In the 20s and ending in 1953. During this period, mass arrests took place and special camps for political prisoners were created. No historian can name the exact number of victims of Stalin's repressions. More than a million people were convicted under Article 58.
Origin of the term
Stalin's terror affected almost all sectors of society. For more than twenty years, Soviet citizens lived in constant fear - one wrong word or even a gesture could cost their lives. It is impossible to unequivocally answer the question of what Stalin’s terror was based on. But of course, the main component of this phenomenon is fear.
The word terror translated from Latin is “horror”. The method of governing a country based on instilling fear has been used by rulers since ancient times. For the Soviet leader, Ivan the Terrible served as a historical example. Stalin's terror is in some ways a more modern version of the Oprichnina.
Ideology
The midwife of history is what Karl Marx called violence. The German philosopher saw only evil in the safety and inviolability of members of society. Stalin used Marx's idea.
The ideological basis of the repressions that began in the 20s was formulated in July 1928 in the “Short Course on the History of the All-Union Communist Party.” At first, Stalin's terror was a class struggle, which was supposedly needed to resist the overthrown forces. But the repressions continued even after all the so-called counter-revolutionaries ended up in camps or were shot. The peculiarity of Stalin's policy was its complete non-compliance with the Soviet Constitution.
If at the beginning of Stalin's repressions the state security agencies fought against opponents of the revolution, then by the mid-thirties arrests of old communists began - people selflessly devoted to the party. Ordinary Soviet citizens were already afraid not only of NKVD officers, but also of each other. Denunciation has become the main tool in the fight against “enemies of the people.”
Stalin's repressions were preceded by the "Red Terror", which began during the Civil War. These two political phenomena have many similarities. However, after the end of the Civil War, almost all cases of political crimes were based on falsification of charges. During the “Red Terror,” those who disagreed with the new regime, of whom there were many during the creation of the new state, were imprisoned and shot first of all.
The case of lyceum students
Officially, the period of Stalinist repressions began in 1922. But one of the first high-profile cases dates back to 1925. It was this year that a special department of the NKVD fabricated a case accusing graduates of the Alexander Lyceum of counter-revolutionary activities.
On February 15, over 150 people were arrested. Not all of them were related to the above-mentioned educational institution. Among those convicted were former students of the School of Law and officers of the Semenovsky Life Guards Regiment. Those arrested were accused of assisting the international bourgeoisie.
Many were shot already in June. 25 people were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. 29 of those arrested were sent into exile. Vladimir Shilder, a former teacher, was 70 years old at that time. He died during the investigation. Nikolai Golitsyn, the last chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Russian Empire, was sentenced to death.
Shakhty case
The charges under Article 58 were ridiculous. A person who does not speak foreign languages and has never communicated with a citizen of a Western state in his life could easily be accused of colluding with American agents. During the investigation, torture was often used. Only the strongest could withstand them. Often those under investigation signed a confession only in order to complete the execution, which sometimes lasted for weeks.
In July 1928, coal industry specialists became victims of Stalin's terror. This case was called "Shakhty". The heads of Donbass enterprises were accused of sabotage, sabotage, creating an underground counter-revolutionary organization, and assisting foreign spies.
The 1920s saw several high-profile cases. Dispossession continued until the early thirties. It is impossible to calculate the number of victims of Stalin’s repressions, because no one carefully kept statistics in those days. In the nineties, the KGB archives became available, but even after that, researchers did not receive comprehensive information. However, separate execution lists were made public, which became a terrible symbol of Stalin’s repressions.
The Great Terror is a term that applies to a short period of Soviet history. It lasted only two years - from 1937 to 1938. Researchers provide more accurate data about victims during this period. 1,548,366 people were arrested. Shot - 681,692. It was a fight “against the remnants of the capitalist classes.”
Causes of the "Great Terror"
During Stalin's times, a doctrine was developed to strengthen the class struggle. This was only a formal reason for the extermination of hundreds of people. Among the victims of Stalin's terror of the 30s were writers, scientists, military men, and engineers. Why was it necessary to get rid of representatives of the intelligentsia, specialists who could benefit the Soviet state? Historians offer various answers to these questions.
Among modern researchers there are those who are convinced that Stalin had only an indirect connection to the repressions of 1937-1938. However, his signature appears on almost every execution list, and in addition, there is a lot of documentary evidence of his involvement in mass arrests.
Stalin strove for sole power. Any relaxation could lead to a real, not fictitious conspiracy. One of the foreign historians compared the Stalinist terror of the 30s with the Jacobin terror. But if the last phenomenon, which took place in France at the end of the 18th century, involved the destruction of representatives of a certain social class, then in the USSR people who were often unrelated to each other were arrested and executed.
So, the reason for the repression was the desire for sole, unconditional power. But there was a need for formulation, an official justification for the need for mass arrests.
Occasion
On December 1, 1934, Kirov was killed. This event became the formal reason for the arrest of the killer. According to the results of the investigation, which was again fabricated, Leonid Nikolaev did not act independently, but as a member of an opposition organization. Stalin subsequently used the murder of Kirov in the fight against political opponents. Zinoviev, Kamenev and all their supporters were arrested.
Trial of Red Army officers
After the murder of Kirov, trials of the military began. One of the first victims of the Great Terror was G. D. Guy. The military leader was arrested for the phrase “Stalin must be removed,” which he uttered while intoxicated. It is worth saying that in the mid-thirties, denunciation reached its apogee. People who had worked in the same organization for many years stopped trusting each other. Denunciations were written not only against enemies, but also against friends. Not only for selfish reasons, but also out of fear.
In 1937, a trial of a group of Red Army officers took place. They were accused of anti-Soviet activities and assistance to Trotsky, who by that time was already abroad. The hit list included:
- Tukhachevsky M. N.
- Yakir I. E.
- Uborevich I. P.
- Eideman R.P.
- Putna V.K.
- Primakov V. M.
- Gamarnik Ya. B.
- Feldman B. M.
The witch hunt continued. In the hands of NKVD officers there was a recording of Kamenev’s negotiations with Bukharin - there was talk of creating a “right-left” opposition. At the beginning of March 1937, with a report that spoke of the need to eliminate the Trotskyists.
According to the report of the General Commissioner of State Security Yezhov, Bukharin and Rykov were planning terror against the leader. A new term appeared in Stalinist terminology - “Trotskyist-Bukharinsky,” which means “directed against the interests of the party.”
In addition to the above-mentioned political figures, about 70 people were arrested. 52 were shot. Among them were those who took a direct part in the repressions of the 20s. Thus, state security officers and political figures Yakov Agronom, Alexander Gurevich, Levon Mirzoyan, Vladimir Polonsky, Nikolai Popov and others were shot.
Lavrentiy Beria was involved in the “Tukhachevsky case”, but he managed to survive the “purge”. In 1941, he took the post of General Commissioner of State Security. Beria was already executed after the death of Stalin - in December 1953.
Repressed scientists
In 1937, revolutionaries and political figures became victims of Stalin's terror. And very soon arrests of representatives of completely different social strata began. People who had nothing to do with politics were sent to the camps. It’s easy to guess what the consequences of Stalin’s repressions were by reading the lists presented below. The “Great Terror” became a brake on the development of science, culture, and art.
Scientists who became victims of Stalinist repressions:
- Matvey Bronstein.
- Alexander Witt.
- Hans Gelman.
- Semyon Shubin.
- Evgeny Pereplekin.
- Innokenty Balanovsky.
- Dmitry Eropkin.
- Boris Numerov.
- Nikolay Vavilov.
- Sergei Korolev.
Writers and poets
In 1933, Osip Mandelstam wrote an epigram with obvious anti-Stalinist overtones, which he read to several dozen people. Boris Pasternak called the poet's act suicide. He turned out to be right. Mandelstam was arrested and sent into exile in Cherdyn. There he made an unsuccessful suicide attempt, and a little later, with the assistance of Bukharin, he was transferred to Voronezh.
Boris Pilnyak wrote “The Tale of the Unextinguished Moon” in 1926. The characters in this work are fictitious, at least that’s what the author claims in the preface. But everyone who read the story in the 20s, it became clear that it was based on the version of the murder of Mikhail Frunze.
Somehow Pilnyak’s work ended up in print. But it was soon banned. Pilnyak was arrested only in 1937, and before that he remained one of the most published prose writers. The writer's case, like all similar ones, was completely fabricated - he was accused of spying for Japan. Shot in Moscow in 1937.
