Bitch wars in the USSR. War of thieves in Soviet zones: whose took it (1 photo)

“At night, Bandera’s men entered the barracks and took out two bandits. Then they realized that they would be killed.” In the late 1940s, so-called “bitch wars” broke out in the Gulag camps. Ukrainian political prisoners, the “Banderaites,” also found themselves at the center of the criminal “showdowns.”

“When I was free, I heard only black words about Bandera’s followers,” writes the poet Anatoly Berger in his memoirs “Etap”. In 1969-1974, he served a sentence for “anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda” in Mordovia. “Probably, such words are not false: they had enough murders and cruelty.” But in the camp these people made a strong impression. Their faces were not the same as those of the policemen. These faces glowed and breathed with conviction and faith. There were no informers among them. While in prison for the same 25 years, they endured the heavy punishment with dignity. Jews in the camp were treated friendly. And in general, among the Banderaites there were many educated people who knew European languages. They firmly believed in their destiny, in the future independence of Ukraine, in the rightness of their cause.”

During the Great Patriotic War, about a million prisoners were mobilized into the Red Army. The thieves in law also had to take up arms, although their “code” prohibited any cooperation with the authorities. When, a few years later, repeat offenders returned to the “zone,” problems began with those who did not leave it. This is how a division arose into “chesnyag” - those who adhered to the “thieves’ law”, and “bitches” - traitors. The so-called bitch wars began in the camps.

Mikhail Bakanchuk during his exile in Norilsk, 1956. Arrested in 1947 for collaboration with the OUN security service. Imprisoned for 25 years. For opposing camp brigades, the sentence was increased by five years. “BUR, a high-security barracks, was my frequent hotel,” he writes in his memoirs. Amnestied in 1956 with a ban on returning to Western Ukraine. Now Bakanchuk is 85. Lives in Ternopil

“And one day, a thief accidentally got into that zone with a convoy, and his enemies, bitches, recognized him,” describes the author of the memoirs “The Fourth Dimension” Avraham Shifrin. “We saw through the barbed wire how a brutal crowd first beat him and then tried to burn him at the stake. The unfortunate man shouted to us: “Guys!” Tell people that I died as a thief!“ All this bacchanalia was accompanied by shooting into the air from towers. Then the guards took this thief and took him away, but it is unlikely that he survived.”

Constant conflicts forced the leadership to distinguish between two criminal groups. At first they were separated into different cells. Later - even after different camps. Thus, in BerLAG in Kolyma, the “chesnyagi” served their sentences mainly in the territory of the northern administration, and the “bitches” - in the western one. During transfers, the convoy asked the thieves what color they were.

At the end of the 1940s, another noticeable group appeared in the camps - Ukrainian political prisoners, “Banderaites”.

“They were also different from everyone else,” recalls the Jew Anatoly Radygin in the book “Life in Mordovian concentration camps up close.” In 1974 it was published in Munich in Ukrainian. “When suddenly a fit and neat man, calm and taciturn, shaven, in a clean shirt and polished shoes, in carefully ironed prison clothes, approached the picking mass, one could almost without error guess his nationality, party affiliation and the banner under which he fought.”

The camps were under complete control of the criminals. Often, under the cover of the administration, the “thieves” had bladed weapons, which they aimed at various kinds of “counter-insurgency,” including “Bandera’s”.

Women from Western Ukraine in a camp in the village of Chernovskie Kopi, near Chita, January 17, 1950

“The majority of the camp population were Western Ukrainians, mostly peasant women,” writes translator Maya Ulanovskaya in the book “The History of a Family.” — This, at first glance, gray camp mass left behind brightest memory. Their songs rang throughout the camp. They sang in the barracks, they sang at work - if it was a job like mica production - they sang in chorus, with several voices. Epic songs about Cossack glory, sad ones - in captivity, in an abandoned family, and Bandera's - always tragic, about death in an unequal struggle."

“The thieves in law tried to keep the rest of the prisoners in complete subordination,” writes Valery Ronkin in the book “December is replaced by January.” — A colleague also talked about how they sent them to the zone where the law of thieves reigned big stage Banderaites. They went to the boss and tried to negotiate with the thieves so that they would not touch the politicians. But the next day, a politician was demonstratively killed, who did not want to share the parcel with the thieves. After another murder, Bandera’s men set fire to the thieves’ barracks, having previously boarded up its doors. Those who jumped out of the windows were thrown back. Since then, the thieves’ power in the zone has ended.”

On February 21, 1948, a resolution of the Council of Ministers of the USSR was issued, according to which “special camps” - “Osoblagi” - were created for political prisoners. Their appearance significantly changed the balance of power. Here the “Banderaites”, if they did not constitute the majority, could form large cohesive groups.

“Conflicts between the warring camps of ‘thieves’ and ‘bitches’ were very beneficial to us,” recalls Transcarpathian Vasyl Rogach in his memoirs “Happiness in the Struggle.” — After such “showdowns,” some were put in BUR (high-security barracks - A), others were sent to a prison camp. And in the residential area there was a calm for some time - robberies, thefts, and dangerous fights stopped. Later we even tried to provoke these conflicts. AND for a long time We were successful in them.”

Rogach served his sentence in the RechLAG camps near Vorkuta. The administration decided to bring two hundred criminals here to put the “Banderaites” in their place.

- Shut up, Bandera bitch! “We’ll soon break off your horns,” Chernobrov’s authority rushed at the Ukrainian, who was playing the mandolin in the barracks in the evening.

- There’s no point in thinking - it will be late in the morning. An entire barrack is being vacated and prepared for thieves, his fellow countrymen decided after a short meeting.

An hour later, Chernobrov went to the toilet and never returned. When the rest of the “thieves” were brought in in the morning, they learned that their “chieftain” had been killed. They refused to live in the same barracks with Ukrainians. The next day they were taken to an unknown direction.

