechanical increase in wages.
Oppositionists are very active, fanning this kind of sentiment in every possible way (campaigning in workshops, speaking at meetings, making proposals to amend the collective agreement, distributing leaflets dedicated to the collective agreement campaign).
Enterprises in Moscow and Moscow province. The explanatory campaign on the new treaty hardly started. The lack of clarification contributes to the spread of rumors among workers about the ʺproposed cut in wages.ʺ In some enterprises, where the new collective agreement was discussed, the opposition was very active.
At three enterprises, in separate shops, proposals from the opposition were accepted to include a clause on increasing wages in the new collective agreement.
At the plant them. Frunze (Aviatrest) accepted the oppositionʹs proposal to increase the salary by 15%.
At the plant ʺHammer and Sickleʺ (Mashinotrest) in the rope shop, the proposal of the local oppositionist to achieve a mechanical increase in wages throughout the plant was unanimously accepted; the factory [trust] Moskvoshvey at a general meeting adopted amendments to the collective agreement proposed by the opposition (to establish a 3‐week vacation, to introduce payment for downtime of the conveyor according to average earnings, etc.). Out of 90 party members, 30 were present at the meeting. Opposition leaflets demanding an increase in wages were distributed to 50 enterprises in Moscow and the province in connection with the renegotiation of collective agreements.
Movement among printmaker engravers. Among the engravers of the print factories (formerly Tsindel) them. Sverdlov and
Krasnopresnenskie manufactories, in connection with the forthcoming collective agreement, a connection was established in order to achieve an increase in wages.
Ukrainian enterprises. The preparatory work for the collective agreement campaign at the enterprises has not yet been carried out.
At the Metallurgical Plant. Frunze (Yugostal Combine, Artyomovsk District) due to the lack of clarification of the new collective agreement, the workers say: “Our business executives and trade unions have received directives, but for some reason they do not conduct explanatory work, but are working on it in their offices; Communists always decide all sorts of questions themselves, so that the workers do not know. ʺ No work is being carried out either at the Donuglya Horlivka machine‐building plant, at the Maria mine of the Gorlovka mining administration, in the workshops named after Dombalya (Kiev district) and a number of others.
For a number of enterprises, the question of fulfilling the old collective agreements has not yet been worked out, only at the end of November the workers of the largest enterprises began to get acquainted with the materials of the commission.
At SEZ No. 1 (Kharkiv), only on November 22, copies of the minutes of the meeting of the commission of the factory committee on working out the old collective agreement were distributed among the shops, the administration of the SEZ did not enforce 17 points of the old agreement. At KhPZ, the elaboration of the old contract was also not completed by the end of November.
At some enterprises, workers demand that a new collective agreement be included in a special clause on checking the implementation of the collective agreement 3‐4 times a year (Marty Shipyard ‐ Odessa, GEZ ‐ Kharkov, etc.).
At a number of large enterprises, individual groups of workers intend to put forward a demand for higher wages, linking this demand with the rise in prices for essential products (factories named after Petrovsky, named after Dzerzhinsky, named after Voroshilov).
In some cases, there is talk among workers about the need to introduce a clause in the new collective agreement that would provide for a periodic change in wages depending on market prices.
At the plant them. Marty (Odessa) at shop meetings on the issue of checking the old agreement, it was proposed to conclude a collective agreement not for a year, but for a shorter period: “Prices on the market are increasing every day, but the collective agreement is concluded for a year, and during this year prices rise by several times, and earnings remain unchanged. We must return to the commodity ruble 321”.
Some groups of skilled workers, in order to obtain higher wages under the new collective agreement, apply collectively to the factory and to the factory management demanding an increase in prices. At the plant them. Lenin (Dnepropetrovsk District), a group of skilled workers in order to pave the way for receiving a raise under the new collective agreement are submitting collective applications to analyze various conflicts related to prices. These same groups of workers deliberately lower labor productivity in order to create an idea among the administration and trade‐union organizers ʺabout the impossibility of fulfilling the existing production rate, than to exclude the possibility of increasing the rate.ʺ
At the Yugostal plant ʺAʺ in Mariupol, a group of muftorezov of the pipe shop agreed to deliberately reduce labor productivity. This group began to produce only 10 couplings instead of 15‐20. One party member in a group of workers said: ʺIf we wanted to, we would make more couplings, but what the hell is this work for us, when the new collective agreement is on the nose and the norms will be increased even furtherʺ
...
At the majority of enterprises, workers are dissatisfied with the trade unionists in connection with their weak work. There is talk about the need ʺin the upcoming collective agreement campaign to achieve and defend their demands before the plant management, not counting on the support of the factory committee.ʺ
At the Metallurgical Plant. Frunze, among the groups of workers, conversations take place: “The business executives will fool us. If only it doesnʹt work our way, we will send our delegate to the All‐Union Central Council of Trade Unions with a complaint, otherwise our factory committee has sung with the business executives and is no good at all. ʺ At the Yugostal plant A, in the pipe shop, workers declared: ʺIt is necessary to disperse the factory to hell, for a company has assembled there that does not defend the interests of the workers.ʺ
In some cases, workersʹ dissatisfaction is used by the opposition, raising the issue of a general increase in wages.
At the plant ʺKrasny Pakharʺ N9 2 (Kiev district), the oppositionist is conducting preparatory work among groups of workers for a speech during the discussion of a new collective agreement. This oppositionist is campaigning for ʺthe need to achieve an increase in earnings at all costs.ʺ He also points out to the workers that ʺat the present time it is impossible to speak freely at meetings, that there is a clampdown everywhere,ʺ and so on.
In other regions, the collective agreement campaign is in the same position as in Moscow and Ukraine.
On Leningrad, explanatory work has hardly begun and the elaboration of the collective agreement will not be completed by the scheduled date. For a significant number of factories and plants, the collective agreement is expected to be extended for various periods, and only special agreements will be concluded to clarify the wording of certain clauses of the old agreements. According to the Union of Metalworkers, it is planned to extend the collective agreement for 33 out of 55 enterprises (the collective agreement will be renegotiated for the largest associations ‐ Mashtrest, Sudotrest, GET, etc.). The clarification of the new collective agreement for the Ivanovo‐Voznesensk enterprises is poorly carried out. Particularly strong discontent is noted among groups of workers who, with the introduction of the new tariff guide, will not have a raise in their wages (workers of machine shops and engravers).
The tendency to demand higher wages in connection with the rise in prices for essential products was noted among the workers of the Bryansk province. (enterprises of the Fokinsky factory district).
Strikes and conflicts at enterprises
In November, the majority of conflicts were noted among textile workers. 16 strikes with 1723 participants and 2 ʺItaliansʺ, in October ‐ 10 strikes with 686 participants and 1 ʺItalianʺ, among metalworkers in November there were only 4 strikes with 1442 participants. The reasons for strikes and conflicts at textile factories are the same as in October (a decrease in wages due to production discrepancies, dissatisfaction with the transition to a 7‐hour working day, an increased number of machines and parties, and dissatisfaction with the layoff).
Conflicts in connection with a decrease in wages due to a lack and deterioration in the quality of raw materials at the Leningrad factories. Conflicts in connection with fluctuations in wages, due to the lack and deterioration of the quality of raw materials, took place at a number of Leningrad factories. Groups of workers demanded an increase in prices, linking this demand also with the rise in prices for essential goods and an increase in rent.
A major strike took place at the Spinning and Weaving Factory named after Anisimova. In the weaving department of this mill, wages were reduced by 4‐8% due to interruptions in the supply of raw materials and poor yarn quality. Dissatisfaction intensified in connection with the rise in prices for essential products and an increase in rent. The administration and the factory organizations did not make a corresponding explanation. And as a result, on November 26, a strike broke out, involving over 1,200 workers‐weavers. At party members, Komsomol members and non‐party members who continued to work, the strikers threw tarsus 322, beat on the hands, threatened to maim, tore the base (6 shuttles were damaged, bolts were laid in 3 looms, a bolt was thrown at the floor foreman, a weaver, a member of the CPSU, pushed away from the looms, etc.). Despite this, the party members and Komsomol members did not leave the machine tool shop. Those who arrived at the factory at 9 oʹclock. In the morning, the director and secretary of the collective of the All‐Union Communist Party began to convince the workers to start work. The workers flatly refused and turned down the administrationʹs offer to select delegates to discuss the issue. Then the administration decided to call a meeting of workers in shift ʺBʺ at 2 oʹclock. at the factory club in order to prevent communication between this shift and the incoming shift ʺAʺ. But some workers came out against this: ʺWe will not go to the club, but wait for the second shift.ʺ However, most of the workers went to the club, while some remained in the shop. The meeting opened at 3 oʹclock. day. The speakers spoke out sharply against the administration. To prevent the evening shift from reaching the meeting, security was posted at the gate. The day shift workers who remained in the shop did not allow the evening shift to stand at the machines, and, just as in the morning, they forcibly removed the party members and Komsomol members. The workers tried to beat the Komsomol secretary who was in the shop, and he fled. Then the evening shift went to the club, and there was a dump at the club ‐ they began to beat the guards and party members, the gates were broken and part of them broke into the club. As a result, at the suggestion of the working day shift, it was allowed to let all the workers go to the meeting (up to 1200 people gathered), the meeting was stormy, representatives of the Union and the trust were prevented from speaking. The meeting lasted four hours and ended with a resolution to elect a commission to resolve the issue no later than December 1. In the evening shift “A” chose their representatives to the commission. On the next day, workersʹ shifts ʺBʺ at first refused to select representatives, but then they allocated delegates. Groups of workers gave the delegates a mandate: 1) to demand the dismissal of pom. head of the weaving shop (member of the CPSU, promoted323), 2) dismiss the chairman of the regional union of textile workers, 3) demand an indiscriminate increase in workersʹ salaries. After the meeting, the weaving shop was put into operation and about 65% of the workers started to work ‐ kits with more party members; about 200 people did not start work. Work in the shop went sluggishly, a number of female workers did nothing until the end of the working day, and when the director asked why they wouldn’t start up the machines, they answered: “We’re afraid they might hit and throw something in the head from behind.” At present, there is talk among weavers of an impending strike in December.
In connection with the strike at the factory. Anisimov, at neighboring factories (factory ʺKrasny Mayakʺ), there was talk about the need to also demand higher prices. At the f‐ke them. Nogin On November 30, delegates from spinners came to the factory with a complaint about ʺproduction discrepanciesʺ (poor quality of raw materials, lack of auxiliary materials). The workers said: ʺAs you can see, things are moving towards the fact that we will have to stop the machines and only then, perhaps, they will add.ʺ
A number of conflicts have also been noted at Moscow textile factories. On December 7, at the Ustinskaya silk‐winding factory of Shelkotrest (Moscow), a group of workers (70 people) of the winding shop stopped working. The striking workers were joined by 200 workers of the silk‐spinning shop. The reason for the strike was a decrease in wages (from 52 rubles to 40‐42 rubles a month). A Jewish worker who spoke out against the strike was beaten. At the Krasnopresnenskaya Trekhgornaya convent, under the influence of the oppositionistʹs agitation, they ʺItalianizedʺ people. These workers intend to demand the establishment of a firm rate of output and extra work.
The transition to a 7‐hour day and a hard work. At the factory of the Bolshaya Dmitrovsky district (Gostrest, Ivanovo‐Voznesensk province), there was a sharp discontent of workers in connection with the transition to a 7‐hour working day and a packed job. The meeting on this issue of the weaving and spinning departments of both shifts was stormy. Most of the speakers opposed the transition to the Quartet 324, indicated that the equipment was worn out. The appeal of one water‐girl not to switch to a dense work was met with loud applause. At a meeting of the first shift after a speech by one weaver: ʺIf the foreign workers knew what kind of violence we have, they would not fight for such freedom, we must arrange a general meeting of both shifts,ʺ exclamations were heard: ʺClose the meeting and arrange a general meeting. ʺ The meeting was disrupted and no decision was made. At the meeting of the second shift, the resolution on the transition to a 7‐hour working day was adopted, but the question of the compacted work, the workers insistently demanded to vote; the director and representatives of the factory committee hushed up the issue and did not put it to a vote, declaring the meeting closed. In connection with the created situation at the factory, the administration decided to postpone the transfer of workers to a 7‐hour working day for an indefinite period and put the issue up for discussion by the party organizations. So far, 65 party members and Komsomol members out of 1,300 workers have agreed to the transition to a 7‐hour working day. At the Krasnoye Znamya factory (Moscow Gubernia), which switched to a 7‐hour working day back in March, a systematic decrease in wages was observed among groups of workers. The FZK and RKK received a number of collective statements from disgruntled workers demanding a revision of prices. In the Staro‐Srednyaya factory, a group of anti‐Soviet spinners collected signatures on a request to revise prices, campaigning for a strike if their demands were not met. On November 23, during the work of the 3rd shift, a group of spinners (35 people) from the Old Factory came to the workshop with an ultimatum demand to revise the salary. Members of the FZK and the administration were summoned for negotiations, and it was decided to convene shop meetings to discuss the issue.
