Role of Jewish Joint Distribution Committee in Ukraine reconstruction in 1920s

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National Academy of the National Guard of Ukraine

National Technical University «Kharkiv Polytechnic Institute»

ROLE OF JEWISH JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE IN UKRAINE RECONSTRUCTION IN 1920S

N.I. Kryvokon, O.H. Kryvokon

Kharkiv

Annotation

american jewish joint distribution

The contribution of American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and its subsidiary corporation Agro-Joint to the socio-economic development and modernization of Ukraine in the 20s of the 20th century is highlighted. Based on the analysis of historical sources and publications of the Soviet press, it was found that during this period the mentioned organizations played an important role in the socio-economic processes that took place in South of Ukraine and in Crimea. This was connected with overcoming the consequences of the famine, restoration social structure and agriculture, as well as the organization of new Jewish agricultural colonies on allocated lands. The purpose of the study is to clarify the nature of the activities of Joint and Agro-Joint in the 20s of the 20th century in the social sphere and the agricultural sector and to evaluate the results of this activity from the perspective of today. As a result of the research, it was found that the main activity of Joint and Agro-Joint consisted in the organization of largescale humanitarian, social, technical and agricultural assistance to the inhabitants of Jewish settlements and non-Jewish population of a number of districts in Odesa, Katerynoslav, Donetsk, Volyn provinces and Crimea. At the same time, special attention was paid to the development of associations, the arrangement of life and the supply of equipment, its rational use during agricultural work. It has been found that a public figure, agronomist, and then deputy director of Agro-Joint Samuil Yukhymovich Lyubarskyi (Shmuel-Aba Khaimovich) (1878-1938) played a major role in the organization of charitable and socially oriented aid. Based on the analysis of his article in «Ukrainian Agricultural Gazette» and other works, it was possible to establish hitherto little-known facts from the history of Joint Distribution Committee and Agro-Joint Corporation, which vividly characterize their humanitarian and restorative activities in the specified period.

Key words: Joint, Agro-Joint, Ukrainian Jewish settlements, charity, tractors, S. Yu. Lyubarskyi.

Анотація

Н. І. Кривоконь, Національна академія Національної гвардії України, Харків, Україна

О. Г. Кривоконь Національний технічний університет «Харківський політехнічний інститут», Харків, Україна

РОЛЬ МІЖНАРОДНОЇ ОРГАНІЗАЦІЇ ДЖОЙНТ У ВІДНОВЛЕННІ УКРАЇНИ У 20-х РОКАХ ХХ ст.

Висвітлено внесок Американського єврейського об'єднаного розподільчого комітету Джойнт та його дочірньої корпорації Агро-Джойнт у соціально-економічний розвиток й модернізацію України у 20-х роках XX сторіччя. На основі аналізу історичних джерел та публікацій радянської преси з'ясовано, що в цей період згадані організації відігравали важливу роль у соціально-економічних процесах, які відбувались на Півдні України та в Криму і насамперед були пов'язані з подоланням наслідків голоду, відновленням соціальної структури та сільського господарства, а також організацією нових єврейських сільськогосподарських колоній на виділених землях. Метою дослідження є уточнення характеру діяльності Джойнта і Агро-Джойнта у 20-х роках ХХ сторіччя в соціальній сфері та сільськогосподарській галузі й оцінка результатів цієї діяльності з позицій сьогодення. У результаті дослідження було з'ясовано, що основна діяльність Джойнта і Агро-Джойнта полягала в організації широкомасштабної гуманітарної, соціальної, технічної та агротехнічної допомоги мешканцям єврейських поселень та неєврейському населенню низки районів Одеської, Катеринославської, Донецької, Волинської губерній та Криму. При цьому особливу увагу приділяли розвитку об'єднань, облаштуванню побуту й постачанню техніки, її раціональному використанню під час сільськогосподарських робіт. З'ясовано, що велику роль в організації благодійницької і соціально спрямованої допомоги відігравав суспільний діяч, агроном, а потім заступник директора Агро-Джойнта Самуїл Юхимович Любарський (Шмуель-Аба Хаїмович) (1878-1938). На основі аналізу його статті в «Українській сільськогосподарській газеті» та інших доробок вдалося встановити дотепер маловідомі факти з історії розподільчого комітету Джойнт та корпорації АгроДжойнт, які яскраво характеризують їхню гуманітарно спрямовану та відновлювальну діяльність у вказаний період.

Ключові слова: Джойнт, Агро-Джойнт, українські єврейські поселення, благодійність, трактори, С. Ю. Любарський.

Problem statement

Russia's full-scale war against our country was preceded by a long period of propaganda, ideological, pseudo-scientific activity, the purpose of which was to distort historical facts, destroy artifacts of social and cultural heritage, and create false ideas about the role of the Soviet government in the so-called «progressive development» of Ukraine during its incorporation USSR. The most important task of modern socio-historical research is debunking Russian mythologists, highlighting information that is not beneficial to the occupation ideology, disseminating information about organizations and people who actually sought the development of Ukraine and did a lot to realize this goal, which were kept silent for propaganda purposes.

