The Stalin-Kaganovich Correspondence, 1931-36 (Annals of Communism Series)

476 Pages·2003·2.02 MB·English

by  R. W. Davies

annals of communism
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ences (head of the Russian Editorial Ye. A. Tyurina, director, Russian State
Committee) Archive of the Economy (RGAE)
The Stalin-Kaganovich
Correspondence
1931–36
Compiled and edited by
R. W. Davies, Oleg V. Khlevniuk,
E. A. Rees, Liudmila P. Kosheleva, and
Larisa A. Rogovaya
Russian documents translated by Steven Shabad
Yale University Press
New Haven & London
This volume has been prepared with the cooperation of the Russian
State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI) of the State
Archival Service of Russia in the framework of an agreement con-
cluded between RGASPI and Yale University Press.
Copyright © 2003by Yale University.
All rights reserved.
The documents and photographs held by RGASPI are used by permission. The draft copies
of Kaganovich’s letters to Stalin and the photographs from the Kaganovich family archive
are also used by permission.
This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, including illustrations, in any form
(beyond that copying permitted by Sections 107and 108of the U.S. Copyright Law and
except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission from the publishers.
Designed by James J. Johnson and set in Sabon Roman by The Composing Room of
Michigan, Inc., Grand Rapids, Michigan.
Printed in the United States of America by Vail-Ballou Press, Binghamton, New York.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Stalin, Joseph, 1879–1953.
[Stalin i Kaganovich. English. Selections]
The Stalin-Kaganovich correspondence, 1931–36/ compiled and edited by R. W. Davies
. . . [et al.] ; Russian documents translated by Steven Shabad.
p. cm. — (Annals of Communism)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-300-09367-5(alk. paper)
1. Stalin, Joseph, 1879–1953—Correspondence. 2. Kaganovich, L. M. (Lazar
Moiseevich), 1893– —Correspondence. 3. Soviet Union—Politics and government—
1917–1936—Sources. I. Kaganovich, L. M. (Lazar Moiseevich), 1893– II. Davies,
R. W. (Robert William), 1925– III. Title. IV. Series.
DK268.S8A4 2003
947.084(cid:2)2—dc21
2002156190
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the
Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library
Resources.
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Yale University Press gratefully acknowledges the financial support
given for this publication by the John M. Olin Foundation, the
Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation, the Historical Research
Foundation, Roger Milliken, Lloyd H. Smith, the William H. Don-
ner Foundation, Joseph W. Donner, Jeremiah Milbank, the David
Woods Kemper Memorial Foundation, the Daphne Seybolt Cul-
peper Foundation, and the Milton V. Brown Foundation.

Contents
Preface ix
Acknowledgments xvi
A Note on Soviet Administrative Structure xvii
Introduction 1
Lazar Kaganovich: The Career of a Stalinist Commissar 21
1931
Introduction 37
Documents 1–23 49
1932
Introduction 104
Documents 24–59 114
1933
Introduction 186
Documents 60–85 195
1934
Introduction 236
Documents 86–111 245
1935
Introduction 289
Documents 112–125 296
viii Contents
1936
Introduction 315
Documents 126–177 322
Appendix 373
Glossary of Terms and Abbreviations 387
Brief Biographies 391
Index 417
Illustrations follow page244
Preface
The Stalin-Kaganovich correspondence is an important and unique his-
torical source, which no historian engaged in research on Soviet his-
tory of the 1930s can ignore. In 1931–36Stalin entrusted the function
of acting as his deputy on party questions to Lazar Moiseyevich Ka-
ganovich, and during the next few years Kaganovich’s influence con-
tinually increased. Although this post was not authorized by any spe-
cific party decision, it was in effect the second most important post in
the Central Committee. Kaganovich was in charge of the work both of
the Orgburo (Organizational Bureau) of the Central Committee andof
several of the most important Central Committee departments, and he
managed the sittings of the Politburo during Stalin’s absence on vaca-
tion and chaired numerous Politburo commissions. Kaganovich con-
sulted Stalin about all Politburo decisions of any significance, and this
is the subject matter of a large part of the letters reproduced here.
The present collection continues Stalin’s Letters to Molotov (Yale
University Press, 1995).In the 1920s, Molotov was a secretary of the
Communist Party Central Committee and acted as Stalin’s deputy on
questions concerning the party. During Stalin’s vacations Molotov,
like Kaganovich in the 1930s, remained in Moscow and was in charge
of the work of the supreme party agencies, and prepared the decisions
on the most important issues of party and state. These letters covered
the years 1925–30(the small number of letters for 1931–36included
in the collection is fortuitous). In December 1930 Molotov was ap-
pointed in place of Rykov as chairman of Sovnarkom, the Council of
People’s Commissars of the USSR, the supreme government body, and
ceased to be a secretary of the party Central Committee. It was at this
ix