The chapter follows the evolution of Soviet law through the legal repression of collaborators during the Second World War, setting aside the thousands of people who were repressed in an extralegal way. The study is based on a careful examination of a sample of 81 judiciary files in the Tver / Kalinin province, which was progressively liberated from December 1941 to July 1944, and of the laws according to which the alleged accomplices of the enemy were sentenced. The author defends the idea that the convergence of Soviet and international law resulted in remarkable innovations for both. Indeed, the purge firstly entails all of the attributes of a legal campaign, Soviet style, using article 58 of the Penal Code of 1926 and heavily relies on categories directly inherited from the 1930s (“social dangerousness,’’ espionage...). But the purge also quickly denoted an effort of previously unknown nuance, which can be explained by a progressively improved understanding of the actual circumstances of Nazi occupation, but also by a larger re-evaluation of the role of law, whose premises date to at least 1933-34. At the highest level of the judicial administration, there developed a reflection about the pedagogical role of justice for the “popular masses,” and, at the same time, about the political utility of centrally-controlled justice. At last, the legal vision of how to prosecute traitors was influenced by the international de-bates about the prosecution of war criminals, in which USSR took a most active part.

Il capitolo segue l'evoluzione del diritto sovietico attraverso la repressione legale dei collaboratori durante la seconda guerra mondiale, mettendo da parte le migliaia di persone che furono represse in modo extralegale. Lo studio si basa su un attento esame di un campione di 81 fascicoli giudiziari della provincia di Tver / Kalinin, che fu progressivamente liberata dal dicembre 1941 al luglio 1944, e delle leggi secondo le quali furono condannati i presunti complici del nemico. L'autore difende l'idea che la convergenza del diritto sovietico e di quello internazionale ha portato a notevoli innovazioni per entrambi. In effetti, l'epurazione comporta in primo luogo tutti gli attributi di una campagna legale, in stile sovietico, utilizzando l'articolo 58 del codice penale del 1926 e si basa pesantemente su categorie direttamente ereditate dagli anni 30 ("pericolosità sociale", spionaggio...). Ma l'epurazione denota anche rapidamente uno sforzo di sfumature prima sconosciute, che si spiega con una comprensione progressivamente migliorata delle circostanze reali dell'occupazione nazista, ma anche con una più ampia rivalutazione del ruolo del diritto, le cui premesse risalgono almeno al 1933-34. Ai più alti livelli dell'amministrazione giudiziaria si sviluppò una riflessione sul ruolo pedagogico della giustizia per le "masse popolari" e, allo stesso tempo, sull'utilità politica di una giustizia controllata a livello centrale. Infine, la visione giuridica di come perseguire i traditori fu influenzata dai dibattiti internazionali sul perseguimento dei criminali di guerra, ai quali l'URSS partecipò molto attivamente.

Law and the Soviet purge: Domestic renewal and international convergences

Vanessa Voisin
2014

Abstract

The chapter follows the evolution of Soviet law through the legal repression of collaborators during the Second World War, setting aside the thousands of people who were repressed in an extralegal way. The study is based on a careful examination of a sample of 81 judiciary files in the Tver / Kalinin province, which was progressively liberated from December 1941 to July 1944, and of the laws according to which the alleged accomplices of the enemy were sentenced. The author defends the idea that the convergence of Soviet and international law resulted in remarkable innovations for both. Indeed, the purge firstly entails all of the attributes of a legal campaign, Soviet style, using article 58 of the Penal Code of 1926 and heavily relies on categories directly inherited from the 1930s (“social dangerousness,’’ espionage...). But the purge also quickly denoted an effort of previously unknown nuance, which can be explained by a progressively improved understanding of the actual circumstances of Nazi occupation, but also by a larger re-evaluation of the role of law, whose premises date to at least 1933-34. At the highest level of the judicial administration, there developed a reflection about the pedagogical role of justice for the “popular masses,” and, at the same time, about the political utility of centrally-controlled justice. At last, the legal vision of how to prosecute traitors was influenced by the international de-bates about the prosecution of war criminals, in which USSR took a most active part.
2014
Dealing with Wars and Dictatorships: Legal Concepts and Categories in Action
179
196
Vanessa Voisin
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Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11585/704328
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