Vyacheslav Borisovich Laperdin,
Candidate of History Sciences, Institute of History of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Novosibirsk, Russia, е-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
At the Telegraph Comrade Eiche: Inspection of Grain Procurement in the West Siberian Region in 1935
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2024-4-18
The record of a live conversation between the secretary of the West Siberian Regional Committee R.I. Eikhe and the chairman of the Regional Executive Committee F.P. Gryadinsky is introduced into the scientific circulation. Contrary to the available information about drought and crop failure in the southwestern regions, the regional committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks accelerated the pace of grain delivery to procurement points, which ensured 65 % overfulfillment of the August plan. However, already in September the majority of unharvested districts could not keep up the pace, which caused concern of the regional authorities. It was decided to send the first secretary of the Kray Committee R.I. Eikhe with an inspection to the southwestern districts, where he was to familiarize himself with the problems in bread procurement. Having seen the negative consequences of the drought, Eikhe criticized the local leadership that failed to report on the problems in time. More negative assessment of the First Secretary was given to the attempts of drought-stricken collective farms, with the tacit consent of MTS directors and district authorities, to hide part of the bread from delivery to the state. Such actions manifested themselves most extensively in the Mamontovsky district. Having learned about it, R.I. Eikhe ordered to subject the Mamontovsky leadership to repressions. The purpose of the action was not only to identify those guilty of violating the procurement policy, but also to intimidate the leadership of neighboring districts in order to stimulate bread deliveries. Apparently, initially it was planned to hit the nomenklatura workers. However, in the final decision on the results of the investigation the main blame for “sabotage” of grain procurement was laid on collective farms, while the nomenklatura got off with party penalties. However, the first secretary of the Regional Committee did not limit himself to repressions. Having seen the plight of the unharvested areas, Eikhe proposed a number of measures to ease the tax burden on collective farms. He also decided to petition the Center for a reduction in the procurement tasks deployed in the region and to provide food aid to the drought-stricken areas. Otherwise, the threat of famine was looming over them. The Center made concessions, fulfilling the request of the regional leadership. By that time, the successful progress of procurement in the main grain-producing regions of the country allowed to accumulate a sufficient state bread fund.
Publishing: 28/08/2024
The article has been received by the editor on 13/04/2024
How to cite: Laperdin V.В. At the Telegraph Comrade Eiche: Inspection of Grain Procurement in the West Siberian Region in 1935 // Historical Courier, 2024, No. 4 (36), pp. 242–252. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2024/ISTKURIER-2024-4-18.pdf]
The work was carried out on the topic of the state task “Socio-Economic Potential of the Eastern Regions of Russia in the 20th – Early 21st Centuries. Management Strategies and Practices, Dynamics, Geopolitical Context” (FWZM-2024-0005).
Links: Issue 4 2024
Keywords: agrarian policy of the Soviet state; agriculture; peasantry; grain problem; grain procurement; R.I. Eikhe; Siberia