Some NKVD/GULAG statistics

Sergey Romanov · #1

[Note: sorry, "code" tag seems to work incorrectly here, the table is somewhat scrambled; either minimize the page or copy the data into another program; or go here:

http://pub86.ezboard.com/frodohforumfrm ... =174.topic
http://pub86.ezboard.com/frodohforumfrm ... =180.topic
]
[Note 2: the above links no longer work. http://rodoh.us seems to allow only a limited number of posting and the old posts are deleted.]

Some data from GULAG (Chief Directorate of Camps) 1918-1960 (compiled by A.I.Kokurin and N.V.Petrov; sci.ed. V.N.Shostakovskij; in series "Rossija. XX vek. Dokumenty", ed. A.N.Jakovlev, Moscow, 2000).

Warning! Not all numbers are summed up correctly in original documents! And there might have been some mistakes in my electronic copy (i.e. if you want to use these numbers and need the absolute exactitude, check the original book and article). But the overall picture is clear.

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VChK-OGPU cases (1921-1929) (p. 432)

Year Arrested  CRC    ASA    Other   Conv.    EP     C&P     E&D    OM

1921  200271  76820   -      123451  35829   9701   21724   1817   2587
1922  119329  45405   -      73924   6003    1962   2656    166    1219
1923  104520  57289   5322   47231   4794    414    2336    2044   -
1924  92849   74055   -      18794   12425   2550   4151    5724   -
1925  72658   52033   -      20625   15995   2433   6851    6274   437
1926  62817   30676   -      32141   178004  990    7547    8571   696
1927  76983   48883   -      28100   26036   2363   12267   11235  171
1928  112803  72186   -      40617   33757   869    16211   15640  1037
1929  162726  132799  51396  29927   56220   2109   25853   24517  3741
Total 1004956 590146  56718  414810  208863  23391  99596   75988  9888

OGPU-NKVD cases (1930-1936) (p. 433)

Year Arrested  CRC    ASA    Other   Conv.    EP     C&P     E&D    OM

1930  331544  266679  -      64865   208069  20201  114443  58816  14609
1931  479065  343734  100963 180696  170651  105683 63269   1093   -
1932  410433  195540  23484  214893  141919  2728   73946   36017  29228
1933  505256  283029  32370  222227  239664  2154   138903  54262  44345
1934  205173  90417   16788  114756  78999   2056   59451   5994   11498
1935  193083  108935  43686  84148   267076  1229   185846  33601  46400
1936  131168  91127   32110  40041   274670  1118   219418  23719  30415
Total 2255722 1379461 249401 876261  1391093 40137  897690  275678 177588

NKVD cases (1937-1938) (ibid.)

Year Arrested  CRC    ASA    Other   Conv.    EP     C&P     E&D    OM

1937  936750  779056  234301 157694  790665  353074 429311  1366   6914
1938  638509  593326  57366  45183   554258  328618 205509  16842  3289
Total 1575259 1372382 291667 202877  1344923 681692 634817  18208  10203
Total 4835937 3341989 597786 1493948 2944879 745220 1632106 369874 197679
1921-
1938

NKVD-MVD cases (1939-1953) (p. 434)

Year  CCRC    58-10   EP    25    16-24 11-15 6-10   3-5    2<=   E&D    OM

1939  63889   24720  2552  526    -     883   23723  29534  -     3783  2888
1940  71806   18371  1649  -      -     529   21514  43684  -     2142  2288
1941  75411   35116  8001  -      -     507   40678  23815  -     1200  1210
1942  124406  61625  23278 -      -     774   69893  18142  -     7070  5249
1943  78441   24089  3579  897    -     846   57727  8885   532   4787  1188
1944  75109   14130  3029  14779  -     875   46902  7633   421   649   821
1945  123248  14868  4252  31663  -     2433  70850  10791  944   1647  668
1946  123294  15512  2896  16289  -     2144  80742  16401  2367  1498  957
1947  78810   8391   1105  12098  259   3356  49215  8623   3030  666   458
1948  73269   8496   -     36951  1811  2687  25790  3803   1510  419   298
1949  75125   14768  -     37678  1173  1730  21450  2044   434   10316 300
1950  60641   13191  475   29909  818   1414  20458  1522   345   5225  475
1951  54775   11254  1609  3366   394   964   15769  1234   415   3425  599
1952  28800   6348   1612  17984  319   486   6395   491    149   773   591
1953* 8403    3246   198   4769   76    149   2665   211    24    38    273
Total 1115427 274125 54235 233909 4850  19777 553771 176813 10171 43638 18263

* First six months.