In order to restore historical justice and build an objective picture of the role of international public and charitable organizations in the development of Ukraine, it seems important to supplement and develop the understanding of the socio-historical experience that was associated with the activities of American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (Joint) and its subsidiary corporation Agro-Joint on Ukrainian lands in the 20s of the last century.

Analysis of scientific research and publications

During the last decades, Ukrainian and foreign historians increasingly turned to the description of the activities of American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee on the territory of Ukraine, as a result of which a whole series of newspaper and magazine publications, as well as scientific articles devoted to this topic appeared. Thus, the specified problem is highlighted in the works of M. Beiser, V. Kyrylenko, T. Mykhaylovskyi, V. Pogromskyi, N. Ryzheva, O. Trygub. In addition, the history of Agro-Joint activity in Crimea was studied by B. Berezhanska, G. Kondratyuk, K. Mogarichov and other scientists who mostly relied on archival and historical materials, including unique photos and film documents that have survived to this day. A large part of such documents is stored in the New York Joint Archives and is available for researchers from all over the world [6].

In this context, the publication of the books by well-known researchers of the history of Eastern European Jews M. Beiser and M. Mitzel «American Brother: Joint in Russia, USSR, CIS» and «The Last Count»: Agro-Joint in years of the Great Terror» [1, 9], which are dedicated to the activities of employees of these organizations, in particular, to those repressed in the 1930s. In addition to biographical information on the repressed and documents discovered in archives and investigative cases, the books contain a brief outline of the activities of Joint and Agro-Joint in the South of Ukraine and Crimea, as well as materials illustrating various aspects of this activity: from overcoming hunger to providing technical, agronomic, and social assistance to residents of Jewish agricultural settlements.

As Joint is a Jewish international organization, it is on particular interest in the context of the outlined issues and works of V. Dotsenko «The Jewish Public Movement in Ukraine (1960s - 1930s)» [3]. The work comprehensively researches fundamental changes in the social structure, industrial activity, national and cultural life of Ukrainian Jewry, which took place from the end of the 19th to the 30s of the 20th century. Because of the purposeful policy of Russian Imperia, and later, the Communist-Bolshevik government, and the main directions of activity of Jewish public associations in the conditions of the transformation of Ukrainian Jewry, related to historical and political events, are also determined. In particular, Chapter V «Jewish Public Initiative in the 20s of the 20th Century» reveals the participation of Jewish foreign voluntary societies in aid campaigns organized in post-Soviet Ukraine by Jewish public associations. The author proves that under the conditions of the NEP, foreign philanthropists (first of all, representatives of Joint) tried to invest significant funds in the development of the economy of towns and agricultural colonies, which were supposed to contribute to overcoming the socio-economic crisis that engulfed Ukraine. Charitable aid of foreign Jews during the famine of 1921-1923 saved thousands of lives, regardless of their nationality. Voluntary associations and the creation of a network of medical institutions, professional schools, children's institutions, various mutual aid funds and cooperative societies were not overlooked.

A special emphasis on the socio-humanitarian aspect of the Joint's activities as one of the organizations whose achievements include comprehensive assistance to the Jewish population, the organization of homes for the elderly, free food points, placement of homeless people and orphans in orphanages is made in the scientific works of T. Mykhaylovskyi [8]. Operating with a significant array of periodicals and archival materials of the 20s and 30s of the 20th century scientists determined the main directions of aid, clarified its volumes, determined the ethnic and social composition of the population to which the aid was addressed, investigated the nature of the interaction between the Soviet authorities in Ukraine and international aid organizations, including Joint.

The research of V. Pogromskyi [13] is devoted to the analysis of the main historiographic work on the history of the activity of the Joint, which took place on the territory of modern Ukraine by domestic and diaspora scientists (representatives of emigrant scientific circles). The author concludes that in recent decades a large number of archival documents have lost their secrecy, and this certainly gives a new impetus to scientific research in this area.

Therefore, a brief analysis of the available sources confirms the increased attention to the activities of Joint by researchers. We agree with the position of a number of authors that the reevaluation of the postulates of the Soviet era adds radically different definitions and paradigms to the modern understanding of the activities of Joint in Ukraine. Such developments, on the one hand, make it possible to pay tribute and evaluate the vectors and volume of international aid to the population on Ukrainian lands in the 20s of the 20th century, and on the other hand, contribute to a new understanding of modern phenomena related to interaction with philanthropic organizations and redefine their role in the social and economic development of our country. Note that in the 1990s, Joint resumed its activities in independent Ukraine and actively develops social, cultural, educational and other types of services not only for representatives of Ukrainian Jewry, but also for other members of local communities in different regions of the country. The importance of establishing effective cooperation, taking into account the positive experience of previous interaction with the Joint's centers, attracting and mobilizing international resources in solving complex tasks related to the future post-war reconstruction, actualizes research activities devoted to the consideration of the history of Joint's functioning in our time.

