SOVIET BACKGROUND NOTES: UNEVALUATED COMMENTS FROM RECENT EMIGRANTS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP88T00528R000100040006-2
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 20
• Document Creation Date: January 4, 2017
• Document Release Date: April 15, 2008
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: May 1, 1984
• Content Type: REPORT

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THE DIRECTOR OF
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE
National Intelligence. Council 28 June 1 984
NOTE FOR: DCI
DDCI
DDI
FROM: Herbert E. Meyer, VC/NIC
Here's an exceptionally rich com-
pendium of (unevaluated) reporting of
life in the Soviet Union.
Herbert E. Meyer
Distribution:
1 - Each addressee (w/att)
1 - ER (w/o att)
1 - VC/NIC Chrono
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INTRODUCTION
The following comments on various aspects of the current Soviet
scene were volunteered by emigrants who left the Soviet Union
1983.
Also included in this report are a
small number of observations by persons still resident in the
USSR, who have been identified as Soviet citizens.
These brief comments are unevaluated and are provided for
background information only. No attempt has been made to ensure
that they present a balanced view of Soviet reality.
An index by subject heading is supplied at the back of the
report.
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AFGHANISTAN
A friend of mine, a senior instructor at the Military Academy,
complained to me that the Soviet army went to Afghanistan
completely unprepared. "They thought they would crush the
Afghans right away with their fire power, but they encountered
more resistance than they expected. There are no specialized
anti-guerilla units. The army and the KGB do not cooperate and
there is friction with the Afghan commanding officers. None of
the Soviet officers have real fighting experience. They are not
flexible enough to adapt their tactics to the circumstances. The
combat looks like repeating the pattern of the conquest of
Central Asia in the twenties and thirties Li.e. the conflict will
be a lengthy one). The USSR is not interested in simply putting
down partisan resistance, by burning villages and so on; instead
it wants to take over the country completely, as it did with
Czechoslovakia. Whatever happens, the USSR will be in
Afghanistan for a long time to come." (Tashkent pensioner in his
60's, former CP member) STAT
At first people thought that serving in Afghanistan would be like
serving in Poland or East Germany, and that their sons would come
home with Western-made clothes. Not until the first zinc coffins
began to arrive did they realize what it means to be on active
duty in Afghanistan.... When a soldier is buried in his home
town, a plainclothes KGB agent attends the burial to keep a
look-out for any anti-government outbursts. I know this because
it was the job of a friend of mine to do this. STAT
director in his 60's from Leningrad) STAT
In Tashkent people are used to seeing young invalids wandering
around the streets in a state of drunkenness, and standing in
line for meat at the special stores Lfor war invalids] along with
the elderly ex-soldiers from the Second World War. However,
according to a nurse who lived in my building who had worked in
military hospitals, only a few of those wounded in Afghanistan
returned to the USSR. The majority are treated on the spot or
else taken to Kabul. The soldiers had also told her that in
remote parts of the country the officers simply shoot their
wounded. The majority of the soldiers smoked hashish. They told
her that in Afghanistan it was easy to buy things like Japanese
watches, cigarette lighters, jeans, etc.... (Tashkent pensioner
in her 60's)
A woman set fire to herself in the city park in Kharkov because
her son had been killed in Afghanistan, and her attempts to
recover his body for burial had failed. A friend of mine saw the
fire, and watched the police and the emergency services arrive.
.Later, a rumor circulated that the woman was crazy. (Kharkov
mechanic in his 50's)
They are sending fewer Tajiks to Afghanistan than they did to
begin with. Not only were Tajiks unwilling to fight their
"Muslim brothers," many of them even joined the Afghan partisans.
So they have been replaced by Russians, who are being rushed into
Afghanistan like cattle to the slaughterhouse. They are dying at
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such a rate that coffins are in short supply, and so a new
factory has been set up in Dushanbe to produce zinc coffins. It
uses zinc-coated metal sheets from the Urals. Local residents
call it the "grave mill." (Tajik technician, Soviet citizen)
I have heard that the Afghan partisans are showering the Soviet
army of occupation with leaflets in Russian appealing to them to
stop this senseless invasion of Afghanistan, and describing
atrocities perpetrated by Soviet punitive detachments on the
Afghan population. Large numbers of these leaflets have already
reached the Soviet Union. But our organs claim that there is no
partisan movement in Afghanistan, only American mercenaries, whom
they call "enemies of the people," "bandits," or more simply
"basmachi." All the motor vehicles produced by the automobile
factory where I work are requisitioned by the army, and we are
left with only unrepairable wrecks. (Tajik white collar worker,
Soviet citizen)
Tashkent is full of soldiers from the European parts of the USSR.
They receive training there before being sent to Afghanistan.
Only Russians, Ukrainians and Belorussians are sent there now,
because many of the Central Asian troops who originally went
there either joined the partisans or simply refused to fight.
