2014 Issue №12

Based on documents of the State Archive of the Kaliningrad region that were not previously used for scientific purposes, this article attempts to examine the specific Soviet social phenomenon of factory pilfers and identify the reasons behind its development, as well as its extents at factory No. 820 (today, the Yantar factory). The author presents the facts of petty thefts at the factory and analyses corresponding punishments and the management’s attitude towards pilfers.

The preparation of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of September 7, 1946 on renaming the district centers of the Kaliningrad region is analysed based on documents of federal archives. Principles behind giving Soviet names to former German towns were changed several times in the process. At different stages, new names were given in view of the former Russian, Polish, or Lithuanian name, a town’s geographical position, Russian and Soviet military history, and communist ideology.

This article analyses the significance of private subsidiary farming for peasant settlers during late Stalinism. Special attention is paid to the characteristics of private land plots and the livestock number at peasant farms. It is concluded that subsidiary farming played a key role in the survival strategy of kolkhoz members in a post-war Soviet village.

Based on documents of the State Archive of the Kaliningrad region that were not previously used for scientific purposes, this article attempts to examine the specific Soviet social phenomenon of factory pilfers and identify the reasons behind its development, as well as its extents at factory No. 820 (today, the Yantar factory). The author presents the facts of petty thefts at the factory and analyses corresponding punishments and the management’s attitude towards pilfers.