Document 38

Anonymous letter to Kalinin on purge in Abkhazia, September 1931

RGASPI, f. 78, op. 1, d. 416, l. 1. Typed copy.

Soviet power [sovvlast'] is lacking in Abkhazia. Information sent to the press by worker-correspondents has been suppressed, the TsIK leadership has taken all responsibility away from the GPU and RKI.

A purge of the staff is now underway, but just what sort of purge is it that leaves saboteurs unscathed, gets rid of cleaning ladies and typists, and keeps trying to smoke out daughters of priests and tsarist bureaucrats? What good does this do? We in the purge brigade see how information exposing big fish is being swept under the carpet while small fish are caught, discredited, and their dirty linen washed in public. Is this really the way it's supposed to be? Our construction projects are going to pot, those at Tkvarcheli and Bzyb', but the leaders remained untouched, TsIK stands up for them. Defeatist landlords, former princes are esteemed--you're not allowed to offend them. Why, there are princes in the Party; the workers and the poor peasants are surprised by this fact. That's the way it is here. TsK instructors Kozlov and Tseitlin came out here and made a lot of promises. What have these comrades done? You ask them, Mikhail Ivanovich. Make them account for themselves. Rumor has it that some people write to Moscow from here so we too decided to write--maybe somebody will investigate and find the root of the evil. We have to set this matter straight.

Among Abkhazians who know about this matter are TsIK member Comrade Agrba, State Prosecutor Comrade Kabakhia, and the chairman of the SPS [Sovet Profsoiuzov (Council of Trade Unions)] Comrade Abzianidze. Many Abkhazians have fled to Tiflis and other places because they were silenced.

We can't sign this, or life would be impossible for us, they would eat us up. We ask that serious attention be given to the matter. Crush the bootlicking and unscrupulous factions. In addition, disgraceful things are going on in the raions. Kulaks sit on RIKs [Raionnye Ispolnitel'nye Komitety (District Executive Committees)], there are gangs, top-skimming, and bootlicking. Where are the construction and production rates, where is self-criticism, where is the Five-Year Plan? There are none of these. It wouldn't be a bad idea if you showed your fist more. There is no determination and discipline here.