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Review of the political state of the USSR in June 1929
Top secret
July ** 1929
At the same time, an overview of the political state of the USSR for June 1929 is being transmitted. The review is compiled on the basis of data from the Information Department 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, district and regional committees and the Bureau of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b).
There are three annexes and one table in the review.
Deputy Chairman of the OGPU
Berry
Head of the Information Department of the OGPU
Alekseev
Workers
Raising labor productivity and reducing labor force in textile factories
At a number of textile factories (Leningrad, Moscow region, Ivanovskaya and Sredne‐Volzhskaya oblasts), dissatisfaction was noted among groups of workers with measures to raise labor productivity and reduce the number of workers released in connection with these measures. Discontent in most cases is explained by the insufficiently thoughtful and serious approach to the issue on the part of the administration, poor explanatory work during the events and arbitrariness and mistakes made during reductions.
In connection with the tightening of the working day, insufficient clarification of the issue, a decrease after the compaction of wages in June, there were two strikes of insignificant groups of workers (the ʺPrivolzhskaya kommunaʺ factory ‐ Ivanovskaya oblast and Paper spinning mill No. 3 GKhVTrest ‐ Moscow) and “Italian” strike of 400 workers at the Vladimir factory “Communist avant‐garde”.
The sharpest dissatisfaction associated with the compaction and reduction in the reporting month was revealed in a number of Leningrad factories (Krasnaya Nit, Oktyabrskaya, Rabochy, etc.). In these factories, insufficiently thought out and, moreover, hastily taken measures to raise labor productivity led to machine downtime, excessive overload of workers, etc.
The increase in discontent in individual factories in Leningrad was facilitated by an additional reduction in groups of workers, more than 700 people in total (the Krasnaya Nit factory ‐ 120 people, Red Mayak ‐ 200 people, Oktyabrskaya ‐ 135 people, Rabochy ‐ 170 people and etc.) in addition to the reduction of 820 workers originally planned by Lentextil.
In some cases, the lists of those to be cut were not coordinated with the trade unionists, persons who had no means of subsistence were cut, and non‐members of the Union were left in production.
On this basis, on June 18, an anonymous letter with the signature “Fighting Committee” was received at the factory “Rabochy” in the name of the administration. The anonymous letter stated that ʺThe Fighting Committee cannot indifferently look at the reduction of multifamily, widows who can only go out into the street to sell themselves.ʺ The anonymous letter ended with the words: ʺIn the name of our duty, we declare terror.ʺ
The facts are noted when the discontent of the workers was used by anti‐Soviet persons who, with their demagogic attacks, tried to restore groups of workers against the Soviet regime and pushed them to strike actions.
At the Izmailovskaya factory (Syzran Okrug ‐ SVO), in connection with the compaction (switching to two machines), anti‐Soviet people pointed out to the workers that the Soviet government ʺis trying to press the workers and tie them to the machine harder than in tsarist times.ʺ
At this factory and at Rumyantsevskaya, the workers were completely unprepared for the tightening of the working day. The event was not sufficiently explained to the workers and was carried out by the administration without elaboration not only with the trade union committee, but also without discussion at the production meeting.
Strikes at glass factories in the Vladimir District
At some glass factories of Tsegostrest, where there were a number of conflicts in May caused by long delay in wages, strikes related to rationing issues were noted in the reporting month.
A group of workers of 20 people from the Hutten workshop went on strike at the Velikodvorsk glass factory. These workers abandoned the production of Halal 228 small size, motivating its refusal by the fact that their earnings to the development of the halal falls.
A group of workers of 8 people (including five party members and one Komsomol member) did not start work at the Bukharin plant. It is characteristic that the head of this plant for a long time completely did not pay attention to the statements of the workers demanding to revise the production rates. Workers are dissatisfied with the norms due to poor equipment of the bath oven 229.
Seasons
In June, the number of strikes among seasonal workers is the same as the number of strikes in May (75 and 76); the number of strikes in June is slightly lower than the number of strikes in June last year (76 versus 81).
However, the number of participants in strikes in the reporting month is almost twice as high as in May of this year (11067 participants and 6623) and significantly higher than the number of participants in June strikes last year (11067 and 8977).
The increase in the number of participants in the reporting month is explained by the consolidation of strikes that arose in connection with dissatisfaction with wages and food difficulties.
Strikes, which arose out of dissatisfaction with the ration of bread given out and interruptions in the supply of food, 20 with the number of participants 4400 (about 40% of participants in all strikes among seasonal workers) this month, and up to 1000 and more workers took part in individual strikes (brick factories of the Kolpinsky District Leningrad district). The same was noted in the previous month, when also about 35% of seasonal workers went on strike because of food difficulties (20 strikes with 2268 participants).
In the past year, the strikes among seasonal workers were mostly due to a number of private reasons (harsh living conditions, poor working conditions, etc.) and involved significantly smaller groups of workers. Here are the facts of the most significant strikes at seasonal work.
At brick factories No. 1 and No. 2 of Mospromtorg (Moscow district) on June 9, 320 order officers went on strike, 230 dissatisfied with their wages and the amount of bread given out. The strikers filed an application signed by the five artel elders, demanding an increase in bread and wages.
On June 10, 300 peat bogs went on strike at the Beloe Boloto peat plant (Borisov district of the Minsk district), dissatisfied with the established production standards. Long before the strike, in order to achieve a reduction in the norms (the norms are 37,000 bricks for 8 hours of work under good conditions and 32,000 in bad quarries), workers began to deliberately lower the norms.
On the eve of the strike, the headmen and authorized artels organized a meeting, at which they worked out a statement to the RKK with a number of eager demands (setting the daily wage for workers of all artels at 3 rubles per day, etc.).
A number of unhealthy phenomena are noted at the plant. In the peat committee elections, thanks to the weakness of the party leadership, the candidacy of the party member nominated by the cell was defeated. The director of the plant took from the workers maharych 231. There are only 92 people out of 700 at the plant of the Union members.
Particularly noteworthy are a number of strikes in the Leningrad district and, in particular, in the Kolpinsky district of this district, where after a strike at the Ermak brick factory, strike sentiment gripped the workers of a number of neighboring brick factories (Sverdlovets, UstIzhorets, Krasny kirpnik ʺ,ʺ Revival ʺ). The strikers of these factories demanded an increase in the prices and norms of bread (up to 1000 g per day).
The strike at the Yermak plant broke out on June 17 under the influence of the agitation of a group of seasonal workers, led by former trade union representative Veselkov, and involved 800 workers. Veselkov and a group of his supporters went to neighboring factories, campaigning for a strike. As a result, on June 18, 112 workers stopped working at the neighboring Sverdlovets plant.
On June 19, 1,200 workers went on strike at the Ust‐Izhorets brick factory. During this strike, a stone was thrown into one of the horsedrawn vehicles and the vehicle was broken.
On June 20, 253 workers stopped working at the Krasny Bricknik plant, and 100 workers at the Pobeda plant on June 20. 120 workers did not work at the Vozrozhdenie plant on June 20, 21 and 22.
Seasonal work in the CCM
The situation at seasonal work and state farms in the region is unfavorable. In most cases, workersʹ dissatisfaction is caused by the existing level of wages, difficult working conditions, poorly set work on labor protection, gross arbitrariness of the administration, etc. Strikes by significant groups of workers on individual state farms are noteworthy.
In the Platnirovsky state farm, 600 laborers went on strike. The initiators of the strike were the secretary of the Komsomol cell and the Komsomol member. Speaking at meetings, the secretary of the Komsomol cell told the workers: ʺThe wages are low and you need to work less.ʺ The Komsomol member at these meetings openly called for the termination of work. Both were expelled from the Komsomol.
200 workers went on strike at state farm No. 20 of the Pavlovsky district.
In some seasonal jobs in June there were excesses in connection with the arbitrariness and criminal attitude of administrative and technical personnel to their duties.
In the Khulamsky gorge (Kabardino‐Balkarian vol.), On the Bizingievo road construction site, in the Seker‐Me area, an excess arose on June 15 due to the fact that a group of workers was covered by a landslide (5 workers were killed, 12 were injured). Despite the fact that the landslide began in mid‐April, the administrative and technical personnel did not take measures to eliminate it. This is due to the indiscretion and inactivity of the road department of the regional executive committee.
Now, after the collapse, indignant workers, agitated by anti‐Soviet people (ʺdisenfranchisedʺ and others), beat several administrative and technical personnel (including two party members), disarmed the guards of the warehouse with explosives, etc. At a meeting called in the evening, with the participation of representatives of interested organizations, anti‐Soviet speakers declared: ʺYou need a road to drive cars in astrakhan hats.ʺ And one chairman of the village council, turning to the representatives of the organization, said: ʺWhy did you come here, dogs.ʺ
At a rally held on June 16, the workers issued a resolution (which, however, was not recorded) to stop road construction in the Khulam Gorge. The workers motivated this decision by the fact that there is a shortage of food in Balkaria. When the members of the commission promised to supply corn, the inhabitants of several villages agreed to work.
The commission revealed the criminally negligent attitude of the
technical staff in relation to labor protection at work. The perpetrators are brought to justice.
It should be noted that immediately after the collapse, due to the spread of rumors about the large number of victims and the lack of accurate information about the actual number of the buried workers, large crowds of peasants gathered from the surrounding villages to the crash site. However, the workers detained them and did not allow them to reach the site of the collapse.
The incidents took place in Stavropol and Maykop due to the disorganized recruitment of the seasonal workforce.
In early June, a representative of a logging organization that was working on the 5th section of the GZD in the area of st. Absheron. This representative, without coordinating the issue with the labor exchange, announced to a number of organizations that he needed to recruit significant groups of workers (up to 1500 people in total). The unemployed of Stavropol and the surrounding villages were well informed about this. But as a result, it turned out that no more than 300 people were required to work. The peasants, who were torn away from the field work, were greatly outraged and, incited by anti‐Soviet elements and ʺdisenfranchisedʺ, began to break the windows in the building of the RIK and threaten to beat the chairman.
Seasonal work in Moscow
Attention is drawn to the unfavorable situation in the construction work in Moscow. In May and June, 18 strikes were registered (with more than 1,000 participants) on the basis of dissatisfaction with wages. It should be noted that the prices, in comparison with the prices of last year, are not nominally lowered, but in fact, the salary has significantly decreased due to a number of technical shortcomings, working conditions, arbitrariness in setting prices by foremen, incorrect measurements and calculations and more stringent than in the past year, the approach to accounting for the quality of work.
Due to dissatisfaction with earnings on a significant number of buildings, workers are also leaving work (in early June, over 400 workers left different buildings). There were also cases of beating of lower technical personnel (ʺBauman builderʺ, construction of the Park of Culture and Rest).
In connection with the weak political work and the general unstable mood among the builders in the reporting month, there were facts of disruptions of meetings for the re‐election of local committees, rejection of candidates proposed by the cells (by the local committee of builders No. 258, building of lit. ʺ3ʺ Mosstroy, building of the Central Executive Committee and SNK, etc.) ...
At some meetings, among the builders, performances were noted reflecting kulak sentiments, and the main motives for the performances were food difficulties, ʺwhich allegedly stem from the wrong policy of the Soviet government in relation to the countrysideʺ (a number of buildings of Mosstroy and Rusgerstroy).
The discontent of the workers on some buildings uses an alien element that clogs the administrative staff.
At the construction site of the Bauman Builder, the anti‐Soviet agitation is being conducted by a senior group of unskilled workers, the son of a former large merchant.
At the construction of TsAGI, the senior of the group of masons, a former merchant, initiated the strike of the group of masons on June 22.
At building no. 3004, a bricklayer, a former ʺdispossessedʺ merchant, initiated a strike on 20 June.
Prodzones
In June, a number of cities and industrial regions experienced some difficulties in supplying foodstuffs, mainly meat and, in some areas, bread. In Krasnodar and Samara, the queues for bread were up to 300 people, in Syzran ‐ up to 300‐400 people (on June 4 and 5 in Syzran there were more than 500 people in the queues). In Irkutsk and Omsk ‐ up to 500‐600. In mid‐June in Moscow there were interruptions in the supply of white bread, there were queues of 100‐150 people. Long queues were also in Nizhny Novgorod and Tver. In Grozny, the queues for meat were established from one or two in the morning, reaching 200 or more people, in Moscow, queues for meat up to 150‐200 people. In the Urals enterprises in June there was a firm supply of meat ‐ 100 g per person. There were also queues for meat in the coal regions of the Donetsk‐Shakhtinsky district.
In the reporting month, there was a slight decrease in the norms of bread for certain groups of consumers (cities of the SKK). In Krasnodar, all groups of the working population, with the exception of workers, have been reduced from 300 g of bread per day to 200 g. In Taganrog, the work rate has been reduced from 750 to 600 g. And other groups of the working population from 450 to 300 g. ‐Shakhtinsky district) the norms were reduced from 800 to 600 g per day. In a number of regions of Ukraine, there is a partial improvement in the supply of workers with food (Donbass, Kharkov).
Due to food difficulties, there were 20 strikes among seasonal workers in June (4400 participants). Several strikes among seasonal workers affected large groups of workers from 300‐500 to 1000 people (For strikes, see the section ʺSeasonal workersʺ).
Social Competition Campaign Progress
(enterprises of the city of Leningrad and the Ivanovo industrial region.)
