Repressions in the USSR after the war. Repressed Soviet celebrities (47 photos). What are the conclusions?
One of the darkest pages in the history of the entire post-Soviet space were the years from 1928 to 1952, when Stalin was in power. For a long time, biographers kept silent or tried to distort some facts from the tyrant’s past, but it turned out to be quite possible to restore them. The fact is that the country was ruled by a repeat offender who had been in prison 7 times. Violence and terror, forceful methods of solving problems were well known to him from his early youth. They were also reflected in his policies.
Officially, the course was taken in July 1928 by the Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. It was there that Stalin spoke, who stated that the further advancement of communism would encounter increasing resistance from hostile, anti-Soviet elements, and they must be fought harshly. Many researchers believe that the repressions of 30 were a continuation of the policy of Red Terror, adopted back in 1918. It is worth noting that the number of victims of repression does not include those who suffered during the Civil War from 1917 to 1922, because after the First World War a population census was not conducted. And it is unclear how to establish the cause of death.
The beginning of Stalin's repressions was aimed at political opponents, officially - at saboteurs, terrorists, spies conducting subversive activities, and anti-Soviet elements. However, in practice there was a struggle with wealthy peasants and entrepreneurs, as well as with certain peoples who did not want to sacrifice national identity for the sake of dubious ideas. Many people were dispossessed and forced into resettlement, but usually this meant not only the loss of their home, but also the threat of death.
The fact is that such settlers were not provided with food and medicine. The authorities did not take into account the time of year, so if it happened in winter, people often froze and died of hunger. The exact number of victims is still being established. There are still debates about this in society. Some defenders of the Stalinist regime believe that we are talking about hundreds of thousands of “everything.” Others point to millions of forcibly resettled people, and of these, about 1/5 to half died due to the complete lack of any living conditions.
In 1929, the authorities decided to abandon conventional forms of imprisonment and move to new ones, reform the system in this direction, and introduce correctional labor. Preparations began for the creation of the Gulag, which many quite rightly compare with the German death camps. It is characteristic that the Soviet authorities often used various events, for example, the murder of the plenipotentiary representative Voikov in Poland, to deal with political opponents and simply unwanted people. In particular, Stalin responded to this by demanding the immediate liquidation of the monarchists by any means. At the same time, no connection was even established between the victim and those to whom such measures were applied. As a result, 20 representatives of the former Russian nobility were shot, about 9 thousand people were arrested and subjected to repression. The exact number of victims has not yet been established.
Sabotage
It should be noted that the Soviet regime was completely dependent on specialists trained in the Russian Empire. Firstly, at the time of the 30s, not much time had passed, and our own specialists, in fact, were absent or were too young and inexperienced. And all scientists, without exception, received training in monarchist educational institutions. Secondly, very often science openly contradicted what the Soviet government was doing. The latter, for example, rejected genetics as such, considering it too bourgeois. There was no study of the human psyche; psychiatry had a punitive function, that is, in fact, it did not fulfill its main task.
As a result, the Soviet authorities began to accuse many specialists of sabotage. The USSR did not recognize such concepts as incompetence, including those that arose in connection with poor preparation or incorrect assignment, mistake, or miscalculation. The real physical condition of employees of a number of enterprises was ignored, which is why common mistakes were sometimes made. In addition, mass repressions could arise on the basis of suspiciously frequent, according to the authorities, contacts with foreigners, publication of works in the Western press. A striking example is the Pulkovo case, when a huge number of astronomers, mathematicians, engineers and other scientists suffered. Moreover, in the end, only a small number were rehabilitated: many were shot, some died during interrogations or in prison.
The Pulkovo case very clearly demonstrates another terrible moment of Stalin’s repressions: the threat to loved ones, as well as the slander of others under torture. Not only the scientists suffered, but also the wives who supported them.
Grain procurement
Constant pressure on peasants, half-starvation, grain weaning, and labor shortages negatively affected the pace of grain procurements. However, Stalin did not know how to admit mistakes, which became official state policy. By the way, it is for this reason that any rehabilitation, even of those who were convicted by accident, by mistake or instead of a namesake, took place after the death of the tyrant.
But let's return to the topic of grain procurements. For objective reasons, fulfilling the norm was not always possible and not everywhere. And in connection with this, the “culprits” were punished. Moreover, in some places entire villages were repressed. Soviet power also fell on the heads of those who simply allowed the peasants to keep their grain as an insurance fund or for sowing the next year.
There were things to suit almost every taste. Cases of the Geological Committee and the Academy of Sciences, "Vesna", the Siberian Brigade... A complete and detailed description can take many volumes. And this despite the fact that all the details have not yet been disclosed; many NKVD documents continue to remain classified.
Historians attribute some relaxation that occurred in 1933–1934 primarily to the fact that the prisons were overcrowded. In addition, it was necessary to reform the punitive system, which was not aimed at such mass participation. This is how the Gulag came into being.
