FIRING SQUAD

The national economy of the USSR was centred on a planned economy. Typically, every five years, the state would adopt a plan for the development of the national economy, outlining goals and numerical indicators to be achieved in various sectors. In 1937, the Bolsheviks decided to implement political repression in the country on a planned basis.

On July 30, 1937, Nikolai Yezhov, the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR, signed a secret order No. 00447, "On the Operation to Repress Former Kulaks, Criminals and Other Anti-Soviet Elements." Its implementation was one of the most lawless and inhuman chapters in the entire dark history of political repression in the USSR.

Naturally, all matters related to the NKVD order were discussed in advance at the highest levels-during meetings of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolshevik) (VKP(b)), presided over by Stalin.

Targets Defined, Mission Clear

In a speech to the plenum of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in January 1933, Stalin devoted part of his report to the struggle "against the remnants of the hostile classes." He identified these remnants as "private industrialists and their servants, private merchants and their henchmen, former nobles and clergy, kulaks and ex-kulaks, former white officers and ranks, former police and gendarmes, various bourgeois intellectuals with chauvinist tendencies, and all other anti-Soviet elements." In Stalin's view, these individuals were constantly trying to undermine Soviet power. Therefore, he emphasized that in order to eliminate the remnants of the dying classes, the state must strengthen "a strong and powerful dictatorship of the proletariat-that is what we need now to crush into dust the last remnants of the dying classes and to smash their thieving machinations.... The task is to drive these former people out of our own enterprises and institutions and to finally disarm them."

He reiterated this idea in March 1937: "...The more we advance, the more successes we achieve, the more embittered the remnants of the defeated exploiting classes will become; they will resort to more acute forms of struggle and continue to harass the Soviet state." Thus, according to Stalin, the fight against the "remnants of the propertied classes" needed to be intensified.

From Words to Action

On July 2, the Politburo of the Central Committee, under the direction of Stalin, issued a directive via telegram to localities, which stated: It has been observed that the majority of former kulaks and criminals who were previously exiled from various regions to northern and Siberian areas have since returned after serving the designated expulsion periods. These individuals are now the primary instigators of various anti-Soviet and subversive crimes occurring in collective and state farms, as well as in transportation and some industrial sectors.

The Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (b) proposes that all secretaries of regional and krai organizations and all regional, krai, and republican representatives of the NKVD compile records of all returning kulaks and criminals. This would facilitate the immediate arrest and execution of the most hostile among them through administrative processes via troikas. Those who are less active but still hostile should be enumerated and deported to districts under NKVD directives. The Central Committee requests that, within five days, a composition of the troikas and the number of individuals designated for execution and expulsion be submitted.

On the following day, Yezhov's telegram was transmitted to the relevant NKVD bodies at the republican, regional, and oblast levels. "To all heads of NKVD departments: In response to this telegram, it is imperative to account for all kulaks and criminals who have settled in your region subsequent to their return from serving sentences or escaping from camps and exile. These individuals should be categorised into two groups: first, those most hostile elements, who should be subject to arrest and execution via administrative processes through troikas; second, those who are less active but still hostile, who should be subject to deportation to districts under NKVD directives. By July 8 of this year, I request that you telegraph me with counts for both categories, separately identifying kulaks and criminals. I will provide additional instructions regarding the timing and implementation of this operation. Signed by Yezhov." This operation is now referred to historically as the Operation Kulak.

Order No. 00447

On July 30, Yezhov appended his signature to draft order No. 00447, entitled "On the operation to repress former kulaks, criminals, and other anti-Soviet elements." On July 31, the Politburo of the Central Committee approved the aforementioned draft, which was subsequently adopted for execution. The document required that the designated entities, namely republics, krais, and oblasts, were to carry out the execution (of those convicted under the first category) and imprisonment (of those convicted under the second category) of "kulaks, criminals, and anti-Soviet elements" in correctional labour camps within a four-month period. Each republic, krai, and oblast was assigned a specified limit on the number of individuals to be repressed, which could not be exceeded unilaterally. In total, 260,950 individuals were designated for repression across eight republics (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan), forty autonomies, krais, and oblasts in Russia, eight oblasts in Ukraine, and eight oblasts in Kazakhstan. Of these individuals, 64,950 were designated for execution. Furthermore, 10,000 prisoners incarcerated in NKVD camps were also designated for execution.

In recognition of the considerable scale of this undertaking and the limitations of local courts in terms of their physical capacity to manage it, the authorities instructed local leaders to establish so-called "troikas," comprising the heads of local NKVD bodies, with the responsibility of reviewing cases of individuals falling under Order No. 00447.

"Let me shoot some more"

Azerbaijan was unable to maintain a neutral stance with regard to the implementation of the Central Committee's resolution and the NKVD directive. On July 9, 1937, Mir Jafar Baghirov, First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Azerbaijan, transmitted a coded telegram to Stalin in Moscow, requesting authorization to apprehend four thousand individuals under order No. 00447, including one thousand for execution. You may wonder the expediency with which the NKVD was able to "register" and categorise such a considerable number of "hostile elements" within a relatively short timeframe.

