CONDITIONS IN KLAIPEDA AND THE LITHUANIAN SSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R013300450007-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 8
• Document Creation Date: December 19, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 8, 2006
• Sequence Number: 7
• Publication Date: February 11, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

rum" au. 51-4AA
FEB 1952
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INFORMATION REPORT REPORT NO.
CD NO..
COUNTRY USSR (Lithuanian SSR)
25X1
SUBJECT Conditions in Klaipeda and the Lithuanian SSR NO. OF PAGES 6
DATE OF
INFO.
PLACE
ACQUIRED
OF THE UNITED STATES, W I T H I N THE MEANING OF TITLE 18, SECTIONS 793
AND 794, OF rHE U.S. CODE, AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR REVE-
LATION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT BY AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON IS
PROHIBITED BY LAW. THE, REPRODUCTION OF THIS FORM 15 PROHIBITED.
Population
25X1
DATE DJSTR.11 February 1953
NO. OF ENCLS. 1
(LISTED BELOW)
SUPPLEMENT T
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
25X1
25X1
After the war, the number of local inhabitants remaining in Klaipeda was
small. Some of them had been killed during the war, many escaped to various
countries, and only a small part remained in Klaipeda itself. However, Russian
military staffs and Russians who had left their units stayed.in Klaipe" when the
war ended. In addition, demobilized soldiers moved from various parts of the
country to this city.
2. The Bolsheviks who remained in Klaipeda organized various offices, police sections,
and sections for the issuance of passports. Bolsheviks were the main officials
in most of these offices,%ere directors or chief engineers in factories, etc.
They realized that their living conditions had improved, and that the only dif-
ficulty was that the lack of workers in various offices and factories might put
them at a disadvantage in trying to fulfill the work plans fixed by the Com-
munist Party. The Bolsheviks therefore sent announcements to Russia about a
lack of people in the countries recently occupied, mentioning that they were
looking for workers, engineers, mechanics, etc. It is clear that the people
moved willingly to Lithuania from the other republics-.and marl of them 25X1
settled in towns like Klaipeda and Vilnius. at present there
are more Russian than Lithuanian inhabitants in Klaipeda, not counting troops.
When a Lithuanian, came to a factory or office to apply for work, he had to pay
500 chervonets to get a position. Everyone. was taking bribes, and black-
marketeering was increasing. The Lithuanians who had lost almost everything
during the war were not able to pay money to bribe the directors, and therefore
they could not get work. On the other hand, the Bolsheviks working in factories
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and elsewhere were eager to move their relatives to Klaipeda from the kolkhozy
and other places where they were working in Russia. The Bolsheviks tried to
keep the best positions in their offices for the newcomers. It was no secret
that in a comparatively short time the best positions were occupied by various
Bolshevik Party members, In all offices where the work was easier and the wages
higher, only newly-arrived Russians were employed.
4. More people came than were expected and., since many factories were destroyed
in the war and. since it is not easy to rebuild them or to open new ones, many
newcomers could not find any kind of work. Moreover, they had no money for
bribes. But these people found new ways for earning their living. Most of them
were armed and were living in those suburbs of Klaipeda which had been destroyed.
They attacked individuals who came from other towns and villages, took their
property and money, and the clothing from those who were well-dressed.
5. These persons started to be dangerous also to the Bolshevik directors and
employees and, to get rid of them, the Bolsheviks organized large militia
sections employing many individuals. The Russians who formerly were robbing
the inhabitants now had an opportunity to work with the militia. When on duty,
the new militia continued to plunder villages, farmers, and the shops of oblast
towns. Such raids were carried out under the name of the Lithuanian partisans.
Some of these gangs were caught and the members were imprisoned. Many of the
plunderers were killed. The number of robberies has decreased in Klaipeda and
in Lithuania as a whole. However, most of the thefts which occur now are
carried out not by local inhabitants but by individuals who moved to Lithuania
after the war. New inhabitants are still arriving from the other republics.
Goods and Prices
6. In mite of Bolshevik propaganda about the cheap prices of goods in the USSR
and the shortage of such goods i.n capitalist countries, it often happens that
the Bolsheviks themselves must issue food cards for some goods. They claim
that there are no shortages in the Soviet Union itself, because by 1947 the
USSR already was producing more goods than before the war. They claim, therefore,
that it was possible to dispense entirely with food cards in the USSR even be-
fore the capitalistic states were able to do so. However, a person buying any-
thing will never get it at the price mentioned by propagandists.
7. At the end of 1949, the first materials for lining appeared in the shops, as
well as silk materials for women's dresses. Sometimes the shops were supplied
with material for suits. Also new was the supply of footwear in the shops.
