“But Comrade Stalin made a toast to the Russian people!” - Stalinists usually respond to any reproaches addressed to the Soviet leader. A good life hack for all future dictators: kill millions, rob, do whatever you want, the main thing is to say the right toast once.

The other day, the Stalinists in LiveJournal made waves about the release of another book by Zemskov, a researcher of repressions in the USSR. This book was presented by them as the super-real truth about the mega-lies of liberals and scoundrels about Stalin’s repressions.

Zemskov became one of the first researchers to take a close look at the issue of repression, and has been publishing materials on this topic since the early 90s, i.e. for 25 years already. Moreover, Stalinists usually claim that he became the first researcher to get into the KGB archives. It is not true. The KGB archives are still largely closed, but Zemskov worked in the Central State Archive October revolution, now the State Archives of the Russian Federation. The OGPU-NKVD reports from the 30s to the 50s are stored there.

The book itself does not contain any new shocking facts or figures; he had been writing about all this for many years - it is not clear why the Stalinists suddenly became so excited and even perceived Zemskov’s work almost as their victory. Well, let’s look at the most popular Stalinist post in LiveJournal, including according to Zemskov’s figures (in all cases where this post is quoted, the original spelling and punctuation are preserved. – editor’s note).

no, that's a lie.

About 3.5 million were dispossessed, approximately 2.1 million were deported (Kazakhstan, North).

in total, about 2.3 million passed over the period of 30-40 years, including the “declassed urban element” such as prostitutes and beggars.

(I noticed how many schools and libraries there were in the settlements.)

many people successfully escaped from there, were released upon reaching the age of 16, or were released due to enrolling in higher or secondary educational institutions.”

Total number Zemskov estimated the dispossessed people at 4 million people. In his polemic with Maksudov, he explains that he only took into account peasants who were subject to dispossession. At the same time, he did not take into account those individuals who suffered from the dispossession policy indirectly, that is, they themselves were not robbed by the state, but, for example, were unable to pay taxes and were subject to fines. Approximately half of the dispossessed people were sent to a special settlement; the other had their property simply confiscated without being sent to the ends of the earth.

Together with the kulaks, the so-called antisocial element: tramps, drunkards, suspicious persons. All these people were sent to settle in uninhabited areas. Special settlements were to be located no closer than 200 km from cities. The arrangement and maintenance of the overseers were carried out by the special settlers themselves, from whose salaries part of the funds for the maintenance of the settlements was deducted. The most popular places of deportation were Kazakhstan, Novosibirsk region, Sverdlovsk region and Molotov region (now Perm region). Since peasants were often deported during the cold season, transported in disgusting conditions without food, and often unloaded in frozen, bare fields, the mortality rate among the dispossessed was enormous. This is what Zemskov writes in his work “The Fate of Kulak Exile. 1930-1954":

“The first years of the special settlers’ stay in “kulak exile” were extremely difficult. Thus, in a memorandum from the Gulag leadership dated July 3, 1933 to the Central Control Commission of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the RKI it was noted: “From the moment the special settlers were transferred to the People’s Commissariat of Forestry of the USSR for labor use in the forestry industry, i.e., from August 1931, the Government established the supply standard for dependents - migrant workers in the forest based on the amount issued per month: flour - 9 kg, cereals - 9 kg, fish - 1.5 kg, sugar - 0.9 kg. From January 1, 1933, by order of Soyuznarkomsnab, supply standards for dependents were reduced to the following amounts: flour - 5 kg, cereals - 0.5 kg, fish - 0.8 kg, sugar - 0.4 kg. As a result, the situation of special settlers in the timber industry, especially in the Ural region and the Northern Territory, sharply worsened... Everywhere in the private farms of Sevkrai and the Urals, cases of eating various inedible surrogates, as well as eating cats, dogs and the corpses of fallen animals were noted... Due to hunger, sharply morbidity and mortality among migrants increased. In the Cherdynsky district, up to 50% of displaced people fell ill from hunger... Due to hunger, a number of suicides took place, crime increased... Hungry displaced people steal bread and livestock from the surrounding population, in particular from collective farmers... Due to insufficient supplies, labor productivity has sharply decreased, production rates fell in some private household plots to 25%. Exhausted special settlers are not able to work out the norm, and in accordance with this, they receive less food and become completely unable to work. There have been cases of death from hunger among displaced persons at work and immediately after returning from work...”

Infant mortality was especially high. In the memo by G.G. Berries dated October 26, 1931 addressed to Ya.E. Rudzutaka noted: “The morbidity and mortality of displaced persons is high... The monthly mortality rate is 1.3% of the population per month in Northern Kazakhstan and 0.8% in the Narym region. Among the dead, especially many children junior groups. Thus, under the age of 3 years, 8-12% of this group die per month, and in Magnitogorsk - even more, up to 15% per month. It should be noted that, in general, the high mortality rate does not depend on epidemic diseases, but on housing and domestic conditions, and child mortality increases due to the lack of necessary nutrition.”

Newcomers to “kulak exile” always had significantly worse birth and death rates than the “old-timers.” For example, as of January 1, 1934, the 1,072,546 special settlers included 955,893 who entered “kulak exile” in 1929-1932. and 116,653 - in 1933. In total, in 1933, 17,082 people were born and 151,601 people died in “kulak exile”, of which “old-timers” accounted for 16,539 births and 129,800 deaths, respectively, “new settlers” - 543 and 21,801. If among “old-timers” during 1933 the mortality rate was 7.8 times higher than the birth rate, then among “new settlers” it was 40 times higher.”

