MISCELLANEOUS INFORMATION ON THE CITY OF UZHGOROD AND SURROUNDING AREA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A000600490008-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 28, 2009
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: April 14, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
This Document contains information a8ecting the Na-
tlonai Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.B. Code, as
amended. Its trAnsmission or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
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SECURITY INFORMATION
COUNTRY USSR (Ukrainian SSR)/Czschosovakia
Miscellaneous Information on the City
of Uzhgorod and Surrounding Area
REPORT
DATE DISTR. .
1~- April 1953
NO. OF PAGES 6
REQUIREMENT NO. RD
REFERENCES
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
7HE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT 1S TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
to In the city of Uzhgorod (N'48?38fl E22~16) 90 percent of the adult women are
employed, primarily i.n faetoriesa In the veneer manufacturing plant, t1Fanernyy?
Nlebelnyy Rombin.att? a and in the 1?Lesopilka?B (lumber mill) 70 percent of the
workers are womena O:rl,ly foremen,. supervisors, etco, are mend Women may get
better paid babe if they are members of the Komsomol or are wives of prominent
Communiatso Thex?e are frequent irregularities in the payment of wages, because
of poor organizationo The average earnings of a woman worker is dust enough to
pay far 'food and aoaamcidations9 and at beat for one dress and pair 'of poor quality
f oatwear a yearn One can see them walking in the snow with their toes showingo
After seven years of Ssaviet administration ?~ne son still-see people wearing
clothes bought during the prosperous Czechoslovak erao
2> Yaungsters.r~n leaving school may choose their tradee but cannot change it later,
After six months?pz?eliminary training they go to factories and remain apprentices
(though working practically like grown-up workmen) at average wages of 100 rubles
per month9 plus full-oaarcl in government hostelso Every youth has to be in the
Pioneers ar in the Ra~xlsomol, whether they or their parents like it or noto Thus,
they--are edla.cated in Communism and aro taught to be mere numbers in a collective.
3a Food has become synonymous with "standing in line11,_ Even so, only the basic
foods can be boughtti zt is an appalling situation for a country almost wholly
agricultural, where food used to be plentiful and ea~tremely cheap under .the pre-
war Czechoslovak admi~zistx?atiann The canned food production for the Soviet
A rmy9 such as is produced. in the. Western Ukraine9 is concentrated in Lvovo ,The
mast hateful system o:~ exploitation of the workers prevails in. these factories>
Very high Harms are fixed anc~ non-fulfillment results in severe punishment of
individuals ar entire sections whose wages are then reduced for the benefit of
the few shockworkers anal Party members who work under privileged cond.itians>
This pbenamenon - to be observed in all Cominf orm countries - is a novel type of
class warfare within a class; Coffee is unobtainable for the. average workere
People drink tea only, Geor fan and C e f
equally poor qualityo Now
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there is-only canned fish and crab meat for the civilian .and nos privileged
papulationo There isf, however, plenty of vodkao
Economic Conditions
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4, PE+oplES working on collective faxxns are so hungry that they steal potatoes by
hiding them in t'~aErir sleeves and shirtsa People receive Daly black breads Many
cattle are dying from infections and the, agricultural output is decreasing
because of poor labor organization, In the last agricultural year,. profits d:e-
creased by 30 percent, There is a scarcity of. fertilizers and animal manure9
and seeds are of poor qualityo Soviet agronomists try to compensate for this
by sowcalled "deep plcaughing"o This year was abnormally dry and the corn and
potato crops were catastrophico Only the wheat crisp-was goodo -One kg of potatoes
now officially costs-three rubles9 while last year,`it was only 80 kopeckae
50 -The standard of living in the Carpathof9Ukraine is rapidly growing worsee Since
summer 1951 people stood in line for everything, Those who want to get
fond in the morning have to line up in queues at 0100 hours, ..Shops open at
0700; hoursa People call these 11nes 'PochEarE~:?~ (the Russian word for bread-lines) o
Vegetables have diaapx-eared from the shops and marketa9 rationed-margarine could
be bought once or twice a month, but since last summex it has almost disappearedo
The only relatively cheap product is liquoro .Moscow vodka costs 15 rubles .per
liter and various othE?r kinds of brandy-cost 45`to 56 rubleso A package.of 20
cigarettes costs 1,45 to 5 rubleso They are often damp and moldy, A pair of
leather ahgea made at the Svit Plant in Gottwaldov (Zlin), Czechoslovakia, without
couponse costs 400 to 420 rubleso Soviet-manufactured shoes are cheaper (only
350 to 400 rubles) and the cheapest are those manufactured in Kiev and Uzhgorod.
