GENERAL INFORMATION ON ESTHONIA (USSR)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-00415R011700090002-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 12, 2001
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: December 1, 1951
• Content Type: REPORT

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GORTROL V. S. OFFICIALS OKI
COUNTRY r
SUBJECT:
DATE OF
PLACE
ACQUIRED:
General
a. In 1949 the Communist Party was purged of bourgeois elements
and Ponomarenko, of the Politburo in Moscow, came to Tallinn
to supervise the process. Almost the entire Party leadership
in Esthonia was changed, the General Secretary, Nikolai Karotas,
being replaced by an Esthonian from Moscow. Karotas' assistant,
a Soviet named Kedrov, was also dismissed and arrested. A
similar purge was carried out in the government, the Vice.
Premier, Alik Henrik, being sentenced to 25 years imprisonment
and the Minister of Trade, Hansen, to 12 years. Hans Kruas, a
professor of history and President of the Academy of Science in
Esthonia, a well-known Social-Democrat leader who had always
cooperated with the Communists, was also arrested at this time
and sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.
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General Information on Esthonia (USSR)
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b. Tallinn was one of the capital cities with. a "special regime"
in which persons with prison records or who were otherwise
considered undesirable were not permitted to settle. Residents
who had served a term of imprisonment were usually expelled on
their release.
The islands off the Esthonian coast were considered part of the
frontier security zone and special permission had to be obtained
to visit then.
c. The Petzeri district, which formed part of Esthonia from 1918 to
1940, has been detached from that country and incorporated in the
Pskovskaya Oblast of T3ielo-Russia*,
d. A nationalist underground movement existed in Esthonia and was
effective until 1948- It was considerably weakened among the
farmers by the effect of the collectivization and subsequent
deportation of about 100,000 kul.aks to Siberia, and also by the
deportation of intellectuals. The underground was responsible
for the blowing up of the statue of Lenin at Tartu on the
anniversary of the October Revolution in 1950.
e. Only the normal age groups were being called up for military
service during 1951 and no special military preparations of any
kind were to be seen. The only military work of arr dimensions
in Esthonia was in the port of Tallinn which was completely cut
off and rigorously guarded. The population was careful to keep
away from the port area.
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C. Prices in 19 L were as follows:
Bread (rye)
Bread (white)
Butter
Beef
Pork
Milk
Vodka
'Ian's sport shirt
Woolen cloth, coarse
Woolen cloth, fine
Leather shoes
per kilogram
Leather shoes (Czech manufacture)
Cost of having suit made
Exchange rate of dollar (market value)
2. Agriculture
2 rubles
4 rubles
37 rubles
18 rubles
27 rubles
3 rubles
45 rubles
65 rubles
100-150 rubles
500 rubles
220 rubles
470 rubles
300 rubles
30-35 rubles
a. In 1946 agriculture was controlled by four separate ministriest
Industrial plants (linen, hemp, sugar beet and straw).
Livestock.
Cereals.
Collective Farms (bovkhozes)o
b. In 1947 the first three ministries listed above were united
and a single Ministry of Agriculture set up to replace thean,
only the Collective Farms Ministry remaining a separate body.
The new Ministry of Agriculture consisted of the following
sections:
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(1) Potatoes and Fruit. CONTROL O. S. OFFICIALS ONLY
(2) Seeds and Fodder.
(3) Industrial Plants.
(4) Plant Selection.
(5) Plant Protection.
(6) Orchards
(7) Livestock.
