From: CDELL@VAX1.UMKC.EDU ("VALENTINE M. SMITH")
Newsgroups: talk.politics.soviet
Subject: Comments on Document af2bdlit.doc of the LC Archives (the last)
Date: 13 Aug 92 18:13:21 GMT
Reply-To: "talk.politics.soviet via ListServ" <TPS-L@indycms.iupui.edu>

This is the last document of the 31 released by the Library of
Congress from the exhibit "Revelations From the Rudssian Archives."
Despite the carping about the series, it has been intriguing to read
these documents, and stimulating to write comments and thoughts about
them. I'm sorry if their posting, or cross-posting, as the case might
be, has offended, as it apparently has in some quarters. I will go
back to my posting only on Val-L when this goes out, but feel that
what I was doing justified the cross-postings.

>                                                              Top Secret
>                                                              Special Folder

>Committee
>of State Security of the USSR
>March 21, 1988  No. 458-Ch
>Moscow                                   TO THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE
>                                         of the CPSU

>Results of the work of the KGB in investigating authors of anonymous
>materials of a hostile nature.

This is two years into the Gorbachev regime, so "glasnost" had limits
in the early period, or so it would seem.

>In 1987 the measures implemented in the country for economic
>perestroika and the broadening of democratization and glasnost
>resulted in a 29.5% reduction in the distribution of anonymous
>materials of an anti-Soviet, nationalistic, and politically injurious
>content as compared with the previous year.  However, the number of
>persons who took part in their preparation and distribution (1663)
>increased by 9.4% because of some growth of cliquish, negative
>occurrences among the youth of the Kazakh SRR and Latvia.

More people doing the writing and distributing, but less quantity ...
The state still objected to "anti-Soviet, nationalistic and
politically injurious" material.

>The number of instances of distributed materials criticizing the
>international assistance to Afghanistan by the USSR declined by 77%,
>and the number of pro-fascist slogans and symbols fell by 24%.

Wasn't this the last year of Soviet participation in the Afghan war?
Would that not have lessened the number of criticisms about the war?
"Pro-fascist?" What do they mean by this?

>During the year 44 instances of distribution of anonymous materials
>containing terrorist statements against leaders of the CPSU and the
>Soviet government, 108 threats of physical violence against
>representatives of the local party, soviet activists, and
>functionaries, 308 nationalistic, basically anti-Russian
>fabrications, and 46 instances of disagreement with the measures for
>perestroika in Soviet society were recorded.

That's all?

>A significant number of anonymous incidents occurred in Ukraine,
>Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moscow, and Leningrad.

Discontent was apparently widespread, if thin in quantity.

>In 1987, 1,312 authors of pamphlets, letters, and graffiti were
>identified.  Of this number, 33 persons admitted to statements of a
>terrorist nature about the leaders of the party and the government;
>and 67, to threats of physical violence against local party and
>soviet activists and functionaries.

Did the 100 identified as authors of "terrorist" and writers of
"threats" overlap? What was their fate?

>Of the total number of authors investigated, 37.2% are university
>students and students in vocational and trade schools, 18.6% are
>workers, 16.8% are office workers, 9.5% are retired persons, 17.9%
>are other categories of citizens, including persons serving time in
>correctional-labor facilities.

Not surprising that the largst number of such writers were students,
but it is a bit startling to read that "persons serving time in
correctional-labor facilities" were able to "publish" anything!

>Among the authors who were identified are 59 members and candidate
>members in the Communist Party and 361 in the Young Communist League.

Not all CPSU people were obedient automatons.

>Reasons for preparing and distributing anonymous materials are:
>nationalist sentiments (248 persons); dissatisfaction with measures
>taken to strengthen discipline and fight drunkenness and alcoholism
>(187 persons); inadequacies in the food supply to the population and
>also high prices for certain commercial products (43 persons);
>difficulties with housing and household needs (41 persons);
>hooliganism (238 persons); mercenary motives (86 persons); mental
>illness (86 persons); illegal actions by some local managers
>manifested in coarse treatment of subordinates, officious treatment
>of citizens' petitions, violations of ethical behavior, etc. (23
>persons).

86 "mentally ill?" Really? All the others make sense, that one
category only makes "Soviet sense."

>The reasons for the preparation and distribution of anonymous
>materials by the remaining 276 authors are now being investigated.

>After appropriate review, the majority of the authors under
>investigation (55.6%) were dealt with through measures of a
>preventive nature, 66 persons were tried pursuant to articles of the
>general Criminal Code of the RSFSR and the criminal codes of other
>union republics.

"Preventive nature?" Does this mean detention? What happened to the
66 who were tried?

>The KGB is implementing measures to prevent and suppress in a timely
>fashion negative incidents connected with the distribution of
>anonymous materials of hostile content and to increase the
>effectiveness of the effort to identify the authors and distributors
>of these materials.

Not surprising, the KGB still prevailed, even with glasnost.

>For your information.

>Committee Chairman                             /s/ V. Chebrikov

Thus ends this series. Thank you for your patience. VMS