"Write what I command" - the bulk operations by order 00447 in the city Krasnokamsk.
| 07 August 2010
Posted in
Archival
Annotation / Аннотация
Статья посвящена анализу архивных материалов Пермского государственного архива новейшей истории, раскрывающих технологию организации массовых репрессий в небольшом уральском городе в декабре 1937-го - январе 1938 гг. В центре внимания деятельность сотрудников Пермского горотдела НКВД по организации целевых репрессий против татар (бывших «кулаков», высланных в 1930-1931 гг. из ТАССР на поселение). Архивные документы позволили реконструировать локальную операцию против жителей Краснокамских поселков. Статистические данные позволили составить социальный портрет «жертв репрессий». Арестованные Пермским ГО НКВД так называемые «диверсанты» и «шпионы» оказались рабочими, по преимуществу уроженцами ТАССР, равномерно распределенные по всем основным возрастным категориям трудоспособного населения.
Based on archival materials of the Perm State Archive of Contemporary History the authors investigated the technologies of mass repressions in the small Urals city of Krasnokamsk in December 1937 – January 1938. To analyze the selected episode of the Great Terror: the
repression of the former "kulaks", exiled to the Urals in 1930/31 from
Tatarstan. Among the victims of the operation dominated construction
workers of different skills for all ages, mainly men.
Keywords / Ключевые слова
Сталинские репрессии, рабочие, трудпоселенцы, НКВД, массовая операция. Stalin’s repression, workers, People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, wholesale operation.
1937 has become history of the USSR as a special symbol of cruel Stalin reprisals. The operative order № 00447 people's commissars of internal affairs of the USSR of N.I. Yezhov from July, 30th, 1937 «About operation on repression the former fists, criminals, etc. anti-Soviet elements» was one of the key political decisions initiating mass terror in the thirties. This document has defined ideology and scales of repressive campaign 1937-38 As object of reprisals «the former fists», the class enemies of the Soviet power collecting round isolated groups of counterrevolutionary elements have been designated: “In village has settled a significant amount of the former fists, before subjected to repression, disappeared from the reprisals running from camps, references and labor settlements. Has settled much, in the past of the subjected to repression churchmen and sectarians, the former active participants of the anti-Soviet armed performances. There were almost untouched in village considerable shots of different anti-Soviet political parties, and also shots of the former active participants of gangster revolts, white, chasteners, repatriates, etc.”.
By means of the order № 00447, the peasantry subjected to repression and plundered in 1929-1931 has turned again to the class opponent, collecting round itself isolated opponents of the Soviet system. The ideology “a campaign against fists” repeatedly was reproduced as the natural justification of the actions by the former inspectors of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs arrested for "excesses" in 1939 One of them, M.I. Aristov entering into 1937-1938 in one of investigatory brigades Perm ГО the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, on interrogation on April, 15th, 1939 informed:« While it was a question of fists, White Guards, chasteners, I as already spoke on the previous interrogation, did not doubt correctness of spent methods of conducting a consequence, i.e. in those installations which gave chef of Branch Korolev also believed that it is really dictated by instructions of higher bodies, since Korolev and Levotsky always referred that on it there are special instructions of Central Committee VKP (b) and the National Commissioner of internal affairs”. Referring on kulak structure subjected to repression, M. Aristov and other workers of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs reproduced the general opinion of the inspectors who were carrying out mass arrests in 1937-1938 that the class enemy is a natural opponent against whom any means of struggle will be legitimate.
