Stalinist repressions - were they?

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

As modern Russian historians note, one of the features of the Stalinist repressions was that a significant part of them violated the existing legislation and the main law of the country - the Soviet Constitution.

1. Formation of the penitentiary system

It was the USSR that became a pioneer in this area, building a system of correctional institutions based on the communist idea of the educational benefits of labor. Yes, before that there were prisons, camps, hard labor. But it was in the pre-war Soviet Union that the humanitarian goal of imprisonment was formulated: not punishment as such, not isolation for the sake of isolation, but the correction of the individual through physical labor.

The introduction of the labor camp network proceeded in parallel and in conjunction with the emerging educational system. For example, through labor colonies it was possible to return thousands of street children and adolescents to normal life.

In the West, the experience of the Union was initially presented in a caricatured manner and according to the principle "since we do not have this, it means that this is something terrible." The bias is clearly visible in the fact that more often it is not death sentences that are condemned (a common thing in all forms of government in Europe, not to mention America), but forced labor. After the Second World War, to simplify the horror, the Gulag began to be equated with the Nazi camps, the goal of which was exactly the opposite of that proclaimed by the Soviets.

2. Post-revolutionary restoration

It always happens after all revolutions and not because evil ultimately overcomes good, but because good in turbulent times is so loose that, in addition to fighters for all good against all bad, a mass of criminals floats to the surface, who simply take advantage of the turmoil …

The fighters themselves are also usually brought in, let us recall the courts during the French Revolution. It is inconceivable to imagine that order in such conditions could be restored with a quiet kind word.

3. Militarism in society

Unlike schoolchildren, bloggers and other creative designers who go out to protests today, in the 1930s a politically active society consisted mainly of participants in the First World War and the Civil War, that is, it had experience of military operations. The electorate of that time resorted to practiced skills and improvised means much more willingly, because in the wreckage of a decade of chaos they were not afraid of losing a source of income to pay for a loan "Ford Focus", and indeed acted more radically.

Of course, the authorities did not respond to all this by traveling in a paddy wagon to jail for 15 days.

4. Breaking social ties

The Stalin era was a time of great migrations: from villages to cities, from west to east and to the north of the country. Personal ties, which largely prevent crime in society, have been cut. People who were morally unstable took advantage of the incognito situation in a new place and committed minor crimes without fear of shame.

The same fact significantly influenced denunciations. Not bound by moral obligations with their neighbors, people reported, seeking for themselves and their loved ones privileges and improvement of living conditions, which in the cities crowded with new settlers were much worse than those to which the peasant in the Russian countryside was accustomed.

5. Implementation of universal literacy

Surprisingly, but true. Along with literacy, social activity also increased - well, why was it necessary to learn to write in old age, if not to pinch a boring neighbor?

Representatives of the authorities, themselves barely from the plow, accepting complaints from illiterate informers, were hardly able to analyze the text well, as a result, tragedy easily happened. Remember the classic litigant grandmother who scribbles complaints about a neighbor-UFO agent, only here is not a UFO agent, but an enemy of the revolution.

The fact of mentally ill informers is vividly illustrated in the film "We'll Live Until Monday," where even an educated hero barely manages to figure out the reasons forcing the father of one of his students to send him angry messages with threats. In addition, the informer did not always realize what would happen to his victim in the future.

6. The contingent of punitive bodies

It is quite expected that the repressive apparatus will gather people with experience in violence. It is also expected that he, in his attempts to reform, will begin to devour himself. A certain proportion of the repressed were the members of the punitive institutions themselves.

7. Difficult economic situation

The thirties were a long world crisis, from which not only the USSR suffered - the Great Depression in the United States has long awaited its objective assessment with numbers.

It is clear that where there is nothing to eat, it is expected that there will be thieves, including among people who do not belong to the marginal elements. There will be corruption, waste and other embezzlement.

8. A huge number of factions

Unlike today's realities, where people are hardly divided into patriots and kreakls, that era was characterized by a large number of all kinds of social formations - from political parties to poetry circles. There were no Blozhiks yet, so in order to be heard, people strayed by interests and carried out social activities. Moreover, quite often what looked like a circle of young poetesses turned out to be quite a revolutionary partisan cell.

