The Soviet Union was one of those states that left behind many unsolved secrets and unsolved issues. As a totalitarian state with tight control over all spheres of life of ordinary citizens, the USSR had a corresponding constitution that defended by all means the priorities that lay at the basis of communist power. In particular, political repressions aimed at those who expressed any dissatisfaction with the current government were a special case. Political repressions gained enormous scope under Joseph Stalin. There was a special article 58 for this. Until now, historians cannot come to unified conclusions regarding this issue. Therefore, it is worthwhile to find out whether, in the USSR, a citizen could even be in the camps or even be shot at all for a simple joke about the leader.
Article 58 of the Criminal Code of the USSR
All political convicts, regardless of the type of their crime, went through article 58 of the Criminal Code of the USSR. The article provided for punishment for counter-revolutionary activities. What was she like? By counter-revolutionary activity was meant actions that impeded the spread or implementation of one or another revolutionary ideals and provisions that the communist government supported. The first paragraph of this article stated that counter-revolutionary actions were any attempts to undermine or weaken Soviet power in the territory of the USSR, as well as attempts to weaken external power and political, military or economic gains. According to the concept of workers' solidarity, the same responsibility lay with those who committed crimes by having drunk a state that was not part of the USSR but lived according to the proletarian system.
In fact, article 58 during the time of Stalin was intended to bring to responsibility those who in one way or another denied or were opposed to the Soviet regime. In modern society, such people would be called extremists. All the points that Article 58 includes should be examined in more detail in order to understand what fell under the action, which the Soviet government considered counter-revolutionary.
Paragraph 1
Paragraph 1a contains provisions relating to treason against the motherland, namely, switching to the enemy’s side, issuing state secrets to the enemy, espionage, flight abroad. For these crimes, the death penalty was capital punishment, and under extenuating circumstances - 10 years imprisonment with confiscation of (full or partial) property. A few words should be said about this. Since the USSR was in a very hostile environment at that time, it is not surprising that flight (namely flight, rather than leaving the country) was punished so severely, because in fact it was the same betrayal of the motherland.
Paragraph 1b contains the same provisions as in 1a, but with regards to persons in military service. And it is undoubted that the same crimes committed by the military are more serious, however, if these crimes have any gradation at all. So it is not surprising that the Criminal Code of the RSFSR so severely punishes the military.
Clause 1c establishes the liability of families of military personnel who have committed a crime. If family members knew about the impending crime, but did not report to the authorities or contributed to its commission, they are sentenced to 5 to 10 years in prison with confiscation of property. This item can be considered one of the most inhuman in the whole article, but, as the study of archives has shown, only 0.6% of all political prisoners have served their sentences on this item, that is, it was rarely used. The criminal code of the RSFSR can generally be called inhumane, but due to the then realities, it seemed appropriate to the authorities.
Clause 1d provides for punishment for failure to inform servicemen about the impending treason. For the military then it was a direct duty, so it is not surprising that it was so strictly punished. As regards civilians, there was paragraph 12 providing for the same penalties. But with the then order, the punishment that seemed now cruel seemed quite logical, because at that time there were no liberal thoughts.
Point 2
Clause 2 provided for the death penalty - shooting - for those who, through an armed uprising, tried to overthrow Soviet power in the regions or union republics. Sometimes, as a mild form of punishment, expulsion from the USSR was applied with the deprivation of all rights and confiscation of property. Such actions are strictly punished in a number of modern states.
Items 3, 4, 5
Paragraphs 3, 4, and 5 state that for cooperation with a foreign state, aiding enemy spies or other actions directed against the Soviet Union, the same penalties are applied as in paragraph 2.
Point 6
Paragraph 6 dealt with everything that was considered espionage, namely the issuance of state secrets or important information to the enemy, which are not secret, but are not subject to disclosure. They also relied on the execution or expulsion from the country.
Paragraphs 7, 8, 9
Paragraphs 7, 8, and 9 establish the same penalties for committing sabotage or counter-revolutionary acts of terrorism on the territory of the USSR.
Paragraph 10 - anti-Soviet agitation
Perhaps the most notorious is paragraph 10. It addresses the problem of the so-called anti-Soviet agitation, the essence of which was that any calls, propaganda to overthrow the Soviet regime, possession of prohibited literature, public expression of discontent and so on were punishable by a minimum of 6 sentences of imprisonment months. Indeed, in the Soviet state there was no such thing as freedom of speech. This paragraph, in an amended form, is also present in the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, article 280.
Paragraphs 11 to 14
Paragraphs 11 to 14 contain provisions regarding bureaucratic crimes, anti-people actions during the Civil War (and later the Great Patriotic War), preparation of terrorist attacks, and so on.
They called the one affected by this article - the enemy of the people. Such people, as mentioned above, were subjected to executions, expulsion from the country, and were in prisons and camps. Many of those convicted under article 58 were those who really deserved it, but there were also those who were accused of unfair betrayal. At that time, the security authorities were not very interested in the truth, so the confessions of those who came into view under this article were simply knocked out. This is evidenced by a lot of evidence of that time. Those who served their sentences were still under surveillance for a long time. They were forbidden to get a job, receive pensions, apartments, they were limited in those opportunities that an ordinary Soviet citizen had.
Article 58 during the time of Stalin was the most common document, which allowed the repression of civilian and military. However, already during Khrushchev a special commission was organized that investigated these crimes. Many of the unjustly convicted were rehabilitated, unfortunately, posthumously. Those who survived returned their previous rights and privileges.
Any state must protect its territorial integrity and constitutional rights. 58 article of the USSR was just such a guarantee of protection. Of course, now such harsh penalties can be considered a blatant violation of human rights, but in those days, article 58 seemed appropriate and really gave a fair punishment to those who plotted a crime against the Soviet regime.