Repression of National Minorities in Uzbekistan (1937–1938)

Abstract

The international and domestic situation in 1937 was highly unfavorable for the USSR. On the one hand, there were opportunities to wage war on two fronts–the western and eastern, and on the other hand, there was an extremely difficult situation for the national economy of the country, which led to tragic consequences, rapidly worsening the material condition of the people. Because of the famine of 1936, there were even cases of cannibalism. It is difficult not to agree with the assertion of contemporary historians that “the Soviet leadership feverishly looked for a way out of the dangerous situation, but did not find a reasonable solution. Once again violence as a mechanism of state control was chosen. As before, there were artificial culprits for the situation–spies, saboteurs, and other enemies of the people, whose number exceeded a million and a half. Stalin and his entourage diverted people’s attention from the real culprits of the crisis, that is, from themselves” [2, – p. 5]. The article examines the policy of the Communist Party and the Soviet government with respect to representatives of non–indigenous nationalities in the Uzbek SSR, including employees of various organizations, who were sent to work in the republic. It cannot be overlooked that the policy of repression covered almost all strata of the population, i.e. it was total. However, priorities were mainly given to kulak and national operations. With the help of archival documents, some data on the life and work of repressed ethnic minorities in Uzbekistan in 1937–1938 are put into scientific circulation for the first time.