Other writers and poets who were subjected to Stalinist repression:
- Victor Bagrov.
- Yuliy Berzin.
- Pavel Vasiliev.
- Sergey Klychkov.
- Vladimir Narbut.
- Petr Parfenov.
- Sergei Tretyakov.
It is worth talking about the famous theater figure, accused under Article 58 and sentenced to capital punishment.
Vsevolod Meyerhold
The director was arrested at the end of June 1939. His apartment was later searched. A few days later, Meyerhold's wife was killed. The circumstances of her death have not yet been clarified. There is a version that she was killed by NKVD officers.
Meyerhold was interrogated for three weeks and tortured. He signed everything the investigators required. On February 1, 1940, Vsevolod Meyerhold was sentenced to death. The sentence was carried out the next day.
During the war years
In 1941, the illusion of lifting repressions appeared. In Stalin's pre-war times, there were many officers in the camps who were now needed free. Together with them, about six hundred thousand people were released from prison. But this was a temporary relief. At the end of the forties, a new wave of repression began. Now the ranks of “enemies of the people” have been joined by soldiers and officers who have been in captivity.
Amnesty 1953
On March 5, Stalin died. Three weeks later, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree according to which a third of the prisoners were to be released. About a million people were released. But the first to leave the camps were not political prisoners, but criminals, which instantly worsened the criminal situation in the country.
After the end of the Great Patriotic War, Joseph Stalin was not only the leader of the country, but the real savior of the fatherland. He was practically never called anything other than a leader, and the cult of personality reached its apogee in the post-war period. It seemed that it was impossible to shake an authority of such magnitude, but Stalin himself had a hand in this.
A series of inconsistent reforms and repressions gave rise to the term post-war Stalinism, which is actively used by modern historians.
Brief analysis of Stalin's reforms
Reforms and state actions of Stalin | The essence of the reforms and their consequences |
|---|---|
December 1947 - monetary reform | The implementation of the currency reform shocked the population of the country. After a fierce war, all funds were confiscated from ordinary people and exchanged at the rate of 10 old rubles for 1 new ruble. Such reforms helped to plug gaps in the state budget, but for ordinary people they caused the loss of their last savings. |
August 1945 - a special committee was created headed by Beria, which subsequently worked on the development of atomic weapons. | At a meeting with President Truman, Stalin learned that Western countries were already well prepared in terms of atomic weapons. It was on August 20, 1945 that Stalin laid the foundation for the future arms race, which almost led to the Third World War in the mid-20th century. |
1946-1948 - ideological campaigns led by Zhdanov to restore order in the field of art and journalism | As the cult of Stalin became increasingly intrusive and visible, almost immediately after the end of the Great Patriotic War, Stalin instructed Zhdanov to carry out an ideological struggle against those who spoke out against Soviet power. After a short break, new purges and repressions began in the country. |
1947-1950 - agricultural reforms. | The war showed Stalin how important the agricultural sector was in development. That is why, until his death, the Secretary General carried out numerous agricultural reforms. In particular, the country switched to a new irrigation system, and new hydroelectric power stations were built throughout the USSR. |
Post-war repressions and the tightening of the cult of Stalin
It was already mentioned above that Stalinism only grew stronger in the post-war years, and among the people the General Secretary was considered the main hero of the Fatherland. The planting of such an image of Stalin was facilitated by both excellent ideological support and cultural innovations. All films made and books published glorified the current regime and praised Stalin. Gradually, the number of repressions and the scope of censorship increased, but no one seemed to notice.
Stalin's repressions became a real problem for the country in the mid-30s, and after the end of the Great Patriotic War, they gained new strength. Thus, in 1948, the famous “Leningrad Affair” became public, during which many politicians holding the most important positions in the party were arrested and executed. For example, the chairman of the State Planning Committee Voznesensky, as well as the secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Kuznetsov, were shot. Stalin was losing confidence in his own entourage, and therefore those who yesterday were still considered the main friend and associate of the General Secretary came under attack.
Stalinism in the post-war years increasingly took the form of dictatorship. Despite the fact that the people literally idolized Stalin, the monetary reform and the newly begun repressions made people doubt the authority of the General Secretary. Representatives of the intelligentsia were the first to speak out against the existing regime, and therefore, led by Zhdanov, purges began among writers, artists and journalists in 1946.
Stalin himself brought to the fore the development of the country's military power. The development of the plan for the first atomic bomb allowed the USSR to strengthen its status as a superpower. All over the world the USSR was feared, believing that Stalin was capable of starting the Third World War. The Iron Curtain increasingly covered the Soviet Union, and the people resignedly waited for change.
Change, although not the best, came suddenly when the leader and hero of the entire country died in 1953. Stalin's death marked the beginning of a completely new stage for the Soviet Union.
When I die, a lot of rubbish will be placed on my grave, but the wind of time will mercilessly sweep it away.
Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich
Brief summary of the myth:
Stalin was the greatest tyrant of all times. Stalin destroyed his people on an unimaginable scale - from 10 to 100 million people were thrown into camps, where they were shot or died in inhumane conditions.
Reality:
What was the scale of the “Stalinist repressions”?
Almost all publications addressing the issue of the number of repressed people can be classified into two groups. The first of them includes works by denouncers of the “totalitarian regime”, citing astronomical multi-million dollar figures of those executed and imprisoned. At the same time, “truth seekers” persistently try not to notice archival data, including published ones, pretending that they do not exist. To justify their figures, they either refer to each other, or simply limit themselves to phrases like: “according to my calculations,” “I am convinced,” etc.
However, any conscientious researcher who begins to study this problem quickly discovers that in addition to “eyewitness memories” there are a lot of documentary sources: “Several thousand items of storage of documents related to the activities of the Gulag have been identified in the funds of the Central State Archive of the October Revolution, the highest bodies of state power and government bodies of the USSR (TsGAOR USSR)”
Having studied archival documents, such a researcher is surprised to see that the scale of repression that we “know” about thanks to the media is not only at odds with reality, but is inflated tenfold. After this, he finds himself in a painful dilemma: professional ethics requires him to publish the data found, on the other hand, how not to be branded as a defender of Stalin. The result is usually some kind of “compromise” publication containing both a standard set of anti-Stalin epithets and curtsies addressed to Solzhenitsyn and Co., as well as information about the number of repressed people, which, unlike publications from the first group, is not taken out of thin air and not pulled out of thin air , and are confirmed by documents from the archives.
How much has been repressed?
February 1, 1954
To the Secretary of the CPSU Central Committee, Comrade N. S. Khrushchev.
In connection with signals received by the Central Committee of the CPSU from a number of persons about illegal convictions for counter-revolutionary crimes in past years by the OGPU Collegium, NKVD troikas, the Special Meeting, the Military Collegium, courts and military tribunals and in accordance with your instructions on the need to review the cases of persons convicted for counter-revolutionary crimes and currently held in camps and prisons, we report: from 1921 to the present time, 3,777,380 people were sentenced for counter-revolutionary crimes, including 642,980 people to VMN, to detention in camps and prisons for a term of 25 years and below - 2,369,220, into exile and deportation - 765,180 people.Of the total number of convicts, approximately, 2,900,000 people were convicted by the OGPU Collegium, NKVD troikas and the Special Conference, and 877,000 people were convicted by courts, military tribunals, the Special Collegium and the Military Collegium.
... It should be noted that, created on the basis of the Resolution of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of November 5, 1934, by the Special Meeting of the NKVD of the USSR, which existed until September 1, 1953, 442,531 people were sentenced, including 10,101 people to VMN, to imprisonment - 360,921 people, to exile and deportation (within the country) - 57,539 people and to other measures of punishment (counting the time spent in custody, deportation abroad, compulsory treatment) - 3,970 people...
Prosecutor General R. Rudenko
Minister of Internal Affairs S. Kruglov
Minister of Justice K. Gorshenin
So, as is clear from the above document, in total from 1921 to the beginning of 1954, people were sentenced to death on political charges. 642.980 person, to imprisonment - 2.369.220 , to link – 765.180 . It should also be borne in mind that not all sentences were carried out. For example, from July 15, 1939 to April 20, 1940, 201 prisoners were sentenced to capital punishment for disorganizing camp life and production, but then for some of them the death penalty was replaced by imprisonment for terms of 10 to 15 years. In 1934, the camps housed 3,849 prisoners sentenced to capital punishment with a substitute for imprisonment, in 1935 - 5,671, in 1936 - 7,303, in 1937 - 6,239, in 1938 - 5,926, in 1939 - 3,425, in 1940 - 4,037.