Great Terror
The main terror occurred in 1937-1938, when, according to various sources, up to 1.5 million people suffered, more than 800 thousand of them were shot or killed in other ways. However, the exact number is still being established, and there is quite an active debate on this matter.
Characteristic was NKVD Order No. 00447, which officially launched the mechanism of mass repression against former kulaks, Socialist Revolutionaries, monarchists, re-emigrants, and so on. At the same time, everyone was divided into 2 categories: more and less dangerous. Both groups were subject to arrest, the first had to be shot, the second had to be given a sentence of 8 to 10 years on average.
Among the victims of Stalin's repressions there were quite a few relatives taken into custody. Even if family members could not be convicted of anything, they were still automatically registered, and sometimes forcibly relocated. If the father and (or) mother were declared “enemies of the people,” then this put an end to the opportunity to make a career, often to getting an education. Such people often found themselves surrounded by an atmosphere of horror and were subjected to boycott.
The Soviet authorities could also persecute on the basis of nationality and previous citizenship of certain countries. So, in 1937 alone, 25 thousand Germans, 84.5 thousand Poles, almost 5.5 thousand Romanians, 16.5 thousand Latvians, 10.5 thousand Greeks, 9 thousand 735 Estonians, 9 thousand Finns, 2 thousand Iranians, 400 Afghans. At the same time, persons of the nationality against which repression was carried out were dismissed from industry. And from the army - persons belonging to a nationality not represented on the territory of the USSR. All this happened under the leadership of Yezhov, but, which does not even require separate evidence, without a doubt, had a direct relation to Stalin, and was constantly personally controlled by him. Many execution lists bear his signature. And we are talking about, in total, hundreds of thousands of people.
It's ironic that recent stalkers have often become victims. Thus, one of the leaders of the described repressions, Yezhov, was shot in 1940. The sentence was put into effect the very next day after the trial. Beria became the head of the NKVD.
Stalin's repressions spread to new territories along with the Soviet regime itself. Cleanings were ongoing; they were mandatory elements of control. And with the onset of the 40s they did not stop.
Repressive mechanism during the Great Patriotic War
Even the Great Patriotic War could not stop the repressive machine, although it partially extinguished the scale, because the USSR needed people at the front. However, now there is an excellent way to get rid of unwanted people - sending them to the front line. It is unknown exactly how many died while carrying out such orders.
At the same time, the military situation became much tougher. Suspicion alone was enough to shoot even without the appearance of a trial. This practice was called “prison decongestion.” It was especially widely used in Karelia, the Baltic states, and Western Ukraine.
The tyranny of the NKVD intensified. Thus, execution became possible not even by a court verdict or some extrajudicial body, but simply by order of Beria, whose powers began to increase. They don’t like to publicize this point widely, but the NKVD did not stop its activities even in Leningrad during the siege. Then they arrested up to 300 students from higher educational institutions on trumped-up charges. 4 were shot, many died in isolation wards or in prisons.
Everyone is able to say unequivocally whether the detachments can be considered a form of repression, but they definitely made it possible to get rid of unwanted people, and quite effectively. However, the authorities continued to persecute in more traditional forms. Filtration detachments awaited everyone who was captured. Moreover, if an ordinary soldier could still prove his innocence, especially if he was captured wounded, unconscious, sick or frostbitten, then the officers, as a rule, were waiting for the Gulag. Some were shot.
As Soviet power spread throughout Europe, intelligence was involved in the return and trial of emigrants by force. In Czechoslovakia alone, according to some sources, 400 people suffered from its actions. Quite serious damage in this regard was caused to Poland. Often, the repressive mechanism affected not only Russian citizens, but also Poles, some of whom were extrajudicially executed for resisting Soviet power. Thus, the USSR broke the promises it made to its allies.
Post-war events
After the war, the repressive apparatus was deployed again. Overly influential military men, especially those close to Zhukov, doctors who were in contact with the allies (and scientists) were under threat. The NKVD could also arrest Germans in the Soviet zone of responsibility for attempting to contact residents of other regions under the control of Western countries. The ongoing campaign against people of Jewish nationality looks like black irony. The last high-profile trial was the so-called “Doctors' Case,” which collapsed only in connection with the death of Stalin.
Use of torture
Later, during the Khrushchev Thaw, the Soviet prosecutor's office itself investigated the cases. The facts of mass falsification and obtaining confessions under torture, which were used very widely, were recognized. Marshal Blucher was killed as a result of numerous beatings, and in the process of extracting testimony from Eikhe, his spine was broken. There are cases when Stalin personally demanded that certain prisoners be beaten.