Leaving aside the achievements that determine the course of socialist competition, it is necessary to note a number of negative aspects revealed in some of the enterprises of Leningrad and the Ivanovo industrial region. The main ones are: 1) the deployment of social competition at a slow pace, 2) insufficient preparatory work among workers on the part of party and trade organizations, 3) insufficient participation in the social competition of engineering and technical personnel, 4) the lack of provision of enterprises with the necessary amount of raw materials, auxiliary materials and a problem in work on this basis of production‐related workshops, which is mainly observed in the textile industry.
Dissatisfaction with the ongoing socialist competition takes place mainly among the backward groups of workers associated with the countryside. In some cases, discontent among them is kindled by antiSoviet and demagogic people. Under the influence of their agitation and speeches, several facts were noted of workersʹ refusal to compete.
A) Poor campaign deployment
Weak deployment of the campaign takes place at a number of enterprises in the Ivanovo industrial region. (factory named after Krasin, named after D. Bedny, Shuiskiye weaving factories, shoe factory “Trudkommuna”, Vorobyevsky woodworking plant, etc.).
F‐ka ʺKrasny Perekopʺ (Yaroslavl district) at the beginning of June entered into competition with the f‐ka of Kineshemskiy district ʺKrasny Profinternʺ, despite the fact that the f‐ka ʺKrasny Profinternʺ sent a call back in early May.
At the f‐ke them. Krasin, the discussion of the issue at workersʹ meetings began only after materials on the results of the competition began to appear in print.
At B. Dmitrovskaya field, many departments did not take any part in the competition until recently.
In the Shuisky Okrug, the rather intensive work on the competition, which began at the beginning, almost completely collapsed by midMay.
In some factories (Remizo‐Berdochnyi zavod 232, etc.) competition proceeds without any system, spontaneously, thanks to the weak participation of party and trade union organizers.
B) Insufficient explanatory work
In connection with the weak preparatory and explanatory work on socialist competition, significant groups of workers are not sufficiently involved in competition, do not have a clear idea of its goals and essence. The workers are often poorly informed about the meetings and conversations arranged to discuss this issue, sometimes reports are made hastily and crumpled. There have been cases when workers learned about the competition from the announcements posted in the smoking rooms, or the issue was discussed at a meeting of workers long after the call to the competition was accepted.
On this basis, some meetings were held with low attendance and low activity of workers.
Leningrad. At the Krasnaya Zarya plant, the day before the general plant conference, workshop meetings were held, and the workers were poorly informed about this: “The attendance at the meeting was insignificant; the reports were made in a hurry, as a result, the debate on the reports did not even open”.
At the plant them. Egorov, the question of competition has been worked out only by the active, many workers do not know how their participation in the competition will be expressed specifically. At the “Skorokhod” factory, one shift of 300 people was completely unaware of the call to the competition, while the contract had already been signed; workers of one of the departments learned about the competition only from the advertisements posted in the smoking rooms.
At the Baltic Shipyard, at meetings to discuss socialist competition, 10 people attended twice, and the second time out of 10 people there were 6 party members. At this plant, reports on the competition in a number of shops were not presented, the issue was discussed only at the plenum of the factory committee, the production meeting and at the meeting of the shop floor. Out of 300 people at the Krasny Putilovets, only 35 attended the meeting (open‐hearth shop); out of 300 people came to the mechanical laboratory.
Ivanovo‐Voznesenskaya province. At the f‐ke them. D. Poor letter ʺBʺ due to the passivity of the factory committee, the challenge of workers ʺKrasnaya Vetkaʺ was not discussed at all. The work of the factory committee was reduced only to ʺstickingʺ diagrams on the walls of the shops with technical standards and an announcement calling to raise the intensity of labor. The diagrams were incomprehensible not only to the workers, but also to the junior technical staff: ʺWe donʹt understand what kind of cards are hung on the walls, we drew and hung pictures, but we were not taught to understand them, we stand and admire them like goats at a new gate.ʺ
C) Deficiencies in the organizational work for the competition
At some enterprises, serious shortcomings in the organizational work for the competition were noted: the headquarters and troikas were torn off from the work of the shops, the shop plans are not specific enough and often, after accepting the challenge and developing a general plan for the competition, these plans are not specified. As a result, groups of workers do not know how their participation in the competition should be expressed. In some cases, the absence of representatives from ordinary workers in troikas and staffs was also noted.
The separation of the headquarters from the shops has the consequence that intrashop calls in one enterprise, or brigade and individual calls are relatively rare. In some cases, workshops that do not have any industrial connection compete at the same enterprise. Due to inactivity, individual troikas were re‐elected.
At the Krasny Putilovets plant, the plant competition headquarters was formed from representatives of various organizations without the participation of ordinary workers from the shops. The headquarters for a long period of time could not work out specific measures for competition. The shop contract sent out to shops ʺas a sampleʺ, was accepted everywhere in its entirety, without any amendments. The distribution of the shops in the competition was made without taking into account the opinions of the shop organizations and workers. The steam shop, which is in production connected with the repair and assembly shop, was appointed to compete with the steam locomotive and boiler house, with which it has no production connection. A delivery department was assigned to the competition with the supply department, which also had no connection.
In some enterprises, insufficient participation of engineering and technical personnel in the competition was revealed. Engineers and technicians are limited only to carrying out those activities that they must carry out on the ʺadministrative lineʺ. In some cases, their participation was expressed only in filling out demonstration posters.
In some enterprises, administrative and technical personnel delay the implementation of social competition activities. In addition, isolated cases of perversion of social competition activities were noted.
The fact of an obvious distortion of the line of work on the competition took place at the Kooperator plant (LVO), where the team of packers, who agreed to lower prices, the head of the MA reduced the prices by another 10%. The same was done in the mechanical, boiler and model shops. After the intervention of the party organizations, the order of the head of the MA was canceled.
Cases of refusal of socialist competition
The question of socialist competition in individual enterprises was not only insufficiently explained to the workers, but also poorly developed by the factory organizations themselves. In the presence of insufficiently in‐depth explanatory work on the part of trade and party organizations, the mood of the workers of some enterprises is affected by the agitation of anti‐Soviet and demagogically minded individuals who claim that the competition ʺwill be reduced to lower pricesʺ or ʺthe competition is organized to squeeze out more sweat from the workers.ʺ
As a result of poor explanatory work and agitation of anti‐Soviet elements, five facts of refusal to compete were noted. Along the Ivanovo‐Voznesenskaya lips. refusal to compete took place at the factory. Shagova, at the factory “Privolzhskaya Kommuna” and at the Teikovskaya factory. Throughout Leningrad: at the Krasnogvardeets plant and at the Krasnaya Zarya plant.
It is characteristic that at the Krasnaya Zarya plant at a meeting of the instrumental workshop on the issue of accepting the challenge of the automatic‐revolving workshop, there were 10 party members and Komsomol members who voted against 48 people.
Peasants
Food difficulties
Central Industrial Region 233
The food situation in the Tula and Tver districts remains tense. In the Tver Okrug, the norms for the supply of flour by the cooperative union in charge of supplying the rural population have been cut for June, which also led to a reduction in the norm for the distribution of flour to the population.
The supply of flour to the markets of the entire district has decreased and the prices for bread have risen again and reach 14 rubles in some regions. pood.
The severity of the situation is softened by the appearance of edible herbs and milk.
In the Kaluga and Ryazan districts, the severity of food difficulties has somewhat eased.
In connection with good harvest prospects, there is an increase in the supply of bread to markets and a decrease in the price of bread. In some areas of the Kaluga District, market prices for bread fell from 10 rubles. up to 4 rubles. 50 kopecks, and in the Ryazan district from 10‐12 rubles. up to 6‐7 rubles.
Ivanovo‐industrial region
There is an acute issue with the grain supply of the rural population in the vegetable and flax growing regions (Rostov, Uglichsky) of the Yaroslavl District and in the land‐poor areas (Vorokhovetsky, Kovrovsky, Kirzhachsky) of the Vladimir and Aleksandrovsky Districts.
In a number of districts, the population of entire villages consumes bread substitutes. For instance:
In the village. Baklanovo, Rostov District, Yaroslavl District, out of 85 farms, only two do not use bread substitutes.
It should be noted that the aggravation of industrial difficulties in some flax‐growing regions was sometimes caused exclusively by the inoperability of the supplying organizations. There were cases of delivery of grain products to flax‐growing regions in excess of the required amount.
In the Rybinsk district of the Flax Union in the former Lenin parish. imported about 8000 poods. bread and from this stock will be consumed no more than 60‐70%, and the rest of the bread is in warehouses in the fall.
In the Vladimirsky, Yaroslavsky and Rybinsky districts, many poor people and some of the middle peasants who do not receive food rations from the cooperatives sell livestock to buy bread.
Bread speculation is unabated, market prices for bread reach 12‐14 rubles. for a pood. In some cases, there have been talks about the need to smash the cooperatives or go to steal, if such a supply of bread will be in the future (village Babanino, Vladimir district).
On the basis of the predominant supply of bread to the poor, conversations have been recorded: ʺLazy people are fed, and we, workers, are starved.ʺ
Nizhny Novgorod region.
Food situation of settlements in the territory of the Nizhny Novgorod province. continues to be tense. The supply of the needy is made almost exclusively (90%) at the expense of the garnets fee, the receipt of which is unsatisfactory.
The food situation is especially acute in Pavlovsky district. and in the Balakhna region. The number of poor peasants in need in Pavlovsky district in June it increased to 20,600 households against 14,000 in May, while the amount of bread for sale among the hungry is the same as in May (4,000 poods).
The norm for giving out bread to poor households is from 3 to 6 kg per eater per month, depending on the need.
On the basis of aggravation of food difficulties in a number of counties among the poor, there is an increased desire for resettlement and, in excess of the usual departure to work in areas more secured with bread (Siberia, Central Asia). In the spring of this year, up to 3,000 peasants, booked outside the Nizhny Novgorod province, left for Siberia and Central Asia from the Arzamas, Lyskov and Sergach districts. Those who leave enter into an agreement with new organizations for long periods.
The kulaks and the anti‐Soviet element in the countryside, taking advantage of the aggravation of food difficulties, are campaigning in favor of granting broad freedom to private initiative in the grain market.
“This is what the state farms have brought us to, we have eaten bread, unless you can work for them, idlers. Soviet power has ruled for 12 years, and every year, the achievement, at first there was no bread, then the manufacture, would have given private trade and everything would have been ʺ(merchant from the village of Varnavino, KrasnoBakovsky district).
Leningrad region.
The food situation softened somewhat in June. The delivery of grain in June increased against May, and the supply of the rural population in accordance with the established norms was carried out without interruption. Due to the fact that edible herbs and more milk have appeared, the difficulties are not felt with the same acuteness. Therefore, in view of the fact that the peasantry is engaged in field work, the manifestations of mass discontent and excesses have decreased.
Western region
Food difficulties were somewhat mitigated by an increase in the export to the market of part of the grain surplus by the wealthy peasantry. Market prices for bread fell significantly (from 10‐8 rubles to 5‐2 rubles 50 kopecks).
Nevertheless, due to the shortage of bread, there are still cases of the sale of livestock by the poor, the urge to resettlement has increased, otkhodnik 234, begging, and crime (theft) have increased.
BVO
The situation with the grain supply of the rural poor improved, as the import of grain products increased, especially in the Polotsk and Vitebsk districts. In some settlements, the rate of giving bread to the poor has been increased from 5 kg per month per eater to 6 kg, and the percentage of those enrolled in the supply of bread to the needy poor has increased.
In some regions, there is a decrease in market prices for potatoes. The prices for bread, due to the speculation of local kulaks and the wealthy, are high.
DVK
The food situation in the Amur, Khabarovsk, Vladivostok, Chita and Zeya districts has not improved. In the Amur District, the food shortage is most acute in the settlements along the Amur, and, in particular, in the Yekaterino‐Nikolsky, Khingan‐Arkharinsky, Mikhailovsky and Amur‐Zeya districts, where a significant part of the poor and farm laborers are starving.
The difficulties were aggravated by the fact that the well‐to‐do in order to exert pressure on the poor, in response to the boycott of the malicious holders of bread, began to use counter‐boycott. In some villages, the counterboycott by the wealthy is carried out in an organized manner, especially against the rural poor activists.
In this regard, anti‐kulak sentiments have noticeably increased among the poor, and conversations about the need to destroy the barns of the wealthy are increasingly being recorded. “There is no way out but to go rob, steal or break up the barns of the wealthy” (Kalinino village, Mikhailovsky District).
In the Khabarovsk District, the poor in a number of settlements feed exclusively on substitutes for bread. Due to the lack of bread, theft intensified, cases of violation of the border by the poor, crossing it in search of corrupt bread (Khabarovsk and Vladivostok districts), increased. The poor demand the declaration of freedom of the border for those in need of bread. In a number of areas, the border is open for exchange in kind. The well‐to‐do part of the peasantry, taking advantage of the aggravated industrial difficulties, inflates food prices and enslaves the poor, forcing them to work a whole working day for 10‐15 pounds of potatoes.
Unified agricultural tax
Attitude towards the new law on unified agricultural tax of middle and poor peasants
In areas where the popularization and clarification of the new law on the unified agricultural tax was carried out satisfactorily, the majority of the peasantry met the law with approval.
