October 2013

Minority Deportation After World War Two

Soviet Mass Deportation

The Soviet Empire experienced a bloody war effort during WWII and experienced an incredible amount of loss. However, Stalin continued to lose citizens during his ethnic cleansing effort in which about a million people were forced out of their homes (von Geldern). The Chechens, Ingushi, Karachai, Balkars, Kalmyks, Mekhetian Turks and Crimean Tatars were sent from their native homelands in the North Caucasus and Crimea and sent to Kazkhstan and Central Asia (von Geldern). In Stalin’s State Defense Committee Decre No. 5859s, he states that the deportations are necessary because the Tatars betrayed the Soviet state. He claims that they deserted the Red Army and joined various volunteer units of the Germans and engaged in savage crimes against the Red Army and also helped enslave Soviet comrades to send to camps or to their death. (http://www.soviethistory.org/index.php?page=article&ArticleID=1943crimean1&SubjectID=1943deport&Year=1943)

Stalin’s decree also included his plan for resettlement. The refugees would be able to take their personal items, clothing, household objects, dishes and utensils and up to 500 kg of food per family. However, the had to leave behind their property, furniture and farmstead lands which were given over to the local authorities while their beef and dairy cattle were turned over to the People’s Commissariat of the Meat and Dairy Industries. It also laid out a  plan for their transportation to their new homes as well as seven year loans of 5,000 rubles per family in order to help with the construction and development of the new settlement. (http://www.soviethistory.org/index.php?page=article&ArticleID=1943crimean1&SubjectID=1943deport&Year=1943)

To me, the decree sounded as if the Soviet government was trying to give a fair chance of living while also punishing their traitorous citizens. But the truth of the matter was, that the Soviets were ruthless in carrying out their sentence. For example, one night in February 1944, NKVD troops (a law enforcement agency in the Soviet Union) forced out tens of thousands of citizens with only 1 hours notice to the Chechen and Inguish populations. They killed the unruly and those who were too sick to leave and many died while being transported to Kazakhstan. (von Geldern).  The NKVD moved 495,460 Chechens and Ingushetians, 68,327 Karachaevs and 37,406 Balkins to live in the Kazakhs and Kirghiz from February through March 1944. These numbers are unprecedented and is a truly devastating circumstance for so many citizens who lost their home and any sort of life they had created throughout generations.

 

Sources:

James von Geldern, “The Deportation of Minorities.” http://www.soviethistory.org/index.php?page=subject&SubjectID=1943deport&Year=1943&navi=byYear

Iosif Stalin, “State Defense Committee Decree No. 5859ss.”  http://www.soviethistory.org/index.php?page=article&ArticleID=1943crimean1&SubjectID=1943deport&Year=1943

Gregory L. Freeze, “Russia: A History.” p 394

Image: M. Semenov, ed.: Krokodilu–60 let: iubileinaia letopis’. Moscow: Izd-vo Pravda. 1983.

 

A Happy-Go-Lucky Soviet Film Experience

The Soviet era of Russia is known for its radical changes in the not only the political, but also social lives of everyday comrades. The film industry under the Soviet Union took a surprising turn under the direction of the new chairman, Boris Shumiatskii. Shumiatskii  changed the role of film from a vehicle to promote official values to a more entertaining and enjoyable experience.

One example of such a film was the wildly popular Happy-Go-Lucky Fellows. http://www.soviethistory.org/bigScreenVideo.php?SubjectID=1934film&Year=1934&navi=byYear This clip from the musical directed by Grigorii Aleksandrov shows  a much  more jovial side of film. Unlike the film, Bed and Sofa, which we viewed in class,  the new Soviet film doesn’t include deep or heavy themes. The musical includes a band who begins playing and descends into a comical routine in which they have a large fight amongst the entire group. It is very similar to The 3 Stooges in its dimwitted humor and childish violence. It seems as if it’s purely made for the enjoyment of the masses. In an article written by Shumiatskii, he  fawns over Happy-Go-Lucky Fellows. He loves that it is “an optimistic film sprinkled with joy, laughter and merriment.” He also says “the film is a marvvelous relaxation and audiences that have seen The Happy-Go-Lucky Fellows will find it easier to work afterwards.” (B. Z. Shumiatskii, Kinematografiia millionov (Moscow, 1935))

 

Sources:

B. Z. Shumiatskii, Kinematografiia millionov (Moscow, 1935)

Geldern, James Von. Seventeen Moments in Soviet History. http://www.soviethistory.org/index.php?page=subject&SubjectID=1934film&Year=1934&navi=byYear

http://www.soviethistory.org/bigScreenVideo.php?SubjectID=1934film&Year=1934&navi=byYear

 

The Godless Regime

Destruction of Church Bells

 

Churches in Russia entered its final chapter by the year 1929. What started out as a decree by the Soviet government on the separation of Church and state ended with a violent attack on church property. The resistance to religion stemmed from a Marxist belief that “existence determines consciousness, and only knowledge derived from observed reality, without the intercession of any external force or mover is valid.” Thus, since religious belief has always been largely based on unwavering support of an idea without a known, proper source, the Bolsheviks saw  this as a superstitious idea and as a source that could hamper the progress of a scientific state.

By 1923, the state had already increasingly placed restrictions on the church. The local police were recruited to close churches, using whatever methods necessary to do so. There were even mobs of citizens and anti-religious militants during the Russian civil war who vandalized churches and monasteries and went so far as to even kill bishops and priests.

Clearly, much of the damage of ridding the country of religious influence and propaganda had been successful. However, by the year 1929, the government placed even stricter restrictions on the church and imposed new and stiffer penalties. They also began using materials from churches for industry. For example, it was not uncommon to melt the metal from church bells for additional metal.

The Soviet Union certainly saw a significant amount of change in the year 1929 with the introduction of the first Five-Year Plan and the announcement to plan mass collectivization. However, it would seem that the anti-religious campaign had already been aggressively pursued and this important year for Russian history and the Soviet Union did not actually see much change on the religious front.

 

Sources:

Freeze, Gregory L.. Russia: A History. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1997.

http://www.soviethistory.org/images/Large/1929/churchbells.jpg?rand=26540197

http://www.soviethistory.org/index.php?page=subject&SubjectID=1929religion&Year=1929&navi=byYear