Struggle in Soviet Russia

Vasilkovo is not only a small town, but also a collective farm.

During the war, due to the German occupation of Ukraine, the entire Ukrainian collective farm system was completely destroyed. This destruction was not only the destruction of the organization, but also the hardware facilities. Especially in Eastern Ukraine, the Germans not only stolen the machinery and equipment that originally belonged to the collective farm, but also completely destroyed the farm's water diversion and irrigation facilities, storage facilities, and traffic roads.

For this reason, after the liberation of Ukraine, as the first secretary of the Republic, Khrushchev will not only restore the infrastructure and social order of the entire Ukraine as soon as possible, but also rebuild the pre-war collective farm system while ensuring agricultural production. Therefore, the pressure on him is actually great.

As far as Viktor knew, Khrushchev is now not only arguing with the People’s Committee of Agriculture and the State Planning Commission, but also with the People’s Committee of the Interior.

Needless to say, the contradiction between him and the People’s Committee of Agriculture and the State Planning Commission, and the contradiction between him and the NKVD came from Serov’s abrupt departure, that is, he started acting for the people of the house in Merkulov. After the post of the People’s Commissar of the Committee.

Just last week, when Victor was about to leave Moscow and formally go south to Ukraine, the NKVD issued an order to strengthen the management of prisoner-of-war camps. In this order, there are some contents related to Ukraine. , Is to close the four German prisoner-of-war camps in Kharkov and Dnepropetrovsk, and move the prisoners of these camps to Stalingrad.

Once this order was issued, it immediately caused a backlash from some local officials in Ukraine, especially those in Kharkov and Dnepropetrovsk.

The four prisoner-of-war camps that are about to be shut down contain a total of nearly 30,000 prisoners of war, including Germans, Romanians, Hungarians, etc., and these prisoners of war are absolutely free labor, whether it is Kharkov. The metallurgical enterprises that are being restored, or the iron ore that is being restored in Dnepropetrovsk, are in great need of these free labor. Therefore, the local officials of the two places naturally did not allow these prisoners of war to be evacuated.

Khrushchev is now the first secretary of Ukraine and the leader of this republic. As the so-called "seeking politics in his place", he is sitting in this position, so he must naturally consider it from the perspective of Ukraine. The question is, if his position is not clear enough, how can he win the support of the local officials?

Therefore, he immediately stated his position on this issue, which is consistent with his position on the grain procurement indicators. Of course, he is estimated to have the same starting point in considering the issue, that is, to make him a Ukrainian interest. Spokesperson.

Victor has no working experience in the grassroots government, which is a weak place for him. Now, from Khrushchev, he can see how difficult it is to be a local official. At least something must be clear. As a role like Khrushchev, he must find a balance between Ukrainian local interests and Moscow's interests. Otherwise, any imbalance on either side will make his work impossible.

I spent most of the morning in the farm, had a brief discussion with many members of the farm, listened to their suggestions and needs, and asked them about the expected harvest this year. Take everyone back to town.

In the only restaurant on the farm, Viktor sat at the same table with Safonov and Goryakov. The three of them belonged to "outsiders" from Moscow, plus they did not serve in Ukraine. Therefore, Khrushchev and his prefectural party secretaries discuss work matters, so naturally they will not be arranged.

In fact, don’t look at Viktor sitting together with Safonov and Goryakov. In fact, from a standpoint, he and these two people are not all the same. As the Supreme Attorney General, Safonov and the Supreme Prosecutor The judges of the court, Goryakov, are all followers of Zhdanov. At least, they are similar in position to Zhdanov.

This time I came to Ukraine. The three people and the Merkulov who has not yet arrived. The real task is to promote the smooth implementation of the liquidation work. Using Ukraine as a pilot, we will give a detailed understanding of the specific working methods of the liquidation work. Fan exploration. Comrade Stalin's request is that they eventually need to come up with a reasonable planning opinion, which will serve as a guideline for promoting liquidation work in other liberated areas in the future.

From the perspective of Safonov and Goryakov, they actually came to Ukraine for only one purpose this time, and that was to take this opportunity to ban the "troika" of the NKVD.

