INDICATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL VULNERABILITIES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-04864A000300040026-6
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 7
• Document Creation Date: December 12, 2016
• Document Release Date: March 6, 2002
• Sequence Number: 26
• Publication Date: February 9, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY REPORT NO
INFORMATION FROM
FOREIGN DOCUMENTS OR RADIO BROADCASTS CD NO.
COUNTRY USSR
SUBJECT INDICATIONS OF PSYCHOLOGICAL VULNERABILITIES
HOW
PUBLISHED
WHERE
PUBLISHED
DATE
PUBLISHED
LANGUAGE
THIS DOCUMENT CONTAINS INFORMATION AFFECTING THE NATIONAL DEFENSE
'OF THE UNITED STATES, WITHIN THE MEANING OF TITLE 18. SECTIONS 7.99
AND 794. OF THE U.S. CODE, AS AMENDED. ITS TRANSMISSION OR REVE.
LATION OF ITS CONTENTS TO OR RECEIPT BY AN UNAUTHORIZED PERSON I'!I
PROHIBITED BY LAW. THE REPRODUCTION OF THI S. FORM IS PROH191 TEO.
SOURCE Monitored Broadcasts
STATINTL
DATE OF 29 Dec. 1952
INFORMATION 12 Jan. 1953
DATE DIST1 February 1953
NO. OF PAGES
ILLEGIB
0
SUPPLEMEI4T TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
CPW Report Noe 67 ?m Inside USSR
(29 Dec. 1952 - 12 Jane 1953)
AGRICULTURE oe0osoeaeB080000000060 2
INDUSTRY 5
MISCELLANEOUS oeeooe B0 000000000oe 7
STATE
CLASSIFICATION FOR OFFICIAL, USE ONLY
j NSRB
LiFBI
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 STATINTL
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UNCLASSIFIED
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AGRICULTURE
Inadequate tractor repairs and maintenance and the uncertain progress of the :Live-
stock industry continue to get official attention as the two chronic shor e
of Soviet agriculture. Unlike the previous output on this thew which dealt .mostly
with the Ukraine, most of the complaints about agricultural shortcomings are aired
on the regional transmitters of the European part of the RSF?SR. Ukrainian. failings
are discussed at a special session of the Republican Party's Central Committee
called to look into the agricultural situation. The only reference to agricultural
statute violation appears in a.dispatch from Altai krai which was not broadcast.
Poor Tractors, Shortage of Drivers., The machine-tractor stations of at least
three RSFSR oblssts-Vladimir, Kaluga and Kostroma--have made a very
in the y poor showing
past year, according to a PRAVDA editorial broadcast on 6 January. Hundreds
of tractors could not be worked more than one shift per day because of an acute
shortage of qualified tractor drivers. Had the appropriate Party and agricultural
officials thought of that eventuality in time, the paper points out, the emergency
would not have arisen and the plan would have been fulfilled. The agricultural
training program in those oblasts is said to have deteriorated to such an extent
that many of the schools existed on paper only while many of the would-be students
were never sent to school in the first place. Agricultural progress in four other
oblaats--Smolensk, Velikie Luki, Kalinin and Penza--is just as unenviable this
year as the performance in the above-named areas was last year. They are "far
behind" (silno otstayut) in their tractor repair program and, besides, the quality
of their work leaves much to be desired. In Tummen oblast, for example, it has
been standard practice to keep all agricultural machinery "under the open sky"
(pod otkrytym nebom) throughout the year with the result that a large proportion of
it deteriorated and went out of commission.
CHERHOMORSKA K A says editorially (7 January) that despite the "over-all
upsurge" in Odessa oblast agriculture, the machine-tractor stations of many ob]aats
"are lagging seriously" in their development and they adversely affect the harvest
yields and productivity of livestock. The 1953 agricultural plan for tractor
work and the livestock industry is already off to a bad start, and "decisive" measures
to eliminate the accumulating shortcomings are urged on the Oblast Party committee.
Particular attention is called to the very unsatisfactory state of affairs in
Teebrikoveky, Herezovskiy, Shiryasvskiy and unnamed other rayons, but no further
details are given.
