INDICATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL VULNERABILITIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-04864A000200120005-1
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: November 11, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 13, 1998
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: April 28, 1952
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY ' REPORT NO. 00 -F-243
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT INDICATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL VULNERABILITIES
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CPW Report No. 3-2 ---. USSR
(Apr. 15-28, 1952)
May Day slogans get the usual heavy publicity. North Osetidrn history books and other
publications, are found to be ideolog cally. faulty. The quarterly plan fulfillment
figures issued by some of the Republics ,and smaller administrative areas present a
familiar over-all picture of successes. Other re&ional tvansmihssions, however, still--
harp on poor labor discipline and sloppy work, eVphemistically refer ^ed to as lack
of "production culturef?' (kultura proizvodstva)0 These strictures, on the other
hand, are tempered by a somewhat greater emphasis on riore consumer goods and better
living conditions for the workers in general.
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rPw Peport No. 32,4
(Apr. 15-28, 1952).
DATE PUBLISHED THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
IDEOLOGICAL AFFAIRS ...... ............000 1
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MISCELLANEOUS ......o.o......ao.~........ 5
IDEOLOGICAL AFFAIRS
North C?sei~ia~~olagy_Falte~?inge A report from-Dzaudzhikau (11 Apra) says that
theoblast Party Committee help. a plenary session to discuss "the state of
ideological work" and the necessary measures for its improvement. Curiously
enough, there is no mention in the report of any shortcomings discovered by the
session but the measures taken to improve the "ideological situation" suggest that
it-calls for a great deal of official attention. This is corroborated also by a
later PRAVDA.report offering more details. The plenary session, which inciden-
tally was attended also by the Minister of Internal,. Affairs and the Republican,
Prosecutor of North Osetian ASSR, relieved the Head of the Propaganda and Agitation
Department of his duties and appointed another in his stead. Also removed from his
post was the Chairman of the Republic,,"s Council of Ministers Gazzayev. Although
in this case the official re aon given was ""his departure for studies," it is also
pointed out that he was relieved.of the "obligations of membership of the Bureau
of the North Osetian Party Committee. Another "assigned" to study elsewhere is
the editor of the Republican newspaper RASSPINAR0'
A dispatch to PRAVDA from Dzaud.zhikaii on 21.Apr. refers to the same Party session
as having discovered "grave errors.and shortcomings" (krupnie oshibki i nedostatki)
in the Republic's ideological.leadera,hip. A number of books on'Osetian history,
language, literature and fine arts published in recent years,,,.it is claimed, are
replete with serious ideological mistakes and "distortions of a bo'"rgeois-
nationalist nature" (izvrashchenia bui?zhuazno-tatsionalisticheskago kharaktera).
Thus Abayev?s, "Origin and Cultural Past of Osetia", Skitsky?s, "Outline of. History
of the Osetian People," and a number of others'". still "idealize the patriarchal-
feudal period?' (idealiziruyut, patr:Larkhalno-feodalniy period) of Osetian history.
An intimation that the Osetian.men of letters and other intelligentsia are still
manifesting a greater interest ,in.their national past than in their Soviet present.
is seen in the reference to.the.current works of art and literature wherein
"Soviet reality" (sovetskaya .deistvitelnost) is "not.properly portrayed" and the
ideals of internationalism and friendship of the peoples of the USSR get very
little space.
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These historians and writers, on the other hand, are said to, be unrestrained in their
adulation of Osetia?s patriarchal past. The Nart raids (nabegi nartov) on their
neighboring nations are interpreted as justifiable while the epic poetry relating to
the Nart period is "embellished in every way" (vsyacheski priukrashivayetsia)o
Having established that the Party Bureau and First Secretary Kulov "have manifested.
a liberal attitude" (proyavlyali liberalnoye otnoshenie) toward ideological errors
and distortions, the dispatch concludes, the session took "practical measures"
(prekt cheskie meropriatia) toward their elimination.