Most of the soldiers come from the countryside, rather than the
cities, since there are fewer repercussions if they are killed.
It is very depressing to see all those young men in uniform who
are just beginning to understand that they are simply cannon
fodder. Cases of desertion are becoming more frequent. In the
city the number of crimes is on the increase. The soldiers are
nervous and nationality tensions give rise to constant fighting.
Officers and soldiers alike have been caught carrying drugs which
they get from Afghanistan and sell, making huge profits. In the
fall soldiers are sent to work in the nearby kolkhozy since there
much a shortage of manpower. (Tashkent engineer in his 30's)
COMMENTS ON SUCCESSION TO ANDROPOV
We expected a lot from Andropov: that he would re-establish
order, bring about the necessary changes in the economy, improve
the people's living standards, improve relations with the West,
etc. We had been describing him in glowing terms: intelligent,
educated, honest, modest, progressive. But this was more a
description of what the people needed and wanted in a leader than
an accurate description of the man himself. What we need is
someone young, strong and well-educated; someone not exactly like
Stalin perhaps but with some of his qualities. But Chernenko is
an old man too. There's no point in expecting him to do anything
important. He is an experienced bureaucrat, but he knows nothing
about real life and he never will. All he knows is paper and
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statistics. He has never been abroad. He doesn't even know how
to read his speeches properly, and he can't hold his hands
steady! When the camera showed them all standing there on the
balcony, I found myself thinking: If only a strong young man
would make a clean sweep of all these old fogies. (Leningrad
white collar worker, Soviet citizen)
We don't have the same democratic traditions in the Soviet Union
as in the West. Without going into the reasons for this, it must
be acknowledged that the majority of the people long for a
"strong" leader, who would be able to lead the country out of its
problems. What they want is a kind of father figure: good, just,
hard-working, but at, the same time severe and firm. Could
Andropov have fulfilled this role? We don't know. The things
that he did succeed in doing in the few months he was in office
were appreciated by the population as a whole, but would they
have worked in the long run, if he had ruled for, say, 10-15
years? We don't know. Chernenko is also an unknown quantity. It
is true that he said he was going to continue the work of
Andropov, but they all say this when they come into office, and
then later do as they please. He is said to be severe, but this
is not enough to lead a country as large and complicated as ours.
We know that he was close to Brezhnev, -but most of all we know
that the fate of our people and government are in the hands of an
old man surrounded by other old men. (Leningrad engineer, Soviet
citizen)
I heard about conditions on the Urengoi gas pipeline from a young
man who used to frequent the library where I worked, who had been
drafted into military security. He told me that camps had been
built along the route of the pipeline to house the zeks who were
working on it. Every 100 km, four or five camps had been built,
each holding between 1000 and 2000 prisoners. There were also
camps for women. Work started at 5 a.m. every day. The zeks
received no protection against mosquito bites and there were
numerous cases of blood poisoning. At least five people were
buried in each camp every day. My informant knew of eight
instances when the Central Asian guards shot down zeks. After a
spell on the pipeline, his regiment was sent to Eastern Siberia
to guard coal quarries. A vein of uranium was discovered and
the geologists immediately alerted Moscow. Two weeks later a
plane flew in bringing protective clothing for the guards but
none for the zeks, who went on working without masks or
protective clothing. According to the re imental hysician, they
would be dead within the year. (Moscow in her 30's) STAT
Our factory had a secret workshop manned by zeks which produced,
among other things, metal mesh for heavy artillery and tanks.
Rumors circulated about an increase in radioactivity and cases of
terminal cancer, but the mans ement and the factory physician Pnipd them all. rom Dnepropetrovsk in his 30's)STAT
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Breaches of discipline in the army are becoming increasingly
frequent. There have been many cases of alcoholism, drug
addiction, and fights. Soldiers on leave have raped women, drunk
themselves into a stupor and resisted the military police
patrols. Drunkenness extends from young officers and the high
command to ordinary soldiers. Of course it is the latter who
suffer the worst consequences if they are caught breaking
military discipline. If this happens, they are sent to work in
the penal construction battalions. Cases of madness and suicide
are frequent in the penal battalions. In October 1983, in the
Kola peninsula a young recruit wrote on his chest "Mama I can't
stand it any more," and shot himself. Many young soldiers die
during training. Their families are told that they "Met with
death while on military duty," and that's all. There are many
deserters too.... Parents do everything they can to prevent
their sons from going into the army. They invent diseases,
obtain medical certificates, ask for postponements and so on.