(8) Horse-breeding
Certain of these sections were under the direct control of the
appropriate organization in Moscow. Sugar beet was first planted
in Esthonia in 1946 on an area of 2,000 hectares and a refinery
is to be built in 1953. These arrangements were made in coordina-
tion with the Sugar Beet Institute in Moscow, which organized
sugar production throughout the Soviet territories,
c. Collectivization was begun on a small scale in 1948, greater
pressure being brought in the succeeding years. Resistance by the
farmers was mainly passive but there were cases of sabotage. To a
large extent this took the form of farmers slaughtering their
cattle and preserving the meat rather than give up their herds to
the kolkhoz. As a result they had sufficient stocks of food
during the first two years and refused to perform more than the
required minimum of 120 days work per year. Production dropped off
sharply and food was imported from the USSR to conceal the
shortage. Er 1950 the farmers' reserves were used up and they
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were forced to turn to the kolkhoz for their livelihood. 1951
production was almost back to the 1948 level, except for the
cattle population which was still much reduced. Excess
agricultural production, mainly butter and meat, was alreac r
being exported to the USSR.
Persons wishing to move to the towns had to obtain permission
from the Village Council to leave. It was possible to leave a
kolkhoz but only very small sums were paid in such cases to
compensate farmers for the value of the land and stock they
contributed and for their houses. Many of the young people did
leave, however, and became factory workers in town.
The Esthonians are dour and determined individualists and
objected almost as much of the enforced contacts of the kolkhoz
as to the loss of their farms.
d. Mechanization has been successful as the average level of
education among the Esthonian farmers is high, most of them
having attended a secondary school at least for a few years.
Considerable additional areas of land are being ploughed with
the aid of tractors and total production seems likely to rise in
the long run. Private farmers are permitted to hire tractors
from the State Tractor Stations.
The agricultural machinery supplied to the kolkhozes is mainly
of Russian manufacture though some was Czech. The first tractors
sent from the USSR had been designed for the loamy soil of the
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Ukraine and broke almost at once in the stony Esthonian fields.
The average life of a Russian tractor is about four to five
years*
e. Kok-Sagyz, a plant of the buttercup family growing to a height
of about 20 to 25 ems., is widely cultivated for the production
of a type of natural rubber. It requires a good deal of water
and in the main planting areas in South Russia it is grown with
the aid of irrigation channels. The plant is first sown by hand
broadcasting and the seedlings later thinned out by hand to
develop their full height in rows. No way has bet been found to
mechanize the picking as the plant must be pulled up with the
roots and production is therefore laborious. The average yield
of the plant before drying is four tons per hectare. The plant
is not an economic proposition even in Kazakhstan where farming
is in any case more primitive, but the state has pressed for its
production and has made up for losses any kolkhoz has suffered
in this connection. Kok-Sagyz can be grown in any part of Russia
but in Esthonia, for instance, where an attempt has been made to
introduce it, the farmers are unwilling to invest the amount of
labor it requires and the plantations are neglected. The whole
of the plant is processed for the production of rubber, and a
good deal of research is being carried on in the development of
the strains giving the highest rubber yield. Despite the
expense, Kok-Sagyz rubber is considered very promising.
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f. Afforestation: According to a fairly recent dictum of Lysenko
it is assumed that individuals of the same species do not
compete with each other in nature but only with individuals
of different species. Experiments are therefore being carried
out in forest areas with the planting of up to 200 seeds in a
single hole about a meter square. It is thought that the large
amount of seedlings would combine to keep out weeds while the
strongest sapling would in the end survive alone.
g. The agricultural property owned by the Esthonian Railroad is
made up of government lands, such as those at Karpere, 50 kms.
from Tartu, to a total of 1,200 hectares, and farms abandoned
by owners who fled with the Germans (1,600 hectares). The farms
were operated to supply the railroad workers and the station
restaurants during the period when rationing was enforced.
After rationing was abolished, the formerly private farms passed
on to the kolkhozes and the old state lands have been made into
holiday and convalescent homes. Foodstuffs are no longer
supplied to the railroad workers and the station restaurants
are run by a separate state organization.
3. The Academy of Science
a. The Academy of Science consists of four departments:
(1) General Science,
(2) Physics and Mathematics,
(3) Building and Architecture
(Ii) Medicine
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b. The General Branch is subdivided into the following institutes:
Historical Institute,
Institute of Language and Literature,
Institute of Economics and Law.
c. Each Institute consists of several sections. The Institute of
Economics, for instance, has the following sections:
National Economy,
Industry,
Agricultural Economy.
