1.1. Abbreviations & Definitions

1.1

Abbreviations & Definitions (A-Z)

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A.

Amnesty — periodically issued, marking anniversaries of October 1917 Revolution, 1922 formation of the USSR, etc. (Excluded anyone convicted of “especially serious State crimes”, Articles 64-73, cf. CCE 29.11 [1]; see terms of 1980 amnesty CCE 57.26).

ACTFSDA — unregistered Adventists (cf. CCEECB, below) = “All-Union Church of True & Free Seventh-Day Adventists” (see CCE 48.16-1 [2]).

ASCULP – the All-Union Social-Christian Union for the Liberation of the People (VSKhON is the transliteration of its Russian title, see CCE 1.6)

ASSR – Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (Buryatia, Crimea, Komi, etc).

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B.

BUR – punishment barrack in a penal labour colony (lit. “intensified regime” barrack), cf. Cooler and SHIZO.

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C.

Camp terminology, see Prison and Camp terminology

Cand.Sc. — see below Kandidat Sc

CCE – A Chronicle of Current Events (Moscow)

CCECB — schismatic, ‘reform’, unregistered Baptists (see Guided Search)

CECB Prisoners Relatives‘ Bulletin – Council of Evangelical-Christian & Baptist Prisoners Relatives’ Bulletin

Central Committee — refers to the heart of the Soviet bureaucracy, the Moscow-based Central Committee of the CPSU

chats — informal, unrecorded ‘prophylactic’ conversations to discourage dissidents from continuing their activities (see Decree)

CHEKA — Soviet security services (‘secret police’), 1917-1922. (See Note 2, CCE 48.16-2 and subsequent titles below: GPU, OGPU, NKVD, MGB, KGB.)

“chemistry” — As a partial restoration of freedom prisoners were permitted to live in hostels and to work in toxic workshops or lines of production known colloquially as “chemical plants” (Ru. “на химию”) where little attention was paid to health or safety. See Note 3, CCE 51.9-1.

CHR — A Chronicle of Human Rights in the USSR (New York; see CCE 29.1)

cooler — kartzer (карцер) оr SHIZO (ШИЗО). (See CCE 52.5-2.)

CPSU — Communist Party of the Soviet Union (see Central Committee)

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D.

Decree — Reference to unpublished December 1972 decree on warnings (cautions). See CCE 32.14, and chats (above).

Détente — not a word used in Russian. It was instead equated with a large and clumsy construction: razryadka mezhdunarodnoi napryazhyonnosti, “relaxation of international tension” (see Bukovsky, Chapter Seven).

D.Sc. — a Doctor of Sciences; in the Soviet educational system the Doktor’s degree (cf. Kandidat) was more rarely attained and a substantially higher qualification (cf. D.Phil.?)

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F.

FIAWP — the Free Inter-Trade Association of Working People, (CCE 51.19-2 [14]). Successor to SMOT.

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G.

Glavlit – censorship agency = “The Chief Administration for Preventing State and Military Secrets Appearing in Print” (see CCE 35.15).

GPU — 1922-1923 (see STATE SECURITY).

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H.

Herald of the Russian [Student] Christian Movement, see VESTNIK RSKhD. Quarterly periodical (founded 1925), printed in Paris.

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K.

Kandidat Sc. — Often translated as Master of Science.

  • Ph.D or D.Sc. (cf D.Sc. above) may be more precise: the level of attainment was nearer to a Western doctorate.

KGB — Committee of State Security, 1954-1991. Post-Stalin SECURITY SERVICE (see earlier titles: Cheka, GPU, OGPU, NKVD, MGB).

Komsomol — the Communist Youth League (age group 14-28); cf. Octobrists and Young Pioneers.

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L.

Large zone / small zone — A common distinction made in the USSR, between [1] those held in prisons and camps (the “small zone”, and [2] those trapped within the country itself (the “large zone”), see CCE 47.15 (17).

LCC Chronicle — Chronicle of the Lithuanian Catholic Church

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M.

MGB — 1946-1953 Ministry of State Security (see Cheka, GPU, OGPU, NKVD, KGB etc.).

MVD — Ministry of Internal Affairs (see also UVD and OVD)

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N.

NKVD — 1934-1943 (see STATE SECURITY).

NTS – the People’s Labour Union or Alliance (Paris & Munich), founded 1930.

NBSJ – News Bulletin on Soviet Jewry (Tel Aviv).