The purpose of the study is to deepen the scientific understanding of the contribution of American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee to the restoration of Ukraine in the period of the 20s of the 20th century. Using the method of source analysis, we plan to investigate the specifics of the activities of Joint and its subsidiary corporation Agro-Joint on the territory of Ukraine and find out the impact of this aid in connection with the resettlement of the Jewish population to the allocated lands and the establishment of agricultural colonies in south Ukraine and Crimea. In addition, we consider it expedient to supplement and expand scientific views on the role of specific personalities, whose life activities to a certain extent influenced the development of the social sphere and the agricultural sector of Ukraine at that time.

Presenting main material

Joint Distribution Committee was created in 1914 to help Jews who became victims of the First World War and initially acted as a charitable organization for the distribution of aid among the Jewish communities. In Soviet Russia, and then in the USSR, it expanded its activities after the so-called October Revolution and was mostly involved in assisting families affected by Jewish pogroms and the civil war.

It is important to note that the activities of the Joint in the beginning were closely related to one of the key international organizations - American Relief Administration (ARA). The beginning of cooperation between the ARA and the Soviet republics was M. Gorky's address “To all honest people” (July 13, 1921), which was responded to by G. Hoover and resulted in the Riga Agreement on August 20, 1921. After its signing, the ARA shortly formed its office in Moscow and 12 branches in the regions of the RSFSR and the Soviet republics. On January 10, 1922, an agreement similar to the Riga Agreement was signed in Moscow between the Commissioner of the ARA in the RSFSR, V. Haskell, and the Head of the Government of the USSR, H. Rakovsky. In April-May 1922, the main Moscow office of the ARA organized the so-called «Ukrainian Department of the ARA» in Odesa to coordinate the actions of the district branches of the ARA.

The first task faced by ARA in the region was to feed the children and develop a network of canteens. The first canteens appeared in the spring and summer of 1922: April 30 (Odesa), May 18 (Mykolaiv), May 27-28 (Kherson), the end of May (Yelysavetgrad) [8, p. 8]. By the end of the summer, 820 canteens were opened in the Mykolaiv and Odesa provinces, where about 200,000 children and 1,000 adults were fed. Also, children and adults of closed institutions (children's homes, hospitals, sanatoriums, student canteens, etc.) received dry rations and lunches. In addition to food, ARA distributed food parcels and goods, provided medical assistance (organization of medical centers, baths, supply of medicines, treatment of diseases, prevention of diseases, distribution of medical literature, etc.).

One of the most powerful organizations, which began its aid activities on the territory of Ukraine as early as 1920, was the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Beginning in June 1922, Joint, through the ARA network, helped both individuals and entire families with food and clothing. Only during June-September, 5238 parcels were distributed. In October 1922, the Joint established its own branch and began its activities as a separate and independent organization, opening the «Odesa Office» as a center of assistance in the Northern Black Sea region. As of the beginning of 1923, the organization distributed (together with ARA) 15,395 parcels. In addition, the organization participated in the ARA medical program, took care of orphanages, distributed fuel, clothes and shoes.

Therefore, at the beginning of the 20s, Joint significantly intensified its activities, which was connected with the need to provide assistance to Soviet Jews who suffered from hunger and malnutrition, as well as with the fact that the activities of the ARA later came to nothing due to conflicts with representatives of the Soviet authorities.

On September 19, 1922, the Joint Committee adopted a plan for reconstructive (restorative) work in Ukraine and Belarus in the amount of 1.29 million dollars. On September 20, 1922, the «Temporary Agreement between Russian Government (RSFSR) and the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (Joint) in America» was signed, which provided for the provision of reconstruction aid, which was implemented in three directions: a) agricultural work and its adjustment; b) economic recovery based on joint credit societies; c) professional training of Jewish youth [8, p. 10].

As M. Mitsel points out, in September 1922, the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee Joint approved a project to restore the Jewish colonies of Southern Ukraine and concluded an agreement with the Soviet government, which allowed the Joint to choose the areas for assistance, freely import the necessary goods and personnel, recruit staff in Ukraine, etc. [9]. At first, the activities of the committee extended only to the old Jewish agricultural colonies, some of which were founded back in the 1840s, and since 1924 this work has been continued by the subsidiary corporation of the distribution committee - AgroJoint. It launched large-scale activities within the program of resettling Jewish families to new lands and providing them with technical and agronomic assistance, which was of great importance not only for Jewish settlements, but also for the entire population of Southern Ukraine and Crimea [9]. It is worth noting that the adopted decisions, on the one hand, allowed non-standard and comprehensive solutions to the problems of the Jewish population, the development of the southern territories and Crimea, but on the other hand, the Crimean Tatars, who were already forced to resettle, perceived them quite negatively.

According to M. Mitsel, from 1924 to the end of the 1930s, the Agro-Joint directly founded 215 colonies in Ukraine and Crimea, in which 20 thousand Jewish families lived. For them, Agro-Joint built 10,000 houses, purchased and delivered from the USA 1,000 tractors, 700 tractor plows, 100 pumps for artesian wells, 36 harvesters, as well as a large number of other machines: road graders, silage cutters, harvesters, silage towers, etc., equipment for incubators, potato planters, cars and trucks, spare parts, etc. [10].

