The “Scrap Paper” campaign in the Bashkir Central Archives in 1924–1926

The article presents one of the tragic pages in the history of archival work, related to the destruction of archival documents in the Bashkir Central Archives. Based on the documented sources, the article proves the deliberate destruction of the invaluable funds by the management of the Bashkir Central Archives in the mid-1920s. As a result of their criminal actions, more than 14 000 poods of the unique archival heritage were irretrievably lost, including the phenomenal collections on the history of the region from the 17^th to the 19^th centuries that were transported from the Karavansaray complex (Orenburg) to the Bashkir Central Archives (Ufa). Such a volume of the destroyed valuable documentary and historical-cultural heritage has never been recorded in any other region of the RSFSR. The crime was committed by the head of the Bashkir Central Archives, S.V. Andreev, and the archivist, G.I. Marzishevsky, who were not punished for their illegal actions. As a result of their incompetence in archival work and the haste of the “Scrap Paper” campaign, the Bashkir archives were irreparably damaged, and many pages of the regional history of Russia in the 17^th – 19^th centuries remained an unsolved mystery for society. The process of destroying the funds of the Bashkir Central Archives stopped only after the operational intervention of the Central Archives of the RSFSR. The study of the activities of the RSFSR Central Archives from the perspective of the Bashkir Central Archives shows a high role of the RSFSR Central Archives in preserving and preventing the mass “extermination” of the pre-revolutionary funds in Bashkiria.

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