1. PARTISAN ACTIVITY AND DEPORTATIONS IN LATVIA 2. ECONOMIC CONDITIONS IN LATVIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A000900390005-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 7, 2003
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: May 19, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2003/12/04: CIA-RDP80-0081OA000900390005-5
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
SECRETE
COUNTRY USSR (Latvian SSR)
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SUBJECT 1, Partisan Activity and Deportations
in Latvia
2. Economic Conditions in Latvia
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1.
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Y
ARMY NAVY
STATE
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AEC
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This Document contains Information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.S. 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.
REPORT NO.
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES
REQUIREMENT NO.
REFERENCES
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
Although the Latvian people were dissatisfied with the occupation of their
country, with the Communist government, and with the policy of Russification,
do not believe that there was any organized and effective re-
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sistance movement in Latvia. Onever saw any illegal newspapers or hand-
bills, and Odo not know of the existence of any illegal press or distribution
system for handbills. In 1950, the partisans killed the chairman of the executive
committee and a finance official in the community of Sviluciems, and some parti-
sane were arrested for the assassinations. In 1951, a Soviet security policeman
,was killed and robbed of his clothes on the streets of Lepaya, and
assume that the murder was committed by partisans. there was
have not heard of any organized partisan movement in the Latvian forests in the
last year or two.
less partisan activity in the Lepaya area than in the Dund.aga forests, and
2. The police headquarters in Lepaya was located 'in the office of the former police
prefecture on T{urau iela. The MVD or MOB office was located in the White House,
Balta maid, on Ulicha iela, between Pelau iela andJurmalas iela. An MVD or
MGB headquarters was located on the eastern side of Padomju prospekts, not far
from Grandu iela, and next to the local office of the Ministry of Defense.
25X1 do not know which of the offices was used by the MVD and which was
used by the MGB, policemen were well-dressed, and had better-
25X1 looking uniforms than those worn by soldiers. The streets of Lepaya were
patrolled by traffic police who were not armed, and by patrols which were armed
with 1Vagants, a type of Soviet pistol. Police rarely checked documents of persons
on the streets, and would stop-:-`an individual only if he was conspicuous in some
manner. A twenty-four-hour police post was located at the north end of the
bridge between Old Lepaya and New Lepaya. Documents of all persons who
w it,'''?' RtC~Cs CENTER
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crossed the bridge at night were supposed to be checked, but
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the police rarely stopped passersby for this check. There was
no check of documents in railroad cars or in the railroad station, and there
had been no mass check of documents in entire sections of the city of
Lepaya for a whole year. Automobile traffic was checked by the MVD at
a permanent post which was located on the highway to Grobina and Perkone.
3, In May 1945, the Soviet authorities arrested and deported all police
officials, home guardsmen, and people who were suspected of having
cooperated with the German troops or occupation forces. Many of these
deportees were put to work on the Stalin Canal, and, although some of
them later returned to Latvia, they were deported again in later deporta--
tions. The second mass deportation took place in the summer of 1948, and
was part of the first intensive collectivization of Latvian farmland. The
number of persons who were arrested and deported was apparently larger
25X1 in Lithuania than in Latvia. at least nine families
were deported from the village of Butini, but only one family was deported
from the Sventoji area during this 1948 deportation. Deported families
were sent to the Irkutsk area, where they were put to work in forests.
The first letters from the deportees began to arrive in Latvia about four
months after they were deported, and then there was regular exchange of
mail with these persons. The third great deportation took place in April
and May 1919, and was considerably more widespread than the two previous
deportations. This deportation was directed primarily against the agrarian
population, although many urban dwellers also were deported. Persons who
were deported were transported from the railroad stations at Kara Osta
and Grobina in Lepaya, and eventually reached the Omsk region, where they
25X1 were put to work in the coal mines and on sovkhozy. These deportees ap-
parently had better living conditions than the Latvians who were sent to
25X1 Irkutsk; they were not confined in camps and, though they could not leave
2 5X1 their camps or the area, they were permitted to correspond with friends
in Latvia. The fourth large deportation, which was smaller than previous
25X1 deportations, tQQk place in the fall of 1951. only
about thirty persons were arrested in Lepaya at this time, althoughl
25X1 there were many arrests in Lithuania in the same deportation,
individual deportations still continue; arrests are made at
25X 1 night, and persons who are to be moved from Latvia are kept in prisons and
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moved from the area about once a month,
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a new sheet iron mill at the Sarkanais Metallurgy has
produced only inferior goods since it began production in 1951;
only one out of every 100 matches produced by the Lepaya match
factory would strike. As an example of the rise in production requirements,
in 1950 the normal catch for a fishing trawler was 120 tons.
