«The Case of the Sverdlovsk Medical Commission»: corruption practices in the Urals in the first half of the 1930s

Sushkov A. V.

The article considers the daily life and administrative practices of party and economic officials of the city of Sverdlovsk, Ural (Sverdlovsk) region, in the first half of the 1930s. On the basis of documents of party control bodies from the Center of documentation of public organizations of the Sverdlovsk Region it analyzes the facts of illegal spending of financial and material resources for personal purposes. According to documents, the source of luxurious life of the local party nomenclature, in addition to budgetary funds, was financial resources of enterprises, organizations and institutions. The author concluded that corruption activity of economic and party leaders adversely affected the implementation of industrialization plans. Heads of government agencies who had been convicted of corruption suffered only symbolic punishment.

Keywords:party and state system of the power, economic crimes, corruption, industrialization, the Party Control Commission of the Central Committee of CPSU(b), Ural, Sverdlovsk