In addition to beatings, sleep deprivation, placement in too cold or, on the contrary, too hot room without clothes, and hunger strike were also practiced. The handcuffs were periodically not removed for days, and sometimes for months. Correspondence and any contact with the outside world were prohibited. Some were “forgotten”, that is, they were arrested, and then the cases were not considered and no specific decision was made until Stalin’s death. This, in particular, is indicated by the order signed by Beria, which ordered an amnesty for those who were arrested before 1938 and for whom a decision had not yet been made. We are talking about people who have been waiting for their fate to be decided for at least 14 years! This can also be considered a kind of torture.
Stalinist statements
Understanding the very essence of Stalin's repressions in the present is of fundamental importance, if only because some still consider Stalin to be an impressive leader who saved the country and the world from fascism, without which the USSR would have been doomed. Many try to justify his actions by saying that in this way he boosted the economy, ensured industrialization, or protected the country. In addition, some are trying to downplay the number of victims. In general, the exact number of victims is one of the most disputed issues today.
However, in fact, to assess the personality of this person, as well as everyone who carried out his criminal orders, even the recognized minimum of those convicted and executed is sufficient. During the fascist regime of Mussolini in Italy, a total of 4.5 thousand people were subjected to repression. His political enemies were either expelled from the country or placed in prisons, where they were given the opportunity to write books. Of course, no one is saying that Mussolini is getting better from this. Fascism cannot be justified.
But what assessment can be given to Stalinism at the same time? And taking into account the repressions that were carried out on ethnic grounds, it at least has one of the signs of fascism - racism.
Characteristic signs of repression
Stalin's repressions have several characteristic features that only emphasize what they were. This:
- Mass character. The exact data depends heavily on estimates, whether relatives are taken into account or not, internally displaced persons or not. Depending on the method of calculation, it ranges from 5 to 40 million.
- Cruelty. The repressive mechanism did not spare anyone, people were subjected to cruel, inhumane treatment, starved, tortured, relatives were killed in front of their eyes, loved ones were threatened, and forced to abandon family members.
- Focus on protecting party power and against the interests of the people. In fact, we can talk about genocide. Neither Stalin nor his other henchmen were at all interested in how the constantly diminishing peasantry should provide everyone with bread, what is actually beneficial to the production sector, how science will move forward with the arrest and execution of prominent figures. This clearly demonstrates that the real interests of the people were ignored.
- Injustice. People could suffer simply because they had property in the past. Wealthy peasants and the poor who took their side, supported them, and somehow protected them. Persons of “suspicious” nationality. Relatives who returned from abroad. Sometimes academicians and prominent scientific figures who contacted their foreign colleagues to publish data about invented drugs after they received official permission from the authorities for such actions could be punished.
- Connection with Stalin. The extent to which everything was tied to this figure can be eloquently seen from the cessation of a number of cases immediately after his death. Many rightly accused Lavrentiy Beria of cruelty and inappropriate behavior, but even he, through his actions, recognized the false nature of many cases, the unjustified cruelty used by NKVD officers. And it was he who banned physical measures against prisoners. Again, as in the case of Mussolini, there is no question of justification here. It’s just about emphasizing.
- Illegality. Some of the executions were carried out not only without trial, but also without the participation of judicial authorities as such. But even when there was a trial, it was exclusively about the so-called “simplified” mechanism. This meant that the trial was carried out without a defense, exclusively with the prosecution and the accused being heard. There was no practice of reviewing cases; the court's decision was final, often carried out the next day. At the same time, there were widespread violations even of the legislation of the USSR itself, which was in force at that time.
- Inhumanity. The repressive apparatus violated the basic human rights and freedoms that had been proclaimed in the civilized world for several centuries at that time. Researchers see no difference between the treatment of prisoners in the dungeons of the NKVD and how the Nazis behaved towards prisoners.
- Unfounded. Despite the attempts of the Stalinists to demonstrate the presence of some kind of underlying reason, there is not the slightest reason to believe that anything was aimed at any good goal or helped to achieve it. Indeed, a lot was built by the GULAG prisoners, but it was the forced labor of people who were greatly weakened due to the conditions of their detention and the constant lack of food. Consequently, errors in production, defects and, in general, a very low level of quality - all this inevitably arose. This situation also could not but affect the pace of construction. Taking into account the expenses that the Soviet government incurred to create the Gulag, its maintenance, as well as such a large-scale apparatus as a whole, it would be much more rational to simply pay for the same labor.
The assessment of Stalin's repressions has not yet been definitively made. However, it is beyond any doubt clear that this is one of the worst pages in world history.
Stalin's repressions:
What was it?
On the Day of Remembrance of Victims of Political Repression
In this material we have collected the memories of eyewitnesses, fragments from official documents, figures and facts provided by researchers in order to provide answers to questions that haunt our society again and again. The Russian state has never been able to give clear answers to these questions, so until now, everyone is forced to look for answers on their own.
Who was affected by the repression?
Representatives of various groups of the population fell under the flywheel of Stalin's repressions. The most famous names are artists, Soviet leaders and military leaders. About peasants and workers, often only names are known from execution lists and camp archives. They did not write memoirs, tried not to remember the camp past unnecessarily, and their relatives often abandoned them. The presence of a convicted relative often meant the end of a career or education, so the children of arrested workers and dispossessed peasants might not know the truth about what happened to their parents.
