To attract foreign currency into the state coffers, the government opened a chain of stores named Torgsin (a Russian acronym for “Trade with Foreigners”)
Recent reports from the Soviet Union show that the stores operated by Torgsin (the State Corporation for Trade with Foreigners) did record business last year and are steadily improving the quality and variety of their merchandise. Thousands of Americans of Russian extraction are using the Torgsin stores to send gifts to relatives or dependents in the Soviet Union. Special stores are maintained by Torgsin for customers who wish to have their furs, clothing, shoes, etc., made to order.
Torgsin will arrange for a vacation (including transportation) in any designated summer resort. It procures tickets for motion picture houses, theatre or opera. It sells all sorts of fruits in and out of season. It sells livestock, such as cows, horses, fowl, etc. The constant improvement of Torgsin services is a refutation of the stories occasionally spread in the United States that Torgsin is curtailing its activities or that recipients of Torgsin orders from foreign countries become objects of suspicion in their communities.
—Jewish Press (Omaha, Nebraska)
“The Great Turn” was a radical change in Soviet economic policy during the late 1920s under Josef Stalin. For a time in its infancy, the Soviet regime allowed limited private enterprise. However, that was abandoned in 1928 in favor of the first Five Year Plan, with the goal of rapid industrialization and agricultural collectivization under a very rigid “planned economy.” The Soviet Union was in need of foreign currency and precious metals in order to finance its investment in heavy industry, and the ruble couldn’t be exchanged as a currency on the international market. In order to attract foreign currency into the state coffers, the government opened a chain of stores named Torgsin (a Russian acronym for “Trade with Foreigners”).
These stores provided the Soviet population as well as diplomats and tourists an opportunity to buy goods that were scarce or not available in ordinary shops, using foreign currency, gold, silver, or other valuable possessions.
Create a free account to keep reading.