Complaints: gnat the local press .is not doing its share in ideological campaigning
and.not .wor?king for a higher cultur?al.level in general are heard in broadcasts from
Kiev. and Tbilisi. RADYANSKA UKRAINA (Apr. 17) blames "provincial isolationism"
(khutoryanska obmezhinnist) for the "astonishing fact" that the oblast newspaper
SOTSIALISTYCHNA KHARKIVSHCHYNA, which-regularly reviews locally published books, has
not.printed "a single word" during the past 9 months on the works of the Stalin Prize
winning Great Russian writers. This., says the Japer, is all the more reprehensible
since. the dissemination of the outstanding literary works of the Great Russian
writers is. of great importance*in.the "political education of the masses" of the
Union.Republics and particularly.. of the Ukrainian SSR
"Entirely unsatisfactory" reviews, from an ideological standpoint, are said. to be
published-.by the Odessa newspaper BOLSHEVISTSKOYE ZNA IYA, and varying degrees of
de ngxe pies are ascribed to,PRILARPATSKAYA PRAVDA,..of Stanislav, and DUNAYSKAYA
PRAVDA, of..Izz ail4
ZARYA VOSTOKA (Apr. 27) points to a number of (unnamed) papers of Georgian SSR as
well as to itself as putting in "a poor performance" in the collective propaganda
of the prevailing ideological and political line. The paper does not specify the
"shortcooiags.and mistakes",to which it repeatedly refers, but insists that they
be stopped at once and the "feeling of parade well being" (natroyenie paradnogo
blagopoluchia) done away with. The Republican papers, it is implicitly admitted,
have not-served as an "example of Bolshevik vigilance" in the fight against the
attempts of foreign agents to harm the Communist construction and to undermine the
might of the Soviet State. Lack of contact with the masses is another failing
against which the newspapers are cautioned, but the point is riot amplified. The
press, says the editorial, must not only teach the masses but also learn from them,
and that cannot be achieved without closer ties between them.
The. failure of the Ukrainian playwrights and writers to understand the full
implication of "Socialist realism," says a report from Kiev on the presidium
meeting of the Ukrainian Writers Union (Apr. 1.6), is. the "main reason for the
backwardness of Ukrainian Soviet playwriting0" Nothing of great artistic value,
it is claimed, has been produced recently by the Ukrainian playwrights and scenario
writers, and this is because they still underestimate the "role of conflict as the
basis of dramatic work." As discussed in previous CPW reports, the so-called
"no-conflict" theory (teoria bezkonfliktnosti) adopted by Ukrainian and other
playwrights is frowned upon by the Party which regards that theory as an
un-Bolshevik method of escaping possible damaging criticism. Denounced also, in
this connection, is the timid suggestion of the Writers Union and the Commission
on ,Dramatic Art that the struggle "between the good and the better", rather than
conflict per se, should serve as a basis for Soviet stage plays. All this, says
the report, reveals a misunderstanding of simple truths ...a misinterpretation of
Socialist realism. It is also intimated that the solution of this problem, among
others, is item number one on the ideological agenda in view of the current
preparations for the celebrations o . the tercentenary of he Union of Ukraine with
Russt4.
"Handicraft stage production" (remeslennicheskie pyesy) and its concomitant non-
ideological plays are sharply criticized by a Party-sponsored conference of pro-
ducers and playwrights of Leningrad, according to a report carried by PRAVDA on
Apr. 25 (not broadcast). The "no--conflict" theory is said to have taken hold of
a number of Leningrad art workers with the result that their plays, particularly
those on the working class, "suffer-from onesidedness" (stradayut odnobokostyu)
and "have nothing in common with the truth of life" (ne imeyut nichego obshchego
s pravdoy zhizni)0 Criticized also are the newspapers LENINGRADSKAYA PRAVDA and
VECHERNIY LENINGRAD whose dramatic critics frequently are "people of little
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knowledge and unqualified" (lyudi malosveduschchie, nekvalifitsirovannie). Favorable
write-ups are often given to "obviously corrupt" (yavno por?ochnie) plays.
