At the end of the 20s. of the last century, it became clear to the leaders of the USSR that the New Economic Policy (NEP) had failed and no longer corresponded to the interests of the state. This was the path leading to the conservation of an archaic society that actively resisted any attempts at modernization. There was a big war ahead: it was clear to everyone, both in the West and in the East, and the main victims of this war were to be states that did not set foot on the path of industrialization or did not manage to complete it.
Meanwhile, the private enterprises that emerged during the NEP period belonged mainly to the category of small, medium-sized at best, and were focused on the production of goods that were in stable demand among the population.
That is, the new Soviet "businessmen" wanted to get quick and guaranteed profits and did not even think about long-term (seemingly risky) investments in strategic industries: the initial costs were huge, and the payback period was very long. Perhaps, over time, they would have matured to the creation of large industrial enterprises, including defense ones. The problem was that the USSR did not have time.
On the other hand, the land, as promised by the Bolsheviks, became the property of the peasants, and the production of the same grain, which at that time was a strategic commodity, became extremely small-scale. Large land holdings, where farming was carried out according to the best Western standards, were liquidated, and many small peasant farms were balancing on the brink of survival, there were practically no funds left for the purchase of equipment, high-quality seed material and fertilizers, and the yield was extremely low. And at the same time, in the villages, due to the low productivity of labor, a huge number of able-bodied people were retained, which was not enough in the cities. There was simply no one to work in the new factories and factories. And how to build factories for the production of the same tractors, combines, trucks in a country where there is no one to buy them?
Thus, the Soviet leadership had little choice. You could close your eyes and ears and leave everything as it is - and after a few years outright lose the war to your neighbors: not only Germany and Japan, but even Poland, Romania and further down the list. Or make a decision on urgent and immediate implementation of modernization and industrialization, clearly understanding that the sacrifices will be great. Historical experience suggested that the standard of living of the bulk of the population of any country inevitably falls during rapid modernization, and the "rating" of reformers tends to zero. And Russia has already experienced this under Peter I, who until the time of Catherine II, even in the privileged environment of the nobility, was a rather negative character, and among the common people, the first emperor was openly called the Antichrist and ranked among Satan's Aggels.
The leaders of the USSR, as you know, took the second path, but one desire, even if backed up by a powerful administrative resource, was not enough. There was no time not only for the development of our own technologies, but even for the training of personnel capable of creating them - there was still ahead. In the meantime, all this could be bought: both technologies and entire enterprises. And this, by the way, was not only a problem, but there were also potential opportunities: the Soviet Union could get the most modern plants and factories, even more advanced and technologically advanced than those that were available at that time in the countries where purchases were made. This is how it all happened: huge factories, which were few even in America, were built in the USA on a turnkey basis by order of the USSR, then they were dismantled and sent to our country, where they, like a designer, were reassembled. All they needed was money to purchase them, as well as to pay for the services of foreign specialists who would supervise the construction of workshops, assemble and adjust equipment, and train personnel. One of the options for solving this problem was the confiscation of currency and valuables from the population of the USSR.
Let's say right away that the Soviet leaders proceeded from a completely logical assumption that only two categories of the country's population could have currency, gold, and jewelry at that time. The first is the former aristocrats and representatives of the bourgeoisie, who could hide them during the revolutionary expropriation. Since then it was believed that these values were obtained through the criminal exploitation of the people, it was possible to confiscate them from the “former” “on legal grounds”, and, as a rule, repression was not applied to persons who wished to surrender them voluntarily. Here is how FT Fomin describes his work with the currency dealers of those years in the book "Notes of an Old Chekist":
“In 1931, the Border Guard Directorate of the Leningrad Military District received a statement that a certain Lieberman had over 30 kilograms of gold buried in the ground and intended to ship it abroad in parts. It turned out that before the revolution Lieberman owned a small cardboard factory in St. Petersburg, and after the February revolution he bought a large amount of pure gold bullion. After October, his factory was nationalized, he stayed to work there as a technologist."