Dissatisfaction with the transition to a packed job. At three factories
(Glukhovskaya named after Lenin ‐ Moscow, factories named after Bela Kun and ʺRabochyʺ ‐ Leningrad), dissatisfaction with the compaction of work was noted. On two occasions, the issue of compaction at meetings was rejected. The issue was poorly worked out not only among non‐party people, but even among party members, in this regard, some party members opposed the consolidated work. At the Glukhovsky factory them. Leninʹs dissatisfaction with the workers at the meeting was especially aggravated after the speech of the oppositionist, who declared that ʺthe transition to 4 machines is not the emancipation of the working class, but an even greater enslavement.ʺ Individual party members also opposed the transition to an increased number of machines. As a result, only 15 people voted for the transition to 4 machines at the meeting, the rest voted against. Another meeting was disrupted. It was decided to put the issue at the conference on December 8, 9 and 12. At the f‐ke them. Bela Kuna at the meeting of shift ʺBʺ weavers did not reach an agreement on the transition from one to two looms. The party members present at the meeting almost did not speak. The chairman of the production meeting (a member of the CPSU) even supported the workers who objected to the transition to two machines. The transition to compacted work will be done gradually. At the factory ʺRabochiyʺ some anti‐Soviet persons are agitating for the fact that it is necessary to force them to abandon the dense work. The female workers are opposed to the Komsomol members who have already started to work on a denser scale.
Dissatisfaction with staff cuts. In two textile factories, sharp discontent was associated with the ongoing reduction of workers. At the Arzhenskaya Cloth Factory named after ʺRed Armyʺ (Rasskazovo) at a meeting of the trade union (attended by 600 workers) the resolution ʺon the need to reduceʺ was voted twice: the first time 11 people voted for the resolution, the second ‐ 30. The majority of the party members did not take part in the voting. which was attended by up to 100 people. The director received two anonymous letters threatening murder. In the lavatory of the factory there were inscriptions: ʺWe will soon strangle the communists.ʺ In a number of shops, labor productivity fell sharply. Under the influence of the agitation of one female worker, a group of 50 female workers quit their jobs in the dumping shop (did not work for 20 minutes). The administration of the factory, assuming the possibility of damage to machines from the downsized, decided to put a guard near valuable cars from the most class‐conscious non‐party workers and members of the CPSU; in addition, it was decided to place paramilitary guards in the engine room. Most of the party members, fearing to aggravate relations with the workers, do not dare to defend the proposals of the party collective at meetings and conferences convened on the issue of layoffs. Guild cells do not enjoy authority among the workers, as a result of which they are unable to raise production discipline among the workers. The majority of laid‐off workers and women workers (it is planned to lay off 190 people) apply to the factory to leave them at work. Only 20 workers came for the calculation. At the Yuzhskaya f‐ke (IvanovoVoznesensk factories) 330 workers are to be laid off. Workersʹ dissatisfaction with layoffs is exploited by some anti‐Soviet individuals, agitating against the party and the government. No clarification is maintained by the factory organizations.
The strike of workers of the Podolsk steam locomotive plant (Moscow) on the basis of delayed wages. On November 6, factory workers went on strike (out of 1,430 workers, 1,330 workers left their machines) due to a temporary delay in wages. Didnʹt work for 3 hours. The strike was liquidated after the money was given out.
The mood of the unemployed
The mood of the unemployed in November, due to the almost universal cessation of seasonal and public works and a significant increase in the number of unemployed (mainly due to the influx from the countryside), is tense. During the month of November in Nizhny Novgorod, Leningrad and Ukraine, there were protests and conflicts among the unemployed. It should be noted that the direct reason for these speeches was abuse or insufficiently clear work on the part of the labor exchange apparatus. Especially large‐scale abuses are noted on Ukrainian labor exchanges. Recently, based on the materials of the GPU of the Ukrainian SSR, they were brought to justice for protectionism, bribery, compulsion to sexual cohabitation, etc. employees of the 6 largest labor exchanges (Stalin, Dnepropetrovsk, Kamenskaya, Odessa and Kharkov ‐ two exchanges).
Mass demonstration of the unemployed at the Nizhny Novgorod
Labor Exchange. On November 14, at the Vyksa Labor Exchange (Nizhny Novgorod), 800 unemployed, being dissatisfied with the list for sending to work (protectionism flourishes at the exchange),
destroyed the list, broke into exchange building, kicked out the labor inspector, trying to beat him, and the police. The head of the exchange was forced to hide. There was an attempt to beat a member of the regional committee of metalworkers who had appeared at the exchange.
Riots at the Leningrad labor exchanges. On November 5, the committee of the Leningrad Labor Exchange decided to conduct classes before the October holidays on November 6 only until 12 noon. and only send to work. District exchanges learned about this decision only by the end of classes on November 5. On November 6, the unemployed, without being informed about the order of work, came in significant numbers to the stock exchanges. Unemployed in Ostrovskaya, Volodarskaya and
The Moscow‐Narva labor exchanges demanded that they be allowed into the building of the exchanges. Unemployed people, trying to get on the stock exchange, climbed over the fence. There were attempts to break down the exchange doors. The unemployed threatened to beat the exchange workers. The militia with great difficulty kept the pressure of the unemployed.
The mood of the unemployed at the Kiev Labor Exchange. The mood of the unemployed at the Kiev Labor Exchange is extremely unsatisfactory. Daily registration of new arrivals reaches 40‐45 people. The percentage of sending to work is insignificant. At meetings of the unemployed (in November), the speakers were not allowed to speak, they were interrupted by shouts: ʺDonʹt lie, Soviet priestʺ, ʺwe donʹt believe you.ʺ Notes of an anti‐Soviet and oppositional character were submitted: ʺHow long will the CPSU exist?ʺ ʺWhy Trotsky was driven outʺ 325... There were attacks against the trade unions (Soviet trade workers): ʺOnly swindlers and anti‐Semites sit on the board of the Union.ʺ Some unemployed (builders) spoke in favor of providing the hiring of labor to the employers themselves, ʺand we need the agency for cultural purposes.ʺ The tense mood of the unemployed is exacerbated by the protectionism noted at the labor exchange.
The mood of the demobilized. On November 15, a group of unemployed demobilized servicemen in Moscow wrote an application addressed to Comrade Kalinin with the requirement to provide work. The demobilized men threatened to organize a demonstration if their demands were not met. Subsequently, another 50 people signed the statement. The tense mood of the demobilized is noted at the Nikolaev and Konstantinovskaya labor exchanges.
PEASANTRY
Prodzones
Consuming band. The situation with grain supply in November in the LVO worsened significantly. The severity of grain difficulties, which was softened by the gathering of a new crop, is intensifying again. The situation has somewhat improved in the Novgorod District, where there are 2‐week stocks.
The issue of grain supply is especially acute in the Pskov and partly in the Velikie Luki districts, where a number of districts have been exposed to natural disasters (hail and soaking). So, in the Pskov Okrug, in 5 districts that were subjected to hail damage, about 5000 dessiatins were affected, and 14 village councils examined by the government commission were recognized as injured by 100%.
In regions with poor harvests, most of the low‐powered middle peasants and the poor no longer have their own bread. In the border areas of the Pskov district, 33% of farms do not have their own bread. The same situation is observed in the border region of Sebezhsky (Velikie Luki District), where about 15,000 people also do not have their own bread. In November, only 2 wagons of rye and 6 wheat flour were delivered to the Sebezh region. The delivery of bread to lean and flaxgrowing regions (Novgorodsky, Velikoluksky, Borovichsky and Pskovsky) is insufficient. Delivery plans are not being implemented.
So, in the first half of November, the Borovichi District received 16% of the planned delivery according to the plan, and the Pskov District ‐ 22%. In the Luga district, the overwhelming mass of the peasantry is eating up the last grain reserves. Of the 41 carriages scheduled for delivery in November (which would satisfy only 25% of the actual needs of the population), only 33 carriages and 4 carriages specially for conscripts were delivered on November 21. When distributing the bread received among the rural population, the population of the border regions was first of all satisfied, and then in a minimum amount. In the Pskov district, low‐powered middle peasants and the poor of the Opochetsk, Novorzhevsky, Novoselkovsky,
Krasnogorodsky and Pushkinsky districts are in a particularly difficult situation, where the established ration of 13.4 pounds per farm per month is given not to all the poor, but only to parts, recognized as the most needy. In a number of regions, peasants refuse to sell raw flax (fiber and seed) until the grain supply situation improves. In the Moshensky and Opochetsky districts of the Borovichi district, V. Velizhsky and Usvyatsky districts of the Velikie Luki district, cases were recorded when the peasants who brought flax to the cooperative, without receiving the manufacture and bread, took the flax back home. In connection with the aggravation of food difficulties and the lack of basic food products, prices for them have increased significantly and speculation has intensified. The economic situation of the poor and low‐power middle peasants has deteriorated greatly. Surrogates are used for food, on the basis of which diseases began (Pskov District). In the Krasnogorodsky, Palkinsky, Opochetsky districts of the Pskov district, several cases of swelling of people from hunger were recorded. The sale of livestock due to lack of bread and lack of feed is becoming widespread. Livestock prices fell dramatically. A cow is sold for 3‐4 poods of bread (Novorzhevsky district of the Pskov district). In the Velikie Luki and Pskov districts, isolated cases of production by the poor were registered, with the participation of workers of the grassroots apparatus, general searches and confiscation of grain (see Appendix [N9 1]). Kulaks and anti‐Soviet elements are using food difficulties to intensify anti‐Soviet pogrom agitation (“letʹs go to the city to smash warehouses”, Pskov district). In the presence of great difficulties in the supply of grain, this agitation enjoys success among a section of the middle peasantry. For the month of November in the Leningrad region. 5 mass anti‐Soviet demonstrations were registered with the number of participants from 50 to 150 people (on the basis of industrial difficulties). In the village. The floodplain of the Loknovsky village council of the Pskov district, a crowd of peasants shouting ʺbeat him, the antichrist, he is full,ʺ tried to beat a passing border guard. The border guard barely managed to leave. In the Pskov district in the October days, two counter‐revolutionary leaflets were found on the issue of food difficulties. One of them ended with the words: ʺYou give the king, freedom and bread.ʺ
Yaroslavl, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod, Ivanovo‐Voznesensk, Kostroma and Kaluga provinces.
In the Yaroslavl, Vladimir and
Nizhny Novgorod provinces, the situation with grain supply has improved somewhat due to the strengthening of the delivery of grain products. The peasantry of Vladimir Gubernia, frightened by the grain crisis, despite some improvements in grain supply in November, strives to provide themselves with insurance supplies of grain through cooperatives, even with a reserve of grain for 1‐2 months. Cooperatives are unable to meet the increased demand on the part of peasants at least to a minimum, which partly explains the continuing interruptions in the supply of grain through cooperatives. In the Ivanovo‐Voznesensk, Tver, Kostroma and Kaluga provinces, the situation with the grain supply is tense.
In the Ivanovo‐Voznesensk province. bread is baked by the majority of the population with an admixture of oatmeal, cake, etc. The distribution of EPO bread does not exceed 8 kg per share per month, and in some EPO it does not exceed 4 kg. Sacking and speculation in bread significantly increased. There are massive cases of people leaving for bread in the Lower Volga region. A similar situation is observed in the Smolensk province.
Kaluga lips. Supply of Kaluga lips. bread products deteriorated sharply. Bread is sold to the rural population only in exceptional cases by a special resolution of the PEC according to the lists drawn up by the village councils. In many areas, bread surrogates are used for food, which cause stomach diseases. Bagging develops on the basis of the food crisis. Prices for bakery products have increased significantly (16 kg of rye flour on the market cost 6‐8 rubles, wheat flour ‐ 10‐12 rubles). The mood of the poor and middle peasants is deteriorating due to the aggravation of the food crisis. There is an exacerbation of relations between the poor and the middle peasantry. In some villages, the middle peasants made proposals ʺto immediately liquidate the poor (in the sense of depriving them of any privileges whatsoever), to give out grain to everyone under mutual responsibility.ʺ Among the middle peasants
Ukraine. In the southern steppe districts of the Ukrainian SSR (AMSSR, Odessa, Nikolaevsk), the situation with grain supply remains tense. In with. Suvorovka of Tegulo‐Berezansky district of the Odessa district, in connection with the refusal to issue food rations to peasants with horses, there is a massive sale of horses. The village has 40% of the last yearʹs number of horses. In a number of districts, the poor found themselves in a particularly difficult situation; they were taken out of supply through the consumer cooperatives in view of their assignment to public works, the payment for which is made in kind ‐ bread. Since all the poor did not get to work, it turned out that some of them were completely removed from the supply. Dissatisfaction with such disturbances is used by the kulaks to conduct anti‐Soviet agitation.