Yes, the authority of the NKVD has always relied on the existence of the "troika". This so-called "troika" has two meanings: one is the power of arrest, the power of censorship, and the power of trial. Power, while the other refers to the three resolutions made by the Central Executive Committee and the People’s Committee in the three years of 1934, 1937 and 1941. It is these three resolutions that conferred the special The committee has three powers from arrest to interrogation to sentencing.

Let’s put it this way, the special committee of the People’s Committee of the Interior has the right to sentence a prisoner to less than 20 years of labor without trial by the procuratorial organ and the court, and can punish a person who is a threat to national security. Including his family members, sent to remote areas, that is, direct exile. After the approval of the Supreme Attorney General, the death penalty can be executed on any criminal.

These are the powers of the special committees under the NKVD, and they have not been abolished until now.

A series of coalition legal workers represented by Safonov and Goryakov have been rushing to ban the power of the NKVD. They believe that the NKVD has such a huge and powerful power. It is unreasonable and has a very destructive effect on the socialist legal system.

However, their position is not without voices of opposition. Also among the legal workers in the alliance, some people do not approve of the ban on the power of the NKVD. The reason is that the NKVD leads many cases. Among them, there are content that cannot be disclosed to the public, such as those spies, spies, anti-Soviet saboteurs, etc. The cases they involve should be kept secret, and the procuratorial organs and courts should not be too involved.

In this case, the two viewpoints themselves cannot be coordinated, and naturally there is no way to make a final decision.

Therefore, this time Safonov and Golyakov wanted to limit the privileges of the People’s Committee of the Interior when formulating the guidelines for liquidation work, and to use this principle as a model to implement it throughout the Soviet Union. Inside.

From an unselfish standpoint, Viktor certainly supports the positions of Safonov and Goryakov, because in his view, if the alliance’s socialist rule of law is to be established and sounded, it must be given to the internal affairs people. Departments such as the Committee Department and the National Security People’s Committee put on reins to prevent their power from losing control. Especially in a situation like the “troika” of the People’s Committee of the Interior, a department can handle cases, arrests, and make a final trial. Such a combination of three powers is terrible. With this premise, there will be injustices. The probability of false and wrong cases is definitely high and scary.

But as a human being, who can truly be selfless? Take the current Victor as an example, he can take no position on this issue, or oppose the attitude of Safonov and Golyakov, but it is impossible for him to support each other with a clear-cut stand. of.

Because of this, even when he was alone with Safonov and Goryakov, they lacked opportunities to communicate with each other. The three of them stayed together in silence, and the atmosphere was very embarrassing.

It was lunch time. According to Khrushchev’s request, the farm prepared lunch for everyone present. Just when the three of the three at Victor’s table were silent, a middle-aged obese woman in a white turban was silent. , Brought lunch for them.

This lunch... is really appetizing. The dishes are two potatoes, one mashed potatoes, one stewed potatoes with a clear soup, and the staple food is black bread, a whole loaf of black bread, and another one. Soup made from macaroni.

Seeing that huge loaf of brown bread, Victor was a bit speechless, while Safonov and Goryakov opposite him were a little dumbfounded. You must know that in a war environment, the standard of food in the army, such a loaf of brown bread is For three or four Soviet soldiers.

In addition, this brown bread is not ordinary brown bread at first glance. It is obviously made with bran and sawdust. It is really not easy to eat this stuff.

Victor was hesitating, a figure had already walked to the table of the three, and then a dinner plate fell on their table.

The three of them looked up, only to realize that the person walking by was actually Khrushchev.

Putting the dinner plate on the table in front of the three of them, Khrushchev walked to the empty seat beside Victor and sat down. While reaching for the brown bread in the Victor dinner plate, Khrushchev held him with the other hand. Knife in the plate.

"I know why you came to Kiev," Khrushchev said with a gloomy face after cutting the brown bread with that knife. People, I have an obligation to support and cooperate with your work, but what I must tell you is that in Ukraine today, our farmers can only eat these things that you may find difficult to swallow. No, they may even have these things. I can't eat it anymore."