Forced Collectivization and Dekulakization (1928–1932)
An assault on the traditional way of life of the Ukrainian village, which remained the principal bearer of national identity and economic independence. Under the slogans of socialist modernization, Moscow proclaimed the course of "the liquidation of the kulaks as a class": the secret Politburo resolution of January 30, 1930 ordered "to confiscate from the kulaks of these districts the means of production, livestock, farm and residential buildings, processing enterprises, fodder and seed stocks" and to send "60,000 to concentration camps and subject 150,000 kulaks to deportation to remote districts," of which for Ukraine - 15 thousand to concentration camps and 30–35 thousand to deportation[1]. Peasants who put up resistance were dispossessed en masse and deported to Siberia and the North[2].
Actors
Instruments Applied
| ID | Name | Procedures |
|---|---|---|
| S0017 | Secret Police and Security Services | 4 |
| S0008 | Government | 1 |
Procedures Carried Out
Forcible seizure of land, livestock, and agricultural implements from peasants as part of forced collectivization under slogans of socialist modernization[2].
Mass dispossession and forced deportation of hundreds of thousands of resisting peasants (the so-called "kurkuls") to remote special settlements in Siberia and the North[2].
Mass deportation of hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian peasants ("kulaks") and their family members to Siberia and remote northern regions of the USSR[2].
Mass arrests of peasants during the dekulakization campaign: according to the 1930 directives, in addition to deportations, tens of thousands of people were sent directly to concentration camps for isolation[2].
Use of dekulakized peasants, sent into the emerging GULAG system, as forced unpaid labor for heavy state projects[2].