In the work of the bodies in charge of supplying the poor, a number of shortcomings were noted, such as: the issuance of rations to those who do not need those who have their own reserves, the use by workers of the lower apparatuses of their official position to receive extra rations for themselves, etc. In connection with the intensification of food difficulties, an increase in anti‐Semitism was noted (ʺthe Jewish government brought us to death, and itself lives well in the citiesʺ) and anti‐Soviet activity of the kulaks, provoking mass demonstrations. In with. Glinnoe, Slobodovsky District, AM SSR, a group of women under the influence of anti‐Soviet elements went to the cooperative, intending to conduct a search in order to confiscate bread, shouting: ʺUnder Nikolai it was better, let Nikolai be again, give us a tsar.ʺ
North Caucasus. In November, the situation with grain supply in some districts worsened (Maikop, Stavropol districts, etc.). In this regard, the political mood of the poor has worsened, and there has been increased talk about the need for call centers, etc. In some districts, local authorities were forced to introduce a rationing system for grain supply. In the Black Sea region in the Crimean region, a rationing system was introduced by the resolution of the RIK from November 1. A rationing system has also been introduced in the Stavropol District. The lack of bread among the population in some villages causes depressive moods (Stavropol and Kuban districts). These sentiments sometimes capture the workers of the grassroots Soviet apparatus. Among the latter, there is confusion and a desire to relieve themselves of Soviet duties during the re‐election of the village council. “I look forward to the re‐election of the village council, otherwise Iʹm afraid,
Grain procurement
Grain procurement progress. The rate of grain procurement in November lags significantly behind the October one. In all procurement areas, the monthly procurement plan has not been fulfilled. However, it should be noted that the sixth five‐day period gives an increase in workpieces. In the Central Black Earth Region, the monthly plan was fulfilled only in the amount of 55%, NWO ‐ 80%, NVKrai ‐ 47%, in the Urals ‐ 69%, SKK ‐ 97% and Siberia ‐ 61%. In the NWO, NVKrai, Ukraine and the NCC, procurements are mainly due to secondary crops of spring and oil crops (buckwheat, barley, corn, sunflower, etc.) with a decrease in the procurement of wheat and rye.
In addition to the lack of roads that followed after the last rains with subsequent frosts, which was one of the reasons for the weak supply of bread to state aid posts, the progress of grain procurements was negatively influenced by: bread in the private market; 2) the continuing vigorous activity of private traders and bagmen, disorganizing the grain market; 3) the growing speculation in bread by the kulakprosperous strata of the countryside; and 4) malicious adherence to bread by the fists and the wealthy. In addition, it should be noted that the insufficient delivery of the necessary manufactured goods to the procurement areas, mainly manufactories, leather goods, as well as consumer goods: salt, sugar, kerosene, etc., continues to negatively affect workpiece travel. The supply of contracted and purchased standing bread also remains slow (see Appendix [No. 1]).
Price gap. In the Central Black Earth Region and Ukraine, the difference in bread prices between the procurement and private markets continues to grow. So, in the Central Black Earth Region in the Kursk, Lgovsk, and Belgorod districts, the price of a pood of rye flour rose to 3 rubles. ‐ 3 rubles. 50 kopecks, wheat ‐ up to 6 rubles, in some places (town of Sudzha, Lgovskiy district) reaching 10‐12 rubles. for a pood. In the Kupyansk District (Ukraine), the price of flour is growing progressively. Flour of 80% was ground, which cost 3 rubles on November 1. 50 kopecks per pood, by November 15 rose to 4 rubles. 50 kopecks and by November 21 ‐ 5 rubles. 50 kopecks In the Artyomovsk district and the AMSSR, mainly in the Dnipropetrovsk regions, the price of wheat reaches 5 rubles. per pood, rye ‐ up to 3 rubles. Baked
bread in these areas is priced from 17 to 25 kopecks. per pound. A slight decrease in prices is observed only in Priluksky, Poltava and Cherkassky districts (Ukraine).
Activities of private traders and bagmen the disorganizing activity of the private trader and the bag traders continues to take place in Ukraine, in the NWO, NVKrai, SKK and TsChO, disrupting in places planned blanks. A small private trader‐speculator, appearing on the grain market mainly under the guise of a bagman, a needy city dweller or peasant, continues to withdraw a significant amount of grain from the grain market, contributing to the rise in prices for bakery products. In Alchey (Pugachevsky district of NV Krai), the grain market is in the hands of private traders arriving from Kazakstan and disrupting planned procurements. On November 6, up to 8000 poods were brought to the market. bread, which was all purchased by a private owner. In NVKrae, in order to export an unlimited amount of grain, private traders and bagmen resort to various fraudulent methods: they buy several dozen passenger tickets and luggage (6‐10 poods each) for a ticket are sent up the Volga, they send bribed persons to mills to grind purchased grain for flour, bribe poor people who have certificates of need for bread, on whose behalf they hand over bread as luggage, etc. In the Tambov, Yeletsk, Kozlovsk and other districts of the Central Black Earth Region, there is a progressively increasing influx of bagmen, coming mainly from the Kaluga, Bryansk and Ryazan provinces. In the Borisoglebsk district (the village of Shchuchʹi), bagmen come on horseback in 10‐15 carts, on average 100 carts a day, and take off all the bread, due to which the flow of bread to the distribution points has almost stopped. In Khvalynsk (Volsky district of the NWK), private traders who buy up bread in large quantities from peasants, grind it into flour and take it to other cities. Over the past month, non‐patent merchants have ground over 2000 poods at a mill in Khvalynsk. bread and taken to other areas.
In the Kuban District (SKK), the influx of bread buyers through the stations has been increasing recently. Bread is purchased in large quantities and exported to towns and villages, where it is sold at speculative prices.
The same is also observed in the Armavir and Donskoy districts (SKK). Only in the Syzran District (SVO) the influx of sackers has significantly decreased in recent years, as a result of which the price of wheat flour on the bread market in Syzran has decreased.
Bread speculation. The growing price of flour continues to stimulate increased speculation in grain by the peasantry, mainly by its well‐todo kulak part. In Ukraine (in the Glukho Century District), there is a tendency among the kulaks to unite for organized speculation in bread, and workers from cooperatives and village councils are involved in the speculation. Kulaks buy grain from neighbors or in neighboring villages and resell it in processed form in the private market. In the Tersk, Kuban and Donsk districts (SKK), the facts of harvesting grain for the kulaks and speculators by the poor have been registered recently. In the Aksai district (Don district), a group of poor people prepared up to 12,000 poods for 3 speculators. grains. The local rural authorities, knowing about this, do not take measures of restraint, justifying themselves by the fact that “the poor peasants should be given some money” (Tersk Okrug). In with. Prudy (Glukhovskoy District, Ukraine), a group of kulaks was organized, which from the beginning of grain procurement systematically engaged in grain speculation. Buying up grain in large quantities, the kulaks process the grain into flour and sell it on the private market. Members of the board of cooperatives, chairmen and members of village councils, who sell their bread on the private market, are also involved in speculation. Well‐to‐do with. Arbuzovka of Pavlovsky district (Barnaul district) grinds 2 carts of grain for flour every week at the mill and takes them out for sale in Barnaul, declaring at the same time: “Vygrebalovka is now canceled, what I want, I will do with my bread. Now we need to make up for the losses of last year when they were forced to hand over bread for 70 kopecks by force. pood. ʺ (see Appendix [No. 1]).
Holding back grain surpluses with fists and well‐to‐do people. The vicious delay of grain surpluses by their fists in a number of regions (SKK, Ukraine, NVkrai, Siberia) is assuming wide proportions. In NVKrae, the kulaks and the well‐to‐do, with up to 1,500‐2,000 and more poods of grain in stock, hand over only an insignificant amount to state producers, mainly for the purpose of obtaining manufactory. In Siberia, the kulak‐prosperous strata of the countryside refrain from surrendering grain to the state, openly declaring their unwillingness to surrender grain for nothing and the need to create insurance reserves, etc.
The available verified information on Omsk, Barnaul, Novosibirsk and other districts establishes that the main sources of grain surpluses are the poor and the low‐power middle peasantry. Wealthy and kulak farms either do not hand over bread to state producers at all, or hand over it in the smallest amount.
So, in the village. Polkovnikovo Kosikhinsky district (Barnaul district) of 19 kulak farms with over 6,000 poods marketable grain, only 11 farms handed over 1119 poods (18.5%). There are 242 middle farms in the village, with 36227 poods marketable bread. Of this amount, only 195 low‐power farms handed over bread ‐ 12,334 poods (34%). Of the 242 poor farms that do not have marketable grain, 99 farms nevertheless handed over 2,650 poods The kulak‐prosperous stratum, like the middle peasant part of the population of this village, without surrendering their surplus, sold industrial crops and other agricultural products (livestock, raw materials, etc.) in payment of the agricultural tax and other payments. In with. Vorobyevo, Kolyvansky District (Novosibirsk District), the kulaks, having 1,500 and more poods of grain in stock, did not hand over a single pound to the state producers. In the same district, in the Birkovsky district, there are 31 kulak farms with from 500 to 800 poods marketable bread, not a single pound was handed over to state producers. In the Indersky District, there are 51 kulak farms with 650 to 2220 poods of bread. Not a single farm has taken out a single pound so far. The same is observed in a number of villages in Omsk and other regions.
In the Ukraine and the North Caucasus, the kulaks and the well‐to‐do, refusing to export bread to the state (ʺwe will give bread only when they take it by forceʺ), call on the population to an organized refusal to export bread, offering to ʺdrive in the neck and beat those who come for breadʺ ...
Wealthy hut. Kovalenki of the Kupyansky District (Ukraine) urges the peasants not to export grain to the state producers: “Letʹs get organized and don’t deliver grain to the state; if the peasants hadn’t been lucky in this way for a month ‐ two loaves of bread, the state would have found out what the nuts grow on ”.
In the SVO and NVKrae, the kulaks are campaigning among the rest of the peasantry for a ʺgrain strikeʺ and the sale of grain surpluses on the private market. Fist s. Novo‐Pokrovskoe Balashovsky district and district (NVK), with up to 2000 poods bread (I handed over only 50 poods to the sales point) and speculating in bread, agitates among the rest of the peasantry: “Only fools hand over their bread to the state for free, but you, peasants, grind more of your loaf into flour and sell it on the market, so it’s better ʺ. At the same time, provocative rumors about the use of emergency measures, imminent famine, war, etc. are spreading by the kulaks and the well‐to‐do. with an appeal to hide bread.
So, fist s. Volobtsovo (Lgovskiy District, Central Chernobyl Region) agitates: “The authorities cannot procure bread without extraordinary measures, the government will try by hook or by crook to siphon bread from the peasants; therefore, we peasants need to hide the bread away; all the same, the communists will carry out a requisition and leave the peasants without bread. ʺ
The malicious delay in grain surpluses by the kulaks and the well‐todo provokes in some places the discontent of the underpowered strata of the peasantry, who declare: “If we, the underpowered, take out our surplus and honestly fulfill our duty to the state, then let the authorities take measures against the malicious non‐donors of grain ‐ the kulaks, who at our expense are getting rich ʺ(Balashovsky district, NVkrai). “We, the poor, although we do not have enough bread, after each meeting on grain procurements we take it out by 10‐15 poods, and the prosperous, having grain reserves, refrain from exporting, expecting something. It is also necessary to force them to take out the available surpluses” (Rossoshansk District, TsChO).
Refusals of kulaks‐millers from delivery of garnets collectionmerchuk 326. In the Central Black Earth District, in the Ukraine, LVO, there are numerous cases of millers refusing to hand over the harntsʹ collection to the state and speculation in flour. In a number of villages in Cherkassk, Izyumsky, Kremenchug and Sumy districts, mill tenants, refusing to hand over flour to state producers, threaten reprisals against government officials demanding the surrender of the garnets fee. Melnik s. Uritskiy (Eletskiy Okrug TsChO) for the entire period of grain procurement handed over only 250 poods to state producers. of garnets collection, while last year they exported 2,000 poods, the miller sells flour to private traders at speculative prices. In the same district, millers with. Gryaznovki, Lebedyanka and others do not hand over the collected garnets tax to the state, but sell it to a private owner. The same is observed in the Vologda lips. (LVO), where the receipt of the harntsev tax is at a slower pace ‐ instead of the next 120,000 poods received only 5600 poods. To a large extent, the weak supply of the grinding collection is facilitated by active opposition to the collection on the part of millers who take a number of measures to disrupt the collection by closing the mills, anti‐Soviet agitation against the collection (see Appendix [No. 1]). Cases of unauthorized increase of the grinding fee by millers were also recorded.
Insufficient supply of the village with manufactured goods. The continuing insufficient supply of the countryside with the necessary manufactured goods is one of the main reasons for the slow pace of grain procurement. In a number of places (TsChO, NVkrai, SVO, Siberia) there is an acute shortage of not only manufactured goods (manufactory, leather goods, iron, etc.), but also consumer goods (tea, sugar, kerosene, salt, matches, etc.).). In the North Caucasus and Ukraine, there were cases of mass dissatisfaction of the peasantry with the lack of manufactured goods.
