NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS/SOCIETY OF SOVIET CITIZENS/ RAILROAD UNIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00926A004400050018-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 27, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 22, 2013
• Sequence Number: 18
• Publication Date: November 10, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

Declassified in Part- Sanitized Copy Approved forRelease2013/01/22 : CIA-RDP80-00926A004400050018-1
uu-Nir lurk' ..LLF.Call J. .L.VA.L.0 _
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY Ma churia
SUBJECT Neighborhood Groups/Society of Soviet Citizens/
Railroad Unions
PLACE
ACQUIRED
DATE
ACQUIRED
CD NO.
DATE DISTR. ID Nov
NO. OF PAGES 3
NO, OF ENCLS.
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
50X1-HUr
-9
50X1-HUM
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
OF THE UNITED STATES WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE ESPIONAGE ACT NO
U. S. C.. 91 AND 32. AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR THE REVELATION
OF ITS CONTENTS IN ANY MANNER TO AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS PRO-
HIBITED BY LAW. REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM IS PROHIBITED.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
50X1-HUM
All private citizens in Harbin were organized into neighborhood groupe. Since
persons of various nationalities had to group with others of the same nationality,
there was no chance for us to Observe the activities of groups other than our own.
The Chinese had their own neighborhood groups, and there were societies of Poles
and Czechs. The latter two were very small. Al]. the Harbin Germans have gone to
Tientsin, so there was no German society. The Lutheran Church is now a Chinese
club of some sort. The two Catholic Churches still exist but their schools are
closed down. There is no more private education, and all the convents have been
closed.
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2. Each region of the city had a Society of Local Soviet Citizens.
the Chinese
neighborhood groups had different metropolitan divisions than the Soviet groups.
Our own neighborhood group, the Society of Local Soviet Citizens for otr region,
was composed of about 50 to 6o members, all., of whom were adults. Children had
their own groupa
/ The adult groups had a chairman and an executive committee
of about five meMbers?.who were directly responsible to the head Harbin office
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CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL SECURITY INFORMATION US OFFICIALS ONLY
STATE Ey
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CONFIDENtIAL sEcuAny-:iNokTion/iod' byLciAis ON&
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of the Society of Soviet Citizens. The chairman and committee membere we're
el.ected in a public meeting which wae'attended by visitors from the heal effiee
of the Society. These visitors supervised the meeting, and "recommended"
notitations of the offiCera. Their "recommendations" were carried out utanlmousle,
no one daring to oppose them.
4. Incidentally, when the Society of Soviet Citizens was originally set up, the
effieers were elected by the various neighborhood groups. This was achieved by
having each group send its chairman and twc or three special delegates (depending
upon the size of the neighborhood group) to an election meeting. From time to,
time this procedure was supposed to be carried out again. All meetinge of the
Society of Soviet Citizens, the parent body of the neighborhood groepr) were
attended by the Soviet Consul to Harbin.
5. It was cempelsory for all members to attend neighbcihood group meet?..euze and
eirce it was compulsory for all persons who lived in a neightoehenA to belong to
eithee their neighborhood group or an office group, everyone had tc aetenl
orgeeized meetings. Meetings of all the members of a neighborhood group were
not too frequent, and lid not follow any schedule. They vele ueuelly zallee for
a special occasion, such as a compulsory municipal bond drive or a parade), or a
discussion of a specific political problem or group organizaeion preblem. It
was mandatory to contribute with your group to municipal bond drivee, and to
attend earedee with the group. Municipal bond drives were the only eompJleere
bond drives.
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6. Apart from the general meetings of all members, the group aia not get i..IWher
for the parposes of group activitiee. The executive coemettee wee ie. ebaege or
political education of the group membere, and an dieeesaton group, e and ?elaeeee
in politicee eeonomics, world affairs?and pi on. These elaesee were e7rmally
held at night, and the students were aplit 114e Tette ,group. It wae nee
mandaters to attend the claeses. The eeorle were Riven the ?hoice eteiyeag
at liomeL or attending the cIassee. Lt wee
anneeneed that all those whe were studying,indivi4nally ',tot-me vist pci,i3 tion or or else attend the classes, The examinations 'were tee 1beheld et he ew cf
each eouree. The persons teaching the groups), and all other Fom01"5 tA Ton'eins,
were reqpired to pass examinatione in Communist hietory twiee each yeeeee.
7. The etricteess with which these classes were run depended ta a great exeee ee the
eeighberhood group chairman. Some of the chairmen were very hard on their mem-
bers) and there were cases where they made eighty year o1-4 wemen
aeady Lenin and Stalin until the poor old ladies nearly went oat of their etree.
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8. In the Changchun Railroad there were two general unions, one for the Chinese
employees and one for the local Russian employees. The TWO en!one maentained a
culture center, or communal house, which was split into a Chinese seetien'aed
a local Russian section, for the headquarters employees in Harbin, Neneheade
quarters, or regional, employees who worked in Harbin had a separate clItcre
oenter. Each region of the railroad had a regional culture center with a
nee and and local Russian section, In aadition? the Harbin repair Aftul emplcy,seR
had.a:-arate culture center of their own. Membership in tli.e unize and aeeeed-
' =ale ,of the. union propaganda Meetings at the ealtire center ;Tette 'compeleory for
all employees. Both the Chinese and local Russian unions gave the eame pay
rates to their members for equal work. USSR employees who came from the Soviet
Union. not not members of the unions. They 'belonged to their own unions it: the
USSR. The Y did not mix with the? Chinese or local Rassians at all, and had their
own section of the culture center. The culture center maintained a theater, and
in this theater the USSR Russians sat in a separate section. The USSR Russians
were under orders to keep to themselves and never enter into pelitical diseu;sions
with their co-workers.
CONFIDENTIAL SECURITY INFORMATION/US OFFICIALS ONLY
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/01/22 : CIA-RDP80-00926A004400050018-1
Declassified in Part- Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/01/22: CIA-RDP80-00926A004400050018-1 :1 -HUM
CONFTD04.01, SECURITY INF0RMATI0N/US Oie.FICIALS ONLY
Bach department of the railroad elected one member to. he central of
'the geueral rnionQ Thue:the?Cntial:oattee of thelocallRnsaian ,v,Inion bad
member fm each department, and the Chinese ,union had aCcal`k.?less repre-
4entatiye fret each department on Its c ttee. The coite of_eac.of'the.
nnionSdecided all unioix matters;UndOnbtediy in close coOperation with each
. ,
otherc;
10; Aparefrom the general railroad union of local Russian emplgyeea, there were
profeasiional uft;Rns for doctors; engineers and 90 onl to.whict railroad
employees, could belong. These profesaional unione, emberahip in -which waq
ComPu1sqry0,tere under the s'nperviaiOn of the Society,ofSoviet;
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11. In addition to the above there :was a Rnisian-dhinese FriendshipSOcity in the
iailroad.' and also one' in'aarbin for non-railroad neon1e.,
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end
CONFIDENTIAL SECURITY INFORMATION/US OFTTIALS ONLY.
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Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2013/01/22 : CIA-RDP80-00926A004400050018-1