In general, there were about 100,000 Jews in the areas where Agro-Joint operated, as well as many non-Jewish people who also received a lot of help from this corporation. This aid was especially important in the early 1920s, when the southern provinces of Ukraine suffered from a severe drought and malnutrition. According to the data of the Central Commission for Aid to the Starving under VUCVK, on May 1, 1922, 3 million 709 thousand 556 people, or 35 % of the population of this region, were starving in the five steppe provinces of Ukraine [5, p. 27]. The situation was complicated by the fact that due to the waste of working livestock (horses and oxen), up to 45 % of peasant households did not have traction power and could not cultivate their land. For example, only in Odesa region, out of 314 thousand peasant farms, 46 thousand did not have any livestock at all [5, p. 27].

Due to international isolation, the Bolshevik leadership of the USSR could not count on direct help from developed capitalist countries, so it turned to international charitable organizations to overcome the famine. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee was one of the first to come to the aid of the starving provinces. This was the beginning of large-scale cooperation with the Soviet authorities regarding the resettlement of the Jewish population to new lands, the organization of their social, ethno-religious, cultural life, and the support of agricultural colonies. During this period, the committee took care of collecting and delivering humanitarian aid to starving residents of the districts (and not only Jews), created Jewish children's shelters, provided equipment and tools to bankrupt Jewish artisans, and also provided assistance to new and old Jewish agricultural artillery. This is what the Zvezda newspaper, which was published in the former Katerynoslav, wrote about it:

“Joint” organization. The new American organization “Joint” helping the starving, which previously worked under the banner of ARA, separated into an independent unit at the end of last month and has already begun to develop its activities. The American Joint Distribution Committee (“Joint”), in addition to the free distribution ofparcels among the needy of Yekaterynoslavshchyna, is beginning to organize extensive uniform assistance to the starving population...

Fig. 1 Joseph Rosen

In the near future, the “Joint” organization will also start subsidizing credit unions for the restoration of cooperative buildings and agriculture. “Joint” suggests transferring to the village of agricultural machines, tractors, tools, etc... ” [2].

As we can see, at that time the Joint's aid was divided into urgent aid, which was provided for vital needs, and restorative aid, which created conditions for the economic development of Jewish agricultural colonies. The head of the Russian branch of Joint Joseph Rosen (Fig. 1) believed that only in «productization», which means in the transition to production work, lies the secret of the recovery and happiness of the future Jewish ople. Therefore, a significant part of the Joint's assistance was aimed at achieving these goals.

Already in January 1923, according to a plan agreed with the Narkomzem and the Central Committee of Poslidgol, Joint agronomic department launched its work in Kherson, Mykolaiv, and Yelisavetgrad districts of Odesa province, Kryvorizka and Zaporizka districts of Ekaterinoslav province, as well as in Mariupol district of Donetsk province. In order not to scatter the available funds, the Joint management decided to concentrate its work in a relatively few areas and, if possible, provide the population of these areas with all types of humanitarian and agricultural assistance, helping the villagers to transition to improved forms of management.

In total, in 1923, Joint served 96 villages and colonies. From the specified number, 36 settlements were Jewish colonies, which included 6,726 households, and 60 peasant settlements, which included 11,835 households [14]. In addition, about 10 % of non-Jewish households were located in Jewish colonies. Assistance was provided to the entire population regardless of nationality.

For example, in the village of Novo-Oleksandrivka, Snigirivka district, Kherson region, with the help of Joint, an agricultural society was founded, which was one of the first to switch to science-based crop rotation and tractor tillage. This made it possible to significantly increase the yield of agricultural crops and labor productivity. In addition, with the help of Joint, a cheese factory, rolling and grain cleaning stations, a mill, a pig nursery, etc., were opened in this village.

Security of work, organization of life and spending of free time - all this contributed to improving life and raising its level. Later, residents of Novo-Oleksandrivka fondly remembered the agronomist of Joint S. Lyubarskyi (Fig. 2), affectionately calling him «`grandfather Lyovka». In 1922, Samuil Yukhimovych Lyubarskyi (1878-1938) headed the agronomic department of Joint to serve the Jewish colonies of Kherson and Katerynoslav provinces. After the creation of Agro-Joint, he became the commissioner for Ukraine and Crimea, and from 1926-the deputy director of Agro-Joint. In this organization, S. Lyubarskyi played one of the key roles, which consisted in the organization and coordination of large-scale agronomic and technical assistance to the population of the southern provinces of Ukraine and Crimea. Samuil Yukhimovych graduated from the agronomic department of Kyiv Polytechnic Institute, after which he worked as the director of Novopoltava Jewish Agricultural School. In 1919, during the Jewish pogroms, his wife and all his family died, and he was left with two children. But he continued to do his favorite thing. From 1922 to 1926, S. Lyubarsky headed the agronomic department of Joint and lived in Kharkiv, working part-time in the Planning Commission of People's Commissariat of Ukraine (unfortunately, almost nothing is known about this page of his biography). Subsequently, S. Yu. Lubarskyi was FiS2 SYu Lubarskyi transferred to the position of deputy director of Agro-Joint and moved to Moscow, where he lived until his arrest in March 1938.

As it turned out, «grandfather Lyovka» personally taught local peasants advanced farming methods, and the crop rotation system he introduced in Novo-Olexandrivka became an example for other villages of Odesa, Katerynoslav and Donetsk regions [2; 18].