Number of prisoners
« Are you sure that the information in this memo is true?“, - a skeptical reader will exclaim, who, thanks to many years of brainwashing, firmly “knows” about millions of people shot and tens of millions sent to camps. Well, let’s turn to more detailed statistics, especially since, contrary to the assurances of dedicated “fighters against totalitarianism,” such data is not only available in the archives, but has also been published several times.
Let's start with data on the number of prisoners in the Gulag camps. Let me remind you that those sentenced to a term of more than 3 years, as a rule, served their sentences in correctional labor camps (ITL), and those sentenced to short terms - in correctional labor colonies (CPT).
| Year | Prisoners |
|---|---|
| 1930 | 179.000 |
| 1931 | 212.000 |
| 1932 | 268.700 |
| 1933 | 334.300 |
| 1934 | 510.307 |
| 1935 | 725.483 |
| 1936 | 839.406 |
| 1937 | 820.881 |
| 1938 | 996.367 |
| 1939 | 1.317.195 |
| 1940 | 1.344.408 |
| 1941 | 1.500.524 |
| 1942 | 1.415.596 |
| 1943 | 983.974 |
| 1944 | 663.594 |
| 1945 | 715.505 |
| 1946 | 746.871 |
| 1947 | 808.839 |
| 1948 | 1.108.057 |
| 1949 | 1.216.361 |
| 1950 | 1.416.300 |
| 1951 | 1.533.767 |
| 1952 | 1.711.202 |
| 1953 | 1.727.970 |
However, those who are accustomed to accepting the opuses of Solzhenitsyn and others like him as Holy Scripture are often not convinced even by direct references to archival documents. " These are NKVD documents, and therefore they are falsified.- they declare. – Where did the numbers given in them come from?».
Well, especially for these incredulous gentlemen, I will give a couple of specific examples of where “these numbers” come from. So, the year is 1935:
NKVD camps, their economic specialization and number of prisoners
as of January 11, 1935
| Camp | Economic specialization | Number conclusion |
| Dmitrovlag | Construction of the Moscow-Volga Canal | 192.649|
| Bamlag | Construction of the second tracks of the Trans-Baikal and Ussuri railways and the Baikal-Amur Mainline | 153.547|
| Belomoro-Baltic- ski plant | Construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal | 66.444|
| Siblag | Construction of the Gorno-Shorskaya railway; coal mining in the mines of Kuzbass; construction of the Chuisky and Usinsky tracts; provision of labor to the Kuznetsk Metallurgical Plant, Novsibles, etc.; own pig farms | 61.251|
| Dallag (later Vladivostoklag) | Construction of the Volochaevka-Komsomolsk railway; coal mining at the Artem and Raichikha mines; construction of the Sedan water pipeline and oil storage tanks of Benzostroy; construction work of “Dalpromstroy”, “Reserves Committee”, aircraft building No. 126; fisheries | 60.417|
| Svirlag | Harvesting firewood and commercial timber for Leningrad | 40.032|
| Sevvostlag | Trust "Dalstroy", work in Kolyma | 36.010|
| Temlag, Mordov- Russian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic | Harvesting firewood and industrial timber for Moscow | 33.048|
| Central Asian camp (Sazlag) | Providing labor to Tekstilstroy, Chirchikstroy, Shakhrudstroy, Khazarbakhstroy, Chuisky Novlubtrest, and the Pakhta-Aral state farm; own cotton farms | 26.829|
| Karaganda camp (Karlag) | Livestock farms | 25.109|
| Ukhtpechlag | Works of the Ukhto-Pechora Trust: mining of coal, oil, asphalt, radium, etc. | 20.656|
| Prorvlag (later - Astrakhanlag) | Fishing industry | 10.583|
| Sarovsky NKVD camp | Logging and sawmilling | 3.337|
| Vaygach | Mining of zinc, lead, platinum spar | 1.209|
| Okhunlag | Road construction | 722|
| on the way to the camps | 9.756 | |
| Total | 741.599 |
Four years later:
| Camp | Conclusion |
| Bamlag (BAM route) | 262.194 |
| Sevvostlag (Magadan) | 138.170 |
| Belbaltlag (Karelian ASSR) | 86.567 |
| Volgolag (Uglich-Rybinsk region) | 74.576 |
| Dallag (Primorsky Territory) | 64.249 |
| Siblag (Novosibirsk region) | 46.382 |
| Ushosdorlag (Far East) | 36.948 |
| Samarlag (Kuibyshev region) | 36.761 |
| Karlag (Karaganda region) | 35.072 |
| Sazlag (Uzbek SSR) | 34.240 |
| Usollag (Molotov region) | 32.714 |
| Kargopollag (Arkhangelsk region) | 30.069 |
| Sevzheldorlag (Komi ASSR and Arkhangelsk region) | 29.405 |
| Yagrinlag (Arkhangelsk region) | 27.680 |
| Vyazemlag (Smolensk region) | 27.470 |
| Ukhtimlag (Komi ASSR) | 27.006 |
| Sevurallag (Sverdlovsk region) | 26.963 |
| Lokchimlag (Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) | 26.242 |
| Temlag (Mordovian ASSR) | 22.821 |
| Ivdellag (Sverdlovsk region) | 20.162 |
| Vorkutlag (Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) | 17.923 |
| Soroklag (Arkhangelsk region) | 17.458 |
| Vyatlag (Kirov region) | 16.854 |
| Oneglag (Arkhangelsk region) | 16.733 |
| Unjlag (Gorky region) | 16.469 |
| Kraslag (Krasnoyarsk region) | 15.233 |
| Taishetlag (Irkutsk region) | 14.365 |
| Ustvymlag (Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic) | 11.974 |
| Thomasinlag (Novosibirsk region) | 11.890 |
| Gorno-Shorsky ITL (Altai Territory) | 11.670 |
| Norillag (Krasnoyarsk Territory) | 11.560 |
| Kuloylag (Arkhangelsk region) | 10.642 |
| Raichichlag (Khabarovsk Territory) | 8.711 |
| Arkhbumlag (Arkhangelsk region) | 7.900 |
| Luga camp (Leningrad region) | 6.174 |
| Bukachachlag (Chita region) | 5.945 |
| Prorvlag (Lower Volga) | 4.877 |
| Likovlag (Moscow region) | 4.556 |
| South Harbor (Moscow region) | 4.376 |
| Stalin station (Moscow region) | 2.727 |
| Dmitrovsky Mechanical Plant (Moscow region) | 2.273 |
| Construction No. 211 (Ukrainian SSR) | 1.911 |
| Transit prisoners | 9.283 |
| Total | 1.317.195 |
However, as I already wrote above, in addition to the ITL there were also ITKs - corrective labor colonies. Until the fall of 1938, they, together with the prisons, were subordinate to the Department of Places of Detention (OMP) of the NKVD. Therefore, for the years 1935–1938 we have so far been able to find only joint statistics:
Since 1939, penitentiary colonies were under the jurisdiction of the Gulag, and prisons were under the jurisdiction of the Main Prison Directorate (GTU) of the NKVD.
Number of prisoners in prisons
| Year | 1st of January | January | March | May | July | September | December |
| 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 | 352.508 186.278 470.693 268.532 237.534 151.296 275.510 245.146 293.135 280.374 | 350.538 178.258 401.146 229.217 201.547 170.767 267.885 191.930 259.078 349.035 228.258 | 186.278 434.871 247.404 221.669 171.708 272.486 235.092 290.984 284.642 230.614 |
The information in the table is given for the middle of each month. In addition, again for particularly stubborn anti-Stalinists, a separate column provides information for January 1 of each year (highlighted in red), taken from an article by A. Kokurin posted on the Memorial website. This article, among other things, contains links to specific archival documents. In addition, those interested can read an article by the same author in the magazine “Military Historical Archive”.
Now we can compile a summary table of the number of prisoners in the USSR under Stalin:
It cannot be said that these figures are some kind of revelation. Since 1990, this type of data has been presented in a number of publications. Thus, in an article by L. Ivashov and A. Emelin, published in 1991, it is stated that the total number of prisoners in camps and colonies is 1.03. 1940 was 1.668.200 people, as of June 22, 1941 – 2.3 million; as of July 1, 1944 – 1.2 million .
