Authorities and Corruption in Post-War Sverdlovsk

The article examines corruption among senior officials at various levels in the city of Sverdlovsk in the post-war period. It is noted that corruption as a phenomenon penetrated into the social fabric of Soviet society, into the structures of Party and state power, and into the system of economic relations. The article also analyzes the causes, forms and types of corruption during this period. It shows that the Sverdlovsk City Committee of the VKP(b) periodically issued resolutions exposing corrupt practices, subjected them to harsh criticism and punished the perpetrators. Considerable attention is paid to the 1947 monetary reform, when Party, Soviet and economic workers and law enforcement officers abused their official position in an effort to save their money. As a result, it cost many of them their careers and their expulsion from the Party. The factors that influenced the emergence of corruption (such as hunger, food and industrial goods shortages) are examined. The article argues that the abuse of official position in the form of embezzlement, bribes, and manifestations of nepotism was widespread in the corrupt practice of economic and trade organizations of the city. It is concluded that the punishment of those convicted of corruption was differentiated. Some defendants received only a reprimand, while others, receiving similar punishment, were also removed from office and expelled from the Party. Criminal liability was rare. Our research has demonstrated that it was not possible to completely eradicate corruption in the post-war period

Criminal liability · Criticism · Enforcement · Language change · Law enforcement · Liability · Impulse Buying and Technology Impacts · Legal and Policy Issues · Social and Behavioral Studies