Families are not told where their sons are serving, but if a
letter comes from Central Asia, then it means hey are re aring
to go to tan. (Director of a Leningrad in
his 6U's)
I used to be a member of a military medical commission
responsible for examining potential new recruits. We usually
refused about 10% of them on grounds of physical unfitness. But
there were all kinds of attempts to deceive the authorities and
avoid being drafted. No one wanted to serve in the army! Some
of the people we examined were all swollen up from injections of
dental bacteria or saliva; others had aggravated wounds, or were
simulating madness. Some of them even feigned arthritis, short-
sightedness and color blindness. (Physician in his 50's from
SABOTAGE OF MILITARY EQUIPMENT
In the fall of 1983, a trial took place in Kirov concerning theft
and sabotage at warehouses that kept spare parts for automobiles
and military equipment. The trial went on behind closed doors,
but it seems that an enormous quantity of parts for artillery and
tanks were sabotaged, while others simply disappeared. No one
knew who was responsible for this. It seems that there had been
instances of tanks' gun barrels blowing up in Afghanistan, and
incidents where the tanks' engines wouldn't start, and then
burned up. All of these parts came from the Kirov warehouse.
(Kirov bookkeeper in his 50's)
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FINANCIAL ADVANTAGES OF MILITARY CONSTRUCTION WORK
A colleague of mine went to work in Siberia in 1981-1982. He
said that in Omsk and Irkutsk, welders could earn up to 400
rubles a month on military construction sites. Construction of
anti-nuclear shelters at the military factories in Perm was even
better paid. Each big military factory has a huge underground
shelter in which are stored large supplies of food and water.
(Krasnodar technician in his 40's)
TENSION BETWEEN KGB AND MILITIA
The KGB is trying to get its own people into key positions in the
militia, and the militia is not happy about this at all. A
divisional police inspector told me that his boss was constantly.
coming under fire from the KGB, which was anxious to find a way
of getting rid of him and replacing him with its own "blue
angels." (Pensioner in his 60's from Moscow)
INCREASED KGB ACTIVITY
Since 1981, all economic crimes have been investigated with the
participation of the city KGB (at least this was true of all the
cases I came across in my capacity as a criminal defense lawyer).
Not only that, but since the accession of Andropov, the regional
KGB departments have been supervising even ordinary cases that
had nothing to do with economic crime. The purpose of this was
to ensure that the militia didn't accept bribes either to cover
the affair up, or to ease the situation of the suspect while
under detention. But before the trial opens, the KGB actively
tries to recruit informants. Their interference aggravates the
situation of the suspects. who are left with no rights at all.
(Lawyer in his 50's former CP member)
An economic clean-up is under way in Tbilisi, and the KGB is busy
making confiscations and arrests. If, for instance, they search
someone's house and find a hoard of precious stones, they will
take the person down to KGB headquarters and lock him up until he
confesses. If no confession is forthcoming, then they simply
give him an injection [of truth serum. Beating people up has
become a thing of the past. Many of the people who made a
fortune selling fruit in the RSFSR before this was forbidden are
leaving Tbilisi and taking their money with them. (Driver in his
40's from Tbilisi)
In 1981-1982, the authorities moved against dentists and dental
technicians, in an attempt to recover gold meant for dental work
that had been misappropriated. The price of gold h.as gone up by
400% during the last 8 years, but it seems that some of those on
trial had nearly a kilo of gold stashed away. I was arrested in
May 1982 at my workplace and taken home so that they could search
my apartment in my presence. They ripped open all the mattresses
(despite the fact that they had mine detectors with them), tore
the floorboards up, and ripped apart my coat. I kept all my work
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notes at home, and they took everything away. Of course, they
didn't find anything. I had hidden my gold in the potato patch
of my garden plot outside the city. A friend of mine was less
lucky. -His wife denounced him, in the hope of getting her hands
on the gold herself, and he was sentenced to nine Years'
imprisonment. (Dental technician in his 20's
A patient of mine who was a lieutenant-colthi rn
told me that the KGB is rumored to have the city telephone system
hooked up to US-made computers making it possible for them to
monitor all the telephone conversations that. take place.
in his 40's from Riga)
ARSON ATTEMPT ON KGB HEADQUARTERS
STAT
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In November 1982 the KGB headquarters in Vinnitsa was set on fire
in the middle of the night. As far as I know, no one was
arrested for this, and in fact the arson attempt was never
officially acknowledged. However everyone in town knew about it,
for several of the building's windows were burned. The next
morning they began to repair the damage and after three or four
days everything was back to normal. The only official reaction
was a spate of lectures in the schools about the impe t,
Zionist threat. in his 40's from Vinnitsa) STAT
VICTIMS OF POLICE BRUTALITY
While working at the Kharkov hospital I ran into several victims
of police and KGB brutality. In February 1983 a zek was brought
in suffering from a rupture of the lowest part of his oesophagus
and his stomach. He had swallowed two nails and it was a miracle
that he didn't have peritonitis. He had to stay two months in
hospital after his operation. He told me that he had tried to
commit suicide. The investigator was trying to wring additional
evidence out of him, even though his trial was over, and he was
suffering torture and constant persecution as a result. In March
1983, an Armenian in his late forties was carried to the
hospital. According to his " friends" (all of whom were in
civilian clothes), he had fallen down the stairs. He had a
cracked skull and serious brain damage but no external injuries.
