1939-1940

1939 23 August
The Soviet-German Non-Aggression Pact is signed in Moscow. On 28 September an additional Treaty on Friend-ship and Borders is signed. These agreements, which in-clude secret protocols, are essentially a conspiracy of the two dictatorships, Hitler and Stalin's, to divide European territories between the German Reich and the Soviet Union. The Congress of People's Deputies of the USSR acknowledged the existence of the secret protocols only on 24 December 1989, and the texts of the original documents were published in Russian in early 1993.
17 September
The Red Army crosses the Polish border. The “liberation campaign” begins.
2 November
The NKVD USSR issues order no. 001335 “About the Closure of GUGB Prisons on the Solovetsky Islands.”
4 December
The creation of six western Ukrainian oblasts. 1940
14 June
The Radnarkom and CC CP(b)U ratify a plan to move more than 31,000 collective farms from Ukraine to Kazak-hstan and Siberia during the course of one year.
26 June
On the suggestion of the All-Russian Central Council of Professional Trade Unions, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issues a decree “About the Transition to an Eight-Hour Work Day, to a Seven-Day Week and a Ban on the Unauthorized Departure of Workers and Officials from Enterprises and Institutions.” Workers and officials who leave work without authorization are subject to imprisonment for a term of two to four months. Tardiness or absence from work (exceeding twenty minutes) without se-rious reasons are punishable by corrective-labor work at the workplace for a term up to six months and the garnisheeing of wages up to 20 percent. After this law was passed, the number of people sentenced in Russia alone increased from 684,000 in 1939 to 2 million in 1940-1942.
28 June
The Red Army enters Northern Bukovyna and Bessarabia.
15 July
The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR ratifies the “Resolution about the Disciplinary Battalion of the Red Army,” where people landed even for minor infractions, e.g., for “unauthorized absence of more than two hours.” The guilty individual had the right to write to his family only once a week. Visits with relatives were permitted once every two months. By autumn 1940 disciplinary battalions had been created in all military districts in the country and were used to carry out the most arduous labor.
6 August
The NKVD arrests the biologist and scholar Mykola Vavilov immediately after his arrival in Western Ukraine on a collecting expedition.
11 August
The Institute of Military Commissars of the Red Army is abolished. These were party representatives not subordina-ted to commanders and who instead controlled their ac-tions. The post of commissar is restored in July 1941
22 August
The Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party(b) passes a resolution creating a film censorship commission. Stalin personally views new reels (the very few that are being produced) and decides their fate.
19 October
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issues a decree establishing the criminal responsibility of engineers, technicians, foremen, and qualified workers who refuse to submit to administrative decisions concerning their transfer from one enterprise to another.
29 October
At the suggestion of Andrei Zhdanov, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party(b) passes a secret resolution about the deletion of a number of “ideologically harmful poems by Anna Akhmatova and the issuing of a reprimand to the directors of the publishing house “Sovietskii pisatel” [Soviet Writer], which published her book. The Soviet authorities were particularly displeased by her poem:
“If you only knew from what kind of rubbish
The poems grow, without shame…”
31 October
The Council of People's Commissars of the USSR passes a resolution introducing the medal “Merited NKVD worker,” which is worn on the chest.
10 December
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR approves a decree entitled “About the Criminal Responsibi-lity of Minors for Actions That May Cause a Train Accident.” The decree authorizes punishment of individuals aged twelve and up.

After the meeting Ribbentrop sends a telegram to Hitler: “Stalin and Molotov are very nice. I felt as though I were among old party friends.” On 30 September 1939 Pravda publishes a statement that Ribbentrop gave to a TASS reporter. It reads: “In conclusion von Ribbentrop declared: 'The negotiations took place in a particularly friendly and wonderful atmosphere. However, first of all I would like to emphasize the exceptionally warm welcome given to me by the Soviet government and particularly by Mr. Stalin and Mr. Molotov.”

On 23 August 1939 the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact is concluded, together with secret protocols. This is a conspiracy on the part of the two dictatorships, which have divided up the sphere of influence from the Baltic to the Black Sea and from Finland to Bessarabia. In particular, they have conspired to destroy Poland as a state.

On 26 December 1939, Stalin thanks Ribbentrop for his birthday wishes, noting that the Soviet-German friendship has been strengthened by jointly spilled blood. In order to implement agreements concerning joint actions against the Polish underground, the Gestapo and the NKVD agree to cooperate. A joint training center is created in the Polish city of Zakopane. In March 1940 the staff of the NKVD and the Reich Main Security Office attend a meeting, where these questions are discussed. By summer 1941 the NKVD has handed over to Germany more than 4,000 people, among them families of individuals arrested in the USSR and executed German Communists. In the course of military actions the commanders of forward units of the German and Soviet armies conduct an exchange of special communications officers. Special military parades take place in Grodno, Brest, and other cities even before Warsaw's capitulation. For example, at a military parade held in Grodno, Soviet corps commander V. Chuikov attends the pass in review with a German general, and General Heinz Guderian and Soviet brigade comman-der S. Kryvoshein attend the pass in review in Brest.

After the Treaty on Friendship and Borders is con-cluded, from 28 September 1939 the USSR begins to supply Germany with food and strategic raw materials. In October 1939 begin new negotiations on economic questions, which are concluded on 11 February 1940. It is decided that during the first twelve months the Soviet Union will supply Germany with raw materials valued at 500 million Reichsmark, including grain, oil (900,000 tons), cotton (100,000 tons), phosphates (500,000 tons), and other materials. On 10 January 1941 another German-Soviet economic treaty is concluded.