Miroslav Simchich, who served his sentence at a mine in Butugychak, 500 kilometers north of Magadan, recalls: “In the camp, the administration, with the help of henchmen, is committing outrages, especially to the Ukrainian convicts from the contractor Bubnovsky. The entire camp, a huge column of slaves, is on the move. They shout out the numbers of the convicts. Tsymbalyuk left the column using his number and went to the contractor. Before Bubnovsky had time to come to his senses, he was lying with a split head. Tsymbalyuk gave the ax to the guard and went to the security unit for a new 25 years.”

“I don’t know where or how, but for us it started with the arrival of the Dubovsky stage - mainly Western Ukrainians, sheep,” he writes about resistance to criminals in the novel “The Gulag Archipelago.” “They did a lot everywhere for this whole movement, and they even started a lot.” The Dubov stage brought to us the bacillus of rebellion. Young, strong guys, taken straight from the partisan path, they looked around in Dubovka, were horrified by this hibernation and slavery - and reached for the knife.

“Enforcement of the death sentence by thieves”, drawing by Dantsig Baldaev (1925-2005). 58 relatives of Baldaev died in the dungeons of the NKVD. He was brought up in an orphanage. Despite this, he worked for a third of a century in the internal affairs bodies and rose to the rank of major. Researched prison tattoos. His series “The Gulag in Drawings” is one of the most complete drawn histories of Soviet camps.

Solzhenitsyn also coined the term “rubilovka.” This is what he called the cleansing of the camps from the administration’s servants - cruel brigadiers and “secret employees.” In StepLAG in Kazakhstan it took place at the same time - at 5.00, when the guards were just opening the barracks.

StepLAG prisoner Mikhail Korol describes in the book “Odyssey of a Scout”: “At night, Bandera’s men entered the barracks and took out two bandits. They realized that they would be killed. One ran away, and the second was so maimed that he remained lying in place. And Bandera’s men went on duty and reported: “Go, pick up the thieves.” We killed him." The next day, the leader of the Banderaites was arrested, taken to guard duty and to prison. Bandera’s men caught up with the cart and recaptured theirs.”

“In this terrible sport, the prisoners’ ears heard the underground gong of justice,” adds Solzhenitsyn.

“The merciless terror of the MGB was resisted, as far as possible, only by the Banderaites - the Ukrainian rebels of Stepan Bandera,” recalls Hungarian Irani Bela. “For several months they behaved very quietly, and then they got their bearings and began to act. They were good workers and everywhere they won the trust of the camp management and the friendship of the brigade members. Everyone was struck by an unprecedented series of murders of people who were suspected of informing on their comrades. They couldn’t catch the culprits, and this embarrassed the political officer.”

The composure with which the destruction of the “sexts” took place sowed terrible panic. Many begged management for help. They asked to be taken into custody or swore to stop the “dirty deeds.”

Such work required great internal discipline. The Jew David Tsifrinovich-Takser in his book “The Land of Limonia” describes that the “Bandera” cook was afraid to pour himself a thicker portion than others. And the Ukrainian, who carried sugar for the whole brigade, could not resist and tried a little, was forced to walk from barracks to barracks with a sign “I stole sugar from my comrades.” The Ukrainians refused the guards' proposal to lock him up in the BUR, a high-security barracks. In the camp they could administer justice themselves.

“The Banderas who run this camp,” writes Tsifrinovich-Takser, “not only do they pray to their God, they also organized holidays for both Jews and Muslims. They put people on the lookout to warn if the warden is nearby.”

In subsequent decades, the criminal element viewed political prisoners with surprise and often respect. Miroslav Simcic, after serving 25 years, continued to serve time - now under the article “camp banditry”. He served his next sentence among criminals: “Unexpectedly for them and for myself, I became an “authority” for thieves in the cell. They often argued among themselves, and I, as a prison “long-liver,” was asked to judge.”

“Bandera’s people are not crests. crests live in the Poltava region"

“Behind a similar story,” Daniil Shumuk called the book of his memoirs. He served only 42 years in prison. He received his first sentence when Galicia belonged to Poland - for participating in the communist underground. The next one is in, for the fight in the ranks. The book contains the following dialogue:

- Guys, who took the soap from the toilet?! - asked the orderly when he entered the room.

“We have no Estonians and no Baltic people at all, so we have no one to eat soap,” answered the Russian.

- Indeed, these Estonians are some kind of bad people. As long as he works, he works one for ten, and when he ends up in the hospital, he drinks this soap until he dies,” said the Belarusian.

“Estonians shorten their torment and abuse with soap, while Russians and Belarusians cut off their fingers and remain crippled for life,” the Uzbek added.

- What do crests do? - the Russian asked ironically.

- What do crests do? In our brigade, one very calm and polite little Russian climbed out of the pit and said: “I won’t go into the pit again!” The foreman approached him and asked: “Aren’t you going?” - and hit him in the face. The Little Russian silently grabbed his face with his hands and walked away. The foreman lit a cigarette and sat down near the pit. And the Little Russian took a pickaxe, quietly approached and hit this foreman so hard that he flew straight into the pit, and they pulled him out of the pit, already dead. That's what these crests do.

“So it wasn’t a crest who did it, but a Westerner, Bandera,” answered the Russian.

— Is Westerner, Bandera a nationality? - asked the Uzbek.

- The devil knows who they are. But these are not crests. crests live in the Poltava region,” answered the Russian.

203,000 people were expelled from Western Ukraine in the years 1944-1952. Such data are indicated in the resolution of the Presidium of the CPSU Central Committee “On the political and economic situation Western regions of the Ukrainian SSR" dated MAY 26, 1953.

After their appearance in the early 30s, “thieves in law” quickly established themselves as leaders in all the Gulag systems and largely determined the system of relationships in camps and prisons, which could not but become a cause of discontent with the central government, which saw an ideological motive in this.

