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Having not lived through it but having heard many, many stories about it, I'm not sure your characterization of the East side is entirely correct. While many t

Having not lived through it but having heard many, many stories about it, I'm not sure your characterization of the East side is entirely correct. While many things were ostensibly highly guarded (i.e. guards were stationed,) and the rules were strict, and penalties for breaking them very harsh, it was common knowledge that if you lucked out and got yourself in a position where you had access to any kind of goods, you would be a fool not to try to spirit something away on the side. Many, many people engaged in what would now be deemed outright theft, and everyone covered for everyone else - it all had to look good on paper, not so much in reality. When a new government building or a housing block was built, no one batted an eye when afterwards the foreman somehow also had built a dacha (summer house) for himself, and his subordinates had built a garage or an extension to their homes, or just suddenly had spare money on hand to buy a car (which is another story in itself, with the 10-year waitlists, etc.) They had comedy movies about industrial theft even back in the 60s[1]. Now, the rules would be more strict in a military installation but there was more than likely plenty of lax behavior even there. As long as you didn't commit the egregious error of having discrepancies be noticed and documented, greased the right hands, knew people in the right places, and shared in your luck, you could get away with an awful lot of things. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Y_and_Shurik%27s_Other_Adventures#Segment_"Operation_Y"_2 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Y_and_Shurik%27s_Oth...

stcredzero 8y ago
When a new government building or a housing block was built, no one batted an eye when afterwards the foreman somehow also had built a dacha (summer house) for himself, and his subordinates had built a garage or an extension to their homes Here's one Bay Area/SV equivalent. (Not even theft, though.) Newly minted tech millionaire buys a home. It's already very nice. Maybe it has some really nice wood paneling, but the new owner has to make her/his mark and change it out. The architect assures the client that all of the materials will be recycled. A few months later, the home has a new interior, and the workmen have really nice paneling in their basement rec room. One former coworker of mine back in Texas was in a failing startup, and on the last day, he literally just carted off some Herman Miller Aeron chairs and some servers. He just chalked it up as the amount he felt he was shorted on his last paycheck. Now, the rules would be more strict in a military installation but there was more than likely plenty of lax behavior even there. As long as you didn't commit the egregious error of having discrepancies be noticed and documented, greased the right hands, knew people in the right places, and shared in your luck, you could get away with an awful lot of things. Pretty much what the crooked logistics officer character was doing in Catch 22. He was essentially running a black market empire on the backs of military logistics. One wonders if Kurt Vonnegut was inspired by real life events.
- chucksmash 8y ago
  You're correct to remember this from Catch-22, but the author of that book was Joseph Heller. Vonnegut's (afaik only) WWII book was Slaughterhouse Five.
  - stcredzero 8y ago
    I stand corrected.
ptero 8y ago
I have close second hand knowledge of this. As far as I know, while misappropriation of all kinds, from sketchy to outright theft, was rampant and often condoned (e.g., at Brezhnev times), secret information was a different kettle of fish: losing it was not taken lightly.
- pilsetnieks 8y ago
  The thing with information is that when things go missing, it's obvious, so people have no choice but to act on it. Still there must have been coverups, depending on how sensitive the information was, and how well connected the affected people were. It's unlikely that a system endemic with criminal activity would suddenly treat one specific aspect with a level of care that's not applied anywhere else. Anyway, this story is about stealing a missile. I have absolutely no doubt the same thing could have happened east of Iron Curtain as well.

stcredzero 8y ago

When a new government building or a housing block was built, no one batted an eye when afterwards the foreman somehow also had built a dacha (summer house) for himself, and his subordinates had built a garage or an extension to their homes Here's one Bay Area/SV equivalent. (Not even theft, though.) Newly minted tech millionaire buys a home. It's already very nice. Maybe it has some really nice wood paneling, but the new owner has to make her/his mark and change it out. The architect assures the client that all of the materials will be recycled. A few months later, the home has a new interior, and the workmen have really nice paneling in their basement rec room. One former coworker of mine back in Texas was in a failing startup, and on the last day, he literally just carted off some Herman Miller Aeron chairs and some servers. He just chalked it up as the amount he felt he was shorted on his last paycheck. Now, the rules would be more strict in a military installation but there was more than likely plenty of lax behavior even there. As long as you didn't commit the egregious error of having discrepancies be noticed and documented, greased the right hands, knew people in the right places, and shared in your luck, you could get away with an awful lot of things. Pretty much what the crooked logistics officer character was doing in Catch 22. He was essentially running a black market empire on the backs of military logistics. One wonders if Kurt Vonnegut was inspired by real life events.

chucksmash 8y ago
You're correct to remember this from Catch-22, but the author of that book was Joseph Heller. Vonnegut's (afaik only) WWII book was Slaughterhouse Five.
- stcredzero 8y ago
  I stand corrected.

ptero 8y ago

I have close second hand knowledge of this. As far as I know, while misappropriation of all kinds, from sketchy to outright theft, was rampant and often condoned (e.g., at Brezhnev times), secret information was a different kettle of fish: losing it was not taken lightly.

pilsetnieks 8y ago
The thing with information is that when things go missing, it's obvious, so people have no choice but to act on it. Still there must have been coverups, depending on how sensitive the information was, and how well connected the affected people were. It's unlikely that a system endemic with criminal activity would suddenly treat one specific aspect with a level of care that's not applied anywhere else. Anyway, this story is about stealing a missile. I have absolutely no doubt the same thing could have happened east of Iron Curtain as well.