These suspicions were confirmed, and Lieberman agreed to transfer his treasures to the state. Let's continue to quote Fomin:
“When the remaining gold was seized, Lieberman asked to take into account that he voluntarily donates his gold to the country's industrialization fund.
“And please keep this whole gold bullion story a secret. I do not want my acquaintances and especially my colleagues to know about it. I am an honest worker and I want to work calmly in the same place and in the previous position.
I assured him that he had nothing to worry about:
- Work honestly, and no one will touch you, there will be no restrictions or, moreover, there will be no persecution.
That's how we parted with him."
To the workers and peasants of those years, jewelry, with rare exceptions, could only be obtained by illegal means. Contrary to the stories about “Russia We Lost” and songs about the “crunch of a French roll,” the overwhelming majority of the subjects of the Russian Empire have never seen gold or diamonds. And the time when Soviet citizens could buy gold rings and earrings was also far away. At best, the jewels were hidden by former speculators and looters, at worst - by members of all kinds of anarchist and green gangs and detachments, which, under the pretext of "fighting counterrevolution", were engaged in outright robbery of defenseless people. This was the second group of citizens of the USSR who could, albeit not completely voluntarily, help the industrialization of the country.
It is precisely these categories of the population that have decided to “ask to share”. It is characteristic that this decision aroused understanding and approval among the bulk of the population of the USSR. Suffice it to recall the famous novel The Master and Margarita, the author of which cannot be called a proletarian writer. In Chapter 15 ("The Dream of Nikanor Ivanovich"), which we will talk about later, M. Bulgakov's sympathies are clearly on the side of the Chekists, who are trying to "persuade" irresponsible currency dealers to hand over their valuables to the state.
Theater from the dream of Nikanor Barefoot. Illustration by P. Linkovich for M. Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita"
And in the story about the visit of Begemot and Koroviev to the Torgsin store, there is not even a trace of sympathy not only for the false foreigner customer, but also for the “counter workers” who are trying in every possible way to please him.
This novel is generally interesting because Mikhail Bulgakov managed to talk about two campaigns to confiscate foreign currency, gold and jewelry from the population, which are necessary for the industrialization of the country.
Soviet stores of the Torgsin chain
The authorities used two methods to seize currency and jewelry. The first was economic: from 1931 to 1936, Soviet citizens were allowed to purchase goods in the Torgsin stores (from the phrase “trade with foreigners”), opened in July 1930. The calculation was that people who own a relatively small amount of gold or other valuables would voluntarily come there.
Moreover, transfers from relatives from abroad were welcomed: the addressees received not currency, but commodity orders, for which they could purchase goods in Torgsin's stores. And no questions from the employees of the OGPU (about relatives abroad) to the happy owners of these warrants were received. And the magic phrase "Send dollars to Torgsin" opened the way for letters sent to foreign addresses.
Torgsin-notification
Torgsin's commodity order
Prices in the shops were much lower than in commercial stores, but goods were sold there not for Soviet, but for Torgsin rubles, which were backed by currency and gold. The official exchange rate for one Torgsin ruble was 6 rubles 60 kopecks, but on the "black market" in 1933 35-40 Soviet rubles or half a US dollar were given for it.
The benefits of "Torgsins" were truly enormous. So, in 1932, in terms of foreign currency supply, this trading network occupied the 4th place, second only to oil production enterprises and foreign trade organizations that supply grain and timber abroad. In 1933, 45 tons of gold items and 2 tons of silver items were received through the traders. But it was forbidden to accept church utensils from the population, they were subject to confiscation, which is quite logical and understandable: it was hardly possible to expect that gold or silver chalices, stars, diskos and so on were kept and inherited in a simple family. By the way, even in tsarist times they were allowed to be sold only to obtain funds to ransom prisoners or to help the starving. In total, the stores of this network earned from 270 to 287 million gold rubles, and the cost of imported goods amounted to only 13.8 million rubles. And about 20 percent of the funds allocated for industrialization in 1932-1935 came from traders.
