Stalin's repressions occupy one of the central places in the study of the history of the Soviet period.
Briefly characterizing this period, we can say that it was a cruel time, accompanied by mass repressions and dispossession.
What is repression - definition
Repression is a punitive measure that was used by the authorities state power in relation to people trying to “shatter” the established regime. To a greater extent, this is a method of political violence.
During the Stalinist repressions, even those who had nothing to do with politics or the political system were destroyed. All those who were displeasing to the ruler were punished.
Lists of those repressed in the 30s
The period of 1937-1938 was the peak of repression. Historians called it the “Great Terror.” Regardless of origin, field of activity, during the 1930s, a huge number of people were arrested, deported, shot, and their property was confiscated in favor of the state.
All instructions on a particular “crime” were given personally to I.V. Stalin. It was he who decided where a person was going and what he could take with him.
Until 1991, in Russia there was no complete information on the number of people repressed and executed. But then the period of perestroika began, and this is the time when everything secret became clear. After the lists were declassified, after historians had done a lot of work in the archives and calculated data, truthful information was provided to the public - the numbers were simply terrifying.
Do you know that: According to official statistics, more than 3 million people were repressed.
Thanks to the help of volunteers, lists of victims in 1937 were prepared. Only after this did the relatives find out where their loved one was and what happened to him. But for the most part, they did not find anything comforting, since almost every life of a repressed person ended in execution.
If you need to clarify information about a repressed relative, you can use the website http://lists.memo.ru/index2.htm. On it you can find all the information you need by name. Almost all of those repressed were rehabilitated posthumously; this has always been a great joy for their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
The number of victims of Stalin's repressions according to official data
On February 1, 1954, a memo was prepared addressed to N.S. Khrushchev, which contained the exact data of the dead and injured. The number is simply shocking - 3,777,380 people.
The number of those repressed and executed is striking in its scale. So there are officially confirmed data that were announced during the “Khrushchev Thaw”. Article 58 was political, and under it alone about 700 thousand people were sentenced to death.
And how many people died in the Gulag camps, where not only political prisoners were exiled, but also everyone who was not pleasing to the Stalin government.
In 1937-1938 alone, more than 1,200,000 people were sent to the Gulag (according to Academician Sakharov). And only about 50 thousand were able to return home during the “thaw”.
Victims of political repression - who are they?
Anyone could become a victim of political repression during Stalin's time.
The following categories of citizens were most often subjected to repression:
- Peasants. Those who were participants in the “green movement” were especially punished. Kulaks who did not want to join collective farms and who wanted to achieve everything on their own farm on their own were sent into exile, and all their acquired property was confiscated from them in full. And now wealthy peasants became poor.
- The military is a separate layer of society. Ever since the Civil War, Stalin did not treat them very well. Fearing a military coup, the leader of the country repressed talented military leaders, thereby protecting himself and his regime. But, despite the fact that he protected himself, Stalin quickly reduced the country's defense capability, depriving it of talented military personnel.
- All sentences were carried out by NKVD officers. But their repressions were not spared either. Among the workers of the People's Commissariat who followed all the instructions were those who were shot. Such people's commissars as Yezhov and Yagoda became some of the victims of Stalin's instructions.
- Even those who had something to do with religion were subjected to repression. There was no God at that time and faith in him “shaken” the established regime.
In addition to the listed categories of citizens, residents living on the territory of the Union republics suffered. Entire nations were repressed. So, Chechens were simply put into freight cars and sent into exile. At the same time, no one thought about the safety of the family. The father could be dropped off in one place, the mother in another, and the children in a third. No one knew about their family and their whereabouts.
Reasons for the repressions of the 30s
By the time Stalin came to power, a difficult economic situation had developed in the country.
The reasons for the start of repression are considered to be:
- To save money on a national scale, it was necessary to force the population to work for free. There was a lot of work, but there was nothing to pay for it.
