Complaint bureaus in Stalin's USSR (1928-1941) -: Dealing with discontent in a socialist state

The new policy inaugurated by Stalin and the Bolshevik rulers after 1928 changed drastically the society and increased the sources of discontent. However, traditional means of expressing this "ill-being" (strikes, demonstrations...) seem to fade away progressively. Soviet people did not have other choice than to use the instruments the State offered. Among them, the "complaint offices" hold our attention. Not so meaningful during the 1920's, they become really important after 1928. They received a lot of letters, "signals" where Soviet people denounced at the same time revolting situations and individuals. Signals are hence weapons in the hands of Soviet people really lacking in means of protest. Answers to these letters are nevertheless uncertain: these "complaint offices" are in fact paralysed by their way of working and, at the same time, by their lack of power in the Soviet bureaucracy.