In summer 1951 cheap shoes appeared on the market4 They last-about three
weeks and cost about ].00 rubleso Woolen materials cost 360 to 450 rubles per
meter, .These. are Bold once. a month, AlI textiles are imported from Czecho-
slovakia? Hungary, and Polanda One has to pay axx additional 220 rubles for booing
them made into a .suit, Motor vehicles are now rare in Uzhgorod< Only State enter -
p rises and: police possess trucks and there are only two (sic).passenger cars left
in the entire cit~o Rent for a town apartment, belonging to communal enterprises,
consisting usually of only one.-room, runs from 30 to 40 rubleso The rent for a
sowcalled civilian apa~.rtment is 150 to 200 t?~tblese
6, Plain, German steel watches, available only on the black market, cost 500 rubles.
German gold watches cost 1,200 rubles, Cameras are rarely seen and those im- --
ported from East Germany, marked "FET" (sic), cost 1,600 rubles. Soviet-made
primitive box cameras cost 60 rubles (in Germany 10 DM) with extremely poor
quality Soviet filmo Kitchen utensils, in limited 'variety and poor quality, are
sold at the Univermago A concern called Dynamo sells bicycles and sporting
goads, The cheapE+st bicyole, without accessories, coats 750 rubles and the so-
called racing bicycle costs from 1,200 to 19300 rubleso A football costs 60 to
70 rubleso Asingle-barrel small?bore gun coats 280 rubles and a double-barrel
shotgun costs 800 rubleso
Entertainment
o The former cafes are tea shops now, in which some meatless dishes.can be obtained,
for two to three rubles, and fishy There are only two movie theaters in Uzhgorod,
the??Oza~,ia?"andAOMoskva" H'rom time to time an old Hollywood film-can still be seen,
such as Tarzan or-Rose Marie, and then the housE~ is packeda Otherwise only
Soviet films are shown. before half-.empty housesa Films have to b? passed by the
local Communist Party censoring committee, Workers are entitled to l4 days
leave a year, which they .need not take and may instead receive monetary compen-
sation, Recreation centers in the Carpathian mountains are reserved for some
five percent of the privileged shockworkerso So far, no Carpatho-Ukrainian worker
has gone to any of the famous Soviet recreatioxi centers in the Crimea or Caucasus.
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8. The Uzhgorod hospital ie overcrowdedo people lie ova mattresses spread on_the
..floor and, if more ser:tously-ill patients are .brought to the hospital, those who
suffer from minor diseases are simply thrown out. This"hospital has only three
experienced doctors, irhile a number of Bxissian physicians Izave ao experience
whatsoever sad litera7l.ly learn on the patients. Mcre serious operations are
done by local doctors, less serious ones by the Russians, Nho are considered to
be stupid. and primitiveq ~[ortali ty rates even among the lase ~ seriously il]: are
highs
Town Broadcaetin~
9.
.-
,Town broadcasting is L-ransmitted through public loudspeakers, bellowing from-
dawn to-dusk. 1nti~Annericaa slogans are repeated in Rassian Butheaiaa, and
Hungarian. People-prefer to listen to-the 'Voice?of America, BBC, and broadcasts
from- Parise
lOo
The official language in elementary schools is so~.villages with a Hungarian
ma3ority is Hungariano But in secondary schools children-are taught ia:8ussian
or 8utheaian.
Forced Labor Camas "
11.
12.
There are no such camps is the Carpatho-Ukraine and all. suspic~tous persons are
deported. to concentration camps in Siberia. Punishments are very strict and the
most severe ones are for violation of guard duties is the frontier zone. -Two
soldiers were sentenced to 25 years of forced-labor is Siberia. for not xraporting
footprints Qn the`plonghed field. in the frontier zone.
e
Arm
Civilians are arrested secretly, primarily during the night, and are taken into
custody in,-small groups. Their relatives hear from them only after three to four.
months, because such people are usually transported to Siberia. People are asked
to pvoluntarily" accept civilian fobs, primarily is the Doabass,under the promise
of higher wages, Others are taken there by.force. $ome try to escape from the
Donbass to .the Ukraiae,,where they are usually caught by the MAD. "The'``chiefagent
for the deportation of suspicious persons from the Caroathc,,.-IIkraine i8 Snrt_ ffnnl
s
O:ommu~ist Controls
13. The Uzhgorod Communist Pe.rty headquarters and Secretariat has premises on-the 9th
floor. of "the 1004meter?-high building with escalators built by thee. pre-war Czecho-
slovak administration for the Trans-Carpathian legislative?assembly.~ The build-
3ng ie under the guard of the $luzhba Bezpelce,(Security Service) and of members
of the Frontier Guard. There is free access to all floors except the 9th floor,
-for which passes are needed.. These .are. yellow: brown, }:lave two pages, and a photo-
graph of the holder. Head of the area Communist'-Party Committee is Stefan
Turiauica, a chimney-sweep by trade,_of Hungarian nationality, who was prominent
at the time of the- Hun~,rian occupation during Varld ~1ar II. 8egnlar meetings of
the area Committee takes place on Wednesdays sad Fridays. The Co~uittee is a
gang of uneorupulous adventurers, .imposed by dictatorial methods upon: the p?ap-t.
lation,, whose fate they decide according to order$ from Koscow.