So, in stts. Rodnikovskaya Maikop district (SKK) near the central shop of the EPO gathered a crowd of about 700 people to buy a manufactory and leather goods. The EPO board, in order to first of all supply the poor with manufactory, introduced a numbering system, distributing numbered numbers in such a way that the poor would get the manufactory in the first place, and the wealthy in the second. Since the goods were scarce, the wealthy did not get the manufactory. The wellto‐do, dissatisfied with this, began to incite the poor to disassemble the goods, regardless of the numbers. When the next batch of peasants began to enter the shop, the crowd immediately rushed to the door, knocked down the policeman and rushed to the counter. Two middleclass Cossacks offered to smash the shop, shouts were heard in the crowd: ʺTake apart the goods, take your share.ʺ By the measures taken, the destruction of the shop was prevented. In the Makeyevsky village council of the Kasharovsky district (Donetsk district), a crowd of 800 people, due to the lack of manufactured goods, made a scandal near the cooperative. Shouts were heard from the crowd: “You take bread for free, but we are all barefoot and undressed ‐ is this power. If only they would declare war as soon as possible in order to stifle all this bastard,” etc. The crowd that arrived was dispersed by the militia. In the Kuban District, in a number of the villages of Bryukhovetsky and other districts, there are absolutely no manufactured goods; on this basis, cases of mass discontent on the part of all strata of the population have been recorded. Members of the shareholders say: ʺWe should have hanged our chairman of the EPO, since he can never get the goodsʺ (st. N. Velichkovskaya). In with. Petrovsky, Izium district (Ukraine), there is a strong shortage of manufactured goods. The peasants who gathered in the cooperative expressed their displeasure on this occasion: ʺTo what the Soviet power has brought us, we walk without boots, but there are no goods in the cooperation.ʺ One of the peasants in the cooperative suggested: ʺToday, disperse the cooperatives and the Soviets and stop giving the authorities bread if they demand.ʺ Scolding the Soviet order, he said: ʺItʹs okay, itʹs not for nothing that they build machine guns ‐ they will be useful to us in due time.ʺ
The lack of manufactured goods causes discontent among the holders of grain surpluses, who in some cases speak out for the need to declare a “grain strike” and not export grain until the Soviet government supplies the village with the necessary goods. So, the middle peasant with. Belogory of Pavlovsky District (Rossoshansk District of the Central Black Earth Region), in a conversation about grain procurements, said: “You don’t need to hand over bread or sunflower to the state, let them sit hungry, maybe this will help us to catch the workers and they will start producing more manufactured goods”. “All peasants need to organize themselves and not bring them a pound of grain, then they will find a manufactory and supply the village with manufactured goods” (Uman District, Ukraine). The hunger for goods is used by anti‐Soviet elements in the countryside for agitation against cooperation, for withdrawing from cooperatives and calls for the destruction of cooperatives with simultaneous agitation in favor of the development of private trade as “the only force capable of satisfying peasant demand” and talk that “the peasantry can only get out of this situation through an uprising” (Ukraine). In the hut. Arakantsevo Tatsinsky district (Shakhtinsk, Donetsk district, SKK) wealthy, former police officer327 of the White Army, in a group of citizens he said: “Letʹs sort out our deposits from the cooperation, and then it will close by itself, since it will have nothing to trade with, and when the cooperation is closed, then we will have a private trader who will always have productsʺ.
Difficulties in the export of harvested grain. As before, the issue of grain shipment in Siberia continues to be acute, where significant stocks of harvested grain have accumulated in remote areas, the export of which is hampered by the lack of transportation means (horse‐drawn transport), containers (bags) and the peasantsʹ refusal to export grain due to the existing low payment for transportation. So, at deep points ‐ in the Achinsk district there are up to 240,000 poods harvested grain, the shipment of which is hampered by the unreliability of animaldrawn transport; in the Rubtsovsky district, a large amount of procurement grain has also accumulated. In with. In Yekaterininsky, Zmeinogorsk district, 14,000 poods were not exported, in Novo‐Aleisky ‐ 7,000 poods, in Ozerno‐Kuznetsk, Uglovsky district ‐ 25,000 poods etc. The same is observed in other districts of Siberia.
Spoilage of prepared bread. Due to the untimely shipment of the harvested grain and in the absence of adapted storage facilities for storing grain in a number of districts of the Central Black Earth Region, NV Krai and Siberia, the harvested grain, in the presence of significant moisture content, began to deteriorate. So, at the Petrovsky butter plant of the Saratov district (NVK) there are more than 400,000 poods harvested oilseeds (sunflower), of which half of the warming and high humidity began to burn. In the Ertel state farm of the Borisoglebsk district (TsChO), about 900,000 poods are spoiled due to untimely shipment of harvested grain. different crops (wheat, rye). In the Krasnoyarsk District (Siberia), 20,000 poods lie on the pier in Daursk. prepared bread. The same amount of unshipped grain lies on the piers in Koma and Novaya Lovka, bread, having significant moisture, begins to deteriorate. At the Tyazhinsky collection point of the consumer union of the Achinsky district there is 100,000
poods harvested oats, which starts to burn.
It should be noted that procurement organizations did not take timely measures to prevent spoilage of bread (drying, storage of bread, etc.), and also often bread is spoiled due to the negligence of procurers. So, in the Syzran district, the agent of Volrazgruz left 23 wagons of wheat in the open air, due to which the quality of the latter significantly decreased. The peasants have a negative attitude to such facts, declaring: ʺOur procurers are good, they rot grain and do not export it, but they are pressing on the peasants — give them bread, but they themselves rotʺ.
Inactivity of the procurement apparatus. In the work of the preparation apparatus, passivity continues to be observed. In a number of regions of Ukraine and the North Caucasus, the Central Black Earth Region, the NWK, the workers of the procurement network did not take any measures to revive the rate of procurement. “We have no bread, and therefore we are not going to agitate the peasants in vain” (Maykop district, SKK). “The villagers have no bread ‐ enough skin to tear” (Poltava district, Ukraine). The previously noted shortcomings in the work of the procurement apparatus (red tape, bureaucracy, abuse, weight loss, violation of procurement prices, etc.) continue to take place. Along with this, in a number of regions of Siberia (Omsk, Tarsky, Achinsky, etc.) and Ukraine (Izium okrug), there were isolated cases of excesses, intimidation and distortion of directives. The instructor of the Omsk consumer union, being in the Tavrichesky district, instructed the consumer society: “Do not accept bread in small batches, let the suppliers organize themselves and carry the bread to the pier”; as a result, Koophleb stopped accepting bread in small batches. In the same region, the Lyubomirovsky credit partnership, when releasing agricultural machinery, requires the delivery of a certain amount of grain (at least 200‐400 poods), due to which the poor are deprived of the opportunity to purchase cars. Employees of the Yachinsky consumer society of the Uzhursky district (Achinsky district) intimidate the peasants that ʺif you don’t hand over the bread, they will still rake it out.ʺ Chairman of the Butakovsky Consumer Society of the Znamensky District (Tarsky District) in the village. Kopeikino made a household appropriation for the export of a certain amount of grain by each farm. To the objection of the peasants that ʺthere should be no appropriationʺ, the chairman of the board said:
Re‐election of village councils 1928‐1929
Shortcomings in preparation for the campaign for the re‐election of village councils. The preparatory work for the campaign of re‐election of village councils by the grassroots Soviet, party apparatus and public organizations of the village in most regions of the Union is not being actively pursued. In most cases, plans and instructions on preparations for the campaign were sent to the localities out of time, which affected the work on the creation of electoral commissions, the deployment of their preparatory work related to the re‐elections. So, for example, in the Armavir district the preparatory work according to the plan was supposed to be completed by October 20, meanwhile the district bodies had never discussed the issue of re‐elections until September 18. Instructions to the localities about carrying out preparatory work for the re‐elections were sent only at the beginning of October, and the second directive on ʺdisenfranchisedʺ was sent at the beginning of November. Thanks to this, the Novo‐Aleksandrovsky and
Otradnensky district election committees did not have work plans until mid‐November. In most cases, the grassroots government is inactive and has not yet begun to carry out preparatory work for the re‐election campaign in November. Characteristic in this respect are the following statements by the workers of the lower Soviet apparatus. “We will have time with the campaign, we have already got our hands on in this part” (Tula province), “for which all the red tape is created for re‐elections ‐ they create different commissions and subcommittees and thus start only one red tape” (statement of members of the Lubyanka village council Kasimovsky from. Ryazan province.). ʺThere is more important work that does not suffer delay than the re‐election of the Sovietsʺ (employees of a number of village councils of the Petrovsky District of the Stavropol District).
The work of election commissions. The organization of rural and district electoral commissions in many places was delayed, and they started work with a great delay. When designing election commissions, numerous cases of violation of the instructions of the All‐Russian Central Executive Committee on election commissions were noted, which was expressed in the fact that representatives of rural public organizations, representatives of farm laborers, women were often not included in election commissions, or excesses were allowed, which consisted in the fact that the peasant part of election commissions consisted only of the poor or only from the middle peasants, etc.
In the Odessa district, in a number of village councils, when organizing rural and district election commissions, a violation of the instructions on election commissions was made. Thus, in Marino‐Chigadorovsky, Novo‐Mikhailovsky and a number of other election commissions, there are no representatives of women and middle peasants at all. In the Petrikovsky district, there are no middle peasants in 8 agricultural election commissions.
Stalin district. The chairman of the Irlovo‐Ivanovo village council interpreted the directive of the RIK on the organization of agricultural election commissions in such a way that, allegedly, only the poor should be included in the election commission, and he decided to submit information to the district election commission on two middle peasants, members of the agricultural election commissions, as if they were poor.
In many cases, the agricultural election commissions were infiltrated by class alien and anti‐Soviet elements or their henchmen, ʺpodkulachnikiʺ. The following data show how significantly the electoral commissions are clogged with anti‐Soviet and class alien elements: For 4 districts of the Kiev district, 17 electoral commissions are composed of former white bandits, active Petliurists, former policemen, etc. In the Pakhomovsky district of Tula province, due to the significant infestation of the agricultural election committees by the kulak‐wealthy and anti‐Soviet elements, 8 agricultural election committees were disbanded. Due to the significant contamination of the composition of the election commissions by class alien and antiSoviet elements, numerous cases of their distortion of the class line were noted, which was expressed, on the one hand, in the restoration of kulaks using hired labor in the voting rights, etc. and at the same time ‐ in the illegal deprivation of electoral rights of the middle peasants and other groups of the population that are not subject to deprivation of electoral rights. So, for example, in the Luga parish. Yuryevetsky u. Ivanovo‐Voznesensk province. out of the total number of 800 peasants, mainly middle and poor peasants, 126 are deprived of voting rights. In with. Torgovskoy Zavetinsky district of the Salsky district out of 40 deprived of election rights, 50% falls on the middle peasant farms. In the Kuleshevsky electoral committee of the Beloglinsky district (Salsky district), a list of only 8 ʺdisenfranchisedʺ is presented to the district election committee, while in this village there were 80 ʺdisenfranchisedʺ people during the last election campaign. The district electoral commission, considering the insufficient work of the electoral commission to identify ʺdisenfranchisedʺ, additionally deprived 13 people of their electoral rights. At the same time, the statement of the chairman of the agricultural election commission is characteristic: ʺI have no kulaks in the village, look for them yourself.ʺ Cases of distortion of the class line in the work of election commissions are quite numerous. Among other shortcomings in the work of election commissions, it is necessary to note the lack of planning in their work on the reporting campaign, the inactivity of many employees of election commissions in the re‐election campaign, etc. This largely led to the small number of population attendance at reporting meetings in a number of districts, as well as complete ignorance population about the re‐election campaign.
Vladivostok district. In Spassky, Mikhailovsky, Suchansky districts, the percentage of voter turnout at reporting meetings of regional electoral commissions and village councils is extremely insignificant. So, in the village. Vozdvizhenko of the Mikhailovsky district, out of 214 voters, only 138 people came to the reporting meetings of the village council and the regional electoral commission. In the village. Chernutyevo, Komi‐Zyryansk region. out of 400 voters, only 20 people attended the reporting meeting of the village council. In one of the precincts of the Barnaul district (Komi‐Zyryansk region), reporting meetings were called 2 times, but due to the absence of voters, they were postponed.
Work to organize the poor and sovaktiv village. The work on organizing the poor and sovaktiva village in connection with the election campaign is insufficient. Grassroots party and Soviet bodies did not pay enough attention to this issue, as a result of which the poor in many cases were not completely organized. Insufficient work on organizing the poor causes complaints on their part that “the poor are not organized and powerless, they were thrown overboard by our rulers, we probably will soon have to go in an organized way to the rich man with a bow” (poor people of Teplino‐Ogarevsky district, Tula province). On the other hand, an inattentive approach to organizing the poor, in turn, prompts such statements: “You collect the poor when you need them; when she turns to you for help, you do not pay attention to her ”(poor people from the village of Urozhainoe, Tersk Okrug).
There are frequent cases when, instead of meetings of the poor, narrow meetings of workers of the lower Soviet and cooperative apparatuses were organized, or, conversely, wide non‐party conferences at which the middle peasants predominated (the villages of Suvorovskaya, Bokshovskaya, Borgustovskaya, Tersk district). Oftentimes, meetings of the poor were disrupted due to poor notification and absence of speakers. In with. Kady Makarievsky u. Ivanovo‐Voznesensk province. the appointed meeting of the poor was thwarted by poor notification of the poor.