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O.

Octobrists — a Soviet youth organisation, the Octobrists included children aged 7-9, see Young Pioneers, and the Komsomol.

OGPU — 1923-1934 (see STATE SECURITY).

OUN — the Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (founded 1929)

OVD — Division of Internal Affairs at district level (within city or Region)

OVIR — Visa & Registrations Department, from town and city to Regional/Republican and USSR levels; formally subordinate at all levels to UVD, OVD and MVD.

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P.

Party — the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (see CPSU). At the highest level represented by the Central Committee; and by Party committees at all enterprises, educational and other institutions.

“Passport” — obligatory ID document for domestic use only (see note 1, CCE 48.13)

Patriotic War (1941-1945) — see also Fatherland War and Great Patriotic War. The term was first used to describe the 1812 war against Napoleon’s invading army.

People — this may refer to individuals («люди»), or to the nation as a whole («народ»).

From Khrushchov onwards, there was a concerted attempt to promote and support a “Soviet Nation” («Советский народ»), superior to all the constituent ethnicities and nations within the USSR.

These distinctions are indicated in the edited translations of this website, by using lower or upper case, (people, People) or, where appropriate, the term ‘nation’, e.g., the “Soviet Nation”.

“People’s vigilante” — voluntary people’s militia [DND], druzhinnik

Pioneers — a Soviet youth organisation, the Young Pioneers, included children aged 9-14; see Octobrists and the Komsomol.

Politicial Prisoners — term defined by Chalidze and applied by Lyubarsky in compiling annual lists of prisoners: A List of Political Prisoners, August 1977 (CCE 46.23). Refers chiefly to those convicted under Articles 70 & 72: latterly many convicted of criminal offences were in fact prosecuted and imprisoned for their ‘anti-Soviet activities’.

Press Khata — punch chamber, see CCE 48.10-1

Prison and Camp terminology — most terms (BUR, “chemistry”, cooler, punishment cell, etc) are currently included here

Prisoners of Conscience — 1961 Amnesty International definition (also used by the Moscow Helsinki Group), see Prisoners of Conscience in the USSR (2nd edition, 1980)

“prophylactic chats” — see chats, 1972 Decree …

Punishment cell — PKT or ‘cell-type premises’ (see CCE 52.5-2).

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R.

Rehabilitation — official admission that no crime had been committed.

Process in late 1950s, and again in late 1980s, when tens of thousands were declared “innocent”, especially if convicted by extra-judicial bodies, e.g. troika. Cf. pardon. (Often translated in CCE as ‘exculpation’.)

RSFSR — Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic.

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S.

samizdat – unofficial publication that has not been passed by the censor (Glavlit)

Small zone / large zone — A common distinction made in the USSR between those held in prisons and camps (the ‘small zone’), and those trapped within the country itself (the ‘large zone’), CCE 34.8 [4]

SMOT — CCE 48.21 and CCE 49.18 [11], and see FIAWP.

SPH – Special Psychiatric Hospital

SSR – Soviet Socialist Republic (Ukraine, Belorussia, Moldavia, etc)

STATE SECURITY (1918-1991) — under Lenin and Stalin: Cheka, GPU, OGPU, NKVD, MGB; post-Stalin, KGB, 1956-1991. (Post-Soviet FSB, from 1995 onwards.)

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T.

tamizdat – publication outside USSR of book, etc., without official approval; then often reimported into the USSR.

TFSDA – schismatic, ‘reform’, unregistered Adventists (see Guided Search).

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U.

UPA – Ukrainian Insurgent Army (1942-1950) [Украинская повстанческая армия; Ukr. Ukrainska povstanska armiya]

USSR – Union of Soviet Socialist Republics

UVD – Department or Directorate of Internal Affairs (at city or Regional level).

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V.

Vestnik RSKhD – Herald of the Russian Student Christian Movement (Paris), founded 1925.

Visits (to detainees and prisoners) — According to the Commentary on the Criminal Code, ‘short’ visits must last at least two hours; ‘long’ visits, at least twenty-four hours.

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W.

“warning” – or “caution”, see Decree above.

X.

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Y

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Z.

ZONE: Large zone / small zone — A common distinction made in the USSR between those held in prisons and camps (the ‘small zone’), and those trapped within the country itself (the ‘large zone’): CCE 47.15 [17].

1.2 : GUIDED SEARCH …

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