“The regulation on a new agricultural tax should only be welcomed by the peasants, since this gives them the opportunity to increase livestock and expand the sown area” (middle peasants and poor peasants of the
Pavlovo village, Smolensk province).
In a number of villages in the Middle Volga region. the middle peasants and the poor, approving the privileges provided to the sowers, spoke in favor of the need to expand the cultivated area and strengthen public control over the observance of the class line by the village councils when imposing a new agricultural tax.
“We, the poor, will sow more, it is only necessary that the village council and tax commissions approach the poor in the right way” (Pavlo‐Antonovka village, Samara District).
On the contrary, in those areas where explanatory work was carried out hastily or (which is also often not carried out at all), the middle peasants, learning about the new tax at random, although they approve of it, but this information, which sometimes reaches them from completely unauthorized sources (usually rumored), are mistrustful, taking a wait and see attitude.
In particular, there is strong distrust among the peasants to the point of invariability of the basic rates of taxation for a long period.
There are also frequent remarks from the middle peasants that ʺthe tax is not valid, that it is only for one year, and then it will be the same as before.ʺ
In the Ivanovo‐industrial region. significant discontent of the peasants is caused by the establishment of too close the first deadline for the contribution of the unified agricultural tax (October 1).
At a meeting of peasants der. Golchanovo, Seredsky district, Shuisky district, on the issue of the timing of payment of the agricultural tax, the following resolution was adopted: ʺThe peasants consider the postponement of the first deadline for payment of the agricultural tax to October 1 to be incorrect and premature.ʺ
Anti‐Tax Activities of the Kulaks and the Anti‐Soviet Element
Almost everywhere, the kulaks, the well‐to‐do and anti‐Soviet element of the countryside, using the insufficient popularization of the new law among the broad masses of the peasantry and the mistakes made by the workers of the Soviet apparatus, in the process of preparing the campaign, in every possible way seek to undermine the confidence among the peasants in the new tax, agitating:
“Do not think that you will receive benefits under the new law. This is only written on paper; you will soon be driven into the collective” (BSSR).
ʺThe law was issued to catch fools of grain growersʺ (CCM).
In the Ivanovo‐industrial region. the kulaks and the well‐to‐do are waging a big campaign against the inclusion of the poor in the tax commissions, agitating: ʺSince the poor do not pay tax, they should not take part in determining the tax on othersʺ (Rybinsk District).
In a number of places (SKK, Byelorussian SSR, Tula, Kaluga provinces), kulaks and well‐to‐do people resort to active forms of struggle, disrupting meetings on the issue of agricultural tax (Kaluga province), intimidating and beating up the poor, activists advocating individual taxation.
Distortions and shortcomings in the work of compiling lists of farms subject to individual taxation
According to available materials from the BSSR, SKK, Ivanovoindustrial region. and Tula province, the work that has begun on accounting for taxable objects and identifying kulak farms subject to individual taxation is accompanied by a number of significant shortcomings.
In a number of districts of the SKK (Donetsk, Tersk, Chernomorsk, Stavropol, Armavir), the workers of the lower Soviet apparatus have not sufficiently mastered the basic principles of the new law on the unified agricultural tax.
In the process of identifying kulak farms subject to individual taxation, individual workers clearly displayed kulak sentiments.
Some of them directly stated that “they have absolutely no kulaks, how can a peasant who has 25 cattle and several hundred sheep be assigned to kulaks” (Salsk district).
In the BSSR, in a number of cases, the workers of the village councils, not wishing to aggravate relations with the kulaks, did not carry out any work to identify the kulak farms, unsubscribing: ʺThere are no farms subject to individual taxation in the area of the village council.ʺ On the other hand, the very accounting, the identification of the kulak farms and the determination of the capacity of the middle peasant farms are not quite clear‐cut.
So, in a number of village councils of the SKK and the BSSR the lists were drawn up without sufficient verification of the grounds for classifying this or that economy as a kulak one, and sometimes they simply took last yearʹs list of individually taxed ones and mechanically added to it only a list of those deprived of voting rights, and often the chairman of the village council signed these lists, reading them (Armavir district).
In some places, polling commissions, instead of going round the yards and talking with the peasants, without leaving the village council, summoned the peasants with summons and recorded their testimony (Armavir district).
In four villages of the Bryukhovets district of the Kuban district, 335 complaints were received about the incorrect determination of the capacity of farms. 141 applications were granted.
In the BSSR, there were cases of incorrect inclusion in the lists of middle peasants subject to individual taxation and, at the same time, noninclusion of knowingly kulak farms.
To a large extent, the noted shortcomings and distortions of the line in carrying out preparatory work for the agricultural tax campaign are facilitated by the partial contamination of agricultural tax commissions
(Kaluga, Tula provinces and SKK).
Grain procurement
The rate of grain procurements in the Union, which was very weak in May, sharply increased in June in most regions. So, throughout the Union, grain procurements instead of 173,538 tons in May gave 499,015 tons in June. However, the grain procurement curve, which gave an increase in June, in a number of regions did not hold out until the end of the month and by the 6th five‐day period in June again gave a decrease (in the NVK, SVO, Bashkiria and Ukraine since the 5th fiveday period).
In June, grain procurements in Siberia were insufficiently carried out and very poorly in the NCC, where procurements in some regions almost completely stopped.
In Siberia, the June grain procurement plan was fulfilled by only 32.2%. The slowdown in the rate of grain procurement is mainly due to the widespread weakening of pressure on grain holders during the sowing period, when the grassroots party and Soviet organizations turned this period into a “respite”, and in some regions even completely stopped grain procurement. These organizations then turned out to be completely unprepared to fulfill new tasks on the target figures for grain procurements.
Given a number of objective reasons that caused an increase in grain procurements in June (favorable harvest prospects as a result of rains), the increase in the rate of grain procurement is mainly due to an increase in the intensity of the work of the grassroots apparatus, vigorous implementation of measures for social influence on the kulak, with the strong support of these measures from the bulk of the middle peasants and the poor.
Participation in grain procurement of the poor and middle peasants
The bulk of the poor and middle peasants support the line of the party and the Soviet government in the grain procurement campaign, which is evidenced by the fact that the surplus grain was handed over to the state, and the active assistance of the rural asset in revealing hidden bread and speculators. While approving the repressions against those who maliciously resist the export of grain, the poor sharply condemn the weakness of the punitive policy of the court towards the speculators‐kulaks noted in some regions.
The majority of the middle class in most regions are unanimous with the poor, helping to identify surplus grain from the kulaks and the wealthy and putting pressure on those who hide bread.
While there was a generally positive attitude towards grain procurements and active assistance to them on the part of the bulk of the middle peasantry, there were cases of passivity and even dissatisfaction with grain procurements on the part of the poor.
Such sentiments, while not particularly common, were observed mainly in areas of production difficulties or where the prospects for crops are not entirely favorable.
In these cases, in the presence of weak organizational work among the poor and intensified anti‐Soviet agitation of the kulaks, the actions of individual poor and middle peasants against grain procurements were recorded for fear of being left without food. There were isolated cases when the poor resisted the export of harvested grain.
For instance:
Minusinsk district. In the village. Silkino PO has begun to transfer the procured grain to the station points. The poor people (partly under the influence of kulak agitation), having gathered, did not allow the grain wagon to pass and threw sacks of bread from the wagons, after which they gathered 96 people and passed a resolution (on the initiative of a member of the CPSU): “Do not allow the export of grain. To petition the REC for distribution of it locally among the poor. ʺ
Shortcomings in the work of the grassroots Soviet and procurement apparatus
The excesses and distortions of the directives of the Party and the Soviet government in their application in practice by the workers of the lower Soviet and party apparatus, although on a smaller scale, continued, however, to take place. Insufficient flexibility and mobility of the procurement apparatus, the inability of individual workers of the lower Soviet apparatus and party members to mobilize the Soviet public in the countryside around grain procurements often contributed to the disruption of the plans.
The broad agitation of the kulaks and the anti‐Soviet element against grain procurements was not always opposed by sufficient explanatory work with the poor, especially with the part of them most in need of bread. As a result, the kulakʹs provocative agitation in some cases met with support among some of the poor.
In a number of places, the inactivity of the apparatus, the negligence of its workers and bungling not only disrupted grain procurements, but also discredited the apparatus itself in the eyes of the poor and middle peasants.
Chelyabinsk District. Resurrection area, with. Herbal. The authorized representative of the RIK, together with the chairman of the village council (both members of the CPSU), instead of mobilizing the Soviet public, instructed thepriestto agitate for grain procurements from the pulpit of the 235 church, making him a speech outline.
The manifestation of ʺkulakʺ sentiments among a part of the workers of the lower Soviet and procurement apparatus in the form of statements that ʺgrain procurements are direct oppression of the peasantryʺ in places caused disorganization of the poor and middle peasants and contributed, to some extent, to the strengthening of the kulakʹs position in its struggle against grain procurements.
The facts of the distortion of the class line by the judicial authorities, which often cause sharp discontent on the part of the poor and middle peasants, must also be attributed to the significant shortcomings of the Soviet apparatus. So, for example, in the Borisoglebsk district (TsCHO) one of the narsuds is a middle peasant (before the revolution a farm laborer), who had only 13 poods. bread with 8 eaters, sentenced for failure to deliver these 13 poods. to 6 months of forced labor and a fine of 800 rubles.
Opposition to the grain procurement campaign and the growth of anti‐Soviet activities of the kulaks
The work of the grassroots Soviet and procurement apparatus during June took place in an atmosphere of great tension, in conditions of active resistance from the kulak and wealthy elements, relying on the anti‐Soviet activists of the countryside. The forms of struggle of the kulaks often take on a very decisive and organized character. Maliciously sabotaging grain procurements by stubborn non‐delivery of surplus grain, speculation in bread on the private market, concealment, deliberate damage to it and destruction (Urals, Central Black Earth Region, Siberia), open opposition by provoking mass demonstrations of the most irresponsible elements of the village, mainly women, provoking the disaffected into terror in connection with difficulties, elements from among the poor, podkulachnikov, kulaks in places have recently moved to open opposition to grain procurements, disruption of general meetings in the countryside, at which they are increasingly calling for a categorical refusal to accept control figures, and their agitation takes on a sharply anti‐Soviet, counter‐revolutionary character. In some cases, the kulaks, in contrast to the poor peasantsʹ meetings, arbitrarily convened general meetings of peasants, at which decisions were made to refuse to accept the control figures (Ural Region, Chelyabinsk and Irbit districts ‐ three cases).
Skillfully using the shortcomings in the work of the lower apparatus and the difficulties of the poor peasants, the kulaks significantly intensified their work to decompose the bulk of the peasantry (Ukraine).
In a number of places, tendencies of the kulaks to attract rural intelligentsia to their side, and cases of appeal to the poor were noted.
Balaiovskiy district. Turkovsky district, with. Olgino (NVK). Four local wealthy people were taxed twice by the village council. Then they drew up a subscription list and went with him to the poor peasants, questioning her in this form: ʺDoes she like the selection ‐ for not exporting bread ‐ horses, cows and sheepʺ, and if they received an answer that they did not like it, then they asked to subscribe to the subscription list ...
In an effort to create a unified counter‐procurement front for the entire village, the kulaks are agitating that the current grain procurements testify to the governmentʹs intention to return to food appropriation, etc.
In Ukraine, kulaks and well‐to‐do people are intensively spreading rumors that ʺwith new methods of grain procurement, the Soviet government is ruining powerful farms in order to collectivize them, drive the wealthy into a commune, since there is no benefit from the poor peasants.ʺ
In the North Caucasus and Ukraine, there have been cases of kulaks abandoning part of the land allotment and even the sown area.
In the CCM, among the kulaks, there is a desire to join collectives. Providing stubborn resistance to grain procurements, the kulaks and the wealthy have recently increasingly begun to appeal to the central government, the judiciary, the Red Army, and even tried to appeal “to foreign countries” (SVO, Ukraine, etc.).
Stalin district. Pavlovsky district, with. Valerianovka
(Ukraine). During the inventory of the property of one of the malicious kulaks, the latter said to the audience: ʺAt least it cost me a thousand rubles, but the outrage that is happening here will be reported abroad.ʺ
The active anti‐Soviet activity of the kulaks has noticeably increased in a number of regions, the spread of provocative rumors is beginning to take on massive proportions, the distribution of leaflets calling for an armed uprising, for organizing groups, for leaving the forest, and gangs (Ural, SVO, SKK) has increased. There have been isolated cases of individual kulaks leaving for gangs.
Maikop district (SKK). Over the past 5 days (from June 15 to June 20), up to 10 people went into the forest, and 5 ‐ no one knows where. The withdrawal coincides with the activities of bandit groups in the area.
A similar case took place in the Ishim District in the Urals.
The tactics of terrorizing the Soviet activists in the village and the grassroots apparatus ‐ murder, arson, attempted murder with the use of firearms, and lately ‐ sabotage (destruction of the property of their political opponents) is not weakening (see the facts in Appendix [No.
3]).
This can be explained by the fact that in June, on a more or less wide scale, repressive measures began to be applied to the malicious nondistributors of grain who did not fulfill the decisions of the gatherings to export a certain amount of grain according to the control figures (inventory and sale of property at auction, etc.).). In response to the pressure, the kulaks responded with fierce resistance, which, in addition to terror, was expressed in the organization of mass bagpipes and demonstrations.
