Protocols of the Repressive Organs of the Communist Totalitarian Regime in Crimea in 1920-1953

Anatolii Khromov, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Chairman of the State Archival Service of Ukraine

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Anatolii Khromov, Candidate of Historical Sciences, Chairman of the State Archival Service of Ukraine.

In 2018, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine adopted the Law of Ukraine "On the Rehabilitation of Victims of the Communist Totalitarian Regime of 1917-1991", which improved the rehabilitation procedure. The process of creating and updating the composition of regional and National Rehabilitation Commissions is currently under way. Due to relevant changes in legislation, archives containing information from repressive organs, in particular the Sectoral State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine (hereinafter – SSA SBU), can expect another wave of increase in the number of requests from repressed persons and members of their families.

In addition, the archival legislation of Ukraine, in particular the Law of Ukraine "On the National Archival Fund and Archival Institutions" and the Law of Ukraine "On Access to the Archives of the Repressive Organs of the Communist Totalitarian Regime of 1917-1991", obliges archival institutions to popularize and effectively use archival information using various methods (publication, digitization, etc.).

Under these conditions, an important source is... the protocols of the repressive organs of the communist totalitarian regime of 1917-1991. These documents are formed into separate descriptions according to the territorial (oblast) principle and are attached to collection No. 6 of the SSA SBU "Criminal cases on rehabilitated persons." After the scientific and technical processing of the files and checking their physical condition, the protocols are digitized...

During the first month of the project, the protocols of the "troikas" of 1937-1938 for the Kamianets-Podilskyi Oblast were digitized (52 storage units, 3,190 digital photocopies), and documents for the Odesa and Kyiv Oblasts are in progress.

Among the files of this collection, documents from inventory No. 6 with the protocols of the repressive organs of the communist totalitarian regime in Crimea of 1920-1953 are of particular importance, which are also included in the queue for digitization under the project. It is worth saying that these files are one of the most complete complexes of documents containing information about the history of Crimea before it entered the Ukrainian SSR and are accessible to Ukrainian citizens. The documents were once stored in the archival subdivision of the Main Directorate of the SBU in the Autonomous Republic of Crimea and were requested for storage in the SSA SBU in 2009. Access to these documents is extremely important in the context of the occupation of Crimea. In total, there are 106 archival units for the years 1920-1953 in the inventory for Crimea. Among these documents, four main groups can be distinguished.

The first part of the inventory is represented by protocols and extracts from protocols (1921-1923) of meetings of the Presidiums of the Crimean Oblast and Simferopol City Cheka (Russian: Chrezvychaynaya komissiya, common abbreviation for the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution and Sabotage); the Sevastopol City Cheka of 1921, and the Feodosia Cheka of 1921.

Protocol No. 2 of the meeting of the Board of the Crimean Cheka. January 14, 1922. SSA SBU, F. 6, Op. 6, File 1, Sheet 149.

The second group is represented by the protocols of the meetings of the "troika", special meetings of the GPU (State Political Directorate) of Crimea in 1924-1927.

Protocol of the Special Meeting of the GPU of Crimea. December 09, 1924. SSA SBU, F. 6, Op. 6, File 92, Sheet 146.

The third part of the inventories combines the protocols of the meetings of the "troika" of the UNKVD of the Crimean ASSR in 1937-1938.

Cover of the file with the protocols of the meeting of the judicial "troika" of the NKVD of the Crimean ASSR. August 13, 1937. SSA SBU, F. 6, Op. 6, File 8.

In addition, the inventory contains files with acts and other documents regarding the execution of sentences in Crimea in 1920-1953, which are logically combined into a separate fourth group.

Cover of the file with the acts of execution of the capital punishment (execution by shooting). May-June 1942. SSA SBU, F. 6, Op. 6, File 88.

Full version of the article: Protocols of the repressive organs of the communist totalitarian regime of Crimea in 1920-1953 // A.V. Khromov // Crimea is Ukraine. Documentary evidence in the archives of Ukraine: collection of articles and materials of the round table – K., 2019. – P.169-181.