Furthermore, in light of the existence of counter-revolutionary insurgent organizations across 16 districts and seven active band groups, Baghirov sought authorisation to include an additional 1,250 individuals. These individuals were to be: 1) members of insurgent and subversive groups currently being dismantled; 2) members of the Musavat, Ittihad, Dashnaks, and clergy; 3) beys, former landlords, and kulaks; and 4) band auxiliaries. Of these individuals, 1,000 were designated for execution. Consequently, the initial limit for executions in Azerbaijan was set at 1,500, with an additional 3,750 designated for imprisonment in labour camps. In total, a plan was initiated for the repression of 5,250 individuals. Additionally, Sumbatov, Teymur Guliyev, and Jahangir Akhundzade were proposed for inclusion in the troika.

On February 13, 1938, the Politburo of the Central Committee approved a revised composition for Azerbaijan's troika. Rayev, Agha Huseyn Huseynov, and Teymur Aliyev were subsequently responsible for determining who would be executed or sent to Siberia.

By August 1937, it appeared that leaders across various territorial units within the USSR—including republics, krais, and regions—were engaged in a competition to see who could most effectively and rapidly implement repression. In the ten days following the commencement of the operation across the Soviet Union as a whole, it is estimated that over 100,000 individuals were arrested. Among the total number of individuals subjected to this process, 14,000 had been convicted, with approximately 10,000 receiving capital punishment, which equates to a rate of approximately one thousand per day.

As of August 15th, a total of 2,042 arrests had been made in Azerbaijan. In the initial ten-day period following the commencement of the operation, the Azerbaijani troika handed down death sentences to 240 individuals, while a further 254 were imprisoned in camps. The leadership of the republic persisted in its actions aimed at suppressing those it designated as "anti-Soviet elements." By September 30th, a total of 1,465 individuals had been convicted in the first category, while 1,796 had been convicted in the second category.

In due course, the limits on arrests and convictions were reached. However, the Azerbaijani leadership was of the opinion that a considerable number of individuals designated as "enemies of the people" were still at large. Consequently, a request was dispatched to Moscow seeking additional permission for the repression of another 2,000 individuals, comprising 1,500 for execution and 500 for imprisonment in camps. The Politburo approved this request, thereby raising Azerbaijan's limit from 5,250 to 7,250. In January 1938, the leadership submitted a further request, which was approved, authorising Azerbaijan to repress an additional 2,000 individuals, all of whom were classified within the first category.

Order implemented in Ismayilli

Upon receiving orders to initiate operations against kulaks, People's Commissar of Internal Affairs for Azerbaijan Sumbatov-Topuridze conducted an analysis of those repressed by cities and districts throughout the republic. In his directives to district NKVD department heads, he indicated that party and Soviet bodies on site were inundated with kulak elements while counter-revolutionary organizations operated within them. The head of the Ismayilli district's NKVD department, Sharifov, was responsible for the repression of between 150 and 200 individuals over a period of three to four months. During an office meeting in Baku, Sumbatov-Topuridze threatened Sharifov, stating: "Should you fail to comply with this directive, you will be apprehended and designated an enemy of the people. Should you fail to meet your limit, you will put your party card on this table and find yourself in a basement." He further noted that Baghirov had ordered him to make these arrests.

Sharifov did not take long to identify these individuals as the so-called "enemies of the people." He identified members of two village councils—Kurdmashi and Gushenja—as targets. A total of 67 individuals were detained from these councils. It is notable that the majority of those detained were members of collective farms, and thus were not kulaks. This is further supported by the fact that none of the detainees were former kulaks or escaped prisoners. They were all accused of being part of a counter-revolutionary organization with the objective of overthrowing Soviet power through armed insurrection.

At Sharifov's request, along with that of the local police chief Manafov, the chairpersons of the village councils issued standardized certificates for all those arrested. These certificates claimed that the individuals were kulaks who had previously been sharecroppers and were therefore deprived of voting rights. They were also declared to be hostile participants in an uprising against Soviet power back in 1923, as well as members of a counter-revolutionary organization.

Notwithstanding the absence of any admission of guilt during interrogations or confrontations with "witnesses," the decision of the Troika on December 31, 1937, resulted in the imposition of death sentences on sixty-three individuals, while four others were sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in correctional labor camps. The executions were carried out on January 21, 1938.

On October 5, 1955, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR annulled the troika's decision and terminated the criminal proceedings against the seventy-three peasants from Kurdmashi and Gushenja, citing the absence of sufficient evidence.

Feast at a Time of Plague

On December 20, 1937, amidst the severe repression occurring throughout the Soviet Union, the twentieth anniversary of the establishment of state security bodies—VChK/OGPU/NKVD—was ceremoniously observed. In order to extend congratulations to members of the Chekist ranks, Mikoyan was instructed by the Politburo Central Committee to convey the following message: "The NKVD has performed admirably during this period," characterizing recent years under Yezhov's leadership, who "has purged our homeland of numerous adversaries. For this reason, we recognise and honour each member of the NKVD, particularly Comrade Yezhov, as a highly esteemed figure among the Soviet people," Mikoyan concluded.