SOVIET PRESS SPURS DOSAAF RECRUITMENT CAMPAIGN, FEBRUARY - APRIL 1953

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000700150013-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: R
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 13, 2011
• Sequence Number: 13
• Publication Date: November 13, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2011/09/13: CIA-RDP80-00809A000700150013-9
CENTRAL INT
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT Military - Paramilitary
HOW
PUBLISHED Daily, semiueekl;; newspapers,
periodical
WHERE
PUBLISHED USSR
DATE
PUBLISHED Feb -Apr 1953
LANGUAGE Russian
REPORT
CO N0.
DATE OF
DATE DIST. ~3 Nov 1953
monthly
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
SOVIET PRESS SPURS DOSAAF RECRUITMEN'P CAMPAIGN,
FEBRUARY -APRIL 1953
On 22 February 1953, Pravda published a lengthy article calling Yor an
increase in Dosaaf membership in connection with the 35th anniversary of the
founding of the Soviet Armed Forces. The Pra-rda article touched off a Dosaaf
recruiting campaign in the regular press with the maJority of central and re-
public papers carrying maJor articles on Dosaaf during the period February -
April (Komsomol'ska Pravda, 27 Feb; Trud, 1 Mar; Sovetska Belorusai ;
5 Mar; Kom:nurist Arm:nia , 14 Mar; Izveatiya, 24 Mar; Pravda Ukrainy, 2 Mar;
Zarya Vostoka, 27 Mar; Sovetskaya Latviya, 29 Mar; Bakinskiy Raboc~, 31 Mar;
Sovetskaya Moldaviys, 9 Apr; Sovetskaya Litva, 15 Apr; Sovetskaya datoniya,
16 Apr ),
Indications are that the campaign was also taken up by newapaptra on the
city, oblast, and probably lower levels, since similar articles appeared in
Leningradskaya Pravda on 1 March, in Moskovskiy Komsomolets on 31 March, and in
the Baranovichakaya Oblast, Belorussian SSR, newspaper Kras~yn Zvezda (a ref-
erence to the latter article appeared in Sovetskaya Belorussiya of 5 March).
No important e:ticlea on Dosaaf appea^ed in newspapers of the Karelo-Finnish SSR
or the Central Asiatic republics during this period. However, in the case of
the latter, several issues of each paper were not received in FDD during February,
March, and April.
The general tenor of the articles on Dosaaf was highly critical. Dosaaf
was attacked for its failure to increase membership sufficiently and to draw
members into taking an active part in the society's work. Instances were cited
of primary organizations which exist merely on paper, oY widespread failure to
pay dues, and of cases where many so-called members do not even hold membership
cards. Rural areas were frequently mentioned as being particularly weak in in-
creasing Dosaaf membership and'ectivity.
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Blame for these shortcomings was attributed to several factors. The
Pravda article of 22 February criticized party, government, and other public
'organization officials for "failure to understand properly the significance of
Doeaaf's activity and for imagining that increasing the Soviet citizen's military
knowlt3ge is of secondary importance or is even unnecessary because of the USSR's
policy of peace."
This criticism xas repeated in the various articles which folloxed in re-
p~iblic and central newspapers. These articles frequently mentioned shortages of
instructors, equipment, and operating bases ae sources of weakness. -Lack of
cooperation with Dosaaf by Komsomol and other public organi~.ations xas also cited
as as important factor in hindering the society's development. In connection with
this, acme figures on Komsomol membership in Doseaf were given.' For example, in
the Moldavia and Latvian SSRs less than 25 percent of all Komsomol members have
,~oi.ned Dosaaf; 1n the Georgian SSR, 45 percent have joined.
Statistical information taken from these articles and also from several
articles in the Dossaf press which appeared during 1.he same period is given belox,
by republics. Only eight republics are represented because information on Dosaaf
in the others was either unavailable or too general to be of interest.
Belorussian SSR
During 1952, Doesaf ranks in the republic grew by half a million.(1),
Another article reports that membership doubled in this period In many
?kolkhozea and other institutions all workers are Dosaaf members. Last year,
more than 7,000 members took part is boating cruises.(1) However, about half
of the new members have not received membership cards or paid their dues, and
is general tens of thousands of members have no cards or have paid nc duea.(2)
daring the pest year and a half, Dossaf memership is Baranovichskays
Oblast doubled.(3)
Georgian SSR
Although hundreds of new Dosaaf ~+rimary organizations have been created
in the republic, Dosaaf activities are unsatisfactory, largely beca~ise of the.
lack of Komsomol cooperation xith the society. Only about 45 percent of the
Komsomol members in Georgia belong to Doseaf and in certain rayons this per-
centage is loxer: in Lagodekhakiy Rayon, of more than 4,000 Komsomol members
only 1,412 are Dosaaf members; in Signakhskiy Rayon, of 3,000 Komsomol members
1,300 belong to Dosaaf.(4)
During the peat year the number of Dosaaf members in the republic has
increased by 13 percent. Dossaf work is poor in the numerous forestry enter-
prises of the republic, and Doseaf primary organizations have been created at
only 20 logging points.(5)
Although the Riga city DosasY organization has recently grown by many
thousands of members, Dosaaf organizations in most of the r.iral regions of the
republic are inactive and in many kolkhozes there are no Dosaaf primary organ-
izations.
