The museum’s collection includes a copy of a certificate issued by the Tyumen Regional Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU), confirming that Nikolai Ivanovich Kuznetsov was a member of the agricultural commune “Red Ploughman”.
The commune was established in May 1920 in the village of Zyryanka by peasants from Zyryanka and the neighboring village of Balair, acting on the initiative of local Party organizations. Comprising 20 families, “Red Ploughman” was one of the first voluntary agricultural associations of its kind in the region.
In 1929, as part of the Soviet government’s drive to implement agricultural collectivization, active agitation campaigns began across the Urals. Among those involved were Komsomol members from the Talitsa Forestry College — including students as young as 15 or 16.
On May 13, 1929 — six months before mass collectivization officially began in the area — the Kuznetsov family voluntarily joined the “Red Ploughman” commune at the initiative of Nikolai Kuznetsov. They transferred their agricultural implements, livestock, outbuildings, and even their family home to collective ownership. The household was relocated to the commune’s central estate, situated in a grove between Zyryanka and Balair.
The Kuznetsov family took an active role in the life of the commune. In the autumn of 1929, Nikolai Kuznetsov’s brother, Viktor, was sent to tractor-driving courses. He later received certification and continued working on the collective farm. At the time, Nikolai Kuznetsov was still enrolled at the Talitsa Forestry College.
In December 1929, however, Komsomol member Nikolai Kuznetsov was falsely accused of concealing his social origins upon entering the college — allegedly being the son of a kulak (a wealthy peasant) and a bandit. Based on these unsubstantiated charges, he was expelled from the institution.
Seeking to defend his reputation, Nikolai Kuznetsov turned to the commune for support. In response, the college soon received an excerpt from the minutes (No. 4) of the general meeting of the CPSU(b) cell of the “Red Ploughman” commune, dated November 18, 1929. The document affirmed that Nika Kuznetsov was a responsible and hardworking Komsomol member. Despite this endorsement, his reinstatement was delayed; he was not readmitted to the college until 1931.
