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Stalin- Transcripts from Soviet ArchivesOn the organization of measuring household plots. June 20, 1939
June 20, 1939
A source: The tragedy of the Soviet village. Collectivization and dispossession. Documents and materials Volume 5. 1937‐1939. Book 2.
1938 ‐ 1939. Moscow ROSSPEN 2006. Pp. 436‐437
Archive: RGASPI. F. 17. Op. 3.D. 2125. L. 63‐64. Certified copy.
No. 213
Circular of the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All‐Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) on the organization of measuring personal plots 1 *
To the chairmen of the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars of the republics, regional and regional executive committees, secretaries of the Central Committee of the Communist Parties of the Union republics, regional committees, regional committees
In view of the fact that some party and Soviet organizations incorrectly organize the measurement of household plots, the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) recommend proceeding from the following:
1. All household plots that are in the personal use of collective farmers, including the lands of collective farmers located in the fields of collective farms and under buildings, as well as all lands of individual farmers and other non‐members of collective farms, are subject to measurement.
2. Measurement on the spot is carried out by the commissions of the district executive committees, appointed by the district executive committees and district party committees for each village council, consisting of the chairman of the commission ‐ a representative of the district, the chairman of the corresponding village council and the chairman of the collective farm. The chairman of the commission is selected from among the members of the district party committee, members of the district executive committee, land surveyors, agronomists of the district and MTS. To help itself, the commission selects on the spot two measurers from among the most experienced collective farmers.
3. Instructions for the chairman and members of the commissions on measurement techniques are organized in the district prior to the start of their work. The appointed commission receives a certificate from the district executive committee, which norms for the household lands of collective farmers have been established for this collective farm. Measurement is carried out with steel tapes, tape measures, and in the absence of those with precisely measured two‐meter marks. The organization of the commissions and their instructions should be carried out in 5‐7 days so that, no later than July 1, work on the measurement of household lands would actually begin on the collective farms.
4. The results of the measurement of each personal plot by the commission are immediately entered into the act indicating the surname, first name, patronymic of the land user, the total area of the personal plot, including under the buildings, with an accuracy of [to] hundredths of a hectare, the length, width and separately size of the established surplus are indicated against the norm of the charter of the agricultural cartel. If the household plot of the farm is located in several places, the recording is made for each plot separately. The act on the collective farm as a whole and separately on the lands of individual farmers and those who are not members of collective farms is signed by all members of the commission and one copy is sent to the district executive committee, while the other remains on the collective farm.
5. The results of the measurement carried out by the regional executive committee commission are considered and approved by the regional executive committee presidium until August 15, 1939, after which the same commission, within the timeframe established by the regional executive committees, but no later than November 15, carries out a cut of the surplus of collective farmersʹ personal lands, land of individual farmers and other non‐members of collective farms, in accordance with the decree of the Central Committee of the All‐Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars of the USSR dated May 27, and delimits household lands from public collective farm lands with signposts.
6. For inaccurate measurements of collective farmsʹ household lands, land owned by individual farmers and other persons who are not on the collective farm, members of the commission should be subject to court as violators of the law.
The specified procedure for organizing the measurement of land should be immediately reported to the secretaries of the district party committees and the chairmen of the district executive committees.
Chairman of the Council of Peopleʹs Commissars of the USSR V.
Molotov
Secretary of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) I. Stalin
1 * Appendix to clause 52 of Protocol No. 4 of the decisions of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) for June 15 ‐ July 4, 1939.