In August 1937, the management of correctional institutions received an order from N. I. Ezhov39, according to which it was necessary to prepare and consider in “troikas” cases against persons who “are actively anti-Soviet, subversive and other criminal activity V given time"The main blow fell on the criminal elite. In total, on the basis of this order, more than 30 thousand people were shot in the NKVD camps, most of whom were leaders of the thieves' community.40 However, despite the most severe repressions, the community of thieves in law continued to grow stronger and represented a potential force in the criminal world. In the 40s, the number of thieves reached tens (possibly more) of thousands of people, and together with their entourage (“thieves”) - 40-50 thousand people. Such a number of authorities turned out to be clearly unnecessary even for the hypertrophied camp system, which before the Second World War included about 3 million prisoners, which led to the emergence of new tensions among thieves.

War with Nazi Germany only strengthened the contradictions between the thieves, which by that time had manifested themselves in open confrontation. The reason for the final split was the government’s initiative announced at the beginning of the war to exempt from punishment those who wished to atone for their guilt on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War, including “thieves in law.” In the very first days, 420 thousand people, more than a quarter of all prisoners, expressed their consent to fight, and by the middle of the war there were already about a million of them.41 At the front, thieves served in the so-called “penal battalions” and were used in the most difficult sectors of battles, under the control of troops NKVD, who were given the order, if anything happened, to “shoot in the back.”

Another part of the thieves was categorically against participating in the war and refused to change the thieves' rules. It was very difficult to maintain adherence to thieves' traditions and refuse to serve in the army, since immediately after the start of the war, real psychological pressure began in the camps, spread in the form of rumors that all those repeatedly convicted would be taken to the North and liquidated, as in 1937 - 1938 Armed uprisings began to occur in the camps, organized by desperate prisoners. One of the rebel organizations was formed at the Lesorade camp point of the Vorkuta ITL NKVD in January 1942, but was soon defeated with a large number of casualties. The prisoners' speeches had their own legislative consequences. In February 1942, the authorities introduced instructions, according to which the procedure for using weapons against prisoners was simplified, even in cases of their refusal to start work after a double warning. Such a law left no alternative for thieves: either work or be shot for disobedience. A difficult struggle ensued between the thieves and the camp administration for their principles. Less persistent thieves who succumbed to pressure and began to work were excluded from the thieves' community.

During the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945, quantitative composition the community of thieves has decreased significantly. Many thieves died at the front, and a significant number were eliminated in clashes with the authorities.

However, immediately after the war, the ranks of thieves in prisons and camps began to swell again. Many of those thieves who fought and survived began to return to prison and try to reintegrate into the criminal environment. The criminal world, led by thieves who did not betray their “faith” and did not fight on the side of the state, sharply opposed the return of front-line thieves to the rank of “full-fledged thieves and began to call them corrupt “bitches.” A fierce confrontation began between these groups of thieves, which was called a "bitch war".

To restore their rights and privileges, the “tied up” thieves sought to justify their participation in the war in the eyes of the criminal community as a force majeure circumstance and sought an amendment to the thieves’ law allowing, under certain circumstances, (for example, in wartime) cooperation with the authorities . Such an amendment made it possible to rehabilitate oneself and legitimize one’s status within the framework of the thieves’ law.42 Other thieves strongly opposed this initiative, trying to prevent competitors from reaching the top of the criminal pyramid.

The Soviet prison authorities skillfully used the "bitch" war and, acting by pitting various groups of thieves against each other, were able to significantly weaken the criminal community. The bloodshed continued until the orthodox thieves agreed to change the law of thieves and allow, under certain conditions, the cooperation of thieves with the administration and the state (in particular, during the war). Along with this, in places of deprivation of liberty, thieves were allowed to work in various services, for example as hairdressers, to help other thieves, and also to have access to razors, scissors and other sharp and cutting objects.

However, despite the compromises that arose in post-war years Among the “recidivist criminals,” the contradictions continued to worsen, which was due to two main factors:

1. The process of uncontrolled growth of the criminal community due to intensive replenishment from among the homeless and those convicted of serious crimes, characteristic of wartime. In this regard, the usual thieves' fund (common fund) ceased to satisfy the needs of thieves in law, as a result of which they were forced to increase the amount of tribute collected from convicts from 1/3 to 2/3 of their earnings. Increased exploitation by thieves led to indignation and open disobedience of the bulk of the convicts (“men”), among whom their own leaders emerged.

2. The emergence of new criminal groups in the camps, which were replenished by those convicted of banditry, treason and other serious crimes, the number of which was significantly increased in the war and post-war years. These groups began to borrow informal norms of behavior from thieves in law and impose tribute on those convicted. Such groups were called “departed” or “Polish thieves”.

The most significant split in the thieves' community occurred in the second half of the 50s, when most of classic thieves. Essentially these were the same thieves, united into another group. Thus, in the documents of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the USSR of that time, it was noted that among thieves-recidivists who make up the core of criminal gangster elements, a stratification actually occurs: from their main mass, who call themselves “thieves in law”, “guilty ones” constantly depart, remaining in essence by the same repeat criminals. Therefore, the fact of stratification takes place; this cannot be ignored.

Between these groups among the convicts, there was a fierce struggle for leadership and for the right to own a common fund, which often turned into physical extermination of each other. The “departed,” according to V. Vetlugin, refused to enter the zone where the “thieves in law” were in the lead, claiming that “the thieves are cutting, burning and bending them.” At the same time, those who “left” themselves began to quickly assert their rights, which was facilitated by some flexibility of their behavior in relation to the state.

On the one hand, they adhered to thieves’ “laws” that were beneficial to themselves, on the other hand, they did not refuse to work, come into contact with the administration of the labor camp, and even be activists. Therefore, the administration of some correctional labor camps recognized the “departed” positive formation and began to provide them with some assistance in the fight against thieves in law. Enmity between groups was used by workers of the correctional facility as a favorable condition for carrying out preventive and operational measures to disintegrate the community of thieves.