By spreading provocative rumors and provocative tricks, the kulaks in a number of cases (especially often in the NWO) managed to rouse more or less significant groups of the population, especially women, to an anti‐Soviet demonstration. That these demonstrations are mostly the result of kulak provocation is evidenced by the fact that usually, after the provocative role of anti‐Soviet elements was explained, the demonstrations (bagpipes) soon ceased. However, in some cases, these bagpipes were quite sharp.
Samara District. Buzuluk district, with. Lipovka. During the auction of the property of the malicious non‐delivery kulaks, a crowd of 400 people, mostly women, called the alarm bells, gathered and prevented the sale of the property (9 people were arrested).
Penza district. Kamensky district, with. Curl. A crowd of 200 people, armed with pitchforks and incited by their fists, prevented the members of the village council from confiscating property from the kulak, who did not deliver bread. An extremely excited crowd forced the representatives of the local authorities to leave the area (the investigation is being conducted by the investigator).
Achinsk district. He sat down. M. Pichugino Itatsky district. The kulaks organized a 50‐person demonstration with the slogans ʺGive us an uprisingʺ (the demonstration was dispersed).
In the Union (incomplete data), 86 performances and bagpipes were registered in June on the basis of grain procurements. The largest number of them occurred in the NWO ‐ 35, in Siberia ‐ 13 and in the Central Black Earth Region ‐ 12.
Clergy Activity
Simultaneously with the intensification of the anti‐Soviet activity of the kulaks, the activity of the clergy also increased everywhere. Refusing to surrender the surplus grain, the clergy conduct anti‐Soviet agitation in their sermons during the service. In a number of places, the priests systematically disrupted grain procurement meetings, deliberately organizing church services at that time with bell ringing, or provoking the population, usually called by the alarm bell, to mass demonstrations under the pretext of protecting the church from the atheists. Numerous cases of clergy participation in illegal gatherings of kulaks have been noted.
A characteristic fact of the priestʹs anti‐Soviet agitation during the divine service took place in the Orenburg district (SVO).
“The Soviet government is pressing the peasantry more and more. It wonʹt last more than three years. In the event of such pressure, in the future we will need to go with axes and pitchforks, drive out the Soviets and establish real peasant power. ʺ
Mass performances
In June, according to incomplete data, 127 mass and group demonstrations were registered against 134 registered in May (the increase in the number of mass demonstrations in May was due to additional messages received after the release of the May review). In June, there is a decrease in the number of demonstrations on religious grounds (17 versus 59 registered in May) and vice versa, an increase in mass demonstrations in the North Military District, the Central Black Earth Region and Sibkrai on the basis of grain procurements.
The following table gives an idea of the nature and dynamics of performances in individual regions:
Areas
Total registered performanc
es
On the basis of
grain procureme
nts
Due to food difficulti es
On
religious grounds
On the basis of
land
manageme
nt
Other
V
VI
V
VI
V
VI
V
VI
V
VI
V
VI
Centre
thirtee n
3
‐
‐
1
‐
ten
1
3
2
1
‐
CChO
fifteen
19
3
12
‐
‐
8
1
2
‐
2
6
LVO
4
1
‐
‐
3
1
‐
‐
‐
‐
1
‐
BVO
7
3
‐
‐
‐
‐
4
‐
2
2
1
1
Wester n region
6
1
‐
‐
‐
‐
4
‐
2
1
‐
‐
Ukrain
e
34
17
sixtee n
eleve n
1
2
6
2
6
1
five
1
CCM
eleven
12
7
6
‐
4
3
‐
‐
‐
1
2
NVK
nine
sixtee n
‐
12
2
2
7
2
‐
‐
‐
‐
CBO
20
51
1
37
‐
‐
thirtee n
nin
e
1
2
five
3
Ural
6
3
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
2
6
‐
‐
1
Siberia
nine
24
3
sixtee n
‐
‐
five
3
1
1
‐
4
[Total:
]
136 *
150
thirty
94
7
nine
60
20
23
nine
sixtee n
eightee n
Noteworthy are the speeches in which the leading role is played by the clergy, using the populationʹs discontent with grain procurements and inciting the population (in most cases by provocation) to open antiSoviet speeches. In the SVO, out of 37 facts registered in connection with grain procurements, 15 occurred at the initiative of churchmen. Similar facts were noted in the Central Black Earth District, SKK, Sibkrai.
Some speeches recorded in the reporting period were very sharp and were accompanied by the disruption of ongoing activities in the countryside, beatings or attempts to murder workers of the lower Soviet apparatus, or in isolated cases, however, the destruction of public buildings.
In with. Konopovo of the Armavir District (SKK) on the basis of the alienation of property from the kulaks, on June 2 a mass demonstration took place, in which over 1,500 people took part. The crowd beat the chairman of the village council and the peopleʹs investigator, who was driving through the village with two policemen, who was brought out to the square. The crowd destroyed the warehouse with the property taken from the kulaks and returned it to its former owners. All party members and workers of grassroots organizations, frightened of lynching, fled to the city of Armavir. The action was terminated by the expulsion of the operational detachment.
In with. Cherepanovo, Botkinsky District, Sarapul District (Urals), during a mass demonstration on June 10, which occurred due to tactless behavior of the commission members at the closing of the church, the crowd beat the commission members and tried to drown them in the river. After the massacre of the members of the commission, who barely managed to escape, the peasants set up guards around the church. The guards were on duty for two days.
Orzhevka of the Kirsanovsky District of the Tambov District (TsChO) on June 26, a nun and podkulachnitsa notified the peasants of their appearance on June 27 at the church to say goodbye to the priest, who was allegedly sent to Solovki for refusing to take out 500 poods. of bread.
On June 27, the priest, during a sermon, asked the peasants gathered in the church for protection from the attacks of the Soviet regime. A crowd of up to 700 people, together with the priest from the church, went to the village council, where they demanded not to touch the priest and release the arrested in connection with the grain procurement campaign. The crowd broke the windows in the village council and threatened to kill members of the five grain procurements.
Note:
* In the document, the total is incorrect, it follows ‐ 134.
Terror
In total, according to incomplete data, 304 cases were registered in June (versus 228 in May), of which 30 murders, 17 injuries, 39 assassinations, 138 arson and 100 beatings. The most affected areas are the Central Black Earth Region, SVO, Ukraine and Sibkrai.
Eastern national republics and autonomous regions
Adjarastan
In Khulinsky u. marked a significant improvement in the political mood of the peasantry. The provocative rumors that had previously been widely spread by anti‐Soviet elements began to subside, which is largely due to the return of almost all the rebels who had gone to Turkey and their legalization. Some of the returned emigrants (including the leader of the rebels in Chvanskoye Takidze Abdul), speaking at peasant gatherings, noted that they had made a big mistake by their participation in the rebel movement and warned the peasants against repeating past events. At the same time, they pointed to the plight of the peasants in Turkey and the rude attitude of the Turkish authorities towards the defected rebels. In the Kobuleti and Kedinsky districts, provocative rumors continue to spread. Especially a lot is said about the Khulins, who are praised in every possible way, as ʺshedding blood for religion.ʺ It is also pointed out that in case of repression by the authorities, ʺthe Khulins must be helped so that they are not killed by Soviet troops.ʺ
Georgia
Political mood of Akhaltsikhe district
Celebrated in Akhaltsikhe district. (see the review for April) the active activity of the kulak‐anti‐Soviet elements continues to this day and is directed mainly against anti‐religious measures, the unified agricultural tax and collective farm development. Taking into account the specific conditions of the district (proximity to Turkey, religious fanaticism of the population, which is overwhelmingly from Turks, incessant resettlement moods), as well as the weakness and contamination of the local co‐apparatus, kulak‐anti‐Soviet elements in a number of cases manage to achieve their goals. The national moment is also widely used by them. The idea that ʺthe district should belong only to Muslimsʺ and ʺthat dependence on Georgia is a big mistakeʺ is being introduced into the consciousness of the Turkic part of the population in every possible way.
“Our district is Muslim and should belong only to us, at one time we were very mistaken that, holding the Georgians in our hands, we did not cut them all. Neither g things. We will wait for another time and then we will show them. ʺ
Anti‐Soviet elements are taking all measures to protect the Muslim religion from ʺgodlessnessʺ and to raise the authority of the Muslim religion. The clergy who have taken off their holy orders are terrorized.
The Ajarian events among the reactionary fanatical and anti‐Soviet elements are fully approved, the initiators of this performance ‐ the Khulins, are placed in the ranks of the “heroes”, “defenders of religion”, etc. A number of speeches and calls to “follow the example of the Khulins” have been recorded. Provocative rumors about an alleged war with the British, famine, the impending death of the Soviet regime, etc., are spreading rapidly. ripping them off. The kulaks are waging a particularly active struggle against collective farm development and the unified agricultural sector, and in some cases the kulaks manage to drag the middle peasants to their side.
Muskhi, almost the entire population is hostile to collective farms. In with. The population of Hest was so propagandized by fists that the chairman of the Urvel TEC, who came to collect the Unified Agricultural Tax, could not collect the tax.
To attract the poor to their side, the kulaks make extensive use of their economic superiority in the countryside. This phenomenon especially took place during the sowing campaign.
“I will not give seed grain to the poor people defending the Soviet regime. Let them go and ask the Soviet authorities” (kulak from the village of Sedzeli).
“You, the poor, must support the kulaks, and then we will render you all kinds of assistance” (kulak, village of Vale).
In a number of cases, the difficult material situation of the poor forces them to submit to kulak demands and enslaving conditions.
The lack of an explanatory campaign has contributed to the success of the anti‐Soviet agitation of the kulaks and the negative attitude of the population to collective farms. There were cases when representatives of local authorities carried out agitation among the peasants against the collectivization of the countryside.
The secretary of Zvelskoy spoke about collective farms as follows: ʺThe organization of collective farms must be hindered by refusing to transfer land to collective farms, and also not to allow land surveyors into the village.ʺ
In some places, the co‐workers themselves agitated the peasants against holding events in the countryside, conducting anti‐Soviet agitation.
In with. Muskhi, for example, while collecting the tax, a policeman said to the poor man: ʺWhy are you giving your last money, anyway, the end of Soviet power will soon come.ʺ
In with. Hest, a party member, when asked by the poor why he forbids his wife to take off her veil, replies: ʺSoon the Bolsheviks will come to an end, for they mock our faith, and we must avenge this.ʺ
The contamination of the sovapprat especially takes place among the foresters, who in their overwhelming majority are in close contact with the kulaks, are engaged in bribery, ignoring the poor stratum of the population, thereby causing strong discontent and criticism among the poor and middle peasants.
Resettlement sentiments
In the Akhalkalaki and Akhaltsikhe districts of Georgia, anti‐Soviet elements do not stop agitation among the Turkic part of the population for resettlement to Turkey. By the beginning of spring, under the influence of agitation, significant groups of the population refrained from sowing fields, selling livestock in the hope of being in Turkey this summer. There are about 300 such farms in both counties.
The main reasons for the resettlement sentiments are as follows: the backwardness of the economy of the majority of the population, agitation of kulak‐anti‐Soviet elements, Turkish work, banditry (in 1927‐1928, more than 43,000 rubles were robbed), family ties of those intending to resettle with those living on the other side of the border ...
A number of cases have been registered when those wishing to resettle unite in groups, sending their walkers to the other side of the border for negotiations. According to the testimony of the migrants who returned back, no help is provided to those who go there, and only relatively well‐to‐do settlers are accommodated. According to the latest data, in Akhaltsikhe district. 3‐4 cases of transfer to Turkey were again registered.
National regions of the North Caucasus Territory and Dagestan
ESHN
Not enough attention was paid to the popularization of the new law on the unified agricultural tax during the sowing campaign, which was one of the reasons for the numerous objects of taxation. In the process of registering kulak farms on the part of local workers, there were cases of distortion of the class line and excesses: referring to the kulak farms of the middle peasants and vice versa (Chechnya, Kabarda, Karachay).
In the Uchkulanskiy district of Karachay, only 77 objects were included in the list of clearly kulak farms, while last year 108 farms were taxed individually.
Adshiger Kabarda only 4 out of 16 in the village were included in the list of kulak farms. 12 turned out to be relatives of employees of the local Soviet apparatus and therefore were not included in the lists.
In the Primalka district of Kabarda, there are cases of inclusion in the lists of kulaks, middle peasants, and even poor peasants.
In Kabarda and Karachai, the registration of taxable objects revealed a significant decrease in the number of registered livestock compared to the previous year. The reason for the decline in livestock in the Kabardino‐Balkarian region: the death of livestock last winter from lack of fodder and a slight increase in its sales by the population at the beginning of this year, when the unified agricultural tax was forced, self‐taxation was carried out and the loan was distributed. A significant share in the figure of underreported livestock is occupied by shelters, the identification of which has not been given sufficient attention. Cases of sheltering taxable objects with the assistance of the members of the registration commissions themselves have been registered.
The new law on the unified agricultural tax caused active resistance from the kulak‐prosperous part of the mountain village. Farms that used hired labor resort to the dismissal of farm laborers, refuse to conclude labor contracts, using their connections with the workers of the Soviet apparatus (Kabarda), draw up fictitious acts (Circassia), etc. ... The attitude of the bulk of the peasantry to the new law on the unified agricultural tax is positive. At meetings dedicated to the approval of the lists of kulak farms, the lists meet with the approval of the poor. The reported cases of dissatisfaction with the new Unified Agricultural Tax on the part of the middle peasants are in most cases caused by excesses and distortions of the class line made by local co‐workers.
