POLITICAL INDOCTRINATION TECHNIQUES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000600040196-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 19, 2011
• Sequence Number: 196
• Publication Date: June 3, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/07/21: CIA-RDP80-00809A000600040196-1
CLASSIFICATION cpggzmCENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Political Indoctrination Techniques
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRE9
.....
.1.,1.1.4 '.. . ':....,YLj.. .: ' . ? ....Y II
,
reason. During the winter of 1843-1946 s or na apparent '7 rs
of the extreme cold and of malnutrition, this died u a result
nt was
to rotten the prlAOners, to break down their will to this resist, treat me and
to
make them Pu71y aware that the Soviets vets the maFters.
Dur tall of 1945 When transferred to Khabarovsk.
7 man? Soviet civilians could speak Oerman
these citisens were mo ved m sear the penman l'so r
stern Siberia. the guards repeatedly told.the_prisoners
what a treacherous nation the US was, that it vss aggressive, and that
wanted Japan to ufite with the Soviet Union to "stop the US."
w-e US" and the word "ty-try"
8ytry vas a broad term.assmlag liars
prevails ca" indoctriastion, which,
p Continua to ineresee "
are eve re, sbovs and meetings were planed
almost dally and were talked up to show the big diffrreaee between the
US and the Soviet way of life. The Soviets based their iadootriaatioa
on a co~arison of the so-called. US oapitslistic form of goveraaant
which area a ;liritual government sad the USSR materialistic desparatic
form of government. The Soviets esphosised this by sa)siag, "mat do
men on this earth have to do vLth spirits in another reridle They
3 W 3.i vi a ?elervsiter` seying then ea+ald not
poselb:y be a Ood.
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Jun 1953
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(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
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THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
Whose actions indicated he'was atte i wereAg esc xe. any prisoner
pri
shot when he tried to run from a one
brutally beaten for minor offense,
or in some case f
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In 1946, a "Friend's Club" (Japanese literal translation) was organized in
each camp and was headed by a political agent. Many mmthods were used to
persuade the pris ;ers to join this club. The most effective plan was to
give the prisoners newspapers, which were then used to roll their cigarettes,
inasmuch as all available paper had been used, including dictionaries, diaries,
and personal papers. Therefore, many joined the Frienc's Club merely to
xr.reive a newspaper. The newspaper given the prisoners came from Khabarovsk,
was printed in Japanese, and was solely Soviet propaganda. The propaganda
was well organized and informative. This paper was distributed throughout
Siberia. At first the paper was issued twice weekly, later tri-veek?.y, and
eventually was distributed four times a week. It was the roost sought-after
commodity, and even though all were undernourished, some prisoners even
traded bread for pieces of newspaper. Articles from this newspaper were read
and discussed at the meetings of the Friend'3 Club. All members of the club
were called upon by the political agent for their irsreesions and views. In
this manner, the agent was able to classify the members as to their political
thinking to determine those who could be most easily swayed toward Coneiuniam,
or to determine what drastic m;,asux-ea would be necessary to successfully
convert those who showed no interest in Communism.
~+. 8bortly after The Friend's Club was organized, the nano was changed, to the
"Des critic Group," At this tirr.e, the political agent changed from his
tough and ruthless pope to an ettitc.4e of tolerance and mildness, At no time
did he or his subordinates att2iupt to force Communism on the prisoners, but
they very cleverly and underhandedly made lifa miserable for those who would
not accept the doctrines of Communism. Spacial privileges were given to
those who showed a willingness to adopt the Soviet doctrines, and extra
duties were given to those who refused to cooperate.
5. The head of the Democratic Group in each camp wan also Chairman of the Central
Committee. The Central Committee was made up of the following departme4tst
Political Department, Welfare Department Civil Department (which included
recreation, amusement, and entertainment , and the Propaganda Department. The
Chairman of the Central Committee and the department heads formed a General
Committee (Japanese literal translation), The General Committee was comprised
of actives, hard-core Communists who had been tested and proven loyal. There
was at least one active in each squad of 15 to 40 men, The active was the one
who policed the squads, and the prisoners who later agreed to cooperate acted
as his assistants. During the transition period from the Friend's Club to the
Democratic Group, the actives were unha:arm. Squad meetings were hold at every
opportunity - before breakfast, during waiting periods, lunch hours, and every
evening.
6. A youth group, in which members had to be urAgr,25 years of age, was organised
within the Democratic Group. The maximum age limit was later cha:;led a 30.
At first, the youth group was a department of the Central Committee, but
later it became a separate group. However, it was under the supervision of
the Chairman of the Central Committee. Particular emphasis was placed on the
youth gro , :iC.`.. rvcaliviu ipvVial attention in all matters. Officers of
this group were delegated more authority than the officers of the older -*roup.
The indoctrination program was organized to appeal to the youth. Members of
the youth group received' badges of distinction, which wereiarn with great
pride, and which rated special attention. ".'he youth group was encouraged to
do such singing. The songs were either fighting songs or those depicting
heroes. Special meetings were held for this group and they were told tales
of great exploits of the USSR snd of Soviet leaders. The worldly
gains to be made in which they were to play the leading role were strongly
stressed. MSR history, the basic theories of Communism, and other subjects
which might have been conatdered dull by the u ~' +~a.u
ordinarily given to all other prisoners, were omitted in the indoctrination of
the youth. Oratoriel contests were held in the youth group and all were
encouraged to eospete. the youth were rer+o,tedly assured that they were "the
oS3ea ar o vc,,lA lend the futur.es lutio_
... av~VYY1V8 ift Japan T.O drive out the prevalence
of US influence.