- After Lenin was killed, the leader's place was vacant. The people needed a leader whom the population would follow unquestioningly.
- It was necessary to create a totalitarian society in which the word of the leader should be law. At the same time, the measures used by the leader were cruel, but they did not allow organizing a new revolution.
How did the repressions take place in the USSR?
Stalin's repressions were a terrible time when everyone was ready to testify against their neighbor, even fictitiously, if only nothing happened to his family.
The entire horror of the process is captured in Alexander Solzhenitsyn’s work “The Gulag Archipelago”: “A sharp night call, a knock on the door, and several operatives enter the apartment. And behind them stands a frightened neighbor who had to become a witness. He sits all night, and only in the morning puts his signature on terrible and untruthful testimony.”
The procedure is terrible, treacherous, but by doing so, perhaps he will save his family, but no, the next one to whom new night will come, it was he who became.
Most often, all testimony given by political prisoners was falsified. People were brutally beaten, thereby obtaining the information that was necessary. Moreover, torture was sanctioned personally by Stalin.
The most famous cases about which there is a huge amount of information:
- Pulkovo case. In the summer of 1936, there should have been solar eclipse. The observatory offered to use foreign equipment in order to capture the natural phenomenon. As a result, all members of the Pulkovo Observatory were accused of having connections with foreigners. Until now, information about the victims and repressed people is classified.
- The case of the industrial party - the Soviet bourgeoisie received the accusation. They were accused of disrupting industrialization processes.
- It's the doctors' business. Doctors who allegedly killed Soviet leaders received charges.
The actions taken by the authorities were brutal. Nobody understood the guilt. If a person was on the list, then he was guilty and no proof was required.
The results of Stalin's repressions
Stalinism and its repressions are probably one of the most terrible pages in the history of our state. The repression lasted almost 20 years, and during this time a huge number of innocent people suffered. Even after the Second World War, repressive measures did not stop.
Stalin's repressions did not benefit society, but only helped the authorities establish a totalitarian regime, from which for a long time our country could not get rid of it. And residents were afraid to express their opinions. There were no people who didn't like anything. I liked everything - even working for the good of the country for practically nothing.
The totalitarian regime made it possible to build such objects as: BAM, the construction of which was carried out by the GULAG forces.
A terrible time, but it cannot be erased from history, since it was during these years that the country survived the Second World War and was able to restore the destroyed cities.
In the 20s and ending in 1953. During this period, mass arrests took place and special camps for political prisoners were created. Exact amount Not a single historian can name the 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 your life. 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 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 different deadlines conclusions. 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 doesn't own foreign languages and had never communicated with a citizen of a Western state in his life, he could easily have been 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 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.
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: "In the funds of the Central state archive October revolution, supreme bodies of state power and government bodies of the USSR (TsGAOR USSR), several thousand units of storage of documents related to the activities of the Gulag were identified"
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 demands to publish the data found, on the other hand, so as 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.From total number Convicted, approximately, convicted: 2,900,000 people - by the OGPU Collegium, NKVD troikas and the Special Conference and 877,000 people - 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 taking the opuses of Solzhenitsyn and others like him for Holy Bible, often even direct references to archival documents are not convincing. " 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 Gorno-Shorskaya railway; coal mining in the mines of Kuzbass; construction of the Chuisky and Usinsky tracts; provision of labor to Kuznetsky metallurgical plant, Novsibles et al.; 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” 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
The topic of political repression in the USSR under Stalin is one of the most discussed historical topics of our time. First, let’s define the term “political repression.” That's what the dictionaries say.
Repression (lat. repressio - suppression, oppression) - a punitive measure, punishment applied government agencies, by the state. Political repressions are coercive measures applied based on political motives, such as imprisonment, expulsion, exile, deprivation of citizenship, forced labor, deprivation of life, etc.