The prices of all these items were very high:
Pri
e (i
bl
c
n ru
es)
Suit material
(good quality)
('1 meter) 400
Suit material
(enough to make a whole suit)
1,500
Silk material
(i meter 70 t
0
Men's underwear
(good quality)
o 9
120
Men's underwear
(poor quality)
45
Men's shoes
(rubber soles; poorest quality)
90 to 120
Men's shoes
(made in Czechoslovakia, good
320
quality)
Galoshes
40
Wrist watch
(cheapest kind; trade-mark
380
Pobed.a )
(better quality)
700 to 900
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8. In 1949, when the shops were supplied with larger quantities of goods, items
sold out very quickly despite high prices because Party members employed in
towns received high wages and bought large quantities of goods,which they
sent to their relatives in Russia. Workers could not even dream of buying
anything. By the fall of 1950 it was impossible to buy material for a suit
or coat in the Univerma, (department store). All that was left was the material
for underwear and women?s dresses. When the better quality goods were sold,
rumors were spread that the Party had decided not to supply the shops as
long as old supplies and the supplies of various small articles were not sold
out. This decision resulted from the fact that the new goods to be supplied
were better quality and because, after the accomplishment of the five-year
plan, prices would become much cheaper and there would no longer be a lack of
any kind of goods. Only persons who did not urgently need clothing could
wait for the new supplies and cheaper prices. Others who inquired where they
could buy what they needed were told that all kinds of materials could be
purchased in the shops of Riga and on the black market there. After some time
the stores in Riga were also empty, and the people went to Tallinn. There,too,
the shops were empty, and the black marketeers had disappeared. Many people
who went somewhere to buy material for a suit or some other goods were arrested
on their way back as black marketeers and sentenced to seven years'imprison-
ment.
9. It is not possible to get woolen material in Lithuania or in shops in any
other country occupied by the Russians. Russians 25X1
when they went on vacation to Russia they bought various goods like silk
materials, scarves, etc., in Lithuania to bring home as presents. II 25X1
this is an indication that such goods are unavailable in Russia.
.It is possiole to buy variou:, k'nds of materials in Lithuania, such as materials
for linings and. shirts r,.nd silk materials. The shops are also supplied with
brushes, brooms, ciga,iettes, and various kinds of soap. There is never a lack
of alcoholic drinks like brandy, various kinds of wine, etc. Sometimes even
motorcycles can oe purchased. The cheapest kind costs 2,500 rubles. Bicycles
cost 700-900 rubles.
10. At present there are no bicycles for grown-ups in the shops, but the Russians
have established a factory in Siauliai which produces tricycles for children.
These can be purchased in every town in the Univermag, but the people are not
buying them. Everyone understands that the production of such toys is one of
the means of propaganda. Industry is working only for the requirements of war.
The iron-ore ind:istry is producing almost nothing for the requireiaents of the
people. Even horse hccT and other similar goods needed by the komjzy can
seldom be bought in snops, although they are really important. To conceal the
shortage of iron for such articles, the Bolsheviks establish factories like the
toy factory in Siauliai. The establishment of such a factory is publicized
everywhere and used for making propaganda, although it is not improving the
economic life of the people.
11. Concerning the reduction of prices, reductions had to be made 25X1
because prices were much too high. As of July 1951, 25 cigarettes of a
secondary brand were selling for 3.60 rubles, while a person only earned
6 to 10 rubles per day. Ch.e".p quality brandy (40 percent aler-hol) still
costs 50 rubles per liter. Bread prices could be reduced. For 50 kilograms
of rye, the State pays the faruier 4.5 rubles, whereas 1 kilogram bread costs
2.40 to 2.90 rubles. It is the same with beef, for which those buying it in
a shop pay 10 to 11 rubles p-r kilogram and the farmer gets only 1.5 rubles
per kilogram. The fisherman bets 0.25 rubles per kilogram of first quality
codfish and individuals pay 4.5 rubles per kilogram for,it. There are many
examples of this kind and it is clear why some of the prices have to be reduced.
25X1 12. In 1948 cotton trousers produced at a factory in Vilnius and
25X1 25X1 30 rubles In 1951, after the so-called reduction of prices,
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25X1 25X1 I trousers 30 rubles for the same quality
and make.
Employment and Working Conditions
13. Local Lithuanian workers have no opportunity to choose their jobs. They
are forced to work in factories where the work is hard and unhealthy, as, for
instance, in the factory producing fertilizer, and the cellulose factories.