CRC   - counter-revolutionary crimes
CCRC  - convicted for CRC
ASA   - anti-Soviet agitation (incl. in CRC)
Other - other crimes
Conv. - convicted
EP    - extreme punishment (execution)
C&P   - camps and prisons
E&D   - exile and deportation
OM    - other measures
58-10 - criminal code article
25    - 25 years
16-24 - 16 to 24 years
11-15 - 11 to 15 years
6-10  - 6 to 10 years
3-5   - 3 to 5 years
2=<   - 2 years and less

Quantity of GULAG prisoners (for Jan. 1st of each year).

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Year  ITL    CR:abs  %    ITK     Total

1934 510307  135190 26,5         510307
1935 725483  118256 16,3 240259  965742
1936 839406  105849 12,6 457088  1296494
1937 820881  104826 12,8 375488  1196369
1938 996367  185324 18,6 885203  1881570
1939 1317195 454432 34,5 355243  1672438
1940 1344408 444999 33,1 315584  1659992
1941 1500524 420293 28,7 429205  1929729
1942 1415596 407988 29,6 361447  1777043
1943 983974  345397 35,6 500208  1484182
1944 663594  268861 40,7 516225  1179819
1945 715505  289351 41,2 745171  1460677
1946 746871  333883 59,2 956224  1703095
1947 808839  427653 54,3 912704  1721543
1948 1108057 416156 38,0 1091478 2199535
1949 1216361 420696 34,9 1140324 2356685
1950 1416300 578912 22,7 1145051 2561351
1951 1533767 475976 31,0 994379  2528146
1952 1711202 480766 28,1 793312  2504514
1953 1727970 465256 26,9 740554  2468524

ITL - ispravitel'no-trudovyje lagerya (work camps; correctional labor camps)
ITK - ispravitel'no-trudovyje kolonii (work-farms; correctional labor colonies)
CR - "counter-revolutionary crimes"
1950:CR(abs.) is given for both camps and colonies.
Source: V.N. Zemskov, 1991, "Zaklyuchennyje, spetsposelentsy, ssyl'noposelentsy, ssyl'nyje i vyslannyje (statistiko-geograficheskij aspekt)" ["Prisoners, special settlers, exiled settlers, exiles and deportees (statistical-geographical aspect)"], Istorija SSSR, no. 5, pp. 151-165.

Kunikov · #2

I just ordered that GULAG book yesterday, the data is very interesting!

David Thompson · #3

Sergey -- Thank you very much for those statistics.

Sergey Romanov · #4

Researcher Alec Nove writes: "although the numbers shot in 1921-1953 may well exceed the "archival" 799,455, any total which exceeds a million must be regarded as beyond probability. Let those who disagree with such a judgement state their case".

Kunikov · #5

Sergey Romanov wrote:Researcher Alec Nove writes: "although the numbers shot in 1921-1953 may well exceed the "archival" 799,455, any total which exceeds a million must be regarded as beyond probability. Let those who disagree with such a judgement state their case".

Can you explain this further? I can more or less guess exactly what it means, but I just want to be sure.

Sergey Romanov · #6

What's to explain? These numbers do not include _all_ the NKVD killings (e.g. ~21000 executed Poles are not included), but the overall number is not more than 1 million, as researchers like Nove, Roginskij, Khlevnyuk and Zemskov agree (according to Wheatcroft, they don't accept Conquest's speculative 1.5 million figure).

Kunikov · #7

Sergey Romanov wrote:What's to explain? These numbers do not include _all_ the NKVD killings (e.g. ~21000 executed Poles are not included), but the overall number is not more than 1 million, as researchers like Nove, Roginskij, Khlevnyuk and Zemskov agree (according to Wheatcroft, they don't accept Conquest's speculative 1.5 million figure).

That's what I figured..thanks.

AAA · #8

Researcher Alec Nove writes: "although the numbers shot in 1921-1953 may well exceed the "archival" 799,455, any total which exceeds a million must be regarded as beyond probability. Let those who disagree with such a judgement state their case".

Nove writes ....? Where ? Do you want to state a reference? Not by any chance Alec Nove, "How Many Victims in the 1930s?," Soviet Studies, vol. 42, no. 2, Apr. 1990, pp. 369-373? Enlighten us pls / or even better / post Nove's work for all to read.

Hey! Wait! Nove?

NOVE? As in the economist ... author of "The Economics of Feasible Socialism"? Truely An unimpeachable source

Why are you using an unreferenced and uncontexted quote? Feel free to offer your own opinion instead of hiding behind that deceased academic.

David Thompson · #9

AAA -- Your tone seems a little hostile for a discussion on historical statistics. Is there a reason for it?

AAA · #10

Hey, that "Some NKVD/GULAG statistics" is a lovely table, it looks very meaningful. You may want to explain exactly what it purports to show. Can we assume that it purports to be numbers of repression victims according to the released Soviet archival materials (specifically KGB precursor organisation prosecution files)?