Obviously, the reason for the emergence of political repression is the political struggle in the state, causing certain “political motives” for punitive measures. And the more fiercely this struggle is waged, the greater the scope of repression. Thus, in order to explain the reasons and scale of the repressive policy pursued in the USSR, it is necessary to understand what political forces were active at this historical stage. What goals did they pursue? And what they managed to achieve. Only this approach can lead us to a deep understanding of this phenomenon.
In domestic historical journalism regarding the issue of repression of the 30s, two directions have emerged, which can conditionally be called “anti-Soviet” and “patriotic”. Anti-Soviet journalism presents this historical phenomenon in a simplified black and white picture, attributing b O Most of the cause-and-effect relationships are due to Stalin’s personal qualities. A purely philistine approach to history is used, which consists in explaining events only by the actions of individuals.
From the patriotic camp, the vision of the process of political repression also suffers from bias. This situation, in my opinion, is objective and is due to the fact that pro-Soviet historians were initially in the minority and, as it were, on the defensive. They constantly had to defend and justify, rather than put forward their version of events. Therefore, their works, as an antithesis, contain only “+” signs. But thanks to their criticism of anti-Sovietism, it was possible to somehow understand the problematic areas of Soviet history, see outright lies, and get away from myths. Now, it seems to me, the time has come to restore an objective picture of events.
Doctor of Historical Sciences Yuri Zhukov
Regarding the political repressions of the pre-war USSR (the so-called “Great Terror”), one of the first attempts to recreate this picture was the work “Another Stalin” by Doctor of Historical Sciences Yuri Nikolaevich Zhukov, published in 2003. I would like to talk about his conclusions in this article, and also express some of my thoughts on this issue. This is what Yuri Nikolaevich himself writes about his work.
“Myths about Stalin are far from new. The first, apologetic, began to take shape in the thirties, taking its final shape by the early fifties. The second, revealing, followed after Khrushchev’s closed report at the 20th Congress of the CPSU. It was actually a mirror image of the previous one, it simply turned from “white” to “black”, without changing its nature at all...
... Without at all pretending to be complete and therefore indisputable, I will venture only one thing: to get away from both preconceived points of view, from both myths; try to restore the old, once well-known, but now carefully forgotten, completely unnoticed, ignored by everyone.”
Well, that’s a very commendable desire for a historian (without quotes).
“I am only a student of Lenin...”- I. Stalin
To begin with, I would like to talk about Lenin and Stalin, as his successor. Both liberal and patriotic historians often contrast Stalin with Lenin. Moreover, if the former contrast the portrait of the cruel dictator Stalin with the seemingly more democratic Lenin (after all, he introduced the NEP, etc.). The latter, on the contrary, present Lenin as a radical revolutionary in contrast to the statist Stalin, who removed the unruly “Leninist guard” from the political scene.
In fact, it seems to me that such oppositions are incorrect, breaking the logic of the formation of the Soviet state into two opposing stages. It would be more correct to talk about Stalin as the continuer of what Lenin started (especially since Stalin always spoke about this, and not at all out of modesty). And try to find common features in them.
Here is what, for example, historian Yuri Emelyanov says about this:
"First of all, Stalin was constantly guided by the Leninist principle of creative development of Marxist theory, rejecting "dogmatic Marxism". Constantly making adjustments to the daily implementation of policy so that it corresponded to the real situation, Stalin at the same time followed the main Leninist guidelines. Putting forward the task of building a socialist society in one particular country, Stalin consistently continued the activities of Lenin, which led to the victory of the world's first socialist revolution in Russia. Stalin's five-year plans logically followed from Lenin's GOELRO plan. Stalin's program of collectivization and modernization of the countryside met the objectives of mechanization Agriculture posed by Lenin."Yuri Zhukov also agrees with him (, p. 5): “To understand Stalin’s views, his approach to solving all problems without exception is important - “specific historical conditions.” It was they, and not anyone’s authoritative statement, that official dogmas and theories became the main ones for Stalin. They, and not anything else, explain his commitment to the politics of the same pragmatist Lenin as himself, explain his own hesitations and turning points, his readiness, under the influence of real conditions, without being embarrassed at all, to abandon previously made proposals and insist on others , sometimes diametrically opposed.”