Consumer Goods Production Still_ a in -. Of the three Republican quarterly reports
available at this writing--RSFSR, the Ukraine and Armenian SSR--the latter appears
to have put in the poorest production performance. Do nn to all of then'd,however,
are high production indices in heavy industry and below-plan figures of consumer
goods production. The lumber industry has been trailing behind the plan for the
third year now, and scattered broadcasts on the subject indicate no improvement
in 1952. The production of sawed lumber (pilomaterialy) for housing and other
cons w,er uses has in fact dropped to a new low in Armenia., 8 of the plan, and
industrial, lumber to 82j. A similar drop is noted for the USSR as a whole--94% for
1951 to 86% for the first quarter of 1952. Food production--by the Ministry of
Food, local, and. invalids" cooperatives--is almost uniformly behind plan. The
same applies to the output of meat and dairy products, animal and vegetable fats,
cheeses and 'a variety of other foodstuffs.
Lack of Labor Discipline and Production Culture. Labor discipl.isie, sass Veselov
in PRAVDA on Apr. 21 (not broadcast), is still. an unsolved problem even in some of
the so-called efficient plants. Lack of such discipline means sloppy work, littered
factory floor space and all-round confusion. The Vladimir Ilyich plant in Moscow,
says the author, is a case in point. Of the 13 young workers recently assigned to
the plant more than half have immediately "made themselves scarce" (otseyalis) and
have not been seen again. The indifferent attitude to the newcomers on the-part of
the. plant administration, Party and trade union organizations is said to have
contributed to their disillusionment and eventually, to their decision to disappear.
Although most of the young workers are Komsomol members not even the plant?s Komsomol
organization ever bothered to look into their training, personal needs or, for that
matter, to include them in the organization itself. What inadequate care of the
human element can do to a plant, says Veselov, may be seen at first glance at one or
two of the shops.
...instruments are scattered all over the floor, the passageways are blocked
with materials, cable spools, and what not. Incidentally, cleanliness and
order are still lacking in. the entire plant compound
_.v besporiadke valyautsia instrumenty, prokh-ody zagro1Mozhdeny materialami,
katushkami iz-pod provodov I vsiakoy vsiachi.roy. K slovu skazat, i na
vsei-to territorii zavoda u nas eshche ne klivatayet por?isdka I chistoty.
Lack of labor discipline is also said to account for the backwardness of a number of
Uzbek plants which prefer to juggle production figures and show "good averages"
rather than do something about tightening discipline (in Russian, Apr. 23). This
practice of "whitewashing" (zamazyvanie) the bad work of some enterprises with
the above-plan indices of'leading plants is said to be un-Bolshevik and leading to
eventual trouble, This accusation is reiterated by PRAVDA VOSTOKA- (Apr. 24) with
the demand that falsified average production figures be exposed and the situation
remedied without delay-. "Their bad work must not remain concealed behind average
figures indicating economic successes."
Rousing Shortage Still Acute- Reports from Bryansk Oblast, Altai Krai and elsewhere
speak of the housing industry as the most neglected phase of Soviet economic
activities. The USSR Ministry of the Building Materials Industry, rebuked by the
Party on several previous occasions for its indifference to the workers' welfare,
is again reminded by Ivakhnenko in PRAVDA that its performance in t) matter of
standard housing (standartnie doma) construction is far below expectations (Apr. 20).
There is abundant evidence, says the author, that the Ministry shows little interest
(.Halo zabotitsia) in stepping up production of standard houses. The contrary, in
fact, is the case. A number of plant directors under the Ministry?s jurisdiction
have admitted that "an obviously reduced plan is under consideration" (namechayetsia
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yavno zanizhenniy plan). As part of the richest Soviet timber country, Bryansk
Oblast is said to present a picture of utter confusion. Oak, the most valuable
construction lumber, is used for fuel while some of the most inferior types of
wood are earmarked for construction purposes. The construction of prefabricated
houses (sbornie doma) has not even reached the blueprint stage, and no steps are
being taken toward the production of plywood (fanera)a
Cited as an interesting sidelight on the planless lumber business is the fact that
timber is exported from and imported to Bryansk Oblast at the same time:
One cannot understand why it is necessary to export lumber from Bryansk
Oblast and in turn import this raw material from thousands of kilometers
away, overloading the railroads with unnecessary and costly haulage and
considerably increasing production costs.
