(SANITIZED)AN EXAMPLE OF SOVIET 'TOURS' /SOVIET CIVILIAN ATTITUDES(SANITIZED)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00809A000500040108-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: November 22, 2010
• Sequence Number: 108
• Publication Date: May 13, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/22 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000500040108-5
U.S. Officials Only
COIIFIDEIITIAL
:iECu iT, INFORMAI ION
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
SUBJECT An Example of Soviet "Tours"
Soviet Civilian Attitudes .
DATE DISTR. /31Aay 1953
on a workere' dormitory. There were verq few guards in the work area since there was
NO. OF ENCLS.
SUPP. TO
REPORT NO.
1. The recent)
glowing descriptions of Soviet life brings to mind a story told
a guarded barbed wire fence surrounding the entire construction compound. As we were. 50X1-HUM
working adjacent to the Soviet laborers we were able to speak to them freely. Actuay
the workers were quite friendly toward u5 and were inclined to speak more frankly to ur
than to each other.
2. This worker happened to have L^er_ worl:in on the repair of the railroad station in
Minsk in 1946, at the tine some Waetern ,,otlrnalists were being taken on an "inspection
trip" of the USSR. The people of Minsk were literally starving and for the most part
were dressed in rags. The train was to arrive shortly after noon so the Party propa-
ganda men began putting their plan into operation early that morning. To begin with,
the entire station area was roped off from the public and only trusted party members
and political "reliables" were admitted. Brand new refreshment stands were set up and
manned by the Party workers.
A fairly large group of Aarty fttr._tior.eries had gathered by the time the visitors' trai
arrived and were on hand to deliver a .::arefuLly rehearsed "spontaneous" demonstration c
friendship. Tne Jo,-u nslists detrained and after waving back to a group of sailing
"peasant" girls went to the refreshment stand. Here they joined the "Soviet workers"
who were buying rolls and :nine for ltu:ch. The rolls were large and reportedly were
for five rubles each. Ai that tine one 1a1ogram of bread, when available, sold for 5'
rubles on the black market, A nailing iirty man dressed as a worker joined the party.
He was eatin6 a lunch of caviar and wince which he no doubt tried to convince the viei.-?
tors was standard fare for the wcr:cing :nan. It was reported that this man had actual=;
put dirt and grease on his itia:;cls -.o cover up the fact that he had not been working
them.
COMP IDEili'PlAL
":Tf IA':' '1'..IP _ F91
This report. is for the usr within the BSA cif the Intalligence components of the Departments or
Agencies indicated ?tbove. It in not it. be trt,rsmitted overseas without to,, c.ncurtence of the
originating nlllr;- throu; h the Assintaot I)irrrtor of the Ufiice of Collection and Dissemination. CIA.
i Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/22 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000500040108-5
 Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/22 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000500040108-5
1 f-
CO:rIDEI UAL/US OFFICIALS 0!:LYIISECURX.N
4. After the train had gone 1, the refreshmc:it stands were torn down and the crowd of 50X1-HUM
.workers" left. The worker who tol^tnis story spat on the ground and rr-peated that
the real workers -)f Minsk were starving at that time. W
5. The Hole Soviet civilian !workers were usually friendly but the females whc? shared the
men's tasks in construction work always remained more hostile The members 50X1-HUM
of the Communist youth groups were also actively hostile. All of the workers would
have to attend various "meetings" where they were duly propagandized. It was quit=
noticeable that the civilians were much less friendly after the meetings than 50X1-HUM
before, but that this attitude would disappear in a few days and their fairly frank
complaints would be ? c a e. On:?t?_inskovite worker, conmenting on two 2?.VD guards
who had walked past whispered "There go the lords of our land."
50X1-HUM
6
6. Ouse while on a clean-u detail in Cherepovets during late 1946 a civilian worker
approached a group of W's'-who ware also carrying rubble. He told of having been
a captain in the Soviet Army, being disabled and given a medical discharge. He com-
plained of his inadequate treatment in a otute hospital and summed it up as follows:
"You prisoners are better off than we are. You at least have some hope of someday
leaving this country."
7. Deenite the complaints, Soviet propuarda has played upon Soviet gullibility to prop-
agandize a devoted cored vats Once (luring the
taken into the country oz to work in the fields of a huge estate. 50X1-HUM
The house and grounds of "the estate were surrounded by a wall and the wall was sur-
rounded by a barbed wire fence ? The Cate to the grounds was kept closed and guarded
at all times. The estate was luxvrious looking from the outside. It was the summer 50X1-HUM
residence of the State Minister forByLlorussian SSR. There was a Soviet civil service
worker directing our activities on the farm. He was quite friendly
He explained who was living there, in naive but
glowing detail. Ile explained that the security measures were to protect the Minister.
^ asked ^why any man elected to office by a unanimous vote needed such protection
and wily it was that the necret,police must stop all traffic and clear the streets in 50X1-HUM
Minsk when the Minister's huge car was driven through the city. Without anger or
sarcasm he explained F ~as he would to a child that those precautions were necessary
to protect the mister from foreign saboteurs. These foreign saboteurs constituted a
real threat in the mind of this sincere bureaucrat. He was a man of about 35 years and
was clearly neither a Par!ty hack nor an opportunist but a very sincere Communist who 50X1 -HUM
had completely swallowed arid digested the Party line.
COf1FTDE17TIkL/Us OPT ICI.A.L. Oi1LY/SECURITY IIIPORMATIOW
L
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/11/22 : CIA-RDP80-00809A000500040108-5