There are good reasons to assert that Stalin's policies were a continuation of Lenin's. Perhaps, if Lenin had found himself in Stalin’s place, under the same “specific historical conditions” he would have acted in a similar way. In addition, it is worth noting the phenomenal performance of these people, and the constant desire for development and self-learning.
The fight for Lenin's legacy
While Lenin was still alive, but when he was already seriously ill, a struggle for leadership in the party unfolded between Trotsky’s group and the “leftists” (Zinoviev, Kamenev), as well as the “rights” (Bukharin, Rykov) and Stalin’s “centrist group”. We won’t go into too much detail about the vicissitudes of this struggle, but let’s note the following. In the stormy process of party discussions, it was the Stalinist group that initially occupied much worse “starting positions” that stood out and received party support. Anti-Soviet historians say that this was facilitated by Stalin’s special cunning and deceit. He, they say, skillfully maneuvered among opponents, pitted them against each other, used their ideas, and so on.
We will not deny Stalin’s ability to play the political game, but the fact remains: the Bolshevik Party supported him. And this was facilitated, firstly, by the position of Stalin, who tried, despite all the disagreements, to prevent a split in the party during this difficult time. And, secondly, the focus and ability of the Stalinist group for practical state activities, the thirst for which, apparently, was very strongly felt among the Bolsheviks who won the civil war.
Stalin and his comrades, unlike their opponents, objectively assessed the current situation in the world, understood the impossibility of a world revolution at this historical stage and, based on this, began to consolidate the successes achieved in Russia, and not to “export” them outside. From Stalin's report to the 17th Congress: “We were guided in the past and we are guided in the present by the USSR and only by the USSR.”.
It is impossible to say precisely from what date the full dominance of the Stalinist group in the country’s leadership began. Apparently, this was the period of 1928 - 1929, when we can say that this political force began to pursue an independent policy. At this stage, repressions against the party opposition were rather mild. Usually, for opposition leaders, defeat resulted in removal from leadership positions, expulsion from Moscow or the country, and expulsion from the party.
Scale of repression
Now it's time to talk about numbers. What was the scale of political repression in the Soviet state? According to discussions with anti-Sovietists (see “The Court of History” or “Historical Process”), it is precisely this question that causes a painful reaction on their part and accusations of “justification, inhumanity,” etc. But talking about numbers actually matters, since numbers often reveal a lot about the nature of repression. On this moment The most widely known studies are those of Doctor of Historical Sciences. V. N. Zemskova.
Table 1. Comparative statistics of prisoners in 1921–1952
for political reasons (according to data from the First Special Department of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs and the USSR KGB)
Table 1 shows Zemskov's data obtained from two sources: statistical reporting OGPU-NKVD-MVD-MGB and data from the First Special Department of the former Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR.
V. N. Zemskov:
“At the beginning of 1989, by decision of the Presidium of the USSR Academy of Sciences, a commission of the History Department of the USSR Academy of Sciences was created, headed by corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences Yu.A. Polyakov on determining population losses. Being part of this commission, we were among the first historians to gain access to statistical reports of the OGPU-NKVD-MVD-MGB that had not previously been issued to researchers...
...The vast majority of them were convicted under the famous Article 58. There is a rather significant discrepancy in the statistical calculations of these two departments, which, in our opinion, is not explained by the incompleteness of the information of the former KGB of the USSR, but by the fact that employees of the 1st special department of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs interpreted the concept of “political criminals” more broadly and in the statistics they compiled there was a significant "criminal admixture".