The norm was raised to 150 tons in 1951, and in 1952 trawlers had to catch
200, tons of fish to meet the new norm standard. Wages of Latvian workers have
been cute A skilled worker in the Sarkanais Metallurge, a metal plant, was
paid 1,000 to 1,200 rubles a month in 1949 or 1950, but in 1951 the same worker
received no more than 800 or 900 rubles a month. The average pay of an
unskilled worker in the Tosmare Shipyard in Lepaya was between 600 and
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700 rubles a month, A night watchman in a factory was paid 300 rubles. A
typesetter in a printing office received about 700 rubles, and an average
office worker probably was paid no more than 350 rubles a month. A lower
school teacher received about 600 rubles. A chauffeur was paid about 420
rubles a month. Salaries of officers were thought to be considerably higher
than those of workers, and naval officers apparently were better paid than
25X1 army officers, a lieutenant in the army had a take-
25X1 home salary of between 700 and 1,500 rubles a month, with correspondingly higher
salaries for the higher ranks. widow :of an army
major who received a monthly pension of 2,500 rubles. Actually, however,
salaries were lower than the above figures indicate, since there were various
25X1 automatic deductions for such things as trade-union dues or health insurance.
The largest single deduction was made for purchase of state bonds. Purchase
of bonds was not officially obligatory, but in actual fact
all workers had to agree to purchase bonds in amounts which corresponded to
25X1 their incomes. Onel who purchased bonds for 1,000 rubles in 1950,
says that in 1951 he had to purchase 1',500 rubles' worth of bonds, and that in
1952 he was to have spent 2,000 rubles on government securities. The total
purchase price of the bonds was deducted from the salaries of the workers in
the course of a year.
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Living conditions were somewhat more difficult in 1952 than they were in 1946
and 1947, and lit was more difficult to purchase clothing,
materials, and all foodstuffs, except bread, than it was in the first years
after the war. after the war it was possible to purchase
goods from reserve stocks which were released, or from the surplus products of
the independent farmers; In 1952, tobacco was available in unlimited quantities,
and 25 cigarettes of the Belomar type cost 2.30 rubles. Potatoes cost 1.20 to
2.50 rubles a kilo, and tea cost about 3 rubles for 50 grams. Clothing and
shoes were scarce, and employees of stores apparently bought
up most of the available goods for their friends and relatives, though,if the
buyer was willing to pay more than the stated sale price, clerks would sell
these items. To illustrate the limited quantity of goods in stores,
the Lepaya textile administration, which supplied textiles
to Lepaya stores, received only nine meters of lining material in 1951. I
Woolen
material of the e cheapest quality cost about 140 rubles a meter. A finished
suit cost about 350 rubles, but a cheap suit of this type
was made of the poorest material and workmanship, and probably would wear for
only a few months. Wool which was used in workehirts of a type worn by fisher-
men was a standard type of dark blue material which cost about 350 rubles a
meter when it was available. it had not been possible to
purchase better quality woolen goods for the last two years, but they estimate
that such woolen material would cost between 500 and 1,000 rubles a meter. It
was impossible to purchase a good, ready-made suit in Lepaya, butl _J
in Riga a good suit could be purchased for about 5,000 rubles:
Shoes were not readily available; a pair of composition-type shoes cost about
85 rubles, and a cheaper pair of shoes with a kind of rubber sole cost about
53, rubles, Shoes of this quality lasted about three months. A pair of simple,
leather shoes with leather soles would cost at least 350 rubles., During the
winter of 1951/52 it,:was possible to purchase Czechoslovakian leather shoes
with raw rubber soles for 500.rubles a pair. High boots and rubber boots were
rarely available, and fishermen needed a special certificate from the fishing
kolkhoz in order to be able to purchase rubber boots.