He had heavy bruises around the waist area, and his liver and
kidneys were badly damaged. When he regained consciousness he
told me that he had been accused of being a member of an Armenian
nationalist organization and was beaten up when he denied it.
Two weeks later they came for him in spite of strong protests
from the director of the traumatology section. In July, a badly
beaten up woman. was brought in by people who said they had found
her in the street. A few days later she was able to-tell me that
two police investigators had beaten her up with sticks. She had
been accused of speculating in furs and foreign currency. She
too was taken back to the police station. (Kharkov rSTAT
his 40's)F----- STAT
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A fellow worker of mine, a computer programmer, was mugged for no
reason by three drunk militiamen. He had two broken ribs and had
to stay-a month in the hospital. He lodged a complaint but the
case was dismissed. He had the name of the three militiamen, but
the jud a took their word against his. (Riga in his STAT
30's) ~ STAT
SECOND ECONOMY
Gasoline is in such short supply that people will do anything to
get their hands on it. This is all to the good as far as people
who work in gas stations are concerned. Taxi drivers prefer to
work-unofficially and to do this they need gas. Factories in need
of urgent deliveries have truck drivers working on the side and
they are ready to pay a high price to keep them supplied with
gas. As for ordinary motorists, it's been a long time since they
were able to fill up their tanks by giving a "little something"
to any passing truck driver. In our gas station, we used to buy
gasoline coupons from truck drivers who economized on gas by not
filling up their tanks, and falsifying the number of kilometers
covered Lin their log books). We would also sell cheap gasoline
mixed with high-quality gasoline as high-quality ethylene. Even
an ordinary gas pump attendant can make 100 or 150 roubles a day
on the side. Of course, to get the job he has to give the
manager a bribe of at least 3000 roubles and then pay him a
minimum of 30 roubles a day thereafter. As for me, I could make
more than a thousand roubles a day. Of this, I had to give my
director about 5UU to 600 roubles. He, however, used to give
some money to whoever delivered the gas. (Ukrainian trade worker
in his 50's from Odessa)
I was an auto mechanic and I lived like a prince. I didn't have
to run around; everyone came to me. If someone had a car that
was not running because it was missing some little screw that
couldn't be found in the store or the repair shop, then they
would come to me--and make it well worth my while! And why did I
happen to possess the right screw? Because of my connections
with the automobile factory. To obtain spare parts that weren't
available in the stores, I would go all the way to Togliatti. At
the pre-arranged time I would go up to the factory fence and,
just like in the movies, a few packages of spare parts would be
lowered down by rope and laid at my feet. Then I would tie to
the rope my own bag containing enough Lmoney] for everyone: the
person who delivered the spare parts, the person who kept silent
about it, and the person who will help out in the future. It's
my belief that all the illegal machinations which Soviet citizens
get mixed up in in order to get by are actually planned from
.above. Keep people shaking with fear and they will never get
involved in politics. (Baku mechanic in his 20's)
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In 1982, five people were found guilty of buying black market
goods from kolkhozy for the Restaurant and Cafeteria
Organization. At the time, there was nothing to eat in the city.
The trial was not open to the public. Three people received
sentences of about 10-12 years in the camps, and the other two
got 5-6 years. The local paper commented that, "The plunderers
got what they deserved." Two of the condemned were Jews, and so
the rumor started around town that the Jews were enriching
themselves at the expense of the workers, but this gossip died
out very quickly. (Teacher in his 40's from
~ Odessa oblast) STAT
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I used to buy meat from the kolkhozy and resell it in the market
in Baku. This brought in about 300 rubles a month on top of my
regular salary. To buy meat from the kolkhozy, I had to give a
bribe to the chairman and the head of the regional UVD L1]. Then
I had to transport the meat to Baku and bribe the police in the
market and the director of the market to be allowed to sell it.
At present, the government pays the kolkhozniki about 1.20
roubles per kilo of pork, whereas I used to pay 4 them rubles,
and then sell'the meat for 9 rubles. ( in his 50's STAT
from Makhachkala)F----] STAT
In June 1983 a number of people went on trial in Riga for
tampering with stamped and sealed vodka bottles. They had
drained out the vodka and replaced it with rubbing alcohol
diluted with water. All of the accused were pensioners who had
been employed at the depot. When they appeared in court they
were almost lynched by outraged drunkards screaming "take them to
the firing squad." (Riga in his 40's)
Without better wages, the campaign to improve labor discipline
will never get off the ground. The manager of our shop keeps
talking about "mobilization of developed socialist creative
models" and other such rubbish, but no one in the shop is
impressed by this. People buy what they need when they go
shopping; I can't force them to buy more, especially if we don't
have what they want. Of course we could show more willingness in
serving customers, but with the salary we get I don't see any
point in even trying. (Leningrad saleswoman, Soviet citizen)
Administration of internal affairs.