STAT
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Less than a fourth of the republic's Komsomol members belong to Dosaaf, but
despite this the republic Komsomol Central Committee is not taking active measures
to ensure that every Komsomol member ,join the society.(6)
Lithuhnian SSR
Komsomol organizations in the republic are paying very little attention to
Dosaaf work; in Klaypedskaya Oblast, (7) for example, only 18 percent of the
Komaomols are Dosaaf members.
Moldavian SSR
During the past year more than 33,000 new members ,joined Dosaaf. More than
30,000 members took part in cross-country marches. However, primary organizations
of the society are i'or the most part small in membership and weakly organized.
Many Dosaaf members are not enrolled in s++~~lv circles and are not taking an active
pest in the society's program. Last year, Dosaaf membership failed to increase
in 13 rayons and decreased in 13 other rayons. In 127 kolkhozes, and in many
enterprises, schools, MPS, etc., there are still no Dosaaf primary organizations.
In Sorskiy, Dubossarskiy, Kriulyanskiy, and several other rayons, the number of
primary organizations has decreased. During the last year in Olodyanskiy Rayon
alone, 18 primary organizations ceased activit~:~
The majority of Komsomol organizations take little interest in strength-
ening Dosaaf primary organizations; less than one four+,h of all Komsomol members
in the republic belong to Dosaaf.(8j
Dosaaf membership in Tambovskaya, Molotovskays, and ArkhanRel'skaya
oh~g:ta hae shorn little increase during 'the past year. Dosasi work in
Primorakiy Kray and Yaroslavskaya Oblast is on a particularly low level.(9)
In Yaroslavskaya Oblast during the past year Dosaaf membership increased
by only 15 percent. In Sryanskaya, Kalininskaya, Kurskaya, and V].adimirskaya
oblasts the majority of kolkhozes do not have Dosaaf organizations and existing
organizations have fax members. In Leningradskaya and Tambovskaya oblastis
Dosaaf membership grew by only 7.6 percent and in Kirovskays Oblast membership
decreased.(10)
} In Kurskaya Oblast Dosaaf membership grew by only 18 percent during the
pas. year, while in 16 rayons of the oblast the number of Dosaaf members de-
creased. More than half the kolkhozes of the oblast have no Primary organi-
zation.(11)
In Krasnoyarskiy Kray there are no primary organizations in the majority
of kolkhozes.(12)
Ukrainian SSR
The activity of many Dosaaf primary organizations increased during the
past year, but the Ukraine is lagging behind such republics as Georgia and
Uzbekistan in increasing its Dosaaf membership.(13) At present, 95 percent of
Ukrainian kolkhozes have Dosaaf primary organizations. However, in Poltavekaya,
Vinnitskaya, Zhitomirskaya, Chernigovakaya, and L'vovskaya oblasts, work in
creating new primary organizations in the villages is extremely weak. The re-
public has. paid special attention to bringing the rural population into Dosaaf.
In this respect IGamenets=Podol'akaya Oblast has been the most successful; during
the past year the. number of Dosaaf members in the oblast increased by 60 percent.
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STAT
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In Khar'kovekaya Oblast 10 percent of ail adults are Dosaaf members. In
Kharkov itself this figure is higher, and in certain rayons -- Stalinakiy Rayon,
for example -- alm~at all adults are members. In Khar'kovakaya and Voroshilov-
gradakaya oblasta there are Dosaaf primary organizations in all enterprises, in-
stitutions, and schools. Stalinskaya, Zaporozhskaya, Odeaskaya, Zaparkatskaya,
and a fex other oblasta have come close to achieving this also.
zationsClose cooperation has not yet been established with other publi~~ organs-
, particularly the Komsomols. In all, 40 percent of the Komsomols in the
Ulaaine are Dosasf mambers.(2)
SOURCES
1. Minsk, Sovetskaya Belorussiya, 1 Mar 53
2. Moscox, Patriot Rodiny. 25 Mar 53
3. Sovetskaya Belorussiya, 5 Mar 53
~+? Tbilisi, Zarya Vostoka, 27 Mar 53
5. Patriot Rodiny, 1 Apr 53
(i. Riga, Sovetskaya Latviys, 29 Mar 53
?. Vil'nyus, Sovetskaya Litva, 15 Apr 53
8. Kishinev, Sovetskaya Moldaviya, 9 Apr 53
9. Patriot Rodiny, 25 Feb 53
10. Ibid., 15 Mar 53
11. Ibid., 22 Mar 53
12. Moscox, Voyennyye Znaniya, No 4, Apr 53
13? Kiev, Pravda Ukrainy, 24 Mar 53
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