Special Settlements Research Articles

The excessive everyday life of the GULAG special settlements in 1933: the Siberian dimension

The review is devoted to the documentary collection “Special (labor) settlements of Western Siberia in 1933: everyday life of the commandant’s settlements, the Nazi tragedy,” compiled by S.A. Krasilnikov and O.V. Filippenko. It publishes more than 80 documents, full of valuable information about the intentions and results of the exile settlement policy. Documents identified in the State Archive of the Novosibirsk Region, the Archive of the President of the Russian Federation and the Central Archive of the FSB of Russia paint a vivid picture of the unsuccessful penal colonization of the Narym north in the early 1930s. This was an unexpected result for the authorities of efforts to cleanse the cities of the central part of the country and border areas from “déclassé elements.” The documents provide an opportunity to look into the everyday life of two worlds of a special settlement – peasant and urban “déclassé”. It follows from them that constant “excesses,” despite their obvious costs, acted as a routine accompaniment of the most important management actions. The central government considered countless “ordinary” criminal actions on the ground (illegal arrests, expulsions, confiscations against peasants and all kinds of “former people”) as necessary, designed to push the layers unnecessary to socialism to the margins of life. A closed hierarchical system based on the directives of the center gave rise to and developed the arbitrariness of the performers, embodied in published documents.

German special settlers in the Udmurt Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in 1945–1955

The article is devoted to a group of Russian Germans stationed in Udmurtia in the status of special settlers. The purpose of the work is a general description of the main parameters of the ethno-legal and socio-cultural functioning of Germans-special settlers in Udmurtia in a foreign-language environment. The methodological basis of the study was an interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of history, sociology and ethnology, using problem-chronological and statistical methods, as well as interviewing and the method of expert assessments. The basis of the source base was made up of archival documents supplemented by the memories of participants and witnesses of the events. The study sheds light on one of the closed aspects of national history, contributes to the elimination of another "white" spot in the hushed-up history of the largest of the peoples of the USSR repressed during the Stalinist period.

Reorganization of Population Placement System in Northwestern Siberia as a Reflection of Socio-Economic Policies of USSR in 1930s-1950s

This study examines the changes in the population placement system within Northwestern Siberia during the 1930s-1950s. It provides an overview of the settlement network that formed the basis of population distribution in the region. Previously unpublished archival data on settlement typology, population size, resettlement to the north during industrialization and collectivization, and post-war periods are introduced into scholarly discourse. The dynamics of population size and distribution in national districts are discussed, along with an exploration of the ethnic composition of rural settlements’ inhabitants. The study notes a decrease in the proportion of indigenous peoples alongside an increase in the number of Belarusians, Ukrainians, and Germans in the ethnic composition of the population, largely due to mass forced migrations. It is concluded that compared to the 1920s, there was a reduction in the number of small settlements of nomadic peoples (yurts, reindeer camps) during the period under review. As a result of sedentarization efforts among the indigenous population of the region, a significant portion of their settlements became permanent and acquired town status. The typological structure of the settlement network changed: the number of “alien” type settlements decreased, giving rise to “special settlements,” an increase in towns, and rural nonagricultural settlements such as animal farms, forestry areas, and settlements near factories.

Дислокационные расстояния расположения трудпоселков в Коми АССР, Архангельской и Вологодской областях в 1941 г.

The article analyzes data on the location of labor settlements based on dislocation tables. The dislocation tables belong to the departmental reporting documentation of the NKVD of the USSR. The information reflects the situation for the second half of 1941, since data for the Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions are given as of November 1941, and for the Komi ASSR as of January 1, 1942. The requirements for the position of labor settlements and the features of their organization are considered. A calculation of the average distances from labor settlements to the railway track, the district commandant’s office and the regions’ administrative center is given. Analyzing the distances from labor settlements to transport routes, district and administrative centers allows assessing remoteness of settlements from railway transport and populated areas. The Komi ASSR, Arkhangelsk and Vologda regions in 1929–1936 were administratively united as part of the Northern Krai, so the organization in the early 1930s of settlements for special settlers – “former kulaks,” renamed in labor settlements in 1933, proceeded according to general plans, so it seems relevant to assess the situation for the three regions as a whole.