It should be noted that the strengthening of the positions of the “departed” was facilitated by the lack of unity in the group of “thieves in law” itself. The reason for this was the adoption of the Decree of the Presidium Supreme Council USSR of June 4, 1947 “On strengthening criminal liability for theft.” In accordance with the Decree, sanctions for property crimes increased sharply, and law enforcement agencies were ordered to intensify their activities. This Decree was called “black paper” among thieves, since after it many thieves were killed in clashes with the police or thrown into prison, which forced professional criminals to seriously think about the meaning of the thieves’ “idea.” Thus, in Tbilisi at the end of the 40s the famous thieves “Berdzeni”, “Isako”, “little Rafik”, “Nalbo” and others were killed, and in each prison cell there were 5-10 thieves at a time 43

The measures taken by the authorities, on the one hand, increased the departure of criminals from thieves' traditions, and on the other, led to a significant concentration of criminal authorities in prisons. Both of these circumstances contributed to the acceleration of the process of decomposition of the group and hostility between the thieves themselves, caused by the struggle for the right to rob prisoners. At thieves' meetings in places of deprivation of liberty, the "legal" status of members of the group was often reviewed. Moreover, those expelled from it immediately went over to those who “left” and joined in the struggle against their recent brothers in the thieves’ “idea.”

It should be noted that already in the first half of the 50s, workers in prisons were able to purposefully organize work to dismantle the group of thieves in law and achieved significant success.

In accordance with the legislation of that time, these antagonistic groups were kept in the same camps, and the war of “extermination” between them actively continued until the mid-50s. The situation changed after new laws were adopted in the USSR in 1955 legislative acts on the reorganization of forced labor camps into forced labor colonies and three regimes for the detention of criminals were established: general, light and strict,44. Thanks to this reform, the administration managed to separate the warring clans into separate special colonies.

In 1958, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR approved the Fundamentals of Criminal Legislation of the USSR and Union Republics, containing a number of norms that changed correctional labor legislation.45 In 1961, the Regulations on Correctional Labor Colonies and Prisons of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs were developed.46 These regulations provided for the creation of four types of colonies: general, reinforced, strict and special regime.47

The introduction of a new “special” regime in the penal colony was another attempt by the state to completely eliminate the clan of “thieves in law.” In accordance with Article 26 of the Penitentiary Code of the GSSR, men sentenced to imprisonment, recognized as especially dangerous recidivists, and convicted men for whom the death penalty was replaced by imprisonment through a pardon or amnesty served their sentences in special regime correctional labor colonies. In the special regime penitentiary colony, prisoners were kept in conditions of strict isolation and cell-type premises, and were, as a rule, used for hard work and wore specially designed clothes.48

Instructions were developed prohibiting colony commanders from transferring thieves from penal colony to penal colony. A year later, in 1956, the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs established an experimental colony ITK-6 in the city of Solikamsk, popularly called the “White Swan”, where only “thieves in law” were kept. This colony operated until the end of the 80s.49

One of the interesting, but not fully implemented legislative methods to combat “thieves in law” was the provision “On the administrative supervision of the internal affairs bodies over persons released from places of imprisonment”50 dated July 26, 1966, with the help of which it was supposed to monitor the behavior of dangerous criminals released from correctional facilities and ensuring records of repeat offenders.

At the end of the 50s after a number of successful operations. law enforcement agencies The USSR reported on the final destruction of the criminal organization of thieves in law. This was stimulated by the political guidelines of the CPSU Central Committee, headed by N. Khrushchev, who announced the final victory of socialism and the construction of communism by the year 1980. In this regard, the law enforcement agencies of the USSR were subjected to fundamental changes, which led to mass layoffs and a weakening of their influence on criminal world. The ITU administration, focusing on the task of quickly achieving positive results in the matter of re-education of criminals, began, without serious preparation and proper control, to actively support criminals who only outwardly demonstrate a departure from the criminal community, traditions and customs underworld. Taking advantage of such patronage from the administration, these criminals, usually from the “retired”, quickly gained strength by promoting their authorities, imposing their own laws and assigning the functions of guardians of thieves’ traditions and customs and established strict control over the criminal community. Representatives of the traditional “thieves in law” were forced to give up their leading positions and dissolve among other groups of prisoners. Most of them assimilated into the group of “men,” the largest in the prison hierarchy of the modern criminal world.

Summarizing the above, we can state that, despite the most “draconian measures” and transformation fundamental principles, the main backbone of the thieves in law, was able not only to survive, but also perfectly adapted to the new political and economic conditions post-Stalinist state. Of course, these were not the “thieves in law” who were leaders in the Gulag camps of the 30s and 40s, but their high social danger and adaptability remained in the next generations of this institution of the twentieth century.

Malyava

This musical ritual, as a rule, preceded the public reading of the so-called malyava - a secret message to the thieves from their brothers from neighboring zones. As a rule, in such little stories it was about solving a gangway, where the top of the criminal world punished and pardoned, established the rules of the game. In party language, the gathering was equivalent to a Politburo congress. Having finished plucking the last strings on the decrepit balalaika, the thin prisoner, without leaving his stool, made a theatrical curtsey and Bidon authoritatively snapped his fingers. To the barracks, him right hand Grisha Kotel, picturesquely, led a fool named Shibzdik on a leash to the general laughter.

Shibzdik

He was a helpless and powerless prisoner who, to his death, once ended up in a criminal black zone. He was imprisoned under the political Article 58 - “enemy of the people.” Yes, besides, he fought at the front. What saved Shibzdik from the bloody reprisal was that, once in the black zone, he went crazy, expecting every minute to be sharpened in the side. The thieves did not want to get their hands dirty on this fool and Shibzdik became the laughing stock of the camp. Now the fool was pretending to be a trained dog. In his mouth he had the same little thing rolled into four that was supposed to be announced at the interpretative meeting. Grisha Kotel solemnly took the paper out of his mouth. He unfolded it and ran his eyes over the text. Suddenly his face twisted and Grisha squeezed out with a wheeze:
- People, they are transferring Vova Warsaw and his twisted jackals to us!
The crowd immediately began to roar, and Shibzdik laughed loudly. The can suddenly jumped up and kicked the idiot. Then he said:
- The end of our quiet life! We must prepare for a worthy meeting!