As for the “huge number of schools,” he gives the following figures:

“In September 1938, in labor settlements there were 1,106 primary, 370 junior high and 136 secondary schools, as well as 230 vocational schools and 12 technical schools. There were 8,280 teachers, of which 1,104 were labor settlers. 217,454 children of labor settlers studied in educational institutions of labor settlements.”

Now for the number of those who escaped. There really were not so few of them, but a third were found. A large number of those who fled probably died, since the special settlements were located very far from populated areas.

“The desire of labor settlers to break free caused a mass flight from “kulak exile,” fortunately it was incomparably easier to escape from a labor settlement than from a prison or camp. From 1932 to 1940 alone, 629,042 people fled from “kulak exile,” and 235,120 people were returned from exile during the same period.”

Later, small concessions were provided to the special settlers. Thus, their children could go to other places to study if they “didn’t stain themselves in any way.” In the late 30s, children of kulaks were allowed not to be registered with the NKVD. Also in the 1930s, 31,515 “wrongly deported” kulaks were released.

“Is it true that 40 million were convicted?

no, that's a lie.

from 1921 to 1954, 3,777,380 people were convicted of counter-revolutionary crimes, of which 642,980 people were convicted of criminal offenses.

During this entire period, the total number of prisoners (not only “political”) did not exceed 2.5 million, during this time a total of about 1.8 million died, of which approximately 600 thousand were political. The lion’s share of deaths occurred in the years 42-43.

Writers such as Solzhenitsyn, Suvorov, Lev Razgon, Antonov-Ovseenko, Roy Medvedev, Vyltsan, Shatunovskaya are liars and falsifiers.

Of course, the Gulag or prisons were not “death camps” like the Nazi ones; every year 200-350 thousand people left them and their sentences ended.”

The figure of 40 million appeared from an article by historian Roy Medvedev in Moscow News for November 1988. However, there is an obvious distortion: Medvedev wrote about the total number of victims as a result of Soviet policy over 30 years. Here he included those who were dispossessed, those who died of hunger, those convicted, deported, etc. Although, it must be admitted, the figure is significantly exaggerated. About 2 times.

However, Zemskov himself, for example, does not include the victims of the 1933 famine among those affected by repression.

“The number of victims of repression often includes those who died of hunger in 1933. Of course, the state, with its fiscal policy, then committed a monstrous crime against millions of peasants. However, their inclusion in the category of “victims of political repression” is hardly legitimate. These are victims of the state’s economic policy (an analogue is the millions of Russian babies unborn as a result of the shock reforms of radical democrats).”

Here he, of course, wobbles very ugly. Hypothetical unborn, who simply cannot be counted, and people who actually lived but died are two very different things. If someone were to start counting the unborn in Soviet times, the numbers would be sky-high, compared to which even 40 million would seem small.

Now let’s look at the numbers of those executed and convicted for counter-revolution. The above figures of 3,777,380 people convicted and 642,980 people executed were taken from a certificate prepared for Khrushchev by the USSR Prosecutor General Rudenko, the USSR Minister of Internal Affairs Kruglov and the USSR Minister of Justice Gorshenin in 1954. At the same time, Zemskov himself in his work “Political repressions in the USSR (1917-1990)” explains:

“At the end of 1953, another certificate was prepared by the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs. In it, based on statistical reporting of the 1st special department of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, the number of people convicted of counter-revolutionary and other especially dangerous state crimes for the period from January 1, 1921 to July 1, 1953 was named - 4,060,306 people (January 5, 1954 to G. M. Malenkov and N. S. Khrushchev were sent letter No. 26/K signed by S. N. Kruglov containing this information).

This figure consisted of 3,777,380 convicted for counter-revolutionary crimes and 282,926 for other especially dangerous state crimes. The latter were convicted not under Article 58, but under other articles equivalent to it; first of all, according to paragraphs. 2 and 3 tbsp. 59 (especially dangerous banditry) and Art. 193 24 (military espionage). For example, some of the Basmachi were convicted not under the 58th, but under the 59th article.”

In the same work, he refers to Popov’s monograph “State Terror in Soviet Russia. 1923-1953: sources and their interpretation.” In the total number of convicts, their figures completely coincide, but, according to Popov, a little more were shot - 799,455 people. A summary table by year is also published there. Very interesting numbers. The sharp increase since 1930 is striking. Immediately 208,068 convicted. For example, in 1927, only 26,036 people were convicted. In terms of the number of those executed, the ratio also differs 10 times in favor of 1930. Throughout the 1930s, the number of those convicted under Article 58 exceeded the number of those convicted in the 1920s. For example, in the “mildest” year of 1939, after large-scale purges, 63,889 people were convicted, while in the most “fruitful” year of 1929 – 56,220 people. It should be taken into account that in 1929 the mechanisms of mass terror were already in motion. For example, in the first year after the Civil War, only 35,829 people were convicted.

1937 breaks all records: 790,665 convicted and 353,074 executed, almost every second of those convicted. But in 1938, the proportions of those convicted and executed were even higher: 554,258 convicted and 328,618 sentenced to death. to the highest degree punishments. After this, the figures return to the early 30s, but with two surges: in 1942 - 124,406 convicted and in the post-war years 1946 and 1947 - 123,248 and 123,294 convicted, respectively.

Litvin in the text “Russian historiography of the Great Terror” refers to two more documents:

“Another document that is often resorted to is the final certificate “On violations of the law during the period of cult” (270 pp. typewritten text; signed by N. Shvernik, A. Shelepin, Z. Serdyuk, R. Rudenko, N. Mironov, V. Semichastny; compiled for the Presidium of the Central Committee in 1963).