«Я выслан навечно…»: к 80-летию депортации калмыцкого народа (по материалам архивов Казахстана)

Introduction. Ethnic deportations were a form of political repression in the USSR. Official Soviet directives clearly proclaimed mass relocations with exact indications of ethnic identities the would-be deportees should belong to. Goals. The study attempts a historical reconstruction of how Kalmyks from the abolished Kalmyk ASSR survived the exile, reviews their legal status, and outlines a social portrait. Materials and methods. The work employs a variety of research methods, such as the source study, information, mathematic/statistical, factual/historic ones and that of computer content analyses for sufficient insights into earlier classified and thus unclaimed sources. The study is the first to examine personal files declassified since November 2021 by the Government Commission for Complete Rehabilitation of Victims of Political Repressions (est. by the order of President K.-Zh. Tokayev), as well as some related documents from departmental archives of Kazakhstan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Committee of National Security transmitted in 2021–2023 to the Archive of the President of Kazakhstan. Files dealing with special settlers are also housed at the Archive of the Committee for Legal Statistics and Special Records (Prosecutor General’s Office of the Republic of Kazakhstan) and its departments in Turkistan, Kyzylorda, Akmola, Karaganda and Zhetysu regions, at the State Archive of Kyzylorda Region (its branch — Archive of Sociopolitical History). Results. The Kalmyk deportees started arriving in the Kazakh SSR since January 1944. Despite the Republic was not designated as a region to host the repressed people, the war decided differently. The ethnic Kalmyks — though a minority in the host society to face hard life conditions — never assimilated culturally and showed sustainable social, professional and psycho-physical adaptation skills to the changed circumstances and environments.

Спец(труд)поселки как населенные пункты в 1930-е годы (на материалах Республики Коми)

In 1930-1931 in the Komi Autonomous Region, special settlements were organized for special settlers – “former kulaks” who were forcibly expelled from their places of permanent residence from areas of complete collectivization. Able-bodied forced migrants and members of their families were transferred to the Komiles Trust to work in logging. In the logging areas of the region, more than 40 special settlements were organized in hard-to-reach places, isolated from local settlements. Problems associated with the lack of roads, remoteness from regional centers, insufficient supplies, and the organization of settlements in swampy areas led to the liquidation of individual special (labor) settlements and a reduction in their total number by the end of the 1930s. Despite the low level of residential premises construction, forced migrants also built buildings for socio-cultural institutions, schools, hospitals, clubs and others, which made it possible to create the internal infrastructure of the settlements.

Миграции населения Коми автономии в 1920–1930-е годы

The internal and external migrations of the population in the Komi Autonomy from the time of its creation in 1921 to the end of the 1930s are studied. The authors considered some characteristics of migration processes in the Komi Autonomy of the 1920s - 1930s: the direction of migrations, the role of internal and external, voluntary and forced migrations in the 1920s and 1930s, the ratio of migration and natural increase, the influence of migrations to expand the populated territory and the ethnic composition of the population, the main types of new settlements. It is noted that in the 1920s migration growth was inferior to natural one. Migration processes, the emergence of new settlements and the expansion of the populated territory occurred due to internal demographic resources during voluntary resettlement and agricultural colonization of previously undeveloped lands. In the 1930s migration growth prevailed over natural growth due to the forced resettlement of special settlers and prisoners into the region, sent to work in timber extraction, development of coal and oil fields and construction. By the end of the 1930s the system of settlements and the ethnic composition of the population of Komi Autonomy changed.

