PURGES IN MILITIA OF UKRAINIAN SOCIALIST SOVIET REPUBLIC IN 1920S

Abstract

Purge of the ranks of law enforcement agencies from unqualified, staff unfit for such work, offenders was always relevant and challenging task. And now, with the creation of police in Ukraine, the severity of the problem has not diminished. The author of this article attempts to reveal the process of purging the ranks of Soviet militia during the NEP period.

Purges in militia occurred by the example of purges of the ranks in the ruling Communist Party then. The reason for purges was releasing the militia out of former White Guards, members of the rebel movement, gangs. Specially created attestation committees organized and carried out the purges. They were granted the right to invite, if necessary, all persons they considered appropriate, and to demand from them and organizations documents and comments on the activities of militia and its employees. All employees had to pass through these committees, regardless of experience and position. Exceptions were only the members of the party – their nominations were considered at meetings of the local communist organizations. The meetings of committees took place in social clubs, manufactories, the village assemblies. The lists of dismissed and kept militia officers after the purges were published in the newspapers, thus the process was rather transparent. The largest and class essentially purge was in 1923. The main reasons for dismissal in 1925 were mainly criminal offenses, such as bribery, abuse of detainees, drinking, contact with the criminal underworld, inadequacy to the position. Purges in militia were primarily aimed at the implementation of class line in the selection of personnel for law enforcement agencies and only then – taking into account professional features and countering crimes and misdemeanors in this environment. In general, purges, despite the dismissal of professionals on social grounds, played a positive role in the formation and development of militia in the NEP period.