It is not easy to get work even in these factories, because the worker has to
submit the following documents when being. employed: employment certificate
which has to show the reason why the worker left his previous place of employ-
ment, passport, and sometimes also a military certificate. The most important
document is the employment certificate. with the description of the worker's
character and social position, This is imiortant since the life story told
by.the worker himself might be fraudulent and a person who left his farm
(a so-called ooze) or some other unreliable or unscrupulous person might be
employed who would interfere with the fulfillment of the fixed plans of the
factory. It is not easy to acquire all the.papers requested by the factory or
its director. Not a,11 workers who are looking for work come from very small
farms or from families without farms. Many persons looking for work are people
who escaped to the city from their farms, when their families were deported to
Siberia in the be.;inning of the Russian occupatic.n. uch people have many
difficulties to overcome and end up with work of the worst kind.
14. Workers in factories and other working places cannot work independently;
each of them must be attached to a brigade. The nwunber of workers belonging
to brigades varies, but they usually consist of 10 to 12 persons. One of the
group is the chief of the brigade and is called the brigadier. The brigadier
has to be a Party member, a person who is loyal to the Bolshevik government.
Thmrefore, most of the brigadiers are Russians. The brigadier has the right to
choose the workers for his brigade. They choose those people who invite them
to restaurants for drinks on p&-y days. Such workers have the sympathy of their
brigadier, and they are sure that they will stay in the same brigade for a
long; time and that they will get work of the easiest kind.
15. The brigadier is instructed to make work schedules for the brigade, showing
how much work was done by the brigade during working hours. He submits these
schedules to the office of the person who plans the work. If the brigadier
is on bad terms with this person, his schedules will not be approved and only
part of the work actually done will be approved. That part of the work which
was not approved will be added to the schedule of a brigade whose brigadier
is on good terms with the planner and other chiefs as a result of his inviting
them for drinks. If the origadier is an old Party member and five or six
persons in his brigade are communist Youth members or activists, he can be sure
that schedules submitted by him will not only be approved but will be increased
by work added from unapproved schedules. It can happen that a planner will
add part of the work of six or seven brigades with unapproved schedules to the
schedule of a brigade,which in this way overfulfills its norm by 200 to 250
. percent.
16. Such a brigade is credited with having done its work two or two and a half
months in advance and is paid accordingly. The workers of such a brigade get
1,000 to 1,300 rubles per month. Their photographs and life stories are
published in the newspapers and on factory bulletin boards. They get gold
medals, Lenin medals, and,at the end of the year, premiums of 3,000 to 4,000
rubles. At the same time they promise to increa-e the percentage of their
work and to fortify Communist strength. Such propaganda is distributed
among the inhabitants of the country, showing the wonderful life the Communist
government has given to the workers of Lithuania and other brotherly countries
by releasing them from the capitalists. Brigades whose schedules were not
approved and who are credited with only a part of the appointed work are also
paid accordingly. Such workers earn 250 to 300 rubles per month.
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l7, A worker in the commercial port of Klaipeda must put in eight hours a day
either carrying cargo from warehouses to ships or loading freight cars. He
must carry the cargo on his back without mechanical aid. Frequently he must
carry these loads a long distance, covering not less than 60 meters with
each load. He is expected to load' 18 tons (sic) of cargo, irrespective of the
type of'goods he may be moving, be it cement, lead, sugar, or anything else.
Nor does the height to which cargo must be piled in the warehouses enter into
the calculation of work norms. In loading cargo, the worker is expected to
stack it in piles up,to 2 meters high.
25X1
18. For completing this work norm1.the worker should receive 18 rubles per day
according-to established pay scales. Actually, however, he receives much less,
because from his earnings the authorities will make deductions for a State loan,
income tax, trade union dues, family tax :if the number-of his dependents is
not all workers con
such norms, especially if they work in brigades.' The majority of workers manage
to fulfill only about half of, the norm, or even less if the type of cargo or
other working conditions go against them. Thus the worker gets only half his
pay, 9 rubles or less per day. Sometimes when the workers have to unload
scrap metal or bricks, they earn only 6 rubles, causing their monthly wage to
fluctuate between 250 and 300 rubles. The only exceptions are those workers
who are working in propaganda brigades which get all the facilities to ac-
complish the fixed norms.
19. Workers who are employed in such semi-military places as the commercial docks
of Klaipeda get free work clothes. During a year they get one simple pair
of overalls in summer, trousers lined with wadding and a warm shirt instead of
a jacket in winter, and one pair of work shoes. This clothing does not suffice
for the whole year. Since they do not earn enough money to buy clothes, the
workers in Klaipeda and other towns and villages have an appearance similar to
that of the Bolsheviks coming from the other republics.
