Blackboards (Soviet policies)
Encyclopedia
Black boards that are synonymous with "boards of infamy", were an element of agitation-propaganda in the Soviet Union
in 1930s, coincidental with Holodomor
and are a tragic symbol of the Ukrainian people
.
The policy was part of the collectivization process and the fight with kulaks (kurkuls). The "black boards" were installed at entrances to a settlement and identified that the residents of them are counter-revolutionaries and the enemies of people who try to undermine the process of collectivization. The fact of nominating of such settlements was published in the oblast
newspapers listing the names of collective farms
that resisted collectivization and the Soviet regime.
However some of the archives reflect that "black boards" were used precisely as a repressive element in the fight not only against the collectivization resistance, but also against the nationality factor of the local population. For example, in 1932 the Vinnytsia Oblast
Communist Party Committee suggested the local village of Mazurivka to be nominated to "black boards", because there was born one of the Petlyura's generals Khmara, while the village of Karpivtsi (Chudniv Raion) in Volyn was known as one of the Petlyura's. The villlage of Turbiv (Lypovets Raion), for example, deserved such a penalty for its "high infestation of the Petlyura element and participation in the Plyskiv affair in spring". Each settlement or an administrative unit with black boards was encircled by armed squads and was subjected to complete food requisitioning.
Such repressions were conducted towards the half of all raion
s and municipalities of the Ukrainian SSR
except for the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
where such regime occupied territories of all administrative units without exception. Dnipropetrovsk Oblast is situated right in the middle of traditional lands of the Zaporizhian Cossacks.
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
in 1930s, coincidental with Holodomor
Holodomor
The Holodomor was a man-made famine in the Ukrainian SSR between 1932 and 1933. During the famine, which is also known as the "terror-famine in Ukraine" and "famine-genocide in Ukraine", millions of Ukrainians died of starvation in a peacetime catastrophe unprecedented in the history of...
and are a tragic symbol of the Ukrainian people
Ukrainians
Ukrainians are an East Slavic ethnic group native to Ukraine, which is the sixth-largest nation in Europe. The Constitution of Ukraine applies the term 'Ukrainians' to all its citizens...
.
The policy was part of the collectivization process and the fight with kulaks (kurkuls). The "black boards" were installed at entrances to a settlement and identified that the residents of them are counter-revolutionaries and the enemies of people who try to undermine the process of collectivization. The fact of nominating of such settlements was published in the oblast
Oblast
Oblast is a type of administrative division in Slavic countries, including some countries of the former Soviet Union. The word "oblast" is a loanword in English, but it is nevertheless often translated as "area", "zone", "province", or "region"...
newspapers listing the names of collective farms
Kolkhoz
A kolkhoz , plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms . The word is a contraction of коллекти́вное хозя́йство, or "collective farm", while sovkhoz is a contraction of советское хозяйство...
that resisted collectivization and the Soviet regime.
However some of the archives reflect that "black boards" were used precisely as a repressive element in the fight not only against the collectivization resistance, but also against the nationality factor of the local population. For example, in 1932 the Vinnytsia Oblast
Vinnytsia Oblast
Vinnytsia Oblast is an oblast of Ukraine. Its administrative center is Vinnytsia.-Geography:The area of the region is 26,500 km²; its population is 1.7 million....
Communist Party Committee suggested the local village of Mazurivka to be nominated to "black boards", because there was born one of the Petlyura's generals Khmara, while the village of Karpivtsi (Chudniv Raion) in Volyn was known as one of the Petlyura's. The villlage of Turbiv (Lypovets Raion), for example, deserved such a penalty for its "high infestation of the Petlyura element and participation in the Plyskiv affair in spring". Each settlement or an administrative unit with black boards was encircled by armed squads and was subjected to complete food requisitioning.
Such repressions were conducted towards the half of all raion
Raion
A raion is a type of administrative unit of several post-Soviet countries. The term, which is from French rayon 'honeycomb, department,' describes both a type of a subnational entity and a division of a city, and is commonly translated in English as "district"...
s and municipalities of the Ukrainian SSR
Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...
except for the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast
Dnipropetrovsk Oblast is an oblast of central Ukraine, the most important industrial region of the country. Its administrative center is Dnipropetrovsk....
where such regime occupied territories of all administrative units without exception. Dnipropetrovsk Oblast is situated right in the middle of traditional lands of the Zaporizhian Cossacks.
Publications
- Постанова Політбюро ЦК КП(б)У про заходи з посилення хлібозаготівель від 18.11.1932 р. : Голодомор 1932-1933 років в Україні: Документи і матеріали / Упор. Р. Пиріг. - К.: ВД "Києво-Могилянська академія", 2007.
- Центральний державний архів вищих органів влади і управління України, ф. 806, оп. 1, спр. 22, арк. 532.
- Командири великого голоду: Поїздка В. Молотова та Л. Кагановича в Україну та на Північний Кавказ. 1932-1933 рр. / За ред. В. Васильєва та Ю. Шаповала. - К.: "Генеза", 2001.
- Постанова ЦК КП(б)У та РНК УСРР про зняття з "чорної дошки" с. Кам'яні Потоки Кременчуцького району Харківської області, 17.10.1933. - Голодомор 1932-1933 років в Україні: Документи і матеріали / Упор. Р. Пиріг. - К.: ВД "Києво-Могилянська академія", 2007.
- Голодомор 1932-1933 років на Сумщині / Упор.: Покидченко Л. А. - Суми: Видавництво "Ярославна", 2006.
- Спокута: Голодомори на Запоріжжі (1921-1922, 1932-1933, 1946-1947 рр.) / Статті, документи, спогади. - Запоріжжя: "Дніпровський металург", 2008.