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l~#. The leading Communists in Uzhgorod areo Janos 8o11od, Janos Kovacs, and
Nlizabeth Jefosak (?re.t), who is a secretary of the Communist Party sad at
the same time also a peopl~? ~ fudge is Palagy. (~T,s~,~s a].1 these names are
Hungarian.) ~ ,
15. Ia the area of the Party headquarters building, there is a four-story house
occupied by the Ravi?t Security Serviae;``Outsiders are admitted by the officer
on duty on producing a summons. .These e~ are net posted but era delivered
by messengers of the Security Service headquarters sad read brieflye .aReport
cn (date) at (time)'at,Section so~and.so"; beneath this- there is a stamp with
the 8oeiet~star and care signature, The Security Service controls all district
sad local committees sad has awide-spread network; of informers. District sad
local.committees have their own 8ezpeka'ageats (ao~etimes the chairman),-who is
turn employ a nwoaber of informers.
16. All letters sent to o~ recseived from foPeign tries are cisasored by;the
Bezpeka,~ad inland .mail, at least most of it is censored-
- b eats ox informers a to e8 as clerks at the pos o oesa
Unlike in Satellite couAa riea,,ia the Uzhgorod area one need not post a letter,
addressed abroadA personally sad-produce ;hie identity card.because the lo,oal
informers know all ,senders- and their usual addreaeew~ abroad. Le't~ers, the
origin or content of whi~sh is not quite clear, are either held vtp for moAthe or
not dispatcshed, at all. '
17, Intelligence material concerning Carpatho-Ukrainians abroad, be they political
refugees or normal emigrants, is also gathered sad dealt with at the Uzhgorod
Bezpeka Hq,
16. The civilian population has no idea what is going oa behind the walls of nay
Soviet Army barraokee People avoid even looking at thorn, because ehowiizg the
slightest interest raeane risking being sent to a forced labor camp in Siberia.
19, Political indoctrination for workers takes place a couple,of boars weekly during
working .time, and after? working hours is the evenings between 2000' and' 2400 bourn.
As of the date of this report, the main topic was that American imperialism is
leading the world into a new world war and that,it is tt?yiag to spread tho Korean
ooafl-iota The heroic resistance of the Soreaa.people a$ainat the American
aggressors was also cowereda
2f3. Political schooling of the Soviet Army was increased to 16 #~ours,per week. . poly
one person in 100 is a member of the Communist Party and these are, usually
factory managexs and senior ofFicia,ls.
21. ,The Communist indoctrination lecturers are sparing ao ~~f ort is aaueiag a split
between the industrial, and city workmen oa the cne side sad the peassats oa the
other. Despite this,,re,latioas between these equally exploited and suffering
classes have remained good, Peasaate are atill'searetly seh iag food tc.city
dwellers sad workers i.n factories, though only in,a very'limitod measure, for the
control is as tight ae~,it can be. Despite all the anti-Western aild anti-American
propaganda a~.d iz~doctx'inatioa, :people is .cities- and villages-.are fcrever'.dreaming
of the return of the good, aid times of prewar Czechoslovakia. Indeed, even
the-brief war+~time Hungarian regime today seems less oppre>wisive is comparison
with the Soviets. When Communist speakers discuss the threat of American aggression,
intimate friends in t}a~e audience whisper to one aaathers nPlease GFod, Met .them
start, .the eponer the better". .And no wonder; with the Soviets came the bread-?
line, completely unknown even in this comparatively poor mouatairs-provinea; eom~.
