NIKOLAI VASILYEVICH KRYLENKO

Two were executed and the others sent to the Gulags. This is often quoted to show how hostile the Soviet Union was to all religions.

The law was against stealing corn from a farm of field, There was a tradition in Russia that no one should be jailed for corn stealing unless he stole 5 or more ears of corn. However, many people repeatedly helped themselves to 4 ears, and the party wanted it stopped. What is fascinating is that his insistence that the law as promulgated by the Party be enforced literally without regard to issues of higher justice such as starvation and necessity, placed him in the same legal posture as the capitalist countries which also insisted that the laws be enforced and not tempered by higher moral issues of fairness. Whoever has the power to make the laws wants them to be enforced literally. Most others want them tempered by issues of justice, fairness, and necessity.

The law was against stealing corn from a farm of field, There was a tradition in Russia that no one should be jailed for corn stealing unless he stole 5 or more ears of corn. However, many people repeatedly helped themselves to 4 ears, and the party wanted it stopped. What is fascinating is that his insistence that the law as promulgated by the Party be enforced literally without regard to issues of higher justice such as starvation and necessity, placed him in the same legal posture as the capitalist countries which also insisted that the laws be enforced and not tempered by higher moral issues of fairness. Whoever has the power to make the laws wants them to be enforced literally. Most others want them tempered by issues of justice, fairness, and necessity.

Two were executed and the others sent to the Gulags. This is often quoted to show how hostile the Soviet Union was to all religions.