The certificate contains the following data: in 1935-1936. 190,246 people were arrested, of which 2,347 were shot; in 1937-1938 1,372,392 people were arrested, of which 681,692 were shot (by decision of extrajudicial authorities - 631,897); in 1939-1940 121,033 people were arrested, 4,464 of them were shot; in 1941-1953 (i.e. over 12 years) 1,076,563 people were arrested, of which 59,653 were shot. In total, from 1935 to 1953, 2,760,234 people were arrested, of which 748,146 were shot.

The third document was drawn up by the KGB of the USSR on June 16, 1988. The number of those arrested in 1930-1935 indicated in it. - 3,778,234, of which 786,098 people were shot.”

In all three sources, the figures are approximately comparable, so it would be logical to focus on 700-800 thousand executed during the years of Soviet power. It is important to take into account that the countdown begins only from 1921, when the Red Terror began to decline, and the victims of the Bolsheviks in 1918-1920, when they especially actively used the institution of hostages and mass executions, are not taken into account at all. However, it is quite difficult to calculate the number of victims for a number of reasons.

Now for the Gulag. Indeed, the maximum number of prisoners did not exceed 2.5 million people. Moreover, the highest number of prisoners was observed in the post-war years, from 1948 to 1953. This is due to both the abolition of the death penalty and the tightening of legislation (especially in the section on theft of socialist property), as well as an increase in the number of prisoners from annexed Western Ukraine and Baltic states.

“Of course, the Gulag or prisons were not “death camps” like the Nazi ones; every year 200-350 thousand people left them and their sentences ended.”

Comrade Stalinist is confusing something here. The same Zemskov, in his work “The Gulag (Historical and Sociological Aspect),” provides figures for all years from the advent of the camp system until 1953. And according to these figures, the reduction in the number of prisoners is not noticeable. Maybe every year 200-300 thousand were released, but even more were brought in to replace them. How else can we explain the constant increase in the number of prisoners? Let's say, in 1935 there were 965,742 prisoners in the Gulag, and in 1938 - 1,881,570 people (do not forget about the record number of those executed). Indeed, 1942 and 1943 saw record increases in prisoner deaths, with 352,560 and 267,826 deaths respectively. Moreover, the total population of the camp system in 1942 was 1,777,043 people, that is, a quarter of all prisoners died (!), which is comparable to the German death camps. Perhaps this was due to difficult food conditions? But Zemskov himself writes:

“During the war, while food standards decreased, production standards simultaneously increased. A significant increase in the level of intensification of prisoner labor is evidenced, in particular, by the fact that in 1941 in the Gulag, output per man-day worked was 9 rubles. 50 kopecks, and in 1944 - 21 rubles.”

Not "death camps"? Oh well. Somehow there are no noticeable differences from the German camps. There, too, they were forced to work more and more, and were fed less and less. And what, by the way, about the 200-300 thousand released annually? Zemskov has an interesting passage on this subject:

“During the war in the Gulag, the previously existing practice of using the courts to release prisoners on parole on the basis of credits for the period of their sentence served for working days in which prisoners met or exceeded established production standards was abolished. The procedure for serving the full sentence was established. And only in relation to individual prisoners, excellent performers in production, who gave high production indicators over a long period of stay in places of deprivation of liberty, a special meeting under the NKVD of the USSR sometimes applied parole or a reduction in sentence.

From the first day of the war, the release of those convicted of treason, espionage, terrorism, and sabotage was stopped; Trotskyists and rightists; for banditry and other particularly serious state crimes. The total number of detainees released before December 1, 1944 was about 26 thousand people. In addition, about 60 thousand people whose sentences had expired were forcibly left behind in “free labor” camps.

Parole was cancelled, some of those who had served their sentences were not released, and those released were forcibly left as civilians. Not a bad idea, Uncle Joe!

“Is it true that the NKVD repressed our prisoners and repatriates?

no, that's a lie.

Of course, Stalin did not say: “we do not have those who retreated or were captured, we have traitors.”

The policy of the USSR did not equate “traitor” with “captured.” The “Vlasovites”, policemen, “Krasnov’s Cossacks” and other scum that the traitor Prosvirnin swears at were considered traitors. And even then, the Vlasovites did not receive not only VMN, but even prison. They were sent into exile for 6 years.

Many traitors did not receive any punishment when it turned out that they joined the ROA under torture by starvation.

Most of those forcibly taken to work in Europe, having successfully and quickly passed the check, returned home.

A statement is also a myth. that many repatriates did not want to return to the USSR. Another blatant lie about the total repression of repatriates. In reality, only a few percent were convicted and sent to serve time. I think it’s obvious that among the repatriates there were former Vlasovites, punitive forces, and policemen.”

The issue of repatriation of Soviet citizens is indeed shrouded in a significant number of myths. Starting from “they were shot right at the border” and ending with “the humane Soviet government did not touch anyone and even treated everyone to delicious gingerbread.” This is due to the fact that all data on the topic remained classified until the end of the 80s.

In 1944, the Office of the Commissioner of the Council of People's Commissars (Council of Ministers) of the USSR for repatriation affairs was created. It was headed by Fedor Golikov. Before the war, he served as head of the Main Intelligence Directorate of the Red Army, but immediately after the start of the war he was removed from his post and sent as head of the military mission to Britain and the USA. A few months later he was recalled and appointed to command the army. He turned out to be a so-so military leader, and in 1943 Golikov was recalled from the front and was never returned.

Golikov’s department was faced with the task of transporting approximately 4.5 million Soviet citizens from Europe to the USSR. Among them were both prisoners of war and those sent to work. There were also those who retreated along with the Germans. At negotiations in Yalta in February 1945, Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill agreed on the mandatory forced repatriation of all Soviet citizens. The desire of Soviet citizens to remain in the West was not taken into account.