puleion sad police terror in evea~r.aspect of life; ,the constant threat of de-
portation sad labor caaaps; .shortages of all. commaditiee; eaplaite~tio~a sad .being
cheated by a cold and ruthless admiaietration; the inability to voice dissatis-
faction; no ~uetice; emd no~p rotection -~ not even ,protecti,oa against disease sad
death, 'T'here is as appalling lack ofhygiene and the death rate is maternity
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hospitals has risen tco unheard of,proportionse Another reason-for the general
increase in mortality is the .lack of qualified doctorso The welfare of this
coun;tx?y, whichs undex? the premwar Czechoslovakian ad~ninistratione was ..gradually
approaching Western standards9 which e4en the last war coulel not destrby,:has
been. reduced to a state of abject poverty and alavary in a..mera seen years of
Soviet ruled No wonder that relatlone between-the administration and tie pc~pu-
lationa between ~ana~;ament and the workers, ax?e very bad, The much heralded
target. of finishin he .?esen F ve-dear Plan.ln. three years will never ba
accomplished 25X1
22o A Czechoslovak delegation of 80 people travelling to .Moscow. in March 1952
stopped at Uzhgorod emd a banquet was held in theix honor $t the Hota1 Korunaa
The space around the hotel was surrounded by the 1~"Ds.nevertheless, 400 silent
spectators gathered x^ound the hotelo
23? A Huxigarian delegation .travelling through Uzhgorod in A~fay 1;952 made an inspection
of the only new item constructed in the six years since the Province of Bukovina
eras .taken from Czechoslovakian a childrenee train. in an Uzhgorod parko
The Soviets Army
'Since -1949 .solii?ier$
the haired of the soldiers towards the Russian.commandarsa
in'.service wer? not .allowed to associate with ci~'il.ianea
.250 New Soviet Army barrackss reportedly for artillery uaitss axe'~`under~comstruction
in Uzhgorod on Dravice.(sic) streeta -They will consist of a.~ive~atQry, broad.
LT/pm shaped buildings the eentral b7.oek being 80 m and. the two side blocks 40 m
ea(Sh O
Airfie ds
26, Nine km from the city,UzhgorodH in the vicinity. of 1Kale,Ratovica, a large.
airfield for het aircraft is tinder constructiono The prohibited area around
this site covers 205 a 1,5 km, Construction of .the runways, made of iron platers
started in summer-1951? Eangars anti.barracks are ,also under construction4 A
radar statian, situated between Uzhgorod and .its sub>xrb of Mna,~ska (si:c)
.consists of one large radar~towarfl 20 m highs and of two smaller anesy.each
nine m high, Another new airfield is located not far from the city. of Mukacavo
`(N48?26a E22m43) behind a castle, The prohibit?d area, around this''aixfield is
4 x 4 kmo Three to four bets have been- b ei a x~vpeat.edly startles from this
aiz?fieltlo The largest formation was nine tP t?n aircrafta 25X1
Rai3r~ads
27a ash railroad line from Uzhgorod to Ye7.ke gapusany; Czechoslovakian' which was
dismantled in 1948, is being.raconatructed in a great hurry-as a broad-gauge
Partisan Activities
28, The last.(sic) partisan activity occurred in 195q in a forest near Uzhgorod
when two Ruthenian partisans were wounded and transferred to an Uzhgorod. hospital;
three-other maxi were shot on the spot and seven succeeded in escap~.nge
29, In summer 1952 a violent skirmish between MPD men and partisans occurred in .the
vicinity of S~hernovtsy (R48-188 E25~55), during which 30 MV'D man were eh,ot,
30? In summer 1951 partisan.activity cut traffic in the Uzhgorod Pass for three
consecutive dayso .
31, A large group of Poliah paa?tisans are still operating Haar Cherriovtsy in
Bukovinao During the night they sometimes step all .the railway;t,raffiao t3thar
groups are said'to be operating around Lvov (R49m50, T24.~p0)e
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32< In dune 1952 two stores of ammunition were discovered by the Soviet Army in the
hamlet of Oro They contained 60 rifles with ammunition, two submachine guns',
'piles of hand~grenad~s, pistols, and disassembled.mot.orcyclesa This attack on
Or was organized by the:MVDswhich surrounded the. place and for three days
allowed nobody to enter or leave, A11 men Dyer 18 years were arrested and,a
rumor spread among-the inhabitants that the hautlet would be .evacuated, The
arms wexe found in ~, cellar covered by a stack of .strawo
Frontier Zono
33a A strip9.about seven to eight km wider along the Czechoslovak?Soviet bcrder~
inside Soviet territveyfl is the so=called.t1forbid:den zone"o Entrance to this
zon.e'is allowed vnl.y on special en,try~passese valid. for specific sectorse .Those
marked with bomber ??.1"9 entitle a person t? enter the frostier zones while passes
marked with number ??~b? do not entitle one to .enter the "forbidden zone"o At
night the frontier gua,rdsoften surround a group of villages and, os the following
days-search all the houses and inhabitants, looking for American spies and.
"diversionists1Bo Frontier guards have doge .and horsese The-Czechoslovak-Soviet
frontier is'covered by a flaremfielda.five m wide, interwoven with alarm wiresg
twenty to thirty cm above the groundo Beyond this there is a ploughed field
where evex^y footprint can be seen,and then comes another flax?e-field surrounded
by a barbed wire barr3.er, two m high and four m wide.o
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