Activities of the Muslim Spiritual Society
Due to the lack of rain in May and the fears of the peasants for the fate of the sowing, from the middle of May, the revival of the activity of the Muslim faith in organizing prayers and religious processions to the revered graves of the ʺsaintsʺ has been observed everywhere. Using these numerous gatherings, representatives of the Muslim faith developed an intensified agitation for the strengthening of religiosity, otherwise threatening with hunger and attributing ʺall the troubles to the peasantryʺ by the decline of the Muslim religion. In some places, the agitation of the Muslim community is successful.
In one of the large villages of Chechnya, Urus‐Martan, a public mullah, after praying in a mosque overflowing with worshipers, invited everyone to go to the cemetery and repent of their sins, since ʺAllah will not forgive us and we will be left without a harvest.ʺ After that, the crowd, which reached several thousand people, moved beyond the village. At the cemetery, groups of murids of various sects organized religious dances. Everyone prayed to the point of frenzy. The rise of fanaticism reached such a degree that when repentance began, 15 people spoke out who confessed to theft. Mass chants turned into crying; women fought in hysterics.
Especially women are involved in the sphere of their influence. Attention is also drawn to the intensified agitation of the Muslim clergy for the construction and repair of mosques, Arab schools and the improvement of cemeteries.
There has been a noticeable increase in the number of cases of manifestations of the Muslim clergy with demonstrative refusals from the clergy and demands to assign them a certain salary. In most cases, the denials of dignity by representatives of the Muslim faith are designed to influence believers, scare them with the “death of religion” and induce them to speak out in defense of the interests of the religious community.
Counteraction of the kulak‐anti‐Soviet elements of the organization of playgrounds in Kabarda and Karachai
The organization of 14 playgrounds in Kabarda provoked strong resistance from the kulak‐anti‐Soviet elements. While provoking mainly the female part of the aul population to “take their children away and make them communist‐atheists,” the kulaks are simultaneously campaigning for organized resistance to the opening of playgrounds, calling for demand from the authorities for “freedom of religion,” the opening of Arab schools, the exemption of mullahs from taxes, and etc. As a result of this agitation, the activity of local workers in organizing playgrounds meets with active opposition from the backward part of the population and women in the first
place. Disruptions in the organization of playgrounds in the villages of Neurozhainom, Kizlyarsky, Shalushki, Leskehen and Akbash were registered. The organization of childrenʹs institutions met with no less strong opposition in Karachai.
In the village of Teresa, the gathering unanimously rejected the proposal of the village council to organize a nursery in the village. The women present made the following statements: “We will not give up our children while we are alive. When you kill us, then you can take the children as well”. ʺWe will not give our children to Russian giaours 236 ʺ. About resettlement sentiments in Circassia
In the village of Kuvinsky, there is an intensified agitation of the kulaks for resettlement to Abkhazia (Transcaucasia). As a result of campaigning, about 100 households (360 people) intend to apply for resettlement. The success of the agitation of the kulaks is facilitated by the fact that the vast majority of the population of the aul are from Abkhazia. The inspiration for the agitation is a kulak, who recently returned from Abkhazia and spoke at a specially convened gathering, pointing out the advantages of Abkhazia over Circassia in respect of tax and cattle breeding, as well as a statement that “the Abkhaz authorities are meeting halfway and promise to help with resettlement”.
Anti‐Soviet manifestations
In June, the murder of a Komsomol social activist in Adygea, the injury of the chairman of the village council in Ossetia, the arson of the house of a poor social activist in Ingushetia and the arson of a mosque in Altud aul of the Primalka district of Kabarda, transferred to a womenʹs club, were registered. The arson of a mosque in the Altud aul was preceded by a speech by kulaks and religious activists at a village gathering against the issue raised by the village council on re‐equipping an empty mosque into a womenʹs club. The village councilʹs proposal was accepted at a gathering only after a long resistance, explained by the incitement of the kulaks on the move. It should be noted that even after the decision was made, the kulaks and mullahs did not stop campaigning for resistance to the implementation of the decision, inciting the unconscious strata of the population and women not to let the mosque be broken. the re‐equipment of which the village council began two days after the descent. In addition, five cases of beatings on the basis of grain procurements were recorded: in Chechnya ‐ one, in Ossetia ‐ two, in Ingushetia ‐ two, and four cases of beatings on the basis of the selection of land surpluses in Chechnya.
Along with cases of kulak terror, the spread of all kinds of provocative rumors among the population on the part of kulak‐anti‐Soviet elements does not stop. However, rumors about the events in Afghanistan prevail, in which there is considerable interest in connection with the recent raids of the Basmachi 237. In Chechnya, the provocation that the congress of atheists in Moscow decided to close all mosques and destroy the Koran has become quite widespread recently.
Grain harvesting campaign
Kazakhstan
The progress of blanks and shortcomings in the work of the apparatus
The growth in procurement that was outlined in individual districts in the first five days of June did not ensure a more or less successful fulfillment of the plan as a whole. The June plan for June 20 was fulfilled by 26.6% in the Kostanay district. In the Semipalatinsk District, 53.07% of the annual plan was prepared in mid‐June. The slow pace of procurement is by no means explained by the depletion of the peasantryʹs grain surplus. In a number of regions, the kulaks and the well‐to‐do have significant surpluses of grain. In part, the slow pace of procurement was due to a drop in the activity of the procurement apparatus, grassroots Soviet and party organizations and excesses in their work. The directives on the need to increase the rate of grain procurement caused some confusion or passivity among some of the workers of the lower Soviet apparatus and party members, which found expression in the refusal to work, the desire to smear the class line, equalize the fist with the middle peasant. In a number of places, these sentiments resulted in direct opposition to grain procurements, connivance and assistance of the workers of the Soviet apparatus to the kulaks and the wealthy in hiding bread, etc. (Semipalatinsk, Uralsk and other districts).
The ongoing litigation in the cases of the holders of grain surpluses is often insufficiently organized and does not attract the public attention of the poor.
Counteracting the kulaks to blanks
Along with the open opposition of the kulaks to procurements, cases of penetration of kulaks and well‐to‐do people into the top five in promoting grain procurements have been recorded more and more recently. As a result, the work of the fives themselves is severely lame, artificially inhibited by the kulaks. The greatest contamination of rural fives by kulaks and their protégés is noted in the Trans‐Urals region of the Urals District. In some places, the kulaks are sabotaging grain procurements in an organized manner, passing decisions at special conferences on the failure to deliver grain.
Anti‐Soviet manifestations on the basis of grain procurements
On the basis of increased pressure on grain procurements, the antiSoviet activity of the kulaks and bays increased. Numerous cases of terrorizing workers of village councils, communists, Komsomol members and non‐party rural activists continue to be noted.
In the Pavlodar district, a crowd of 150 women beat two grain procurement officials (Dubrovka village) with sticks. A similar phenomenon took place in the village. Eliseevka of the same district. Active opposition to grain procurements in the Semipalatinsk and Ural districts was most acute.
The number of anti‐Soviet manifestations and their nature on the basis of the struggle against grain procurements, according to incomplete data, in June is represented by the following table:
Counties
Murd
ers
Woun
ds
Attemp
ted murder
Beati ngs
Anonym
ous
Leaflets and proclamat ions
Mass performa nces
Ars on
Tot
al
Semipalat insk
2
1
6
6
2
3
1
‐
21
Ural
‐
‐
‐
five
‐
‐
‐
2
7
Kustanai
‐
‐
‐
1
‐
‐
1
‐
2
Petropavl ovsk
‐
1
3
3
1
‐
1
‐
nin
e
Syr‐
Darinsky
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
1
‐
1
Pavlodar
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
1
‐
1
Total
2
2
nine
fifteen
3
3
five
2
41
Bashkiria
According to an additional plan with the use of new methods of grain procurement, it is scheduled for procurement throughout the republic on July 10 of this year. 5 million poods. Of this amount, 2,950,000 poods were to be procured in June. The June plan was fulfilled by 33%. In a number of townships in all cantons, the preparatory work was significantly delayed, as a result of which in some places the actual implementation of the plan was also started with a 2 ‐ 3‐week delay.
In some volosts, the poor were not sufficiently involved in the campaign, there were no meetings of the poor, and the question of the norms was raised immediately at the rural villages (Birsk canton). In Churaevskaya Vol. In the Birsk canton, some grain procurement officials, prior to going to the field at the briefing meeting, spoke in favor of using the insufficient attendance at meetings in order to adopt a norm for any number of those present. In places where the composition of the commission for additional procurement was unsuccessfully recruited, there were cases of curvature of the class line (the same taxation of individual layers of the village, the use of mutual guarantee, etc.) (Sterlitamak canton).
The existing rate of harvesting in individual cantons does not ensure the successful fulfillment of the plan for the republic as a whole, due to the partial death of winter crops, poor species for spring crops and unrelenting resistance to harvesting by the kulak elements. The main drawback in the work of the lower procurement apparatus is the passivity and lack of confidence among a number of workers in the fulfillment of the plan.
The activity of the kulaks
Along with the incessant and ever‐increasing agitation of the kulakanti‐Soviet elements against grain procurements, a number of cases of terrorizing local Soviet workers and rural activists by kulaks have been registered. In the village. Pirematulino Alsheevskaya Vol. The house of the chairman of the village commission for grain procurement was set on fire in the Belebey canton.
All L. Arkhangelskoye, Ufa canton, after a poor meeting on grain procurements, the club exploded from an explosive put under it. Systematic persecutions of kulaks against village activists and Komsomol members have been registered in the villages of Guskovo, Shipovo and in a number of others. The poor and middle peasants of the countryside, with the exception of individual cases falling under the influence of kulak agitation, generally approve of measures to increase grain procurement.
Food difficulties
Cases of an acute shortage of bread were noted in the Argayash canton. In a number of villages in the Karabolsk, Kunashak and Burinsk volosts, several dozen mostly poor families are experiencing a partial hunger strike. On this basis, groups of starving people (Karabolskaya Vol.) Approach the village councils and VICs every day, demanding bread. Cases of swelling from hunger and consumption of dead livestock have been reported.
On the basis of industrial difficulties, dissatisfaction with the grain procurement of some of the poor is noted. Kulak elements, taking advantage of the predicament of the poor, provide assistance to the needy on enslaving terms (Kunashak vol.).
Tartary
The June grain procurement plan in Tatarstan was fulfilled by 40.3%.
Opposition to grain procurements and anti‐Soviet protests
The measures taken to strengthen grain procurements caused an increase in the anti‐Soviet activity of the kulaks and the wealthy. Measures to increase the rate of grain procurement in the Arborsky parish met with particular resistance. Arsk canton. In 12 villages, the kulaks ensured that the new assignments for grain procurement were accepted by the majority of the population with hostility. In 6 villages, under the influence of kulak agitation, the peasants completely refused to accept control assignments for grain procurement (Chistopolsky, Spassky, Bugulma cantons).
In the village. Sizner of the Arsk canton, a crowd of women, at the instigation of kulak‐anti‐Soviet elements, dispersed the poor meeting, shouting and attacking the Soviet regime: “The policy is predatory and suffocating. Impossible to endure. We will give the bread when they pass through our corpses. ʺ In the village. Wed At the general meeting, the Kushket kulaks and the wealthy led agitation among the population, as a result of which the meeting refused to accept the assignment, and the representative of the VIC was removed from the meeting, which demanded the chairman of the VIC or the secretary of the wolf committee of the CPSU (b) with threats: “Let them come, we will indicate, where to get their bread”.
At the same time, a number of cases of kulaks disrupting meetings on the issue of grain procurement, terrorizing workers of the procurement apparatus and the poor, actively participating in putting pressure on the kulak elite of the village, distributing anonymous letters and leaflets containing calls to obstruct grain procurement, were recorded. In June, two mass demonstrations were registered on the basis of grain procurements, four arson of party membersʹ houses, two attempted murders of grain procurement officials and six cases of beating of village activists and workers of the procurement apparatus.
Buryat‐Mongolia
Emigration sentiments
In the most affected regions (Aga, Muzor‐Shibor), emigration sentiments have significantly slowed down. Measures to straighten the line in the work of the Soviet and party apparatus and the removal of the most malicious inspirers of the emigration movement in the Barguzin aimag led to the fact that the poor and middle peasants of the Buryat population openly speak out against emigration, demanding decisive measures against their former leaders. In the same aimag, a grouping was identified that leads the emigration movement. However, in a number of regions, emigration sentiments continue to be stable or even intensify. In Kharlunsky, Murachinsky, Kudarinsky, Ara‐Kirensky and Sobotko‐Kharyansky somons of the Troitskosavsky aimag, there is an almost universal desire among the population to migrate to Mongolia. According to the latest data, 16 cases of emigration were registered. The motives of the migration are put forward: land tightness, taxes and family ties with those living in Mongolia. Kulaks, lamas and intelligentsia are actively campaigning for emigration.