Moreover, Western countries and the USSR lived in different civilizational dimensions. And if in the USA and Britain it was unconditionally recognized that a person can live in any country where he wishes, then in the Stalinist USSR even an attempt to escape to another country was considered a grave counter-revolutionary crime and was punished accordingly:

“Article 58 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR as amended in 1938.

58-1a. Treason to the Motherland, i.e. actions committed by citizens of the USSR to the detriment of the military power of the USSR, its state independence or the inviolability of its territory, such as: espionage, giving away military or state secrets, going over to the side of the enemy, fleeing or flying abroad is punishable by capital punishment- by execution with confiscation of all property, and in extenuating circumstances - imprisonment for a term of 10 years with confiscation of all property.”

In those countries that found themselves occupied by the Red Army, the issue was resolved simply. All Soviet citizens and White Guard emigrants were sent to the USSR indiscriminately. However, most of the Soviet citizens were at that time in the zone of Anglo-American occupation. All Soviet citizens were divided into three categories: the smallest - ROA soldiers, Khivi and simply haters of the Soviet regime, either collaborating with the Germans, or simply hating collective farms and other Soviet dirty tricks. Naturally, they tried their best to avoid extradition. The second group is Western Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Latvians, and Estonians who became Soviet citizens in 1939. They also did not want to return to the USSR and became the most privileged group, since the United States did not officially recognize the annexation of the Baltic states and practically no one from this group was extradited. The third, the most numerous, are ordinary Soviet citizens, either captured or ostarbeiters. These people were born and raised in the Soviet coordinate system, where the word “emigrant” was a terrible curse. The fact is that in the 30s there was a wave of “defectors” - people in responsible Soviet positions who refused to return to the Stalinist USSR. Therefore, an attempt to escape abroad began to be considered a grave counter-revolutionary crime, and defectors were defamed in the Soviet press. An emigrant is a traitor, a Trotskyist hireling, a Judas and a cannibal.

Ordinary Soviet citizens quite sincerely did not want to stay abroad; many of them realistically assessed their low chances of getting a good job without knowledge of languages ​​and education. In addition, there were fears for relatives, because they could get hurt. However, this category agreed to return only if they did not face any punishment.

For the first few months, the Americans and especially the British willingly handed over everyone indiscriminately, with the exception of the Ukrainians and the Balts. Then the famous one took place. But already from the end of 1945, with the beginning of a sharp deterioration in relations between the USSR and Western countries, extradition became predominantly voluntary. That is, only those who wanted to were repatriated. At the same time, the camps were checked by the British and Americans for the presence of people capable of useful intellectual work. They were looking for engineers, designers, scientists, doctors, inviting them to move to the West. The Office of Repatriation Affairs was very unhappy with these proposals. The battle for the minds of the inhabitants of the camps for displaced persons has begun. Moreover, the struggle with comical shades. Each side sought to supply the camps with its own propaganda media and prevent the penetration of enemy media. It got to the point of absurdity: in one camp the Western press began to spread: “Soviet man, in the USSR Stalin will shoot you right at the border,” after which the mood in the camp changed in favor of staying. As soon as the Soviet press appeared in the same camp: “Soviet citizen, American political instructor is lying, in the Soviet country you are not beaten, but fed well” - and the mood in the camp immediately changed in favor of returning.

In 1958, a book by Bryukhanov, who served as an officer in this Directorate, was published in the USSR. It is entitled “This is how it was: About the work of the mission for the repatriation of Soviet citizens (Memoirs of a Soviet officer).” Bryukhanov recalled:

“When we happened to be in the camps, we took every opportunity to distribute newspapers and magazines to people. I admit, we did this despite the British ban, but we deliberately violated British instructions, because we knew that our compatriots were under the continuous influence of anti-Soviet propaganda. We considered it our duty to counter the streams of stupefying lies with the word of truth. The displaced, hungry for news from their homeland, quickly snatched up newspapers and immediately hid them. The displaced looked forward to the distribution of newspapers with such impatience that the British authorities tried to put an end to it.

We asked the British command to give us the opportunity to address our compatriots by radio. As expected, the matter dragged on. In the end, we were allowed to perform only in Russian. The British authorities explained this again by the fact that they do not recognize Ukraine as a separate republic, and the Baltic states are not considered part of Soviet Union».

The repatriation work was carried out on the basis of Golikov’s order dated January 18, 1945, which read:

“Prisoners of war and civilians liberated by the Red Army were subject to referral:

Military personnel of the Red Army (private and non-commissioned officers) who were in captivity - to the army SPP, after checking them in the established order - to the army and front-line reserve units;

- officers, who was in captivity - to the NKVD special camps;

Those who served in the German army and special combatant German formations, Vlasovites, police officers and other persons arousing suspicion are sent to special camps of the NKVD;

The civilian population - to the front-line SPP and border PFP of the NKVD; of these, after verification, men of military age - to reserve units of fronts or military districts, the rest - to their place of permanent residence (with a ban on sending to Moscow, Leningrad and Kyiv);

- residents of border regions - in the PFP NKVD;

- orphans - to children's institutions of the People's Commissariat of Education and the People's Commissariat of Health of the Union Republics."

Some Soviet citizens managed to marry foreigners during their stay abroad. In their case it worked simple instructions. If the family does not yet have children, then women should be forcibly returned to the Soviet Union without a spouse. If a couple has children, the Soviet citizen cannot be returned, even if she and her husband themselves express a desire to come.