The desire of the workers of the grass‐roots soviet to leave the Soviet job. Among a certain part of the current composition of the workers of the lower soviet apparatus, there is a desire to leave Soviet work due to the difficulty of work in connection with a series of shock campaigns in the countryside, overload with Soviet work and at the same time low wages. Such sentiments are also caused by the fear of turning fellow villagers against oneself in connection with “the great pressure of the center to break with the peasantry” (Belotserkovsky Okrug, Ukraine). Similar tendencies towards leaving Soviet work were noted in some village councils of the Kozlovsky Okrug (TsChO), SKK, Tulunovsky Okrug (Siberia). “They tortured us with work, made enemies, but there’s no point ... Let those who receive 200 rubles work. salaries ʺ(statements of the chairmen of a number of village councils of the Tulunovsky district).
Anti‐Soviet activities of the kulaks and the wealthy. The kulakprosperous and anti‐Soviet elements of the countryside began everywhere preparing for re‐elections long before the start of the reelection campaign, conducting intensified agitation against candidates recommended by party organizations and meetings of the poor, and for the election of ʺelderly, strong, economic peasantsʺ to the new village councils. ʺThe Soviets need to nominateʺ their ʺgood masters who will understand the needs of the population and defend them against foreignʺ imported ʺcommunistsʺ (kulak of the Maikop district). “In a real re‐election campaign, it is necessary to elect whoever the population wishes, and not the foolish communists. If the re‐elections go on like last year, then this is neither more nor less,
The kulaks create re‐election groupings, also arrange meetings and conferences at which they discuss their candidacies for the future composition of village councils and VICs, outlining tactics for the elections themselves. Trying to secure the support of the middle peasants and the poor, the kulaks arrange for them to drink or drink some more authoritative middle peasants and the poor. Often the kulaks also succeeded in drawing middle and poor peasants into their groupings. In addition, numerous cases of disruption of reporting and re‐election meetings by their fists, intimidation of the poor and the use of terror against employees of election commissions were registered (see Appendix [No. 2]).
Kulak terror. For the month of November, according to incomplete data, 29 cases of terror were registered against workers of the grassroots soviet and public organizations of the village. Of these: 1 murder, 5 beatings, 10 attempted murders, 11 arson and 2 others (see Appendix [No. 3]).
Re‐election kulak groups. During the reporting period, 70 re‐election kulak groups were registered. Of these, by region: Center ‐ 3, West ‐ 1, Ukraine ‐ 16, North Caucasus ‐ 30, SVO ‐ 4, NVK ‐ 2, Siberia ‐ 5, and
DVK ‐ 9 (see Appendix [No. 2]).
Anti‐Soviet manifestations
Groupings. In November, 80 cases of the creation of kulak‐prosperous and anti‐Soviet groups were registered in the Union, of which: in Ukraine — 17, SKK —37, DVK —9, Siberia —6, SVO —4, Center —3, NVK —2, West— 1, TsCHO ‐ 1. If last month we had the overwhelming majority of anti‐Soviet kulak groups created to oppose the tax campaign, in November, in connection with the campaign for re‐
election of the Soviets, 70 out of 80 registered groups participated in the re‐elections of the Soviets.
Terror. The last months of 1928 witnessed a significant growth in kulak terror in the countryside. Along with the increase in the number of terror, there is a sharp change in the very type of terror towards an increase in the number of murders, attempted murders and arson, which is explained by the transition of the kulaks to more decisive forms of struggle. The table below gives the dynamics of growth and the nature of the terror by month.
Months
Total cases
Kills
Injured
Arson
Attempted
murder
1st quarter
168
21
36
31
80
2 quarter
203
40
32
57
74
July
63
7
fifteen
fifteen
26
August
77
thirteen
12
32
20
September
115
19
17
56
23
October
191
26
25
106
34
November
210
47
37
72
54
Total
1027
173
174
369
311
It can be seen from this table that the last months give the number of terrorist acts equal to a whole quarter (1st and 2nd quarters) of the first half of 1928, despite the fact that the 1st and 2nd quarters, in connection with the implementation of emergency measures, give an increased terrorist activity of the kulaks. The main reasons for the terror against the workers of the grass‐roots soviet, the activists of the poor and members of the CPSU (b) and the Komsomol are active participation in various campaigns. In November, together with the lowering of terror on the basis of tax, we have a significant increase in terror on the basis of the electoral struggle and for the struggle against the kulaks.
The characteristics of the causes of terror can be seen from the following table:
Mess.
Tax‐
based
On the basis of elect. struggle
On the basis of
zemleust‐ roystva
For the
fight against the kulaks
For newspaper
notes
In connection with campaigns
1 sq.
41
6
ten
ten
8
161
2 sq.
eleven
1
20
eleven
1
180
July
47
3
eleven
2
1
20
Aug
67
‐
20
8
‐
12
Sep
67
‐
thirteen
five
3
8
Oct
87
2
31
17
6
fourteen
Nov
44
28
17
sixteen
2
21
Total
364
40
122
69
21
416
* The total figure in this table is five units higher than in the previous one.
Terror is mainly directed against the workers of the grassroots soviet and the actives of the poor (including members of the All‐Union
Communist Party and the Komsomol).
Workers of the grassroots owls. apparatus
Asset of
the poor
Members of the VKP and Komsomol
Public
cultural body.
Selkory
48.7%
24.8%
19%
5.7%
1.8%
The inspiration, organizer, and in most cases the direct executor of the terror is the kulaks. However, noteworthy is the fact that the kulak often uses the poor and middle peasants as the actual executor of terror. Criminal elements from these social strata of the village are mainly used.
Here is the% ratio of participants:
% of participants
fists and wealthy
Serednyakov
Poornyakov
80%
fifteen%
five%
Thus, these data illustrate the presence of a significant aggravation of the class struggle in the countryside, the activation of the kulaks in this struggle, and the presence of a tendency towards a further increase in terror on the basis of the unfolding of the re‐election campaign of the Soviets.
Mass performances. In November, 25 mass and group performances were registered, of which 18 with up to 50 participants, 2 up to 100 people, 3 from 150 to 500 people and 2 up to 800 people. In 11 cases, the demonstrations took place on the basis of a food crisis, 3 ‐ on a religious basis, 2 ‐ on the basis of land management (others on the basis of lynching, etc.).
Attention is drawn to the performance in the village. Kumlyak of the Trinity District (Ural), where a crowd of peasants (up to 800 people), agitated by a local priest, opposed the alleged closure of the church and demanded the return of the priest evicted from the village, otherwise threatening the chairman of the village council and the secretary of the VKP (b) cell with lynching.
In the Don district, the peasants are hut. Omelchenkov in the number of 30 people (most of them were former red partisans) lynched the ranger of the breeding farm No. 5 of the Ovtsevod joint‐stock company, who killed a public shepherd. One of the patrolmen was killed, the second was beaten to a pulp.
Leaflets
In total in the Union for November, according to incomplete data, 56 facts of distribution of anti‐Soviet leaflets and appeals were registered, of which in Ukraine ‐ 23, NVK ‐ 17, TsCHO ‐ 5.
COP. During the reporting period, 28 cases were registered for the creation of the Constitutional Court, of which 23 fell on the central provinces. Basically, the actions were reduced to the creation of a union to protect the economic rights of the peasantry. Along with the agitation for the creation of the Constitutional Court, the facts of indifference to the campaigning for the Constitutional Court were noted. It is pointed out that it is useless to talk about the union, ʺthe state will not protect the organizations of the Constitutional Court, without the union there are many organizations, like the KKOV, partnerships, which only need to be given more independent resolution of peasant affairs.ʺ
EASTERN NATIONAL REPUBLICS AND AUTONOMOUS AREAS
Preparatory campaign for the re‐election of the Soviets
AZERBAIJAN
Electoral commissions. Kulak‐anti‐Soviet elements and persons who have compromised themselves with official crimes have infiltrated a number of rural and district election commissions. The composition of election commissions is most unfavorable in Agdash and Karyaginsky districts. According to initial data, 43 cases of penetration of foreign elements into rural and regional election commissions were registered in 7 counties.
The activity of the kulaks. Along with the active protests of lone kulaks and the preparation of public opinion of the bulk of the peasantry for the upcoming re‐elections, there were cases of group training of kulaks, the convocation of special meetings with the raising of the question of candidates for the new composition of the village councils and attempts to recruit supporters from the poor and agricultural laborers. In with. Alabashly, a group of kulaks, through prolonged agitation, attracted 80% of the farm laborers and 50% of the poor to their side. There were 7 registered kulak groupings actively preparing for the re‐election of the Soviets. Along with campaigning for their candidacies, the kulaks preliminarily conduct a campaign against the candidates of the poor peasants and komfractions.
GEORGIA
Re‐elections in Khevsureti. Of the total population of Khevsureti, 7 were deprived of their electoral rights in 3571 people. A number of former merchants, guards, kulaks and other anti‐Soviet elements were not deprived of election rights due to insufficient attention paid to the campaign by local council and party bodies, and as a result of the granting of election rights to anti‐Soviet elements, a number of newly elected village councils were littered with former merchants, guards, bandits and etc. A trader, a former bandit, was elected chairman of one of the TECs. In terms of social composition, the Shatilovsky village council turned out to be the worst of all, where out of 11 people there were 5 kulaks, 4 middle peasants and only 2 poor peasants, one of whom (a former guard) was elected chairman of the village council.
Re‐election in Tiflis in. During the re‐election campaign of the Soviets for the Kazbek and Kobiyskogo Tiflis u. there was a significant increase in the activity of the poor and middle peasants. Only 441 people were deprived of their election rights, of which 136 people were reinstated in the election after an appeal. Of the total number of voters 4803 people took part in the elections 2064 people. In terms of social status, the newly elected Soviets included 58 poor people, 21 middle peasants, 23 office workers and 1 kulak.
Re‐elections in the Borjomi region. Re‐election campaign of the Soviets in the Borjomi region of the Gori district so far, it is being held in Gujaret and Bakuryan teh (upland parts of the region). In Bakuryanskoye, 25 people were deprived of their electoral rights. The former Mensheviks were the most active on the part of the ʺdisenfranchisedʺ. In some cases, the representatives of the executive committee put pressure on voters, insisting on holding the candidates they nominated for the village councils. In with. Tsikhis‐Jvari, a member of the Presidium of the Bakuryan Executive Committee, despite the protests of voters, insisted on the candidacies: a German agronomist, unpopular among the population and speaking exclusively German, and expelled from the Komsomol for speculation, whom he held in the village council. In a number of villages, there was insufficient interest in the re‐election campaign on the part of the bulk of the peasantry due to the lack of explanatory work.
Re‐elections in Abkhazia. In three remote areas of Sukhum u. (Pehu, Azhora and Lata), due to the inability to hold elections on time, early elections were held with the permission of the CEC. In the course of the re‐elections in some areas, there was an intensified anti‐Soviet agitation on the part of the kulaks, using for this funeral, commemoration, christening, etc. With the support of the poor of the Gentsvish section, the kulaks chose delegates to travel to Tiflis and Moscow with a request to annex the Azhar region to Upper Svaneti. In general, the re‐elections were more successful than the previous ones. The number of participants in the re‐election has increased significantly. Against 37% of last year, 58% participated this year.
CRIMEA
Electoral commissions. There were about 20 cases of penetration of kulaks, former landowners and police officers (Karasubazar, Kerch, Feodosia, Bakhchisarai, Sevastopol districts) into the agricultural election commissions. At the same time, in most cases, anti‐Soviet elements who have passed into the election commissions are headed by them (chairmen). Along with this, local workers did not always take into account the presence of different nationalities in the same village council, as a result of which it turned out: only one German passed to the Beshui‐Zlinskaya electoral committee (Sevastopol district), while 60% of the population are Germans; there is not a single Tatar in the Tanagaldy electoral commission (Karasubazar district), despite the fact that Tatars make up 40% of the population, on this basis there is a strong discontent of the Tatar population, incited by local nationalists. When broken down into polling stations, there were incidents of enmity between individual nationalities in mixed‐population settlements. In the village. Chokur‐Koyash, the Russian part of the population raised the issue of joining the village to another village council, arguing that ʺthe Tatars care only about the Tatars.ʺ A similar phenomenon is noted in the village. Elkenji‐Eli (Germans‐Tatars), where the Germans say: ʺIn this village council, the Tatars run their candidacies and do not take into account the interests of the Germans at all.ʺ
The activity of the kulak‐anti‐Soviet elements. Seven kulak groups have been registered, actively preparing for the upcoming re‐elections of the Soviets by convening special meetings, nominating their candidates, arranging binges for the poor, etc. The attempts of the kulaks (groups and individuals) to win over to their side the poor and middle peasants in most cases meet with a corresponding rebuff from the latter. Individual cases, when the poor give in to the pre‐election agitation of the kulaks, occur in areas experiencing food difficulties.
KAZAKSTAN
Preparatory campaign. In a number of districts there is a lack of a timely organized explanatory and organizational campaign among the poor and agricultural laborers. In some places the directives of the okr executive committees were fulfilled with a great delay, as a result of which the election commissions were not organized for a long time (Akmola okrug). The lists of voters and ʺdisenfranchisedʺ were also not completed by the deadline. Election commissions in places are littered with kulaks, bays and cattle thieves (Petropavlovsk, Kustanai districts). Some election commissions have been noticed in granting election rights to clearly anti‐Soviet elements. In other cases, the contingent of ʺdisenfranchisedʺ indiscriminately expanded due to the illegal deprivation of electoral rights (Kustanai district).
