Reasons for resignation of the Chelyabinsk Kirov Plant director I. M. Zaltsman in 1949

The article attempts to establish the relationship and the degree of significance of the various reasons for the resignation of I. M. Zaltsman, Kirov plant director in 1949. With the help of Federal archive documents, new circumstances of the Zaltsman Affair are revealed showing that it corresponded to cadre practices of late Stalinism. The affair was due to production problems. In February 1949 Zaltsman was reprimanded by the government for the production of low-quality tanks in the Kirov Plant, and then was unable to organize the rapid modernization of the IS-4 tank. The question of a new punishment for the director was referred to the Central Committee of the CPSU(b), which by that time had information about the director’s misconduct, corruption and improper cadre selection at the plant. In most cases, plant directors received disciplinary or party penalties for such shortcomings. However, Zaltzman’s refusal to admit his guilt aggravated the situation. An additional check revealed new negative facts, and his actions began to be regarded as «anti-party». As a result, the disruption of the defense task, supplemented by corruption and violation of the unwritten rules for considering cadres questions, outweighed the merits of the famous director and he received the severe penalty of being removed from his post.