It is worth noting that all the aid provided by Joint was conducted through existing and newly organized agricultural credit societies, which acted as a kind of intermediaries between the American committee and Jewish peasant farms.

In this way, Joint contributed to the development of credit cooperation, which was very important for the rural population. Already in the middle of 1923, 42 agricultural credit societies were operating in Southern Ukraine [14]. « Not wanting to accustom the population to live at the expense ofpublic charity, but striving for the restoration and development of peasant farms in the area it serves, Joint considers its relations with the population to be business-like and demands the same attitude from agricultural societies to the aid provided,» he later wrote in his article by agronomist and head of Agro-Joint S. Lyubarskyi [14].

As for the nature of the aid that came from Joint, it consisted in providing targeted loans and credits to the local population, but not consumer, but exclusively production. Loans were issued on preferential terms, mostly in kind, and to a lesser extent in money. At the same time, issuing loans or credits, Joint entered into appropriate agreements with agricultural societies, which provided for the following conditions:

1) the companies undertake to use the means of assistance exclusively for the purposes determined by Joint;

2) when issuing loans, the companies undertake to comply with all the conditions established by Joint, and not to change them without the permission of the authorized representative of this organization;

3) companies must allow Joint representatives to check the correctness of operations, their reporting, warehouses, etc.;

4) companies undertake to submit their periodic reports, minutes of general meetings, minutes of governmental and other audits to Joint;

5) loans are issued exclusively to members of the company. Persons who do not consider themselves members of the society and wish to receive a loan must join the society, pay the due contributions and sign an undertaking about responsibility in business. For low-income persons who intend to become members of the society, it undertakes to establish minimum entrance fees and pay installments in installments;

6) all loans issued to companies must have a strictly industrial purpose and be targeted. The use of the loan for other purposes is the basis for a demand for its early payment. Joint representatives had the right to check the intended use of credits and loans issued to companies;

7) whenever possible, all loans are issued in kind;

8) the terms and conditions of repayment of the loan must correspond to the method and conditions of use of the objects and materials for which the loan was issued;

9) items issued as a loan are considered pledged and cannot be sold until the loan is fully repaid. [14].

The conditions for providing assistance also took into account the fact that most of the recipients did not have the funds to repay the received loans and credits of Joint, so they were converted into rye units at the relative price of rye, which was calculated on the day the loan was issued. These loans accrued interest in the amount of 4.5 per annum. The interest money was transferred to the societies, but they could not use it for current expenses, but were credited to the reserves of the societies. The capital, which was formed from the return of the loans received by the companies, could be used again in the future to service the same companies, as well as new points and districts [14].

Let us consider in more detail the directions and types of agricultural assistance that Joint provided in the areas of its activity in the early 1920s, since it was this type of support that significantly influenced the development of the tractor industry in Ukraine as a whole [7].

Given the lack of live traction power here, the main efforts were directed to the organization of tractor tillage and timely sowing. For this, the first batch of 69 tractors, including 5 tracked ones, was delivered from America to the areas served by Joint. These were tractors of the «Waterloo Boy» brand of the «John Deere» company, which have proven themselves well in work. The brought machines were grouped into eight detachments, two of which (10 tractors each) worked in Mykolaiv district, another four detachments - in Kherson, Yelysavetgrad, Kryvorizka and Zaporizhzhya districts, and two detachments (6 tractors each) in Mariupol district. In addition, 2 tractors worked on the farm of former Novo-Poltava Agricultural School, which was previously managed by S. Lyubarskyi. At the same farm, Joint was equipped with a large workshop for repairing tractors, and opened short-term practical courses for people who wanted to learn tractor business. Preference was given to young people from local peasants who were already familiar with metalwork. Moreover, while the training of local tractor drivers continued, Joint invited experienced drivers from abroad to work on these machines, which were fully supported by the charitable organization. Specialists were also invited from America, who stood at the head of each tractor squad and managed their work.

All tractors supplied by Joint were equipped with three-bladed “Dira” system ploughs; twin four-battery disc harrows, a set of bookers with lifting arms and “Zig-Zag” system harrows. In addition, a car was attached to each tractor squad for fuel delivery and for the squad leader's trips. And for the storage of kerosene and gasoline, a base for 1,000 pounds of fuel and a sufficient number of iron barrels for its transportation was arranged at each station. The cost of fuel and lubricants was paid by Joint [14].

As already mentioned, Joint built all relations with the local population through agricultural credit societies. They determined the areas for tractor plowing, the order and sequence of these works and resolved other current issues, in particular, they were responsible for the timely delivery of fuel and other materials from the base to the field.

Irrespective of his actual expenses, Joynt assessed the tractor work at the cost of the corresponding horse-work in terms of rye units, but not more than 5 poods per tithe. This cost was related to the loan, which was repaid after harvesting. At the same time, the agricultural society could credit its account with a commission in the amount of 10 % of the loan amount.

It was important to adhere to rational agricultural technology, which was developed by Joint agronomists, during tractor operations. Thus, tractors carried out plowing for early spring crops partly with plows and partly with bulldozers, and a three-link “Zig-Zag” harrow was attached to the plowing implements. On soft fields, which came out from under row crops, the work was limited to discing with a double four-battery harrow, behind which a three-link «Zig-Zag» harrow was used.

