"1. Notepad, grey leather cover; 2. Notebook, red leather cover;

Personal notes made on separate sheets and tear-off sheets. Sixty-seven sheets numbered;

Notebook with general notes, red cover;

5 smoking pipes with 4 boxes and special devices for them, tobacco. In the study of Comrade Stalin: books, desk accessories and souvenirs in the comrade Stalin's cabinet are not included.

Bedroom and closet:

2 white coloured tunics (Both have medals "Sickle and Hammer" of the Hero of Socialist Labour attached);

2 grey tunics;

2 dark-green coloured kitels;

10 pants;

...

A savings book was found in the bedroom with 900 rubles written in it."

  • Coolkidbozzy [he/him]
    ·
    3 years ago

    Were any houses he had and his fatigues considered public property?

    • Rod_Blagojevic [none/use name]
      ·
      3 years ago

      I heard in an unreliable source that he had, or had access to, two dachas. Those are like summer cabins. The ones he used were probably pretty nice, set up for meetings, etc. They were also extremely common for Soviet citizens. Many old people still have them.

      • StLangoustine [any]
        ·
        3 years ago

        Most dachas were basically small plots of land you used as a garden. The majority didn't have houses and if they did those houses were tiny and without electricity or indoor toilet.

        Supposedly this is recently declassified Stalin's dacha near Moscow. Not too lavish as residencies of heads of states go but also not something a Soviet worker could ever have.

        This page has pictures of what it looks like on the inside.

        • VYKNIGHT [none/use name]
          ·
          3 years ago

          This is pretty rustic for a head of state, who will definitely need to meet local leaders, new media and diplomats wherever he stays.

        • Rod_Blagojevic [none/use name]
          ·
          3 years ago

          I always thought there would typically be some type of shelter/dwelling, but maybe those are just the ones people like to talk about. Thanks for the links. Very interesting.

          • StLangoustine [any]
            ·
            3 years ago

            Most had like a tiny shed for gardening tools. Nevertheless building a house on their dacha called just "building dacha" was the project for many Soviet and post-Soviet people.

            • Rod_Blagojevic [none/use name]
              ·
              3 years ago

              So something like "строить дачу", building as a verb? My Russian is crude, but I try.

              A friend of mine showed me the dacha her parents built. It's basically a picnic pavilion with a couple rooms. No heat or electricity, but it's where they hang out in good weather and eat shaschlik.

        • Anna_KOC [comrade/them]
          ·
          3 years ago

          He died in one of them, he didn't permit any servants in his quarters and that delayed someone finding him

    • Alaskaball [comrade/them]M
      ·
      3 years ago

      From what I recall, a lot of the luxuries that the Presidium and the Politburo of Stalin's time had access to were concidered state property for the common use amongst themselves. Mainly because they followed Lenin's policy of paying bureaucrats very little in order to deincentives people that sought the powers of the state to enrich themselves.

      So like Stalin's car, that his bodyguard told a story about, was actually property of the State, for example.

      • Coolkidbozzy [he/him]
        ·
        3 years ago

        If they paid bureaucrats very little, did bureaucrats regularly have to turn to other jobs to get by? Were some of them also workers in other fields?

        • comi [he/him]
          ·
          3 years ago

          Nah, it’s not very little it was slightly higher than mean wage, if I remember correctly. Plus like comrade said, apartments were provided by the state, I suspect food as well for higher ups, so like what do you even need money for

        • Alaskaball [comrade/them]M
          ·
          3 years ago

          I couldn't answer that since I haven't come across any primary sources along those lines.

          I do know that they were paid fair living wages since their work was still essential for running the state. Probably not as much as a cabbie, a miner, or an educator but modest pay for their modest work.

          For specifics we'd probably have to break out the books and get a translator.