V. Nekrasov in his book “Thirteen “Iron” People’s Commissars” reports that “in places of deprivation of liberty” in 1933 there were 334 thousand prisoners, in 1934 - 510 thousand, in 1935 - 991 thousand, in 1936 - 1296 thousand; on December 21, 1944 in camps and colonies - 1.450.000 ; on March 24, 1953 in the same place - 2.526.402 .
According to A. Kokurin and N. Petrov (especially significant, since both authors are associated with the Memorial society, and N. Petrov is even an employee of Memorial), as of 1.07. 1944 in the camps and colonies of the NKVD there were about 1.2 million prisoners, and in NKVD prisons on the same date - 204.290 . As of 12/30. 1945 in the NKVD forced labor camps there were about 640 thousand prisoners, in correctional labor colonies - about 730 thousand, in prisons - about 250 thousand, in the bullpen – about 38 thousand, in juvenile colonies - about 21 thousand, in special camps and NKVD prisons in Germany - about 84 thousand .
Finally, here are data on the number of prisoners in places of deprivation of liberty subordinate to the territorial bodies of the Gulag, taken directly from the already mentioned Memorial website:
| January 1935 January 1937 1.01.1939 1.01.1941 1.01.1945 1.01.1949 1.01.1953 | 307.093 375.376 381.581 434.624 745.171 1.139.874 741.643 |
So, let's summarize - during the entire period of Stalin's reign, the number of prisoners simultaneously in prison never exceeded 2 million 760 thousand (naturally, not counting German, Japanese and other prisoners of war). Thus, there can be no talk of any “tens of millions of Gulag prisoners.”
Let us now calculate the number of prisoners per capita. On January 1, 1941, as can be seen from the table above, the total number of prisoners in the USSR was 2,400,422 people. The exact population of the USSR at this time is unknown, but is usually estimated at 190–195 million. Thus we get from 1230 to 1260 prisoners for every 100 thousand population. In January 1950, the number of prisoners in the USSR was 2,760,095 people - the maximum figure for the entire period of Stalin's reign. The population of the USSR at this time numbered 178 million 547 thousand. We get 1546
Now let's calculate a similar indicator for the modern United States. Currently, there are two types of prisons: jail- an approximate analogue of our temporary detention facilities, in jail those under investigation are held, and those sentenced to short terms are also serving their sentences, and prison- the prison itself. So, at the end of 1999 in prisons 1,366,721 people were held in jails– 687,973 (see: Bureau of Legal Statistics website), which gives a total of 2,054,694. The population of the United States at the end of 1999 was approximately 275 million (see: US population), therefore, we get 747 prisoners per 100 thousand population.
Yes, half as much as Stalin, but not ten times. It’s somehow undignified for a power that has taken upon itself to “protect human rights” on a global scale. And if we take into account the growth rate of this indicator - when this article was first published, it was (as of mid-1998) 693 prisoners per 100 thousand American population, 1990–1998. average annual increase in the number of inhabitants jails – 4,9%, prisons- 6.9%, then, you see, in ten years the overseas friends of our domestic Stalin-haters will catch up and overtake the Stalinist USSR.
By the way, in one Internet discussion an objection was raised - they say that these figures include all arrested Americans, including those who were detained for several days. Let me emphasize once again: by the end of 1999, there were more than 2 million prisoners who are serving time or are in pre-trial detention. As for the arrests, they were made in 1998 14.5 million(see: FBI report).
Now a few words about the total number of people who were imprisoned under Stalin. Of course, if you take the table above and add up the rows, the result will be incorrect, since most of the Gulag prisoners were sentenced to more than a year. However, to a certain extent, the following note allows us to estimate the number of those who went through the Gulag:
To the head of the Gulag of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, Major General Egorov S.E.
In total, 11 million units of archival materials are stored in the Gulag units, of which 9.5 million are the personal files of prisoners.
Head of the Gulag Secretariat of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs
Major Podymov
How many of the prisoners were “political”
It is fundamentally wrong to believe that the majority of those imprisoned under Stalin were “victims of political repression”:
Number of people convicted of counter-revolutionary and other especially dangerous state crimes
| Year | highest measure | camps, colonies and prisons | link and expulsion | other measures | Total convicted |
| 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 | 9701 1962 414 2550 2433 990 2363 869 2109 20201 10651 2728 2154 2056 1229 1118 353074 328618 2552 1649 8011 23278 3579 3029 4252 2896 1105 – 8 475 1609 1612 198 | 21724||||
| Total | 799455 | 2634397 413512 215942 4060306
By “other measures” we mean credit for time spent in custody, forced treatment and deportation abroad. For 1953, information is provided only for the first half of the year.
From this table it follows that there were slightly more “repressed” than indicated in the above report addressed to Khrushchev - 799,455 sentenced to capital punishment instead of 642,980 and 2,634,397 sentenced to imprisonment instead of 2,369,220. However, this difference is relatively small - the numbers are of the same order.
In addition, there is one more point - it is very possible that a fair number of criminals have been squeezed into the table above. The fact is that on one of the certificates stored in the archives, on the basis of which this table was compiled, there is a pencil note: “Total convicts for 1921–1938. – 2944879 people, of which 30% (1062 thousand) are criminals". In this case, the total number of “repressed” does not exceed 3 million. However, to finally clarify this issue, additional work with sources is necessary.
Let's now see what percentage the “repressed” made up of the total number of inhabitants of the Gulag:
Composition of the NKVD Gulag camps for
| Year | quantity | % to all composition of the camps |
| 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 | 135.190 118.256 105.849 104.826 185.324 454.432 444.999 420.293 407.988 345.397 268.861 289.351 333.883 427.653 416.156 420.696 578.912* 475.976 480.766 465.256 | 26.5 16.3 12.6 12.6 18.6 34.5 33.1 28.7 29.6 35.6 40.7 41.2 59.2 54.3 38.0 34.9 22.7 31.0 28.1 26.9 |
* In camps and colonies.
Let us now consider in more detail the composition of the inhabitants of the Gulag at some moments of its existence.
Composition of prisoners in correctional labor camps for the crimes charged
(as of April 1, 1940)
| Charged crimes | Number | % |
| Counter-revolutionary crimes including: Trotskyists, Zinovievites, rightists treason terror sabotage espionage sabotage leaders of counter-revolutionary organizations anti-Soviet agitation other counter-revolutionary crimes family members of traitors to the Motherland without instructions | 417381
17621 | 32,87
|
| Particularly dangerous crimes against the order of government including: banditry and robbery defectors other crimes | 46374
29514 | 3,65
|
| Other crimes against management order including: hooliganism speculation violation of the passport law other crimes | 182421
90291 | 14,37
|
| Theft of social property (law of August 7, 1932) Crimes against the person Property crimes Socially harmful and socially dangerous element Military crimes Other crimes No instructions | 23549 96193 66708 152096 220835 11067 41706 11455 | 1,85|
| Total | 1269785 | 100,00
REFERENCE
on the number of people convicted of counter-revolutionary crimes and banditry,
held in camps and colonies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs as of July 1, 1946.
