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Аграрный вестник Урала № 9 (115), 2013 г.-'
История
УДК 93
anti-soviet leaflets in the sverdlovsk region
in the period of the great patriotic war
V. P. MOTREVICH,
professor of history, professor, Ural state agrarian university
(620075, Ekaterinburg, K. Libkneht st., 42)
Keywords: discontent, Soviet rear, military-industrial complex, anti-Soviet leaflets, corrective labor camp, Machinery and Tractor station (MTS), The Peoples Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD), counter-revolutionary activity, dismantling of Soviet power, anonymous letter, underground organization, interrogation, Russian SFSR Penal Code, anti-Semitism, repressive policy, diversionist group, intelligence, aluminum plant, espionage.
Abstract. In the first months of World War II showed inconsistency created in the USSR totalitarian system. This system is focused on the future conduct of an offensive war, and demanded from the Soviet people the maximum limits in all areas of their lives. One of the manifestations of discontent of the Soviet people and the progress of hostilities exist heavy material and living conditions is the emergence of a variety of anonymous leaflets and documents anti-Soviet. Already in the first months of World War II in a number of places of Sverdlovsk region were found anti-Soviet leaflets. The authors called on the people to overthrow the existing regime through armed insurrection. The manuscript contains information about the authors of these leaflets and their destinies. Of particular interest are the cases of repeated occurrence of the anti-Soviet leaflets in one area of the regional center. Characterized in detail the results of the investigation of the case, contains data on the rehabilitation of the convicted person for him colonel of the Red Army. For the first time in the historiography of the case study of anti-Soviet youth organization "Union of free republics" that existed in Lower Salda, Sverdlovsk Region. Characterized by the composition of the participants of the organization and results of operative and investigative activities in the case. The data archive of FSB in the Sverdlovsk region on the total number registered in the Sverdlovsk region of anti-Soviet leaflets, the number of instances that were found and the number of identified authors. In general, the materials presented in the paper suggests that the existing historiography of the conclusions that in the years of the Great Patriotic War was the Ural reference edge power, and its workers, "a reference edge power" despite all the hardships, "... showing remarkable patience and simplicity, perform their patriotic duty", need to be clarified. Judging by the content of the manuscript driven, real life was much more diverse firmly established in the scientific and scientific-popular literature stamps.
антисоветские листовки на территории свердловской области в период великой отечественной войны
в. П. МОТРЕБМЧ,
доктор исторических наук, Уральский государственная аграрный университет
(620075, г. Екатеринбург, ул. К. Либкнехта, д. 42)
Ключевые слова: недовольства, советский тыл, военно-промышленный комплекс, антисоветские листовки, ИТЛ, машинно-тракторных станций (МТС), Наркомат внутренних дел (НКВД), контрреволюционной деятельности, демонтаж советской власти, анонимные письмо, подпольная организация, допрос, уголовный кодекс России РСФСР, антисемитизм, репрессивная политика, диверсионные группы, интеллект, алюминиевый завод, шпионаж.
Аннотация. В первые месяцы Великой Отечественной войны обнаружилась несостоятельность созданной в СССР тоталитарной системы. Эта система была ориентирована на ведение в будущем наступательной войны и требовала от советских людей максимального ограничения во всех сферах их жизни. Одним из проявлений недовольства советских людей ходом военных действий и существующим тяжелейшим материально-бытовым положением стало появление листовок и различных анонимных документов антисоветского содержания. Уже в первые месяцы Великой Отечественной войны в ряде населенных мест Свердловской области были обнаружены листовки антисоветского содержания. Их авторы призывали население к свержению существующего строя путем вооруженного восстания. В рукописи приводятся сведения об авторах этих листовках и их судьбах. Особый интерес представляют случаи неоднократного появления антисоветских листовок в одном из районов областного центра. Подробно характеризуются результаты следствия по данному делу, содержатся данные о реабилитации осужденного по нему полковника Красной армии. Впервые в историографии исследуется дело антисоветской молодежной организации «Союз свободных республик», которая существовала в г. Нижняя Салда Свердловской области. Характеризуется состав участников данной организации и результаты оперативно-следственных мероприятий по данному делу. Приводятся данные архива УФСБ по Свердловской области об общем количестве зарегистрированных на территории Свердловской области антисоветских листовок, количестве обнаруженных экземпляров и численности выявленных авторов. В целом приводимые в работе материалы свидетельствуют о том, что существующие в историографию выводы о том, в годы Великой Отечественной войны Урал являлся опорным краем державы, а его труженики «опорного края державы» невзирая на все тяготы «... проявляя удивительное терпение и неприхотливость, выполняли свой патриотический долг» нуждаются в уточнении. Судя по приводимым в рукописи материалам, реальная жизнь была гораздо многообразнее утвердившихся в научной и научно- популярной литературе штампов.
Положительная рецензия представлена А. С. Смыкалиным, доктором юридических наук, профессором, заведующим кафедрой истории государства и права Уральской государственной юридической академии.