In the Kaaban aimag, the kulaks, conducting a systematic campaign for emigration, arrange illegal meetings in some places at which questions of resettlement are discussed, the motives of which are the lack of land. In the Noskhon and Borgoi somons of the Selenga aimag, emigration sentiments among the main strata of the Buryat population are caused mainly by the intensified agitation of the kulaks and lamas, who used difficulties in supplying the population with manufactured goods. In Borgoi Somon, a significant number of farms have applied to the AIC for a permit. middle Asia
Locust
The further spread of the locust in June led to the fact that the Schistocerca occupied new areas: the Khorezm district of Uzbekistan, the Tashauz district of Turkmenistan and Kara‐Kalpakia (Kazakhstan). The locusts partially spread to the Bukhara, Kash‐kaDarinsky, Zeravshan and Samarkand districts. In total, about half a million hectares have been reported infected with Schistocerci (in Turkmenistan 300,000 ha, in Uzbekistan ‐ 195,000). Until recently, the damage caused by the schistocerca was insignificant. Massive locust fencing threatens with great damage. A new influx of locusts is expected to hatch in Persia and Afghanistan.
Locust control is generally progressing well. Of the affected areas, 107,000 hectares were worked out in Turkmenistan, 6,000 in Uzbekistan. However, a number of cases of inactivity and negligence of local workers and technical personnel were noted, on the basis of which 23 workers and 2 specialists were brought to justice. Cases of administrative arbitrariness in the process of involving the population in locust control were also registered. In the Karabekul region of the Chardzhuy district, the locust control officer beat a farmer with kamcha 238. The chairman of the Romentan District Five (Bukhara) arrested 15 dehkans because they went out to work not with 239 ketmen, but with sticks. During the campaign, 57 dehkans were brought to justice for various, sometimes insignificant offenses.
Broad layers of dekhkans are generally positive about the involvement of the population in locust control. The agitation of the beystvo finds support among the masses of the dekhkans only in isolated cases.
In the Aman‐Kutan village council of the Urgut district of the Samarkand district (Uzbekistan), in connection with the poisoning of the cattle released into the area treated with anti‐locust poisons, the baystvo organized a mass demonstration: the population armed with axes was looking for an instructor and, not finding him, beat Mirab 240 and dispersed the rest of the workers.
In the village of Chum of the Kashka‐Darya District (Uzbekistan), a conflict between two villages occurred due to damage to crops as a result of locust work. One of the groups (500 people), led by the beys, dispersed the workers, beat some of them and tried to arrange lynching on the arrived government officials.
For agitation and opposition to locust control measures (also manifested in the form of agitation and the organization of mass prayers and sacrifices), 30 people are brought to justice, in most bai and other anti‐Soviet elements (Khorezm, Kashka‐Darinsky, Syr‐Darinsky and Zeravshan districts ‐ Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan).
Basmachism
The defeat of Amannula and the departure of Gulam‐Nabi‐Khan from
Mazar‐i‐Sheriff served as the impetus for the revival of the emigrantBasmak groups. Ibrahim bey, after consolidating the Kabul government, returned to Khakabad (near our border), where he organized a gang of 1,000 people. On June 16, Ibrahim bey held a meeting of horsemen, at which the foremen were elected and the plan for the invasion of our territory was discussed. Along with this, further training of the bands by Dzhunaid Khan is observed. At the beginning of June, a gang of 70 people under the command of his son Junaid attacked our border post, but was forced to retreat to Afghanistan. There is also some revival of criminal banditry in the Ferghana District of Uzbekistan, which consists mainly of raids on Soviet cooperative institutions. In early June, a gang of Dzhanybek kazy operated in Kyrgyzstan (Osh canton),
Anti‐Soviet manifestations
Uzbekistan. The events and successes of the reactionary elements in
Afghanistan contribute to a further increase in the activity of the antiSoviet layers of the village and the old city. The flight of Amanullah and the strengthening of the positions of Bache‐i‐Sakao are regarded as a new factor making it possible for Afghanistan and Britain to attack the USSR. Rumors are widespread that “the great powers have decided to return the emir of his possession, the advanced units of the emir of Bukhara and Ibrahim‐bek are already in Uzbekistan,” etc. The number of threats against poor activists, farm laborers and Soviet workers has significantly increased. There are also cases of calls for the preparation of an uprising against the Soviet regime and for the arrival of the Emir of Bukhara. The greatest spread of anti‐Soviet agitation, in connection with the success of the reaction in Afghanistan, is observed in the Surkhan‐Darya, Bukhara, Andijan and Fergana districts.
According to primary, not yet final data, by June 30, 18 cases of murders and injuries were registered in Uzbekistan against May 21 ‐ 30. Despite the general decrease in terror, in the advanced districts, however, the number of kill‐wounds in June increased compared to the May figures (Andijan district ‐ 9 against ‐ 5, Fergana ‐ 3 ‐ against ‐ 0). Most of the terrorist attacks took place on the basis of land use, womenʹs liberation and active social work.
Turkmenistan. The activity of the Baysko‐anti‐Soviet elements has significantly increased, going mainly along the line of systematic antiSoviet agitation and terror. Events in Afghanistan continue to be the main topic of anti‐Soviet agitation and provocative rumors. Calls are made for unification in connection with the alleged invasion of the Emir of Bukhara and Bache‐i‐Sakao into Central Asia. The gangs and clergy also use the fact of the appearance of locusts in order to increase the religious fanaticism of the population and anti‐Soviet propaganda.
Along with campaigning and spreading rumors, there were 10 cases of terror directed mainly against activists and women.
Kyrgyzstan. Active speeches of the bays and manaps of Kyrgyzstan also mainly go through agitation and spreading rumors in connection with the Afghan events. Rumors about the impending fall of the Soviet regime are spreading. Appeals are made “to help Dzhanybek‐kazy and Afghanistan”, etc. Characteristic are the speeches indicating that “Dzhanybek‐kazy made a promise to the Chinese to fight the Bolsheviks”, with a call to contact him (with Dzhanybek). In the Osh, Naryn, Karakul, Chui cantons, the following kind of agitation was noted: ʺJapan, China and England have declared war on the USSR, we need to prepare in advance so as not to give the Soviet power people and horses.ʺ
There is a noticeable increase in the activity of the Muslim clergy, spreading rumors about the Basmachism in Tajikistan, the seizure of Dushanbe, etc. At the same time, the clergy calls on ʺto contact the Afghan clergy,ʺ ʺall the faithful to go to the defense of religion,ʺ etc.
In June, 12 cases of terror were registered in Kyrgyzstan against 7 in
May. There were two mass demonstrations.
Grain difficulties
Uzbekistan. Despite the fact that the number of cotton sowers in Uzbekistan this year has increased and the demand of farmers in imported bread has proportionally increased, the delivery of bread is limited to last yearʹs size. On this basis, there was some tension in the grain market, primarily in the Andijan and Fergana districts, where by June the amount of wheat thrown out to supply cotton growers had significantly decreased compared to the previous period. As a result, in the Andijan Okrug, the norm of wheat supply to cotton growers was reduced from five to three poods, and first of all, wheat is sold to collective farmers and poor people who did not receive the norms in April and May. This decision caused widespread discontent among the main strata of cotton growers, as a result of which a number of protests were registered demanding an increase in the rate of wheat output.
In Kurgan‐Tepe, Andijan district, a crowd of 200 farmers refused to receive wheat at three poods, demanding that the norm be brought to five poods. A crowd of dehkans in Manak shirkat 241 made similar demands, and having failed to achieve results, the dehkans threw away their membership cards. In the village of Sufi, a crowd of 200 dehkans demanded that the chairman of the KIK and the instructor of the Khlopsoyuz leave for Andijan to increase the rate. At st. Serovo of the Fergana district, 300 people came to the shirkat demanding an immediate supply of bread.
In connection with interruptions in grain supply, a number of demonstrations by farmers with threats to reduce the cotton area by increasing the sowing of wheat were registered. Anti‐Soviet elements, using the created situation, intensified campaign by spreading rumors about sending grain from Central Asia to Russia and urging not to sow cotton: ʺAll of you will die of hunger, if not perepashete land and sow white durra 242 and corn instead of cotton. All the same, the power will be in our hands, since the Basmachi are invincible. Therefore, we must act. ʺ
Tajikistan. The reduction in the supply of grain by state organizations and the partial destruction of crops caused an increase in prices for wheat (from 4 to 8 rubles per pood). On this basis, strong discontent of the dekhkans in a number of districts is recorded. In the Chardzhuy district, cotton settlements are being besieged by crowds of farmers demanding the immediate delivery of wheat. Threats to destroy the points were registered.
Emigration
Turkmenistan. The facts of emigration to Afghanistan and Persia continue to be noted. From the Kara‐Bekaul region of the Chardzhui district, 7 bai and prosperous farms emigrated to Afghanistan, and some of the emigrants were guarded by the Basmachi who arrived from Afghanistan. Thirteen farms are going to emigrate from the same region, nine farms have emigrated to Persia from the Kara‐Kalinsky region. The motives for emigration are still fears of bais and well‐to‐do land reforms, complaints about taxes and fines, and the unprofitability of karakul farming.
Deputy Chairman of the OGPU
Trilisser
Head of the Information Department of the OGPU
Alekseev
Correct: Secretary of INFO OGPU
Kucherov *
Note
* The document is signed by V. Kucherov.
Appendix No. 1. Urban population
On June 6 in Astrakhan there was a large demonstration of the unworked population. The incident took place at the bazaar under the following circumstances. Financial supervision carried out a round‐up of traders without a patent. According to the order of the financial inspector, the police detained even small traders who had goods for only a few rubles. The rough treatment of the tradeswomen by the police caused the outrage of the bazaar crowd (about 1,000 people gathered at the bazaar, traders, commoners, loader workers). They shouted from the crowd: ʺEnough to drink the blood of the workersʺ, ʺitʹs time to deal with themʺ, ʺbeat the police‐self‐seekersʺ, ʺbeat the financiers‐bribe‐takersʺ, ʺbeat the finagentsʺ, ʺthey steal from their trade departments, and the cerebcoops, so the poor came robʺ.
Stones were thrown at the policemen. A detachment of mounted militia was called, which was driven out of the market by the crowd.
In the village Rykovo (Artyomovsk district) was a speech in connection with the closure of two churches. On June 27, under the influence of the agitation of a group of anti‐Soviet persons (former policeman 243, merchants, etc.), a crowd of believers, mainly women, resisted the closure of the church, throwing stones at the workersʹ demonstration.
On June 29, in Sormovo (Nizhny Novgorod), a crowd of about 100 people did not allow the workers to remove the bells from the Sormovo Cathedral. The bells were removed on July 1 after a detachment of the mounted police was called.
Correct: Secretary of INFO OGPU Kucherov
Appendix No. 2. Grain procurement
The desire of individual workers in the grassroots Soviet apparatus to shift grain procurements onto the poor and middle peasants
SIBCRAY
Rubtsovsky district. Pospelikhinsky district. A propagandist of the RK VKP (b), who worked on grain procurements, speaking at meetings of the district and agricultural activists, said: “You cannot take the middle peasant with mass work, new methods must be applied to him. In my opinion, the method should be as follows: you have to scare the middle peasant, promise to describe it, and if he is not lucky enough, then describe it. ʺ
Tomsk district. Mariinsky district, der. Ust‐Serta. A local teacher, a candidate of the All‐Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, speaking at the meeting, said: “Every campaign we put pressure on the fist, and the rest of the strata do not feel this pressure, and because of this, it becomes difficult to carry out preparations. It is necessary to lay out grain, in addition to the kulaks, and for the middle peasants, as well as for part of the poor, but the property of the middle peasants should not be sold, but kept under pressure. ʺ
CBO
Orenburg district. Pos. Orsky. 55 poods were imposed on the local farm laborer, while he was an eternal farm laborer and never had a surplus.
Pos. N.‐Ozernoe. On the local middle peasant, 200 poods were imposed, had sowing 7½ dessiatines, 50% of the sowing was declared dead by the expert commission, 375 poods were taken out on vouchers,
80 poods were spent on sowing. Has no surplus.
NVK
Khopersky district. Uryupinsky district, hut. Dobrinsky. The grain procurement officer forced one middle peasant to take out 20 poods of seed grain, another 60 poods. This order caused great indignation among the middle peasants.
Kinks and perversions of grain procurement methods
URAL
Shadrinsky district. Beloyarsk district, with. Lebyazhye. At the meeting on grain procurement, the authorized speaker was asked what should be done with those who do not hand over bread, but have it. The commissioner replied: ʺWe must shoot.ʺ
UKRAINE
Vinnytsia district. Turbovsky district, with. Vakhnovka. The grain procurement officer, summoned to the village council, said to the middle peasants: ʺWe will let you beggars, we will let your guts out of you, and we will get bread.ʺ
CBO
Samara District. Spassky district. Some grain procurement commissioners systematically practice arrests of individual citizens for non‐delivery of grain and even simply for objections to the commissioners during a conversation. Technically, this is done as follows: they write a letter to the chairman of the district troika for grain procurement or the secretary of the RK party and send it with the citizen they want to arrest. The letter also contains a request to detain the submitter of the letter for 3‐4 days. (Reported to the Regional Prosecutor).
Tailored sentiments of the workers of the Soviet apparatus and village communists. Demobilization mood
SIBCRAY
Irkutsk District. Der. Lylovshchino. A member of the commission ‐ a member of the village council, a middle peasant, said at the meeting: “Better to let the authorities punish than to quarrel with the peasants. Let them go to prison, it would be better for me than to do evil to my peasants. ʺ
CBO
Ulyanovsk District. A member of the Korsunovsky village council filed an application with the RIK to refuse to work, arguing that he did not agree with the grain procurement policy.