| By the nature of the crime | In the camps | % | In the colonies | % | Total | % |
| Total presence of convicts | 616.731 | 100 755.255 100 1.371.986100 | ||||
| Of these, for criminal offenses, including: Treason to the Motherland (Article 58-1) Espionage (58-6) Terrorism Sabotage (58-7) Sabotage (58-9) Kr sabotage (58-14) Participation in a/c conspiracy (58–2, 3, 4, 5, 11) Anti-Soviet agitation (58-10) Polit. bandit. (58–2, 5, 9) Illegal border crossing Smuggling Family members of traitors to the Motherland Socially dangerous elements | 354.568
137.463 | 57,5
37,6
14,8 |
Head of the Gulag Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR
Aleshinsky
Pom. Head of the Gulag Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR
Yatsevich
Composition of Gulag prisoners by nature of crimes
(as of January 1, 1951)
| Crimes | Total | incl. in the camps | incl. in the colonies |
| Counter-revolutionary crimes Treason to the Motherland (Article 58-1a, b) Espionage (Art. 58-1a, b, 6; Art. 193-24) Terror (v.58-8) Terrorist intent Sabotage (v.58-9) Sabotage (vv.58-7) Counter-revolutionary sabotage (except for convicted for refusing to work in the camps and running away) (Article 58-14) Counter-revolutionary sabotage (for refusal from work in the camp) (vv.58-14) Counter-revolutionary sabotage (for escaping from places of detention) (Article 58-14) Participation in anti-Soviet conspiracies, anti-Soviet organizations and groups (Article 58, paragraphs 2, 3, 4, 5, 11) Anti-Soviet agitation (Articles 58–10, 59-7) Insurgency and political banditry (Article 58, paragraph 2; 59, paragraphs 2, 3, 3 b) Members of the families of traitors to the Motherland (Article 58-1c) Socially dangerous element Other counter-revolutionary crimes Total number of people convicted of counter-revolutionary crimes | 334538 18337 7515 2329 3250 1165 46582 | ||
| Criminal offenses Theft of social property (Decree of August 7, 1932) According to the Decree of June 4, 1947 “On strengthening security personal property of citizens" According to the Decree of June 4, 1947 “On criminal liability for theft of state and public property" Speculation committed outside of prison Banditry and armed robbery (Articles 59–3, 167), committed while serving a sentence not in places of detention Intentional murders (Articles 136, 137, 138) committed in places of detention Illegal border crossing (Articles 59–10, 84) Smuggling activities (Articles 59–9, 83) Cattle theft (Article 166) Repeat offenders (Article 162-c) Property crimes (Articles 162-178) Hooliganism (Article 74 and Decree of August 10, 1940) Violation of the law on passporting (Article 192-a) For escapes from places of detention, exile and deportation (Article 82) For unauthorized departure (escape) from places of mandatory settlements (Decree of November 26, 1948) For harboring evicted people who fled from places compulsory settlement, or complicity Socially harmful element Desertion (Article 193-7) Self-mutilation (art. 193-12) Looting (v.193-27) Other military crimes (Article 193, except paragraphs 7, 12, 17, 24, 27) Illegal possession of weapons (Article 182) Official and economic crimes (Article 59-3c, 109–121, 193 paragraphs 17, 18) According to the Decree of June 26, 1940 (unauthorized departure from enterprises and institutions and absenteeism) According to the Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR (except those listed above) Other criminal offenses Total criminal convictions | 72293 637055 3635 1021 19648 35518 | ||
| Total: | 2528146 | 1533767 994379
Thus, among the prisoners held in the Gulag camps, the majority were criminals, and the “repressed”, as a rule, were less than 1/3. The exception is the years 1944–1948, when this category received worthy additions in the form of Vlasovites, policemen, elders and other “fighters against communist tyranny.” The percentage of “political” ones in correctional labor colonies was even smaller.
Mortality among prisoners
Available archival documents make it possible to illuminate this issue.
Mortality of prisoners in Gulag camps
| Year | Average quantity prisoners | Died | % |
| 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1949 1950 1951 1952 | 240.350 301.500 422.304 617.895 782.445 830.144 908.624 1.156.781 1.330.802 1.422.466 1.458.060 1.199.785 823.784 689.550 658.202 704.868 958.448 1.316.331 1.475.034 1.622.485 1.719.586 | 7283
I have not yet found data for 1948.
Mortality of prisoners in prisons
| Year | Average quantity prisoners | Died | % |
| 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 | 269.393 328.486 369.613 253.033 194.415 213.403 260.328 269.141 286.755 255.711 214.896 181.712 158.647 | 7036
The average number of prisoners is taken as the arithmetic mean between the figures for January 1 and December 31.
Mortality in the colonies on the eve of the war was lower than in the camps. For example, in 1939 it was 2.30%
Mortality of prisoners in Gulag colonies
Thus, as the facts show, contrary to the assurances of the “accusers,” the mortality rate of prisoners under Stalin was kept at a very low level. However, during the war the situation of Gulag prisoners worsened. Nutritional standards were significantly reduced, which immediately led to a sharp increase in mortality. By 1944, the food standards for Gulag prisoners were slightly increased: for bread - by 12%, for cereals - 24%, for meat and fish - 40%, for fats - 28% and for vegetables - by 22%, after which the mortality rate began to decrease noticeably . But even after this, their calorie content remained approximately 30% lower than pre-war nutrition standards.
However, even in the most difficult years of 1942 and 1943, the mortality rate of prisoners was about 20% per year in camps and about 10% per year in prisons, and not 10% per month, as A. Solzhenitsyn, for example, claims. By the beginning of the 50s, in camps and colonies it fell below 1% per year, and in prisons - below 0.5%.
In conclusion, a few words should be said about the notorious Special camps (special camps), created in accordance with Resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR No. 416-159ss of February 21, 1948. These camps (as well as the Special prisons that already existed by that time) were supposed to concentrate all those sentenced to imprisonment for espionage, sabotage, terrorism, as well as Trotskyists, right-wingers, Mensheviks, Socialist Revolutionaries, anarchists, nationalists, white emigrants, members of anti-Soviet organizations and groups and “persons who pose a danger due to their anti-Soviet connections.” Prisoners of special guards were to be used for hard physical work.
Reference
on the presence of a special contingent held in special camps on January 1, 1952.
| №№ | Name special camps | Spi- they | Diver- santa | Ter- ror | Trots- cysts | Pra- high | Men- sheviks | Social Revolutionaries | Anar- hists | National nalists | White- emig- welts | Participant antisov. org. | Dangerous elem. | Total |
| 1 | Mineral | 4012 | 284 | 1020 | 347 | 7 | 36 | 63 | 23 | 11688 | 46 | 4398 | 8367 | 30292 |
| 2 | Mountain | 1884 | 237 | 606 | 84 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 1 | 9546 | 24 | 2542 | 5279 | 20218 |
| 3 | Dubravny | 1088 | 397 | 699 | 278 | 5 | 51 | 70 | 16 | 7068 | 223 | 4708 | 9632 | 24235 |
| 4 | Stepnoy | 1460 | 229 | 714 | 62 | – | 16 | 4 | 3 | 10682 | 42 | 3067 | 6209 | 22488 |
| 5 | Coastal | 2954 | 559 | 1266 | 109 | 6 | – | 5 | – | 13574 | 11 | 3142 | 10363 | 31989 |
| 6 | River | 2539 | 480 | 1429 | 164 | – | 2 | 2 | 8 | 14683 | 43 | 2292 | 13617 | 35459 |
| 7 | Ozerny | 2350 | 671 | 1527 | 198 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 8 | 7625 | 379 | 5105 | 14441 | 32342 |
| 8 | Sandy | 2008 | 688 | 1203 | 211 | 4 | 23 | 20 | 9 | 13987 | 116 | 8014 | 12571 | 38854 |
| 9 | Kamyshevy | 174 | 118 | 471 | 57 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3973 | 5 | 558 | 2890 | 8251 |
| Total | 18475 | 3663 | 8935 | 1510 | 41 | 140 | 190 | 69 | 93026 | 884 | 33826 | 83369 | 244128 |
Deputy Head of the 2nd Department of the 2nd Directorate of the Gulag, Major Maslov
The mortality rate of prisoners in special prisons can be judged from the following document:
| №№ p.p. | Camp name | For cr. crime | For criminal crime | Total | Died in IV sq. 1950 | Released |
| 1 | Mineral | 30235 | 2678 | 32913 | 91 | 479 |
| 2 | Mountain | 15072 | 10 | 15082 | 26 | 1 |
| 3 | Dubravny | |||||
| 4 | Stepnoy | 18056 | 516 | 18572 | 124 | 131 |
| 5 | Coastal | 24676 | 194 | 24870 | No | No |
| 6 | River | 15653 | 301 | 15954 | 25 | No |
| 7 | Ozerny | 27432 | 2961 | 30393 | 162 | 206 |
| 8 | Sandy | 20988 | 182 | 21170 | 24 | 21 |
| 9 | Lugovoy | 9611 | 429 | 10040 | 35 | 15 |
As can be seen from the table, in the 8 special camps for which information is given, out of 168,994 prisoners in the fourth quarter of 1950, 487 (0.29%) died, which, in annual terms, corresponds to 1.15%. That is, only slightly more than in ordinary camps. Contrary to popular belief, the special camps were not “death camps” in which dissident intellectuals were supposedly exterminated, and the most numerous contingent of their inhabitants were “nationalists” - the forest brothers and their accomplices.
