THE MILITARY POLITICAL COLLEGE AT GORKIY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A002800380006-7
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 9
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 4, 2013
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: December 2, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
SECRET
SECURITY INFORMATION
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 contebts
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
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COUNTRY USSR (Gorkiy Oblast)
SUBJECT
DATE OF INFO.
PLACE ACQUIRED
The Military Political College at
Gorkiy
REPORT
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES
REQUIREMENT NO. RD
REFERENCES
2 December 1953
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THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
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kin
I STATE
SECRET/SECURITY INFORMATION
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AIR
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A',FENDIX
The rilitary Political College at Gorktif
Index
1. Introduction
2. General Information
3. Organisation of .the College in. 1950-1951
4.
5. The Senior Officers' Course.
The Normal Course.
7. The Correspondence Course -
S.- Ihu Shortened Junior Officers' Course.
Ihtro.luction
_ ? ?
b) Taterial supplied in this Appendix is mostly concerned xith the
GORTIrPolitical Co'/uge, with some information about Armed Porccs
Political Schools in the USSR.
2. General Information
Lthure we in the Soviet Army four
Raitical ;ollc es (VOITNO-PDLITIMSKaL UCHILISHCFE) wWch trained
Junior Political?officers as ZAWOLITs (Deputy Commanders for political
affairs) at Comnany, Squadron .or Artillery Troop level. Th so Collees
were in LWE7GREP, GORY.% 1117A and:Wv,
The nor:oal course in all these Collees lasted two years. The
minimum standard of general education required of candidates was seven
classes of :sccondary school. Candidates were selected from NO0s.-
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-2- Appendix B.
Apart from thc normal junior officers' courses there were alSo various
special or advnced officers' courses. In.aututm 195/ al] the Colleges
were closed down c7cco-at for 1LYINqRAP Colloe, which became the only
Amy Politiaal Collec for junior officers. The L-IYIN0RAD Collc,c was ,
reerganised on the basis of other ofticers' schools. ?The course there
lasts three .,-CPYZ. The minimum general education standard remains
unchanged arid candidates arc accepted not only from among'NO0s, but also ?
frem ciViliap volunteers who sdceeed in passing all the various checks
and cxaminationa. There were also in LENTIMAD some snecial courses
sir. ilar to those at the GORTIf College. When the GOPYTTCollee was
closed down dtudents were transferred to'WTUTCaLD and finished their
education tiere.
b) Th D17TTPolitical College was converted in autumn 1951 into an
'Officers' Sinals College. .- hthe new GORT717'
Signals!.?olle:c will train radar specialists;
the prea:)n2e of p. radar cediPment ordnance,factory?in the southern
outskirts 07 at "Fra", near the new Signals College.
3. Orpali.sation of the Collegc in 1950-1951
. a) The oicial nay:e., of the?Coll..,e was "The Or,er of the-Red Banner .
GORKIIII:ilitary "olitical College calb.td after hikhailyasilievich "RUN"
(ORDUTA Kg ONOCO ZNAUEI GORKOvSak VINNO POTIT.TICSYCr U0,7LIST:.M
fl.gIIIKT114LA VSILIrVI11-A 77UME).
The lomanding Officer was Y.D.j. Gen.'LLTS"V, 50X1-HUM
for:zer wart i.e divisional political-officer and member of an troy
rr,Alitary C auncil. Fis 'deputy for political off airs was Col. D=ONO'r.
There wore also three Counter-Aniena e officers, -a Colonel in charge
of trainin:,, oizicers in charge of various trainin': syndicates.(TST7I),'
military aid civilian lecturers, nomnanders of companies tad courses,
and administrative staff.
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b) Durirr4 1.-51 the followin courses laca-c.carried out at the CO271
Political 1011c-e:
1) Two-year normal Junior Political 0 ficers' Course.
ii) )ne-yeat shortened. Junior Political )-ficers' Course.
iii) snecial political course. for Red.-Creek officers.
iv) Si7e-menths Senior Artillery Political .Vficors' Course..
v) nreee-months' course- for 'students taking a political
coric:spondence course.
