This paper addresses a trial which took place in March of 1938 in the Soviet Union. The defendants are Grigorii Petrovich Neposedov and Fyodor Mochulsky, who were accused of being enemies of the people. The trial occurs as part of the Great Purge. Neposedov was the director of a factory that processed lumber. According to the prosecution, he deliberately broke all sort of laws, stole from the state, embezzled funds, and made shady deals in order to meet his production quota. In 1937 he was arrested by the NKVD on these actions, which he was accused of undertaking on behalf of foreign agents who were planning to overthrow the state. Mochulsky was a guard at the Pechorlag gulag, a railroad building prison labor camp north of the Arctic Circle.
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Although they appeared to be conspiracies, they were not conspiracies in a sinister way. Rather, it was corruption, nepotism, and arbitrary rule by necessity in order to survive the harsh situation. The Stalinist era was known for the great drive towards industrialization and the Great Purge. The Five-Year plans aimed at industrializing the Soviet Union and set production targets. It was also a propaganda instrument to help meet his goals, but often at the expense of the peasants. This era was marked by brutality, cruelty, repression, and paranoia, all of which made the social transformation happen. During the Great Purge, Stalin’s rule changed “from charisma to fear.” The Purge was meant to eliminate any potential opposition to Stalin. According to Edele, in 1937 and 1938, “the ‘mass operations’ exterminated or exiled hundreds of thousands of ‘hostile elements’ or what the security organs branded with this label.” It is in this wave of arrests that Neposedov and Mochulsky find …show more content…
Neposedov and his bookkeeper came up with a plan to increase production, which had been below target levels. The plan worked, and production was soon at 150% of the target. Soon, the Party organizer at the factory began to credit socialism as the reason for the success. Neposedov had a supply agent in Moscow who managed to get supplies that were not usually available. According to Andreev-Khomiakov, “all Soviet industry operated by combining what was acquired ‘by the book’ with what was obtained by hook or by crook.” Vasilev was sending fictitious reports which concerned the head bookkeeper. However, the factory needed Vasilev’s supplies to keep going. According to Andreev-Khomiakov, “our entire economic system was nothing but continuous dirty scheming.” Neposedov was aware of some dubious procurement and other transactions, including cash payments which were strictly forbidden, but which were “for the absolute necessities of the factory.” Neposedov was revolted by the “swindlers and scoundrels”, but these dubious transactions became more frequent as the war approached. When he realized that the factory had a log surplus, he and the chief accountant decided to conceal it and not show it on the books. When the factory living quarters caught fire, Neposedov did make any effort to save it; rather, he counted on the insurance
Although they appeared to be conspiracies, they were not conspiracies in a sinister way. Rather, it was corruption, nepotism, and arbitrary rule by necessity in order to survive the harsh situation. The Stalinist era was known for the great drive towards industrialization and the Great Purge. The Five-Year plans aimed at industrializing the Soviet Union and set production targets. It was also a propaganda instrument to help meet his goals, but often at the expense of the peasants. This era was marked by brutality, cruelty, repression, and paranoia, all of which made the social transformation happen. During the Great Purge, Stalin’s rule changed “from charisma to fear.” The Purge was meant to eliminate any potential opposition to Stalin. According to Edele, in 1937 and 1938, “the ‘mass operations’ exterminated or exiled hundreds of thousands of ‘hostile elements’ or what the security organs branded with this label.” It is in this wave of arrests that Neposedov and Mochulsky find …show more content…
Neposedov and his bookkeeper came up with a plan to increase production, which had been below target levels. The plan worked, and production was soon at 150% of the target. Soon, the Party organizer at the factory began to credit socialism as the reason for the success. Neposedov had a supply agent in Moscow who managed to get supplies that were not usually available. According to Andreev-Khomiakov, “all Soviet industry operated by combining what was acquired ‘by the book’ with what was obtained by hook or by crook.” Vasilev was sending fictitious reports which concerned the head bookkeeper. However, the factory needed Vasilev’s supplies to keep going. According to Andreev-Khomiakov, “our entire economic system was nothing but continuous dirty scheming.” Neposedov was aware of some dubious procurement and other transactions, including cash payments which were strictly forbidden, but which were “for the absolute necessities of the factory.” Neposedov was revolted by the “swindlers and scoundrels”, but these dubious transactions became more frequent as the war approached. When he realized that the factory had a log surplus, he and the chief accountant decided to conceal it and not show it on the books. When the factory living quarters caught fire, Neposedov did make any effort to save it; rather, he counted on the insurance