A. Dugin. Stalinism: legends and facts // Slovo. 1990, No. 7.° C.24.
3. V. N. Zemskov. GULAG (historical and sociological aspect) // Sociological studies. 1991, No. 6.° C.15.
4. V. N. Zemskov. Prisoners in the 1930s: socio-demographic problems // Domestic history. 1997, No. 4.° C.67.
5. A. Dugin. Stalinism: legends and facts // Slovo. 1990, No. 7.° C.23; archival
Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation
Federal State Educational Institution
Higher professional education
"SAINT PETERSBURG STATE UNIVERSITY OF CULTURE AND ARTS"
Library and Information Faculty
Department of Contemporary History of the Fatherland
Course: Contemporary history of the Fatherland
Mass political repressions in the 30s. Attempts to resist the Stalinist regime.
Performer: Meerovich V.I.
Correspondence student at BIF
262 groups
Teacher: Sherstnev V.P.
The fight against sabotage
Introduction
Political repressions of the 20-50s. The twentieth century left a big mark on Russian history. These were years of tyranny and lawless violence. Historians assess this period of Stalin's rule differently. Some of them call this a “black spot in history,” others call it a necessary measure to strengthen and increase the power of the Soviet state.
The very concept of “repression” translated from Latin means “suppression, punitive measure, punishment.” In other words, suppression through punishment.
Today, political repression is one of the current topics, as it has affected almost many residents of our country. Recently, terrible secrets of that time have come to light very often, thereby increasing the importance of this problem.
Versions about the causes of mass repressions
When analyzing the formation of the mechanism of mass repression in the 1930s, the following factors should be taken into account.
The transition to a policy of collectivization of agriculture, industrialization and cultural revolution, which required significant material investments or the attraction of free labor (it is indicated, for example, that grandiose plans for the development and creation of an industrial base in the northern regions of the European part of Russia, Siberia and the Far East required the movement of huge human wt.
Preparations for war with Germany, where the Nazis who came to power declared their goal to be the destruction of communist ideology.
To solve these problems, it was necessary to mobilize the efforts of the entire population of the country and ensure absolute support for state policy, and for this, to neutralize the potential political opposition that the enemy could rely on.
At the same time, at the legislative level, the supremacy of the interests of society and the proletarian state in relation to the interests of the individual and a more severe punishment for any damage caused to the state was proclaimed, compared to similar crimes against the individual.
The policy of collectivization and accelerated industrialization led to a sharp drop in the standard of living of the population and to mass starvation. Stalin and his circle understood that this was increasing the number of people dissatisfied with the regime and tried to portray “saboteurs” and saboteurs—“enemies of the people”—responsible for all economic difficulties, as well as accidents in industry and transport, mismanagement, etc. According to Russian researchers, demonstrative repressions made it possible to explain the hardships of life by the presence of an internal enemy.
Stalinist repression dispossession collectivization
As researchers point out, the period of mass repression was also predetermined by the “restoration and active use of the political investigation system” and the strengthening of the authoritarian power of I. Stalin, who moved from discussions with political opponents on the choice of the country’s development path to declaring them “enemies of the people, a gang of professional saboteurs, spies, saboteurs, murderers,” which was perceived by state security agencies, prosecutors and courts as a prerequisite for action.
Ideological basis of repression
The ideological basis of Stalin's repressions was formed during the civil war. Stalin himself formulated a new approach at the plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in July 1928.
It is impossible to imagine that socialist forms will develop, displacing the enemies of the working class, and the enemies will retreat silently, making way for our advancement, that then we will again move forward, and they will retreat back again, and then “unexpectedly” everyone without exception social groups, both kulaks and the poor, both workers and capitalists, will find themselves “suddenly,” “imperceptibly,” without struggle or unrest, in a socialist society.
It has not happened and will not happen that moribund classes voluntarily surrendered their positions without trying to organize resistance. It has not happened and will not happen that the advancement of the working class towards socialism in a class society could do without struggle and unrest. On the contrary, progress towards socialism cannot but lead to resistance from the exploiting elements to this advancement, and the resistance of the exploiters cannot but lead to an inevitable intensification of the class struggle.
Dispossession
During the forced collectivization of agriculture carried out in the USSR in 1928-1932, one of the directions of state policy was the suppression of anti-Soviet protests by peasants and the associated “liquidation of the kulaks as a class” - “dekulakization,” which involved the forced and extrajudicial deprivation of wealthy peasants, using wage labor, all means of production, land and civil rights, and eviction to remote areas of the country. Thus, the state destroyed the main social group of the rural population, capable of organizing and materially supporting resistance to the measures taken.
Almost any peasant could be included in the lists of kulaks compiled locally. The scale of resistance to collectivization was such that it captured not only the kulaks, but also many middle peasants who opposed collectivization. An ideological feature of this period was the widespread use of the term “subkulak”, which made it possible to repress any peasant population in general, even farm laborers.
Peasant protests against collectivization, against high taxes and forced confiscation of “surplus” grain were expressed in its concealment, arson and even murders of rural party and Soviet activists, which was regarded by the state as a manifestation of “kulak counter-revolution”.
On January 30, 1930, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks adopted a resolution “On measures to eliminate kulak farms in areas of complete collectivization.” According to this resolution, kulaks were divided into three categories:
The heads of kulak families of the 1st category were arrested, and cases about their actions were transferred to special troikas consisting of representatives of the OGPU, regional committees (territorial committees) of the CPSU (b) and the prosecutor's office. Family members of kulaks of the 1st category and kulaks of the 2nd category were subject to eviction to remote areas of the USSR or remote areas of a given region (region, republic) to a special settlement. The kulaks assigned to the 3rd category settled within the region on new lands specially allocated for them outside the collective farm tracts.
On February 2, 1930, the OGPU USSR Order No. 44/21 was issued, which provided for the immediate liquidation of “counter-revolutionary kulak activists,” especially “cadres of active counter-revolutionary and rebel organizations and groups” and “the most malicious, terry loners.”
The families of those arrested, imprisoned in concentration camps or sentenced to death were subject to deportation to remote northern regions of the USSR.
The order also provided for the mass eviction of the richest kulaks, i.e. former landowners, semi-landowners, “local kulak authorities” and “the entire kulak cadre from which the counter-revolutionary activists are formed”, “kulak anti-Soviet activists”, “church members and sectarians”, as well as their families to the remote northern regions of the USSR. And also the priority implementation of campaigns to evict kulaks and their families in the following regions of the USSR.
In this regard, the organs of the OGPU were entrusted with the task of organizing the resettlement of dispossessed people and their employment at the place of new residence, suppressing unrest of dispossessed people in special settlements, and searching for those who had fled from places of deportation. The mass resettlement was directly supervised by a special task force under the leadership of the head of the Secret Operations Directorate E.G. Evdokimov. Spontaneous unrest among peasants on the ground was suppressed instantly. Only in the summer of 1931 was it necessary to attract army units to strengthen the OGPU troops in suppressing major unrest among special settlers in the Urals and Western Siberia.
In total, in 1930-1931, as indicated in the certificate of the Department for Special Resettlements of the GULAG OGPU, 381,026 families with a total number of 1,803,392 people were sent to special settlements. For 1932-1940 Another 489,822 dispossessed people arrived in special settlements.
The fight against sabotage
Solving the problem of accelerated industrialization required not only the investment of huge funds, but also the creation of numerous technical personnel. The bulk of the workers, however, were yesterday's illiterate peasants who did not have sufficient qualifications to work with complex equipment. The Soviet state also depended heavily on the technical intelligentsia inherited from tsarist times. These specialists were often quite skeptical of communist slogans.
The Communist Party, which grew up in conditions of civil war, perceived all the disruptions that arose during industrialization as deliberate sabotage, which resulted in a campaign against so-called “sabotage.” In a number of trials in cases of sabotage and sabotage, for example, the following accusations were made:
Sabotage of observation of solar eclipses (Pulkovo case);
Preparation of incorrect reports on the financial situation of the USSR, which led to the undermining of its international authority (the case of the Labor Peasant Party);
Sabotage on the instructions of foreign intelligence services through insufficient development of textile factories, creating imbalances in semi-finished products, which should have led to the undermining of the USSR economy and general discontent (the case of the Industrial Party);
Damage to seed material through contamination, deliberate sabotage in the field of agricultural mechanization through insufficient supply of spare parts (the case of the Labor Peasant Party);
Uneven distribution of goods across regions on instructions from foreign intelligence services, which led to the formation of surpluses in some places and shortages in others (the case of the Menshevik “Union Bureau”).