Report

Already an hour after the talk, the senior guard of the detachment, whom the prisoners called Pupkar Igorek, knew about this news from his informer and immediately ran to report to his godfather - the head of the operational part of the camp, Nikita Leonidovich Materoy. The godfather had been expecting something like this for a long time and now noted with regret that the transfer of Vova Warsaw to his farm would add to his gray hair. But there was only a year left before retirement, and the massacre in the camp could spoil his track record. And the old campaigner felt the fact that deaths could not be avoided in his spinal cord - Bidon was not the person who would get along in the same zone with Warsaw.

Gryzlov Vladimir Petrovich

From operational information. According to operational data, Vladimir Petrovich Gryzlov, nickname Warsaw, born in 1901, convicted of theft of personal property, was sentenced to death by a secret meeting of thieves. In the criminal world, Warsaw is considered the king of bitches - prisoners who collaborate with the camp administration. First of all, this category includes criminals who fought with the Nazis.

Bitch War

It was after graduation bloody war, a major split has occurred in the previously monolithic world of thieves. He was a formidable harbinger of the so-called bitch war - a bloody massacre between two groups of prisoners. And it was precisely this split that now did not give life to Materom. So far everything was in order in his household - escapes, murders, riots, outright stabbings and other outrages in Lately didn't happen. Nikita Leonidovich was firmly convinced that as long as Bidon, who kept the entire camp under control, was looking after the camp, Materom had nothing to fear.

The story is based on real events.

There were several reasons for the so-called bitch war - many criminals went to the front as part of penal companies and battalions in order to wash away their guilt with blood. True, such patriotism manifested itself in the world of thieves closer to the end of the war, when Soviet troops launched a decisive counteroffensive and the victory of the USSR over Nazi Germany became obvious.

Military

To achieve this, law enforcement agencies took an unprecedented step, introducing the famous decree of June 4, 1947, which criminals called “four sixths (4/6) - On strengthening criminal liability for theft of state, public and personal property.” This decree essentially replaced the highest measure. According to new legal acts, the terms for professional criminals were now increased by geometric progression and reached 25 years for any relapse. The camps quickly began to fill with criminal activity. Tens of thousands of thieves began to be loaded onto ships and trains and sent under the strictest escort to numerous camps, the activities of which did not stop for a minute during the war.

Kolyma and Vorkuta

WITH special attention Two large remote camps were staffed - Kolyma and Vorkuta. Harsh nature Far North, permafrost, 8-9 month winter, combined with a purposeful regime, created convenient conditions for eliminating criminality. As a result, most of the convicts, in order to receive relief from the camp authorities and ensure a comfortable life, cooperated with the authorities. It’s one thing, as the lessons joked, to stand a three-ruble note on one leg, but it’s a completely different thing to pull a coin for a quarter. Such a period broke the old desperate supporters of the thieves' idea and transferred them to the category of bitches. Many front-line thieves and those convicted under the “4/6” decree soon took the prestigious positions of grain cutters, foremen, and standard setters. In the Gulag they were called “fools.”

In addition, the untrained first-time criminals were provoked by the guards themselves. For example, a prisoner like this walks past the watch. The guard on duty shouts to him:
- Hey, hit the rail, call, you're passing by!
If a thief hits the rail - a wake-up call and check - he has already broken the law, that is, he got in trouble.

As a rule, such prisoners expected death. But this is only if the zone is black. But by the end of the 40s, so-called red zones began to appear. The power there belonged entirely to the camp administration and activists from among the thieves.

Front-line thief

The seasoned man still could not forget how Bidon staged a showdown of one of the prisoners who fought with the Germans. The unfortunate man was found with a military medal, which he refused to throw into the bucket. Then Bidon dragged him out of the barracks and beat him half to death. At the same time, he screamed terribly:
“You, schmuck, were in the war, you picked up a vintar, which means you are a bitch and are subject to punishment to the fullest extent of the thieves’ law.” Besides, you are a coward and a bastard - you did not have the willpower to refuse the penal company and continue to drag out your sentence, perhaps even die of hunger, but not take a rifle. The body of the tortured front-line thief was found 2 days later in a cesspool.

Rules

In practically all camps, so-called rules were carried out everywhere. The core of thieves identified the military and transferred them to the category of fraers or peasants. Many of them moved from their hatched bunks to the rooster's corner, joining the ranks of the most powerless prisoners. It’s clear that the thieves who passed through the front decided to give the toughest rebuff. Among them was Vova Warsaw, a former major authority who, during the war, abandoned the thieves’ idea and went to fight.

Gryzlov Vladimir Petrovich Warsaw

From the archive. Gryzlov Vladimir Petrovich. Served in the infantry forces. He was awarded orders and medals, which earned him a complete amnesty and after the victory over Germany he was released. But after 2 years he was caught red-handed during a robbery and received 10 years in prison. The criminals in the camp greeted him extremely negatively. They identified the worst bunks in the barracks and forced me to work. Warsaw has repeatedly spoken negatively about the world of thieves and its laws.

Vova Warsaw really liked to philosophize in front of his buddies over a joint with weed:
- How can a thief be honest if he is already a thief? And the fact that thieves are not allowed to do something there, like work, is complete bullshit. Nowadays, all the prisoners have one unshaven, close-cropped face, wearing a dirty quilted jacket and with a number on their chest. And this old guard of urkagans just got greedy. That's all, they download their licenses and spout some nonsense about their thieves' ways. But we will bring real order!

Vova Warsaw king of bitches

And, it should be noted, Warsaw very quickly became almost a legend of the special police. Desperate, without pity, he became an icon for pimped thieves. Soon a huge army of criminals stood behind him. The camp administration took him into account. The so-called proper thieves were openly afraid of him. He had long been sentenced to death on the allied gangway for taking the life of one of the luminaries of the thieves' world.

One day, Vova Warsaw, with one blow of a sharpened long nail, killed the arbitrator Tolik Brilliantov and declared total war on the entire black suit.

Tolik Diamond

Tolik Brilliantovy was one of the main guardians of thieves' traditions in the special camp. He participated in the development of the so-called thief's catechism, which all members of the criminal community were obliged to observe.