Личное учетное дело спецпереселенца (выселенца) как исторический источник по изучению депортации калмыцкого народа

Introduction. This article is devoted to a source-based analysis of the personal records of special settlers (evictees) of Kalmyks who were in forced exile in the eastern regions of the country. Without taking into account the content of these archival materials, the research on the life of Kalmyks in exile without the right to return to their former place of residence seems incomplete and unrepresentative, despite the existing wide range of historical sources. To fill this gap, the article analyzes this source based on the material of the personal records of special settlers (evictees) — Kalmyks who lived during exile on the Altai Territory. The purpose of this study is to study the composition and content of documents related to the personal account of a special settler. Results. The personal record of the special settler (evictee) is a valuable, unique and representative historical source, the informative possibilities of which are still not really in demand by researchers who study the deportation of the Kalmyk people. This source has not been used to date in the study of the history of the deportation of the Kalmyk people in the period from 1943–1957. At the same time, the personal record of the special settler (evictee) has a high source potential, since it can be used as the main source for compiling a prosopographic portrait of the special settler-Kalmyk. In addition, this source will give an opportunity to characterize the features of demographic and migration processes of Kalmyk special settlers during the period of exile.

Калмыки-спецпереселенцы в Аральском районе Казахстана в документах и воспоминаниях очевидцев

Introduction. The article is devoted to the history of the Kalmyks who were in exile (1943–1957) on the territory of the Aral region in Kazakhstan. The purpose of the study is to highlight individual materials from documents about Kalmyk special settlers and to introduce into scientific circulation the information about oral stories of deported Kalmyks who were exiled to the Aral region of Kyzylordinskaya oblast of the Kazakh SSR. Results. The deportation of a part of the Kalmyk people to the Aral region of Kyzylordinskaya oblast of the Kazakh SSR was initially not planned. However, the decision to evict the Kalmyks to this region was made immediately after the adoption of the documents on the deportation of the Kalmyk people, and on January 2, 1944, the district committee of the CPSU (b) and the district council were already considering the resettlement of Kalmyks sent to the Aral region. The destination of the SK-406 train was the Aral Sea railway station. The deportation of part of the Kalmyks, residents of the sea-side Lagan ulus, to the Aral region was due to the aim of the authorities to use the deportees in the fishing industry, which suffered significant damage during the period of hostilities in the European part of the territory of the USSR and thus which faced huge tasks to ensure the front and rear. The deported to the Aral region Kalmyks experienced the same restrictions in rights and deprivation as those Kalmyks who found themselves in the regions of Siberia. At the same time, the relatively compact settlement of the large group and the milder climate, compared to the Siberian one, were favorable factors. The Kalmyks left a mark in the memory of the local population of the Aral region of Kazakhstan. The chief doctors of the hospitals E. N. Lidzhiev, previously the People's Commissar of Health of the Kalmyk ASSR, and V. B. Mukharaev, who also became famous for his participation in the film “Daughter of the Steppes” (1954), gained special fame among the population here. The respect for Kalmyks is also manifested in the memory of famous figures who showed themselves after returning to their homeland, but who spent their youth in the Aral region: the memory of them is alive among the Kazakh population.

Osobennosti formirovaniya, organizacii i razvitiya sel'skogo hozyajstva v specposelkah Severnogo kraya v 1930-h gg.

The article describes the reasons for large-scale use of labour of special settlement peasants in the North in the 1930s, focusing on the importance of special settlers for agricultural development in the North and the hardships of their labour and living conditions. In the circumstances of risky farming, the special settlers had created a developed farming and livestock base by the late 1930s, becoming almost self-sufficient. The article examines the issues of local economic management by special settlers and their role in the regional economic development.

Народы Северного Кавказа в Центральном Казахстане: насильственное переселение и адаптация

В статье исследована история насильственного переселения и последующей адаптации народов Северного Кавказа в Казахстане. Работа основана на анализе нормативных документов, деловой переписки и архивных материалов из региональных и центральных архивов республики. Изучены особенности процесса перевозки, приема, размещения продовольственного обеспечения, трудоустройства и социально-бытовой адаптации спецпереселенцев. Интерес представляет изучение вызовов и трудностей, сопровождавших адаптацию народов Северного Кавказа в Казахстане посленасильственного переселения. Критический анализ этих аспектов позволяет глубже понять последствия этого периода истории для переселенцев и их влияние на современное состояние общества и культуры Казахстана.