Neponiatno, zachem nuzhno vyvozit drevesinu iz Bryanskoy oblasti i
vzamen z.a tysiachi kilometrov privozit syrye, zagruzhaya nenuzhnymi,
dorogostoyushchimi perevozkami zheleznodorozhniy transport, znachitelno
uvelichivaya sebestoimost produktsiia
A Karamyshev report from Barnaul, Altai Krai (Apra 2,1, not broadcast), says that
housing construction and the municipal economy of that krai capital in general are
"in a state of negligence" (v zapushchennom sostoyanii)o The workers' welfare and
daily amenities have not kept pace with the city's expansion. Nothing is being
done to improve and expand the water supply system (vodoprovod), there are all too
few public bath houses and those in operation are. not functioning properly. Even
the, ba*ing, and distribution of bread.._by the city's _nly., bread trust is subject?to;
unexpryainable continuous interruptions. The head of the largest town departm-it
storE %i said to have "surrounded himself with yes-men" (okruzhil sebia podkhalimani
and his unwo-thy behavior (nedostoynoye povedenie) is held responsible for the
violations of the rules of Soviet trade. (There is no indication, however, as to
the nature and extent of those violations). Karamyshev is at a loss to understand
why, although the RSFSR Council of Ministers is well aware of the chaotic situation
in Barnaul and has, in fact, officially rebuked the chairman of the City Soviet for
it, things are still allowed to go on as they have.
PRAVDA (Apr. 28) discusses the improving welfare of the Soviet people in familiar
laudatory terms but admits that its praise does not apply to all the places or all
the people. This, it says, is particularly true of housing:
The failure to fulfill the housing plans, in some towns and settlements, .
and the unsatisfactory work of enterprises and establishments which provide
services for the working people cannot be tolerated
Industrial leadership in Krasnoyarsk Krai is not what it should be, according to
PRAVDA (Apra 25). The same is said to apply to the krai Party Committee which
"manifests a tolerant attitude" (terpimo otnositsia) toward the existing shortcomings.
The Party, whose duty it is to exercise over-all control over industrial activities,
is apparently not looking beyond average production indices which often cover a
multitude of sins. The paper reemphasizes the duty of all Party organizations to
look into every phase instead of being satisfied with statements and reports: "The
krai Party Committee does not see the grave shortcomings behind the average figures
of plan fulfillment..." (Za srednimi pokazateliami vypolnenia plana kraikom partii
ne vidit krupnykh nedostatkov000)
ZARYA (Apra 15) discusses the inefficiency of the Dniepropetrovsk Oblast construction
organizations and the "great losses" (velyki vtraty) they are incurring. The
Dzerzhinsk-Bud construction trust alone lost 2,775,000 rubles last year through
inefficient utilization of machines, and this year its losses "already exceed"
100,000 rubles. The paper is highly critical of the "vicious practice" of hoarding
raw materials and creating reserves over and above the prescribed leve,' (normativ)e
The Dzerzhinsk cement factory, Dniepropetrovsk metallurgical equipment plant
(zavod metalurginogo ustatkovannya) and a number of unnamed other enterprises are
mentioned as being guilty of such violations.
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RADYANSKA UKRAINA (Apra 15) wants to know why so many enterprises of the Ukrainian
Ministry of the Building Materials Industry are still failing to utilize their
productive capacity. Such failures are particularly conspicuous at some cement
and brick-making plants where production has dropped below last year's figures.
