The Role of the OGPU in Dekulakization, Mass Deportation, and Resettlement in 1930

Abstract

The easing of restrictions in Russian archives and the declassifi cation of key archival documents have facilitated the unraveling of the complex policies and practices of the “elimination of the kulak as a class” (raskulachivanie, or dekulakization, for short), including the mass deportations and “special resettlement” of peasants in the early 1930s (euphemistically titled spetspereselentsy or special settlers; from 1933, trudposelentsy or labor settlers; and in later years, again, spetspereselentsy). Many of the most important directives, statistical data, and reports on dekulakization and the special settlers are now accessible and, in a few cases, published. Yet, in some ways, the more we know, the less we know. As certain facets of this massive exercise in repression become clear, other issues and questions arise which only the initial stages of documentary illumination could have brought forth.