Catechism of a Thief

A thief must steal, deceive fraters, drink, go out, play cards, never work, have no passports, not get married, and participate in the rules. A prison for a thief, although not his home, is the place where he spends most of his life. Therefore, you need to enter it with a pure soul.

From this it followed that in the colony the thieves had to secure for themselves, by force, cunning, arrogance, and deception, not official but important rights - the division of other people's parcels or other people's things, the right to a better place, to tasty food, and so on. Black suits were prohibited from working. For this purpose, there are other categories of prisoners - these are emergency workers, those responsible for road accidents, political ones, those who suffered during various behind-the-scenes struggles and those convicted on the basis of fabricated, fabricated cases. There were even “Don Juans” - marriage swindlers or accused of stealing from female representatives.

Bitch Vova Warsaw

But for people like Warsaw, honest thieves were no longer a decree. And Vova himself began to establish laws. The prison administration of the special prison actively helped him in this. Entire stages of convicted thieves, led by Warsaw, were transferred to the camp, where they, having numerical superiority and the support of the guards and the head of the operational unit, carried out lynchings and, destroying the backbone of the thieves, repainted the zone red. Then Vova’s comrades rushed to the next target and the massacre continued with renewed vigor.

Warsaw had a clear tactics and strategy - first of all, they destroyed the person overseeing the zone and his immediate circle, thereby depriving the crowd of prisoners of their leader. Next, the so-called thirty-fivers went under the knife - these are repeat offenders convicted under Article 35. It should be noted that in those years a person could not commit any illegal actions and receive a sentence only for the fact that he had previously been brought to justice several times, that is, he was a repeat offender.

According to one of the innovations of that time, prisoners were allowed to work in camps or prisons as wardens, orderlies, foremen, foremen, and also to occupy a number of numerous camp positions that provided serious concessions and privileges.

So Warsaw very quickly took the position of camp leader, and his assistants became company commanders. This allowed them to move freely around the camp and carry out executions on the bearers of the thieves’ idea. If there was even the slightest doubt about belonging to one color or another, Warsaw’s henchmen quickly tore off the prisoner’s shirt and looked for tattoos on his body. Tattoo – identification mark. In this case, she played a fatal role.

A skull pierced by a dagger or a snake entwining a dagger means belonging to the caste of thieves. The crown over the snake is the thief in law, the beholder. It appears on the shoulder or chest. A cross with a chain is pierced in the upper part of the chest and indicates faith in one’s fate. If the cross is depicted as a suit of clubs, then the owner of the tattoo is a repeat offender.

Baptism of bitches

After the discovery of such a tattoo, reprisals began - with feet, clubs, brass knuckles, and stones, Warsaw’s henchmen legally crushed admirers of the old thieves’ law into meat.
- Will you accept our faith, you bastard? – Warsaw shouted triumphantly and brought the blade to the test subject’s unshaven muzzle. To transition to the new thieves' law, he personally invented a ceremonial ritual, marked by some theatricality and more similar to the ritual of knighting.
- Kiss the knife! – Warsaw strictly ordered. The blade of a switchblade was brought to the lips of the thug being beaten. If a legitimate thief agreed and put his blue lips to the cold iron, he was considered accepted into the new faith and forever lost all rights in the world of thieves, becoming a bitch forever.

Anyone who refused to kiss the knife was brutally killed. Every night, the transit barracks carried new corpses to the doors locked from the outside. These prisoners were not simply executed. This was too little for Warsaw. The corpses were signed with knives by former comrades who had kissed the knife. Before death, the thieves were trampled underfoot, beaten in every possible way, lowered, that is, raped or mutilated, and only then their throats were cut. News of the unlimited reprisals instantly spread throughout Mother Vorkuta. Angry little ones about the terrible reprisals of Warsaw flew like black crows to every zone and colony.

Thieves' War

Bidon knew very well about the brutal actions of Warsaw and immediately announced a large gathering, at which they decided to announce mass preparations for a future war and developed defense tactics against the thugs of Warsaw. The very next day the zone came to life - everyone armed themselves as best they could. Some made peaks from pieces of reinforcement, others sharpened the handles of spoons and coins. All the forges and metalworking workshops in the zone worked secretly on the production of knives and sharpenings. The seasoned man was well aware of the preparations for war, but had not yet done anything. During the last meeting with Bidon, which took place in the strictest secrecy, the supervisor persuaded the head of the operational unit to close his eyes and give him a couple of days to prepare. He assured that if Warsaw heard that the enemy was armed, this could cause confusion in his ranks. It’s one thing to kill a defenseless person with all your might, and quite another thing to go against the grain.

It's no secret that criminals wield a knife masterfully, honing their skills during transfers and serving time. And the godfather agreed with Bidon - to senior management A knife fight between thieves and bitches was beneficial from the special forces. But for him, the Seasoned One, it doesn’t do any good – if something goes wrong and he’ll be asked to the fullest! And it’s still a tiny chance. Therefore, the head of the operational unit worked with the guards and ordered them to close their eyes to the preparations and not to carry out troubleshooting.

Pupkar

The prisoners simply called the guards of colonies or prisons: pupkari. Very unusual story the appearance of this nickname. Back in the 30s, it firmly became part of the everyday life of prison inmates. The fact is that when the warden opens the window to hand out food or deliveries, the prisoner, leaning towards the door, sees only his belly and navel in front of him. That's how the prison guards became pupkars. Soon the rot spread to the camps. But there the guards were more often called “cyrics.”

For about 10 minutes, Beadon had been explaining basic truths to the young thief, passing the chefir around in a circle. Much in the life of a prisoner depends on the pupkar - the pupkar takes the prisoner for a walk, to the doctor. He has the power to provide timely medical care, even if it is primitive. He can transfer the little one to another zone, and send a message to his relatives - he is alive, they say, well, give him some smoke and more lard. You can always come to an agreement with the supervisor. For a certain fee or a skillfully made finca or a deck of cards, he will bring anything into the house - tea, vodka, marafet.

