ATTITUDE OF UKRAINIANS TOWARD COLLECTIVIZATION AND THE SOVIET REGIME

Document Type: 
Collection: 
Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): 
CIA-RDP82-00047R000200800009-1
Release Decision: 
RIPPUB
Original Classification: 
C
Document Page Count: 
2
Document Creation Date: 
December 23, 2016
Document Release Date: 
April 17, 2013
Sequence Number: 
9
Case Number: 
Publication Date: 
May 15, 1953
Content Type: 
REPORT
File: 
AttachmentSize
PDF icon CIA-RDP82-00047R000200800009-1.pdf211.96 KB
Body: 
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/11/04: CIA-RDP82-00047R0106860009-1 CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY INFORMATION REPORT COUNTRY USSR DATE DISTR. /5 May 1953 SUBJECT . Attitude of Ukrainians toward Collectivization NO. OF PAGES and the Soviet hegime 2 50X1 PLACE NO. OF ENCLS. ACQUIRED (LISTED BELOW) 50X1 DATE SUPPLEMENT TO ACQUIRED DA S OF INF REPORT NO, 50X1 TNIS POCUMINT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFICTIN4 TN! NATIONAL gggggg or Two UNIT!! gggggg WITNIN TN! MIANINO or TITLE IS, 114,1049 791 AND 794, OP TN! N.!. cogg, Ag AMMO. ITS gggggg 11110N ON ROY!. LATION OF ITS C0%7111711 TO OP ROCIIIPT IT AN UNAUT0011I110 PgRODN Ig PRONIBIT10 BY LAW. THS ggggg RUCTION OF THIS FORM II PROHIBITS*. THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION 50X1 50X1 2. Ukrainians were strictly against collectivization. The policy took away their land, cattle, and other personal property and it took away certain freedoms. Opportunities for making a decent living were completely curtailed for Ukrainians who did not collectivize. High taxes, imposaible to pay, were levied against farmers. In order to exist, therefore, farmers had to submit to . collectivization- Many means of passive reaistanee were attempted, of course. These consisted of improper-tillage of soil, late planting in the spring, poor sowing of grain seedy and. improper cultivation and allowing many weeds to grow. 3. Freedom of religion did not exist following the Revolution even from the beginning. Churches were destroyed or they were converted to storage buildinga or club houses. Priests and other church personnel were slsin or sent to Siberia. Those who attended the few remaining churches were under eonstant surveillance. Moat people conducted services in their homes or in forests. Such persecution held sway in spite of the fact that the Soviet constitution stated specifically that there would be freedom of religion. 4. A program of Russianization began in an evolutionary manner throughout the Ukraine. This was true especially in large cities. It went on in spite of the fact that the Soviet constitution allowed for nationalistic cultural freedoms to remain. Conversation in Ukrainian wae not forbidden officially, but larger schools began conducting the-1r courses in the R1:36i811 language and introduced Russian textbooks. Toward the end of my period in the USSR (up to 1944), it was dangerous to converse in Ukrainian anywhere. It was during this period that Ukrainian culture was called the product of the "Great Russian Nation". CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL/SEC.URITY INFORMATION DISTRIBUTION State EV Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/11/04: CIA-RDP82-00047R000200800009-1 Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/11/04: CIA-RDP82-00047R000200800009-1 CONFIDENTIAL/SECURITY INFORMATION - 2 - 50X1 5. Concerning controls imposed on Ukrainian inhabitants and documents which they had to possess, all Ukrainians had to carry a document called a national passport. They carried this constantly. This so-called passport, however, did not give an individual the privilege to travel. Travel was not %Daly forbidden outside the country but between cities in the Ukraine. To travel between cities, one had to ,obtain special permission from the police. This involved answering standard questions:- "Why are you going", "Where", "To Whom", and "How longewill you 5t52x1 6. Concerning the mention of NWD-MGB installations in Kiev, It was located just off the seuare opposite St Sofia Cathedral. _ it became impossible to secure employment without obtaining about 20 special permits from the HUD. They had branch offices located in every factory, in every institution o150X1 learning, and in every police station. 50X1 7. The greater portion of Ukrainians were, and always will he, against the regime. 50X1 Developed as it was out of a rrogram of terror, starvation, genocide,, and untruth, it was supported by only an infinitesimal percentage of the population. 8. At the beginning of the regime, the propaganda of full freedom was accepted and perhaps liked by the people after having been under the serfdom of the Czarist regime for many years. This freedom, however, was soon proven to be only propaganda. The dislikes were and are too numerous to mention. A few of the most important include: a. grave injustices to the intelligentsia b. curtailment of freedom of religion and culture c. complete destruction of faith and trust ag perple d. abolishment of personal and private pro rty e. shortages of free trade and organized hue-ger and terror campaigns f. increased threat of exile to Siberia 9. Besides the opposition on the part of collectivized farmers toward the Soviets as described before, other types of -opposition to the regime _existed. The_gieatest form of opposition was conducted by the underground armY�, The WA carried on sabotage, 7 ids, etc primarily in mountainous nd forested areas. In early days after the :volution, opposition was so greet that Kiev fought off 15 attempts of the lied Army to capture it. As time went on, hewevere the Soviet Army increased in strength to such proportions that passive resistance and revolutionary methods vanished. The increased strength of the Soviet Army was coupled by forbidding the populace to have arms and to organize. There were instances of complete liquidation of resisting villagers and leveling of their villages. Such were with complete disregard for the. old, for women, and for children. Some opposition took the form of inferior production in factories; spoilage of food and dairy products through improper storage and care; and a deliberate slow-down of transportation. - end - CONFIDENTIAL/SECURITY INFORMAMON Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release @ 50-Yr 2014/11/04 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000200800009-1