Other plants, such as the new and modern Kharkov ball-bearing works (Kharkivskiy
shariko-podshypnikoviy zavod) for example, even registered a drop in labor
efficiency--4% below the planned figure ,for last year. The utilization of pro-
ductive capacity is said to be "'particularly bad" at the building materials
industry enterprises of Voroshilovgrad, Dniepropetrovsk, Transcarpathia, Kiev and
Staling oblasts0
KA.ZHTANSK4,YA PRAVDA (Apr1, .~9).?says that economy and thirft are not characteristic
of.tlie operation of all the Republic's industrial enterprises. To achieve that,
the,. paper declares, the "initiative of the masses" must be encouraged and developed,
but this is precisely what ''some enterprise heads" are not doing. Some of the
indg , ;?,.-WI enterprises indeed., .. 2:,far as to tolerate both poor production quality
and rising costs at the same timed Cited as extreme examples of such delinquency
are,the.Kazakh agricultural machine-building plant at.Akmolinsk (Akmolinskiy zavod
Kazakh-Selmash), the Balkhash State Fish Trust (Balkhashskiy gosrybtrest) and the
East Kazakhstan State Fish Trust (Vostochno-kazakhstanskiy gosrybtrest).. Stressing
the important part of plant accountants and bookkeepers in the struggle against
waste and unaccountable losses of raw material, the paper urges them to "vigilantly
defend the State interests" and do everything they can to bring about greater
economy and a more "sparing use" of materials.
.,uh ~5a, w-e?ia, u. ..
MISCELLANEOUS,
A TASS transmission to Europe (Apr. 17) quotes Patriarch Alexius' Easter message to
all Russia which refers to the current peace campaign as a Christian cause, and to
the enemies of peace as Christians in name but not in spirit- "We are happy that
our country stands at the head of this truly Christian cause."
Mortality ero- A Speransky article in IZVESTIA (Apra 17) ridicules the "reactionary
theories"of bourgeois pediatricians who endeavor to justify high child mortality
in capitalist countries by "racial symptoms or biological reasons" and ignore social
causes. We are convinced, says Speransky, that due to the growing well being of the
Soviet population and the development of medical science "child mortality in the
USSR will approach the zero mark"
Jr&qe Atoms?-. A Home Service report of Apr. 18 ays that scientists Simonov and
Leorov ob,taiie,d, with the aid of tracer atoms (trassiruyushehie atomy), important
data 3n the feeding of oak, apple tree, raspberry, lemon, tea and other plants with
phosphorus,, The development of artificial photosynthesis and other sources of light
capable of replacing sunlight is credited to Soviet scientists, according to a
broadcast to Europe on Apr. 18. Experiments have established, says the report, that
in,,Severa.l pU es artificial light affects the development of plants more favorably than
natural light,.
New Insulat ng Material- "Set foam" (zastyvshaya pena), says a broadcast from Moscow
on Apra 27, is a new insulating and sound-proofing material development by Soviet
scientists. One cubic meter of this material weigt.s only 15 kilograms and is at
least 50 times lighter than water. It can be used as "an excellent heat insulator"
in the refrigeration industry, and will be able to replace cork: in numerous floating
devices0
A rRport...X;rQm,,Stalinabad (in Russian, Apr. 21) refers to the "liquidation of
Stal}na1?ad..Ob.Jast" (likvidatsia stalinabadskoy oblasti) and its various Executive
Comdr ttee,p,mder Article 80 of the Tadzhik Constitution. An appropriate amendment
to the Constitution has been approved by the current session of the Republican
Supreme Soviet. The latter, says the report, has also approved the Presidium decrees
"concerning the administrative and territorial division of the Republic"
(kasayushchikhsia administrativno-territorialnykh deleniy respubliki)0 No further
details are. offered.
A sizable increase in the population of the Safonovo workers' settlement, Smolensk
Oblast, is indicated in a Smolensk broadcast of Apr. lbosaying that by decree of the
Byelorus,g,iixL-Presidium, Safonovo has been "transformed into a town" under oblast
jurisdictiox 0.
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