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A Caste of Helot Labourers. Special Settlers and the Cultivation of Cotton in Soviet Central Asia: 1944-1956. Introduction. Forced labour in cotton cultivation in history The US South Soviet Central Asia in the 1930s (GULag) National deportations to Central Asia during 1940s
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A Caste of Helot Labourers Special Settlers and the Cultivation of Cotton in Soviet Central Asia: 1944-1956
Introduction • Forced labour in cotton cultivation in history • The US South • Soviet Central Asia in the 1930s (GULag) • National deportations to Central Asia during 1940s • Legal and material conditions of deportees
Origins of the Special Settlement Regime • Exile of Kulaks, 1930-1931 • Confined residency of special settlers • Mandatory registration with OGPU • Use of special settler labor in the 1930s
Development of the Special Settlement Regime • Special commandant regulations, 7 February 1944 • Passport restrictions, 26 November 1944 • Labour regulations, 8 March 1944 • Surveillance, 17 March 1944 • ID cards and registration, 16 August 1944 • 8 January 1945 regulations • Decrees of 24 and 26 November 1948
Karachais • Deported 2 November 1943 • Total deported 68,938 • 25,216 settled in South Kazakhstan Oblast • Many settled in Pakhta-Aral region • Forced to cultivate cotton • Extremely poor material conditions • High death rate
Crimean Tatars • Deported 18-20 May 1944 • Total deported 188,626 • 151,424 settled in Uzbekistan • Lack of private plots forced Crimean Tatar deportees to leave kolkhozes for industrial work • 4,095 worked on Narpay Sovkhoz • Poor conditions led to transfer of 2,639 to Tajikistan to cultivate cotton
Meskhetian Turks • Deported 15 to 28 November 1944 • Total deported 94,955 • 53,163 settled in Uzbekistan • Over 90% agricultural • More than 30% of workforce, 13,360, cultivated cotton in 1950. • Noted for strong agrarian work ethic
Russian-Germans • Total of 203,796 repatriated to USSR, 1945-1946 • By end of 1948, 18,184 repatriated Russian-Germans in Tajikistan • Most worked on cotton kolkhozes
Conclusion: End of the Special Settlement Regime • 5 July 1954 release of minors • 1954-1955 release of special categories • 13 December 1955 release of remaining Russian-Germans • 28 April 1956 release of Crimean Tatars and Meskhetian Turks • 16 July 1956 release of Karachais