The order № 00447 assumed the organized carrying out of arrests. It was recommended to make lists of the revealed enemies. Their classification, on 1 and 2nd categories was spent. Included in lists for arrest on 1 category, that is people most with hostility adjusted to the Soviet power, were subject to execution. The persons falling under 2nd category as less dangerous, should be sentenced to imprisonment in camp for 8 or 10 years. For regions limits on arrest on 1 and 2 categories were entered. For Sverdlovsk area it has been planned to arrest of 4 000 persons on the first category and 6 000 persons on the second. In the order it has been specified that the confirmed figures are rough. For local bodies of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs this remark has allowed to show the initiative and to increase number of the spent arrests. Already on August, 15th, 1937, in 10 days after an official date started of operation, chief УНКВД across Omsk region F. Gorbach sends to Moscow the telegram with the first reports on an over fulfillment of planned targets almost twice (1 000 persons on the first category and 2 500 persons on the second category were planned, and reports about 5 444 arrested persons) and the request for increase in limits on the first category to 8 000 persons. In Prikamye making only a part of Sverdlovsk area, from August, 1937 till October, 1938 (when arrests on this mass operation have really ended) 7 959 persons have been subjected to repression.
Terms and methods of realization of the order have initially been aimed at acceleration of a consequence and fast removal of sentences. On operation 4 months were taken away. Hardly the Moscow management expected and planned the mentioned overfulfillment of the plan which was then shown by regional and republican bodies of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs. For observance of terms, taking into account previous practice of arrests and consequence conducting for 3-6 months for group in some persons, the order № 00447 had been provided the simplified procedures of arrest, consequence and adjudgment conducting.
The territory of edge, republic or area should be divided into operative sectors. For work in each sector the special operative group solving a target problem – order performance № 00447 was created. The head of operative group supposed to appoint someone from a regional government of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs. Local chiefs of regional and city branches could head operative group only as an exception. To operative groups could be given army or militian divisions (are subordinated). For removal of sentences in regions special extrajudicial bodies – Three were established.
Funds of the Perm state archive of contemporary history (ПермГАНИ) have kept the investigatory affairs got by employees of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs on arrested persons in 1937-1938 In these archive-investigatory affairs the extensive layer of the historical documents contains, allowing to reconstruct technology of reprisals within the limits of campaign 1937-1938 we Will notice that reprisals by order of № 00447 in the Perm region already were object of studying of historians. Research group under the direction of professor O.L.Lejbovicha in structure A.A. Koldushko, A.I.Kazankova, V.V.Shabalin, A.V.Chashchuhina, A.S.Kimerling, G.F.Stankovsky, A.N.Kabatskov, S.A.Shevyrin performed the complex analysis of mass operation 1937-1938 in territory of Prikamye. Results of this research have been published in the collective monography: «It is included in operation». Mass terror in Prikamye in 1937-1938 (М: РОССПЭН, 2009., p.318). In the book results of work of the Perm group under the project initiated by the German historical institute in Moscow in 2005-2007 the Sight at mass reprisals with a support on documents of archive-investigatory affairs are stated has allowed the Perm researchers to pay attention to technology of realization of reprisals in region, on communication of mass reprisals and political campaigns against the party and economic device, on an ideological context of campaign against "fists", and also to notice that workers and employees of the Soviet enterprises were exposed to arrest basically.
The documentary base of the given research is made by materials of the investigatory affairs issued by bodies of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs on inhabitants of Krasnokamsk. At the moment archive-investigatory affairs are stored in PermGANI. Besides investigatory documents (search reports, levy of execution of the arrested person, reports of interrogation, the questionnaire of arrested persons, various inquiries from the enterprises, from settlement commandant, from the Village Soviet and other documents) are stored in affairs materials of later epoch. Among them it is possible to allocate extracts from interrogation reports in 1939 were People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs (NKVD), participating in arrests and preparation of materials for a three in 1937-1938 In group affairs, as a rule, there is an extensive arch of papers of 1950th, concerning rehabilitations subjected to repression.
In work the primary attention is given extracts from interrogation reports People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs as, justifying before the former colleagues for liberties 1937-1938, they vastly told about “kulak operations”, aspiring to cause sympathy of the inspector and simultaneously to shift responsibility for «infringement of socialist legality» on the heads or colleagues on NKVD.