Any criminal knows that a pupkar can exchange things or products for a redhead under draconian conditions. But experienced housekeepers always save their little gold for the most extreme cases and don’t really shine. After all, if the cyrics smell easy money, they can cause trouble and take the gold for themselves. Well, an experienced warden is thoroughly trained to look for prohibited items. In addition, he always has eyes and ears in his cell - the so-called quiet people or informers.

Arrival of Vova Warsaw

And then the day came, which the seasoned godfather was so afraid of. Warsaw arrived at the camp. According to instructions from above, the king of bitches with the arriving convoy was supposed to be placed in a separate barracks. A contingent of prisoners collaborating with the administration of the camp entrusted to Materom should also be sent there. It was clear that in this way the main fist was collected in one place, which could strike at any moment and then a massacre would occur. If the bitches win this war, the zone will turn red and then consider your quiet life gone.

Press hut

From the archive. In a bitch or red zone, there must be a press hut - a cell or barracks inhabited by criminals who are completely controlled and subordinate to the colony administration. These people carry out any instructions from the administration, regardless of the degree of legality of the latter. Such criminals are called pressers. If the administration orders the press workers to lower, that is, to rape, an unwanted prisoner, this will be done.

It was not uncommon for authoritative thieves to be brought to the red zones one by one and placed in such press huts. Even if the thief did not change color, he was raped and this news was spread among the criminal world. And according to his laws, none of the regular tramps had the right to even touch such a person with their hand.

Conversation between Seasoned and Bidon

Nikita Leonidovich was thinking hard - he could not decide which side to take in the conflict between Bidon and Warsaw. Only in the morning, having halved the bottle alone, he called Igor to him and ordered the watcher to be secretly brought to him.

The conversation turned out to be difficult. At first Beadon even thought that Seasoned was playing some kind of game of his own, agreeing to help. And although there was never any particular hostility between them, they also did not have friendship - purely business relationship. But the godfather said that he had thought through everything to the smallest detail. There is only one way out to save his career and ward off the threat of stabbing from the camp entrusted to him - to quietly kill Warsaw. After the pack loses its leader, the wolves quickly turn into jackals and tuck their tails between their legs.

According to the plan, Bidon must quickly find a “torpedo” - a suicide bomber who will destroy Warsaw. This prisoner will allegedly agree to repaint himself as a bitch and, knowing Vova’s love for theatricality, he will personally bring the knife to him for a kiss. It is then that the killer must cut Warsaw’s throat with a sharpened coin hidden in his mouth.

The seasoned man bent his fingers - firstly, no one would even think of linking the head of the camp’s operational unit with such a purely criminal method of murder, secondly, the guards would give the bitches a little time to deal with the torpedo, thirdly, then they need to spread the rumor that the guy personally decided to overwhelm Warsaw and become a hero among criminals. After shaking hands, the lookout and the head of the operational unit drank 100 grams each.

Conversation between Warsaw and Shibzdik

And a day later, a completely different conversation took place behind the barracks. Warsaw spoke quietly with Shibzdik. But he no longer had the idiotic smile on his face. He said that when he got into the black zone, he immediately realized that he would not live long. So he decided to pretend to be an idiot, a fool gone crazy with fear. This saved him. The thieves did not take Shibzdik seriously and sometimes discussed important matters in front of him. What the hell is the demand?! And in this way, Shibzdik overheard a fragment of a conversation between Bidon and Grisha Kotl when they discussed the candidacy of a torpedo. He laid out this information to Warsaw as if in spirit.

It turned out that Shibzdik, before his imprisonment, citizen Mikhail Pletnev, convicted of murdering his wife and her lover, and Warsaw previously knew each other - they managed to fight in the same unit during the war. Warsaw even saved his life by carrying the seriously wounded Pletnev from the battlefield. And now he decided to thank his savior.

Shibzdik's further conversation surprised Warsaw even more - he said that he was in the last stage of tuberculosis, and he had nothing left to live. But he wants to die not as a camp Shibzdik, but as Mikhail Pletnev. Therefore, he is ready to kill Beadon, taking revenge for the abuse and bullying that the beholder caused. Warsaw smiled predatorily and blessed the suicide bomber for the job, handing over the shiv to Shibzdik:
“I’ll be there, if I have time, I’ll take it away from these guys.”
In response, Shibzdik only smiled sluggishly - he understood that Warsaw would not make it in time. And he put his idiotic smile on his face again.

Massacre

There was just lunch in the thieves' corner. Pot was brought from the canteen hot borscht with “batsila” - rich meat, and he was going to have a hearty lunch. At this time, Shibzdik ran up to him and spat on the plate. Everyone was speechless for a second from such impudence, and Shibzdik, smiling broadly, with lightning speed took out a sharpened piece of reinforcement from his sleeve and stabbed the can in the stomach.

Within 5 minutes, Warsaw burst into the barracks with armed accomplices. The first thing he saw was the corpse of Shibzdik on the floor with an idiotic smile. And the massacre began. The bitches, taking advantage of the factor of surprise and the confusion of the thieves, quickly finished the job. They stabbed their victims more than 300 times. fatal wounds. But even having lost a watcher, the Urks were able to provide a worthy rebuff to the lawlessness. For three days there was a real war.

When the numbers on both sides began to count, the management of the special unit realized that the situation was out of control. An order was given to brutally suppress what the reports said was a spontaneous riot. Selected troops and a tank unit were involved in the operation.

How Vova Warsaw died

During this purge, only a few hundred prisoners were able to survive. They collected the corpses of their comrades. During the suppression of the riot, Vova Warsaw was also destroyed, although some prisoners claimed that he seemed to have survived and was shot dead later. The seasoned man understood that no one needed such a witness. And the head of the operational unit himself was severely reprimanded and sent into retirement for health reasons.

But this incident shook the entire world of thieves and similar uprisings began to occur more and more often. Actually high level The authorities decided to abandon the policy of non-interference in bloody showdowns and soon after the terrible massacre in the special camp, separate zones were created for bitches and thugs.

The story was written based on NTN materials.