An additional deterrent effect was exerted by the concentration of such groups in the capitals, where the breakdown of the social hierarchy was most clearly manifested, the housing issue was the most acute, etc. That is, repressions much more often concerned such crowded metropolitan communities, which is why, in the exaggerated view of Muscovites and Petersburgers, the opinion was formed that half the country was already sitting.

9. Rejection of the world revolution

Disappointed

The entire post-revolutionary period before Stalin came to power was colored by the idea of a new world order. Many supporters of the revolution of that time on both sides of the border opposed the state in principle; they categorically did not like the new course in domestic policy.

The lion's share of the political prisoners of the Stalinist period were Trotskyists, many of whom radicalized themselves into quite terrorist organizations. Now their role as opponents of Stalin is described extremely pitifully, but at that time it was they who represented the greatest danger both for the capitalist countries and for the young socialist Union.

10. Politicization of society

This phenomenon is generally typical for Russia, as a result of which people of professions far from politics are often included in the list of political prisoners.

At first glance, it seems that the authorities punish harmless passers-by for any seditious thought, but if you look closely, all these “passers-by” and “poetesses” acted as political activists. This does not mean that they are necessarily guilty, but the fact is that these people took part in the struggle for power.

Well, “don’t touch the artist, he was just trying to burn down the FSB building beautifully” - this was also not invented today.

11. Geographic coverage

The USSR became the first real social state where “everyone was counted”. For many, very many figures of that period, it was a huge surprise that they could get it at all. Get it anywhere, even in the taiga, even in the mountains of the Caucasus. This applies to both opponents of the authorities and commonplace criminals.

12. Hostile environment

Neighboring countries have never welcomed a single real revolution, that is, bringing radical, hitherto unseen, social transformations. The reason is trivial, the elite is afraid of losing power and money. To undermine a foreign state, to knock it out of competitors, to rob on the sly - as much as you like, but to establish a stable order in it, different from your own - never.

The socialist revolution in a huge country full of resources and weapons was not welcomed threefold, and therefore all the means against were good. For decades, the young USSR, with great difficulty, made its way to the banal establishment of diplomatic relations, today this looks unthinkable. Of course, foreign agents did not disdain any conspiracies and influences.

13. The rise of Nazism

This should be taken out in a separate paragraph because of the ideological content. It is foolish to think that, having formulated the idea of living space in the east and the theory of racial inferiority of the Slavs, Nazi Germany did nothing in this direction until June 22, 1941, but only traded with the USSR and generally signed pacts.

It should also be noted that at that time the theory of social Darwinism gained momentum in the world, according to which the lower strata of society had inherently low mental abilities and weak moral qualities. Against this background, the USSR with its dictatorship of the proletariat looked absolutely wild, the Reich looked much more "shaking hands", because it only modified the idea of elitism, which is dominant in the West.

In addition, under Stalin, the trend towards a "dictatorship of the proletariat" only intensified. In particular, the widespread introduction of classical education began - the cook began to be taught how to manage the state. This is what the West defiantly resisted until the end of World War II, and is resisting in a hidden form to this day. Because knowledge is power.

14. Pre-war collaboration

A striking Russian phenomenon, when part of the population begins to cooperate with the future invader even before the war. Even now it blooms in lush color, and in the 30s it bloomed even brighter: the Nazis were not only not disgusting to many, they were welcome even with weapons and bringing death.

Of course, it was not difficult to find those willing to collaborate on Nazi intelligence. Nuremberg forced many to reconsider their views and hide evidence, but even so it is not difficult to find passionate appeals to the Reich from our Soviet intellectuals of that era.

15. High level of freedom

Historically, Russia, with its vast territories, low population density and a large number of fertile lands, enjoyed considerable freedom. This intensified after the October Revolution due to communist ideology, as well as civil war and anarchy.