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THREE INDUSTRIAL INCIDENTS
In June 1983, a group of sausage production workers in the Kiev
meat kombinat asked permission to buy sausage direct from the
kombinat, since there was none to be had in the city. The
administration of the sausage section replied that the kombinat
was not entitled to do this, and that direct sales were out of
the question. The workers stopped the conveyor belt and refused
to work until representatives of the city Party committee came to
the factory. After a long argument the kombinat promised to sell
them the sausage, but that night after work the militia showed up
and several people were taken off for an Investigation of the
circumstances of the incident. No one has yet been put on trial,
but rumors of a strike at the kombinat have been circulating in
the city, and it has been confirmed that three people were
arrested for sabotage. (Kiev teacher in his 50's)
In January 1983 the workers in a Kharkov bicycle factory refused
to take their pay. This incident was investigated for three days
by the factory Party and trade union committees together with the
city Party committee, the oblast Party committee and the city
Soviet. It turned out that the reason the workers had refused
their pay was that it was too low. The incident was hushed up and
no reference was ever made to it in the press or in meetings. As
for the workers, th given production bonuses. (Kharkov
mechanic in his 50's)
In November 1983 they did not pay bonuses in the factory where I
worked and the workers organized a one-day strike. No one went to
work that day. And it worked; they got their bonuses. When the
Lithuanians show signs of discontent, the authorities take it
seriously. They haven't forgotten the Lithuanian student who set
hi f on fire as a protest [2]. (0 engineer in his 20's)
ATTITUDES OF WORKERS
Most of the workers in our factory showed no interest in their
work. They didn't believe the slogans and refused to attend
meetings. Some of the engineers went to Party schools but the
workers said "to hell with it." Before Andropov they would say
openly, "This is not a country but a brothel." Yet conditions in
the factory were not so bad. On the average, workers were better
paid than engineers: we got about 200-220 rubles a month, while
they got only 100-12U. In addition, there was a pig farm
attached to the factory where meat could be bought more cheaply
This was Romas Kalanta, who set himself on fire on the main
street of Kaunas in the spring of 1972.
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than in the stores (of course the workers had to work on it in
their free time without being paid). There was a lot of heavy
drinking_ at the factory even though it was officially forbidden.
Vodka was smuggled in despite searches. People injected it into
bicycle tires and other hiding places. As a result, there were a
great man accidents. ( from Dnepropetrovsk in his STAT
30's) aIHr
The Conmmunist Party was noticeably unpopular among the workers
in the wood-processing factory where I worked. A full time Party
organizer, a man in his 30's, was sent there. He would invite
three or four workers a month for a private chat in the course of
which he would invite-them to join the Party. They would find
various pretexts for refusing: "I am a drunk," "I am unworthy of
it", "I have been waiting 10 years for an apartment, give me one
and I'll join the Party." Once he struck luck with a married man
with two children who lived with his parents in a two-room
apartment without modern conveniences. The Party organizer
promised to find him an apartment, but two years passed and
nothing happened. After that, no matter what the Party organizer
offered us, we would remind him that "all your Party knows is
how to lie." During the five years I stayed in the factory, only
five men joined the Party. All were engineers, not blue collar
workers.... There were eight informers in the factory (two per
section) and they were under the supervision of the director of
the First Department L3J, a retired major. They got passes for
rest homes and were allocated apartments without having to go on
a waiting list. (Smolensk technician in his 30's)
SIGNS OF DISSENT ON ANNIVERSARY OF OCTOBER REVOLUTION
On the occasion of the November 7 celebrations the following sign
was tied to an old horse: "66 Years of the Great Creation!" and
someone had drawn a Stalin mustache on a portrait of Andropov.
Apparently, eight people from the technical institute were
involved, and three of them are in big trouble. I heard that the
Ministry of Education has issued a severe warning and that it
intends to crack down hard on teaching establishments for lack of
vigilance with respect to political education. (Dnepropetrovsk
in his 40's)
The "First" or "Special Department" deals with personnel and
security matters (including classified information) under the
supervision of the KGB.
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After the November 7th demonstration, food products were
distributed to Leningrad's war veterans. The veterans were in
wheelchairs or on crutches and they were carrying anti-war
posters. But one of these signs attracted the attention of
Leningraders, and later of the militia. It read, "More Holidays
- More Rations!" When the police moved in to seize the sign, the
person carrying it managed to disappear without a trace. The
invalids were summoned by the KGB and the City Soviet, but they
all denied even having seen the sign. However, a report of the
incident reached the leadership, and the episode turned out to
the invalids' advantage, since they now receive special rations
once a month, and not just on holidays. (Leningrad pensioner in
his 70's)
ABORTION AND CONTRACEPTION
STAT
STAT
In the Soviet Union, contraception is still at the Stone Age
level, and it is common for a woman to have a vast number of
abortions. To stop an unwanted pregnancy Soviet women drink
iodine, poison, or herbs or use any object they think can help.
