IV Stalin and VM Molotov Directive "On the fight against ticks." August 31, 1937

Arhive source: The tragedy of the Soviet village. Collectivization and dispossession of kulaks Documents and materials Volume 5 1937 -1939 Book 1. 1937 Moscow ROSSPEN 2004. Pp. 300-302.

Archive: APRF. F. 3. Op. 58. D. 388. L. 22-23. Script. Typewritten text edited by J.V. Stalin.

No. 179

Secretaries of regional committees, regional committees, Central Committee of the National Communist Party, chairmen of regional (regional executive committees, SNK of the republic Commissioner of Komzag, authorized Zagotzerno Secretaries of district committees and chairmen of district executive committees, district commissioner Komzaga and Zagotzerno and heads of warehouses and  mills.

As a result of sabotage in the bodies of the Procurement Committee, grain elevators, warehouses and mills were infected with a tick. In order to achieve mass disinfection of warehouses and grain stored in them with a tick, pests,  the most elementary requirements for disinsection, cleaning and preparation of grain warehouses for the arrival of grain of a new harvest, mixed grain infected with a tick with spring grain, wet grain with dry grain, has been violated by not taking measures to clean and dry of grain -diluted dirt and unsanitary conditions in elevators, warehouses and mills.

The systematic care of grain, the daily care of cleanliness and sanitation in warehouses and mills, which are the most important conditions for preventing the spread of mites and their elimination, have been replaced by pests with the task of chemical cleaning of grain, which in fact should be used as a means of fighting mites in extreme cases as an additional measure. As a result, despite the presence in the Procurement Committee system of a special organization for the fight against barn pests and the expense of huge sums, tick infestation covered almost the entire network of warehouses, elevators and mills.

In order to eliminate the consequences of sabotage and to protect against tick infestation of the crop of the current year, the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the CPSU (b) oblige the regional and district commissioners of Komzag and the authorized and heads of the offices of Zagotzerno 1 *:

1. Immediately check the sanitary condition of all elevators, warehouses and mills of the Procurement Committee without exception, immediately take measures to bring them into proper sanitary condition, clean the warehouse premises, inventory and all equipment of elevators, mills and warehouses from dirt, dust and debris, avoiding further accumulation of dust, dirt and debris, especially under the floors of warehouses; when carrying out chemical cleaning, ensure the penetration of gas under the floors in order to destroy all foci of infection, perform regular whitewashing of the walls of warehouses, systematically ventilate warehouses in dry weather.

2. To oblige the Procurement Committee under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the State Sanitary Inspectorate to establish systematic control over the sanitary condition of granaries and mills, bringing to criminal responsibility violators of sanitary rules, as pests and enemies of the people.

3. Establish that all incoming mite-infected grain must necessarily be stored in separate rooms, immediately after acceptance undergo mechanical cleaning on winnowing machines, separators and threshers, as well as drying by shoveling and passing through an elevator transport belt, avoiding in any case mite development and transition of grain infestation to the next degree.

4. Avoid mixing the wet grain arriving at the points with dry grain, stacking wet grain separately from dry, and take measures to dry the wet grain as soon as possible.

5. To oblige the managers of warehouses and directors of elevators and mills, under their personal responsibility, to establish a daily check of the state of wet, damp, infected with mites, weevils and so on 2 * grain, depending on the results of the check, to take all measures to prevent warming of improving the quality of grain and bringing it into a conditioned state.

6) Put into operation at full capacity with operation around the clock grain dryers in mills, elevators and warehouses for drying raw and wet grain, primarily infected with mites.

7) All grain infected with mites of the second and third degrees should be immediately subjected to mechanical and chemical cleaning or fire drying and consumed for consumption during September in order to eliminate all grain residues in warehouses with second and third degree infections by October 1 of this year. degree.

8) Spend grain infected with a mite of the first degree first of all against healthy grain.

9) Warn all managers of procurement centers, grain warehouses, directors of elevators and mills that the unsanitary condition of warehouses, elevators and mills is for violation of the rules for caring for grain, violation or circumvention of the rules for dealing with ticks and allowing the passage of tick infestation from the first degree to subsequent , as well as for the admission of contamination of grain or flour with metal and other impurities - they will be prosecuted as pests and enemies of the people.

10) To oblige the leaders of the republican regional and district party and Soviet organizations to have systematic and strict monitoring of the exact implementation of this resolution and bringing to justice those responsible for its violation.

11) To oblige the republican and regional commissioners of Komzag to send every five days to the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR on the measures taken to implement this resolution and the course of eliminating the consequences of sabotage in the storage of grain.

Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR V. Molotov.

Secretary of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (6) J.V. Stalin.

Send this telegram to all secretaries of district committees and chairmen of district executive committees, district commissioners of Komzaga and Zagotzerno and heads of warehouses, mills and elevators.

1 * Hereinafter in the document, italicized inscribed by the hand of I.V. Stalin. Crossed out: "... they are offered to local party and Soviet organizations and bodies of the Committee of Procurements."

2 * Crossed out: "... and other types of substandard grain."