Soviet 17th Party Conference Badge

[Chuck In Oregon]

Here's a badge you don't often see. It is for a delegate to the 17th Conference of the Communist Party in 1934. The reason you don't see them? Most of delegates were murdered during The Terror. In fact, I suspect that they were the prime early targets of The Terror just because they might have been tainted with the brush of Menshevik "rotten liberalism" while attending the conference. Stalin was there, too, of course. He conveniently exempted himself from suspicion.

According to David King in The Commissar Vanishes, "There had been 1,961 delegates at this congress. No fewer than 1,108 of them were liquidated."

How did they get anyone to attend the 18th?

Chuck

[HuliganRS]

It's a very nice badge! Typical for early Soviet badges that were based on Imperial hanging badges down to the old style screwplate.

Rusty.

[Danny]

Another nice one Chuck.