История
The first months of the war with Nazi Germany revealed the failure of the totalitarian system established in the USSR in the 1930s. The system was oriented towards an offensive future war and demanded maximal limitations in all spheres of life. At the Kremlin reception in May 1945, Joseph Stalin stated, "Our Government made many mistakes. People from other countries could have said to the government: You did not meet our expectations, go away, we will form a different government that will sign a peace with Germany and provide stability to us" [1]. Of course, this was said with ironic wit, but one could have read part truth into his words. Stalin acknowledged that the government was not prepared at all for the events occurring during the summer-fall of 1941, and thus deserved criticism from the people.
Despite the high sense of patriotism from the Soviet people during the war, cases of discontent with the regime existed. Discontentment was revealed in different ways — from spreading information about the real situation at the front (ingrapevine style) to open calls to dismantle Soviet power. This paper explores how Soviet citizens living in Sverdlovsk oblast expressed discontent caused by the failure of the Red Army during the first months of military campaigns, exacerbated by the unbearable social-economic situation at the time.
During the Great Fatherland War, Sverdlovsk oblast, as an integral part of the Ural region, was turned into the Soviet rear, where the major share of the military-industrial complex was concentrated. Thus, Sverdlosvk oblast had strategic significance for a USSR victory during the war. One byproduct of the Soviet people's discontent was the publication and distribution of anti-Soviet leaflets and other anonymous documents. For example, one anti-Soviet leaflet was found in the kolkhoz "Progress" (Volkovski selsovet, Kamyshlovski district of the Sverdlovsk oblast) in 1941. The author of the leaflet was a worker at a Machine and Tractor Station (MTS) — citizen Bornovolo-kov. At the same time, an entire group disseminating anti-Soviet leaflets was detected in the Sisert' district of Sverdlovsk oblast. The group included Russian language high school teacher — Menshikov, another teacher — Le-ktemina, and her 16 year-old brother who was a student at the school. In September 1941, Menshikov started spreading leaflets composed by him. The leaflets appealed for the dismantling of the Soviet regime through an armed insurrection and terrorist attacks against state leaders. All group members were sentenced to various years in corrective labor camps. The Russian language teacher, Menshikov, was sentenced to death [2]. Citizen Krysov, who had been sending anonymous letters to the party, state bodies and the editorships of the central papers since 1942, was caught in 1944 and sentenced to 10 years in a corrective labor camp. The same year, three anonymous leaflets written by the tractor workers of Liapunosvkaia MTS (Krasnopo-lianski district of the Sverdlovsk oblast), were found [3].
At the beginning of 1943, typed leaflets began to appear systematically on the territory of Vtuzgorodok (a town of Higher Technical Educational Institutions) in Sverdlovsk. A special report "N. 10064, July 9, 1943", signed by the Head of the NKVD Administration of the Sverdlovsk oblast, General Lieutenant T.M Borschev, declared the leaflets contained "slander and falsehood against one of the leaders of the Party, Government and against Soviet reality, and appealed to take up arms to destroy the Soviet institutions' [4]. The investigation established that these leaflets were typed on a typewriter belonging to the Department of the Tactics of the Air Force Academy named after N. E. Zhukovsky. During the war years, the Academy was evacuated to Sverdlovsk and located on the Vtuzgorodok territory. The paper from notebooks given to Academy teachers was purportedly used for the leaflets. The investigation also established the au-www.m-avu.narod.ru www.avu.usaca.ru
thor of the leaflets. The author was K. I. Khorseev, a teacher of the Department of Tactics from this Academy [5].
At the beginning of the Great Fatherland War, Colonel Khorseev was a head of the Air division quarters. During the retreat of the Red Army from Melitopol (Zaporozhska-ya oblast, Ukrainian SSR), he lost secret documents along with his diary containing his thoughts about the weakness and lack of talent of the Soviet military leadership. Moreover, he was seriously upset with the Soviet power in general. He wrote in his diary, ".. .we do not have anything in the USSR — kolkhoz members are hungry and ragged. We do not have any personal freedom. People in the democratic countries have more freedom than in the USSR: if they want, they work; if they do not want, they do not work. People are independent there. Regimes in the USSR and Germany do not differ from each other much". He also shared these thoughts several times in conversations with his colleagues. Very soon, his diary fell into the hands of the NKVD. After this, Colonel Khorseev was called back from the front and appointed as a teacher to the Air Force Academy in Sverdlovsk. What was surprising is that in the conditions of totalitarian regime, he was not sentenced to the corrective labor camp, but was instead trusted to teach students. He signed his leaflets as "Sverdlovsk - KIKh". According to the investigation, the last three letters of his pseudo name coincided with the first letters of his first, second and last name 6].
In total, 22 leaflets with the initial "KIKh" along with the date and place of issue were found. The identity of these letters with the initials of K. I. Khorseev provided grounds for his arrest and conviction. Colonel Khorseev was sentenced to 10 years at a corrective labor camp on January 12, 1944, according to the article 58-10 of the Russian SFSR Penal Code [7].
