Political repression is a rather cruel and bloody period in the history of the fatherland. It falls at a time when Joseph Stalin was at the head of the country. The victims of political repression in the USSR are millions of people convicted and sentenced to imprisonment or execution. Researchers note the extremely negative consequences that the events of the 1920-1950s had. First of all, during the years of political repression, the integrity of Soviet society and its demographic structure were violated.
Essence of Terror
Massive political repression occurred between 1937 and 1938. This period is also called the "Great Terror". According to Medushevsky, these measures can be called the main social instrument for establishing the Stalinist regime. The researcher believes that there are several different approaches to explaining and understanding the essence of the "Great Terror", the impact of various factors, the institutional framework, and the origins of its design. The decisive role undoubtedly belongs to the main punitivebody of the country - the GUGB NKVD and Stalin.
Features of the mode
Political repressions, as noted by many modern Russian historians, for the most part violated not only the current legislation, but also the Basic Law - the Constitution. In particular, the contradiction consisted in the creation of extrajudicial bodies in large numbers. It can also be considered characteristic that when the archives were opened, a significant number of documents were signed by Stalin himself. This indicates that almost all political repression was sanctioned by him.
Strengthening Stalin's power
Political repressions of the 30s began to acquire a wide scale with the beginning of industrialization and collectivization of the economy. The strengthening of Stalin's personal power was also of great importance. Political repressions affected scientists. So, dozens of them were convicted in the "Academy of Sciences" case. In 1932, 4 writers were sent into exile for participating in the Siberian Brigade. Hundreds of officers who served in the Red Army were arrested. All of them were involved in the "Spring" case. In the same period, political repressions were carried out against the "national deviationists".
The situation in the republics
In the Tatar and Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics, some senior officials were arrested. They were involved in the case of the Sultan-Galiyev group of counter-revolutionaries, in which Sultan-Galiyev, a Tatar communist, was declared the main one. The privateers hadsentenced to death by firing squad, which was later commuted to imprisonment for 10 years. In Belarus in 30-31 years. representatives of the leading apparatus of the republic were convicted. They were accused in connection with the Union of Liberation case, which also involved 86 scientific and cultural figures. In the spring of 1930, an open trial took place in Ukraine. More than 40 people were involved in the case of the Union for the Liberation of the Republic. The defendants were headed by Efremov, the vice-president of the VUAN. As stated in the accusations, the "Union for the Liberation of the Republic" pursued the goal of overthrowing the Soviet government and turning Ukraine into a country controlled and dependent on one of the neighboring bourgeois foreign states. All those involved in the case pleaded guilty. Taking into account the confession and repentance of the defendants, their death pen alty was commuted to 8-10 years of imprisonment. Nine people received suspended sentences. In Kharkiv, 148 participants were involved in the "military organization of Ukraine" case. In connection with this trial, Poloz was arrested in Moscow in 1934. He served as deputy chairman of the budget commission from the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. In the 1920s, Poloz worked as the Plenipotentiary of Ukraine in Moscow, People's Commissar for Finance of the Ukrainian SSR, and Chairman of the State Planning Commission. He was sentenced to ten years in prison.
"General purge" of the CPSU(b)
It was held in 33-34 years, and then resumed in May 35th. In the course of the purge, 18.3% were expelled from the party, which included 1916.5 thousand members. At the end of the processbegan to carry out "verification of party documents." It lasted until December 1935. In the course of this work, about 10-20 thousand more arrested were added. From January to September 1936, a "replacement of documents" was carried out. In fact, it became a continuation of the "purge" begun in 1933-35. First of all, those expelled from the party were brought to trial. The peak of arrests fell on 37-38 years. The victims of political repressions in the USSR during these two years were very numerous. During this period, more than 1.5 million people were brought to trial, 681,692 convicts were sentenced to death.
Moscow trials
In the period from 1936 to 1938 there were three big cases. The activities of the members of the CPSU (b) associated in the 20-30s with the right or Trotskyist opposition were considered. Abroad, these cases were called "Moscow Trials". Those arrested were charged with cooperation with Western intelligence services to organize the assassination of Stalin and other Soviet leaders, the destruction of the USSR, the restoration of the capitalist system and harm to various sectors of the economy. The first trial took place in 1926, in August. Members of the "Trotsky-Zinoviev center" were accused. The main convicts were Kamenev and Zinoviev. In addition to other charges, they were charged with the murder of Kirov and the organization of a conspiracy against Stalin. The second case of the "parallel Trotskyist anti-Soviet center" involved 17 lesser leaders in 1937. The main defendants were thenSokolnikov, Pyatakov and Radek. 13 people were sentenced to death, the rest were sent to torture camps, where they soon died. The third trial took place in 1938, from 2 to 13 March. 21 members of the "right Trotskyist bloc" were accused. The main convicts were Rykov and Bukharin. In 1928-29 they led the "right opposition".
Tukhachevsky Case
This process took place in 1937, in June. A group of officers of the Red Army, including Tukhachevsky, was convicted. They were charged with organizing preparations for a military coup. Some time later, the Soviet leadership carried out mass purges in the command staff of the Red Army. It should be noted here that five of the eight members of the Special Judicial Commission who sentenced to death those convicted in the "Tukhachevsky case" were subsequently also arrested. These are, in particular, Kashirin, Alksnis, Dybenko, Belov, Blucher.
Torture
Sufficiently cruel measures were used to obtain confessions. Almost all of them were sanctioned by Stalin personally. During the "Khrushchev thaw" the Soviet prosecutor's office carried out an audit of some political cases and group trials. In the course of it, cases of gross falsification were revealed, when the "necessary" testimony was obtained using torture. Illegal repressions and torture of prisoners were very common. So, for example, there is information that the candidate for membership in the Politburo Eikhe was broken during interrogationsspine, and Blucher died from the consequences of systematic beatings. Stalin himself (archive records testify to this) strongly recommended the use of beatings to obtain evidence.
Law "On Victims of Political Repressions"
It was adopted in 1991, October 18th. Since its entry into force and up to 2004, more than 630,000 people have been rehabilitated. Some convicts, for example, many who held leading positions in the NKVD, persons who took part in or were related to terror and committed criminal offenses of a non-political nature, were recognized as "not subject to rehabilitation." In total, more than 970 thousand applications were considered.
Memory
In Russia and other former republics that were once part of the USSR, the Day of Victims of Political Repressions is held annually. On October 30, rallies and various cultural and educational events are organized. On the Day of Victims of Political Repressions, the country commemorates the victims, tortured, executed people, many of whom brought great benefits to their homelands in their time and could bring them further. This, in particular, is about the command staff of the country's army, scientific and cultural figures. Many schools organize "live lessons" of history. Until recently, there were frequent meetings with the surviving witnesses of these events, their children, in whose memory this terrible time remained. The main events are held at the Solovetsky stone (Lubyanskaya Square) and onButovo polygon. Rallies and processions are also taking place in St. Petersburg. The main events are held on Trinity Square and Levashovskaya Pustosh.