Bodies of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs in Prikamye worked by accelerated tempo and to the beginning of winter 1937-1938 have arrested 5 097 persons. In December there was a next lifting of reprisals. For December-January in Prikamye 2 210 persons have been arrested. From them by the nature of the employment, written down in the questionnaire of the arrested person, it is possible to carry 1 662 persons to a category of workers. These are 46,6 % from all number of the workers who have been subjected to repression within the limits of mass operation by order of № 00447 for 1937-1938 in territory of Prikamye.
Krasnokamsk workers of buildings and the industrial enterprises make a part of these workers. In 1930th it would be difficult to name Krasnokamsk a city in modern sense of this word. The City-companion of the future regional, and then and the regional center of Perm only was formed. In 1930, in four tens kilometers from Perm, building of Kamsky pulp-and-paper industrial complex has begun. Construction was conducted by forces labor settlers, sent of different regions of the country during the company on раскулачиванию. Among labor settlers the appreciable share was made by natives ТАССР. The working settlement Bumstroj in which there lived builders of industrial complex, has been renamed into 1933 into Krasnokamsk. In 1936 the Zakamsky thermal power station-5 has been started, output at factory Goznak has begun.
The oil found out in this region, has defined one more industrial specialization of region – Krasnokamsk became basic base for development of oil deposits of area. New industrial buildings conducted to number increase labor settlements. Some of new settlements by 1937 have got the self-name – settlement May, New settlement, settlement Zapalta, others were called by name of the enterprises – settlement Goznakstroja or is faceless - Working settlement. In 1937 of the general city space, the uniform cultural environment in these settlements yet was not. Workers of the enterprises preferred to define the place of residing according to settlement toponymics.
This settlement is formal was a part of the Perm area and was supervised горотделом People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs. In reports of interrogation the residence of the arrested person, as a rule, was designated: “Krasnokamsk, settlement Goznaka …”. In the bill of particulars on investigatory business № 36358 on Tiunova Alexey Gavrilovicha's charge, etc. inhabitants of Krasnokamsk in number of 67 persons the settlement is designated that as "settlement Krasnokamsk", as “mountains. Krasnokamsk” that testifies to some uncertainty of the status of this territory for the Perm inspectors of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs. The official status of the city of Krasnokamsk has been appropriated on October, 7th, 1938 by the Decree of Presidium of the Supreme body of RSFSR.
On interrogations in 1939 inspectors of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs working on Krasnokamsk operation mentioned hundreds arrested persons: «… across Krasnokamsk it has been arrested about 750 people» - M.I. Aristov gave evidences were People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs. The chief of the investigatory brigade which were carrying out mass arrests in Krasnokamsk, Pavel Mihajlovich Korolev specified that its brigade had been arrested 535 persons. Besides, about 100 made arrests it is mentioned during interrogation of the former chief 4 departments Perm ГО Michael Aleksandrovicha Tyurin's People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs. In 150 82nd shooting divisions of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs arrested by Special department led by F.P. Mozzherenym specifies A.M. Alikin. The figures, reproduced the former inspectors on interrogations of 1939, specify in scale of Krasnokamsk reprisals and their target, organized character.
Regional inspectors represented a local part of an industrial chain of the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs which was carrying out reprisals. At operative meetings them orally informed on planned specifications on arrest and informed "themes" of charges on which it was necessary to achieve a recognition. Ex-worker of NKVD N.P. Goldobeev has learned about the purposes of autumn-winter campaign for exposure workers of Special department of 82nd shooting division, as about the next instruction from Sverdlovsk. Its immediate superior F.P. Mozzherin as stimulation of activity of subordinates, has added the instruction with an imperious hail: “… if the person of other nationality – the Pole. will be found out, will answer serving the given body”.
The instruction from Sverdlovsk, declared by a local management at operative meeting, replaced to the regional inspector the text of the original order of a narcofloor-mat of internal affairs. Therefore details of various decisions and the decrees aimed at arrest of "White Guards", "socialists-revolutionaries" or «foreign spies» for the local inspector turned to points of "grateful indications of the arrested person». Actually in Krasnokamsk from August, 1937 till October, 1938 1 016 persons have been arrested.
