petition for its formation, which the authorities obviously eagerly approved of. Those peasants’ farms were seldom adjacent to one another. In fact, in most cases they were separated by other farms. Consequently, a compulsory [17] exchange ensued, as a result of which the kolkhoz acquired the best land in the entire village (in the amount brought in by the peasants who joined it), while its former owners were given the worst land and, making matters worse, these were located a few kilometres out of the village. Those who acceded could retain ½ morgi700 for a garden, 1 cow, 1 pig, and as much poultry as they wanted, while the rest became kolkhoz property. Peasants could live in their cottages, but every day at six o’clock in the morning they had to report to the kolkhoz office and sit there from morning to evening no matter if there was work to do or not.
The results of the kolkhoz campaign were far from good. The peasant who worked hard for 18 hours a day (particularly during harvest) on his own farm would work carelessly in the kolkhoz and not as he did for himself. MTS stations (Motorna-Traktorna Stantsya)701 were set up near villages with kolkhozes. A sufficient number of tractors were kept there and were hired to kolkhozes for a suitable fee. Aside [18] from that the stations organised courses for tractor drivers who were recruited from among the local peasants.
Until mid-1940 there was a system of equal division of earnings, meaning that everybody was paid alike. Later, however, the situation changed with the introduction of a system in which one was paid for the number of days one had worked. Aside from that, good results at work were rewarded with bonuses, both in kind and in cash. Thus the more conscientious workers were rewarded twice, but even that brought little effect.
In principle, joining a kolkhoz was voluntary, but in practice “the resistant” were under a lot of pressure. Aside from tributes in kind and cash, they had to fulfil forshpans. (transportation of materials by cart for free), which was the worst persecution, for as soon as the peasant came back and unharnessed the horses he would get a new order and have to set out again. The result was that people began to sell their horses on a mass scale and in the winter of 1941 it was possible to get a pony [19] for free (!) or to buy a good horse for 30–50 roubles.
