BOLSHEVIK MACHINE PLANT/PUBLIC HEALTH AND SANITATION IN KIEV

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00047R000200500009-4
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: October 28, 2002
• Sequence Number: 9
• Publication Date: February 20, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved F 23/08/06 CIA-RDP82-00047R000200500009'-4. 25X1
~ ~FaILA nUN CONF'IDEIgT1p,L./SECURITY IMMMAPTnu -- 1
25X1
25X1
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE. AGENCY 25X1
SUBJECT Bolshevik Machine Plant/Public Health
and Sanitation in Kiev.
THIN DOCUMENT CON TA INL INPO.YATION ATFICTIN. TNL NATIONAL DEFENSE
O! THE UNITED STATE[. .ITHIN THE MEANING OF TI TLC IS, SECTIONS 733
AND 70.. OF TNL V.E. CODE. AS AMENDED. ITS T.AN.MISII IN OL REV!?
LATIOI 01 ITS CONTENTS TO ON RICE IFT .T AN UN AV TNO.I LED .L.SOM 1!
1.ONI.ITEE .T LA.. THE NEFN000CTION 01 THIS 10.Y IS F.OHI.IT...
SOURCE
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DATE Di ; k. f Feb 1953
NO. (E PAGES 2
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
BOLSHEVIK MACHINE PLANT
1. uestio-.,. .- Did you ever visit the "Bolshevik Machine Plant" in, {:ie ?
Answer Yes, on several occasions, 25X1
2. uestionj Were you sufficiently acquainted with the plant to comrae_nt.rn the
type and quantity of its production as of the time, you were l.at
in Kiev?
Answer: The "Bolshevik Machine Plant" was primarily a manufactur'rr o,If heavy
cm.chinery. It also produced. heavy castings, such as tank tt x:ts
and other large tan1' parts, heavy duty axles, and other parts required
in the assembly ofmilitary vehicles. I cannot specify in detail.
since I knew the plant only as a visitor and my knowledge of it opera-
tions is limited to what I was able to observe.. I noted that cast
iron, cl3.rbon steel, and chrome-nickel steel were abundantly used and
I presume these were the prime metals used in the plants. end prrothets.
I am not familiar with the quantitative aspects of its production but
I do recall the plant employed about 12,000 workers in the pa.T-iced
1941.
3. _question: In your visits to the plant did you note any industria:L hygia, o
safety measures in effect for the protection of the workers'?
Answer: On the contrary, I was struck by the complete absence of siuci ?earcures.
4. uestion: Where was the plant located? 25X1
Answer: On the Brest-Litovsk Shosse.(shosse means -paved street), T - n'+ re-
CLASSIFICATION CONFIDENTIAL - Security Information
Approved For Release 2003/08/06 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000200500009-4
 Approved For Release 2003/08/06: CIA-RDP82-00047R000200500009-4
COIVI! IDENTIAL - Security Information -
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PtBLIC HEALTH AND SANITATION
5a uestion.s Do you recall what methods were in effect in Kiev for the dis-
posal of garbage and sewage?
Answer.-- Yes" quite clearly. Garbage was placed in open boxes in back
yards. When the boxes were full to overflow~ag and the garbage
so ripe its odor could no longer be tolerated, it was buried in
ditches dug by the house-holders in their own yards. There was
no system of garbage collection, either municipal or private.
Those who lived in the heavily congested center of the city were
obliged to cart their garbage to outlying fields where it was
either dumped or buried.
Sewage was carried from the city in'a system of underground mains
which debouched on sewage beds along-the Dnieper River to the
north of Kiev just beyond the railroad bridge. The sew'' beds
,.were exploited for their fertility by using .them . for the, rowth
of. garden vegetables. There was an overflow channel fr:an the
beds to the river. The sewage mains, were narrow and subject to
,frequent clogging. ,It was not uncommon to see the sewage backed
up into the city. ,streets. Sedimentary pumping stations trere
located at several places in the city and I think the mair ore was
in the Podol section.
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Answ r:
4Y s ? p. eria struck me as' being one of the most serious
child killers. All of thee diseases,were being brought 'under con-
trol in 1941.
WX.
&-- vas- L-Lut"u[t UL -nose wno survived it, especially on thq
health of surviving children?
I do recall-that Tuberculosis and. Typhus hit hard during and immedi-
ately after the famine. 'I'.presume this resulted from a general lo
-
w
ering of resistance brought on by'the lack of nutrition. The great
tragedy of the famine lay in the villages and countryside. Cities
,were not seriouply affected since they were gl.ven a food allotment
..by-the Government sufficient to sustain life,` though it was not much.
I would say that the children fortunate enough to survive the full
impact of the famine tended to mature with thin, spare bodL s and
nA.rrow chests. This lack of normal body development may have con-
tributed to the low productive capacity typical of the workers who
stemmed from that generation.
CONFIDENTIAL - Security Information
Question:,', What percentage of the city's houses were included in the sewage
sys'teii7
Anew r: I am of ,the impression that most of the houses in Kiev proper
were connected with the system, Suburban, areas on tl.e periphery
of the city were not served except where large factories were
located.,
question-, Are you familiar with the diseases that were predominant in Kiev?
Answer:, Typhoid fever,, Amoebic andBacillic Dysentery and Tubercullosis..
were endemic;, ,There were-always many cases. Trichinosis and
Rabies occurred quite frequently. There were, occasional cases of
Cholera and Bubonic Plague but these diseases never reached epi-
demic form. Z'think they must have been brought in from other
areas. The great epidemics were the Typhus. outbreaks of ;1918.1920
and 1932-1933; the Scarlet Fever outbreak of 1937-1939; and the
Spanish Influenza epidemic of 1918-1919. Most of the eomu oor, child.-
-hood diseases were present- although Inever heard, of a case of Poli.o-
eliti Di hth
r
Approved For Release 2003/08/06 : CIA-RDP82-00047R000200500009-4