Arrests of Krasnokamsk workers were spent Perm Regional Office of NKVD (892 people – 87,8 % from all file of arrested persons краснокамцев), Special department GUGB of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of 82nd shooting division (91 people – 9 % from all file of arrested persons краснокамцев), Office of Public Prosecutor of Perm (5 people), Perm ODTO ГУГБ People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of the railway of Kaganovich (3 people), 1 person militiamen operpunkt have arrested the item Perm-1 and on 24 persons in a database does not contain instructions on the body making arrest.
If to judge on official registration of papers of archive-investigatory affairs the first arrest in Krasnokamsk settlements special department of 82 divisions has been made on August, 31st, 1937, following – on October, 2nd, 1937, then already only in December (on December, 23rd, 1937) and last arrest – on February, 19th, 1938 83 persons from arrested OO ГУГБ People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs of 82nd СД have been arrested on December, 31st, 1937 89 persons from arrested by Special department – natives TASSR, 88 people from them are arrested in December, 1937 – January, 1938
Perm Regional Office of NKVD in Krasnokamsk settlements made the basic arrests in December 1937 and January 1938 гг: 692 arrests (77,6 % from number of arrests of this body of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs in Krasnokamsk since August 1937 till October, 1938). In total for December-January 802 inhabitants of Krasnokamsk that makes 78,8 % from all file subjected to repression on this territory during mass operation by order of № 00447, i.e. from August, 1937 till October, 1938 Thus have undergone to reprisals, it is possible to consider arrests of Krasnokamsk workers by the special local operation spent Perm Regional Office of NKVD together with special department GUGB of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs 82 СД during the period from December, 1937 till January, 1938 Materials of interrogations of the former inspectors allow to reconstruct the purposes of “Krasnokamsk operation” and methods of work of an investigatory brigade.
In settlements of Krasnokamsk the appreciable part of inhabitants was made by a national contingent labor settlers, sent in 1930 1931 from ТАССР. Reprimand from a management has forced the chief Perm Regional Office of NKVD Levotsky to perform their object of special operation. The investigatory brigade for performance of the new task has hastily been generated. It was entrusted to supervise over an investigatory brigade to the chief of 4th department Perm ГО People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs the Queen. The scolding set to the Perm security officers, probably, was serious as the Special department of 82nd shooting division was connected to operation against Tatars led by Mozzherin.
M.D. Aristov has appeared is involved in Krasnokamsk operation in many respects casually. He "supervised" factory № 98 from Perm ГО People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs. As well as all operative workers has been caused on meeting in горотдел where has learnt about new operation. Probably, Krasnokamsk has been designated as object for carrying out of arrests at the same meeting for what there, right after meetings, the deputy chief Perm ГО People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs Vasily Ivanovich Bylkin has gone. The factory № 98 was on the way to Krasnokamsk, and, bringing up Aristov to a work place, Bylkin has orally charged to it «to make the urgent account of a counterrevolutionary element which can form base for foreign secret services». There and then in conversation social parameters future have been defined: “In this category concerned: fists, White Guards, chasteners, the persons having compromising material and the persons, excluded from party members”.
The indications given on interrogation in 1939 by the former employee of Perm Regional Office of NKVD A.M.Alikin, confirm target arrest labor settlers from ТАССР as foreign spies: “From among arrested persons on so-called base of foreign secret services, in December, 1937 or January, 1938, the Special department led by Mozzherin was arrested more than 150 persons of Tatars, labor settlers, and also by some persons of the Perm Tatars working in local Voentorg”.