Zemskov in his work “Repatriation of Displaced Soviet Citizens” provides the following figures as of March 1, 1946:

“Repatriated - 4,199,488 people. Sent to place of residence (with the exception of three capitals) - 57.81%. Sent to the army - 19.08%. Sent to work battalions - 14.48%. Transferred to the disposal of the NKVD (i.e. subjected to repression) - 6.50%, or 272,867 people of the total.”

These were mainly officers who were captured, as well as military personnel of the ROA and other similar units, village elders, etc. The LiveJournal post states that they received 6 years of settlement, but this is a lie. They were received only by ordinary military personnel, and only in those cases when they made the excuse that they had enlisted under duress. If there was even the slightest suspicion of deliberate treasonous activity, they were given from 10 to 25 years in the camps. Officers of these formations were automatically convicted under a counter-revolutionary article and also received from 10 to 25 years. In 1955, those who survived were granted amnesty. As for simple prisoners, they were sent to labor battalions, and captured officers were carefully checked and often sent either to a camp or to a special settlement if there were suspicions that they had surrendered voluntarily. There were also cases such as with Major Generals Kirillov and Ponedelin, who were captured in August 1941, declared traitors in absentia, spent 5 years under investigation after the war and were eventually shot. Together with them, Lieutenant General Kachalov was declared a traitor in absentia. But it turned out that Kachalov died in battle and was not captured. His grave was found and his identity was established, but Comrade Stalin could not be mistaken, therefore, until Stalin’s death, Kachalov was considered a traitor and traitor and was not rehabilitated. These are the Soviet paradoxes.

Approximately every tenth Soviet citizen was able to avoid return. In total, 451,561 people managed to escape from their Soviet comrades. The majority of them were Western Ukrainians - 144,934 people, Latvians - 109,214 people, Lithuanians - 63,401 people and Estonians - 58,924 people. As already mentioned, the Allies provided them with protection and did not consider them Soviet citizens, so none of them were handed over to the Soviet side unless they themselves wanted to leave. All OUN members who were in Soviet camps got there from territories occupied by the Soviet army. Russians are in the minority on this list. Only 31,704 people escaped extradition.

The main wave of repatriation ended by 1946, but until the 50s, the Soviet authorities did not abandon attempts to return Soviet citizens. However, the USSR remained suspicious of those who were forcibly repatriated. Golikov wrote to Abakumov:

“At present, the repatriation of Soviet citizens from the British and American zones of occupation in Germany has completely different features from the repatriation carried out earlier. Firstly, people enter our camps who, in most cases, had guilt before their Motherland; secondly, they long time were and are in the territory of British and American influence, were and are there subject to intense influence of all kinds of anti-Soviet organizations and committees that have built their nests in the western zones of Germany and Austria. In addition, Soviet citizens who served in Anders' army are currently entering the camps from England. In 1947, 3,269 people were accepted into the camps of Soviet citizens from the British and American zones. repatriates and 988 people who served in Anders' army. There is no doubt that among these citizens, trained intelligence officers, terrorists, and agitators who have gone through the appropriate schools in capitalist countries arrive in the USSR.”

There Zemskov testifies that the worst fate was for the officers. If captured privates, as a rule, were released and sent back to the army, then the officers were interrogated with passion and looked for a reason to punish them:

“It should be noted that the “competent authorities,” maintaining the principle of non-application of Article 193, at the same time stubbornly tried to put many repatriated officers behind bars under Article 58, bringing charges of espionage, anti-Soviet conspiracies, etc. The officers sent to the 6-year special settlement, as a rule, had nothing to do with General A.A. Vlasov, nor anyone like him. Moreover, the punishment in the form of a special settlement was determined for them only because the state security and counterintelligence agencies could not find incriminating material sufficient to imprison them in the Gulag. Unfortunately, we were unable to establish the total number of officers sent to the 6-year special settlement (according to our estimates, there were about 7-8 thousand, which was no more than 7% of the total number of officers identified among the repatriated prisoners of war). In 1946-1952. Some of those officers who were reinstated in service or transferred to the reserve in 1945 were also repressed. The officers who were lucky enough to escape repression were not left alone, and they were periodically summoned for “interviews” by the MGB until 1953.

Moreover, from the contents of documents from departments L.P. Beria, F.I. Golikov and others, it follows that the top Soviet leaders, who decided the fate of the repatriated officers, were confident that they dealt with them humanely. Apparently, by “humanism” they meant that they refrained from the Katyn method (execution Polish officers in Katyn) solving the problem of Soviet repatriated officers and, saving their lives, followed the path of their isolation in various forms (PFL, Gulag, “reserve divisions”, special settlements, work battalions); According to our estimates, at least half were even left free.”

However, in this case, the abolition of the death penalty and the refusal to persecute most of the repatriates were based not on suddenly acquired humanism, but on forced necessity. Due to huge losses, the USSR needed workers to restore the destroyed infrastructure. In addition, the majority of the conditional “Vlasovites” did not serve on the Eastern Front at all and could not commit any crimes even if they wanted to.

Let's summarize some numbers: 3.8 million convicted under counter-revolutionary articles, 0.7 million sentenced to death, 4 million subjected to dispossession. About half of them were sent to a special settlement or to camps, the rest were simply deprived of their property with a ban on living in their locality, but without exile to Siberia. Another approximately one and a half million deported Kalmyks, Chechens, Balkars, Greeks, Latvians, etc. Thus, about 9.3 million inhabitants of the USSR suffered directly for political reasons. This does not take into account the victims of the Red Terror during the Civil War, since no one has established their exact number due to the characteristics of the terror itself.

