The Amnesty of 1953 and its Impact on the Crime Situation in the Middle Urals Based on the Materials of Special Reports from the State Security Agencies

The article, based on digital and analytical material from the declassified archives of the Russian FSB Directorate for the Sverdlovsk region, provides an analysis of the 1953 amnesty as a social phenomenon that had a significant impact on the socio-political situation in the Middle Urals. The qualitative composition of amnestied persons, their distribution by place of permanent residence, and the number of crimes committed are considered. The opinions of the population on the aims of the amnesty, the progress of its implementation, and the results recorded by the sources of the state security agencies are presented. The intensification of the Gypsy camps, which traditionally live in the region, is pointed out. The author concludes on the influence of the 1953 amnesty on the increase in the number of crimes committed by young people, including Komsomol members. The reasons for this were to be found both in post-war demography (single-parent families, fatherlessness) and in the romanticisation of the environment of thieves. Young hooligans often committed group crimes. Unprepared for the social consequences of the amnesty, which was in fact a political event, the party and state authorities tried to adjust their policies towards those amnestied who continued their criminal activities. However, despite this and the efforts of law enforcement agencies, the problem of high crime rates remained relevant for the inhabitants of the cities of the Sverdlovsk Region until the end of 1953.