When working with plows, one tractor processed about 3 acres per day. And tractor work gave the greatest productivity when three four-bladed lever harrows with longitudinal seed drills were attached to the tractors at once, followed by three - link harrows. This made it possible to simultaneously sow seeds, cultivation the land with plows and harrowing. Under such conditions, tractors processed up to 8 acres per day, which significantly reduced the cost of tractor work. Grain sowing was also fully mechanized through the use of spreader and row disc seeders.

Tractor work was carried out mainly for horseless peasants. In the same cases, when the owner of the horse has to cultivate the land according to the location, he had to work accordingly during sowing or harrowing. It seems that such conditions satisfied the local peasants completely, because the newspaper Selyanska Pravda, which was interested in their lives, wrote: “In the Shirochyn district, in the Katerynoslav region, 10 «Joint» tractors are currently working, plowing the lands of poor peasants, collectives and land owners. Peasants go in droves to watch the work of tractors and are very satisfied with it” [15, p. 3].

It is worth noting that in 1923 all Joint's tractors were engaged exclusively in steam plowing fields infested with heather, which significantly complicated these works. Therefore, according to the data of agronomist S. Lyubarskyi, from the beginning of tractor work until the middle of July, the tractor units managed to process only about 5 thousand acres. But it was still a great achievement, because tillage of land with tractor teams was not practiced in Ukraine before. Joint was the first organization to implement such technology. Later, it began to be used by the state joint-stock company «Selo-Technika», which had 60 tractors at its disposal. In total, according to the data of People's Commissariat of Ukraine, in 1922-1923, 195 tractors worked on peasant lands, which plowed 34,090 acres of land [16, p. 2]. It turns out that during this time every sixth tenth was plowed by tractors belonging to Joint, although they started their work in Ukraine only in the spring of 1923. The following year, the American organization leased 57 tractors to agricultural societies, which had to pay from 23 to 40 karbovants for them. month. At the same time, agricultural societies undertook the provision of tractors with fuel and carrying out minor repairs, while major repairs were carried out at the expense of the Joint [16, p. 2].

Tractor squads formed by the Joint had not only practical, but also great propaganda significance, since in the early 1920s, even among scientists, there was no unified vision regarding the expediency of using tractors and rational forms of tractor use. On this occasion, sharp disputes and discussions were held, including on the pages of the central press. During one of these discussions, the head of the Tractor Commission of State Planning of the USSR V. Yesin referred to the experience of Joint organization, which, according to him, «created a great desire for cooperative farming in Ukraine thanks to its provision of tractors for use exclusively by cooperatives organizations» [4, p. 2].

The experience of Joint tractor squads in the southern regions of Ukraine was also used to study the productivity of tractors during plowing. At the same time, experts took into account their production standards, consumption of fuel and lubricants, and other indicators. Later, these data were processed by Ya. Fabrikant and presented in «Works of Gosplan», which were devoted to the mechanization of agriculture in the USSR [17, p. 261]. The scientists also carried out comparative evaluations of the cost of tractor work, which was performed by Forzdon tractors in the tractor units of the joint-stock company «Selo-Technika» and «Waterloo-Boy», which belonged to Joint. As a result, it was found that when plowing to a depth of 3 furrows, the total cost of cultivating 1 tenth of land with a «Fordzon» tractor was 3 karbovanets 06 kopecks, and with the «Waterloo-Boy» tractor - 2 karbovanets 90 kopecks. These indicators were significantly better than in Sugar Trust organizations, which also used tractors, but of outdated designs [17, p. 261].

Thus, we can assert that the data obtained during the work of the Joint tractor squads and other organizations were of great importance for the development of the technical and machine-building policy of the USSR, in particular, regarding the selection of the type of tractors that were imported into the country and the selection of the most optimal forms of tractor use. Subsequently, the cultivation of land by tractor units began to be practiced in Shevchenko grain farm of Bereziv district of Odesa district, on the basis of which in 1928 the first machine-tractor station in Ukraine and USSR was created.

However, the activities of Joint in Ukraine were not limited to the import of tractors and the organization of tractor cultivation of land plots. As evidenced by historical materials, this activity was much broader and covered many other important areas of work related to the restoration of agriculture, establishment of the breeding business, development of credit and production cooperation, arrangement of housing and organization of free time, etc. Let's take a brief look at some of these areas:

1. Supply of seeds. Only in 1923, Joint purchased and handed over 134,000 bushels of barley and oat seeds to the population of the service points. Grain was purchased, mainly, from All-Ukrainian Office of the Bread Product, as well as from cooperative organizations. Due to this, the need of the population of the district for seeds was met almost completely. In March 1923, the newspaper «Peasant's Truth» wrote that in Podilla, Joint issued 6,000 poods of the best seeds and 200 pieces of agricultural tools to local agricultural collectives.