When we heard about another arrest, we never asked, “Why was he taken?”, but there were few like us. People distraught with fear asked each other this question for pure self-comfort: people are taken for something, which means they won’t take me, because there’s nothing! They became sophisticated, coming up with reasons and justifications for each arrest - “She really is a smuggler,” “He allowed himself to do this,” “I myself heard him say...” And again: “You should have expected this - he has such terrible character”, “It always seemed to me that something was wrong with him”, “This is a complete stranger.” That’s why the question: “Why was he taken?” – became forbidden for us. It's time to understand that people are taken for nothing.
- Nadezhda Mandelstam , writer and wife of Osip Mandelstam
From the very beginning of terror to this day, attempts have not ceased to present it as a fight against “sabotage”, enemies of the fatherland, limiting the composition of the victims to certain classes hostile to the state - kulaks, bourgeois, priests. The victims of terror were depersonalized and turned into “contingents” (Poles, spies, saboteurs, counter-revolutionary elements). However, the political terror was total in nature, and its victims were representatives of all groups of the population of the USSR: the “cause of engineers”, the “cause of doctors”, persecution of scientists and entire areas in science, personnel purges in the army before and after the war, deportations of entire peoples.
Poet Osip Mandelstam
He died during transit; the place of death is not known for certain.
Directed by Vsevolod Meyerhold
Marshals of the Soviet Union
Tukhachevsky (shot), Voroshilov, Egorov (shot), Budyony, Blucher (died in Lefortovo prison).
How many people were affected?
According to the estimates of the Memorial Society, there were 4.5-4.8 million people convicted for political reasons, and 1.1 million people were shot.
Estimates of the number of victims of repression vary and depend on the calculation method. If we take into account only those convicted on political charges, then according to an analysis of statistics from the regional departments of the KGB of the USSR, carried out in 1988, the bodies of the Cheka-GPU-OGPU-NKVD-NKGB-MGB arrested 4,308,487 people, of which 835,194 were shot. According to the same data, about 1.76 million people died in the camps. According to the estimates of the Memorial Society, there were more people convicted for political reasons - 4.5-4.8 million people, of which 1.1 million people were shot.
The victims of Stalin's repressions were representatives of some peoples who were subjected to forced deportation (Germans, Poles, Finns, Karachais, Kalmyks, Chechens, Ingush, Balkars, Crimean Tatars and others). This is about 6 million people. Every fifth person did not live to see the end of the journey - about 1.2 million people died during the difficult conditions of deportation. During the dispossession, about 4 million peasants suffered, of which at least 600 thousand died in exile.
In total, about 39 million people suffered as a result of Stalin's policies. The number of victims of repression includes those who died in the camps from disease and harsh working conditions, those deprived of their money, victims of hunger, victims of unjustifiably cruel decrees “on absenteeism” and “on three ears of corn” and other groups of the population who received excessively harsh punishment for minor offenses due to repressive the nature of the legislation and the consequences of that time.
Why was this necessary?
The worst thing is not that you are suddenly taken away from a warm, well-established life like this overnight, not Kolyma and Magadan, and hard labor. At first, the person desperately hopes for a misunderstanding, for a mistake by the investigators, then painfully waits for them to call him, apologize, and let him go home to his children and husband. And then the victim no longer hopes, no longer painfully searches for an answer to the question of who needs all this, then there is a primitive struggle for life. The worst thing is the senselessness of what is happening... Does anyone know what this was for?
Evgenia Ginzburg,
writer and journalist
In July 1928, speaking at the Plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Joseph Stalin described the need to fight “alien elements” as follows: “As we move forward, the resistance of capitalist elements will increase, the class struggle will intensify, and Soviet power, forces which will increase more and more, will pursue a policy of isolating these elements, a policy of disintegrating the enemies of the working class, and finally, a policy of suppressing the resistance of the exploiters, creating a basis for the further advancement of the working class and the bulk of the peasantry.”
In 1937, the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR N. Yezhov published order No. 00447, in accordance with which a large-scale campaign to destroy “anti-Soviet elements” began. They were recognized as the culprits of all the failures of the Soviet leadership: “Anti-Soviet elements are the main instigators of all kinds of anti-Soviet and sabotage crimes, both on collective and state farms, and in transport, and in some areas of industry. The state security agencies are faced with the task of most mercilessly defeating this entire gang of anti-Soviet elements, protecting the working Soviet people from their counter-revolutionary machinations and, finally, once and for all putting an end to their vile subversive work against the foundations of the Soviet state. In accordance with this, I order - from August 5, 1937, in all republics, territories and regions, to begin an operation to repress former kulaks, active anti-Soviet elements and criminals.” This document marks the beginning of an era of large-scale political repression, which later became known as the “Great Terror.”