Many of the young women who came to me were very ill.
Inflammation of the reproductive organs is a common phenomenon.
They end up in hospital with a blood infection or serious
inflammation. (Gynecologist in his 60's from STAT
A neighbour of mine used to practice abortions. Her husband had
died, leaving her with a three-room appartment. She was a former
nurse and she did abortions there for women. who were afraid to go
to the hospital. In Soviet hospitals abortions are done without
anaesthetics. My neighbour had somehow got hold of some sort of
imported preparation with which she injected her patients. It
kept them drowsy for 24 hours after the operation. They were
conscious all the time, but didn't feel anything. She was very
much afraid of being caught by the OBKhSS or the Office of Public
Prosecution, believing that she risked a 15-year sentence. She
charged 80 rubles for an abortion, which was not particularly
expensive. Most women were ready to.pay anything she asked to
avoid having to go to an overcrowded hospital. My neighbour
always had a gynecologist on call in case anything went wrong.
If she called, he would get there within 15 minutes. She worked
like that for_7 years. (Kishinev pensioner in her 70's) 0 STAT
MEDICAL "EXPERIMENTS" ON PHYSICALLY HANDICAPPED
I have heard from an impeccable source that children with
congenital defects are not given to their parents to raise.
Instead they are kept apart till they reach a certain age, and
then passed on to secret institutes of the Ministry of Defense,
where they are used for experiments. Similarly, both children and
adults with brain trauma are "given" to the government so that it
can "take care" of them. Their families are ordered not to
inquire about them, and not to ask for meetings. I also heard
that the Ministry of D e f e n s e conducts experiments on soldiers and
political prisoners. physician in his 50's)~
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The wives and children of members of the nomenklatura have access
to special pharmacies where they can buy rare medication
including antibiotics and nitrofuran as well as contraceptive
pills. They buy drugs ostensibly for themselves, but in reality
for resale to doctors and others. (Even doctors who work in
clinics for the elite do not have access to these pharmacies.)
The prices are very high: tens, if not hundreds of rubles for a
course of treatment. (Nurse in her 40's from Kharkov)
Since a nuclear power plant was built in Kandalaksha, there has
been a deterioration in public health. There have been several
cases of leukemia in children, and an increased incidence of
miscarriages and impotency. (Geologist in his 5U's from
Murmansk oblast)
In 1982, a priest who had been distributing Bibles in samizdat
form was put on trial in Kaunas. Two typewriters Lused for
typing the BiblesJ had been confiscated from his apartment, along
with paper and a large number of orders. But the witnesses who
were called in to testify refused to identify the priest, and
said they had never received anything from him. Since the priest
was relatively unknown, he got off with
for "anti-Soviet propaganda." Apparently
get Bibles in Kaunas, and the KGB doesn'X
to this. FItechnician in his 4U's)
a three-year sentence
it isn't very hard to
want to draw attention
Three of my fellow students in the engineering institute I
attended were Baptists. They were subjected to considerable
harrassment, and were finally refused their diplomas. They
appealed to a court, but it will be a long time before things are
settled. Meanwhile, although they have finished their studies
they have no diplomas. Without diplomas, they cannot find
or
?STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
STAT
and without work, how are they supposed to live?
engineer in his 20's)F___-] STAT
We have been receiving food rationing coupons in Yakutia for four
years now. Clothes and footwear disappeared a long time ago and
are only obtainable on the black market at fabulous prices. At a
time when high-quality diamonds and other precious stones are
being exported to the United States and Europe from newly
discovered mines in the Yakut ASSR, this is a truly scandalous
situation. The Soviet government is raking in huge amounts in
foreign currency, while we are starving and living like paupers.
(White collar worker from Yakut ASSR, Soviet citizen)
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ARRESTS OF STUDENT NATIONALISTS
The son of my neighbors, a 23 year old student, was arrested and
tried
along
"You
and
I
Israel
and
we
meet
at
his
surprise
me
confessed
and
my neighbor and the other three got seven years, plus three
years' exile for.belonging to a Ukrainian independence group.