It should be noted that so far there is no unity among historians in assessing the process of dispossession. Should the dispossessed be classified as politically repressed? Table 1 includes only those dispossessed in category 1, that is, those who were arrested and convicted. Those sent to a special settlement (2nd category) and simply dispossessed but not deported (3rd category) were not included in the table.
Now let's use this data to identify some special periods. This is 1921, 35 thousand of them were sentenced to capital punishment - the end of the civil war. 1929 - 1930 - carrying out collectivization. 1941 - 1942 - the beginning of the war, the increase in the number of those executed to 23 - 26 thousand is associated with the elimination of “particularly dangerous elements” in prisons that fell under occupation. And a special place is occupied by the years 1937 - 1938 (the so-called “Great Terror”), it was during this period that there was a sharp surge in political repressions, especially 682 thousand people sentenced to criminal charges (or over 82% for the entire period). What happened during this period? If everything is more or less clear with other years, then 1937 looks truly very terrifying. The work of Yuri Zhukov is dedicated to explaining this phenomenon.
This picture emerges from archival data. And there is fierce debate about these numbers. They very much do not coincide with the tens of millions of victims voiced by our liberals.
Of course, one cannot say that the scale of repression was very low, based only on the fact that the actual number of those repressed turned out to be an order of magnitude fewer numbers liberals. Repressions were significant in the designated special years, when large-scale events took place throughout the country, compared to the level of “quiet” years. But at the same time, we must understand that being repressed for political reasons does not automatically mean innocent. There were those convicted of serious crimes against the state (robbery, terrorism, espionage, etc.).
Stalin's course
Now, after talking about numbers, let's move on to describing historical processes. But at the same time I want to make one digression. The topic of the article is very painful and gloomy: political intrigue and repression inspire few people. However, we must understand that life Soviet people these years were not filled with this at all. In the 20s - 30s, truly global changes took place in Soviet Russia, in which the people took a direct part. The country developed at an incredible pace. The breakthrough was not only industrial: public education, healthcare, culture and labor rose to a qualitatively new level, and the citizens of the USSR saw this with their own eyes. The Soviet people rightly perceived the “Russian miracle” of Stalin’s five-year plans as the fruit of their own efforts.
What was the policy of the new leadership of the country? First of all, the strengthening of the USSR. This was expressed in accelerated collectivization and industrialization. In raising the country's economy to a completely new level. Creation of a modern army based on a new military industry. All the country's resources were devoted to these purposes. The source was agricultural products, mineral raw materials, forests, and even cultural and church values. Stalin was the harshest proponent of such a policy here. And, as history has shown, it’s not in vain...
In international politics new course was to curtail activities to “export the world revolution,” normalize relations with capitalist countries, and search for allies before the war. This was primarily due to the growing tension in the international arena and the expectation new war. The USSR, at the “proposal” of a number of countries, joins the League of Nations. At first glance, these steps contradict the tenets of Marxism-Leninism.
Lenin once spoke about the League of Nations:
“An undisguised instrument of imperialist Anglo-French desires... The League of Nations is a dangerous instrument directed with its tip against the country of the dictatorship of the proletariat”.
Whereas Stalin in one of the interviews:
“Despite the withdrawal of Germany and Japan from the League of Nations - or perhaps because of this - the League may provide some brake in order to delay or prevent the outbreak of hostilities. If this is so, if the League can turn out to be a kind of bump on the road to at least somewhat complicating the cause of war and facilitating to some extent the cause of peace, then we are not against the League. Yes, if this is the course of historical events, then it is possible that we will support the League of Nations, despite its colossal shortcomings.".
Also in international politics, there is an adjustment in the activities of the Comintern, an organization designed to carry out the world proletarian revolution. Stalin, with the help of G. Dimitrov, who returned from Nazi dungeons, calls on the communist parties of European countries to join the “ Popular Fronts"with the Social Democrats, which again can be interpreted as "opportunism." From Dimitrov’s speech at the VII World Congress of the Communist International:
“Let the communists recognize democracy and come to its defense, then we are ready for a united front. We are supporters of Soviet democracy, workers' democracy, the most consistent democracy in the world. But we defend and will defend in capitalist countries every inch of bourgeois democratic freedoms that are encroached upon by fascism and bourgeois reaction, because this is dictated by the interests of the class struggle of the proletariat!