A Biryukov report from Alma Ata carried by IZVESTIA on 6 January states bluntly
that agricultural science in Kazakh SSR is backward (otstayet) for the simple
reason that both the Republic?s Acsademmy of Agricultural Sciences and the Ministry
of Agriculture are derelict in their duties. There is virtually no coordination
between the Academy and its institutes and the experimental agricultural stations
(opytnie atantaii) throughout the Republic. Scientific developments are few and
far between,, and lack of contact with the collective farms makes it all but
impossible to disseminate the achievements of agricultural research. The "Williams"
Agricultural Institute is said to be the largest and beat equipped in Kazakhstan,
but most of its activities have so far been confined to the study of weeds.
Nothing has been done about improving the grass-crop rotation system., soil
fertilization and similar important aspects of agricultural work. The Kazakh
Institute of Stockbreeding has developed a new type of fine-wooled (tonkorunnaya)
sheep but this scientific achievement has for some reason not been popularized
and it still remains on the Institute?s papers:
CPYRGHT It is not
id
acc
ential that the number of
pedigreed sheep in the Republic
far from
,
I
increasing, has actually decreased and then
productivity has been reduced.
UNCLASSIFIED
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Russian text.,
Na sluchaino kolichastvo chistoporodnykh ovate
v respublike no tolko no uvelichiloa, a
sokratilos, snizilas ikh produktivnost.
STATINTL
CPYRGHT
The Same topic is referred to editorially by KAZAKHSTANSKAYA PRAVDA on 7 January
in the context of equipment repair and maintenenace. Reiterating the familiar
complaint about the technical inefficiency in agriculture which is being elinimated
"too slowly" and in some areas not at ally the paper criticizes a number of
unnamed machine-tractor stations and sovkhozes of the Republic "who are continuing
to oppose" the introduction of new to,-hnology while stubbornly clinging. to the
obsolete methods of machinery repair which has long since been rejected by practical
experience. Agricultural plans are not being fulfilled, the paper goes on to say,
because not all the available tractors and other machines are serviceable, and
tractors supposedly in good working condition are put out of commission shortly
after they are taken to the field
.,
A Karashev report on the "crudest violations of the agricultural statute"
(grubeishie narushenia Ustava selkhozarteli) carried by PRAVDA on 4 January speaks
of the "backward section" of the collective farmers of the Gorno Altai Autonomous
Oblast who seem to consider their personal interests above those of the State.
Last year, it is revealed, the indivisible funds (nedelimie fondy) in many farms
were tempered with, the failure of the livestock plan was further aggravated by
the excessive slaughter and squandering of cattle for local consumption, and "log
rolling" among local agricultural officials is still in evidence this year. In
the'"Trudovik" farm alone, for example, the number of pigs has been reduced to
44% of the planned minimum. The herd was then further reduced by the theft of
14 pigs and a "gift" of two young shoats that went to the chief of the grain
procurement department (zagotzerno)o Many of the Oblast?s farms are said to be
heavily indebted to the state, and instead of paying off their debts by additional
deliveries they manage to increase their deficits from year to year. These facts,
says Karamyshev are well known to the Oblast and krai Party and Executive Committees
but they do not seem to be overly perturbed about it, despite the fact that the
Central Party Committee called their attention to the existing state of affairs
as early as last April.
Good tractors and more of them is the gist of all official demands voiced on the
regional trion." oitUrs. Ay-r,melr?a?ta from Stalingrad, Chkalov, Kursk and other
RSFSR oblasts highlight this issue in view of the reported growing incidence
of machinery breakdvvaso Typical of these is a CHKALOVSKAYA KOMMUNAA editorial of
9 January discussing the "negative results" (otritsatelnie rezultaty) of the
oblaet?e agricultural leadership. Citing Mustayevskiy rayon as an example of
extreme inefficiency, the paper speaks in disparaging terms of what it calls the
"campaign methods" (kampaneishchina) of administration which means in effect
much ado about nothing. Th4 drive for speedy and high-quality tractor repairs
in the above-named rayons it appears, was commducted exclusively on paper in the
form of "general instructions" to every collective and state farm and machine-
tractor station.-.