Stalin and other members of the Politburo (V. Molotov, L. Kaganovich, K. Voroshilov) personally compiled and signed execution lists - pre-trial circulars listing the number or names of victims to be convicted by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court with a predetermined punishment. According to researchers, the death sentences of at least 44.5 thousand people bear Stalin’s personal signatures and resolutions.
The myth of the effective manager Stalin
Until now, in the media and even in textbooks one can find justification for political terror in the USSR by the need to carry out industrialization in a short time. Since the release of the decree obliging those sentenced to more than 3 years to serve their sentences in forced labor camps, prisoners have been actively involved in the construction of various infrastructure facilities. In 1930, the Main Directorate of Corrective Labor Camps of the OGPU (GULAG) was created and huge flows of prisoners were sent to key construction sites. During the existence of this system, from 15 to 18 million people passed through it.
During the 1930-1950s, GULAG prisoners carried out the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal, the Moscow Canal. Prisoners built Uglich, Rybinsk, Kuibyshev and other hydroelectric power stations, erected metallurgical plants, objects of the Soviet nuclear program, the longest railways and highways. Dozens of Soviet cities were built by Gulag prisoners (Komsomolsk-on-Amur, Dudinka, Norilsk, Vorkuta, Novokuybyshevsk and many others).
Beria himself characterized the efficiency of prisoners’ labor as low: “The existing food standard in the Gulag of 2000 calories is designed for a person sitting in prison and not working. In practice, even this reduced standard is supplied by supplying organizations only by 65-70%. Therefore, a significant percentage of the camp workforce falls into the categories of weak and useless people in production. In general, labor utilization is no higher than 60-65 percent.”
To the question “is Stalin necessary?” we can give only one answer - a firm “no”. Even without taking into account the tragic consequences of famine, repression and terror, even considering only economic costs and benefits - and even making all possible assumptions in favor of Stalin - we get results that clearly indicate that Stalin's economic policies did not lead to positive results. Forced redistribution significantly worsened productivity and social welfare.
- Sergey Guriev , economist
The economic efficiency of Stalinist industrialization at the hands of prisoners is also rated extremely low by modern economists. Sergei Guriev gives the following figures: by the end of the 30s, productivity in agriculture had reached only the pre-revolutionary level, and in industry it was one and a half times lower than in 1928. Industrialization led to huge losses in welfare (minus 24%).
Brave New World
Stalinism is not only a system of repression, it is also the moral degradation of society. The Stalinist system made tens of millions of slaves - it broke people morally. One of the most terrible texts I have read in my life is the tortured “confessions” of the great biologist Academician Nikolai Vavilov. Only a few can endure torture. But many – tens of millions! – were broken and became moral monsters for fear of being personally repressed.
- Alexey Yablokov , Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Philosopher and historian of totalitarianism Hannah Arendt explains: in order to turn Lenin's revolutionary dictatorship into a completely totalitarian rule, Stalin had to artificially create an atomized society. To achieve this, an atmosphere of fear was created in the USSR and denunciation was encouraged. Totalitarianism did not destroy real “enemies,” but imaginary ones, and this is its terrible difference from an ordinary dictatorship. None of the destroyed sections of society were hostile to the regime and probably would not become hostile in the foreseeable future.
In order to destroy all social and family ties, repressions were carried out in such a way as to threaten the same fate to the accused and everyone in the most ordinary relations with him, from casual acquaintances to closest friends and relatives. This policy penetrated deeply into Soviet society, where people, out of selfish interests or fearing for their lives, betrayed neighbors, friends, even members of their own families. In their quest for self-preservation, masses of people abandoned their own interests and became, on the one hand, a victim of power, and on the other, its collective embodiment.
The consequence of the simple and ingenious technique of "guilt for association with the enemy" is that, as soon as a person is accused, his former friends immediately turn into his worst enemies: in order to save their own skin, they rush out with unsolicited information and denunciations, supplying non-existent data against accused. Ultimately, it was by developing this technique to its latest and most fantastic extremes that the Bolshevik rulers succeeded in creating an atomized and disunited society, the likes of which we have never seen before, and whose events and catastrophes would hardly have occurred in such a pure form without it.
- Hannah Arendt, philosopher
The deep disunity of Soviet society and the lack of civil institutions were inherited by the new Russia and became one of the fundamental problems hindering the creation of democracy and civil peace in our country.