When freedom begins to be cut under such conditions, the cry of protest and guard is heard much louder than where there was no freedom when there was no freedom, but it has become even less. And, of course, that cry was echoed by all the opponents of the USSR, who in the same era created death camps, used lobotomies, evicted peoples to barren reservations without a chance of life, and so on and so forth.

Now let's take into account the historical realities of that era, and they tell us that:

- The death penalty in the 30s of the XX century was widespread and commonplace. In France, the guillotine worked for the amusement of the public, the electric chair was actively introduced in the United States, and free Lithuania, for example, dabbled in gas chambers for the instigators of peasant riots. That is, its application cannot be compared with today.

“Not only criminals were deprived of life in the rest of the world. Even in the United States, where there was no revolution, no post-revolutionary restoration, or an extremely hostile state with an anti-human ideology at hand, political ones were executed. For example, the communists.

- The total number of prisoners in the Stalinist USSR per capita was less than those in the current United States.

- Most of the prisoners in the Stalinist USSR were criminals.

Therefore, if we want to prove that the USSR significantly exceeded the prisoner norm, we must admit the following:

- In the Stalinist USSR, unlike the current United States, there was no comparable crime, and political prisoners were imprisoned under criminal charges. There were no thefts or murders, although the United States today is one of the richest countries in the world, and the USSR was then a state in ruins, in the midst of the global crisis, at the time of the collapse and global restructuring of the social structure.

- The Stalinist USSR had no enemies. Unlike the current United States, which is forced to keep its political prisoners without trial or investigation, the USSR did not even have a reason to arrest for political reasons. Although, having made a revolution, it was under siege from a significant part of the world and was adjacent to the Nazi state, which proclaimed its peoples to be an inferior race. But there are articles for treason to the motherland in all codes, this is a crime.

Can this be allowed? Of course not. Having established a new social order that threatened world capital, the Union inevitably had to fear subversive activities on the part of those in power and White emigres.

How did such a hyped myth come about?

Firstly, Khrushchev's exposures and pedaling of the political component played a huge role, as a result of which every legitimate thief and swindler could say that he had suffered for a joke. Well, who would refuse to whitewash himself or a close relative?

SecondlyStrange as it may seem, German Nazism was significantly influenced - the USSR was conveniently entered into the doctrine of totalitarianism, leveling two opposite ideologies and attributing Nazi crimes to the Union. The most popular myth in this vein is about the GULAG camps as concentration camps. That is, sometimes they even talk about death camps about the places where prisoners were kept without trial. There were no concentration camps, let alone death camps in the USSR, but they were in some democratic, "non-totalitarian" countries.

Thirdly, the myth of the most terrible regime was beneficial to those in power in the capitalist camp, because it made the system so attractive to the proletariat unattractive.

Let's summarize

Why do you need to dig up all this, refute, recount? After all, it seems that grieving is better than not grieving.

Were there tragedies, innocent prisoners who lost their health, loved ones, homeland, killed? Of course there were. As well as excessively harsh sentences, poor supply of camps, the severity of being in a criminal environment for those who were not criminals.

But we must remember the following. As noted above, the number of prisoners at that time barely exceeded the current layout in the Russian Federation and did not even reach that in the United States. And this means that it will not be difficult to surpass the Stalin years in terms of repression even today.

By denigrating that historical period to absolute evil, we kind of distance ourselves from the people who participated in it. Say, well, we would not, well, never! Well, unless we put all the corrupt officials. And those who are now in power. Who brought the country. Let's find the culprit and - that.

How easy is it to arrange not just a big, but a gigantic terror today?

- Imprison everyone who dodges taxes. Not just big business. Freelance programmers, tutors, web designers, photographers and other freelancers.

- Imprison everyone who gives or takes bribes. Not only deputies and governors. Teachers, doctors, hostel concierge.

- To put everyone who violates copyright, uses a pirate Word and downloads from a torrent.

- Imprison everyone who does not pay fines.

Etc. Etc. Any of these points will be enough to arrange the 37th.

The less we denigrate, the less we distance ourselves, the more we admit that we ourselves could find ourselves not only in the place of victims, but also executioners, the better we understand the reasons, the less likely we will repeat this.