CPYRGHT
The net effect is that not a single machine-
tractor station of the rayon fulfilled the
tractor-repair plan in the fourth quarter
It cannot be tolerated, the paper concludes, that some machine-tractor stations
have barely managed to repair one-third of the cultivators while others have not
j even begun to repair the available trailing equipment. Indicative of the shortage
of mechanical skill is the papers critical reference to the .machine-tractor
stations which "have introduced the system" of repairing defects in tractors t
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STATINTL
names four rayons which failed to stockpile -"he necessary fgdder, and three other
rayons-- ishkinsky, Kurganakiy and Ukhayanakiym-where the old "petty-bourgeois
leveling system" (melko burzhuaznaya uravnilovka) has been reverted to. It is
learned that the lass efficient farmers gait more than they are entitled to, and
that brings them up to the level of advanced workers. Reviewing the oblast
agricultural progress, STALIHORADSKAYA PRAVDA (9 January) admits that
CPYRGHT
judging by the sowing of industrial crops and
the harvest of vegetables and potatoes, we still
have not reached the prewar level. Such a situa-
tion is not permissible.
The paper disci s a so 1at a number of a machine tractor stations (which are
named) have completed the annual tractor-repair plan by only 18 to 20%.
INDUSTRY
The radio output on industrial activities reveals that the "fits and jerks" methods
of production (ahturmovshchina) is still a problem awaiting solution. Most of the
available broadcasts on this topic deplore the waste of time and manpower involved
in the process, to may nothing of the uncertain outcome of the plan itself. Steady,
uninterrupted any rhythmic -roduction is urged as the only assurance of plan ful-
fillment. Many incuoi*,r,.&i enterprises, it appears, have not been able to shake
off the old habit of letting things slid, the first half of the month or so and
then concentrating all efforts to meet the production deadline, to take the job
by storm as it were. Hence the opprobrious term "shturmovshchina." Production
of faulty goods, particularly in the consumer industry, and the reluctance to
push mechanization of manual labor processes continued to claim some attention.
MOLDOVA SOCIALISTA admits (6 January) that "one of the main reasons" for production
failures in Moldavian industry is that the enterprises are not working steadily
and smoothly throughout the month. And this in spite of the Party?s repeated
warnings against such chaotic methods of production. There are, many enterprises,
says that paper, which are producing about half their monthly quota in the last
10 days of the month. Among the other industrial failings referred to but not
elaborated are the general poor quality of production and the very slow progress
of mechanization. The failure of a large number of the oblast industrial enter-
prises to provide large quantities of goods for the national economy in 1952,
says RADYAHSKA ZHITOMIRSHCHINA on 7 January, cannot tae overlooked. These same
plants got off to an inauspicious start in the new year, and the outcome of
their monthly and quarterly plane is now "in danger" (u nebezpeki). Their plans
have already been disrupted and the production backlog is getting larger. The
paper accordingly urges the local Party and industrial officials to look into
the affairs of the slow plants with a view to eliminating the "only reason" for
their, failing production--unsystematic and uneven work.
A summarized version of a MOLOT editorial (8 January) refers to "shturmmovschina"
as a violation of technological rules and the State law, and says that short-
cuts to plan fulfillment will not be tolerated. Agricultural machine-building,
mining and other enterprises of Rostov oblast are said to maintain "a formal
attitude" (formalnoye otnoshenie) toward production and to remain undeterred
even by the unfavorable results of their operations. Such huge enterprises as
the Rostov Agricultural Machine Works (Rosteelmash), the Krasnaya Stal (red
steel) plant and the Anthracite Mining Trust (Treat Shakht Antratsit) have done
a poor job in the past year and are already behind in their 1953 production
plans. Again uneven work is blamed as the only bottleneck (uzkoye mesto).
Emphasizing that "the state plan is law," the paper says that violations of
production methods, which are part of the over-all plan, will henceforth be
treated as an infringement of the State law and "leniency will not be permitted."
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STATINTL
The uneven work of many industrial enterprises is primarily responsible for mis-
management and squandering, according to STALINGRAD.SKAYA PRAVDA of 10 January.