If we also add indirect damage, for example, the famine caused by the food surplus of 1921-22 - about 5 million people, the famine of 1932 caused by collectivization - from 3 to 7 million victims according to different researchers, add people forced to give up everything and flee from Bolsheviks into emigration, –1.5-3 million people after the Civil War (according to Polyan’s “Emigration: who left Russia and when in the 20th century”) plus 0.5 million after the Second World War, the result is a figure of 19.3 – 24.8 million people suffered in one way or another from the actions of the Bolsheviks.

This figure does not include people convicted under the extremely harsh criminal legislation of Stalin’s times (“the law of three ears of corn”, criminal liability for being late for work or absenteeism), which were later considered excessive even by Stalin’s standards and the punishment of those convicted under which was commuted ( for example, according to the same “three ears of corn”). That's hundreds of thousands more people.

In any case, the joy of the Stalinists is not entirely clear. If Zemskov had proven that there were no victims at all, this could have been understandable, but he just adjusted the figures for victims of repression, and the Stalinists celebrate this correction as a victory. As if something had changed because under Stalin, not a million, but 700 thousand people were shot. For comparison, under fascism in Italy - yes, yes, the same FASCISM that the Russian Federation is still fighting against - during the entire reign of Mussolini, 4.5 thousand people were convicted of political cases. Moreover, the repressions there began after street battles with the communists, and in 1926 alone, 5 (!) assassination attempts were made on Mussolini. With all this, the main punishment was not imprisonment, but exile. For example, the leader of the Italian communists Bordiga was sent into exile for three years, after which he lived quietly in Italy and was not persecuted. Gramsci was sentenced to 20 years, but was later reduced to 9 years, and he was not Far North I used a crowbar to hollow out the permafrost, and wrote books in prison. Gramsci wrote all his works while in prison. Palmiro Tolyatti spent several years in exile, after which he calmly left for France, and from there to the USSR. The death penalty was used in Italy, but only for murder or political terrorism. In total, under Mussolini, 9 people were executed during his 20 years in power.

Just think about what a broken world we live in, if the state is still fighting the corpse of fascism, which killed 9 people in 20 years, and at the same time openly glorifies the dictator, under whom more than 600 thousand citizens of the USSR were killed in just two years, not counting indirect ones victims of Stalin's policies!

In the 20s and ending in 1953. During this period, mass arrests took place and special camps for political prisoners were created. No historian can name the exact number of victims of Stalin’s repressions. More than a million people were convicted under Article 58.

Origin of the term

Stalin's terror affected almost all sectors of society. For more than twenty years, Soviet citizens lived in constant fear - one wrong word or even a gesture could cost their lives. It is impossible to unequivocally answer the question of what Stalin’s terror was based on. But of course, the main component of this phenomenon is fear.

The word terror translated from Latin is “horror”. The method of governing a country based on instilling fear has been used by rulers since ancient times. For the Soviet leader, Ivan the Terrible served as a historical example. Stalin's terror is in some ways more modern version Oprichnina.

Ideology

The midwife of history is what Karl Marx called violence. German philosopher I 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 1920s was formulated in July 1928 in " Short course 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 repressions continued even after all the so-called counter-revolutionaries ended up in camps or were shot. The peculiarity of Stalin's policy was the 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 various terms of imprisonment. 29 of those arrested were sent into exile. Vladimir Shilder, a former teacher, was 70 years old at that time. He died during the investigation. Nikolai Golitsyn, the last chairman of the Council of Ministers, was sentenced to death Russian Empire.

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 of Soviet history. It lasted only two years - from 1937 to 1938. Researchers provide more accurate data about victims during this period. 1,548,366 people were arrested. Shot - 681,692. It was a fight “against the remnants of the capitalist classes.”

Causes of the "Great Terror"

During Stalin's times, a doctrine was developed to strengthen the class struggle. This was only a formal reason for the extermination of hundreds of people. Among the victims of Stalin's terror of the 30s were writers, scientists, military men, and engineers. Why was it necessary to get rid of representatives of the intelligentsia, specialists who could benefit the Soviet state? Historians offer various answers to these questions.

Among modern researchers There are those who are convinced that Stalin had only an indirect relation 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 in a state alcohol intoxication. 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 became victims of Stalin's terror, politicians. 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 it began new wave repression. 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: “Several thousand items of storage of documents related to the activities of the Gulag have been identified in the funds of the Central State Archive of the October Revolution, the highest bodies of state power and government bodies of the USSR (TsGAOR USSR)”

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 requires him to publish the data found, on the other hand, how 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.

Of the total number of convicts, approximately, 2,900,000 people were convicted by the OGPU Collegium, NKVD troikas and the Special Conference, and 877,000 people were convicted 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).

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

Four years later:

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

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:

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 of political repression”:

Number of people convicted of counter-revolutionary and other especially dangerous state crimes

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

* 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)

1,39
0,12
1,00
0,45
1,29
2,04
0,35
14,10
10,51
1,04
0,58

2,32
1,10
0,23

7,11
2,50
1,55
3,21

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.

22,3
2,0
1,2
0,6
0,4
4,3
4,2
13,9
1,0
0,4
0,6
0,1
1,9 162.024

66.144
3.094
2.038
770
610
4.533
10.833
56.396
2.835
1.080
259
457
1.323 21,4

8,7
0,4
0,3
0,1
0,1
0,6
1,4
7,5
0,4
0,1
-
0,1
0,2 516.592

203.607
15.499
9.429
4.551
3.119
30.944
36.932
142.048
8.772
3.735
4.031
1.469
7.705

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)

39266
61670
12515
2824
2756
8423
475976
49250
591
416
194
65
91

7316
37731
432
432
90
1948
103942

371390
31916

3041
1089
207
8438
3883
35464
32718
7484
12969

989
343
29457
1527
429

13033
6221

11921
62729
1057791
29951

265665
41289

594
901
161
6674
3028
25730
60759
33115
9105

32
73
9672
604
83

6615
6711

23597
77936
890437

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

I have not yet found data for 1948.

