New York Times, 18 April 1985 (display advertisement) -- An Urgent Message from Europeans to Congress: Support the Nicaraguan Resistance -- Democracy itself is at stake in Nicaragua. After four years of dictatorship, the FSLN, the totalitarian ruling party, has not succeeded in breaking the resistance of the Nicaraguan people. After the relative liberalization represented … Continue reading Support the Nicaraguan Resistance (1985)
Chernyaev diary (3 January 1976)
A brief passage from Anatoly CHERNYAEV's unpublished "Diary", in which he responds to a report to the Central Committee by ANDROPOV (29 December 1975*, 3213-A) about the statements of foreign communist parties concerning "political prisoners" in the USSR (NSA, document and translation). ==================== 3 January 1976 From interesting things at the Central Committee, in the … Continue reading Chernyaev diary (3 January 1976)
22 June 1978* (Pb) Shcharansky
Yury Andropov briefs Politburo on forthcoming trial of Anatoly SHCHARANSKY, arrested in mid-March the previous year. (MHG 30th anniversary) total 2 pp. =================== V-118 Top secret The only copy Working paper SESSION OF THE POLITBURO OF THE CC CPSU June 22, 1978 Chaired by Comrade Brezhnev, L.I. In attendance: Comrades Andropov, U.V.; Grishin, V.V.; Gromyko, … Continue reading 22 June 1978* (Pb) Shcharansky
1 March 1977* (St 46/15) Bukovsky
Resolution of Secretariat. Proposal for Soviet press release concerning BUKOVSKY's meeting with US President JIMMY CARTER [Russian 1 March 1977, St 46-15], total 7 pp. ===================== [page one of seven] No. St 46/15 of 1 March 1977 TOP SECRET RESOLUTION Central Committee Secretariat of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union Draft of a press … Continue reading 1 March 1977* (St 46/15) Bukovsky
5 January 1977* (22-A) Helsinki Groups
KGB memorandum. Measures to stop the proliferation of anti-Soviet activities by the "Helsinki Watch Committee in USSR", and its sub-committees set up in Ukraine and Lithuania. [Russian 5 January 1977, 22-A] total 2 pp. ======================= Top Secret CC CPSU About measures to end the hostile activity Of members of the so-called “Group For Assistance in … Continue reading 5 January 1977* (22-A) Helsinki Groups
15 November 1976* (2577-A) Helsinki Groups
KGB report. About the anti-Soviet activities of the so-called Helsinki Groups in USSR, and measures to counter their activities. [R 15 November 1976, 2577-A] total 3 pp. ====================== [page one of three] Secret USSR COMMITTEE For State Security At the USSR Council of Ministers 15 November 1976 No. 2577-A Moscow To CPSU Central Committee About … Continue reading 15 November 1976* (2577-A) Helsinki Groups
The Status of these Archives
(July 2018; revised November 2019) In 1992, for a period of five months, Vladimir Bukovsky was given access to the archives of the CPSU Central Committee in Moscow. The new Russian government of Boris Yeltsin asked him to speak as a witness on its behalf at the forthcoming "trial of the Communist Party" (the CPSU … Continue reading The Status of these Archives
Only a Trial will do This Time (2013)
On Sunday, 18 March 2018, Vladimir Putin ran for the Russian presidency for a fourth time and won easily in the first round, claiming 77% of votes cast (by 68% of the electorate), in a contest that was neither free nor fair. Following the murder of Boris Nemtsov, early in 2015, his most prominent opponent … Continue reading Only a Trial will do This Time (2013)
Is Glasnost a Game of Mirrors? (1987)
«The New York Times» (22 March 1987) Are Mikhail S. Gorbachev's new policies the historical turning point we have been praying for, signaling the end of oppression and misery in the Soviet Union? Or are we witnessing only a short-lived ''thaw,'' a tactical retreat before the next offensive, as Lenin put it in 1921? True, … Continue reading Is Glasnost a Game of Mirrors? (1987)
The Peace Movement and the Soviet Union (1982)
Commentary, 5 January 1982 "Peace will be preserved and strengthened if the people take the cause of peace into their own hands and defend it to the end" Joseph Stalin, 1952 The “struggle for peace” has always been a cornerstone of Soviet foreign policy. Indeed, the Soviet Union itself rose out of the ashes of … Continue reading The Peace Movement and the Soviet Union (1982)
Punitive Psychiatry (1977)
Bloch and Reddaway, Russia’s political hospitals (1977), Foreword The peculiar features of the Soviet political system, the Communist ideology, the uncertainties and difficulties of the science of psychiatry, the labyrinths of the human conscience – all these have weirdly woven themselves together to create a monstrous phenomenon, the use of medicine against man. Paradoxical though … Continue reading Punitive Psychiatry (1977)
6 February 1990* (St 10/1) Soviet Red Cross
Secretariat. Subsidies from the Soviet Red Cross for Moscow-based correspondents of Party and "fraternal" newspapers in capitalist and developing countries (4 pp). [R 6 Nov 90, St 10-1] total 4 pp (excerpt). ========================= The “living expenses” of Moscow-based correspondents for these fraternal publications also formed part of the bill. From the late 1950s, to disguise … Continue reading 6 February 1990* (St 10/1) Soviet Red Cross
Alternative sources (1968-1991)
The 63 published issues of the bi-monthly CHRONICLE OF CURRENT EVENTS (April 1968 to June 1982) can all be accessed in English translation. The Russian original ХРОНИКА ТЕКУЩИХ СОБЫТИЙ has been available online since 2008. For example -- A contemporary account of the events leading up to Alexander Solzhenitsyn's expulsion on 13 February from the USSR, … Continue reading Alternative sources (1968-1991)
31 January 1938* (Pb 57/48) Great Terror
Dealing with “Anti-Soviet Elements”. Politburo accepts NKVD request to increase quotas for 1st category arrests (executions) and 2nd category arrests in 22 Republics and Regions across the USSR. [Russian: 31 January 1938, Pb 57-48] total 2 pp. ==================================== [page one of two] Return within 24 hours to the Central Committee Special Sector STRICTLY SECRET (From Special … Continue reading 31 January 1938* (Pb 57/48) Great Terror
29 December 1980* (Pb 230/34) International Fund
Politburo decision. Financial assistance in 1981 (US $) to Communist Parties and movements (USA, 2 million; France, 2 million; Finland, 1.4 million; Portugal, 700,000), in total 57 recipients. [Russian: 1980, 29 December] total 5 pp. =================================== [page one of three] Workers of all Lands, Unite! [Text in top left hand corner of page] Must be … Continue reading 29 December 1980* (Pb 230/34) International Fund
31 December 1938* [Stalin] Great Terror
Stalin’s written permission for the Krasnoyarsk Region (Siberia) to carry out several thousand additional “1st category arrests” (executions). The instruction was written in pencil on a small, plain slip of paper. [R 31 December 1938] ======================================= Permit Krasnoyarsk Region 6,600 additional ‘1st category’ arrests. For Stalin, I.V. ====================================== NOTES General 1. Notes and additions by … Continue reading 31 December 1938* [Stalin] Great Terror
6 January 1981* (St 244/11) Peace Forum
Secretariat. About participation of Soviet delegation in the International Youth Peace Forum in Helsinki; file includes 2 February report on the results. [R 6 January 1981, St 244-11] total 18 pp (excerpts). ======================================================================== [pages nine to eleven, request from B. Pastukhov, Secretary of the Komsomol Central Committee] Workers of all Lands, Unite! All-Union Leninist Communist … Continue reading 6 January 1981* (St 244/11) Peace Forum