The Colley_, trained chiefly political staff of artillery arid tank .
'units.
.c) The Oollele occupied a large barracks situated on the. eastern .side
of the SHCH&aBITT71 road on the southern outskirts of the town of GORKIt.
The newly built Colle,.Y.p Club was outside the barracks opoosite the
College main (See Anne:--e 1 to Appendix'A.).
All courses.. lived in similar. conditions. -
Students were acoomodatod in. large halls, .one for each course. Officx
students had a separate dining- hall.. All students were adequately fed.
and, e7r.cult for the officers, wore the usual Officers' School unifors.
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Anoendix B
5. The Scnioa Officers' Thurse
In autu_n 1950 a six-months' course for senior officers was started.
There were a'lort 120 senior officersfrom various artillery units.
Their course, of study was similar to the normal two or one year courses
but much shortened. They concentrated on?nolitical matters and on
artillery tactics and'eolinment. ?
6. ,The Nor. r1 lourse
There were about 600 students on the normal two-year course,
divided into tl-?D equal groups 7 Artillery and Tanks. /heir nrirrae
was similar t, th,: shortened orp-year course and the only difference
between tau.) courses was that the students of the two-year course did
not work as intensively as their colleaues on the one-year course.
The only subject which was taken only in the two-year course was
Political .Lconomy.
7. The Co. -esnendencepour8c.,(24077V7q),
This course was organised in 1951 and lasted three months. The
course was for students serving in their unitswho studied nolitial
work by mca.;s of the correspondence. course and for the last three
months wee called to the College. They attended various lectures and
underwent oractical training and then .pas8ed the normal e:mfAnations.
After the 'exa.lnations they became junior nolitical officers.
B. /he Saortuned Junier Officers' 'Thurso
a) the aim of the shortened political. courses
was to pro .uce as ruickly as possible an adecuate nurnber of trained
junior political officers and thereby to out an end to the shortage of
political .staff. r';'andidates for this course were selected from among
senior NOOs in artillery and tank units, who had .a good service record,
were 'arty ,u..bers, were a7proved of by the YONTRRAIN.ZYA and had
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Appendix B
finished at least seven classes of general education.
b) The Course consisted Of one artillery troop (about 120 students)
and one tank oompany (about 100 students). About 19% of the students
had completed a secondary education; some of these had started
University studies. Some 81:0 had finished 7-9 olasses of secondary
school, and about Tio had only completed six classes. About 80 of
the students were Russians, 15/c were Ukiainians and Belorussians, and the
remainder were Jews, Georgians and one single Chuvash. The students
were ohier.y from the units of the MOSCOW, BELORUSSKIgrand GORKI
Military DIstricts, plus quite a number from the Army Group in Imany.
o) The Commanding Officer of the Course was Lt. Col. MARTYNOV, Hero of
the Soviet Union. The artillery troop Commander was Capt. VERETYUK,
a Jew.
Lt. Col. MARTYNOV, Capt. VERETYUK, the tank company Commander, and
the platbon commanders carried out purely administrative duties. All
matters conoerning the course of studies wore in the hands of the
lecturers, syndicate senior officers, and the Colonel in oharge of
training. There was no difference between the gunners and the
troopers from the tank company except that the former studied artillery
and he latter tank tactics.. All other subjects were identical.
d) . Training
The main syndicates (TSIKL) were:
Thaory of Marxism-Leninism
Party Political Work
Gunnery and Tanks
. Artillery and Tank unit tactics.
There were, however, many other military and general subjects.
The total working hours during the year were approx. 2,600-2,700,
including tactical exercises and firing practice.