20? The Bolsheviks could persuade the inhabitants to believe in their propaganda
about the liberty of workers in the democratic Bolshevik countries and the
oppression of working classes in capitalist countries if the workers were
not overloaded with work, if they were paid better, and if they were not
suppressed so much. When the Russian worker hears propaganda about strikes
in England, America, etc., with demands for. higher salaries, he thinks about
himself. He cannot go on strike and cannot even say that he is dissatisfied,
because he would be imprisoned at once. He also knows that,if the Bolsheviks
asked him to work without pay for a short or long period, he would do it
because he would know of no other way out.
21. The discipline of the workers is very strict. If a worker is five minutes late,
he gets the same punishment as if he did not appear for work at all. railure
to appear for work is called a walk. When this happens the first time, the
worker is sentenced by the public court to pay a fine. Twenty-five percent of
his wage is deducted for a period of three months. Until this fine is paid,
a worker could never get permission to leave his work, no matter where he
wanted to go. If the worker is late or does not appear for work a second time,
twenty-five percent of his wage is deducted for a period of six months, or, if
working at a semi-military installation, he might be'sentenced to three months'
labor in a labor camp. A third offense not supported by a document showing
that he was ill causes the worker to be sentenced to six months in a labor camp.
When he is released from camp, a note is made in his work book stating th.rt he
is a worthless worker who disrupts the discipline of the working place. With
such a recommendation, the person would never get any kind of work except in a
kolkhoz or sovkhoz,which employs workers of all kinds and criminals after they
Lire released from prison.
?i.itary Units
22. Considering the size of the city, there is a great deal of military activity
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in Klaipeda. Throughout the city there are many miscellaneous garrisons
of naval and land units which are undoubtedly a part of the military forces
stationed here. Besides those units which are living scattered about the
city (containing about 200 to 300 persons) there are also several larger
units. One of tLese is an infantry drilling point which can be seen when
walking along Nemunas Street.
25X1
infantry units leaving the place and rrarching for drilling practice outside
town. There were at least 300 men, po1sibly even more.
23. There is a permanent unit stationed'in the settlement (pasiolka) itself.
The people call it a naval infantry unit (Pestininkai-Jurininkai).
men in this unit, some of whom had already served
seven to eight years. They still did not know when they would be demobilized.
they were only employees (virstarnybiniai). I 25X1
ew recruits, were Estonians who had 25X1
been drafted into the army and sent to this unit. All these sailors have
the same uniform as the Russian sailors, the only difference being that they
do not have the usual krabaswith anchor on the front of their visor-less
caps but have a red pentagonal star instead.. They also wear yellow epaulets
with the two black letters t?B.F," (Baltic Fleet) on them. They are drilled and
have to guard the coastal border. There are at least 1,000 persons in this unit.
24. Three kilometers to the north of the settlement is a place called Giruliai.
Only a very few people live here. The railroad. station of Giruliai 'is rather
small and there is a sanitary point (first aid station ?), here, Some
distance from Giruliai there are military headquarters and, a unit similar to 25X1
that in the settlement. The troops wear naval uniforms and source saw many
employed personnel (virstarnybiniai), mostly of higher ranks. They had on
their caps the same insignia as real sailors,i.e. krabas with an anchor.
did not see the sailors being drilled, but there is much more activity in this
unit than in the one at the settlement.. They drive cars to the lihhthouses
near the coast and carry various pieces of apparatus and military equipment
which are not familiar to source. The number of sailors is large, perhaps
300 to L001men and about 50 officers, who are in real navy uniforms. They are
often on horseback or walking with dogs in the forests near the coast searching
for tracks or similar things. In Klaipeda, there is also the coast guard,which
mans watchtowers.
Attachment: Sketch of Klaipeda
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Attachment
Page 1
0
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Attachment
Page 2
Legend to Attachment 1
1. Coastal guns
2. Headquarters
3. Tower
4. Beach
5. Tntrance (?) pier
6. Northern pier
7. Lighthouse towers
8. Naval infantry unit
9. Military marine headquarters
10. Meteorological station
11. New stone lighthouse
12. Coastal guns
13. Military unit
14. Guns on platform
15. "Naptus" base (sic-.oil base)
16. Commercial harbor
17. Meteorological towers
18. Remont factory
19. Dry dock -.- almost completely constructed
20. Factory kombinat
21. Cellulose factory
22. Fish reception and processing factory
23. T.L.V. ship releasing base
24. Fish e'eception and processing base No. 2
25. T.L.V. fish harbor
26. Saw mill
27. Fishermen's harbor (?)
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