Political repression is a rather cruel and bloody period in the history of the fatherland. It falls on the 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 repressions, the integrity of Soviet society and its demographic structure were disrupted.
Essence of terror
Mass political repressions occurred in the period from 1937 to 1938. This period is also called the Great Terror. According to Medushevsky, these measures can be called the main social tool 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 base, and the origins of its design. The decisive role, undoubtedly, belongs to the country's main punitive body - the GUGB of the NKVD and Stalin.
Features of the mode
Political repressions, as many Russian modern historians have noted, for the most part violated not only current legislation, but also the Basic Law - the Constitution. In particular, the contradiction was the creation of extrajudicial bodies in large numbers. It can also be considered characteristic that when opening archives a significant number of documents were signed by Stalin himself. This indicates that almost all political repressions were authorized by him.
Strengthening the power of Stalin
The political repression of the 30s began to take on a wide scale with the beginning of industrialization and collectivization of the economy. Of great importance was the strengthening of Stalin's personal power. Political repression affected scientists. So, dozens of them were convicted in the case of the Academy of Sciences. In 1932, 4 writers were sent into exile for participating in the Siberian Brigade. Hundreds of officers serving in the Red Army were arrested. All of them took place in the Spring case. In the same period, political repression was carried out against the "national deviators."
The situation in the republics
Some senior officials were arrested in the Tatar and Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republics. They took place in the case of the "Sultan-Galiyev group of counter-revolutionaries", the main one in which was declared Sultan-Galiev - the Tatar communist. Private traders were sentenced to be shot, which was subsequently replaced with detention for 10 years. In Belarus in the years 30-31. Representatives of the leading apparatus of the republic were convicted. They were accused in connection with the case of the Union of Liberation, which also involved 86 scientific and cultural figures. In the spring of the 30th year, an open process took place in Ukraine. In the case of the Union of Liberation of the Republic, more than 40 people took place. At the head of the accused was Efremov, vice president of the SUA. As the allegations said, the Union for the Liberation of the Republic was aimed at 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 recognition and repentance of the defendants, the death penalty was replaced by 8-10 years in custody. Nine people received suspended sentences. In Kharkov, in the case of the “military organization of Ukraine”, 148 participants took place. In connection with this process in Moscow, Poloz was arrested in 1934. He served as deputy chairman of the budget commission of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR. In the 1920s, Poloz worked as the Ukrainian plenipotentiary in Moscow, the People's Commissar of Finance of the Ukrainian SSR, and the chairman of the State Planning Commission. He was sentenced to ten years in prison.
"General cleaning" of the CPSU (b)
It was held in 33-34 years, and then renewed in May 35th. During the purge, 18.3% were expelled from the party, which included 1916.5 thousand members. At the end of the process, they began to "check party documents." It lasted until December of the 35th year. In the course of this work, about 10-20 thousand more were arrested. From January to September of the 36th year, "replacement of documents" was carried out. In fact, it was a continuation of the started "purge" 33-35 years. First of all, those expelled from the party were brought to trial. The peak of arrests occurred in 37-38 years. The victims of political repression in the USSR in these two years were very numerous. During this period, more than 1.5 million people were brought to trial, 681,692 convicted were sentenced to death.
Moscow processes
In the period from 1936 to 1938 there were three major cases. The activities of the members of the CPSU (B.), Connected in the 20-30s with the right or Trotskyist opposition, were examined. Abroad, these cases were called "Moscow trials." The arrested were charged with cooperation with Western intelligence services for organizing the assassination of Stalin and other Soviet leaders, the destruction of the USSR, the restoration of the capitalist system and harming various sectors of the economy. The first process took place in 1926, in August. Participants of the "Trotsky-Zinoviev Center" were accused. The main convicts were Kamenev and Zinoviev. In addition to the rest of the 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” concerned 17 smaller leaders in 1937. The main defendants were then Sokolnikov, Pyatakov and Radek. 13 people were sentenced to death, the rest were sent to torture camps, in which they soon died. The third process took place in 1938, from March 2 to 13. 21 members of the "right Trotskyist bloc" were indicted. The main convicts were Rykov and Bukharin. In 1928-29, they led the "right-wing opposition."
The Tukhachevsky Affair
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. After some time, 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 the death penalty to those convicted in the "Tukhachevsky case" were also subsequently arrested. This, in particular, Kashirin, Alksnis, Dybenko, Belov, Blucher.
Torture
Rather brutal measures were used to obtain a confession. Almost all of them were personally authorized by Stalin. During the Khrushchev thaw, Soviet prosecutors checked certain political cases and group processes. In the course of it, cases of gross falsification were revealed when the “necessary” testimony was obtained using torture. Illegal repression, torture of prisoners were very common. So, for example, there is evidence that the spine was broken during interrogation of a candidate for membership in the Politburo Eikhe, and Blucher died from the consequences of systematic beatings. Stalin himself (archival records testify to this) strongly recommended using beatings to obtain evidence.
Law on Victims of Political Repression
It was adopted in 1991, on October 18. Since its entry into force and in 2004, more than 630 thousand people were rehabilitated. Some convicts, for example, many who held leading positions in the NKVD, those who took part or were involved in terror and committed criminal offenses of a non-political nature, were recognized as "not subject to rehabilitation." In general, 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 Repression is annually held. On October 30, rallies and various cultural and educational events were organized. On the Day of Victims of Political Repression, the country recalls the injured, tortured, executed people, many of whom at one time brought great benefit to the fatherland and could bring it further. This, in particular, is about the command structure of the country's army, scientific and cultural figures. Many schools organize lively history lessons. Until recently, there were frequent meetings with surviving witnesses of these events, their children, in whose memory this terrible time remained. The main events are held at the Solovetsky Stone (Lubyanka Square) and at the Butovo training ground. Rallies and processions are taking place in St. Petersburg. The main events are held on Troitskaya Square and the Levashovo Heath.