Title | What has become of the Russian Revolution |
Creator (LCNAF) |
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Contributor (Local) |
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Publisher | International Review |
Place of Creation (TGN) |
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Date | 1937 |
Subject.Topical (LCSH) |
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Subject.Topical (Local) |
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Subject.Geographic (TGN) |
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Genre (AAT) |
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Language | English |
Type (DCMI) |
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Original Item Extent | 63 pages; 22 cm |
Original Item Location | HN523.Y8613 1937 |
Original Item URL | http://library.uh.edu/record=b8304536~S11 |
Original Collection | Socialist and Communist Pamphlets |
Digital Collection | Socialist and Communist Pamphlets |
Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/scpamp |
Repository | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries |
Repository URL | http://libraries.uh.edu/branches/special-collections |
Use and Reproduction | In Copyright: This item is protected by copyright. Copyright to this resource is held by the creator or current rights holder, and the resource is provided here for educational purposes. It may not be reproduced or distributed in any format without permission of the copyright owner. Users assume full responsibility for any infringement of copyright or related rights. |
File Name | index.cpd |
Title | Image 15 |
Format (IMT) |
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File Name | uhlib_2209396_014.jpg |
Transcript | pends on the following conditions: the comfort of the apartment or room, the surface occupied, the size of the tenant's family and his wages. This is what actually happens. A small family occupying a single room 15 square metres pays monthly: 12 to 15 roubles, if the tenant's wage is 150 roubles 40 roubles, if his salary is 1000 roubles. We see that the rent of the same room for a family of the same size represents almost 10% of the wages of the average worker, while it is only 4% of the income of the high-salaried employee. In practice, the big "responsibles" — in spite of all laws — pay no rent at all for the comfortable furnished apartments that are actually guaranteed them by the State. The housing crisis is great everywhere in Russia. What this means may be gathered from the following news item. Olga Khmaza, the head of a shift in the Kiev alcohol factory, committed suicide when she faced the prospect of being expelled by the factory management from the tiny room that she had just succeeded in occupying after some effort. (Izviestia, March 6, 1936.) Because it is impossible to find a room without having good connections and without getting a good recommendation at the domicile section of the local soviet or the housing management, the characteristic thing is to resort to the stratagem of'"advertising". Making commerce of one's lodging is forbidden in the USSR. Nevertheless, the local papers contain many announcements about rooms. A person possessing a certain sum of money puts an "ad" in the paper to the effect that he would like to get rooms of such and such a description. The individual occupying a room that approximates the given description gets in touch with the advertiser. The two get together and they agree that the first will give the second a certain sum if he obtains the room. Then each goes to find his house committee. One says: "My room is too narrow for me." The other says: "The room is too wide." Thus the exchange takes place. Up to 1935, this sort of trading was done in secret. But it was so common that a decree was passed, legalizing it and covering it with a small tax. This is only one of the many legal ways of dispossessing the poor of the bit they won for themselves in the upheaval of 1917. What Does a Soviet Worker's Home Consist of? In general, there are in each house as many families as there are rooms. Each family has a right to the kitchen. In most cases the kitchen is represented by a simple oil burner placed in the corridor. On the average, this arrangement offers 10 to 20 square metres (100 to 200 square feet) for a family of 2, 3, 4 and even 5 persons. Certain rooms are occupied at times not by one family but by several unmarried persons or even several families. A frequent announcement in the newspapers is: "WANTED: An Angle," that is, a comer in one of those common rooms. Small, separate apartments, made up of one or two rooms, are very rare. It is a great privilege to live in one of them. That much for families. Unmarried persons live as a rule in large rooms containing 10, 20, 40 individuals. Sometimes married couples are also found in the large common rooms. 13 |