How the state and society fought the legacy of Stalinism
To date, Russia has survived “two and a half attempts at de-Stalinization.” The first and largest was launched by N. Khrushchev. It began with a report at the 20th Congress of the CPSU:
“They were arrested without the prosecutor’s sanction... What other sanction could there be when Stalin allowed everything. He was the chief prosecutor in these matters. Stalin gave not only permission, but also instructions for arrests on his own initiative. Stalin was a very suspicious man, with morbid suspicion, as we became convinced of while working with him. He could look at a person and say: “something is wrong with your eyes today,” or: “why do you often turn away today, don’t look straight into the eyes.” Morbid suspicion led him to sweeping mistrust. Everywhere and everywhere he saw “enemies”, “double-dealers”, “spies”. Having unlimited power, he allowed cruel arbitrariness and suppressed people morally and physically. When Stalin said that so-and-so should be arrested, one had to take it on faith that he was an “enemy of the people.” And the Beria gang, which ruled the state security agencies, went out of its way to prove the guilt of the arrested persons and the correctness of the materials they fabricated. What evidence was used? Confessions of those arrested. And the investigators extracted these “confessions.”
As a result of the fight against the cult of personality, sentences were revised, more than 88 thousand prisoners were rehabilitated. However, the “thaw” era that followed these events turned out to be very short-lived. Soon many dissidents who disagreed with the policies of the Soviet leadership would become victims of political persecution.
The second wave of de-Stalinization occurred in the late 80s and early 90s. Only then did society become aware of at least approximate figures characterizing the scale of Stalin’s terror. At this time, the sentences passed in the 30s and 40s were also revised. In most cases, the convicts were rehabilitated. Half a century later, the dispossessed peasants were posthumously rehabilitated.
A timid attempt at a new de-Stalinization was made during the presidency of Dmitry Medvedev. However, it did not bring significant results. Rosarkhiv, on the instructions of the president, posted on its website documents about 20 thousand Poles executed by the NKVD near Katyn.
Programs to preserve the memory of victims are being phased out due to lack of funding.
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.
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.
Mass repressions in the USSR were carried out in the period 1927 - 1953. These repressions are directly associated with the name of Joseph Stalin, who led the country during these years. Social and political persecution in the USSR began after the end of the last stage of the civil war. These phenomena began to gain momentum in the second half of the 30s and did not slow down during the Second World War, as well as after its end. Today we will talk about what the social and political repressions of the Soviet Union were, consider what phenomena underlie those events, and what consequences this led to.
They say: an entire people cannot be suppressed endlessly. Lie! Can! We see how our people have become devastated, gone wild, and indifference has descended on them not only to the fate of the country, not only to the fate of their neighbor, but even to their own fate and the fate of their children. Indifference, the last saving reaction of the body, has become our defining feature . That is why the popularity of vodka is unprecedented even on a Russian scale. This is terrible indifference when a person sees his life not chipped, not with a corner broken off, but so hopelessly fragmented, so corrupted along and across that only for the sake of alcoholic oblivion is it still worth living. Now, if vodka were banned, a revolution would immediately break out in our country.
Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Reasons for repression:
- Forcing the population to work on a non-economic basis. There was a lot of work to be done in the country, but there was not enough money for everything. The ideology shaped new thinking and perceptions, and was also supposed to motivate people to work for virtually nothing.
- Strengthening personal power. The new ideology needed an idol, a person who was unquestioningly trusted. After Lenin's assassination this post was vacant. Stalin had to take this place.
- Strengthening the exhaustion of a totalitarian society.
If you try to find the beginning of repression in the union, then the starting point, of course, should be 1927. This year was marked by the fact that massacres of so-called pests, as well as saboteurs, began to take place in the country. The motive for these events should be sought in the relations between the USSR and Great Britain. Thus, at the beginning of 1927, the Soviet Union became involved in a major international scandal, when the country was openly accused of trying to transfer the seat of the Soviet revolution to London. In response to these events, Great Britain broke off all relations with the USSR, both political and economic. Domestically, this step was presented as preparation by London for a new wave of intervention. At one of the party meetings, Stalin declared that the country “needs to destroy all remnants of imperialism and all supporters of the White Guard movement.” Stalin had an excellent reason for this on June 7, 1927. On this day, the political representative of the USSR, Voikov, was killed in Poland.
As a result, terror began. For example, on the night of June 10, 20 people who were in contact with the empire were shot. These were representatives of ancient noble families. In total, in June 27, more than 9 thousand people were arrested, accused of high treason, complicity with imperialism and other things that sound menacing, but are very difficult to prove. Most of those arrested were sent to prison.
Pest Control
After this, a number of major cases began in the USSR, which were aimed at combating sabotage and sabotage. The wave of these repressions was based on the fact that in most large companies that operated within the Soviet Union, leadership positions were occupied by immigrants from imperial Russia. Of course, these people for the most part did not feel sympathy for the new government. Therefore, the Soviet regime was looking for pretexts on which this intelligentsia could be removed from leadership positions and, if possible, destroyed. The problem was that this required compelling and legal reasons. Such grounds were found in a number of trials that swept across the Soviet Union in the 1920s.