Selective Favoritism and Confirmed «Sovietiness» among Kalmyk Special Settlers within the Qazaq SSR

During World War II, Stalin’s Soviet regime implemented a repressive policy targeting entire nationalities through forced resettlement. As one of these ‘punished peoples,’ the Kalmyks were deported to the eastern parts of the USSR in late 1943, primarily encompassing Siberian oblast and krays, along with one oblast in the Qazaq SSR – Qyzyl-Orda. These regions were designated as their places of exile, subjecting deportees to the special settlement system for the subsequent thirteen years. While other oblasts in the Qazaq SSR were not officially designated for their deportation, Kalmyk special settlers were dispersed across Alma-Ata oblast, constituting the second-largest Kalmyk contingent within the republic, following Qyzyl-Orda. This study delves into Kalmyk special settlers within Alma-Ata oblast of the Qazaq SSR from 1944 to 1953 and posits that it stood out as a self-formed group comprising interconnected individuals. This implies that Kalmyk contingent in the oblast constituted a group of deportees who could choose their preferred location for special settlements and purposefully selected the oblast among places in the USSR. In doing so, they set themselves apart from the usual practice where the system forms contingents forcibly. Moreover, the study argues that the claimed exceptionalism within the regime is supported by the presence of the selective release from the system of certain Kalmyk special settlers, conducted legally. In turn, the existence of the combination of such exclusive treatments from the regime highlights dual standards in the interpretation and execution of officially announced policies toward groups of special settlers categorized as ‘exiled in perpetuity.’ Furthermore, the examination of each case of distinct treatments within this contingent in the oblast aims to illustrate the correlation between attained privileges and facts of confirmed ‘Sovietiness.’

Жанровое своеобразие калмыцкой поэзии конца ХХ – начала XXI в.: тема картофеля в сибирской ссылке

Introduction. The article deals with the theme of potatoes in the Siberian exile of Kalmyks (1943­–1957) and focuses on representative poems by Kalmyk poets of different generations written in the native and Russian languages. The texts were created by authors who survived the Siberian exile (i.e. were born during or after the latter) to convey personal and collective memories of the twentieth-century tragedy of the ethnos. Goals. The paper seeks to reveal the genre originality of such poems from the late twentieth through the early twenty first centuries, consider syntheses of genres, articulate some transformations of the folklore tradition in the genres of anthem, word, lamentation, etc. Methods. The comparative, comparative-typological, and historical-functional methods prove instrumental in examining the mentioned theme in the aspect of somewhat ‘delayed’ poetry of the last century and in the context of present-day literary processes. In general, the theme remains understudied in terms of the history of Kalmyk Deportation and has never been viewed through the prism of poems by selected authors. Results. Potatoes and Siberian exile in representative poems by Kalmyk poets of different generations shape a special discourse of personal and collective memories about the dramatic pages of twentieth-century history. The struggle for survival and absence of usual food did transform the traditional eating patterns of special settlers. The motif of frozen potatoes starts prevailing in the works to become a marker of starvation, cold, poverty, rightlessness. In Kalmyk poems about the exile, the genre originality of texts created as anthems, words, laments, and messages was manifested in transformed patterns of the folklore tradition. The inclusions of elements inherent to well-wishes (Kalm. yӧräl), anthems (chastr), words (üg), laments (enslɣn), teachings (surgaal), and dreams (züüdn) also attest to syntheses of genres characteristic of Mongolic folklores and literatures. Monologic and storyline forms determine the content-related aspect of the poems addressed to contemporaries and descendants — directly or else insisting that the tragic past of the people never be forgotten.

Anthropological similarities as a tool for survival strategies: the experience of Kalmyk special settlers in Alma-Ata oblast of the Kazakh SSR

Anthropological similarities as a tool for survival strategies: the experience of Kalmyk special settlers in Alma-Ata oblast of the Kazakh SSR

