"Pest" organizations in agriculture of the Ukrainian SSR in the first half of the 1930s (based on materials from the State Administration of the Security Service of Ukraine)

Abstract

The purpose of the research paper is to determine and outline the information potential of the funds of the Sectoral State Archive of the Security Service of Ukraine (HDA SBU) for the study of repressions against 'wrecking' organizations fabricated by the Chekists in the agricultural sector of the Ukrainian SSR in the first half of the 1930s, to identify gaps in the specified issues and prospects for future research. Methodologically, the study is based on a comprehensive archival and documentary analysis of materials from the HAD SBU, applying an interdisciplinary approach that combines historical analysis, source studies, generalization, and elements of content analysis of official documents. The principles of historicism, systematics, and scientific validity are adhered to; attention is paid to the comparison of representative 'cases' (1930-1935) and the identification of typical patterns of investigative fabrications and propaganda narratives. Conclusions. Archival materials confirm that repressive operations against 'wreckers' in the agricultural sector were systematic and centrally coordinated, and not isolated cases. The GPU-NKVD employed standardized patterns of fabrication, including the construction of 'organizations,' the production of falsified evidence, forced confessions, and accusations of wrecking, counter-revolutionary conspiracy, sabotage, and preparation of intervention. The victims of such mythical cases were leading researchers, veterinarians, microbiologists, managers, and employees of agricultural institutions. Criminal cases served as a tool for eliminating alternative approaches to management, demoralizing the intelligentsia, and justifying the failures of collectivization. The funds of the HDA SBU contain significant information potential for further disclosure of personal destinies, investigation procedures, and propaganda logic of repressions, which makes it necessary to study them in detail in the future.