During 1947-1948, while in the camp and working for the factory "Vorkuta coal", he applied twice to the Chief Military Procurator's Office with the request to reconsider his case. He made his appeal based on his claim that evidence was extorted under the investigator's unlawful pressure and duress. The Chief Military Procurator's Office declined his application. Nevertheless, K. I. Khorseev did not give up his appeal and applied again in 1955 after he was released form the camp. This time he applied to the Head of the Committee of the Party Control that was established under the Central Committee of the Communist Party auspices. He defended his claim by the fact that he did not even know how to type [8]. In February 1956, the KGB conducted a specific graphic analysis (act of the analysis N. 166 March 01, 1956). The results of this analysis were as follows, ".the possibility that the anti-Soviet leaflets were typed by Khorseev should not be excluded, but it is impossible to come to a more precised conclusion". On the basis of this conclusion, the Chief Military Procurator's Office forwarded a note of protest against K. I. Khorseev's conviction to the Chief Tribunal of the Moscow Military District. The note stated that all accusations against Khorseev were built solely on the investigator's assertion that the leaflets were typed on a typewriter belonging to the Department of Tactics where Khorseev had been working. Moreover, Khorseev claimed that after his arrest, he was mentally tortured and under physical duress by the investigator, which was the only reason he signed anything. He had signed a protocol, which was prepared even before his interrogation on October 4, 1943, which contained manufactured evidence. Khorseev's ex-colleagues confirmed that the typewriter was in a general chancellery and a wide circle of people had free access to it. Following this argument, the Chief Tribunal of Moscow Military District closed the Khorseev case due to a lack of evidence and issued a rehabilitation document to him in February, 1960 [9].
История
Anti-Soviet activity did not stop after the Great Fatherland War was over. The head of the Department of technical support of factory N. 3 in Asbest (Sverdlovsk oblast) was arrested for counter-revolutionary activity. During the arrest, his diaries were found. In the diaries he shared his thoughts about the inevitability of a Soviet power collapse. His diaries also contained an "Appeal to the Soviet people" calling for the dismantling of Soviet power through an armed resurrection. Around that same time, the machinist's assistant of the transport section of the Ural carriage-building plant N. 183 in Nizhnii Tagil, Baranov, was arrested. The investigation established that during August 1945, he wrote and sent an anonymous letter to the director of the plant, Y. E Maksarev. The letter referenced the very hard conditions for the workers and contained threats to the director and other leading managers of the plant [10]. Anonymous letters addressed to the plants' administrations that contained complaints about "unbearable social-economic conditions" became a relatively frequent phenomenon in Sverdlovsk oblast [11]. Thus, it should be noted that the majority of the letters did not contain antiSoviet bias; the complaints simply pertained to the horrible social-economic conditions of the workers.
The archive of the Administration of the Federal Security Service of Sverdlovsk oblast contains some very interesting records about the anti-Soviet youth organization, "Union of Free Republics", which was established in Nizhniaia Salda of Sverdlovsk oblast. At the beginning of August 1945, a 17-year-old student of Verkhniaia Salda Air-metallurgical technical college, Babkov, and several other people were arrested and interrogated. The justification for the arrest was information received by the NKVD Administration in the Sverdolovsk oblast about the existence of an illegal anti-Soviet youth organization in Nizh-niaia Salda, which had as its program and charter to develop, produce and spread anti-Soviet leaflets, along with recruiting new members. On the basis of this information, the NKVD initiated an investigation [12]. The search of the apartments where the detainees lived produced the incriminating documents and confirmed the existence of this underground organization. During the search of Andreev's apartment, the "Union of Free Republics" program and charter, party certificates, clear new member application forms and a list of all members were found. During the search of Babkov's apartment, other party documents were discovered, among them were the Charter of the «Union», seven copies of the anti-Soviet leaflets, filled application forms to the "Union", a sample of the party certificate and a seal of the organization carved out of rubber [13].
The interrogation established that the youth organization "Union of Free Republics" was founded in June 1944 by the initiative of citizen Babkov. It included ninth grade Nizhniaia Salda high school student Glazunova along with students of Verkhniaia Salda Air-metallurgical technical college, Golovanov and Krysina. Their meeting notes showed that they had elected the head and secretary of the organization and declared themselves members of the Central Party Committee. Later they developed a slogan for the organization — "To the Better Life'. During the fall 1944, several new members joined the organization. These new members were: the worker from the Nizhniaia Salda Metallurgical plant — Andreev, he also was a first year Verkhniaia Salda Air-metallurgical technical college student, Nizhniaia Salda high school N. 2 student — Tri-fonov and machinist of the Nizhniaia Salda Metallurgical plant Administration Sokolova. By the end of 1944, the organization included thirteen members. All members were workers and students of the high school and the technical college and were from ten to seventeen years-old, except for one. Seven out of the thirteen people were Komsomol members. According to the investigation, at the end of 1944 — beginning of 1945, the members of the "Union"
had discussed specific roles, responsibilities and methods of the work to be accomplished amongst Nizhniaia Salda citizens (dissemination of the leaflets, purchase of guns, and assassination of the Communist party leaders). It is noteworthy that a special document developed by the NKVD Administartion of Sverdlosvk oblast, "About the Results of the Investigation of the Case of the Anti-Soviet Youth Organization named "Union of Free Republics", Existed in Nizhnaya Salda of the Sverdlovsk Oblast", mentioned that ".. .after a thorough search, the investigation failed to find any evidence that the organization's activities were in any way inspired or guided by any adults". The investigation concluded that the genesis of the organization's establishment was rooted in the hardships within the families of the members, insufficient political and cultural education among the Komsomol members, and a void of organized leisure [14].
