Document 94

Letter to TsK VKP(b) "On . . . Mass Evasions of service in the Red Army by Draftees in the Chechen-Ingush ASSR," 1940

RGASPI, f. 17, op. 122, d. 2, ll. 31-39. Certified, typewritten copy.

A group of functionaries of the USSR People's Commissariat of Defense has conducted an on-scene inquiry into mass evasions of service in the Red Army by draftees in the Chechen-Ingush ASSR.

The inquiry determined that 6,246 men were enlisted in the Red Army in Chechen-Ingush ASSR from the 1939 draft; of that number, 3,325 men were dispatched to Red Army units in 1939, and 2,921 men were left in the reserves. On special duty for the Northern Caucasus Military District command, the reserves were dispatched in small units to the Red Army in February and June of 1940. The dispatching was extremely disorganized; there was no verification that draftees showed up at assembly points. As a result, 529 men failed to appear at the assembly point during the dispatching process or fled from the train-departure sites.

In addition, eighty four of the draftees from the Chechen-Ingush ASSR who had previously been dispatched to the Red Army deserted their units.

As of 18 September, 180 of those who fled or failed to appear had been arrested, and thirty seven of them had been convicted by Military Tribunals. The rest are being sought by the police and the NKVD. . . .

In Itum-Kalinski Raion (Comrade Magomadov, secretary of the raion committee of the VKP[b]), sixty two men failed to appear to be dispatched. Fifty percent of the total number in hiding are Communists and Komsomol members, seven are village school teachers, one is a technical functionary for the VKP(b) raion committee, one is a bookkeeper and one is a statistician.

Comrade Sel'murzaev, secretary of the Shali Raion Committee of the VKP(b), insisted that deserters Dokuev, Yunusov and Makhmatkhazhiev be released from custody, justifying this by the fact that one of Dokuev's brothers is the chairman of the village executive committee and a VKP(b) member and another brother is a school principal and a VKP(b) candidate member, while Yunusov's mother is a member of the plenum of the VKP(b) raikom.

The same thing occurred in Shatoevsky Raion.

Many Communists in that raion are harboring deserters. Gerikhanov, an instructor for the VKP(b) raion committee, knew that VKP(b) member Demel'khanov was protecting deserter Dubaev, and began to speak with Demel'khanov about his behavior unbecoming a party member. Demel'khanov responded: "What do you need from me, you're a Chechen and I'm a Chechen, so why on earth should we talk about Dubaev's desertion and his affairs. We should keep quiet about that."

The most shameful incident involved raion procurator Davlitgireev, who adamantly refused to go to the draft commission. Only when the raion military committee demanded it did Davlitgireev appear at the commission for an examination, and he was found fit to serve in the army. He disagreed, however, with the draft commission's decision and went to see medical specialists in Groznyi, where he was also found fit to serve in the Red Army. After that Davlitgireev went to the republic procurator's office and asked to be hired as a responsible functionary. The republic's deputy procurator, Comrade Shcherban', agreed to this and, in a strictly secret letter to the chairman of the raion executive committee, Comrade Sapaev, wrote: AI request that Davlitgireev be attached to the procurator's office of Shatoevsky Raion" . . . .

The chairman of the Guchum-Kalinsky village executive committee, El'saev, concealed seven first cousins from the draft. Under this village soviet one hundred draftees failed to appear at assembly points.

Harboring of Relatives

. . . . On 22 February 1940 the chairman of the Red Hammer Kolkhoz in Urus-Martan Raion, Kagirmanov, and accountant Guchigov issued a certificate to Guchigov stating that "he is authorized to travel to any city in the USSR to acquire goods." After receiving the certificate, Guchigov went into hiding. In May 1940 the same individuals issued Guchigov a second certificate stating that "Guchigov is not hiding from the authorities." In June 1940 they issued Guchigov a third certificate to the effect that Guchigov had gotten married on 22 February and, in keeping with Chechen custom, had to hide from his parents for two weeks. A military tribunal sentenced Guchigov to five years [Omitted is information about shortfalls in conscriptions according to year of birth, and defiance of restrictions on the size of household plots among kolkhoz farmers.].