Among the most striking examples of such cases are the following:
- Shakhty case. In 1928, repressions in the USSR affected miners from Donbass. This case was turned into a show trial. The entire leadership of Donbass, as well as 53 engineers, were accused of espionage activities with an attempt to sabotage the new state. As a result of the trial, 3 people were shot, 4 were acquitted, the rest received prison sentences from 1 to 10 years. This was a precedent - society enthusiastically accepted the repressions against the enemies of the people... In 2000, the Russian prosecutor's office rehabilitated all participants in the Shakhty case, due to the absence of corpus delicti.
- Pulkovo case. In June 1936, a major solar eclipse was supposed to be visible on the territory of the USSR. The Pulkovo Observatory appealed to the world community to attract personnel to study this phenomenon, as well as to obtain the necessary foreign equipment. As a result, the organization was accused of espionage ties. The number of victims is classified.
- The case of the industrial party. Those accused in this case were those whom the Soviet authorities called bourgeois. This process took place in 1930. The defendants were accused of trying to disrupt industrialization in the country.
- The case of the peasant party. The Socialist Revolutionary organization is widely known under the name of the Chayanov and Kondratiev group. In 1930, representatives of this organization were accused of attempting to disrupt industrialization and interfering in agricultural affairs.
- Union Bureau. The case of the union bureau was opened in 1931. The defendants were representatives of the Mensheviks. They were accused of undermining the creation and implementation of economic activities within the country, as well as connections with foreign intelligence.
At this moment, a massive ideological struggle was taking place in the USSR. The new regime tried its best to explain its position to the population, as well as justify its actions. But Stalin understood that ideology alone could not restore order in the country and could not allow him to retain power. Therefore, along with ideology, repression began in the USSR. Above we have already given some examples of cases from which repression began. These cases have always raised big questions, and today, when documents on many of them have been declassified, it becomes absolutely clear that most of the accusations were unfounded. It is no coincidence that the Russian prosecutor's office, having examined the documents of the Shakhty case, rehabilitated all participants in the process. And this despite the fact that in 1928, no one from the country’s party leadership had any idea about the innocence of these people. Why did this happen? This was due to the fact that, under the guise of repression, as a rule, everyone who did not agree with the new regime was destroyed.
The events of the 20s were just the beginning; the main events were ahead.
Socio-political meaning of mass repressions
A new massive wave of repressions within the country unfolded at the beginning of 1930. At this moment, a struggle began not only with political competitors, but also with the so-called kulaks. In fact, a new blow by the Soviet regime against the rich began, and this blow affected not only wealthy people, but also the middle peasants and even the poor. One of the stages of delivering this blow was dispossession. Within the framework of this material, we will not dwell in detail on the issues of dispossession, since this issue has already been studied in detail in the corresponding article on the site.
Party composition and governing bodies in repression
A new wave of political repressions in the USSR began at the end of 1934. At that time, there was a significant change in the structure of the administrative apparatus within the country. In particular, on July 10, 1934, a reorganization of the special services took place. On this day, the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the USSR was created. This department is known by the abbreviation NKVD. This unit included the following services:
- Main Directorate of State Security. It was one of the main bodies that dealt with almost all matters.
- Main Directorate of Workers' and Peasants' Militia. This is an analogue of the modern police, with all the functions and responsibilities.
- Main Directorate of Border Guard Service. The department dealt with border and customs affairs.
- Main Directorate of Camps. This administration is now widely known by the abbreviation GULAG.
- Main Fire Department.
In addition, in November 1934, a special department was created, which was called the “Special Meeting”. This department received broad powers to combat enemies of the people. In fact, this department could, without the presence of the accused, prosecutor and lawyer, send people into exile or to the Gulag for up to 5 years. Of course, this applied only to enemies of the people, but the problem is that no one reliably knew how to identify this enemy. That is why the Special Meeting had unique functions, since virtually any person could be declared an enemy of the people. Any person could be sent into exile for 5 years on simple suspicion.
Mass repressions in the USSR
The events of December 1, 1934 became the reason for mass repressions. Then Sergei Mironovich Kirov was killed in Leningrad. As a result of these events, a special procedure for judicial proceedings was established in the country. In fact, we are talking about expedited trials. All cases where people were accused of terrorism and aiding terrorism were transferred under the simplified trial system. Again, the problem was that almost all the people who came under repression fell into this category. Above, we have already talked about a number of high-profile cases that characterize repression in the USSR, where it is clearly visible that all people, one way or another, were accused of aiding terrorism. The specificity of the simplified trial system was that the verdict had to be passed within 10 days. The accused received a summons a day before the trial. The trial itself took place without the participation of prosecutors and lawyers. At the conclusion of the proceedings, any requests for clemency were prohibited. If during the proceedings a person was sentenced to death, this penalty was carried out immediately.