At the same time, the Stalinist group (in foreign policy it was Molotov, Litvinov) went to create an Eastern Pact consisting of the USSR, France, Czechoslovakia, England, suspiciously similar in composition to the former Entente.
Such a new course in foreign policy could not but cause protest sentiments in some party circles, but the Soviet Union objectively needed it.
There was also a normalization of public life within the country. New Year holidays with a Christmas tree and carnival returned, the activities of communes were curtailed, and the army introduced officer ranks(oh horror!), and much more. Here is one illustration that, it seems to me, conveys the atmosphere of that time. From the Politburo decision:
[in the Internet] .
Estimates of the number of victims of Stalin's repressions vary dramatically. Some cite numbers in the tens of millions of people, others limit themselves to hundreds of thousands. Which of them is closer to the truth?
Who is to blame?
Today our society is almost equally divided into Stalinists and anti-Stalinists. The former draw attention to the positive transformations that took place in the country during the Stalin era, the latter call not to forget about the huge number of victims of the repressions of the Stalinist regime.
However, almost all Stalinists recognize the fact of repression, but note its limited nature and even justify it as political necessity. Moreover, they often do not associate repressions with the name of Stalin.
Historian Nikolai Kopesov writes that in most investigative cases against those repressed in 1937-1938 there were no resolutions of Stalin - everywhere there were verdicts of Yagoda, Yezhov and Beria. According to the Stalinists, this is proof that the heads of the punitive bodies were engaged in arbitrariness and in support of this they cite Yezhov’s quote: “Whoever we want, we execute, whoever we want, we have mercy.”
For that part of the Russian public that sees Stalin as the ideologist of repression, these are just details that confirm the rule. Yagoda, Yezhov and many other arbiters of human destinies themselves turned out to be victims of terror. Who else but Stalin was behind all this? - they ask a rhetorical question.
Doctor of Historical Sciences, chief specialist of the State Archive of the Russian Federation Oleg Khlevnyuk notes that despite the fact that Stalin’s signature was not on many execution lists, it was he who sanctioned almost all mass political repressions.
Who was hurt?
The issue of victims acquired even greater significance in the debate surrounding Stalin's repressions. Who suffered and in what capacity during the period of Stalinism? Many researchers note that the very concept of “victims of repression” is quite vague. Historiography has not yet developed clear definitions on this matter.
Of course, those convicted, imprisoned in prisons and camps, shot, deported, deprived of property should be counted among those affected by the actions of the authorities. But what about, for example, those who were subjected to “biased interrogation” and then released? Should criminal and political prisoners be separated? In what category should we classify the “nonsense”, convicted of minor isolated thefts and equated to state criminals?
Deportees deserve special attention. What category should they be classified into – repressed or administratively expelled? It is even more difficult to determine those who fled without waiting for dispossession or deportation. They were sometimes caught, but some were lucky enough to start a new life.
Such different numbers
Uncertainties in the issue of who is responsible for the repression, in identifying the categories of victims and the period for which the victims of repression should be counted lead to completely different figures. The most impressive figures were cited by the economist Ivan Kurganov (Solzhenitsyn referred to these data in his novel The Gulag Archipelago), who calculated that from 1917 to 1959, 110 million people became victims of the internal war of the Soviet regime against its people.
In this number, Kurganov includes victims of famine, collectivization, peasant exile, camps, executions, civil war, as well as “the neglectful and sloppy conduct of the Second World War.”