This Section is responsible for agricultural planning
throughout Esthonia and gives instructions on the types
and quantities of crops to be grown in various areas.
It is responsible for ascertaining that industrial crops
are grown near processing plants. It establishes prices
for kolkhozes, sovkhozes and Machine Centres, as well as
working norms and rates of pay. It advises on mechaniza-
tion and drainage and assures the supply of farm products
to the towns.
The Section has three research stations at its disposal.
One of these is 70 lenso from Tallinn, a second 50 kms.
from Tartu, and the third near Viliand.
(4) Lair,
(5) Finance.
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d. At the 1951 conference of the Esthonian Academy a stormy session
was caused over a paper read by an agricultural specialist who
claimed that the generally accepted Williams theory of soil
protection did not apply in the Esthonian climate. Williams had
banned autumn plantings of rye and potatoes after grass crops
in order not to lose the binding qualities of the grass roots in
the dry autumn season of the continental USSR where wind erosion
was the main factor in the impoverishment of the ground. The
Esthonian claimed that the moist seaboard climate of his country
was sufficient to prevent wind erosion and that there was no need
to sacrifice the traditional autumn planting of the country's two
staple crops. As a result of this stand he was accused of applying
"bourgeois methods" and forced to withdraw. some months later,
however, Lysenko published an article stating that it would be a
mistake to apply Williams' theories in all parts of Russia, and a
return to the old methods has been permitted in Esthonia.
e. Scientists are extremely well paid, receiving 1,000 to 2,500 rubles
a month in the lowest grades, and 4,500 in specialist positions.
Docotrs employed on medical research receive 5,500 rubles, while
an additional payment of 1,500 rubles is made to corresponding
members of the Academy and 3,000 rubles to elected members, who
thus earn between 7,000 and 8,000 rubles. The President of the
Esthonian Academy is paid 40,000 rubles, which is more than the
highest of the Party functionaries, and "too much even to spend
on drink". By comparison an unskilled worker earns 500 to 700
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rubles, a clerk 400 to 500, a graded employee 800 to 1,000
and a skilled worker 1,000 rubles.
Unlimited sums seem to be available for research, though mainly
for the solution of direct practical problems. There is less
interest in fundamental research though this is not actually
neglected. Science is a popular profession and considered to
have a great future. Although it is not permitted to attack
the officially approved theories, research workers obtaining
results that cannot be reconciled with these do not usually
conceal their findings but publish them with the explanation
that they have "apparently made a mistake" and are seeking help
in correcting this.
4. Personalities
a.
August Pusep
Former Minister of Agricul-
ture in Esthonia
b.
Winte Ernst
Former Assistant Minister
of Agriculture in Esthonia
c.
Dr. Shpungin
Head of the Veterinary Depts
Shalom
in the Ministry of Agriculture
d.
Al eks ander Mae
Past Minister of Agriculture
e.
Nikolai. Pusep
Past Minister of Agriculture
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Esthonian from the
USSR
Esthonian from the
USSR
Was Prime Minister at
one time and Secretary
of the Communist Party.
He is now a professor.
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f.
Oia
Minister of Agriculture
in March 1952
g,
Komarow
Assistant Minister of Agri-
culture in March 1952
h.
Eichfeld
President of the Esthonian
Non-Party, though he was
Academy
once a member of the Socia]
Revolution Party. Agrono-
mist. He was sent to the
Kola Peninsula where he
became known as a scientist
He is an Esthonian from thi
i.
Buzulukow
Political Director of the
Soviet, Economist.
Nikolai
Stepanowicz
Esthonian Academy
j,
Arnold Weiner
Director of the Economic
A former Prime Minister of
Institute of the
Esthonia. His salary was
Academy
30,000 rubles a month.
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