The Bolshevik Myth by Alexander Berkman — Read

The Commissar of our ossobniak, having to lay in provisions, invited me to accompany him to the Moskkommune. It is the great food supply center, a tremendous organization that feeds Moscow and its environs. Its trains have the right of way on all lines and carry food from parts as distant as Siberia and Turkestan. Not a pound of flour can be issued by any of the "stores" -- the distributing points scattered throughout the city -- without a written order signed and countersigned by the various bureaus of the Commune. From this center each "distributor" receives the amount necessary to supply the demands of the given district, according to the norm allowed on the bread and other cards.

The Moskkommune is the most popular and active institution; it is a beehive swarming with thousands of employees, busy determining the different categories of pyock and issuing "authorizations. " Besides the bread rations, sugar, tea, etc., given to the citizen by the "store" of his district, he also receives his ration in the institution that employs him. The pyock differs according to the "quality" of the citizen and the position he occupies. At present soldiers and sailors receive 2 1/2 lbs. of bread per day; Soviet employees 3 lbs. every two days; those not working -- because of age, sickness or disability other than military -- receive 3/4 lb. There are special categories of "preferred" pyock; the academical for old scientists and professors whose merits are recognized by the State, and also for old revolutionists not actively opposed to the Communists. There are "preferred" pyocks in important institutions, such as the Comintern (the Third International), the Narkominodel (Foreign Office), Narkomput (Commissariat of Railways), Sovnarkhoz (Soviet of Public Economy), and others. Members of the Communist Party have the opportunity of receiving extra rations through their Communist organizations, and preference is given them in the departments issuing clothing. There is also a Sovnarkom pyock, the best to be had, for important Communist officials, Commissars, their first assistants, and other high-placed functionaries. The Soviet Houses, where foreign visitors and influential delegates are quartered, such as Karakhan's ossobniak and the Hotel Lux, receive special food supplies. These include fats and starches (butter, cheese, meat, sugar, candy, etc.), of which the average citizen receives very little.