(i) Theory of Marxism-Leninism (approx. 800 hours)
This was based on the "Short Course in the History of the VKP(b)",
including Capter XIII (The period, between the XVII Party Conference and
22nd June 1941,0Iapter XIV (The LENIN-STALIN Party during the Great
Fatherlard War and Chapter XV (The LENIN-STALIN Party in the struggle
for the Recovery of the National Economy).
(ii) Party Political Work in the Armed Forces (approx.. 240 hours)
The main points covered Ly this subject were the duties of ZAMPOLITs
in general and, in particular: organisation of unit political activities;
political lectures and exercises (POLITZANYATIYA); political information
on current events (POLITINFORMATSIYA); selection of topics (PODBOR
TEMATIKI); and planning of, political work. In addition there were
lectures on the direction and administration of Party and Komsomol
organisations. The duties of a ZAMPOLIT (Deputy Commander forPolitical
Affairs) were discussed in detail.
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Appendix B
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So far far as relations with the Commander and officers were eoncerned,
the ZAMPOLIT recruits were trained to regard themselves as subordinate
to the Commander in all military questions; If they disagreed with the
Commander on such questions they were to endeavour to persuade him on a
friendly basis and, only if that failed, were they to seek assistance by
going to the next level in the ZAMPOLIT chain of command. This aspect
of the course gave rise to considerable discussien, because many of the
students who had had war experience of political work argued that the
ZAMFOLIT ought to have much more authority over, military matters. But
this point of view was sternly discouraged. As regards relations with
the men, the stress was laid on the duty of the ZAMFOLIT to know the soul
of every man; this zould be achieved not by formal interviews, but by
informal talks on every possible Opportunity With the men in the course of
their military duties. The future ZAMFOLITs were told hew they were to
deal with the troubles that the men would bring to them, the type of
answers that they ought to give and the explanations that should
prove convincing. The general attitude was: the ZAMPOLIT must be able
to oonvinde, completely by his answers and to dispel all doubts, otherwise
he is not fit for his job. There was no discussion during the course
of such questions as defection, leaflets or foreign broadcasts.
The study of the duties of a ZAMFOLIT included lectures on the
probedure for the admittance of new members to the party and to the
Komsomol, as well as how to select them. A separate subject was
"'Duties of a ZAMFOLIT in the field" (e.g. troops in action, in advance and
in retreat, political work during rest, in the summer camps', etc.).
Students were also instructed how to o7anise entertainments on Saturdays
and Sundays: choirs, dancing, etc. how to instruct
platoon commanders in their political duties.
The practical exercises included editorial work on wall news-sheets
and front line leaflets (BOYEVO! LISTOK). There were also discussions
on Various subjects. Students took part in the college and course Party
meetings and in the ceremony of admittance to the Party of some of their
colleagues, as well as of some of their lecturers and officers.'
Students were also instructed,in general terms, on duties of ZAMPOLITs
on the regimental and divisional levels.
iii) Gunnery (ARTSTRELBA) (approx. 500 hours)
This subject dealt with both the theoretical and practioal aspects
of gunnery, artillery equipment and ammunition. Students were trained
in the selection of gun sites, in manning guns and in gun drill. Firing
practice took place at the GOROKBOVETSKA shooting range (about 75 km N.E.
of GORKI!), where students -spent about four days. Each of them fired
3-7 shells frOM 76 mm and 122 mm howitzers. The tank company had their
firing practice in the same area, using T-34 tanks.
iv) Tactics (approx. 400 hours)
This consisted of artillery troop tactics and the work was carried
out entirely in the field. The tactical training included the study of
the organisation of the Soviet Armed Forces, the war establishment of
certain types of artillery and tank units; there were also lectures,
including secret material, on the organisation of foreign armies, and in
particular of the armed forces.
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v) Topography (approx. 40 hours)
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This included map reading, conventional signs, grid bearings,. etc.
Train:Ing was carried out in the field.
vi) Signals (approx. 30 hours)
Training included the construction and manning of telephone apparatus
(type "TAI-43") and of W/T stations (types "A7-B", RB-5" and REM"). ?