Mortality of prisoners in prisons

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.

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:

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 // National history. 1997, No. 4.° C.67.
5. A. Dugin. Stalinism: legends and facts // Slovo. 1990, No. 7.° C.23; archival

The scale of Stalin's repressions - exact figures

At the liar's competition

In an accusatory rage, the writers of anti-Stalin horror stories seem to be competing to see who can tell the biggest lies, vying with each other to name the astronomical numbers of those killed at the hands of the “bloody tyrant.” Against their background, a dissident Roy Medvedev, who limited himself to a “modest” figure of 40 million, looks like some kind of black sheep, a model of moderation and conscientiousness:

“Thus, the total number of victims of Stalinism reaches, according to my calculations, a figure of approximately 40 million people».

And in fact, it is undignified. Another dissident, son of a repressed Trotskyist revolutionary A. V. Antonov-Ovseenko, without a shadow of embarrassment, names twice the figure:

“These calculations are very, very approximate, but I am sure of one thing: the Stalinist regime bled the people, destroying more than 80 million his best sons."

Professional “rehabilitators” led by a former member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee A. N. Yakovlev are already talking about 100 million:

“According to the most conservative estimates of the specialists of the rehabilitation commission, our country lost about 100 million Human. This number includes not only the repressed themselves, but also members of their families doomed to death and even children who could have been born, but were never born.”

However, according to version Yakovleva the notorious 100 million includes not only direct “victims of the regime”, but also unborn children. But the writer Igor Bunich without hesitation claims that all these “100 million people were mercilessly exterminated.”

However, this is not the limit. Absolute record directed by Boris Nemtsov, who announced on November 7, 2003 in the “Freedom of Speech” program on the NTV channel about 150 million people allegedly lost by the Russian state after 1917.

Who are these fantastically ridiculous figures, eagerly replicated by the Russian and foreign media, intended for? For those who have forgotten how to think for themselves, who are accustomed to uncritically accepting on faith any nonsense coming from television screens.

It’s easy to see the absurdity of the multimillion-dollar numbers of “victims of repression.” It is enough to open any demographic directory and, picking up a calculator, make simple calculations. For those who are too lazy to do this, I will give a small illustrative example.

According to the population census conducted in January 1959, the population of the USSR was 208,827 thousand people. By the end of 1913, 159,153 thousand people lived within the same borders. It is easy to calculate that the average annual population growth of our country in the period from 1914 to 1959 was 0.60%.

Now let's see how the population of England, France and Germany grew in the same years - countries that also took an active part in both world wars.

So, the rate of population growth in the Stalinist USSR turned out to be almost one and a half times higher than in Western “democracies,” although for these states we excluded the extremely unfavorable demographic years of the 1st World War. Could this have happened if the “bloody Stalinist regime” had destroyed 150 million or at least 40 million residents of our country? Of course no!

Archival documents say

To find out the true number of those executed during Stalin, it is absolutely not necessary to engage in fortune telling on coffee grounds. It is enough to familiarize yourself with the declassified documents. The most famous of them is the memo addressed to N. S. Khrushcheva dated February 1, 1954:

Comrade Khrushchev N.S.

In connection with signals received by the CPSU Central Committee from a number of individuals about illegal convictions for counter-revolutionary crimes in past years by the OGPU Collegium, NKVD troikas, and the Special Meeting. By the Military Collegium, courts and military tribunals and in accordance with your instructions on the need to review the cases of persons convicted of counter-revolutionary crimes and currently held in camps and prisons, we report:

According to data available from the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, for the period from 1921 to the present time, people were convicted for counter-revolutionary crimes by the OGPU Collegium, NKVD troikas, the Special Meeting, the Military Collegium, courts and military tribunals. 3 777 380 people, including:

to VMN – 642 980 Human,

Of the total number of those arrested, approximately the following were convicted: 2 900 000 people - the Collegium of the OGPU, the troikas of the NKVD and the Special Meeting and 877 000 people – courts, military tribunals, the Special Board and the Military Board.

Prosecutor General R. Rudenko

Minister of Internal Affairs S. Kruglov

Minister of Justice K. Gorshenin"

As is clear from the 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 .

However, there are more detailed data on the number of those sentenced to death for counter-revolutionary and other especially dangerous state crimes

Thus, for the years 1921-1953 they were sentenced to death 815 639 Human. In total, in the years 1918-1953, people were brought to criminal liability in cases of state security agencies 4 308 487 person of whom 835 194 sentenced to death.

So, there were slightly more “repressed” than indicated in the report dated February 1, 1954. However, the difference is not too great - the numbers are of the same order.

In addition, it is quite possible that among those who received sentences on political charges there were a fair number of criminals. On one of the certificates stored in the archives, on the basis of which the above table was compiled, there is a pencil note:

“Total convicts for 1921-1938. – 2 944 879 people, of which 30 % (1062 thousand) – criminals»

In this case, the total number of “victims of repression” does not exceed three million. However, to finally clarify this issue, additional work with sources is necessary.

It should also be borne in mind that not all sentences were carried out. For example, of the 76 death sentences handed down by the Tyumen District Court in the first half of 1929, by January 1930, 46 had been changed or overturned by higher authorities, and of the remaining, only nine were carried out.

From July 15, 1939 to April 20, 1940, 201 prisoners were sentenced to capital punishment for disorganizing camp life and production. However, then for some of them the death penalty was replaced by imprisonment for terms of 10 to 15 years.