2. Supply of seed potatoes. Taking into account the fact that in the steppe part of Ukraine during the drought and famine, almost all potato plantations died, Joint purchased about bushels of planting potatoes and handed them over to the population. These products were purchased and transferred exclusively to non-Jewish settlements, as the Jewish colonies received potatoes from other sources.

3. Supply of fodder plant seeds. In 1923, 216 bushels of fodder beet and pumpkin seeds were purchased from All-Ukrainian Seed Society and given to the population. Through the agricultural cooperatives, Joint established a mandatory rate of fodder beet sowing by the peasants of the area served at the rate of 100 quadrant fathoms for each dairy cow.

4. Reproduction of pure corn seeds. Through All-Ukrainian Society of Seed Production, Joint delivered several thousand bushels of pure corn seeds to Ukraine, handed them over to the mentioned society, which, in order to reproduce these seeds, planted a number of seed plots in 40 locations on a total area of 1,000 acres. These plots were serviced by Joint through agricultural societies.

5. Supply of horses. Taking into account that during the famine in the steppe part of Ukraine there was a huge loss of working cattle, Joint organized the supply of horses to the population of the region on a loan basis. The purchase of horses was partly carried out by the societies themselves at the expense of loans allocated by Joint, and partly by the recipients of loans. For the most part, horses were purchased in Kyiv, Podil and Volyn provinces. In just two months, the expedition led by agronomist Altshuler bought more than horses and transported them to the steppe part of Ukraine. In total, in 1923, through its own representatives and through agricultural societies, Joint purchased and gave over 1,800 horses to the population.

Horses were issued exclusively to horseless able-bodied peasants whose main occupation was agriculture. The cost of cognac was transferred to rye, and the loan repayment period was three years with mandatory monthly partial repayments. The recipient of the loan undertook to cultivate one tenth of the early spring crops, one tenth of the late spring crops, and one tenth of the winter crops from horseless owners every year until the loan is fully repaid. This method made it possible to make fuller use of the given horses and provide crops for horseless farms.

6. Delivery of «dead» inventory. Only in 1923, Joint purchased, delivered and handed over to the population 750 plows, 900 iron harrows, 380 bookers, 100 wagons and trucks, 45 disc and row seed drills. In addition, 1,000 «Planet» horse cultivators, 400 manual cultivators of the same brand, 428 reapers, 500 fans, 100 sorters, etc., were purchased and delivered for distribution. Large field equipment was not issued to individual peasants, but only to members of the society, who created voluntary conjugal groups. The cost of the tools was transferred to rye with a 3-year repayment period of the loan in partial autumn payments, and vans and carts were to be repaid in monthly installments.

7. Loans for inventory repair. To repair agricultural equipment, Joint issued special loans for money, materials and coal to societies. With these funds, the societies could set up their own repair workshops. But for the most part, they agreed with the existing workshops in the village, which undertook to repair the equipment for a set fee. The cost of repairs was recorded in a loan with a repayment term in the fall of the current year. Moreover, a person who had an old tool that was suitable for work after repair did not have the right to receive a new one. Thus, before the start of the sowing campaign, all plowing equipment was repaired and work was started on the repair of other implements.

8. Loans for land management. Joint believed that real improvements in peasant farms could be achieved only after all land management and land use work had been completed. For this purpose, the organization issued loans to the serviced villages for the completion of land management works with the condition of introducing public crop rotations according to plans agreed with the Narkomzem. The term of the loan was three years, but Joint serviced only those villages that had switched or were switching to improved forms of land use and established public rational crop rotation.

9. Loans for steam cultivation of fields. Joint specialists believed that progress in the development of steppe agriculture could be achieved if the steam treatment of fields was spread and the sowing of row crops was expanded. With this in mind, as well as taking into account the significant clogging of peasant fields and the presence of large areas of fallow, overgrown with heather, Joint issued loans for the issuance of organizational loans for horseless farms and incentive loans for horses for steam tillage. These loans were issued in villages where crop rotations were introduced and steam wedges were allocated.

The size of the loan did not exceed the cost of one-time plowing and four times harrowing. Loans were issued in April and early May. According to some data, only in 1923 more than acres were steamed in the areas of Joint's work.

10. Organization of cooperative cheese factories and oil refineries. In order to restore and develop the dairy industry among the population of the districts, Joint provided assistance in the organization of cooperative cheese factories and oil refineries. By July 1923, 18 cheese factories were already functioning, and another 17 were under construction. Equipment for them was bought, mainly, in Moscow in All-Russian Cooperative Union. Part of the equipment and separators was purchased in Kharkiv from «Silsky Gospodar». Cheese factories were arranged at the same agricultural credit societies. Peasants who delivered milk received advances every week, and the full settlement with them was carried out after the sale of the products.

The value of the cheese factories was issued to the companies in the form of a loan with a 3-year repayment period. In addition, Joint released some sums to the societies for the adaptation of premises, the construction of cellars and for the replenishment of working capital and business management. In order to avoid mutual competition between companies in the market, the sale of cheese was carried out centrally in Kharkiv at one cooperative institution. In addition, to instruct the cooperatives and artisans, Joint invited three cheesemaking specialists who continuously toured cheese factories and taught local artisans. About 200 poods of Dutch Buckstein cheese were produced daily in the 18 cheese factories in operation. The whey was separated and returned to the peasants for drinking calves and fattening pigs.