Violation of the rights of minors in the soviet period

Purpose. The purpose of our research is to reveal the main forms of violation of the rights of minors in the Soviet period. Method. The methodology includes a comprehensive analysis and generalization of theoretical and source material and further formulation of relevant conclusions and recommendations. During the research, the principles of objectivity and systematicity were used, as well as general scientific, special-legal and special-historical methods of scientific knowledge: analysis, synthesis, comparative, functional-legal, system-historical. Results. In our opinion, the key reasons for the development and spread of child homelessness in the first post-war decade in the Ukrainian SSR were: the consequences of the Second World War; specifics of state policy; social instability; difficult financial situation of the population; crisis of the family and the system of family values. In the late 1920s and 1930s, numerous special settlements were created in Siberia. In May 1930 alone, more than 56,000 people were evicted to the Urals. Mortality and injury rates were high among deportees and prisoners, especially among minors. The scale of the violation of the rights of minors increased in the conditions of the Second World War, when both mortality and deportation processes were high. It has been proven that the norm of the Soviet legislation regarding the extension of the norms of criminal law to persons over the age of 12 can be considered a real crime. Scientific novelty. A historical and legal retrospective of the implementation of the Soviet policy in relation to minors, in particular orphans and homeless children, was carried out. Practical significance. The results of the research can be used in further historical and legal studies, preparation of special courses.

ПРОПАГАНДИСТСЬКА ДІЯЛЬНІСТЬ УЧАСНИКІВ ПІДПІЛЬНО-ПОВСТАНСЬКОГО РУХУ В ЗАХІДНИХ ОБЛАСТЯХ УРСР ПІСЛЯ ЇХ ПОВЕРНЕННЯ З ТАБОРІВ І СПЕЦПОСЕЛЕНЬ (ДРУГА ПОЛОВИНА 1950-Х – 1970-ТІ РР.)

After the return of the underground insurgent movement members from camps and special settlements to the western regions of the Ukrainian SSR, some of them began to resume illegal propaganda activities. This is hardly covered in Ukrainian historiography. Based on numerous factual material, obtained from the 2nd and 16th funds of the Sectoral State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine and for the first time introduced into scientific circulation, the authors found out its forms and features: distribution among the population of the program documents of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists, production and distribution of leaflets, inscriptions, drawings of anti-Soviet content, hanging yellow-blue flags, holding conversations on forbidden topics in the working and youth environments. The article shows the influence of propaganda activities of OUN members on the emergence and development of the dissident movement. The material presented in the article also shows that a part of the Ukrainian intelligentsia with nationalist beliefs, which, fearing repressions, for a long time stood aside from the anti-Soviet struggle, began to speak out more courageously, trying to rehabilitate themselves in front of their comrades from the underground. In particular, its representatives in their conversations, speeches, publications criticized the national policy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, the course of Russification of Ukraine, the attack on the Ukrainian language, the thesis of the "great Russian people", etc. The position taken by them was, according to KGB officers, identical to the position of former members of the OUN underground. It is proved that the state security agencies of the Ukrainian SSR made great efforts, using a variety of techniques and methods, to neutralize the anti-Soviet underground and to discredit it in the eyes of the public.

СЕМЬЯ В КУЛАЦКОЙ ССЫЛКЕ В БАШКИРСКОЙ АССР В 1930-Е ГГ.: КОЛИЧЕСТВЕННЫЙ СОСТАВ, РОЖДАЕМОСТЬ, СМЕРТНОСТЬ

The subject of demographic analysis in this article is families classified as kulaks, evicted from their homes and resettled in special settlements (labor settlements) of the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic during the period of collectivization in the USSR. The study is written on the basis of documentary sources published by V.N. Zemskov, as well as archival sources stored in the National Archive of the Republic of Bashkortostan. The sources make it possible to investigate the quantitative composition of families in special settlements (work settlements), establish the proportion of disabled persons, the percentage of teenagers and children under 4 years of age, and calculate the birth rate taking into account the free population living in labor settlements. The analysis carried out by the author led him to conclusions about the high mortality rate, especially for children under 8 years of age, in the labor settlements of Bashkiria in 1932-1934, and also to determine that mortality in labor settlements decreased and the birth rate reached high levels in the second half of the 1930s, which is explained by the traditional reproductive attitudes of labor settlers.

