1961 Decree on the fight against parasitism

55 years ago, on May 4, 1961, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR adopted a decree "On intensifying the fight against persons who evade socially useful work and lead an antisocial parasitic lifestyle." Citizens who did not work for four months a year were now subject to criminal liability. Only housewives with children were allowed not to work. The victims of this decree were, in particular, the poet Iosif Brodsky and the historian and publicist Andrei Amalrik, who were sent into exile by a court decision on charges of parasitism.