By decision of the Special NKVD Council Meeting on December 26, 1945, the members of the organization were adjudged criminally guilty, provided by the article 58-10 and article 58-11 of the Russian SFSR Penal Code, and were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment [15]. After the expiration of his sentence in 1950, Trifonov was sent to the settlement in the Krasnoyarsk region (South Siberia). In August 1953, his mother applied to the Supreme Court of the USSR with the request to reconsider the case of her son and allow him to come back from exile. Her request was rejected. In 1957, Golovanov applied for case reconsideration, but the statement of the Special Council Meeting regarding the convicts was upheld [16]. Only after the issuance of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the USSR "About the Additional Measures of Restoration of Justice Regarding the Victims of Political Repressions, Which Took Place in the Period of the 1930-1940s and Beginning of the 1950s" on January 16, 1989, the Special Council statement was cancelled, and members of the "Union" were rehabilitated. According to statistics, during the years of the Great Patriotic War NKVD Administration of the Sverdlovsk oblast registered seventy six cases of the dissemination of the anti-Soviet leaflets, four hundred twenty four copies of the leaflets were detected. One hundred thirty seven authors of the leaflets were discovered; eighty-three of them lived in the towns of the region, fifty four — in the rural territory [17].
Another interesting factor that persisted in the social life of the Soviet people during the Great Fatherland War years (and was considered by the Soviet authorities as undermining the mobilization spirit of society) was anti-Semitism. Many sources witness the proliferation of anti-Semitism in the USSR during the first half of the 1940s. A negative attitude toward Jews was actually typical for the Russian pre-revolutionary society, especially during the reign of Alexander III, but it definitely grew stronger from the initial years of Soviet power. Traditional aspiration to get higher education, high social mobility and the intellectual potential of the Russian Jewry contributed to this situation, especially considering that Jews took disproportionately large to their percentage of the population party and state positions. This fact preconditioned the "outburst" of anti-Jew sentiments, which became an integral component of the public consciousness of the war years. It is important to consider that the anti-Semite sentiments penetrated to almost all strata of the society in the pre-war years and advanced considerably during the war years. It is very painful to acknowledge that the Holocaust of Jews initiated by Adolph Hitler was strongly supported by some people living on the occupied territories. The multiple evidence of the local population collaborating with Nazi Germany in Jewish extermination on the occupied territories of Ukraine, Byelorussia, and the Baltic states were opened to the public in the 1990s. In the Soviet rear, like the Ural region, anti-Semitism also became a significant component of the relations between
История
the local population from the one side and local Jews and evacuated Jews (from the occupied territories) from the other.
Thus, the inspection reports about the social-living conditions of the evacuated people demonstrated an inherent anti-Semitic attitude of the local population towards the evacuated Jews — revealing background hostility of the locals to the evacuated people in general. This was especially noticeable in the rural areas. Notwithstanding the social hostility towards Jews, the local population demonstrated political sentiment as well: "Soviet power is Jewish; the war has begun because of this power", "If Hitler wins the war, I would be the first to slaughter Jews" [18]. Local Communist Party organizations were responsible for the settlement of the anti-Semite problem and considered the phenomenon as "fascist provocation". The measures, which Party organizations took to neutralize anti-Semite moods, were educational work with the local population and administrative sanctions against those who spread these sentiments. Thus, it is very important to recognize that during the Great Fatherland War years, anti-Semitism "officially" was not supported on a state or party level, but was a social phenomenon, initiated "from below".
Party organizations were not the only ones responsible for settling the anti-Semite problem. Local NKVD Administrations dealt with this problem too. In this context, the special note "About Anti-Semite Activity of the Hostile Elements and Growth of Anti-Semite Moods in the Oblast" (developed by the head of the NKVD Administration of the Sverdlovsk oblast on October 13, 1942, and sent to the deputy of the People's Commissar of the Home Affairs of the USSR) is a very interesting document for historians. The note informed the Commissar that anti-Semitic sentiments were prevalent in the Sverdlovsk oblast. Analyzing the situation and collecting data that the authorship ofthe anti-Semite remarks belonged to the representatives of workers, peasants, intelligentsia, clergy, soldiers and students; the NKVD note arrived at the conclusion that all society strata were seized by the anti-Jewish prejudices. The note listed multiple precedents of antiSemite propaganda. The main accent in the anti-Semitic remarks was made on the thesis of "Jewish dominance" in the state power and other administrative bodies: ".all power in Russia, beginning from the government, belongs to Jews", ".not workers and peasants, but Jews rule the state". Another reason for the local population discontent was large-scale evacuation of Jews to the Urals: "all Jews are in the rear and Russians are shedding their blood at the front [19]. Sometimes anti-Semite agitation had an extreme character: "Jews should be beaten up", "Germans did not kill enough Jews". During the first nine months of 1942, forty-one cases of anti-Semitic leaflets dissemination were registered in Sverdlovsk oblast. There were also open threats and actions against Jews. For example, one of the locals from the Talitsa district of the Sverdlovsk oblast demanded to move a Jewish family — which was relocated to live in his house. After his application was rejected, he said: "if you do not move them out of my house, I will kill them". The note also provided some examples of the attempts of massacring Jews. It mentioned that these aggressive moods were popular not among adults only, but among kids and teenagers as well [20].