In 1934, there were 3,849 prisoners in NKVD camps who were sentenced to death and commuted to imprisonment. In 1935 there were 5671 such prisoners, in 1936 – 7303, in 1937 – 6239, in 1938 – 5926, in 1939 – 3425, in 1940 – 4037 people.

Number of prisoners

At first, the number of prisoners in forced labor camps (ITL) was relatively small. So, on January 1, 1930, it amounted to 179,000 people, on January 1, 1931 - 212,000, on January 1, 1932 - 268,700, on January 1, 1933 - 334,300, on January 1, 1934 - 510 307 people.

In addition to the ITL, there were correctional labor colonies (CLCs), where those sentenced to short terms were sent. Until the fall of 1938, the penitentiary complexes, together with the prisons, were subordinate to the Department of Places of Detention (OMP) of the NKVD of the USSR. Therefore, for the years 1935-1938, only joint statistics have been found so far. Since 1939, penal colonies were under the jurisdiction of the Gulag, and prisons were under the jurisdiction of the Main Prison Directorate (GTU) of the NKVD of the USSR.

How much can you trust these numbers? All of them are taken from the internal reports of the NKVD - secret documents not intended for publication. In addition, these summary figures are quite consistent with the initial reports; they can be broken down monthly, as well as by individual camps:

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 person. 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. On January 1, 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 prisoners per 100 thousand population, 1.54%. This is the highest figure ever.

Let's calculate a similar indicator for the modern United States. Currently, there are two types of places of deprivation of liberty: jail - an approximate analogue of our temporary detention centers, in which those under investigation are kept, as well as convicts serving short sentences, and prison - the prison itself. At the end of 1999, there were 1,366,721 people in prisons and 687,973 in jails (see the website of the Bureau of Legal Statistics of the US Department of Justice), for a total of 2,054,694. The population of the United States at the end of 1999 was approximately 275 million 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 the protection of “human rights” on a global scale.

Moreover, this is a comparison of the peak number of prisoners in the Stalinist USSR, which was also caused first by the civil and then by the Great Patriotic War. And among the so-called “victims of political repression” there will be a fair share of supporters of the white movement, collaborators, Hitler’s accomplices, members of the ROA, policemen, not to mention ordinary criminals.

There are calculations that compare the average number of prisoners over a period of several years.

The data on the number of prisoners in the Stalinist USSR exactly coincides with the above. According to these data, it turns out that on average for the period from 1930 to 1940, there were 583 prisoners per 100,000 people, or 0.58%. Which is significantly less than the same figure in Russia and the USA in the 90s.

What is the total number of people who were imprisoned under Stalin? Of course, if you take a table with the annual number of prisoners and sum up the rows, as many anti-Sovietists do, the result will be incorrect, since most of them were sentenced to more than a year. Therefore, it should be assessed not by the amount of those imprisoned, but by the amount of those convicted, which was given above.

How many of the prisoners were “political”?

As we see, until 1942, the “repressed” made up no more than a third of the prisoners held in the Gulag camps. And only then their share increased, receiving a worthy “replenishment” in the person of Vlasovites, policemen, elders and other “fighters against communist tyranny.” The percentage of “political” in correctional labor colonies was even smaller.

Prisoner mortality

Available archival documents make it possible to illuminate this issue. In 1931, 7,283 people died in the ITL (3.03% of the average annual number), in 1932 - 13,197 (4.38%), in 1933 - 67,297 (15.94%), in 1934 – 26,295 prisoners (4.26%).

For 1953, data is provided for the first three months.

As we see, mortality in places of detention (especially in prisons) did not reach those fantastic values ​​that denouncers like to talk about. But still its level is quite high. It increases especially strongly in the first years of the war. As was stated in the certificate of mortality according to the NKVD OITK for 1941, compiled by the acting. Head of the Sanitary Department of the Gulag NKVD I. K. Zitserman:

Basically, mortality began to increase sharply from September 1941, mainly due to the transfer of convicts from units located in the front-line areas: from the BBK and Vytegorlag to the OITK of the Vologda and Omsk regions, from OITK of the Moldavian SSR, Ukrainian SSR and Leningrad region. in OITK Kirov, Molotov and Sverdlovsk regions. As a rule, a significant part of the journey of several hundred kilometers before loading into wagons was carried out on foot. Along the way, they were not at all provided with the minimum necessary food products (they did not receive enough bread and even water); as a result of this confinement, the prisoners suffered severe exhaustion, a very large % of vitamin deficiency diseases, in particular pellagra, which caused significant mortality along the route and along arrival at the respective OITKs, which were not prepared to receive a significant number of replenishments. At the same time, the introduction of reduced food standards by 25–30% (order No. 648 and 0437) with an extended working day to 12 hours, and often the absence of basic food products, even at reduced standards, could not but affect the increase in morbidity and mortality

However, since 1944, mortality has decreased significantly. By the beginning of the 1950s, in camps and colonies it fell below 1%, and in prisons - below 0.5% per year.

Special camps

Let's say a few words 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 “individuals who pose a danger due to their anti-Soviet connections.” Prisoners of special prisons were to be used for hard physical work.

As we see, the mortality rate of prisoners in special detention centers was only slightly higher than the mortality rate in ordinary correctional labor camps. Contrary to popular belief, the special camps were not “death camps” in which the elite of the dissident intelligentsia were supposedly exterminated; moreover, the largest contingent of their inhabitants were “nationalists” - the forest brothers and their accomplices.

1937 "Stalin's repressions." The Great Lie of the 20th Century.

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