S. Reinsfeld. One of the members of the village council at the general meeting and at the plenum of the village council said: ʺWe cannot accept the control figure, the citizens tell us: we elected you so that you would protect us, and you undermine us.ʺ
CChO
Lgovskiy district. Rylsky district, with. Korneevo. The secretary of the cell of the CPSU (b) submitted to the district committee an application for his removal from the post of secretary of the cell, not wanting to participate in grain procurements.
Kulaksʹ opposition to grain procurements. Sabotage
URAL
Tyumen district. Der. Sosnovka. The local kulak, not wanting to hand over their grain surplus to the state, took 200 poods to the field. wheat and burned them. When arrested, he said: ʺI do not want to hand over bread to the state, let it be better for no one to get it.ʺ
SIBCRAY
Slavgorodsky district. In with. At the dance, the local kulak, not wanting to hand over his surplus bread to the state, fed it to the pigs.
CChO
Rossoshansk district. Podgorensky district, with. Kolodyazhnoe. From the surrendered fist in the amount of 30 poods. flour and sweat distributed to the poor for food, five families fell ill. The flour turned out to be mixed with lime and sand (the investigation is being conducted by the OGPU branch office).
Terrorist activities of kulaks
CBO
On the night of June 2, on the 11th junction of the Tashkent railway. a citizen of the nearby village was found beaten with fists to unconsciousness. Pokrovka, a candidate of the CPSU (b), who had previously actively advocated strengthening grain procurements in the village. Kozlovka, Pokrovsky District, Orenburg District.
CChO
Ostrogozhsky district. Veidelevsky district, with. Rovny. Riga 244 was burnt at the secretary of the village council. The water was previously drained from the fire drums. Many of the peasants who fled to the fire and learned that the buildings of the secretary of the village council were on fire returned (the investigation is underway).
SIBCRAY
Barnaul district and region. S. Aulovo. Fists slaughtered the only cow of a member of the grain procurement commission.
Yeletsky district. Zhilovsky district, with. Goat. A local poor man who was in favor of grain procurement was brutally killed by fists.
Kulak groups
CBO
Syzran district. In the village an anti‐Soviet kulak group of 6 people existed in person. Each event was discussed by this group at its meetings. At the time of grain procurement, the members of the group tried to be together and, before coming on call, they discussed in advance what answers to give.
UKRAINE
Poltava district and area, with. Gorbanevka. A group of kulaks tried to thwart the grain procurement plan, strenuously striving for a decree on equal distribution to farms, not excluding the poor. The attempt failed.
CBO
Penza district. S. Komleika. There was a group of kulaks and the wellto‐do, including 7 people, who organized illegal meetings. For example, on June 3, they choose from among their members a ʺgrain procurement officerʺ and, dissatisfied with the layout of the control figure, again made an unauthorized layout and presented it to the grain procurement commission.
Mass performances
CBO
Samara District. Chapaevsky district, with. Vozdvizhenka. A crowd of 500‐600 people disrupted an auction for property from two local kulaks.
Buguruslan district. Sergievsky district, with. Orlovka. A crowd of over 200 people, mostly women, approached the village council and twice disrupted the general meeting of citizens, trying to crack down on the representative and speaker of the OK VKP (b).
Penza district. Kamensky district, with. Curl. The gathered crowd of 200 people, armed with pitchforks and incited by their fists, prevented the members of the village council from confiscating property from the kulak, a malicious non‐delivery of bread. An extremely agitated crowd forced the local authorities to leave the area (an investigation is underway).
Samara District. S. N. Mikhailovka. The general meeting adopted a resolution on the adoption of the check digit. After the meeting, the well‐to‐do and the kulaks began an intensified agitation among the peasants to abandon the control figure. As a result of the agitation, the peasants went in a crowd to the local party member who was holding the meeting, and shouting that they had been deceived, they demanded that a protocol be issued. Taking the protocol, they wrote another resolution to refuse to accept the check digits.
Buzuluk district. S. Kogutovo. A crowd of peasants in two villages did not allow the sale of the property of two ʺdisenfranchisedʺ (three instigators were arrested).
The same district. Borsky district, with. Sunflower. A crowd of women of 150‐200 people disrupted the bidding of two ʺdisenfranchisedʺ for not surplus. Two days later, during a second bidding attempt, a crowd of 300 people gathered, trying to inflict lynching on the members of the collective farm who were helping the grain procurement commission.
CChO
Voronezh district. Kastornensky district, with. Vasilyevka. At the time of the production of the inventory and the seizure of property, a crowd of 300 people gathered from the local kulak. The Commissioner was forced to leave without completing the inventory and seizure.
Clergy Activity
CBO
Ulyanovsk District. Tagaevsky district, with. Chirikovo. A crowd of 130 women, incited by the priest in the church, the church elder and other clergymen, moved to the village council building, demanding the immediate removal of the fine from the priest and surrender of 100 poods.
The same is in Penza, Kuznetsk, Samara and Ulyanovsk districts.
Syzran district. Nikolaevsky area, with. Anagnino. A crowd of women of 150 people approached the village council demanding the return to the local priest of the horses and cows taken away from him for not delivering bread. As the crowd was very excited, the demand was granted.
The next day, a crowd of women again came to the village council, this time demanding the imposition of 100 poods. on the chairman of the village council, a member of the Komsomol, and the chairman of the KKOV, candidate of the CPSU (b).
Samara District. Stavropol region, with. Trash can. A crowd of women at the time of the inventory of the priestʹs property demanded not to touch him. The priest himself ordered to ring the alarm.
Kuznetsk district. Ditvinsky district, with. Shugurovo. A crowd of 500‐600 women for two days terrorized the local authorities in connection with the confiscation of property from the local priest for not giving them the surplus.
The same district and area, with. Shkudino. A crowd of 200 Mordovian women gathered near the church demanding not to touch the priest and stop grain procurement. The crowd, mostly poor, was incited by the priest.
Correct: Secretary of INFO OGPU Kucherov
Appendix No. 3. Mass demonstrations
Armavir district. (CCM). In with. Konokovo On June 2, there was a mass action of the peasants on the basis of the alienation of property from the kulaks of F.E. Rezinka and P.F. Fomushkin. surplus bread. When the cow was confiscated from Rezinka on June 2, his family members resisted, crying and making noise, trying to attract the attention of neighbors. The farm workers led the cow through the market square, where, in view of the holiday, there was a crowd of people. The village executives were followed by crying members of the Gum family. At that time, Gum was at the market square, where, in conversations with peasants, he complained about the robbery of his property carried out by the authorities.
10 minutes after the cow was led through the bazaar, the population in groups began to approach the village council. The women went from door to door, urging them to go to the village council to defend Rubber. By 8 oʹclock. In the morning about 300 people gathered around the Council, mostly women. Several people from the crowd began to look around the yard for the chairman of the village council, Yeshchenko, who, frightened, locked himself in his office. The crowd broke down the door and led to Yeshchenko Square, demanding to hand over the keys to the room where the property of Rezinka and others was locked.
Peasants standing near Yeshchenko Nikishin Tikhon, Sheremet V.I. (80 years old), Kurochkin Daniil (terarmyets 245) and others began to beat him. Lynching was prevented by citizen Krikunok, who was serving forced labor at the village council, who with the peasant Abramenko pulled the chairman out of the crowd, hiding him in the stable.
The crowd, not finding the keys, broke into the premises and took out the alienated property, delivering Fomushkin and Rezinka to the house. Some of the women who took part in the plundering of property, having collected stones, went around the village to look for communists, in particular, they were looking for a party member Streltsova. Approaching the premises of the nursery, the crowd attacked the watchman, demanding to hand over the keys to the nursery and indicate where Streltsova was, otherwise the women threatened with murder.
After an unsuccessful search for party members and Komsomol members who, having learned about the demonstration, fled from the village, the crowd about 10 oʹclock. evenings began to go home. At this time, two policemen from the Uspenskaya village (party members) and a peopleʹs investigator (non‐party) arrived in the village. To the tachanka 246, who stopped near the house of the ʺdispossessedʺ Eresko, men and women began to flock in groups. The investigator entered the building of the village council, asking the chairman. “We washed and hung it to dry,” shouted from the crowd. The investigator, seeing the agitation of the peasants (shouts from the crowd were rushed: ʺWhy talk, beat himʺ), tried to persuade the crowd, promising to find the chairman of the village council. At the policemen who remained in the cart, the crowd began throwing stones, threatening to kill, as a result of which the policemen, without waiting for the return of the investigator, rushed to flight, firing at the crowd pursuing them two shots, in response to which several shots were also fired from the crowd (from witness testimony it turns out that that the foreman of variable composition was shooting 247 Shatsky).
The narrator, left alone among the crowd, tried to flee from lynching, but was knocked to the ground by a blow to the head, after which the crowd began to beat him. The demobilized Red Army soldier Serdyukov stopped the beating by his intervention, but the investigator, having reached the nearest alley, stopped and began to tell the peasants who surrounded him that he was not guilty of anything, but despite this, he was again inflicted with several blows. The peasant Kovalenko began to persuade the crowd to stop beating. As a result, the beaten investigator was allowed to wash himself with water and was released from the village. At the time of the beating of the investigator and the persecution of the police, 1000‐1500 people took part in the protest (the crowd was gathered by ringing the alarm).
At 10 oʹclock. 30 minutes. a car arrived in the village with the secretary of the district committee and the representative of the OGPU, who was immediately surrounded by a crowd. “Lichen” Eresko shouted to the crowd: “What are you standing there, beat him”, after which the peasant Lysenko and others began to shout: “What to watch, they came to beat us, kill us, shoot us, beat them, beat them”, etc. Those who came under the pressure of an angry crowd were forced to leave the village. After leaving the car, the crowd moved to the farm barn. Not finding the manager in the warehouse, the peasants went to his apartment, forcibly brought the employees of the partnership Streltsov and Dashkova, demanding to open the barn. When the barn was opened, the peasants, making sure that the prepared grain was not taken out, ordered the employees not to send the grain anywhere, but to distribute it to the poor through the KKOV.
By 4 oʹclock. of the day the operational detachment arrived in the village. Not a single party member was in the village, everyone hid or fled to the city of Armavir. Up to 700 peasants gathered in the square. Those who arrived, having found several members of the village council and Komsomol members, opened a meeting. The peasants who spoke at the rally complained about the overwhelming plan of procurement, especially sharply spoke about the alienation of property.
On June 3, after the initiators of the protest were arrested, the daughter of the arrested kulak, Rezinka, ran crying around the village, asking for help. A group of women gathered again tried to summon the peasants to a performance, which was not done, as women were not allowed to ring the alarm.
Sarapul District (Ural). June 10 in the village. Cherepanovo, Botkinsky District, on the basis of the closure of the church, a mass demonstration of peasants took place.
In December 1928, the technical commission declared the building of the Cherepanovskaya Church unsuitable for further exploitation, and therefore the peasants transferred the church property to one of the houses in the village, where the church services took place. In June, the district committee decided to finally liquidate the church, removing crosses and bells from it, for which on June 10, a commission consisting of a deputy. chief of militia Izhboldin (non‐partisan), head. district farm Kurochkin (non‐partisan) and authorized RIK Ermolaev (member of the All‐Union Communist Party), who worked in the village. Cherepanovo during the procurement campaign, and two policemen. The members of the commission, arriving in the village, near the church were greeted by a crowd of women in the amount of up to 40‐50 people, led by priest Krylov and two members of the church council. The crowd was hostile to the newcomers, some individuals at Ermolaevʹs address shouted: ʺHit him, then he will no longer go to grain procurements.ʺ The members of the commission, not paying attention to the indignation of the crowd, went to the church, and Yermolaev did not take off his headdress and entered with a cigarette in his mouth. Pop stopped the members of the commission, stating that smoking in the church and entering with a hat is prohibited. The pop commission was immediately arrested and sent with a policeman to the village. The believers, seeing this, struck the bell, and the alarm bell gathered a crowd of peasants up to 300 people to the church (some of those who arrived at the church were armed with stakes). In addition to the peasants with. Cherepanovo, a crowd arrived from the neighboring village. Dremina. Deputy the police chief sent the arrested person on horseback to the village. Votkinsk (regional center) and, returning to the church, under the pressure of the crowd, he was forced to flee the village with other members of the commission. But near the river. Siva (200 m from Cherepanovo), the crowd overtook the fugitives, who, holding back the crowd, drew their revolvers and started shooting (up). Having pounced on Yermolaev, the peasants broke his head with a stake, Kurochkin, a member of the commission, was stoned, and the beating was stopped only after he announced that he had come to the village not to close the church, but to check firefighting measures, as evidence of which Kurochkin showed the attackers a travel document. The peasants tried to throw Izhboldin into the water, but he, leaving a cloak and a briefcase in the hands of the crowd, rushed to swim across the river and thus escaped. The beaten Ermolaev was saved from death only by the fact that, undressing, he swam across the river.
After the members of the commission had fled, the crowd returned to the village, where they set up a watch near the church.