NKVD qualified anti-Semite agitation as anti-Soviet activity (article 58 of the Russian SFSR Penalty Code). NKVD paid special attention to the defeatist component of anti-Semite remarks: ".it is good that Hitler is moving to the east. he will exterminate all Jews", "when Hitler comes over we will help him to slaughter Jews". That is why the measures taken to stop anti-Semite activity were repressive. Thus, from January to June of 1942, The NKVD Administration of the Sverdlovsk oblast arrested www.m-avu.narod.ru www.avu.usaca.ru
seventy-eight people on suspicion in anti-Semitic activity and the use of anti-Semitism in the counterrevolutionary propaganda. In July-September of 1942, one-hundred-ninety-two people were arrested [21].
The repressive policy of the NKVD could not suppress anti-Semite moods entirely. Moreover, there were different reasons provoking the development of hostile attitudes towards Jews. In this context, an incident which happened on the eve of Passover deserves a special attention. The indignation of the population was evoked by the fact that on the eve of Passover, the grocery store N. 45 in Sverdlovsk started selling wheat flour through the distribution cards to the people of Jewish nationality only. The investigation established that the director of the store had specific instructions from the city merchandise department to sell wheat flour to Jews only, so they could cook matzos. The rabbi of the Sverdlovsk oblast Jewish community submitted a petition for this to the city council. Despite of the shortage of food supplies, mass hunger and high level of mortality in the Sverdlovsk oblast, the city council granted this petition. Thus, the Jewish community of the oblast was allowed to buy off 3-4 tons of flour. What made the situation worse was that flour was sold in retail, not in wholesale. That made the publicity of the sale unavoidable and caused popular unrest. The head of the NKVD Administration of the Sverdlovsk region, T. M. Borschev, characterized the decision to sell flour to Jewish community as "politically incorrect" [22].
Certainly anti-Semitism should not be taken as a dominant sentiment in the public consciousness of the wartime, but its growth witnessed the presence of inter-ethnical strife between the peoples of the USSR. This problem further developed after the war. So-called social anti-Semitism preconditioned the success of the state anti-Semitic actions in the post-war years (the struggle with Cosmopolitism, the defeat of the "Jewish Anti-fascist committee", "The Doctors' Plot"). Just three years after the war, it became a common practice when a Soviet NKVD officer, while trying to compel a confession from the suspect of Jewish nationality, advanced: 'We will exterminate all of you. We will finish what Hitler has not accomplished" [23].
The Great Fatherland War brought considerable changes to the economy of the USSR, in particular to the industrial complex. The majority of industrial enterprises were converted to military production. Paying very serious attention to the plants located in the Ural region, NKVD conducted several strategically important operations to reinforce the security of these plants. According to the directive N. 515 (October 28, 1942) issued by the General Commissar of State Security, Lavrentiy Beriia, the NKVD Administration of the Sverdlovsk oblast intensified its intelligence network. Its activity was oriented towards well-timed detection of counterrevolutionary organizations and eradication of their activities. There were definitely serious grounds for alarm. SS-Obersturmbannführer (Lieutenant Colonel) in the German Waffen-SS — Otto Skorze-ny, wrote in his memoirs that the technical department of the VI Administration of the Chief Apparatus of the Reich Security developed a plan of subversion in the Soviet rear in 1943. The goal of this plan was to attack Soviet defense plants and destroy them completely or partly [24]. Documents from the Sverdlovsk oblast Federal Security Service Administration Archive witness that German intelligence sent diversionist groups to the Sverdlovsk oblast territory. These groups were sent with the goal of spreading defeatist and alarmist rumors, collecting espionage information and organization of the subversive activity on the plants of oblast [25]. At the same time, many cases connected with espionage activity were manufactured and people were falsely accused.
The Ural Aluminum Plant in Kamensk-Uralskii of the Sverdlovsk oblast serves as a good example of detection
История
of the anti-Soviet organizations. In the martial law situation, aluminum was indispensable for air, tank, shipbuilding and other industries. After the loss of Volkhovskii and Dneprovskii aluminum plants, the Ural Aluminum Plant in Kamensk-Uralskii remained the only source of the aluminum production in the USSR. Thus, it became highly strategically important.