The same V.I. Bylkin, opens details of the received orientations from the heads: “… On кулацким to affairs I have been as follows focused from Levotsky and Managements of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs: If fists have arrived to Ural Mountains from the western borders from them it is necessary to achieve, mainly, recognitions about espionage in favor of Poland and Romania. If fists have arrived to Ural Mountains from Tatarii from them it is necessary to achieve recognitions about their communications with Japanese investigation. I remember, Management of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs focused Gorotdely the report received at any Tatar (a surname I do not remember). From this report it was visible that in Harbin under the direction of Ural dealers Tafurovy the nationalist Tatar center which to Kazan and in areas of kulaks' exiles (Tatar) transfer the agency for the organization of insurgent cells” operates.
Drawing up of lists was an obligatory element of carrying out of operation. The situation ordinary when in the car the deputy chief горотдела charges to the ordinary employee to make the list on arrest, shows to us that the technology of carrying out of such campaigns in bodies of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs has already been fulfilled. The list on arrest allowed to rationalize process of withdrawal of a counterrevolutionary element. Inclusion of the person in the list was a matter of luck. The data has been involved in Krasnokamsk operation at drawing up of lists on labor settlers, containing in commandant's office of settlements: “Should tell, - Alikin informed on interrogation in 1939 were workers of NKVD, - that operation on Tatars is spent by Special Department in obviously enemy way which has caused of many discontent among the population. To arrest these Tatars, Mozzherin sent to Krasnokamsk Burylova D.A. Last as in Special department on the specified Tatars no compromising materials existing and their surnames were not known at all, having arrived to Krasnokamsk, has addressed in commandant's office of labor settlement so that to it have given lists and private affairs being in трудпоселке Tatars. Having received these documents, Burylov on "eye" began to select people for prospective arrest.
Archival sources allow to confirm quite definitely about a special-purpose character of the operation spent by the Perm security officers in Krasnokamsk settlements during the period since December 1937 till January, 1938 At the same time, it is necessary to notice that on the realization mechanism, on a method of preparation of arrest, on the forged carrying out of a consequence and condemnation by means of extrajudicial session of the Three at UNKVD Sverdlovsk area - Krasnokamsk operation reproduced typical technology of the organization of the reprisals developed in Prikamye in 1937-38 by order of № 00447. In this respect, arrests in working settlements of Krasnokamsk it is possible to consider as direct continuation “kulak operations”.
Performance of the instruction from the Sverdlovsk heads security officers Perm ГО People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs it has been organized very operatively. Workers of Perm Regional Office of NKVD and special department 82 SD have made lists, have carried out arrests, have composed reports of interrogations, the signature of arrested persons under grateful indications have achieved and "have opened" a dangerous network of spies and the saboteurs, consisting of the former White Guards, fists and other anti-Soviet elements, i.e. have taken all those steps that expected from them a management. This technology of carrying out of a consequence, the organization of arrests and repressive campaign as a whole, has not been planned in the Kremlin offices. It was created investigatory brigades under the influence of a situation – planned targets on the arrest, the reduced terms of registration of affairs, constant hails of the heads and internal fear for herself, because of fear it to appear on a place of those whom "have withdrawn" and "have dragged". Subordinates who hesitated with adaptation to the exchanged situation, always could encourage a hail: “Write what I order”.
Its carrying out especially by accelerated tempo became features of Krasnokamsk operation: in deadlines, for some weeks, it has been arrested more than thousand persons actually from one settlement. Also quickly as arrested, on a great bulk from them investigatory affairs and bills of particulars, and a three have been prepared at УНКВД Sverdlovsk area has pronounced a sentence. Krasnokamsk operation was allocated among other similar companies with the strongly pronounced ethnic character. Natives of Tatarstan became the basic object of repressive actions of the Perm security officers. Thus in official orders of the Narcofloor-mat of internal affairs on operation against "fists" or national operations «on defeat of shpionsko-diversionary contingents» from Poles, Latvians, Germans, Estonians, Finns, Chineses, etc. are not present any mentions of a national contingent of Tatars. It is possible to consider this "specificity" as a merit of the regional heads, aspiring to operate on an advancing of official orders of a capital management and conducting search of new social groups, on which it is possible to direct energy of subordinates to "open" there the next network “spies and saboteurs”.