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vii) Engineering (approx. 40 hours)
This included field works, in partiCular digging of gun pits,
construction of.Command observation points, bridging and river crossing,
and mine-laying. There were also some lectures on movement of troops.
viii) Chemical Warfare (approx. 12 hours)
This was badly neglected. There were a few lectures on chemical
warfare and the students spent a couple of hours learning about respirators.
ix) Motor Transport (AVTODELO) (approx. 60 hours)
Ztudents were told about the structure of motor vehicle engines and
had twelve hours of 'practice in driving "GAZ 51".
x) Army Manuals and Military Law (approx. 30 hours)
'xi) Physical Training and Drill (approx. 80 hours)
Xii) Military History (approx. 410 hours)
This consisted of a short course on military history from Alexander
the Great and the Roman Empire to the Battle of BERLIN in 1945. The
lecturer, a major, had a very good method of teaching history
xiii) Geography (approx. 150 houll).
The course included the physical, economic and political geography of
the U.S.S.R. and the whole world.
xiv) History of the Soviet Union (approx. 240 hours).
A full course from the 10th century to the present day. The lectures
were based on a text-book of the History of the U.S.S.R. by A. M. PAWATOVA,
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xv) Russian Language (approx. 60 hours)
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Russian language, in particular composition, was
the weak point of nearly 0) of the students. During the course they
improved very considerably.
xvi) Russian Literature .(approx. 40 hours) ?
This included Russian classics of the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries,
and was not a subject of examination.
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e) Examinations and postings
The couree was divided into two six-month terms. After the. first
term students took examinations in all subjects. Between the*ena of the
term and the examinations they had four days' leave which they .spent
preparing for the examinations.
Before the end of the second term two political officers (majors),. one
from artillery and the other from tanks, arrived from the Chief POlitical
Directorate of the Ministry of Defende and interviewed all students,
'asking each student about his future plans and where he wished tc be
posted. This was only a formality, because the majority of students had
already buea posted to the Army Group in Germany. The only exceptions
were those who had serious reasons for asking to be posted inside the
U.S.S.R., and Jews, who were informed "in a cultured way" ,(IM KULTURNO
SKAZALI) that there were no. vacancies in Germany and that they were to
be posted to Asia.
The Final examinations were oral and included the History of the
VKP(b), political work among troops, and tactics. The Examination
Bdard was presided over by Maj. Gen. LATSHEV and the members were the
Deputy Commander for Political Affairs, the lecturers concerned and
representatives from H. Q. GORKWMilitary District. During the
examinations on Tactics the Commanding General of the Military District
was present in person.,
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the results of the course were considered very
satisfactory. On 29th April 1951 all students were commissioned and
were granted a month's leave and then returned to the College, where they
were issued with the necessary documents and proceeded to their destination,
f). Internal diccipline and amenities
Internal discipline in the College was very strict. Students were
kept very busy and had very little time to themselves. Even on Saturday
afternoons and Sundays they often worked voluntarily. Apart from their
course of study they were sometimes engaged in political activities outside
the College, such as visiting factory workers, making speeohes on various
occasions, attending official parades, etc. During the course they had
only four days' leave, but almost all of them stayed in the College working
for the exams. One could obtain compassionate leave provided that one
had very serious reasons for it. There was a College Club opposite the
College premises, where students ( could spend
their free hours. Spirits were not allowed either in the mess or in the
Club, but vodka and beer were obtainable at the Club through "special
channels". ?
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There were dancing parties at the Club during which one could easily
get properly drunk, there were hundreds of girls 50X1 -HUM
from various local offices and factories who were known as "members of the
College". They had their boy-friends among the students of each course.
In some cases students married their College girl-friends and, as there
are no obstacles to marriage in the Soviet Army, except political ones,
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some of these girls, after "attending" several courses, became wives of -HUM
ZAMPOLITs.
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