Warning! Not all numbers are summed up correctly in original documents! And there might have been some mistakes in my electronic copy (i.e. if you want to use these numbers and need the absolute exactitude, check the original book and article). But the overall picture is clear.

YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS. You post a large stat table, knowing that there are mistakes in the original, and cannot even be bothered to check what you propagate, so even if we find inconsistencies we have to check back to the original to work out if you or Kokurin or Petrovor screwed up, which you already admit to be flawed before you added some more. So what then is that table good for? Somewhere between abstract wall decoration and toilet paper. If you want to promote that book, ye might as well post a .jpg of the cover and not waste our time that stats table.

For the record, I ran it through excel and checked for arithmetic errors, (wasted all of 15 minutes) :
Its not explicit, but assuming that for the first 3 subtables Arrested = CRC + other, Conv=EP+C&P+E&D+OM, for the last subtable CCRC = sum of all fields except 58-10
SubTable 1 VChK-OGPU cases adds up fine
SubTable 2 OGPU-NKVD cases is OK except 1931 (the total for Arrested and conv. do not sum), and the Totals for Other, Conv., EP, C&P, E&D, OM are off by some thousands.
SubTable 3 NKVD cases : The Conv. and C&P total appears discrepency 3 pers.
SubTable 4 NKVD-MVD cases : The 1951 CCRC and Totals 25 are off, changing the 1951 25 figure from 3366 to 30366 fixes that.

That table is truly only "some" statistics, it represents a fraction of the folks repressed by the soviets in those years. That last subtable is partcularly egregious : There were WHOLE ETHNIC GROUPS deported in several of those years but E&D (Exile and deportation) figures are in the hundreds - so what does the table actually represent, or did the NKVD only bother to document individual deportations (and fail to mention whole nations), or are the errors several orders of magnitude in size, or maybe these stats are simply a study in bogosity?

The overall picture is indeed clear. Quick and dirty / self admittedly inaccurate stats are credible support for ---> nothing.

AAA · #11

Honorable moderator! (Ahhh, that second post went in before I noticed your query). I apologise if I seem somewhat hostile, I will endevour to cut the sarcasm.

Its not just academic history, here in the Baltics there are too many gravestones over empty graves, and the date and place of death marked by question marks (literally). Like folks in the holocaust threads, I do get over irate when revisionists rationalise the deaths of millions by orders of magnitude. And when posting sources I found informative on thread on Soviet crimes against minorities, do not appreciate being bushwhacked by a revanchist who produce reams of offensive evidence to the tune that virtually noone was actually repressed.

I'll cease and desist and go for a drink instead.

However, can we reasonably assume that denial also applies to events other than the holocaust (as per the thread rules)?

Rauli · #12

AAA has a point here. The Amount of exile and deportation simply don´t match. Only 1200 in 1941 and we know what happened in the Baltic countries just weeks prior Germany´s attack. Another interesting year is 1944 when Stalin deported Chechens (among others) and total number from that year is only 649!

Sergey Romanov · #13

AAA, relax, pal, don't get nervous. Just because your cherished beliefs about "millions shot by Stalin" were shown to be untrue, it doesn't mean that you have to pop a blood vessel right here and now ;]

Rauli, the table sums up the deportations of the _arrested_ people, sentenced by courts. Were the members of the deported nations arrested and summarily sentenced? I think rather they were deported by the orders from Politburo or something like that.

David Thompson · #14

AAA -- We try to keep the tone civil here because it promotes intelligent discussion, whereas insults only beget more insults.

You asked:

However, can we reasonably assume that denial also applies to events other than the holocaust (as per the thread rules)?

The denial rules do apply to events other than the holocaust, namely the massacres of Armenians in Turkey during WWI and the interwar famine in the Ukraine, per the section rules posted at:

http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic.php?t=53962

The forum's creator, Marcus Wendel, determines which events are covered by the denial rules, usually after consultation with the moderators.

Note that:

It is permissible to question whether these and similar events were the result of a deliberate government policy, and legitimate questions may be raised about the veracity of individual witnesses or their motives, individual items of evidence, or matters of interpretation of policy, but it is not permissible to deny that the events occurred.

michael mills · #15

Regarding numbers of executions, I seem to recall that NKVD statistics found in the ex-Soviet archives indicate that a minimum of 680,000 persons was shot between mid-1937 and the end of 1938, ie the period of the Great Terror.

That was a period of extreme violence, and the execution rate could be considered to be well above the rate at other times. But there were other periods of mass repression, particularly during the Red Terror of 1918-21. The number of persons executed by organs of the Bolshevik regime during that period must total at least 500,000.