Under such conditions, says the editorial, great losses are inevitable, and that
has in fact been the case all along. The Stalingrad Tractor Plant which has been
under fire for inefficient production since last year is said to show no improve-
ment, and the same applies to the Red October Plant which is using too much steel
for too little production The Stalingrad shipyard (sudoverf), it is revealed,
has been working badly during the past two years while its production costs showed
an inordinate increase.
IZVESTIA (8 January) discusses the "shturmovshchina" production method in 1952,
and declares that the repetition of last year?s mistakes shows that many Industrial
and Party officials have not learned their lesson. In the Donets Coal Basin, the
paper asserts, some of the largest coal trusts are doing worse than last year for
the simple reason that many of their executives spend the first 10 to 15 days of
each month "in a state of unjustified repose" (v sostoyanii nichem ne opravdan?
pogo pokoya). The entire monthly coal output is left for the second half of the
month when the "storm .signals" (avraly) are given to save the program at all costs.
The Ural Chemical Machine Trust, among the largest of its kind in the USSR, is said
to be addicted to that "vicious practice" (porochnaya praktika). That plant
showed a 30% increase in t8incompleted production" (nszavershennoye proizvodst?o)
of chemical machinery at the end of 1952. The Makeyev, Zuyev and Snnezbnnyan
Anthracite Trusts are reported to have registered lower production than in October
of last year, and their "indebtedness to the State" (zadolzhennost gosudarstvu)
is said to be piling up. Similar drops in production have been noted in the
Belorussian Leather Footwear Trust (Belkozhobuvtrest) and in the light industry
of the Lithuanian SSR.
PRAVDA's review of 1952 achievements points out that the gross volume of consumer
production in that year was 60% higher than in 1940 but consumer production figures
for that year are not indicated. The only specific items mentioned in the review-
shoes, sugar and textiles-are cited in relation to 1913 and 1928-29 production
firvvi s. The Soviet consumer industry, the paper says, turned out 250 million
ppirs of shoes in 1952 as compared to 8.3 million (factory made) shoes in 1913.
wugar production was 2 million tons higher than in 1913 while the output of cloth,
Bilk and other textiles was double the 1928-29 figure. The total numer of shoes
produced includes also the unserviceable footwear which is subsequently rejected
as "unfit." If scattered regional broadcasts on that phase of production are used
as a basis, the average amount of rejects is at least 10% of the total, and that
would reduce the above figure to about 225 million. As for sugar, the indicated
2,000,000-ton increase over 1913, though in itself substantial, is quite mislead-
ing since it appears to be more than offset by the population increase during
the period under consideration,.from 139 million in 1913 to well over 200 million
in 1952.
Detailed references to shoe production, however, are less flattering than PRAVDA's
annual review. As RADYANSKA UK AINA points out editorially on 8 January, too many
shoes are continually being rejected as unfit for sale:
CPYRGHT
Ukrainian text
Factory warehouses are packed with so-called
unsalable footwear from which the customer
shies away.
Sklady fabryky zabyti tak zvanym nekhodovym
vzuttyam, vid yakogo vidmovlyaetsya pokupets
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STATINTL
The Nikolayev shoe plant is in fact known for its low-quality output, but none of
the plant officials, the paper complains, has ever been called to account for the
unsatisfactory performance. Customers' eonplaints about poor quality, however,
are not confined to footwear alone. Newspaper offices, it is disclosed,, are flooded
with letters from workers and farmerb complaining about the quality of practically
everything they buy."`' This "28 complaints against inferior quality" (28 reklamatsiy
na nizku yakist) lave been received by the Kharkov textile plant alone,, and the
Chernivets knit- oda factory is reported to be working on a similar "low level."
NISCELLA.NEOUS
The theoretical-p tnership between the Politbureau and the Moscow Committee of
the Communist Part, in the jurisdiction over PRAVDA appears to have been dissolved
by the 19th Party ogress last October although there was no indication of it at
that time. The in cription previously appearing under the title PRAVDA was
"Organ of the Central Committee and Moscow Committee of the Communist Party."
It now reads, "Orq' of the Central Committee of the Communist Party."
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