PARTICIPATION OF THE URSR MILITIA IN COMBATING VAGRANCY AND BEGGING IN THE 1950S
Abstract
The current situation in Ukraine exhibits similarities to the developments that occurred
in the post-war period. The mass death of civilians in the war, their significant migration, the
increase in the number of disabled people and orphans, collectively, created the conditions for
the emergence of vagrancy and begging. Mankind has accumulated considerable experience
in attempting to resolve this issue, particularly during the 1940s and 1950s. Law enforcement
agencies and, in particular, the police played a pivotal role in overcoming this aberrant
phenomenon for a civilized society. This study examines the efforts of Soviet authorities,
with the involvement of law enforcement, to address the issue of vagrancy in the USSR and
the Ukrainian SSR, particularly during the 1950s. The official causes of this phenomenon, as
identified by the Communist Party government, include the social and economic consequences
of the war, traffic, large population migration, the low standard of living of the Soviet people,
the presence of a large number of war invalids, orphans who grew up without parents, and
also the reluctance of a certain stratum of this population category to work. This article details
the measures taken by government bodies and the police to overcome these problems. It also
outlines the efforts to solve this problem comprehensively, with the help of socio-economic
measures (such as the establishment of pensions and construction of houses for the disabled)
and repressive measures (including the expulsion from large cities and detention in pre-trial
detention cells). This process was accompanied by the search for new forms and methods
of stopping vagrancy, establishing the identity of detainees and transferring them to the
relevant authorities, as well as punishment, re-education and social adaptation of persons who
systematically engage in vagrancy. Despite the limitations imposed by objective factors, the
implementation of a combination of repressive legal measures and other strategies enabled
a partial solution to the problem. However, the widespread practice of begging in the 1950s
indicated a significant failure of the social protection system in the USSR.
Keywords: Ukraine, 1950s, Ministry of Internal Affairs, police, vagrancy, begging.
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