EDUCATION IN UZBEKISTAN
Several local university professors, who were teaching Uzbek
history with an emphasis on independent development, were fired
recently. They were replaced by two professors from Moscow and
two from Kiev. (Tashkent accountant in his 30's)
,Schools are too small in Uzbekistan. One advantage of this is
that the teachers know their pupils better, but they have to
teach several disciplines and the educational level is not as
good as it should be. To solve part of this problem, 13 new
schools were built in Tashkent in 1982. Since the new schools
are better equipped than the old ones, with laboratories and
language labs, children from the old schools are shuttled to the
new ones for special lectures, such as chemistry and physics and
go back to their own schools for instruction in the other
disciplines. (Tashkent teacher, Soviet citizen)
A SOVIET VIEW OF POLAND
Everyone in the USSR hates the Poles. This isn't because of any
government decree, it is quite spontaneous. There are several
different reasons why things should be this way. Firstly, the
Poles are often arrogant and haughty: my parents remember that it
wasn't easy living under Poland after the First World War.
Secondly, there is envy of the Poles. The Russians see that the
Poles live much better than they do, and they believe that this
higher standard of living has been achieved at their expense.
In the USSR, even though bread is rationed, we don't have enough
of it, and yet we have sent thousands of tons of grain, meat and
other products to Poland. But the Poles are by no means grateful
for this. The events of the past few years have shown not only
their ingratitude, but their hatred of us. Finally, the events
in Poland have aroused our fear. Even though the Poles might have
been right to do what they did, it is the sort of thing that the
Soviet government would not tolerate for one second. They were
attempting the impossible. - What's more, it is certain that the
trouble in Poland isn't over yet, and this is what frightens us.
with six other students. The boy used to tell me:
see things the same way. You want an independent
want an independent Ukraine." Young people used to
place and stay late, arguing loudly. It didn't
that things went wrong. Three of the students
received sentences of three years in the camps, but
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An armed uprising in Poland would have unforeseeable
consequences. We can accept hardship and food shortages because
there is always the hope that conditions will get better, but
not, please God, not war. But the Poles could lead us to just
that. For us, Poland is a greater threat even than nuclear war.
(Belorussian technician, Soviet citizen)
POLISH VISIT TO ESTONIA
A group of Polish workers from Gdynia came to exchange "work
experiences" with their Estonian colleagues. However, they spent
most of the time talking about the underground activities of
Solidarity, and Lech -Walesa's Nobel Peace Prize. (Estonian.
white collar worker, Soviet citizen)
JEWISH CITIZEN EXPLAINS UNWILLINGNESS TO EMIGRATE
I have no desire to emigrate from the Soviet Union, for several
reasons. My wife is Russian and our children do not see
themselves as Jews, but as Russians. They are already grown up
and well-established, and if I were to emigrate it could
significantly complicate their lives. As far as I myself am
concerned, I enjoy my job and I have a good standard of living,
at least in Soviet terms. Of course, people in the West live
better and more comfortably than they do in the USSR, especially
scientists. But the West, let's face it, is way ahead of the USSR
in science. If I went to the West, they wouldn't even consider
me a scientist. German is the only foreign language I know, and
no one would even be able to understand my work. Culturally, I
would feel myself in a -total vacuum.
On top of this, Judaism doesn't mean a great deal to me; I
have always considered myself an Estonian. Estonia is my
country, not Israel. It means nothing to me that my Jewish
ancestors may have lived there 2,000 years ago. My own family
has been in Estonia for the last several hundred years, whereas
the Russians have only been here for the last 50. As for anti-
Semitism, that is a problem everywhere; not just in the Soviet
Union. But millions of Jews, including my family and myself, have
survived in the Soviet Union, and this shouldn't be forgotten
either. During the time of Khrushchev and Brezhnev, anti-Semitism
was more noticeable, but this was just a sign of laisser aller.
Under Andropov, things became a bit more orderly.
Western attempts to establish the right for Jews to emigrate
won't solve anything. The world is not in any kind of shape to
accept the Jews that want to leave, and integrate them into
society. Even Israel cannot do that. Our only hope is that if
the situation in the world becomes more just, then the situation
of the Jews in the USSR will become normal. (Jewish- scientist,
Soviet citizen)
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W 16' W
PRESS AND POSTAL CENSORSHIP
I worked for the Vinnitsa Oblast's printing office. We used to
receive circular letters from the raion Party committee telling
us what we could or couldn't print. (One of the editors told me
that they were actually written by the KGB,. with the
participation of oblast Party committee representatives.)
Material on food shortages was outlawed, for example. Instead we
were instructed to substitute something on the lines of the
following: "In accordance with the directives of the Plenum of
the CPSU Central Committee and the instructions -of Comrade
Andropov, the Party and the Government are doing their best to
improve deliveries of food products, especially in working-class
districts." When a forest fire broke out last August and seven
people were killed, we were forbidden to mention the victims,
and instructed to emphasize instead that the Zhmerinka fire
brigade director had been arrested for carelessness. In
September a group of Baptists went on trial. (The KGB
investigator threatened witnesses with prosecution and
deprivation of parental rights in order to make them testify.)