Baisko‐tribal groupings. In the Cossack aul, there is a revitalization of the activities of the Baysko‐clan groups, conducting wide campaigning among the poor and outlining their candidacies for the new composition of the village councils (Aktobe district) at special meetings. In a number of re‐election groups, chairmen and secretaries of village councils take an active part.
The activity of the kulaks. In connection with the work on the registration of the lists of ʺdisenfranchisedʺ in Russian villages and Cossack villages, an increase in the activity of the kulak‐ataman elements is observed. A case was registered when drunken kulaks burst into the premises of the village council and demanded instructions on depriving them of their electoral rights (Revolutionary district of Akmola district). An anonymous leaflet was found with threats to the address of the secretary of the village council (Pokrovskoye village of the same district and district).
CHUVASHIA
Preparatory campaign. The preparatory campaign began with a considerable delay. The organization of agricultural electoral commissions in some places lagged behind the plan. The campaign was most delayed in the Cheboksary region. A number of agricultural electoral commissions are littered with speculators and buyers.
Fists and ʺdisenfranchisedʺ. Everywhere, the ʺdisenfranchisedʺ are showing increased activity in an effort to recover in elections, in some cases resorting to soldering co‐workers for this purpose (Ibressinsky and Cheboksary regions). In the village. Tokmishevo, Tatar‐Kasinsky district, a group of speculators, deprived of election rights, reinstated themselves in the election rights with the assistance of the village council. In this regard, the group decided to speak at the re‐election in support of the current composition of the village council. Kulaks, wellto‐do merchants, in some places in a bloc with the clergy, hold meetings where candidates for the new composition of the village council
(Batyrevsky district) are outlined.
TATARIA
The course of the preparatory campaign. In a number of regions, preparatory work for the re‐election of the Soviets is proceeding poorly. In some places, election commissions were created with a significant delay. Due to the insufficient attention paid by the Soviet and Party organizations to popularizing the campaign, the broad masses of voters are poorly involved in the campaign (Sviyazhsky, Buinsky, Chistopolsky cantons). A number of sellerskoms turned out to be littered with kulak‐wealthy elements. In the Arsk canton alone, 64 littered agricultural electoral commissions were re‐elected.
The kulaks. There is a great revival of kulak elements in connection with the upcoming re‐election campaign of the Soviets. Along with the desire of the kulaks to restore themselves to the electoral rights, kulak groups are being created in a number of cantons, meetings are convened to discuss and nominate their candidates to the Soviets. Cases were recorded when kulaks, making their way to meetings of the poor, disrupted the discussion of certain issues or put pressure on the audience, carrying out their proposals (Laishevsky, Mamadyshsky, Bugulminsky, Chistopolsky cantons).
Grain harvesting campaign
KAZAKSTAN
Workpiece travel. In November, a decrease in the rate of procurement is noted. In some districts, a sharp drop in the rate of procurement is due to the onset of thaw. Other reasons affecting the normal course of procurement include the discrepancy between conventional 328 and market prices, interruptions in financing of grass‐roots procurers, and the activity of a private procurer. A serious hindrance to the successful progress of grain procurements in all districts is also the untimely shipment of harvested grain from the station and deep points. Bread accumulates and, in the absence of a sufficient amount of containers and storage facilities, is folded in the open air, and often deteriorates.
Lack of manufactured goods. The delivery of manufactured goods to procurement areas is insufficient, which also noticeably affects the rate of procurement. When cooperative organizations receive new consignments of manufactured goods, huge queues are created. Abnormalities in the release and distribution of manufactured goods available in consumer societies (issuance only to members of shareholders or exclusively to grain holders, etc.) cause discontent and complaints from peasants, mainly from the poor and middle peasants.
Defects in the work of the procurement apparatus. The work of the procurement apparatus does not get rid of the red tape in receiving grain, criminally negligent attitude to business, competition, etc. Some workers expect the receipt of grain ʺby gravityʺ. At the same time, abuses of workers of procurement bodies continue to be observed: weighing peasants, incorrect determination of the condition of grain, drunkenness, etc. There have also been registered individual cases of administrative pressure ‐ intimidation of peasants with the use of emergency measures, which causes discontent of the latter (Semipalatinsk District). Bajstvo and prosperous kulak elements are holding back their grain surpluses, also campaigning among the poor for the failure to deliver grain to government agencies and cooperatives.
Workpiece travel. November saw a sharp decline in the rate of procurement. On the fifth five‐day period of November, 258.8 dkt was prepared against 603 dkt in the third five‐day period. The main reasons for the slow rate of procurement are: an acute shortage of manufactured goods, weak and untimely financing of grassroots procurers and still not eliminating shortcomings in the work of the procurement apparatus: laxity, negligence, competition between individual procurers, etc. Due to the fact that procurement prices in the regions bordering the Bashkir Republic are higher than those in Bashkir, there is a leakage of grain to these regions. Thus, in the town of Mesyagutovo, bordering the Satka plant in the Zlatoust district, where the price of flour reaches 4 rubles, there is a weak supply of grain to cooperative organizations. Almost all bread is exported to the Zlatoust district. In a number of cantons, due to the lack of transport, the shipment of harvested grain is very slow. A large amount of grain has accumulated in deep places. There are 800,000 poods in Sterlitamak canton. unshipped bread. In order to speed up the shipment of bread and fulfill the orders of Bashnarkomtorg, local organizations carried out a special campaign to shipment of bread.
Private trader activity. In a number of districts, the successful activity of a private purveyor is noted. In the Mesyagutovsky canton, a number of grain buyers have been identified, raising grain prices and disrupting the grain market. The well‐to‐do elements export bread outside the Bashkir Republic, selling it there at higher prices. The workers of the Soviet apparatus do not take the necessary measures to combat the private trader.
TATARIA
Workpiece travel. Defects in the work of the procurement apparatus. There is a sharp decrease in the rate of workpieces. The centralized November plan was fulfilled by 45% against 108% in October. The local procurement plan is only 25% fulfilled. As of December 1, the annual plan for the Republic of Tatarstan was fulfilled by 38.5%. The successful progress of procurement is hampered mainly by insufficient delivery of manufactured goods to procurement regions, interruptions in financing of grass‐roots procurers, discrepancies in procurement prices in comparison with regions bordering on Tataria, and disorganizing activities of a private trader. In the work of the procurement apparatus, numerous cases of inactivity and criminal negligence are noted. Red tape in the reception of grain causes a lot of discontent and criticism of the peasants. In connection with the lack of a sufficient explanatory campaign, there were cases of peasants selling surplus grain to bagmen. The competition between individual procurers is not getting rid of. In a number of cases, consumer societies refused to supply industrial goods to peasants who donated grain to credit cooperatives. In a number of cantons, there is an acute shortage of scarce goods, mainly manufactory and iron. In some places for a long time there are no basic necessities: kerosene, tea, sugar, etc. On this basis, cases of peasantsʹ withdrawal from the cooperatives were registered (Chistopol canton).
Private trader. A number of private buyers and speculators have been identified almost everywhere, buying up grain at high prices and disrupting the normal work of procurement bodies. The bought bread is exported to other regions where the price of bread is higher than in Tartary. In Buinsky, Spassky and Chistopolsky cantons, there is an increased influx of bagmen from the Kostroma, Nizhny Novgorod and Ivanovo‐Voznesensk provinces, buying up rye and flour at inflated prices. The influx of bagmen created a noticeable excitement in the market, the peasants began to hold back the grain, hoping to sell it in the spring at a higher price.
The activity of anti‐Soviet elements. The prosperous kulak elements continue to hold on to their grain surpluses, expecting a rise in prices in the spring. In the Bugulma canton, there have been cases of bread buried in pits by the wealthy. In the Buinsk canton, at a meeting of a group of kulaks (10 people) with the participation of the chairman of the village council, it was decided to organize organized opposition to the grain procurement campaign by means of broad agitation among the peasants against the surrender of grain surpluses to the state.
Grain and food difficulties
GEORGIA
In a number of regions, an acute grain crisis is still being observed. As a result, long queues are formed at bakeries. The flour released in November is in places unable to meet the needs of the population. On this basis, there are discontent and criticism of the local authorities and cooperation. Absenteeism was noticed among the employees. In Manglissky region on November 28 this year. the onslaught of the crowd shattered the windows in the ʺFighterʺ bakery and 50% of those standing in lines were left without bread. On this day, employees and peasants were given one pound of bread per head, and on November 29 it was announced that bread would be issued in even smaller quantities. In the Agbulak region, the supply of flour ran out on November 25. Until November, the region was released from 600 to 700 poods a month, in November a total of 200 poods were released. flour exclusively for employees.
NORTH OSSETIA
In North Ossetia, mainly in the Priterechny Cossack district, there are interruptions in grain supply. The cooperatives, due to the insufficient delivery of flour, as well as the inability to cope with the baking of a sufficient amount of bread, are unable to meet the needs of the region for bread. In this regard, there are long queues at the cooperative shops. In a number of settlements, at times there is no bread at all and the population is forced to walk 7‐10 versts to the nearest bread shops (stts. Nikolaevskaya). Mainly the Cossack villages and the laborers of the Ossetian villages need bread. The latter are supplied with bread only in the largest villages. Public discontent is aggravated by the poor baking of bread. The dissatisfaction of the poor and middle peasants with the interruptions in the grain supply is widely used by the kulaks and other anti‐Soviet elements. In a number of villages, members of the wealthy kulak and strong middle peasant families often stand in lines for bread, leading anti‐Soviet agitation among the queues. Due to interruptions in grain supply, there is an aggravation of relations between Russian Cossacks and Ossetians.
DAGESTAN
Interruptions in the supply of grain to a number of regions and cities of the DSSR continue. Long queues are formed at the bread shops of consumer societies. Private bakeries do not bake bread at all due to the lack of flour. The lack of bread causes the population to criticize cooperation.
CRIMEA
Food difficulties in a number of regions of Crimea have worsened somewhat. The poor and part of the middle peasantry eat bread obtained from the bakeries of rural EPO, which in some places sell one pound of bread per person. The cooperatives supply the village, as well as the city, with significant interruptions, which is partly due to the fact that the regulators have significantly reduced the amount of flour distributed to rural EPOs. Lack of bread, queues and restrictions on the issue of bread give rise to criticism of cooperation. In some places, the poor explain the grain crisis by grain procurements. The supply of flour received by rural EPOs in limited quantities, primarily the poor, meets with strong discontent among the middle peasants. The latter are forced to buy bread in the rural market, and express dissatisfaction with the high prices for bread.
TATARIA
The lack of manufactured goods in cooperation continues to be observed in the reporting period. On this basis, and in view of the distribution of flour by cooperatives only to workers in a number of cantons, among the members of the EPO, there are massive discontent with statements about quitting the cooperative and demanding the return of shares. Private traders use the moment for their own purposes, conducting anti‐Soviet agitation and spreading rumors about the upcoming crisis in consumer goods (soap, salt, matches, kerosene). In this regard, in a number of villages of the Arsk and Sviyazhsky cantons, peasants besieged cooperatives, strenuously stocking up on these goods.
Bai property confiscation campaign
KAZAKSTAN
Campaign progress. The campaign for the direct confiscation of the Baysk property and the eviction of the Baysk is over. The distribution of confiscated property and livestock is also ending in most counties. As of November 20, 437,809 heads were confiscated in terms of cattle (see attached table). Among the confiscated baitsa and the wealthy, who feared also falling under confiscation, there is currently a significant calm. The noted massive sale of livestock by well‐to‐do and not subject to confiscation byi stopped. In the work of the commissioners and members of the commissions for the distribution of confiscated property and livestock, a number of shortcomings and abuses were noted: distribution of livestock among relatives, beys and wealthy people, exclusion from the lists of the poor, etc. A number of distortions and excesses on the part of individual representatives were noted.
Bayte activity. There have been a number of cases of terrorizing the poor and the confiscation commissioners by the buyouts. ʺConfiscation will not work in vain, we will kill the expropriators anyway.ʺ In the Aktobe district, at an illegal Baysky meeting, a decision was made ʺto destroy the aul cell of the CPSU (b),ʺ which took an active part in the campaign to confiscate Baysky property (the poor and Komsomol members were involved in the meeting). At the same time, the Atkaminer‐Bai elements spread various provocative rumors about the cancellation of the confiscation, etc. The following statements of the beys are characteristic: ʺThe confiscation will ultimately arouse the peopleʹs anger; the time will come and this power will leave.ʺ ʺAs a result of the confiscation, one can expect the same uprising as in 1916 329 ʺ and so on.