During the special NKVD operations, several German agents were arrested and several diversionist groups were detected at this plant. According to the report of the NKVD Administration of the Sverdlovsk oblast from January 22, 1943, NKVD paid the most attention to the "counterrev-olutionary-diversionist" organization lead by the citizen Bekker. This organization included the Soviet citizens of German nationality who served in the Red Army in the beginning of the war. In the beginning of 1942, the State Defense Committee (GKO) adopted a statement N. 123cc, according to which Soviet citizens of the nationalities of countries, which were in the state of war with the USSR were organized in so-called "working columns" and placed to work at the Soviet plants [26]. Even before that statement was adopted, people of German nationality had been called off from the front and sent to the Soviet rear. The future members of the Bekker group were removed in October of 1941 from the front and enrolled into the "working army" to work in the construction of the Ural Aluminum Plant in Kamensk-Uralskii. The investigation established that Bekker's "counterrevolutionary" group mainly had a goal to create a powerful insurgent organization out of the people of German origin. The aims of this organization would be to spread defeatist and alarmist rumors, discrediting the Soviet government and organization of the subversive activity on the Ural Aluminum Plant. Twenty-five people out twenty-eight arrested for this pleaded themselves guilty [27].
The NKVD Administration of the Sverdlovsk oblast also detected and liquidated a group formed out of the "working soldiers" of the working battalion N 685 and lead by citizen Kesler. The investigation established that the goals of this organization were pro-fascist agitation among the local population and subversive acts on the Ural Aluminum Plant and Krasnogorsk thermal electric power station. As an example of subversive activity, the investigation offered a failed attempt of throwing a bottle of water into a bath tub filed up with melted aluminum, which should had caused an explosion [28].
Another example of the anti-terrorist activity of NKVD was the case of the "working soldiers" battalion N. 671. This case was called "Enemies". During the investigation, eight out of ten arrested people pleaded themselves guilty in the counterrevolutionary activity, the aim of which was to sabotage the work in the plant, preparing the armed insurrection and organization of desertion to the enemy. The diversionist group, headed by Mr. Hoffman and Mr. Kar-naukh, was detected and eliminated by the NKVD Administration. According to the investigative reports, Hoffman was the leader of the eight people group. The goal of this group was to conduct a "corrupted activity among the workers of the plant through the dissemination of the pro-fascist propaganda, sabotage on the plant, and preparation for the escape to the front line in order to desert to the enemy and fight against the USSR" [29]. Another diversionist group included the workers of German nationality of the working battalion N 817 of the Ural Aluminum Plant, and was led by Mr. Bartuli. This group was eliminated by the NKVD in January of 1943. The accusation of the group members was built on the "evidence" of the subversive activity, dissemination of the defeatist rumors, and collection of the secret information about Soviet defense industrial complex [30].
Another group organized within the Ural Aluminum Plant by Mr. Barkhart (who was a German by national-
ity), was detected in 1942. According to the Barkhart's confession given during the investigation, while living in Germany in 1929, he was recruited by the German intelligence. After receiving special training, he arrived to the USSR under the cover of being an architect. The organization established by him had the goal to perform an act of sabotage on the Krasnogorsk thermal electric power station, and then escape to the front line in order to desert to the enemy. Accusations of espionage were brought against another "insurgent group", headed by citizen Poliakov, who according to the investigation, was recruited by the German intelligence in January 1942 [31].
The documents from the Federal Security Service Administration of the Sverdlovsk oblast archive witness that the most "interesting to the NKVD German agent" was Mr. Fishman. According to the NKVD Administration of the Sverdlovsk oblast information, during the German-Polish war, Fishman was in German captivity in the prisoner of war camp around Gogenstein city. By the end of September 1939, he had been recruited by German intelligence and sent to the territory of the Soviet Union for espionage. In 1941, Fishman arrived to Kamensk-Uralskii with a group of workers. He worked within the Ural Aluminum Plant, where he conducted anti-Soviet activity, disseminated alarmist rumors and praised Nazi army. By the decision of the NKVD Special Meeting, he was sentenced to death. Statistics shows that in the second half of 1942, six-hundred-twenty-nine people were fired from the
Elant as a result of purges in addition to those who were rought to justice for the anti-Soviet activity) [32].
Thus during the Great Fatherland War, considering only one plant in one Ural city, the NKVD succeeded in detecting and liquidating several "espionage groups" that threatened the security of the Soviet industrial complex. What is also interesting is that the documents from the NKVD Administration of the Sverdlovsk oblast witness that no one subversive act was registered on the Ural Aluminum plant; absence of the other results of "counterrevolutionary" activity is evidential as well. That allows us to conclude that the NKVD worked really well and was able to prevent subversive acts planned by the foreign intelligence. Not by chance, German Field Marshal Keitel wrote in his memoirs that German intelligence did not succeed in any serious espionage or terrorist campaign in the Soviet rear during the World War II [33]. At the same time, many cases of "the elimination of the anti-Soviet groups' activity" were intentionally manufactured. That could be explained by several factors. First, under martial law, it was critically important to meet the requirements of the "spies detection plans" developed by the central bodies of the NKVD. Secondly, it safeguarded jobs of the NKVD officers in the Soviet rear and promoted their careers (the more spies you catch the more guarantees you have to stay in the rear and not to be sent to the front). It could also be concluded that very often the danger to the Soviet security and attempts of the foreign intelligence to penetrate the Soviet rear were exaggerated. That led to the large-scale preventative activity of the NKVD Administration. Lack of evidence did not stop NKVD from convicting suspects without corroboration. The majority of the Soviet citizens who were convicted of espionage and anti-Soviet activity in 1940s were rehabilitated in 1990s.