6. After the spring of 1952 it was more difficult to purchase foodstuffs, and meat
25X1 and ,lard were riot .available on the market. The sudden disappearance of meat
aroused widespread. rumors that meat supplies were being stored up as part of
25X1 Soviet preparations for war. the large meat combine, in
Lepaya, formerly known as Bekona Exports, delivered its entire production to
the military authorities. a great deal of live-
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this may have been one reason for .the meat shortage. When meat
was available, beef cost between seventeen and twenty-five rubles a kilo,
mutton cost between fourteen and twenty rubles a kilo, and lard cost between
thirty-eight and forty rubles a kilo. Butter was occasionally available, and
cost between forty and forty-five rubles a kilo, though it usually was sold
only in 200-gram quantities. Bread could be purchased without difficulty;
most stores sold the so-called "Stalin loaf," which was made of a rather taste-
less rye flour and cost 1.80 rubles a kilo. A better grade of rye bread,
which resembled the bread which formerly was eaten in rural areas of Latvia,
could be purchased on kolkhoz markets for six or seven rubles a kilo. White
bread was rarely available, and always was inferior in quality when it could be
purchased. Flour was sold only on the market, on important holidays such as
New Year?s, the First of May, or the October Festival. Brandy cost 22.50 rubles
a half-liter, and it could be purchased in unlimited quantities from the so-
called "Amerikanskiy kiosks". These kiosks were open day and night, and closed
only three hours out of twenty-four. Sugar cost eleven rubles a kilo, and was
somewhat easier to purchase than it had been in the past. Coffee cost about
sixty-four rubles a kilo, and rarely was available. Chocolate cost about 450
rubles a kilo. Sausage rarely was available.
7. Rubber items were scarce, but after the winter of 1951/52 it was somewhat
easier to purchase synthetic rubber bicycle tires. A complete tire with inner
tube cost sixty rubles, but because of the inferior quality of the rubber, a
tire usually did not last more than four months when it was used regularly.
Automobile tires were rarely available, and informants say that a fairly large
number of automobiles-belonging to factories or officials could not be used because
they had no tires. Automobiles occasionally were on sale in Lepaya, and better-
paid workers sometimes would own an automobile; several of the fishermen in the
Bolshevik kolkhoz owned automobiles, while several other fishermen owned motor-
cycles. Motorcycles cost between 6,000 and 9,000 rubles. A bicycle produced
by the Riga bicycle factory, Sarkana Zvaigyne, formerly known as the Ehrenpreis
Factory, cost as much as 3,600 rubles.
8. Wrist watches were very popular, and cost at least 450 rubles. Waterproof
watches were not available. A woman's good, gold watch cost between 1,500 and
2D000 rubles, but a simple pocket watch could be purchased for as little as
250 rubles.
9. Even goods which normally were available would occasionally be in short supply.
Such simple items as lined paper and envelopes hardly ever could be purchased.
Informants say military personnel purchased their supplies from the Voyentorg
stores. The Lepaya garrison and troops in the area of Lepaya were served by
25X1 26 Voyentorg stores which always were plentifully stocked. In April of every
year there were widely-publicized sales, but these sales
25X1 as fraudulent, and Othere was very little, if any, cut in normal prices.
25X1 in the months preceding the sales, prices of items were raised
so that after being marked down items would cost what they normally had cost in
the past. The kolkhoz markets were not affected by the April price cuts.
10. All churches in Lepaya were still intact and were used regularly. There were
very few ministers or priests, and services often were conducted by organists
or bell ringers. The Pavilosta church had been'converted into a club.
11. Since the end of the war a number of Jews had settled in Lepaya, usually having
2 5X1 come to Latvia from the interior of the Soviet Union.
Jews were given choice positions in the government, and that the average Soviet
was anti-semitic for this reason.
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