Even if such calculations are correct, can these figures be considered a reflection of Stalin's repressions? The economist, in fact, answers this question himself, using the expression “victims of the internal war of the Soviet regime.” It is worth noting that Kurganov counted only the dead. It is difficult to imagine what figure could have appeared if the economist had taken into account all those affected by the Soviet regime during the specified period.
The figures given by the head of the human rights society “Memorial” Arseny Roginsky are more realistic. He writes: “Across the entire Soviet Union, 12.5 million people are considered victims of political repression,” but adds that in a broad sense, up to 30 million people can be considered repressed.
Leaders of the Yabloko movement Elena Kriven and Oleg Naumov counted all categories of victims of the Stalinist regime, including those who died in the camps from disease and harsh working conditions, those dispossessed, victims of hunger, those who suffered from unjustifiably cruel decrees and those who received excessively harsh punishment for minor offenses in the force of the repressive nature of legislation. The final figure is 39 million.
Researcher Ivan Gladilin notes in this regard that if the count of victims of repression has been carried out since 1921, this means that it is not Stalin who is responsible for a significant part of the crimes, but the “Leninist Guard”, which immediately after the October Revolution launched terror against the White Guards , clergy and kulaks.
How to count?
Estimates of the number of victims of repression vary greatly depending on the method of counting. If we take into account those convicted only on political charges, then according to the data of the regional departments of the KGB of the USSR, given in 1988, the Soviet bodies (VChK, GPU, OGPU, NKVD, NKGB, MGB) arrested 4,308,487 people, of which 835,194 were shot.
Employees of the Memorial Society, when counting the victims of political trials, are close to these figures, although their data is still noticeably higher - 4.5-4.8 million were convicted, of which 1.1 million were executed. If we consider everyone who went through the Gulag system as victims of the Stalinist regime, then this figure, according to various estimates, will range from 15 to 18 million people.
Very often, Stalin’s repressions are associated exclusively with the concept of the “Great Terror,” which peaked in 1937-1938. According to the commission led by academician Pyotr Pospelov to establish the causes of mass repressions, the following figures were announced: 1,548,366 people were arrested on charges of anti-Soviet activity, of which 681,692 thousand were sentenced to capital punishment.
One of the most authoritative experts on the demographic aspects of political repression in the USSR, historian Viktor Zemskov, names a smaller number of those convicted during the years of the “Great Terror” - 1,344,923 people, although his data coincides with the number of those executed.
If among those subjected to repression in Stalin's time include the dispossessed, the figure will increase by at least 4 million people. The same Zemskov cites this number of dispossessed people. The Yabloko party agrees with this, noting that about 600 thousand of them died in exile.
Representatives of some peoples who were subjected to forced deportation also became victims of Stalin’s repressions - Germans, Poles, Finns, Karachais, Kalmyks, Armenians, Chechens, Ingush, Balkars, Crimean Tatars. Many historians agree that the total number of deportees is about 6 million people, while about 1.2 million people did not live to see the end of the journey.
To trust or not?
The above figures are mostly based on reports from the OGPU, NKVD, and MGB. However, not all documents of the punitive departments have been preserved; many of them were purposefully destroyed, and many are still in restricted access.
It should be recognized that historians are very dependent on statistics collected by various special agencies. But the difficulty is that even the available information reflects only those officially repressed, and therefore, by definition, cannot be complete. Moreover, it is possible to verify it from primary sources only in the rarest cases.
An acute shortage of reliable and complete information often provoked both the Stalinists and their opponents to name figures that differed radically from each other in favor of their position. “If the “right” exaggerated the scale of the repressions, then the “left”, partly out of dubious youth, having found much more modest figures in the archives, hastened to make them public and did not always ask themselves the question of whether everything was reflected - and could be reflected - in the archives, – notes historian Nikolai Koposov.
It can be stated that estimates of the scale of Stalin’s repressions based on the sources available to us can be very approximate. Documents stored in federal archives would be a good help for modern researchers, but many of them were re-classified. A country with such a history will jealously guard the secrets of its past.