JOURNEYS Mennonite Stories of Faith and Survival in Stalins Russia, John B. Toews, 1998

d we lived together in peace and harmony. The district supervisor allowed Annie to join us during the first winter and she began her studies. Aron began his technical studies . . . and even today he is a highly qualified mechanic. Our youngest Hilda entered the 5th Class and completed her schooling there .... 224 JOURNEYS Concepts and Terms Used in the Accounts Article 58 The Soviet Criminal Code of 1926 consisted of 140 articles. During the various purges of the 1930s Article 58 with its four¬ teen subsections was extensively used against political prisoners. Three subsections proved particularly useful. 58.2 - This section focused on armed insurrection, especially with the purpose of secession from the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Suspected nationalists could be sentenced to ten or even twenty-five years under this section. Suspected dissidents from any of Russia’s many minorities were easily targeted using this section. 58.10 — This section dealt with “propaganda or agitation. . . for the destruction, subverting or lessening of Soviet power. . . and the spreading, preparation or possession of printed materials of such con¬ tent.” The concept of “agitation” could easily be expanded or con¬ tracted to cover virtually any situation including conversations be¬ tween friends, as happened during Abram Bergs trial. Any ideologi¬ cal non-conformity might be interpreted as subversion. 58.11 - This section targeted conspiratorial organizations. In practice it was often interpreted as an exchange of ideas between two or three people which implied the existence of an organiza¬ tion or the formation of such a body. The trial of the teachers at the Pedagogical Institute in Melitopol, which included Abram Berg, sentenced the prisoners according to article 58, sections 2 and 11. Committees of Poor Peasants (Komitety Bednoty) Established in June 1918, the task of these committees was to encourage class warfare in the village in the hopes of reducing peasant resistance. They were also to assist in the requisitioning of grain for the cities. Dvoyka An NKVD (see below) committee of two with extraordinary legal powers used to accelerate court proceedings. Gulag A general designation of the Soviet penal system under Stalin. More specifically a Russian acronym for the Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps. CONCEPTS AND TERMS 225 Kolkhoz (Kollectivnoe Khoziaistvo) In theory the collective farm was a self-governing peasant co¬ operative in which the participants voluntarily shared their re¬ sources and inventory, then divided the common profits. Several types of collectives, each representing a degree of compromise, existed in practice. Eventually almost all of the collective farms were of the artel type, which allowed the peasant to own a small garden plot and some livestock. The commune type of collective owned all inventory and livestock in common and members usu¬ ally liv