On May 31, 1935, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) "On the elimination of homelessness and neglect of children" was issued. Everything looked smooth on paper. But in reality …
Tightening the legislation
The problem of homelessness in our country became acute during the Civil War. It was not possible to completely cope with it even by the mid-30s. Homeless children often hunted at train stations, railway stations. They took everything that was bad, robbed passengers on the trains … The decree of May 31, 1935 noted that mass homelessness had been eliminated in the country. In addition, measures of responsibility for the children of their parents and guardians were strengthened, and the task was set to toughen legislation in relation to juvenile offenders. As A. Orlov, a former employee of the NKVD, writes in the book "The Secret History of Stalin's Crimes", back in 1932, Stalin issued an unspoken order - homeless children caught robbing food warehouses or railway wagons, as well as those with venereal diseases.subject to execution. Since there was no one to grieve about the shot young vagabonds, and this information was not made public, only a few knew about it. Thus, by the summer of 1934, hundreds of thousands of street children had been killed in the Soviet Union.
"Capital measure" for minors
On April 7, 1935, decree No. 3/598 "On measures to combat juvenile delinquency" was issued, signed by Chairman of the USSR Central Executive Committee M. Kalinin, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR V. Molotov and Secretary of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR I. Akulov. It said: "Minors from the age of 12, convicted of committing theft, causing violence, bodily harm, mutilation, murder or attempted murder, to bring to the criminal court with the application of all measures of criminal punishment." Also, Soviet prosecutors at all levels were sent a secret circular of the USSR Prosecutor's Office and the USSR Supreme Court dated April 20, 1935 "On the procedure for the application of capital punishment to minors", according to which the number of criminal punishments provided for minors included shooting. Articles of the Criminal Code,for which it could not be applied to persons under the age of 18, were declared invalid.
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"Happy childhood
These laws came in very handy in the following years. During wartime, many children were left homeless, lost relatives and were forced to wander in order to get their own food. In this regard, on August 7, 1942, the Komsomol Central Committee adopted a resolution "On measures of Komsomol organizations to combat child neglect and homelessness", and on June 15, 1943, the USSR Council of People's Commissars resolution "On strengthening measures to combat child homelessness, neglect and hooliganism." By order of the NKVD of the USSR of June 21, 1943, departments for combating child homelessness and neglect were created at the NKVD offices. By the end of the war, more than a thousand so-called "children's drive rooms" were operating in the USSR, where children who were detained on the street for vagrancy and delinquency were brought. As of 1945, 2.5 million children left without parental care were registered at the Central Military Reference Children's Desk in Buguruslan. Children's reception centers were overcrowded, there were not enough places in orphanages. Children were often released under a written not to leave, and they again went to wander. Many from the street ended up in juvenile colonies - usually for theft. In prisons, children and adolescents often ended up with adult criminals who taught them wisdom. After that, complete criminals often emerged from them. It was hard for those children who ended up in orphanages. There were not enough clothes and shoes. Employees of the Central Children's Reception Center, located in the building of the Danilovsky Monastery in Moscow, were forced, having sent the child to an orphanage,take away from him the underwear and outerwear given out at the receiver so that there is something to wear for the next batch. Thus, even in winter, children sometimes remained in their underwear or rags. It is not surprising that many soon ran away from orphanages, where there was no basic necessities: it seemed to them that it was easier to survive on the street. Who does not remember the slogan: "Thank you Comrade Stalin for our happy childhood!" But even in our time, little is said about the fact that thanks to Stalin millions of children were imprisoned, in unbearable conditions, or even died. Because it's too hard to believe …Who does not remember the slogan: "Thank you Comrade Stalin for our happy childhood!" But even in our time, little is said about the fact that thanks to Stalin millions of children were imprisoned, in unbearable conditions, or even died. Because it's too hard to believe …Who does not remember the slogan: "Thank you Comrade Stalin for our happy childhood!" But even in our time, little is said about the fact that thanks to Stalin millions of children were imprisoned, in unbearable conditions, or even died. Because it's too hard to believe …