The definition "anti-Soviet" activity had a broad interpretation. Even activities of different religious organizations (Jehovah's witnesses, Ioanits (Hospitallers), true Orthodox Christians, Mennonits, Pentecostals, Sabbatarians) were considered to be anti-Soviet. For example in Kamensk-Uralskii, the NKVD arrested a Ioanits group of eight people. According to the investigation, they disseminated slanderous and provocative rumors, talked about the upcoming war with Turkey and elimination of kolkhozes, called to leave professional unions and Komsomol orga-
История
nizations [34]. During the war years, the NKVD Admin- Soviet historiography offered an opinion that during istration of the Sverdlovsk oblast detected and eliminated the Great Fatherland War, Ural was a secure rear of the twenty-one religious groups, and one-hundred-three of the USSR, and its people "despite of all hardships" demon-
most active members of these groups were arrested [35]. stated great patience and discharged their civic duty [37].
Soviet power also prosecuted different unendorsed The documents from the Soviet archives, which only be-forms of creative youth activity. In a special note sent by came accessible recently, allow us to conclude that the real the NKVD Administration of the oblast to the Secretary life in the Soviet Union was more complex and diverse, of the Sverdlovsk Regional Committee, V. I. Nedosekin and that there were people who demonstrated their discon-elaborated on the political and moral decay of the Ural tent with life conditions and regime. It is fair to mention, State University (Sverdlovsk) students. The Illegal book though, that the scale of anti-Soviet activity had a very club "Knights of the Round Table" was established at the limited character. This could be explained by the circum-university in 1945. Students from the departments of Phi- stance that, first, the majority of the population was simply lology and Journalism were the club members. According too afraid to express their real feelings and second, by the to the investigation, students got together at the univer- fact that state security bodies controlled the moods and sity dorm and proclaimed "vulgar and lacking in progres- activities of the Soviet people pretty effectively, very often sive ideas" poems of A. Akhmatova, O. Mandelshtam and exaggerating the scale of the threat, and overusing pre-other "enemies", expressed pessimistic views on the So- ventative measures. All the abovementioned once again viet reality and admired the 'democracy" of the capitalist proves the totalitarian nature of the Soviet regime in the countries [36]. 1940s.
References
1. Stalin I. Speech by comrade Stalin at the Kremlin in honor of the commanders of the Red Army, May 24, 1945. About Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Uniob. M. : Gospolitizdat, 1953. 197 p.
2. Federal Security Service Archive of the Sverdlovsk oblast (hereafter UFSB Archive of the Sverdlovsk oblast). Fond 1. Opis 1. Delo 239. List 258-259 (hereafter f., op., d., l.).
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid., d. 163, l. 177-179.
5. Central Strategic Archive of the Russian Federal Security Service (hereafter TsOA of the Russian FSB), d. 20375, l. 2.
6. Ibid.
7. Article 58 of the Russian SFSR Penal Code was put in force on February 25, 1927 to arrest those suspected of counterrevolutionary activities. 58-10. Anti-Soviet and counter-revolutionary propaganda and agitation: at least 6 months of imprisonment. In the conditions of unrest or war: same as 58.2, which means armed uprising or intervention with the goal to seize the power: up to death with confiscation, including formal recognition as "enemy of workers". Russian SFSR Penal Code 1927. URL : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_58_(RSFSR_Penal_Code).
8. TsOA of the Russian FSB, d. 20375, l. 16, 174.
9. Ibid., l. 208, 224, 259.
10. UFSB Archive of the Sverdlovsk oblast, f. 1, op. 1, d. 276, l. 128-129.
11. Ibid., d. 259, l. 65-67, 92, 130.
12. Ibid., d. 239, l. 275.
13. Ibid., l., 276; State Archive of the Administrative bodies of the Sverdlovsk oblast (hereafter GAAOSO), f. 1, op. 2, d. 43860, l. 257.
14. UFSB Archive of the Sverdlovsk oblast, f. 1, op. 1, d. 239, l. 313.
15. Article 58-11 of the Russian SFSR Penal Code : Any kind of organizational or support actions related to the preparation or execution of the above crimes is equated to the corresponding offenses and prosecuted by the corresponding articles. Russian SFSR Penal Code 1927. URL : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Article_58JRSFSR_Penal_Code).
16. GAAOSO, f. 1, op. 2, d. 43860, l. 47.
17. UFSB Archive of the Sverdlovsk oblast, f. 1, op. 1, d. 239, l. 256-257.
18. State Archive of the Sverdlovsk oblast (hereafter GASO) f. 2508, op. 1, d. 20, l. 61; d. 21, l. 54.
19. UFSB Archive of the Sverdlovsk oblast, f. 1, op. 1, d. 146, l. 218-220.
20. Ibid.
21. Ibid.
22. Ibid., d.163, l. 90, 91.
23. Historical chronics by Nikolay Svanidze. 1950. Abakumov, narrator Nikolay Svanidze, 18 July, 2010 (RTR-Planeta).
24. Otto Scorzeny i secretnie operatsii Abvera. M. : Veche, 2000. 15 p.
25. Motrevich V. Voprosi sotsialno-ekonomicheskoi istorii Urala. Ekaterinburg : URGSKHA, 2008. 297 p.
26. Ibid., 293.
27. UFSB Archive of the Sverdlovsk oblast, f. 1, op. 1, d. 146, l. 26-30.
28. Ibid.
29. Ibid., l. 16.
30. Ibid. l. 26-30.
31. Ibid.
32. Ibid.
33. Keitel W. Memuari, 12 Stupenek na eshafot... Rostov-on-Don : Fenix, 2000. URL : http://militera.lib.ru/memo/german/ keytel_v/index.html.