Resettlement of the Turkic population of the Akhaltsikhe and Akhalkalaki counties of Georgia to Turkey
GEORGIA
In November this year. in the Turkic regions of Akhaltsikhe and partially Akhalkalaki districts, a number of mass transitions of the Turkic population from the above‐mentioned regions to Turkey were registered. The reasons that gave rise to resettlement sentiments among the Turkic population are mainly in the difficult economic situation of the population of the above‐mentioned regions, which were severely affected by the poor harvest this summer. A particularly difficult situation was observed in the Nialo‐Lepinsky region of the Akhaltsikhe district, where almost all crops were destroyed by hail and rainstorms. Local co‐and party organizations did not take timely measures to transfer the required amount of grain to the abovementioned regions, to reduce the agricultural tax for the most affected poor and middle peasants and to pay them the following insurance sums. The aggravated food crisis caused strong discontent among the Turkic population and, along with it, a tendency to resettlement to Turkey. The beginning of the massive smuggling of wheat from Turkey strengthened the emigration sentiment among the Turkic population. Most of the Turks openly declared: “We are starving, our cattle are dying, and the authorities are not paying any attention to this. Better to go to Turkey, where there is plenty of everything. ʺ To prevent further growth of discontent and resettlement sentiments, Akhaltsikhe district Soviets and Party organizations transferred to the Nialo‐Lepinsky district the entire available supply of grain of the district EPO in the amount of 400 poods, the agricultural tax was reduced in the amount of 200 rubles, i.e. 35% of the total taxation, and the State Insurance was asked to urgently pay the following insurance sums to the victims. At the same time, a number of initiators of the resettlement movement were arrested.
Due to the exhaustion of grain reserves and the irregular payment of insurance sums not sent from the center, the region continued to starve. In this regard, resettlement sentiments swept across the entire population of the Nialo‐Lepinsky region and neighboring regions, in particular, the Okamsky region of the Akhalkalaki u.
November 9 this year from the villages of Gavet, Nialo and Agara, Lepinsky district, Akhaltsikhe u. moved to Turkey together with their cattle and property of 16 families totaling 113 people. November 11 this year from s. Ardakh of the same region and uyezd moved to Turkey by 9 families of 58 people, the latter being assisted by their relatives in Turkey and summoned by them to the border. From Akhalkalaki u. 2 families moved to Turkey.
After the resettlement of a number of Turkic families to Turkey in the Akhaltsikhe district. the government commission left, which distributed, mainly among the poor, 1000 poods bread ordered the payment of insurance sums to the victims and authorized the reduction in agricultural tax. Along with this, representatives of the district government at rallies made explanations about the reasons for the food difficulties. Currently, there are no cases of resettlement to Turkey: after a snowfall, all roads are closed. However, the tendency to resettlement to Turkey still takes place among the Turkic population of Akhaltsikhe and Akhalkalaki districts. A number of Turkic farms continue to sell their property and buy livestock, intending to move to Turkey in the spring. Attention is drawn to the intensified agitation of the local kulaks and Muslims for resettlement to Turkey,
Disclosure of the counter‐revolutionary organization Milli‐Firka
CRIMEA
The leading nucleus and the active of the counterrevolutionary organization ʺMilli‐Firkaʺ, which operated in the Crimea in different periods with different methods, starting from 1917, was identified and liquidated. With the Sovietization of Crimea (1921), the leaders of the ʺMFʺ, ʺacceptingʺ the Soviet power, took a number of responsible leading positions in the Soviet apparatus of the Crimea. The MF used the attraction of the Millifirkists to the Soviet work to preserve the conspiratorial party by introducing into the thick of the Tatar kulaks, creating in it a solid support for itself. For this purpose, a special Tatar agricultural cooperation called ʺSherketʺ was organized 330 with branches in all Tatar regions. The central apparatus ʺSherketʺ was headed by the leading asset of ʺMFʺ, and the peripheral links were led by the Tatar kulaks‐millifirkists. As a result, under the guise of cooperation, the “MF” had a broad influence on the Crimean Tatar village.
During the famine in the Crimea (1922‐1923), the ʺMFʺ created ʺemergency troikas to combat theftʺ, which in fact were a weapon in the fight against the Crimean Tatar poor. So, in only two cases, these commissions shot about 40 poor people. Having entrenched themselves in various levels of the governing body, in particular the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Justice, representatives of the ʺMFʺ paralyzed the counter‐rebuff from the Crimean Tatar poor.
Along with the seizure of cooperation, the ʺMFʺ extended its influence on the organs of the Peopleʹs Commissariat of Health, the Peopleʹs Commissariat for Education, the Peopleʹs Commissariat for Land and others. The leadership of the ʺMFʺ carried out work to involve Tatar teachers in its ranks and trained new cadres from students. To assist students, special scholarships were organized through the NKP, performances were staged and weddings were used, at which money was made. Individual leaders of the ʺMFʺ were associated with the bourgeois intelligentsia of a number of other eastern regions of the USSR and with the Crimean emigration in Turkey. In pursuit of the goal of increasing the percentage of the Tatar population of Crimea, ʺMFʺ made attempts to organize a mass re‐emigration of Tatars who had left the Crimea for Turkey, Romania and Bulgaria since Catherineʹs times.331. At the same time, the ʺMFʺ took real steps to attract the Crimean emigration to the campaign undertaken and to pressure through foreign governments on the USSR in order to achieve the cancellation of the decision to resettle Jews to Crimea and organize the Tatarsʹ re‐emigration instead. As a result of this work, the body of the Turkic‐Tatar emigration ʺAzeri‐Turkʺ 332 published secret documents of state importance concerning this issue.
Along with systematic work to deepen and expand its anti‐Soviet activities and influence, ʺMFʺ took an active part in all campaigns: reelections of the Soviets, cooperatives, KKOV, etc. in the Tatar village, opposing the measures of the Soviet government and the All‐Union Communist Party as a certain political force. Of the 63 people operated on, 333 “MF” two fled from the investigation. Of the remaining 61: 7 belong to the governing nucleus, 18 people were central and local activists, 12 people had connections with Turkey and Turkish espionage in the USSR, 2 were from a terrorist group, 10 people were supporters and accomplices of the “MF”. Of the total number of operated on, 25 people worked before their arrest in the Soviet cooperative apparatus of the Crimea. Among the leaders are: former Peopleʹs Commissars for Health, Peopleʹs Commissariat of Justice, Deputy Peopleʹs Commissariat of Finance, Deputy Chairman of the Glavsud and other less responsible employees of the central and local apparatus of Crimea. By social composition, operated patients are distributed as follows:
Former landlord
s
Mul
l
Merchant
s
Kulako
v
Serednyako
v
Poornyako
v
Of employee
s
Other
s
2
1
8
12
eleven
2
20
five
At the same time, it should be noted that the overwhelming majority assigned to the category of ʺemployeesʺ are from a well‐to‐do kulak milieu. According to the educational qualification, operated patients are distributed as follows:
With higher Turkish education
With higher Russian education
With secondary education
With secondary and lower Tatar
education
With a lower Russian education
Illiterate
19
nine
ten
ten
12
1
A significant number of those operated on are participants in the national counter‐revolutionary and White Guard movement in
Crimea. According to the past political situation, the data is distributed as follows:
Former members of the White Guard movement in
Crimea
Former members of the kurultai and national directories in Crimea 1917‐1918 334
Living in Turkey and traveling there
Turkish nationals
Previously convicted
12
21
22
3
12
Churchmen
During the reporting period, it is necessary to note a significant increase in religious sentiments and religious anti‐Soviet activity. For example, during one of the church holidays, 1200 rubles were collected in the church. (CCM). In with. Spas Buisky u. (Kostroma province) there is a religious and moral circle led by a former monk. This circle includes 24 people, 5 of them are children aged 10 to 12 years. In stts. Durnovskaya Khopersky district, who arrived in the village of Metropolitan Constantine of Stalingrad, the peasants were greeted with bread and salt, and two Cossacks came out in full Cossack uniforms with orders, shoulder straps and sabers. A plaque was nailed to the church with the inscription: ʺFor the faith, the tsar and the fatherland, officers and Cossacks who laid down their livesʺ (the names follow). In connection with the increase in religiosity, facts of mass demonstrations of believers have been registered.
In with. Tarlashi of the Kazan‐Prigorodny district 335 (Tatrespublika) it was decided to transfer the priestʹs house to the training center of the artillery regiment. On this basis, a mass demonstration of women (up to 400 people) took place in the village, who did not give up their homes for several days. In Semiozernaya Sloboda (Tatrespublika), they wanted to close 5 churches of the monastery. On this basis, up to 300 peasants took the floor and obstructed the closure. The workers of the Karabash plant (Sverdlovsk district) decided to close the church and transfer it to a seven‐year school. The admission commission of this church, faced with a crowd of 150 believers, called in a platoon of paramilitary guards. Despite this, the church could not be closed. In the village Kumlyak of the Uisk district (Troitsk district) at a meeting of the poor (there were 142 people) it was decided to close the church and transfer it to a school. The peasants, organized by the priest, protested (800 people),
The strengthening of religious sentiments also takes place in the form of peasantsʹ assistance to the priests in collecting taxes and other types of payments from the latter. Approximately, in the Chistopol canton (Tatrespublika), church councils provide the clergy with material assistance when paying the agricultural tax in the form of a mandatory taxation of peasants at 5 kopecks. off the eater. Similar collections were also noted in the Smolensk province. For anti‐Soviet agitation, the clergy use food difficulties and the differences (deviations) created in the CPSU (b). The priests in the city of Blagoveshchensk declare in their sermons: “The communists are beginning to fight among themselves, this plays into our hands. Soon they will give up their dictatorship and will return all of our people from abroad and hand over the government to them. Then we will live the same way. ʺ “The communists will quarrel among themselves and then it will be easier for us to live, but now we can’t breathe freely: we have been crushed by taxes, robbed with loans, prisons are groaning from those arrested, because we have never seen such power worse ”. As before, increased taxes on priests continue to play the role of a factor reinforcing anti‐Soviet agitation. Massive facts of dedication were noted (Tatrespublika, Smolensk, Bryansk provinces, Saransk district). In the Tomsk district, at a congress of churchmen, there were attempts to make a demand for the government to reduce the tax from the clergy and abolish selftaxation.
Deputy Chairman of the OGPU Trilisser
Head of the Information Department of the OGPU Alekseev
Correct: Secretary of INFO OGPU Kucherov
ANNEX No. 1 to the November 1928 survey. [ BAKERY]
Industrial difficulties and grain procurement
Leningrad region. Velikiye Luki District. In the Nevelsky district, the UstDolyskny village council issued a resolution on the registration of grain surpluses from the peasants of the village. Terebovyly. The chairman of the village council and a member of the village council began to conduct thorough searches in all farms in the village, which met with resistance from some peasants. Searches by order of the RIK were stopped.
Pskov District. In the m. Leafovka of the Logazovsky village council of the Pskov region, the chairman of the KKOV gathered 19 poor people at night and searched them in order to take away bread from their fellow villagers. There were cases of taking the last baked bread from the poor.
Ukraine. In with. Konkovka (Mariupol district) at the general meeting of the villagers, there was an organized speech of women ‐ members of the KNS, who demanded that the wealthy immediately surrender their surplus to cooperation. In with. Andreevka (Poltava District), when exporting the harnts collection, the poor detained the carts and divided the harnts collection among those in need. In the Kobelyakovsky and Churovsky districts, cases of demands by the poor to supply them with bread have become more frequent.
Weak supply of contracted and purchased standing bread
Lower Volga region. The contracts for the contracted and purchased standing bread were realized only in the amount of 60.8%.
Bread contracted by cooperative organizations comes in especially poorly.
Thus, in the Kamyshinsky district, out of the total amount of bread in 1,181,562 poods, purchased by Koopkhleb under contract, only 522832 poods were received. (45%); out of 808356 poods purchased on the vine, only 393984 poods were sold. (48%).
Central Black Earth Region as of November 20, out of 102828.4 tons of contracted grain to be delivered, only 27881 tons (27%) were received.
Ukraine. In four districts of the Poltava Okrug, 104 well‐to‐do farms delivered no more than 25% of the contracted grain.
North Caucasian Territory. The repayment of debts on contracting and the implementation of contracts for purchased bread at the root is extremely weak.
As of December 1, despite the repeated shifting of the established deadlines, only 8,812 thousand poods were received.
Bread speculation
Lower Volga region. In with. Marinovka (Saratov district) the entire population of the village is completely engaged in grinding grain into flour and selling it at speculative prices. Those who do not have their own grain are bought from other farms.
In the Lysogorsk region of the same district, the kulaks and the well‐todo are systematically speculating in bread. Kulaki in the village. B.Kopny buy grain from peasants and export it in large quantities to the city of Saratov. In order to grind bread out of turn, the kulaks solder the workers and the mill manager.
North Caucasian Territory. In a number of places in the Kushchevsky and Myasnikovsky districts (Donskoy District), a mass grinding of grain into flour is noted. Some of the farmers are engaged in the systematic export and sale of flour in the city market. Due to the increased grinding in the mills, the grinding queue has already been set for 2‐3 months.
In the villages of Kanevskaya, Krylovskaya, Korsunskaya and others in the Kuban district, the flow of bread has almost stopped, since recently there has been an increase in the influx of private buyers and bagmakers from lean regions, mainly because of the Kuban. Wheat prices go up to 3 rubles. for a pood. Wealthy and strong kulaks, buying up on the spot for 200‐300 poods bread grind it into flour and take it on carts to other regions, where they sell it for 6‐7 rubles. for a pood.
Ukraine. Fist hut. Novoselovki (Romensky District) buys up bread through three poor people who, under the guise of buying up bread for personal consumption, procure grain for him. The kulak grinds the purchased grain into flour and sells it at the bazaar.