Great battles of the criminal world. History of professional crime Soviet Russia. Book two (1941-1991) Sidorov Alexander Anatolyevich

So who won?

The reader, of course, would like to know the main thing: who finally gained the upper hand in the “bitch war” - “thieves in law” or “whores”? If we keep in mind purely quantitative indicators, we can say that the massacre ended in a “draw”. There were enough losses on both sides. The flames of bloody showdowns were put down not so much by the division of the camps into “thieves” and “bitches”, but by the amnesty of 1953 in connection with the death of Joseph Stalin (for more details, see the essay “Only “men” go into battle). The amnesty practically did not apply to “political” people, but thanks to this “humane act” the camps were freed from many criminals. Some of the “lessons” were released (with a sentence of up to 5 years), while others had their sentence reduced by half. Of course, many “legitimate thieves” were not included in this amnesty, since they were especially dangerous repeat offenders and their sentences were decent. But a lot of thieves' "price" came to light. On the other, “bitch” side, many were freed: both major representatives of this “schismatic movement” and their henchmen - “bitch bigwigs”, “Ogudins” (hefty but stupid prisoners) and others. The camp war lost the main thing - its mass character. But in freedom, in the wide open spaces of Russia, the intensity of passions quickly cooled. The “breakaways” did not meddle in the thieves’ community, and the thieves had enough serious matters of their own to still catch “whores” throughout the Union. At several gatherings, of course, the “bitches” were branded, the “true tramps” were called upon to fight and destroy them - but that’s all. Of course, if necessary, such an opportunity was not missed, but there was no special hunt. There was enough space for everyone to “work” - the country is big... And if the paths cross, then it’s not a sin to “screw up” the “bastard”.

But it is much more important to pay attention to other consequences of the massacre of criminals. Serious study of the most different sources, conversations with old camp inmates (not only with “blacks”, that is, with thieves, but also with ordinary “deer” - inexperienced prisoners at that time) give reason to conclude that it was the massacre of “bitches” and “thieves” led to a significant strengthening of the position of the thieves’ world and the emergence of a romantic aura around the “thieves in law” both in places of imprisonment and in the wild. The “bitch war” strengthened the criminal “brotherhood” from within, united it, and pushed it towards serious, deep reforms. And as a result, our country received a sophisticated, skillfully organized and powerful criminal community.

What else could the Gulag administration achieve by supporting some professional criminals in the fight against others? The bulk of the prisoners were wary and angry towards both the “thieves” and the “bitches”, and at the same time towards the “bosses”, since it was in them that they saw the representatives of the Stalinist punitive machine, which threw the prisoners into the camps.

However, during the period of the “massacre” most of the “inmates” began to relate better to the “thieves’” world than to the “bitch”. This is explained quite simply.

The “thieves,” of course, were inveterate criminals, but they did not hide their views, they were ready to accept martyrdom. While the “bitches” were all hypocrites, sycophants, lackeys who sought the same power over the “frayers” as the thieves. And in this they were facilitated by the camp administration, hated by the prisoners! Gradually, as a result of the “holding traps” and the “kissing the knife” rituals, the “thieves” acquired a martyr’s halo in the eyes of the other prisoners and became victims, “sufferers.” Such is the Russian soul - to feel sorry for those who are persecuted...

But that's not even the main thing. The “bitch wars” made the “thieves” understand: it is impossible, as they say in thieves’ jargon, to “go off-road.” You cannot openly and indefinitely mock all these “men”, “deer”, “stamps”, “devils”, etc. You cannot humiliate them with impunity, rob them, “punch” their “sidora”, “keshari” and “bauls” . It is in a simple prisoner that one must look for one’s ally. It is into the minds of ordinary “inmates” that the “ideas” that the “thieves’ world” should be hammered are strict but fair, that a thief will never offend an “honest prisoner”, will not allow others to do the same, and will protect them from “lawlessness”. And if something like this happened, he will severely punish the culprit. It is necessary for the “man” to bring you what you previously extorted from him.

Before " bitch wars“I didn’t even think about it. “Fraer” existed in order to feed the “thieves” and “plow” for him. “Blatnoy” could do whatever he wanted with the “frayer” - these were the basic rules of the pre-war “vagrant” camp community.

Now everything began to gradually turn differently. Subtle and smart. Now the thief in law has proclaimed himself a guardian for the prisoner's welfare, a defender and patron of the prisoner. A simple prisoner began to notice something strange. There, the old man’s healthy “foreheads” took away the transmission - and now, in front of all the prisoners, on the orders of the “thief,” the “lawless men” are beaten to death with crowbars. In the cell, the arrogant “urks” mocked the weak intellectual who could not stand up for himself. Upon arrival at the camp, their heads were cut off. But at the same time they found out who was sitting in the same “hut” with them, and brutally abused everyone - so that it would be discouraging to silently observe the “lawlessness”. The thief was also informed that one of their “men”’s wife had died, leaving two young children orphans in the wild. After some time, the “man” finds out that his guys were dressed, shod, and given some money for the first time... These are not empty stories - this really happened! True, much later, in the late 50s...

How?! Are these really the same “thieves in law” who could easily “cut off” a “gossip” in passing and not blink an eye? The same. Of course, there were not many such cases of ostentatious nobility. And all of them were designed for theatrical effect, passed from mouth to mouth, overgrown with amazing details... But powerful, cunning propaganda produced its results. They are still noticeable today. And now the “man” is in the “zone” Hard time would rather turn for help to the “thief”, “supervisor”, “statist”, and not to the administration. They won't always help him. However, they will listen carefully and say a few necessary words.

Good ones. Sympathetic. A particularly “out-of-touch” “cormorant” who oppresses prisoners will quickly be “broken off.” And if they help the “passenger”, the whole zone, beyond the zone, relatives and acquaintances, will know about it...

This - direct consequence"bitch wars" True, in order for the lesson to be fully mastered, so that there would be no temptation to return to the previous traditions of the “thieves’ world,” the “thieves” still had to learn the bitter experience of “peasant wars.” But this is a separate conversation.

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