34. UFSB Archive of the Sverdlovsk oblast, f. 1, op. 1, d. 259, l. 46-49.
35. Ibid., f. 1, op. 1, d. 239, l. 232-239.
36. Ibid., f. 1, op. 1, d. 320, l. 39-50.
37. Kornilov G. E., Speranskii A. V. Great Patriotic War. Ural historical encyclopedy. Ekaterinburg : IIA UrO RAN, 1998. 107 p.
Литература
1. Сталин И. Выступление тов. И. В. Сталина на приеме в Кремле в честь командующих войсками Красной Армии 24 мая 1945 г. O Великой Отечественной Войне Советского Союза. М. : Госполитиздат, 1953. 197 с.
2. Федеральная служба безопасности архива Свердловской области (далее Архив УФСБ Свердловской области) Фонд 1. Опись 1. Дело 239. Список 258-259 (далее ф., соч., д., л.).
www.m-avu.narod.ru 59
www.avu.usaca.ru 59
Аграрный вестник Урала № 9 (115), 2013 г.-'
История
3. Там же.
4. Там же. Д. 163, л. 177-179.
5. Центральный стратегический Архив ФСБ России (далее ТсОА ФСБ России), д. 20375, л. 2.
6. Там же.
7. Статья 58 РСФСР Уголовный кодекс России был введен в действие 25 февраля 1927 г. по аресту лиц, подозреваемых в контрреволюционной деятельности. 58-10. Антисоветская и контрреволюционная пропаганда и агитация : не менее 6 месяцев лишения свободы. В условиях нестабильности или войны : то же, 58,2, что означает вооруженное восстание или вмешательство с целью захватить власть : до смертной казнью с конфискацией, включая официальное признание в качестве «врага трудящихся». Уголовный кодекс России РСФСР 1927 г. URL : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Article_58_(RSFSR_Penal_Code).
8. ТсОА ФСБ России, г. 20375, л. 16, 174.
9. Там же. Л. 208, 224, 259.
10. Архив УФСБ Свердловской области, ф. 1, оп. 1, д. 276, л. 128-129.
11. Там же. Д. 259, л. 65-67, 92, 130.
12. Там же. Д. 239, л. 275.
13. Там же, л. 276; Государственный архив административных органов Свердловской области (далее ГАСО), ф. 1, оп. 2, г. 43860, л. 257.
14. Архив УФСБ Свердловской области, ф. 1, оп. 1, д. 239, л. 313.
15. Статья 58-11 Уголовного кодекса России РСФСР : Любая организационная поддержка или действий, связанных с подготовкой или исполнением вышеуказанных преступлений приравнивается к соответствующему правонарушений и преследуется по соответствующим статьям. Уголовный кодекс России РСФСР 1927 г. URL : http://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Article_58_(RSFSR_penal_code).
16. ГААОСО, ф. 1, оп. 2, г. 43860, л. 47.
17. Архив УФСБ Свердловской области, ф. 1, оп. 1, д. 239, л. 256-257.
18. Государственный архив Свердловской области (далее ГАСО). Ф. 2508, оп. 1, д. 20, л. 61, г. 21, л. 54.
19. Архив УФСБ Свердловской области, ф. 1, оп. 1, д. 146, л. 218-220.
20. Там же.
21. Там же.
22. Там же. Д. 163, л. 90, 91.
23. Исторические хроники с Николаем Сванидзе. 1950 г. Абакумов, рассказчик Николай Сванидзе, 18 июля 2010 г. (РТР-Планета).
24. Отто Скоржени и секретные операции Абвера. М. : Вече, 2000. 15 с.
25. Мотревич В. Вопросы социально-экономической истории Урала. Екатеринбург : УРГСХА, 2008. 297 с.
26. Там же. 293.
27. Архив УФСБ Свердловской области, ф. 1, оп. 1, д. 146, л. 26-30.
28. Там же.
29. Там же. Л. 16.
30. Там же. Л. 26-30.
31. Там же.
32. Там же.
33. Кейтель В. Мемуары, 12 ступенек на эшафот... Ростов-на-Дону : Феникс, 2000. URL : http://militera.lib.ru/memo/ german/keytel_v/index.html.
34. Архив УФСБ Свердловской области, ф. 1, оп. 1, д. 259, л. 46-49.
35. Там же. Ф. 1, оп. 1, д. 239, л. 232-239.
36. Там же. Ф. 1, оп. 1, д. 320, л. 39-50.
37. Корнилов Г. Е., Сперанский А. В. Великая Отечественная Война. Уральская Историческая энциклопедия. Екатеринбург : УрО РАН, 1998. 107 с.