On this occasion, we were ordered to increase anti-religious
propaganda. It was forbidden to write anything positive about
Israel, and from 1983 onwards this prohibition also applied o
STAT
the United States. (Proof-reader,in his 3U's from Vinnitsa) STAT
I used to work as a postal clerk, and was constantly moved around
to different departments. The mail from the mechanical sorter was
brought in in "general" sacks, and there were also "special"
sacks which were brought in by some very well-dressed young
people. These sacks contained letters from abroad as well as
some domestic mail. I was told that these letters went directly
to the KGB. (Moscow pensioner In his 60's) STAT
REACTIONS TO KAL INCIDENT
After the (television] interview with the pilot who.shot down the
Korean airplane in September, a leaflet was pasted up in
Sestroretsk train station which read: "The Russian Fighting Cock
[voyaka]! At the Nuremberg trials the Fascists also said, We were
following orders!" The leaflet stayed up until evening.
(Leningrad teacher in her 30's)
I was in a bus one day when someone who was reading about the
Korean airliner incident said under his breath: "I don't believe
this." Suddenly an argument broke out. Most people kept quiet,
but there were some who insisted that "if it is in Izvestia, then
it is true." The incident ended with two of these people taking
the man off to the police, claiming that he was disturbing the
peace with his remarks. When they got off the bus there was a
deathly sli1pnep and no one dared to look up. (Minsk engineer in
his 50's)
STAT
STAT
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t 0
After the Korean airliner incident, a series of protests against
American espionage were organized in factories in Kirov. Posters
denouncing imperialism and espionage appeared in high schools and
institutes. (Bookkeeper in his 50's from Kirov)
DIFFICULTIES ON THE KOLKHOZY
I worked in an office which designed spare parts for agricultural
equipment. We had two main problems with our work: firstly, there
was no material with which to make the necessary models and no
equipment with which to test them; secondly, the factories were
not interested in receiving these parts, because the profit to be
made from ready-made machines was much higher. This means that
the work of the kolkhozy often gets held up when something needs
repairing. Often the only way to get the spare parts they need
is to dismantle tot tractor or combine harvester. (Lvov
engineer in his 30's)
Twice a year we were sent to work on the kolkhozy. Life out there
wasn't easy for city-dwellers like us, but it wasn't an entirely
negative experience since it gave us a rare opportunity to buy
meat.... Fertilizers were kept in sacks and stored in the open.
When they weren't stolen by the kolkhozniki, they were washed
away in the rain. Even though the form, concentration level and
utilization methods of the fertilizers changed all the time, the
kolkhozniki were given no information or training on how to use
them.... The head of the kolkhoz distributed piglets from the
kolkhoz pigsties to the kol ozni i and sold them black-market
feed. In return, he received 4U% of the earnings made from the
sale of that on the open market. (Chemist in his 30's from
My fellow students and I were sent to help out in the kolkhozy in
summer. We found no one but old people there. The kolkhozniki are
paid per harvested field and not according to actual yield. As a
result, the fields were harvested, but the potatoes and beets
were then left outside to rot. Meanwhile, the kolkhozniki were
tending the same beets and potatoes with the utmost care in their
own fenced-in private plots. The vegetables were washed,
thoroughly dried,? sorted, and sold in the city market. Many of
the students voiced the opinion that only private farming, as in
Poland, or cooperatives, as in Hungary, could save Soviet
The government has lowered the price it pays to the kolkhozy for
high quality meat, and at the same time is forcing them to
provide more meat. But the feed they have been given to do this
has a lower vegetable blend and a higher gluten content. You
can't fool around with the laws of physiology, however. If you
give less feed to a pig you get less meat, and if the feed is of
low quality, the meat will be too. Complaints about this were
sent to the Central Committee.. but to no avail. (Pensioner in
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INDEX
Afghanistan
2
Comments on Sucession to Andropov
3
Inhuman Treatment of Zeks
4
Rigors of Military Life
5
Sabotage of Military Equipment
5
Financial Advantages of Military Construction Work
6
Tension Between KGB and Militia
6
Increased KGB Activity
6
Arson Attempt on KGB Headquarters
7
Victims of Police Brutality
7
Second Economy
8
Campaign for Labor Discipline
9
Three Industrial Incidents
10
Attitudes of Workers
lU
Signs of Dissent on Anniversary of October Revolution
11
Abortion and Contraception
12
Medical "Experiments" on Physically Handicapped
12
Speculation in Medicines
13
Nuclear Power Plant Believed to Affect Public Health
13
Religious Harrassment
13
Shortages in Yakutia
13
Arrests of Student Nationalists
14
Education in Uzbekistan
14
A Soviet View of Poland
14
Polish Visit to Estonia -
15
Jewish Citizen Explains Unwillingness to Emigrate
15
Press and Postal Censorship
16
Reactions to KAL Incident
16
Difficulties on the Kolkhozy
17
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