The "Vesna" Case (Russian: Дело "Весна"), also Operation Vesna of 1930-1931 was a massive series of Soviet repressions targeting former officers and generals of the Russian Imperial Army who had served in the Red Army and Soviet Navy, a major purge of the Red Army preceding the Great Purge. According to over 3,000 group cases in Moscow, Leningrad and Ukraine, over 10,000 persons were convicted. In particular, in May 1931, in Leningrad alone over 1,000 persons were executed according to the so-called "Guards Case" (Russian: Гвардейское дело).[1][2]
The Vesna case was briefly discussed in the 1998 book Трагедия РККА 1937—1938 ("Tragedy of the Red Army 1937-1938")[3] by Oleg Suvenirov,[1] but the major groundbreaking work on the case was the 2000 book "Голгофа русского офицерства в СССР 1930-1931 гг."[4] by Ukrainian researcher Yaroslav Tinchenko.[5] In 2016 the Russian journal Herald of an Archivist published an article that described the archived documents related to the Vesna Case.[5]
- ^ a b "Гвардейское дело" (Дело "Весна"), 1930 - 1931
- ^ Whitewood, Peter (2015) Subversion in the Red Army and the Military Purge of 1937–1938. Europe-Asia Studies, 67 (1). pp. 102-122.
- ^ Tragediia RKKA, 1937–1938 (review)
- ^ Ярослав Тинченко, ГОЛГОФА РУССКОГО ОФИЦЕРСТВА в СССР 1930-1931 годы (table of contents)
- ^ a b Andrey Ganin, КОМПЛЕКС ДОКУМЕНТОВ ПО ДЕЛУ ВСЕСОЮЗНОЙ ВОЕННО-ОФИЦЕРСКОЙ КОНТРРЕВОЛЮЦИОННОЙ ОРГАНИЗАЦИИ «ВЕСНА» 1930-1931 ГГ. КАК ИСТОЧНИК ПО ИСТОРИИ РУССКОГО ОФИЦЕРСТВА ПОСЛЕРЕВОЛЮЦИОННОГО ПЕРИОДА