In torgsin
Branson De Cou. Torgsin on Petrovka, photograph 1932
The Torgsin store, described in Bulgakov's novel The Master and Margarita, was located at its present address: Arbat Street, house number 50-52. He was known to many as the Smolensky grocery store No. 2. And now there is a grocery store of one of the most prestigious retail chains. In Bulgakov's novel, this torgsin is called "a very good store."
Koroviev and Behemoth in Torgsin, still from the film "The Master and Margarita"
Indeed, according to contemporaries, this store was the best in Moscow, standing out even against the background of other shopping centers.
Torgsin on Arbat, photograph of the early 1930s.
There were also other stores of this chain: in GUM, on the first floor of the building where the famous Prague restaurant is located, on Kuznetsky Most Street. In total, 38 Torgsin stores operated in Moscow.
Store "Torgsin" on Kuznetsky Most Street (house 14), photo from 1933
According to the testimony of the German architect Rudolf Wolters, who worked in the USSR, in the Torgsin stores “you can buy everything; a little more expensive than abroad, but there is everything."
However, among the people, the very existence of torgsins, reminiscent of social inequality, was perceived negatively, which was also noted by Bulgakov. Koroviev addresses Muscovites:
“Citizens! What is this being done? Huh? Let me ask you this … the poor man fixes the primus all day; he was hungry … and where did he get the currency? Can he? A? - And then Koroviev pointed to the lilac fat man, which made him express the strongest anxiety on his face. - Who is he? A? Where did he come from? What for? Were we bored, perhaps, without him? Did we invite him, or what? Of course, - the former choir director shouted sarcastically, wrying his mouth, at the top of his voice, - you see, he is in a ceremonial lilac suit, all swollen from salmon, he is all full of currency, but ours, ours ?!"
Koroviev and Behemoth in Torgsin, still from the film "The Master and Margarita"
This speech aroused sympathy from everyone present and a shudder from the store manager. And "a decent, quiet old man, poorly dressed, but neatly, an old man who bought three almond cakes in the confectionery department", rips off the "foreigner" hat and hits him "flat on his bald head with a tray."
Everything ended, as we remember, with the burning of the main Moscow torgsin, which Bulgakov does not feel sorry for at all.
Nikanor Barefoot Theater
Another method of confiscating valuables was forceful and was applied mainly to large-scale currency dealers, who turned over not in hundreds or thousands of rubles, but in millions. In 1928-1929 and 1931-1933. they were arrested by officers of the United State Political Administration (OGPU) and held in prison cells until they agreed to "voluntarily" give them "unnecessary" valuables. Many who read M. Bulgakov's novel "The Master and Margarita" probably paid attention to the description of the dream of Nikanor Ivanovich Bosoy, the chairman of the housing association at 302-bis on Sadovaya Street, where the "bad apartment" No. 50 was located. This dream, of course, is was included in the "golden list" of dreams of Russian literature along with the famous dreams of Vera Pavlovna (the novel "What to do"), Anna Karenina, Tatyana Larina, Pyotr Grinev and some others. Recall that this character was then “in the theater hall, where crystal chandeliers shone under the gilded ceiling, and on the walls of the kenkety … There was a stage drawn by a velvet curtain, against a dark cherry background, strewn like stars with images of enlarged gold ten's, a prompter's booth and even the audience."
Illustration by A. Maksimuk
Then the “performance” began, in which the presenter and the young assistant tried to persuade the bearded (a hint of the length of stay in the “theater”) “spectators” to “hand over the currency”.
To many foreign readers, this chapter seems like a pure phantasmagoria in the spirit of Gogol or Kafka. However, Bulgakov slightly distorted the true picture of what was happening in the country at that time, and the lines of his novel surprisingly echo the memories of Fyodor Fomin, left by him in the book "Notes of an Old Chekist". Judge for yourself.
F. Fomin:
“Your release,” we told him, “depends on your frank confession. After all, no one will allow you to use your millions in our country”.
M. Bulgakov:
“The artist … tore off the second burst of applause, bowed and spoke:“After all, I had the pleasure of saying yesterday that secret storage of currency is nonsense. Nobody can use it under any circumstances."