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In 1946, a District school was established at Hormoli where the headquarters
of the Democratic Group and the Central Committee were located, and where the
department heads of these groups were educated. The course lasted from two to
six months and in some cases for eight or nine ruonths. Later, a large regional
school was established at Ihabarovsk. Uhill the officials of the departments
otter'?d these courses, their deputies were placed in charge of the camps. After
the return of the department heads to the camps, their deputies attended and then
the actives were compelled to attend. All who attended the school gave detailed
accounts of their experiences to the entire camp. These reports seemed very
childish to the better-educated prisoners, but to the others, this well-planned
propaganda was extremely effective. Reports were given of the good food, of
the many banquets, and of the visits to the homes of typical Soviet families.
The wonderful life of people of the Soviet Union, the exceptionally nice treat-
ment given the prisoners by these people, and visits to different cities were
elaborated upon. Many examples were given of the democratic life in the USSR
such as the following: A man interposed himself in a line waiting for a bus.
Those in line had the authority to conduct a court and imrr_die.tely did so. The
sentence imposed was that he could not ride any bus that day but would have to
walk. The prisoners stated further that there were no guards, and they could
come and go as they pleabed. They were not treated as prisoners in any Way.
The pri:on~^s were exposed to this propaganda each time a group returned from
school, the purpose being to instill in the reactionists the need to accept
Communism for the ben
fit
f
e
o
thei- future security.
After the Democratic Group was organized in each camp, the head of the
lase then 2 % of the pris aers re ne as
a the spring oft the first prison-a to be repatrsat.
9. At Gorin, the discrimination was more strict. The reactionists were given all
the hard labor, the extra Jobs, and the Most disatgreeable job*, such as
cleaning the latrines. If a train arrived on Sunday (all trains were unloaded
iMmediately because ^f the shortage of rolling stock), the reactionists had to
do the unloading. Special privileges which were given members of the Democratic
Group were constantly being flaunted before thw ?e.cticn ts. peri-i4..ity,
opportunity was given the reactionists to voluntarily "confess their sine." AM
public Questioning and re-questioning of the _eactionist was required, after
which he was given an opportunity to prove his faithfullness before he would be
accepted as a "tovarich." The term tovarich S?apanese phonetic spsrUin is a
word mining "oonrade." By 1947, the discriminatiou between the reactionists
and the era within.the Dsn .rratio Group was so great and obvious that many
nriaefl/ra vow. N-4-- - I?' --_ . _
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10. The second winter ff946-19417 the prisoners i-eceivad the first issue of clothing
since their imprisonment. A great deal of discrimination was shown here also.
All the "faithfuls" members of the Democratic Grou27 were issued ne-W and fitted
clothing. The remaining prisoners ure given either left-ovens or old clothes
turned in by the faithfuls. The prisoners who had been. "strung up" (defendants
at Kangaroo courts, etc) were given anything that was left - used,,worn-out
clothing, shoes several sizes too large, etc. The expression "strung up" is
taken from a term used for the old-time gallows.
11. After the first year, the prisoners were given norms in their work. The norm
was a specified amount of work for one day. No money was paid the prisoners for
making their norm, but for example, if a prisoner produced 120%over his norm, he
would earn from 15 to 20 rubles, depending on the type of work. In 1947, one
ruble would purchase 350 grams of bread or 50 grams of mahorka (tobacco) or 10
cigarettes. Soybean oil could be purchased in place of butter, but it was very
expensive. Sugar was two rubles a pound. Although prisoners earning monw, in
this manner were supposed to be paid each month, payments were held up for
several months. After these payments had been made, currency was sometimes
deflated so that the FW's could not buy ouch for theirmmney. Many of the P.-I's
who =ould produce 1206 a month over their noryn would be moved to another camp
where the wos?. was more difficult. Upon such a move, any previous bonus earned
would be lost. If a prisoner accepted Communism, he received jobs on which it
was possible to produce over the norm, and thus earn money. Reactionists were
unable to reach their norms in most cases, because of the more difficult jobs
assigned to them.
there were approxin -ely 1500 pris ems
Z sternmost area of the Soviet Union).
approximately 50 to 60 thousand PW's e
the prisoners were told that if the 1S had fulfilled her agreemmrn` t
would now have ships in which to repatriate more prisoners;
'rme educated Japanese prisoner realized how ridiculous this excuse
was. Also, the Soviets kept trying to force more work from the prisoners by
telling them that the US was planning to invade the USSR and that if the work
on the railroad was completed sooner than scheduled, it would help to eliminate
this great threat.
13. When reuatr time came, which was either in the spring or fall of the year
the Ch-4
.1 - Cent.... - .. . _
o f
of the youth
group, as well as many actives refused to be repatriated. These
PW s said they had a very important mission to perform,, and that they vould not
voluntarily accept repatriation until their mission was acomplished.
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