Belotserkovsky district. In the Fastovsky and Mironovsky districts, the kulaks organized their own agents for the purchase of grain, which procure bread for them in the surrounding villages and nearby districts.
Refusals of millers to hand over the harnets fee
Ukraine. The owner of the mill in the village. Valerianovka (Dnepropetrovsk district) evades the delivery of merchandise, systematically selling it on the private market. In total, the miller sold over 1000 poods on the private market. collected from the grinding of bread.
The tenants of the steam mill in the town of Lyubomir (Zinovievsky District) shelter the actual amount of the collected garnets tax, hand over only a small part of it to the state, selling the rest on the private market.
Kulak miller, owner of three windmills in the village. Bolokhov‐Yar (Izyum district), systematically does not hand over the merchuk obtained from grinding to cooperation. For all the time they were handed over only 12 poods The remaining amount was sold on the private market at a speculative price.
Leningrad region. In with. Shuisky, Vologda district the owners of the mill, having received a notice from the VIK about the introduction of the grinding fee, filed over 200 applications (within 2‐3 weeks) with the following content: “We have imposed a lot, cannot be fulfilled. Take control. Closing the mills”, etc.
The submission of applications was massive, in connection with which a commission left the province to consider this issue.
More than 200 people attended the meeting of millers convened by the commission. During the report on the appointment of the garnets collection, among the assembled millers there were shouts: ʺA lot, itʹs hard, itʹs like a noose around your neckʺ, etc. One of the speakers, a prominent miller, made a proposal: ʺTo collect the grinding not from millers, but from eaters,ʺ which was supported by all millers ʺright, right.ʺ
Another miller, with a tendency to disrupt the grinding collection, made a proposal to establish control over the millers from 4 controllers. In a group of millers, he said: “I will do my best and will insist, and if nothing comes of it, we will not agree. All the same, they wonʹt jail everyone. In vain they frighten with a prison. We have seen not such threats. ʺ
All proposals were rejected by the provincial commission.
The assembly elected a commission of millers, which made a distribution of the collection among millers, but the situation did not change. So, as of November 21, 30 applications were submitted to the Shchuysky VIC to refuse the garnets fee, and as of November 22, the number of applications increased to 50.
In some volosts, millers, without the permission of local authorities, organized meetings of millers, at which they passed resolutions on the termination of work at the mills (Zadneselskaya vol. Kadnikovsky district).
Correct: Secretary of INFO OGPU Kucherov
ANNEX No. 2 to the November 1928 survey.
RE‐ELECTION OF COUNCILS
Kulak groups
Ulyanovsk District (SVO). In with. In Baratayevka, the kulak group is intensively preparing for the re‐election of the Soviets, in every possible way appeasing the poor peasants by lending them bread and money. Vladivostok District (DVK). In with. In Vinogradovka, Ivanovsky district, a grouping was formed, consisting of 10‐12 prosperous and anti‐Soviet elements. The groupʹs slogan: ʺSoviets without communists and without the poor.ʺ The group began preparations for the re‐election campaign in September. By the time the village electoral committee was organized, a list of its candidates had been outlined, through which the group intended to restore the “disenfranchised” electoral rights and bring them into the village council. Further, the group identified its candidates for the village council, for whom it intensively campaigns among voters.
Proskurovsky district (Ukrainian SSR). In with. Shelikovskaya Sloboda, Doroshnyansky District, the kulak group is preparing intensively for the re‐elections of the Soviets. One of the members of the group said about the purpose of organizing the group: “We, well‐to‐do owners, need to win over to our side the middle peasants, who were also offended by taxes this year; if we manage to speak together with them at the re‐elections, then we will be guaranteed that not a single beggar will get into the village council. ʺ
Moscow province. In the village. Beshenkovo Timonovskaya Vol. Dmitrovsky u. The kulak group, led by a former timber merchant, persuades the middle peasants so that the latter, at the reporting meetings of the VIK and the village council, undermine the authority of the VIK and village council members with their speeches. In addition, the group is actively campaigning for the expulsion of supporters of Soviet power from the Soviets and for the election of ʺtheir own people.ʺ
Maikop district. In the hut. The Soviet group, consisting of wealthy and powerful middle peasants, is campaigning for the expulsion of ʺstrangers and the election of their own peopleʺ from the Soviets, and it is planning to hold ʺtheir own peopleʺ to the presidium of the reelection meetings.
Berdichevsky district. In with. Bartalovo, Lyubarsky District, the kulak group, led by an anti‐Soviet middle peasant, arranges frequent meetings, accompanied by drinking binges, at which candidates for the future composition of the village council are discussed. The leader of the group, trying to get into the chairmen of the village council, agitates among the peasants: ʺIf you elect me as chairman of the village council, it will be much better for you.ʺ
Correct: Secretary of INFO OGPU Kucherov
ANNEX No. 3 to the November 1928 survey.
KULAK TERROR IN THE ELECTION CAMPAIGN
Tula lips. In the Lyubensky village council of the Komarovsky district, during a meeting of the election commission, the head of the APO of the Komarovsky district committee of the All‐Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was seriously wounded by a shot through the window, who later died.
Armavir district. In stts. Nadezhdina Otradinsky area at a meeting of the poor on the Secretary of the CPSU cell (b) the re‐election of the Soviets made Cossack middle peasant (formerly white, anti‐Soviet), saying: ʺComrades, citizens, do not listen to the speaker, this rabble kartuznikov 336 , they rob us, divide us, drive us away. ʺ After that he attacked the secretary of the cell and, grabbing him by the chest, struck him twice in the face with his fist and disappeared.
Bryansk lips. In with. Turo Klintsovskaya par. and after the end of the meeting of the poor, when the poor began to disperse to their homes, a member of the village council, an activist who was actively fighting the kulaks, was immediately beaten by two podkulaks.
Lgovskiy district (TsCHO). In with. Vasilyevka, on the basis of deprivation of voting rights, an arson was committed in the courtyard of a member of the election commission.
Ryazan lips. In with. Mouth on the basis of a hard line on deprivation of electoral rights by the kulaks, an attempt was made on the life of the secretary of the wolkom of the CPSU (b).
In with. In Izhevsk, a non‐partisan nominee was beaten with fists.
Lower Volga region. In with. In the clearing of the Serdobsky District of the Balashov District, a group of 5 kulaks attacked two members of the
Selizbirkom and beat them with stakes.
Donetsk District (SKK). In with. N.‐Grachevsky, Tarasovsky district, a five‐pound stone was thrown at a member of the electoral committee, an activist farm worker, who was returning from a meeting of the SelElection Commission.
In with. Mrykhovsky, Donskoy District, a poor man who actively participated in the election campaign was killed through a window with a firearm.
Correct: Secretary of INFO OGPU Kucherov
APPENDIX 4 to the November 1928 survey
FISTING OF PRE‐ELECTION AND ELECTION MEETINGS
Votskaya obl. In the village. Rus‐Loza‐Yakshur Vodinskaya Vol. The kulak, who had appeared at the re‐election meeting, tried to disrupt the meeting with all sorts of shouts and whistles. Addressing the reelection commissioner with the words: ʺYou are a bastard, a fascist, what you eat to the poor,ʺ he put out the lamp and rushed at the commissioner, trying to beat him. As a result, the meeting was disrupted.
Bryansk lips. In with. Turosno Klintsovskaya par. and the county one of the kulaks disrupted the womenʹs pre‐election meeting. On the evening of November 18, a meeting of the poor was scheduled, and the same kulak used, as at the womenʹs meeting, the method of withdrawing part of the poor from the meeting. The other kulak among those who remained agitated: “There are no poor people. We are all equal. All peasants must organize themselves in the CC, just as in America there is an alliance of workers and peasants. The Constitutional Court leads the workers, so if we organize, we will do what we want, everything will be in our hands. ʺ The attempts of the authorized VIC to establish order were met with opposition from the kulaks, who shouted: ʺOn what basis was the meeting made, who authorized it.ʺ As a result, the meeting was disrupted.
The newly appointed meeting of the poor for November 19 was also thwarted by podkulaks who burst into the meeting shouting: ʺCome out, poor fellow, you will be good, we will show you.ʺ
Salsky district. In the hut. Atamanovsky of the same district, the clergy held a prayer service in the courtyards in order to distract the voters and disrupt the meeting.
Correct: Secretary of INFO OGPU Kucherov
APPENDIX 5 to the November 1928 survey
LEAFLES IN CONNECTION WITH THE ELECTION OF COUNCILS
Astrakhan District (NVK). November 20 in the village. N. Elton, Vladimirsky district, a leaflet was removed from the door of the premises occupied by the agricultural credit partnership: “Comrades ... Peasants and workers ...
Be attentive to the upcoming re‐election of responsible workers in our region ‐ the village council, the cooperative and the cross committee, where people are sitting completely for other purposes. In the village council Grimin is a former shepherd, shepherd and watch firefighter from. Proshiba. We have nothing to expect from him, he knows nothing about the restoration of agriculture and is not aware of this business and work. In the cross committee, Tikhonchuk is an employee; he knows little about the peasantry; he must be replaced by a person who knows the whole life of a poor peasant. In the cooperative ‐ Duyunov, [a resident of] the Kapustinsky zaimishche, a pig, does not enjoy any confidence of our peasants, you need to put your own villager, and fire him, until it turned out that with Silaeva.
Comrades ... our appeal to the working population: ʺEnough to be silent,ʺ letʹs approach the truth with the slogan ʺAll for the elections.ʺ There is no place for outsiders in our family to choose their own villagers. Down with the impostors.
Union of peasants ʺ
Khabarovsk District (DVK). In with. Tamga of Kalininsky district, a leaflet with the following content was found:
“Plow, nation and labor. Down with the communists.
Brothers Russian peasants and Cossacks.
The Communist Party of Russian workers (torn), they robbed the Russian workers, they say to the whole world: ʺLook how rich we are.ʺ They chained the entire Russian working people in chains and told them: ʺLook and celebrate the victory, we are your power.ʺ They robbed everyone all year round with taxes, voluntary loans, taxes, donations, membership fees, did not give wages and handed in expensive shoddy goods. They took bread from you at fixed prices and now they barrage and triumph with the stolen funds.
Brothers peasants. The Russian workers, together with you, experience the delights of communist power, they are obliged to tell you the broad truth every day (torn) ‐ there is no Soviet power in the USSR (torn), only the hostile dictatorship of communist apparatchiks and Jewish Nepmen. These parasites of all working people crush, rob, torture and exploit, and therefore every day (torn) letʹs say all together, shaking hands with each other: ʺEnough pressure and exploitation of the Russian workersʺ, ʺDown with parasites, communist apparatchiks and Jewish Nepmen.ʺ Then you endure and we no longer have the strength, help us accelerate the attack (torn) to us by the Jewish communists and the authorities. Organize in your country cells of peasant and Cossack unions of national syndicalists, cells of the revolutionary struggle against the communist apparatus. Demand free re‐elections to the village council, get rid of the communists and see your brother a farmer‐farmer; seizing the village councils in your hands, demand the transfer of power from the executive committee (torn). Selected bodies of the volost of peasant and Cossack unions, demand the establishment of peasant and Cossack unions, demand the establishment of cross unions, real firm prices for bread, demand freedom of grain trade for the Russian farmer, demand the abolition of state grain procurements, demand an immediate reduction in taxes, organize secret detachments of peasant and Cossack national guards in all volosts to prepare for the latter and a decisive battle with the Jewish communists with parasites. Long live the Russian workers, peasants and Cossacks national union. Long live the national union of thought, plow and hammer. Long live the national anti‐communist revolution.
May 1, 1928
Russian workersʹ syndicalists. ʺ
Correct: Secretary of INFO OGPU Kucherov
APPENDIX No. 6
EASTERN NATIONAL REPUBLICS AND AUTONOMOUS AREAS
Intelligence
KAZAKSTAN
On the course of the confiscation of Bai farms as of November 20, 1928 by districts
No.
No.
PP
County name
Qty. house holds subject to confiscatio n
It was supposed to withdraw livestock
Confiscated
Commo
n qty
Wednesda
y qty
Numbe r of househ
olds
Seized heads of cattle
Common c ount
Wednesday
count
on the farm
on the farm
1
Aktobe
61
27646
453
59
15588
264
2
Syr‐
Darinsky
105
65148
624
97
24736
255
3
Kustanai
65
21346
328
65
13187
203
4
Akmola
46
11385
247
43
8534
198
five
Petropavl ovsk
34
9178
270
34
5735
168
6
Ural
72
30578
424
72
10310
143
7
Alma‐
Ata
82
44500
542
57
15853
236
8
Guryevsk
y
24
7658
319
eightee n
4516
250
nine
Pavlodar
33
9299
281
33
6188
299
ten
Karkarali nsky
57
31090
543
56
12701
226
elev en
Semipala tinsk
63
26087
414
24
3788
142
12
KyzylOrdynsk
y
55
31062
564
47
16673
354
Correct: Secretary of INFO OGPU Kucherov
List of addressees to whom the review of the political economy of the
USSR for November 1928 is sent. (List Removed, so many pages of names.
LM)