11. Supply by cows. Taking into account the fact that during the famine and drought, a huge number of peasants were left without cows, Joint organized the issuance of loans for the purchase of these cattle. And since a large number of widows and orphans appeared in villages and colonies as a result of famine and epidemics, loans for cows were primarily given to widows, as well as to multi-family peasants. The loan repayment period was 3 years. In those villages where cheese factories were organized, loans for a cow were transferred to milk with weekly deductions for repayment by supplying milk to the cheese factory. Thus, by July 1923, a loan was issued for the purchase of 600 cows.

12. Restoration of pig farming. For this, Joint purchased 324 heads of purebred pigs of the large white Yorkshire breed from Plemculture in Moscow. From this number, 144 heads were used for the organization of eight cooperative breeding nurseries, and the remaining breeding piglets were issued as a loan exchange to the peasants for the best steam and corn plots. At the same time, piglets were given out in relatively few places where the population agreed to castrate all their boars.

13. Development of viticulture. For the development of intensive crops among the population, 74,000 rooted and grafted grape seedlings were delivered from France by Joint. Vineyards were arranged in the form of off-farm group plantings, which forced the peasants to group into production cooperatives for their care and harvesting. The cost of plantations was issued as loans with a repayment period of 8 years. Payments began from the 4th year, that is, from the fruit-bearing period.

In total, in 1923, with the support of Joint, they planned to plant about 20 acres of vineyards for 180 owners.

14. Arrangement of hop growers in Volyn province. In order to attract the population of the towns to agricultural work, Joint started planting group hop plantations in a number of settlements of Volyn province. The form of this event was similar to planting vineyards in the steppe provinces. All these works were carried out by Joint through invited agronomists and specialists.

It is worth emphasizing that in addition to the listed works within Ukraine, the Joint also carried out the reproduction of pure-bred seeds in various places of the RSFSR, as well as issued significant loans for agricultural aid to famine-stricken regions of Crimea, Karelian and Tatar republics, as well as Volga and Dagestan. It also issued subsidies to some agricultural educational institutions, research stations and other institutions [14].

In just one year Joint managed to deploy various activities in Ukraine and in some regions of USSR to help the population of those provinces affected by famine. Later, based on the successful experience of Joint, the president of this organization, J. Rosen, proposed to the Soviet authorities a large-scale plan for the organized resettlement of impoverished urban Jews to new lands, many of whom were deprived of electoral and partially civil rights as «exploiters». The transformation into peasants was supposed to restore their rights and provide an opportunity to ensure their well-being through honest work. As a result of negotiations with the Soviet government, an agreement was signed in 1924, according to which the subsidiary corporation Agro-Joint was created, which took care of the involvement of Jews in agriculture. In turn, the Soviet state, in the form of the specially created Committee for Land Management of Working Jews (KOMZET), provided free land to the settlers in South of Ukraine and Crimea, and provided recruitment of volunteers for resettlement on these lands. This work was coordinated by Society for Land Management of Working Jews (OSET).

In the history of the Soviet state, it was an unprecedented and rather bold experiment that had far-reaching plans, including political ones. Therefore, it was widely reported by both the central and local press. In particular, the newspaper «Soviet Volyn» informed its readers about the content of the agreement concluded in Moscow between Committee for Land Settlement of Working Jews under the Presidium of Council of Nationalities of the Central Committee of USSR and Agro-Joint. « The agreement allows Agro-Joint to provide material assistance to Jewish resettlement groups and their farms in new locations and to instruct Jewish resettlement farmers in all matters of an organizational, economic and cooperative nature. Agro-Joint undertook to spend at least 400,000 rubles on these measures during the 24-25 economic year, « the newspaper wrote. It also informed that the goods that Agro-Joint will import for the displaced persons are exempt from all taxes and fees, and their transportation in the middle of the country will be carried out at preferential rates established for the cargo of displaced persons [19, p. 3].

According to publications in Soviet newspapers, the idea of resettlement found a passionate response among many representatives of Jewish communities. As early as December 1, 1925, the registration of Jewish families who expressed a desire to move to new lands and start a new life there was opened. At the beginning of March, the first walkers were already inspecting the plots of land allocated for them. For example, 3,624 Jewish families, consisting of 16,935 people, were registered in the resettlement committee in Kyiv region in one month. However, only 550 families were to be resettled in the first place, for which land for tithes was secured. “All those who are moving to the present time are already working on the land, running a collective farm. According to the received data, the members of the collectives express their full satisfaction with the fact that the state and public assistance and loans provided to the displaced persons exceed their expectations. Farmers have adapted to a new type of work, and good views of the harvest increase their energy. During June and July, another 350families will be resettled from Kyiv province. Resettled people receive credit and other assistance from the state, from the American organization “Agro -Joint” and from “Ozet “,wrote the newspaper «Proletarskaya Pravda» [12, p. 5]. Subsequently, referring to the director of Agro-Joint, the same newspaper reported that in the current year (1925) in addition to the previously promised 600,000 krb. Agro-Joint will additionally allocate another 400,000 krb for land management of Jews.