Also, the clergy, people of liberal professions, small entrepreneurs, traders and artisans were victims of the “anti-capitalist revolution” that began in the 30s. The population of the cities was now included in the category of “the working class, the builder of socialism,” however, the working class was also subjected to repression, which, in accordance with the dominant ideology, became an end in itself, hindering the active movement of society towards progress.
Over four years, from 1928 to 1931, 138,000 industrial and administrative specialists found themselves excluded from the life of society, 23,000 of them were written off in the first category (“enemies of Soviet power”) and were deprived of civil rights. The persecution of specialists took on enormous proportions at enterprises, where they were forced to unreasonably increase production output, which caused an increase in the number of accidents, defects, and machine breakdowns. From January 1930 to June 1931, 48% of Donbass engineers were fired or arrested: 4,500 “specialist saboteurs” were “exposed” in the first quarter of 1931 in the transport sector alone. The setting of goals that obviously cannot be achieved, which led to non-fulfillment of plans, a strong drop in labor productivity and work discipline, and a complete disregard for economic laws, ended up disrupting the work of enterprises for a long time.
The crisis emerged on a grand scale, and the party leadership was forced to take some “corrective measures.” On July 10, 1931, the Politburo decided to limit the persecution of specialists who had become victims of the hunt announced for them in 1928. The necessary measures were taken: several thousand engineers and technicians were immediately released, mainly in the metallurgical and coal industries, discrimination in access to higher education for children of the intelligentsia was stopped, and the OPTU was prohibited from arresting specialists without the consent of the relevant People's Commissariat.
From late 1928 to late 1932, Soviet cities were overrun by nearly 12 million peasants fleeing collectivization and dispossession. Three and a half million migrants appeared in Moscow and Leningrad alone. Among them were many enterprising peasants who preferred fleeing the village to self-dekulakization or joining collective farms. In 1930-1931, countless construction projects absorbed this very unpretentious workforce. But starting in 1932, the authorities began to fear the continuous and uncontrolled flow of population, which turned cities into a kind of villages, while the authorities needed to make them the showcase of a new socialist society; migration of the population threatened this entire, carefully developed food card system, starting in 1929, in which the number of “eligible” for a food card increased from 26 million at the beginning of 1930 to almost 40 by the end of 1932. Migration turned factories into huge nomadic camps. According to the authorities, “new arrivals from the village can cause negative phenomena and ruin production with an abundance of absentees, a decline in work discipline, hooliganism, an increase in marriage, the development of crime and alcoholism.”
In the spring of 1934, the government took repressive measures against young street children and hooligans, the number of which in the cities increased significantly during the period of famine, dispossession and brutalization of social relations. On April 7, 1935, the Politburo issued a decree, according to which it was envisaged to “bring to justice and apply the necessary the law sanctions teenagers over 12 years of age who are convicted of robbery, violence, bodily harm, self-harm and murder.” A few days later, the government sent a secret instruction to the prosecutor's office, which specified the criminal measures that should be applied against teenagers, in particular, it said that any measures should be applied, “including the highest measure of social protection,” in other words, the death penalty. Thus, the previous paragraphs of the Criminal Code, which prohibited the sentencing of minors to death, were repealed.
Mass terror
On July 30, 1937, NKVD Order No. 00447 “On the operation to repress former kulaks, criminals and other anti-Soviet elements” was adopted.
According to this order, the categories of persons subject to repression were determined:
A) Former kulaks (previously repressed, hiding from repression, fleeing camps, exile and labor settlements, as well as those fleeing dispossession to the cities);
B) Former repressed “church members and sectarians”;
C) Former active participants in anti-Soviet armed protests;
D) Former members of anti-Soviet political parties (Socialist Revolutionaries, Georgian Mensheviks, Armenian Dashnaks, Azerbaijani Musavatists, Ittihadists, etc.);
D) Former active “participants in bandit uprisings”;
E) Former White Guards, “punishers”, “repatriates” (“re-emigrants”), etc.;
G) Criminals.
All those repressed were divided into two categories:
1) “the most hostile elements” were subject to immediate arrest and, upon consideration of their cases in troikas, to execution;
2) “less active, but still hostile elements” were subject to arrest and imprisonment in camps or prisons for a period of 8 to 10 years.
By order of the NKVD, “operational troikas” were formed at the level of republics and regions to expedite the consideration of thousands of cases. The troika usually included: the chairman - the local chief of the NKVD, the members - the local prosecutor and the first secretary of the regional, territorial or republican committee of the CPSU (b).
For each region of the Soviet Union, limits were set for both categories.
Some of the repressions were carried out against people who had already been convicted and were in camps. For them, limits of the “first category” were allocated (10 thousand people) and triplets were also formed.
The order established repressions against family members of those sentenced:
Families “whose members are capable of active anti-Soviet actions” were subject to deportation to camps or labor settlements.
The families of those executed, living in the border strip, were subject to resettlement outside the border strip within the republics, territories and regions.
The families of those executed, living in Moscow, Leningrad, Kyiv, Tbilisi, Baku, Rostov-on-Don, Taganrog and in the regions of Sochi, Gagra and Sukhumi, were subject to eviction to other regions of their choice, with the exception of border areas.
All families of those repressed were subject to registration and systematic observation.
The duration of the “kulak operation” (as it was sometimes called in NKVD documents, since former kulaks made up the majority of those repressed) was extended several times, and the limits were revised. Thus, on January 31, 1938, by a resolution of the Politburo, additional limits of 57,200 people were allocated for 22 regions, including 48 thousand for the “first category”; on February 1, the Politburo approved an additional limit for the camps of the Far East of 12 thousand people. "first category", February 17 - an additional limit for Ukraine of 30 thousand in both categories, July 31 - for the Far East (15 thousand in the "first category", 5 thousand in the second), August 29 - 3 thousand for Chita region.
In total, during the operation, 818 thousand people were convicted by troikas, of which 436 thousand were sentenced to death.
Former CER employees accused of spying for Japan were also repressed.
On May 21, 1938, by order of the NKVD, “police troikas” were formed, which had the right to sentence “socially dangerous elements” to exile or imprisonment for 3-5 years without trial. These troikas handed down various sentences to 400 thousand people. The category of persons in question also included criminals - repeat offenders and buyers of stolen goods.
Repression of foreigners and ethnic minorities
On March 9, 1936, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks issued a resolution “On measures to protect the USSR from the penetration of espionage, terrorist and sabotage elements.” In accordance with it, the entry of political emigrants into the country was complicated and a commission was created to “cleanse” international organizations on the territory of the USSR.
On July 25, 1937, Yezhov signed and put into effect Order No. 00439, which ordered the local NKVD authorities to arrest, within 5 days, all German citizens, including political emigrants, working or previously working in military factories and factories with defense workshops, as well as in railway transport, and in the process of investigating their cases, “to achieve a comprehensive discovery of the hitherto unexposed agents of German intelligence.” On August 11, 1937, Yezhov signed order No. 00485, which ordered the start of a broad operation on August 20 aimed at the complete liquidation local organizations of the "Polish Military Organization" and complete it within 3 months. In these cases, 103,489 people were convicted, including 84,471 people sentenced to death.
August 17, 1937 - order to conduct a “Romanian operation” against emigrants and defectors from Romania to Moldova and Ukraine. 8292 people were convicted, including 5439 people sentenced to death.
November 30, 1937 - NKVD directive on carrying out an operation against defectors from Latvia, activists of Latvian clubs and societies. 21,300 people were convicted, of which 16,575 people. shot.
December 11, 1937 - NKVD directive on the operation against the Greeks. 12,557 people were convicted, of which 10,545 people sentenced to death.