3‐4 hours later, the secretary of the district committee, the chairman of the regional executive committee and other workers arrived from Votkinsk to the village. Arriving near the church was met by a group of peasants, who again gathered the crowd by ringing the alarm. Despite the decision
On June 10, at the plenum of the village council on the need to liquidate the church, the peasants continued to guard the church until June 12.
At one time, before sending the commission to the village. Cherepanovo, the OGPU district representative told the secretary of the district committee of the CPSU (b) about the untimely closure of the church, since, given the populationʹs dissatisfaction with increased pressure on grain procurements, the removal of the church could only aggravate the situation (which happened).
The secretary of the district committee, not listening to the authorized OGPU, said that there was nothing wrong and sent a commission to the village. Cherepanovo without coordinating this issue with the bureau of the district committee of the CPSU (b).
Population with. In the past, Cherepanovo retreated by 70% along with the Whites. There are no communists or Komsomol members in the village. All public work was led by persons alien to the Soviet government who were sitting in the apparatus of rural organizations, in particular, the chairman of the village council, a former white, is under the influence of the church head. Deputy chairman of the village council ‐ a former White Guard volunteer, currently a member of the church council. Most of the members of the village council (also former whites) took part in the speech.
Buguruslan District (SVO). In with. Orlovka, Sergievsky region On June 12, a general meeting of peasants was convened on the importance of grain procurements. At that moment, when the meeting was opening, a church watchman passed by, who shouted, addressing the assembled peasants: ʺYou open the meeting, well, Iʹll close it.ʺ
As soon as the speaker (the propagandist of the district committee of the All‐Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks Gavrilov) began his report, a bell rang out, which began to drown out the speakerʹs speech, and he was forced to interrupt the report. To the proposal of one of the members of the village council to stop ringing, the church watchman replied: ʺI do not obey your authority, since I have my own authorityʺ and continued to call until the priest arrived at the evening service.
During the break, the meeting, which was attended by up to 400 people, was attended by up to 200 women, led by a group (10‐15 people) of drunken men. And when the speaker started his report for the second time, shouts began to be heard from the crowd of kulaks, interrupting the speaker all the time: “We are naked and barefoot, but the last bread is taken from us. There is no bread and we wonʹt give it. The Soviet government is stripping the last skin. We do not need Soviet cars; we will work as our grandfathers did. Collective and state farms are of no use. Specialists are paid a lot of money earned with the blood of peasants. Workers, office workers and peasants are dissatisfied with Soviet power and we do not need Soviet power. The Communist Party is pursuing a wrong line and wants to strangle the peasants. Where is our grain taken out, why donʹt they ask for bread from the communists and workers? Down with grain procurements, there is no bread. Take our children and ourselves, and you can plunder our property whatever the Soviet government and the communists want. Robbers and landlords are sitting around. Letʹs kill the grain procurers so that they no longer appear in our village. Beat this bastard, communist commissioners. ʺ At the same time, wheat grains were thrown at the speaker from the crowd with exclamations: ʺHereʹs your bread, hereʹs a control figure for you.ʺ
Under the influence of these outcries and agitation of the kulaks, the crowd tried to deal with the reporter and the grain procurement officer, but was restrained by individual peasants. However, the meeting was disrupted.
Before that, two poor meetings were disrupted in the village, into which kulaks penetrated and with their provocative cries of ʺthere is no bread and we will not give you breadʺ did not allow the meeting to be conducted.
Bryansk lips. In with. Petrushkovo, Shablykinsky district On June 13, in connection with the organization of a commune (consisting of 18 farms), a mass demonstration of peasants took place.
On June 13, a land surveyor came to the village to allocate land to the commune. On the same day, a general meeting of peasants took place on the issue of hiring a shepherd. This collection was used by the wealthy, who were trying to restore the poor and middle peasants against the commune. The chairman of the village committee, who accidentally came to the meeting, having learned what the dispute was about, persuaded the meeting to stop discussing the issue of allotting land to the commune and discuss it at a general meeting with the participation of representatives of the volost organizations. Those who gathered agreed with this, but just before the closing of the meeting, one of the organizers of the commune Pozdnyakov (a former member of the All‐Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks) came, who were attacked by women shouting: “You want to take away the landlord’s land from society and become landowners yourself” collect a meeting”, “Beat, you need to cut the communists”, and tried to beat him.
On June 15, the chairman of the RIK and the secretary of the district committee arrived in the village, who, not knowing what had happened, called a poor meeting, which was attended by many middle and wealthy people, mostly women.
The gathered crowd greeted the representatives of the district approaching the building of the village council with shouts: ʺHere they are going to cut off the land to the commune, take the stakes and drive them from the field.ʺ The RIK chairman warned that only the poor can attend the meeting. Despite the warning, the middle peasants and the well‐to‐do did not disperse. At this moment, someone (who is not identified) rang the alarm. A large crowd of peasants was summoned with a bell ringing. When the representatives of the district, having opened the meeting, approached the issue of organizing the commune, the peasants raised a noise and shouts (mostly women shouted): “We will still interrupt the organizers of the commune and those who will allot the land; what kind of a commune it is, whoever has gathered there, we will not give land, we will drive them away with stakes, but we will not allow them to be ashamed”. “You are baiting us into the war, so that we will fight among ourselves, we will not allow everyone to be cut,” etc. Those gathered insistently demanded the announcement of the list of those who signed up for the commune (this was denied to them). The meeting, due to the strong agitation of the peasants, was closed.
On June 16, a meeting of the poor was again convened, to which the well‐to‐do came again, and at this meeting shouts continued against the organization of the commune: “We do not need a commune, if they take the land under it, then we will come with slingshots and cut them. The commune must be dispersed, we are beggars, ʺand so on.
At about 11 am (the meeting was still going on) three sheds were set on fire, one of them belonging to the organizer of the commune Povdiyanov, the other two ‐ to the poor. Those present at the meeting just dispersed, but did not take part in extinguishing the fire. On June 18, two more barns belonging to the middle peasants were set on fire.
Massive opposition to the organization of the commune is explained by the following:
1) There was no awareness campaign among the poor and middle peasants before the arrival of the land surveyor. Local party cells were inactive, and the Kochulichskaya cell (to which the communists from the village of Petrushkovo were attached) was disbanded, some of the party members were expelled from the CPSU (b) for drunkenness and communication with a kulak element, and the rest were attached to the newly organized Somovskaya cell, which did not take into account the created situation.
2) The organizers of the commune did not enjoy authority among the population. Poznyakov ‐ a former well‐to‐do, now a poor man, expelled from the party Tikhonov II was removed from the village council for persecuting the village correspondent; IP Tikhonov was expelled from the party for embezzlement and drunkenness. These organizers included a former priest, a drunkard, into the commune, although he was later expelled from the commune, but the very fact of his inclusion in the commune had an extremely unfavorable effect on the attitude of the population towards the commune.
3) It was not explained to the poor people who moved to the land of the former landowner that when the land was allocated to the commune, they would be left on their allotments, while the majority of the poor people had the opinion that their land would go to the commune.
Khopersky District (NVK). In with. Semenovka, Preobrazhensky District, on June 18, tenders were set for the sale of property of five kulak farms that had not fulfilled the control task for grain procurement. At that moment, when their property was brought to the place of trading, the alarm bell sounded, to which the peasants began to run from. Semyonovka and hut. Gordeevsky, armed with pitchforks and stakes. To the demand of the chairman of the village council and the grain procurement commissioner to stop ringing the alarm, the assembled peasants responded with shouts: “Kill such bastards ‐ robbers, they must be killed. Local authorities do what we want. You gendarmes come to us only to plunder. We demand that the bidding be canceled,” and so on.
The peasants who had gathered decided to open a meeting, at which it was decided to cancel the auction for the alienated property, lift the boycott of the grain holders and restore the electoral rights of all ʺdisenfranchisedʺ, with the exception of the ministers of the religious cult.
The authorities could not exert any influence on the crowd and were forced to leave for the area, postponing the auction.
District Committee of the CPSU (b), having discussed on the same day the excess in the village. Semenovka, decided to withdraw from the village. Semenovka and adjacent farmsteads of 10 kulaks. On the night of June 19, five policemen, headed by the head of the RAO, left for the arrest. Arrests were initially made in farms located on the road to the village. Semyonovka. During the arrest, the kulaks resisted, in connection with which the police were forced to break down the doors. The relatives of those arrested notified the population of other farms about the arrests.
June 19 in the village. In Semyonovka, the arriving militiamen were greeted with an alarm bell, to which the peasants came running, armed with pitchforks, stakes, etc. Having surrounded the militia, the crowd not only did not allow the kulaks to be arrested, but tried to free those arrested in the farms. The head of the RAO was hit on the head with a log, as a result of which the police fired several shots that scattered the crowd.
Seeing the impossibility to continue working in the village. Semenovka, the militiamen, together with the arrested, went to the village of Pereobrazhenskaya. From s. Semyonovka, following the arrested, came a crowd of peasants, which, approaching the RIK building, demanded the release of the arrested and the surrender of the police officers who made arrests for reprisals. On that day, there was a fair in the village, which is why the crowd, rapidly increasing (gathered up to 1000 people), insistently demanded the opening of the meeting: ʺWe have no kulaks and no bread, we demand to stop the inventory and sale of property,ʺ shouted the initiators.
The crowd, having opened the meeting, chose a presidium from among its midst, adopting the following resolution: “To restore all “disenfranchised” in voting rights, with the exception of priests, cancel the sale of alienated property and return the alienated and previously sold property to their previous owners. None of the authorities in the village. Semyonovka should not be allowed, except for the inheritor. ʺ The meeting also elected a commission to clarify the actions of the police. After the adoption of the resolution, the crowd dispersed.
Tambov District (TsCHO). In with. Orzhevka of the Kirsanovsky District on June 26, in the evening, a group of female podkulach women and former nuns, accompanied by two teenage girls, went door‐to‐door and invited peasants to come to church on June 27, claiming that for failure to fulfill the control task for grain procurement, the Soviet authorities were arrested and sent to Solovki by a local priest, and therefore he wishes to celebrate the last mass and say goodbye to the believers. Two weeks before this invitation, the priest told the peasants that there was a decree on his arrest and deportation to Solovki, when this decree would be implemented, he would warn the parishioners with a bell ringing.
On June 26, the priest, having received a notice of his appearance in the village council to give explanations about the reasons for the failure to comply with the decree on the export of grain, notified through the indicated group of peasants about his alleged arrest.
On the morning of June 27, instead of the usual church ringing, 10 alarms were given. After that, up to 300 people gathered in the church, most of them women (usually no more than 50 people come to the church). At the end of the service, the priest addressed the audience with a speech, declaring: “It has become difficult to live at the present time, the Soviet government arrested a priest with. N‐Peski of the Peresypkinsky region and intends to send him to Solovki. However, believers for religious convictions demanded from the authorities the release of their priest, and the authority yielded to this demand without touching him. So, I also have information about the next expulsion of me for not taking out the available 500 poods. of bread. If the believers care about me and need me, then the true believers will follow the example of the N‐Peskovsky believers” (it should be noted that in p.
After the service, some of the believers went with the priest in the direction of his apartment, shouting: ʺWe will not give our priest.ʺ The rest of the peasants present in the church went to the village council. The priest took out a sack of crackers from the house and went, accompanied by the crowd, to the village council. In the village council, the priest was asked to go home and persuade the crowd to disperse, which he refused to do, and only after warning to be forced out, unnoticed by the peasants, went home.
The crowd, having increased to 700 people, surrounded the village council, demanded the immediate release of the priest, some people shouted: ʺDown with grain procurement, down with Soviet power, long live freedomʺ, etc. One of the initiators of the speech, breaking the glass in the window of the village council, raised a bloody hand, shouting: ʺKomsomol members are cutting us with knives, and we are watching.ʺ Under the influence of the instigation of the kulaks, the peasants tried to inflict reprisals on the workers of the village council, but having learned about the departure of the militia from the city, the crowd fled.
Correct: Secretary of INFO OGPU Kucherov
Table of the movement of strikes at enterprises of the state industry of the USSR for May‐June 1929
Industry
Causes of strikes
Total:
Under liberty of existing salary
Under
delight
in wage cut
Ned the pleasure
of a decrease in wages due to
the change
of the
Ned
pleasure in
worsening working conditions
Under liberty in the size of food
rations
and supply interruptio ns
Ot
her rea son
s
Zabas tovoc
Participation nicknames
Lost man days
working day and rationali ty by drinking
V
VI
V
VI
V
VI
V
VI
V
VI
V
VI
V
VI
V
VI
V
VI
Metalwo
rkers
1
1
‐
1
1
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
2
2
234
140
58
27
Textile workers
1
‐
‐
1
1
3
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
2
4*
130
444
ten
424
Miners
1
‐
1
‐
‐
1
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
2
1
196
94
180
151
Chemist
s
‐
2
‐
‐
1
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
1
2
17
48
34
41
Seasons
50
59 **
2
2
‐
‐
4
3
20
9
‐
2
76
75
6623
11067
9276
11962
Other
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
‐
Total
53
62
3
4
3
4
4
3
20
9
‐
2
83
84
7200
11793
9558
12604 **
Notes:
* Of these, one ʺItalianʺ with the participation of 400 people (document note).
** Of these, 12 strikes simultaneously with the demand for an increase in bread and food rations (document note).
*** In the document, the total is incorrect, it follows ‐ 12605.
Correct: Secretary of INFO OGPU, Kucherov