Deported peoples of East Kazakhstan under the conditions of the special settlement regime

Studying the issues of forced resettlement of peoples in the USSR in the 1940s, using the example of the German and Chechen populations, their habitation in special settlement areas in the territory of Eastern Kazakhstan, and the legal status of the deported peoples, represents a pertinent historical task. The aim of the article is to elucidate the process of deportation and the living conditions of the deported ethnic groups during the wartime and post-war periods in the eastern region of Kazakhstan. Special attention is given to the analysis of the resettlement and living conditions of the special settlers, as well as the issue of their material provision. The formation of a so-called "labor army" from the special settlers is examined, where they were treated as prisoners and utilized by the state during wartime as a mobile and inexpensive workforce. The implementation of human rights and freedoms within the context of the special settlement population is analyzed. The authors have examined documents from the Documentation Center of the modern history of the Abai region and the State Archive of the East Kazakhstan Region, which has allowed for the expansion of the research aspects related to the lives of the deported population within the special settlement system.

The Dalstroy’s Crisis and the Problems of the Gold Mining in the North-East of the USSR in 1954–1957

The article analyzes the main factors in the development of the Dalstroy gold mining after the creation of the Magadan Region in December 1953. Since the late 1940s there were many factors of the crisis in the gold mining of Dalstroy, including a decrease in the availability of alluvial gold reserves, a decrease in the average gold content in the sands, a shortage of qualified personnel, problems in the organization of forced labor, as well as decisions that determined the concentration of exploration work on gold deposits within the Kolyma gold-bearing zone and the reorientation mainly for exploration and mining of tin. One of the main reasons for the Dalstroy gold mining crisis was the transformation of the entire economic system of the organization to free labor. This process was accompanied by the problems of organizing free and forced labor, high staff turnover, the need to select qualified personnel to service bulldozers, excavators and flushing devices, to accommodate, improve and create conditions for civilian workers, including former convicts and special settlers, as well as to provide work with prisoners on new terms. The number of workers in the gold mining industry for 1953–1957 decreased by more than 2.5 times. The authorities of the region, while maintaining the system of benefits and relying on well-established schemes and administrative resources, tried to replace the staff. The use of forced labor of prisoners versus the use of “civilian” workers in the gold mining of the North-East in the 1950s was no longer due to economic calculation in comparison with the period of the 1930s — the first half of the 1940s. In the 1950s, along with a decrease in the volume of manual work, the growth of mechanization and automation, the work of convicts became more and more costly and less efficient.

Воспоминания репрессированных ученых об освоении Европейского Северо-Востока СССР в конце 1920-х – начале 1950-х гг.

The article focuses on the study of historical experience of the development of the Northern territories of Russia. The processes of industrial development of the Far North areas that began in late 1920s was closely connected to the events of repressive policy of the Soviet power. One of the accelerated industrial development regions was the European North-East of the USSR, which became a territory with a high concentration of camps and special settlements in the 1930s–50s. The article presents an analytical review of the memoirs of scientists, who were Gulag camps prisoners, stored in the archives of the Komi Republic (Vorkuta Museum and Exhibition Center, K. G. Voinovsky-Kriger Geological Museum, Scientific Archive of FRC Komi SC UB RAS, National Archive of the Komi Republic, Komi Republican Fund of Geological Information). The study has determined that this information complex was accumulated by large-scale initiative work of the scientific community of the Komi Republic, collecting memoirs of scientists who had been in camps in the region. The specificity of these sources is in their special approach to the description of the events. They show not only horrors of the penal system, but also creative role of those people who, with their titanic work, developed remote regions of the North of the country. It has been determined that the authors were mostly geoscientists, which may be explained by the main task of the camps located in the European North-East of the USSR, i.e. industrial development of mineral deposits. Some were professional scientists, former employees of the Geological Committee (K. G. Voinovsky-Kriger, N. N. Tikhonovich, N. M. Lednev, and others), others became geologists in prison (K. V. Flug, V. V. Grechukhin, G. M. Yaroslavtsev, and others). The author presents an analysis of the memoirs content taking into consideration the time of their creation. She examines some common aspects of the sources: difficult conditions of prison transfer to the North, challenges of research work, various way of engaging in research in the camp. It is concluded that this document complex is a valuable retrospective sources group on the development of the Northern territories of the USSR in the late 1920s – early 1950s, primarily implemented by the Gulag prisoners. Introducing this evidence into scientific use expands the historical picture of the study of the North, demonstrating complexity and multifacetedness of the process.