And here is how Fomin describes the work of assessing the values that a particular currency dealer may have.
Zakhary Zhdanov, a former banker arrested in Leningrad on suspicion of storing currency and jewelry, gave the state "gold bracelets, diadems, rings and other precious things, as well as currency and various stocks and bonds - a total of about a million rubles." He also transferred 650 thousand francs to the industrialization fund, which were in his account in one of the Paris banks. But Zhdanov's mistress claimed that he had hidden valuables for 10 million rubles. And then Fomin invited former brokers of the Petrograd Stock Exchange to face-to-face confrontation:
“Two old men enter. They are richly dressed: coats with beaver collars, beaver hats. They sat down opposite us. I asked if they recognized the person sitting in front of them.
- How can you not find out? One of them replied. - Which of the financial businessmen of St. Petersburg did not know him? Zakhari Ivanovich was a prominent person. And he had considerable funds. But he left the bank clerks!
I asked them a series of questions. Both witnesses answered willingly and in detail. It was important for me to find out what amount Zakhary Zhdanov usually operated with. And all the answers boiled down to one thing: no more than 2 million.
- Maybe more? - I asked.
- No, within the limits of 2 million, he usually conducted monetary affairs. And he would not keep some part of his capital as a dead fund - what a reason! Capital in circulation is a sure income. And Zakhary Ivanovich is not the kind of person to hide his capital. He loved, by a sinful deed, to show himself …
The investigation into this case was completed. Zhdanov was sent to live in the Arkhangelsk region."
And here's another very curious quote:
"The Border Guard Directorate of the Leningrad Military District received a statement that the daughter of the former merchant Sh., Henrietta, fled to Paris, taking with her a huge amount of currency and diamonds."
In Paris, the fugitive met her husband, a former White Guard officer who left Russia during the civil war. The informant also said that while leaving, Henrietta left about 30 thousand rubles in gold in Leningrad. The Chekists visited the woman's father and found more than a thousand five-ruble gold coins in his possession. When citizen Sh. Was charged with concealing valuables and complicity in the illegal departure of his daughter to the border, he offered to transfer another 24,000 rubles to the industrialization fund, which were not found during the search, in exchange for a mitigation of punishment. But the most interesting was ahead: having received the promise of forgiveness, he wrote a letter to his daughter in Paris with a request to send in his name half of the amount exported abroad. Henrietta turned out to be a decent woman and did not leave her father in trouble. Fomin says:
“About two months later I receive a letter from Paris:
"Soviet Russia. Leningrad, the OGPU, the head of the border guard. Comrade! I acted honestly. I transferred 200 thousand francs to the Leningrad State Bank; I ask you to do honestly with my father too. Henrietta."
At the end of the chapter "Fighting Currency Dealers and Smugglers" Fomin says:
"In total, in just three years (1930-1933), the border guard of the OGPU of the Leningrad Military District transferred jewelry and currency worth more than 22 million gold rubles to the country's industrialization fund."
Is it a lot or a little? The construction of the famous Uralmash plant cost the state 15 million gold rubles, the Kharkov Tractor Plant was built for 15, 3 million, the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant - for 23 million.
From a modern point of view, one can relate differently to these methods of "mining" of gold and currency, used in those years by the Soviet state and employees of the OGPU. We must not forget about other ways of obtaining funds for the purchase of industrial equipment and technologies: from massive grain exports to the sale of museum exhibits. However, it should be admitted that the party functionaries and government officials did not embezzle or plunder the money received in this way - it was used for its intended purpose. Plants and factories built with these funds laid the foundation for the industrial might of the USSR and played a huge role in the victory over Nazi Germany and its allies. These enterprises successfully survived the war, but, unfortunately, many of them in the 90s of the last century were ruined and destroyed by other "reformers". Which, unlike the leaders of the USSR of that terrible and ruthless era, did not forget about their pockets. And the new masters of life, the funds they receive in Russia, are now keeping them away from the country, which they, apparently, no longer consider the Motherland.