December 14, 1937 - NKVD directive on the extension of repression along the “Latvian line” to Estonians, Lithuanians, Finns, and Bulgarians. According to the “Estonian line”, 9,735 people were convicted, including 7,998 people sentenced to death; according to the “Finnish line,” 11,066 people were convicted, of which 9,078 people were sentenced to death;
January 29, 1938 - NKVD directive on the “Iranian operation.” 13,297 people were convicted, of whom 2,046 were sentenced to death. February 1, 1938 - NKVD directive on the “national operation” against the Bulgarians and Macedonians. February 16, 1938 - NKVD directive on arrests along the “Afghan line”. 1,557 people were convicted, of which 366 were sentenced to death. March 23, 1938 - Politburo resolution on clearing the defense industry of persons belonging to nationalities against which repressions are being carried out. June 24, 1938 - directive of the People's Commissariat of Defense on the dismissal from the Red Army of military personnel of nationalities not represented on the territory of the USSR.
On November 17, 1938, by a resolution of the Council of People's Commissars and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, the activities of all emergency bodies were terminated, arrests were permitted only with the approval of a court or prosecutor. By the directive of the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs Beria of December 22, 1938, all sentences of emergency authorities were declared void if they were not carried out or declared convicted before November 17.
Stalin’s repressions had several goals: they destroyed possible opposition, created an atmosphere of general fear and unquestioning obedience to the will of the leader, ensured personnel rotation through the promotion of youth, weakened social tensions by placing the blame for the difficulties of life on the “enemies of the people,” and provided labor for the Main Directorate of the camps ( GULAG).
By September 1938, the main task of the repressions was completed. Repressions have already begun to threaten the new generation of party-chekist leaders who emerged during the repressions. In July-September, a mass shooting of previously arrested party functionaries, communists, military leaders, NKVD employees, intellectuals and other citizens was carried out; this was the beginning of the end of terror. In October 1938, all extrajudicial sentencing bodies were dissolved (with the exception of the Special Meeting under the NKVD, since it received it after Beria joined the NKVD).
Conclusion
The heavy legacy of the past was the mass repressions, arbitrariness and lawlessness that were committed by the Stalinist leadership in the name of the revolution, the party, and the people.
The outrage against the honor and very lives of compatriots, which began in the mid-20s, continued with the most brutal consistency for several decades. Thousands of people were subjected to moral and physical torture, many of them exterminated. The life of their families and loved ones was turned into a hopeless period of humiliation and suffering. Stalin and his circle usurped virtually unlimited power, depriving the Soviet people of the freedoms that were granted to them during the years of the revolution. Mass repressions were carried out mostly through extrajudicial executions through the so-called special meetings, collegiums, “troikas” and “dvoikas”. However, even in the courts, elementary norms of legal proceedings were violated.
The restoration of justice, begun by the 20th Congress of the CPSU, was carried out inconsistently and essentially stopped in the second half of the 60s.
There are still thousands of court cases pending today. The stain of injustice has not yet been removed from the Soviet people, who innocently suffered during forced collectivization, were subjected to imprisonment, evicted with their families to remote areas without a means of subsistence, without the right to vote, even without the announcement of a term of imprisonment.
List of used literature
2) Aralovets N.A. Population losses of Soviet society in the 1930s: problems, sources, methods of study in domestic historiography // Domestic history. 1995. No. 1. P.135-146
3) www.wikipedia.org - free encyclopedia
4) Lyskov D.Yu. "Stalin's repressions." The Great Lie of the 20th Century, 2009. - 288 p.
Stalin's repressions- massive political repressions carried out in the USSR during the period of Stalinism (late 1920s - early 1950s). The number of direct victims of repression (persons sentenced to death or imprisonment for political (counter-revolutionary) crimes, expelled from the country, evicted, exiled, deported) is estimated in the millions. In addition, researchers point to the serious negative consequences that these repressions had for Soviet society as a whole and its demographic structure.
The period of the most massive repressions, so-called " Great Terror", occurred in 1937-1938. A. Medushevsky, professor at the National Research University Higher School of Economics, chief researcher at the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, calls the “Great Terror” “a key tool of Stalin’s social engineering.” According to him, there are several different approaches to interpreting the essence of the “Great Terror”, the origins of the plan for mass repression, the influence of various factors and the institutional basis of terror. “The only thing,” he writes, “that apparently does not raise doubts is the decisive role of Stalin himself and the main punitive agency of the country - the GUGB NKVD in organizing mass repressions.”
As modern Russian historians note, one of the features of Stalin’s repressions was that a significant part of them violated existing legislation and the basic law of the country - the Soviet Constitution. In particular, the creation of numerous extrajudicial bodies was contrary to the Constitution. It is also characteristic that as a result of the opening of Soviet archives, a significant number of documents signed by Stalin were discovered, indicating that it was he who sanctioned almost all mass political repressions.
When analyzing the formation of the mechanism of mass repression in the 1930s, the following factors should be taken into account:
The transition to a policy of collectivization of agriculture, industrialization and cultural revolution, which required significant material investments or the attraction of free labor (it is indicated, for example, that grandiose plans for the development and creation of an industrial base in the northern regions of the European part of Russia, Siberia and the Far East required the movement of huge masses of people.
Preparations for war with Germany, where the Nazis who came to power declared their goal to be the destruction of communist ideology.
To solve these problems, it was necessary to mobilize the efforts of the entire population of the country and ensure absolute support for state policy, and for this - neutralize potential political opposition, on which the enemy could rely.
At the same time, at the legislative level, the supremacy of the interests of society and the proletarian state in relation to the interests of the individual and a more severe punishment for any damage caused to the state was proclaimed, compared to similar crimes against the individual.
The policy of collectivization and accelerated industrialization led to a sharp drop in the standard of living of the population and mass famine. Stalin and his entourage understood that this was increasing the number of people dissatisfied with the regime and tried to portray " pests"and saboteurs-" enemies of the people", responsible for all economic difficulties, as well as accidents in industry and transport, mismanagement, etc. According to Russian researchers, demonstrative repressions made it possible to explain the hardships of life by the presence of an internal enemy.
As researchers point out, the period of mass repression was also predetermined " restoration and active use of the political investigation system"and the strengthening of the authoritarian power of I. Stalin, who moved from discussions with political opponents on the choice of the country's development path to declaring them "enemies of the people, a gang of professional saboteurs, spies, saboteurs, murderers," which was perceived by state security agencies, the prosecutor's office and the court as a prerequisite to action.
Ideological basis of repression
The ideological basis of Stalin's repressions was formed during the civil war. Stalin himself formulated a new approach at the plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks in July 1928.
It is impossible to imagine that socialist forms will develop, displacing the enemies of the working class, and the enemies will retreat silently, making way for our advancement, that then we will again move forward, and they will retreat back again, and then “unexpectedly” everyone without exception social groups, both kulaks and the poor, both workers and capitalists, will find themselves “suddenly,” “imperceptibly,” without struggle or unrest, in a socialist society.
It has not happened and will not happen that moribund classes voluntarily surrendered their positions without trying to organize resistance. It has not happened and will not happen that the advancement of the working class towards socialism in a class society could do without struggle and unrest. On the contrary, progress towards socialism cannot but lead to resistance from the exploiting elements to this advancement, and the resistance of the exploiters cannot but lead to an inevitable intensification of the class struggle.
Dispossession
During the violent collectivization agriculture carried out in the USSR in 1928-1932, one of the directions of state policy was the suppression of anti-Soviet protests by peasants and the associated “liquidation of the kulaks as a class” - “dekulakization”, which involved the forced and extrajudicial deprivation of wealthy peasants using hired labor, of all means of production, land and civil rights, and eviction to remote areas of the country. Thus, the state destroyed the main social group of the rural population, capable of organizing and materially supporting resistance to the measures taken.
The fight against sabotage
Solving the problem of accelerated industrialization required not only the investment of huge funds, but also the creation of numerous technical personnel. The bulk of the workers, however, were yesterday's illiterate peasants who did not have sufficient qualifications to work with complex equipment. The Soviet state also depended heavily on the technical intelligentsia inherited from tsarist times. These specialists were often quite skeptical of communist slogans.
The Communist Party, which grew up in conditions of civil war, perceived all the disruptions that arose during industrialization as deliberate sabotage, which resulted in a campaign against so-called “sabotage.”
Repression of foreigners and ethnic minorities
On March 9, 1936, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks issued a resolution “On measures to protect the USSR from the penetration of espionage, terrorist and sabotage elements.” In accordance with it, the entry of political emigrants into the country was complicated and a commission was created to “cleanse” international organizations on the territory of the USSR.
Mass terror
On July 30, 1937, NKVD Order No. 00447 “On the operation to repress former kulaks, criminals and other anti-Soviet elements” was adopted.