Political repression, party purge
Stalin carried out active repressions within the Bolshevik Party itself. One of the illustrative examples of the repressions that affected the Bolsheviks happened on January 14, 1936. On this day, the replacement of party documents was announced. This move had been discussed for a long time and was not unexpected. But when replacing documents, new certificates were not awarded to all party members, but only to those who “earned trust.” Thus began the purge of the party. If you believe the official data, then when new party documents were issued, 18% of the Bolsheviks were expelled from the party. These were the people to whom repression was applied primarily. And we are talking about only one of the waves of these purges. In total, the cleaning of the batch was carried out in several stages:
- In 1933. 250 people were expelled from the party's senior leadership.
- In 1934 - 1935, 20 thousand people were expelled from the Bolshevik Party.
Stalin actively destroyed people who could lay claim to power, who had power. To demonstrate this fact, it is only necessary to say that of all the members of the Politburo of 1917, after the purge, only Stalin survived (4 members were shot, and Trotsky was expelled from the party and expelled from the country). In total, there were 6 members of the Politburo at that time. In the period between the revolution and the death of Lenin, a new Politburo of 7 people was assembled. By the end of the purge, only Molotov and Kalinin remained alive. In 1934, the next congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) party took place. 1934 people took part in the congress. 1108 of them were arrested. Most were shot.
The murder of Kirov exacerbated the wave of repression, and Stalin himself made a statement to party members about the need for the final extermination of all enemies of the people. As a result, changes were made to the criminal code of the USSR. These changes stipulated that all cases of political prisoners were considered in an expedited manner without prosecutors' lawyers within 10 days. The executions were carried out immediately. In 1936, a political trial of the opposition took place. In fact, Lenin's closest associates, Zinoviev and Kamenev, were in the dock. They were accused of the murder of Kirov, as well as the attempt on Stalin's life. A new stage of political repression against the Leninist Guard began. This time Bukharin was subjected to repression, as was the head of government, Rykov. The socio-political meaning of repression in this sense was associated with the strengthening of the cult of personality.
Repression in the army
Beginning in June 1937, repressions in the USSR affected the army. In June, the first trial of the high command of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA), including the commander-in-chief Marshal Tukhachevsky, took place. The army leadership was accused of attempting a coup. According to prosecutors, the coup was supposed to take place on May 15, 1937. The accused were found guilty and most of them were shot. Tukhachevsky was also shot.
An interesting fact is that of the 8 members of the trial who sentenced Tukhachevsky to death, five were subsequently repressed and shot. However, from then on, repressions began in the army, which affected the entire leadership. As a result of such events, 3 marshals of the Soviet Union, 3 army commanders of the 1st rank, 10 army commanders of the 2nd rank, 50 corps commanders, 154 division commanders, 16 army commissars, 25 corps commissars, 58 divisional commissars, 401 regiment commanders were repressed. In total, 40 thousand people were subjected to repression in the Red Army. These were 40 thousand army leaders. As a result, more than 90% of the command staff was destroyed.
Increased repression
Beginning in 1937, the wave of repressions in the USSR began to intensify. The reason was order No. 00447 of the NKVD of the USSR dated July 30, 1937. This document stated the immediate repression of all anti-Soviet elements, namely:
- Former kulaks. All those whom the Soviet authorities called kulaks, but who escaped punishment, or were in labor camps or in exile, were subject to repression.
- All representatives of religion. Anyone who had anything to do with religion was subject to repression.
- Participants in anti-Soviet actions. These participants included everyone who had ever actively or passively opposed Soviet power. In fact, this category included those who did not support the new government.
- Anti-Soviet politicians. Domestically, anti-Soviet politicians defined everyone who was not a member of the Bolshevik Party.
- White Guards.
- People with a criminal record. People who had a criminal record were automatically considered enemies of the Soviet regime.
- Hostile elements. Any person who was called a hostile element was sentenced to death.
- Inactive elements. The rest, who were not sentenced to death, were sent to camps or prisons for a term of 8 to 10 years.
All cases were now considered in an even more accelerated manner, where most cases were considered en masse. According to the same NKVD orders, repressions applied not only to convicts, but also to their families. In particular, the following penalties were applied to the families of those repressed:
- Families of those repressed for active anti-Soviet actions. All members of such families were sent to camps and labor camps.
- The families of the repressed who lived in the border strip were subject to resettlement inland. Often special settlements were formed for them.
- A family of repressed people who lived in major cities of the USSR. Such people were also resettled inland.
In 1940, a secret department of the NKVD was created. This department was engaged in the destruction of political opponents of Soviet power located abroad. The first victim of this department was Trotsky, who was killed in Mexico in August 1940. Subsequently, this secret department was engaged in the destruction of participants in the White Guard movement, as well as representatives of the imperialist emigration of Russia.
Subsequently, the repressions continued, although their main events had already passed. In fact, repressions in the USSR continued until 1953.
Results of repression
In total, from 1930 to 1953, 3 million 800 thousand people were repressed on charges of counter-revolution. Of these, 749,421 people were shot... And this is only according to official information... And how many more people died without trial or investigation, whose names and surnames are not included in the list?