Real USSR » Khrushchev

Myth Busting: Free Medicine, You Say?

eugenia — Wed, 16 Feb 2011 01:56:30 +0000

Mid 1980s. Image courtesy of Life magazine.

Whenever there is a heated argument whether things were better during the USSR times, this statement invariably pops up as a mighty ace: At least they had free medical care in the Soviet Union! This is supposed to bring the opponent to the knees and make them beg mercy and forgiveness for betraying the Great October achievements.

Well well well. Let’s have a close look at what really was free then.

After the events of October 1917, the Bolsheviks chose to nationalise all hospitals and medical practices previously founded by various state and charitable organisations. This would have been a feasible plan, had they not chosen to class all doctors as “rotten bourgeois” which meant that they had to emigrate from the “Red Terror” or face death.

Even Vladimir Lenin in a letter dated of Nov 1918 wrote to an acquaintance: Please go abroad to see a doctor – they have wonderful specialists in Switzerland and Vienna… Our so-called doctors are fools.

In early 1920s various medical experiments became popular and acquired great support of the state: without much of a theoretical base or substantial research, a lot of time and money was poured into genetical experiments to breed a new type of person – of a Socialist kind.

Al in all, the years in which the Bolsheviks were starting off were very tough: the country was in a run-down state after the WWI; there was a severe famine; pandemics of cholera, typhoid, malaria; as well rising numbers of people dying of various infections and malnutrition. From a health perspective, the state of many medical practices and hospitals was borderline catastrophic. The buildings were getting old without any hopes for repair; central heating often failed; medical supplies were insufficient and irregular. The food supplies were often short, and the burial of the dead was an issue as well.

The state spending on medicine was low to start with, and it was gradually declining: it was 3.9% of the total budget in 1927; 3.6% in 1928; 3.5% in 1929 and 3% only in 1930. The severe skill shortages in the health industry were imminent, and there was a strong urban focus in health providers’ locations – given that the supply was already short, the villages were even worse off.

In the late 1920s industrialisation, as per Stalin’s orders, aimed at developing the heavier industrial machinery production – so the times which what was already bad was turning even more foul. Bureaucracy was starting to settle in, while the budget cuts continued (2.5% of the total budget in 1932, 2.7% in 1933). On paper, as often in the USSR, things looked if not rosy but at least decent: the attention was drawn to preventative measures and the importance of the population’s health; whereas in reality it was very ugly.In our old post about the life in the 1920s, the images of those time were indeed scary, if you remember.

During the Second World War, the main beneficiary of medical help was, understandably, the army – the rest of the population, fair to say, was abandoned. Various types of typhoid, TB, dysentery, malaria, cholera and even plague were not uncommon– the diseases were spreading very rapidly due to the poor supply of drugs and increasing numbers of migrants.

When the war was over, the main efforts (as well as financial means) were generated towards rebuilding the towns and getting the economy back up – and as always, there was no room for medicine research and development. The health industry salary bands were among the lowest in the country. In 1940 the doctors were earning 255 roubles per month, as compared with 399 roubles average. In 1955 it was 521 roubles against 711 average. In August 1945 a group of doctors sent an open letter to Stalin describing the abhorrent situation in the health industry. It mentioned the factory workers with high-school qualifications were earning 1300–1400 roubles per month, whereas the hospital manager, a doctor with 8 years of education and years of experience would be fortunate enough to earn 800 roubles.

A paramedic on call.

The change was brought upon by Nikita Khrushchev, who was slowly setting new goals and getting his government to redevelop many facets of Soviet life. But the late fifties were also the times when the famous free Soviet medical care system stopped being free. The doctors became less covert in taking cash from patients in exchange for medical services, for medical supplies, for drugs. The less-qualified medical staff (nurses and caregivers) were making some extra cash by providing extra-nice services to patients – for 10 roubles per night you could have a nurse by your bed taking care of you – obviously, all other patients would have been neglected. Midwives in birthcare institutions were bribing the fathers – one would pay a one off 25 roubles for the girl and twice as much for the boy as to “take them home”.

Among the key problems were:

Alcoholism and drug use – extremely widespread.
Bad ecology – due to heavily exploited plants and factories, many towns were below par – the Southern republics, Moldavia, some parts of Ukraine, industrial central Russia and Siberia.
Food shortages – especially in the rural areas and small towns with the population of less than 100,000 people; as well as the appalling quality of food.
Extremely high rates of abortions (100 for every 1000 women in the age of 15–49; or 200 abortions for every 100 of births). Also, the actual procedure was a very primitive one which lead to the death of a woman in almost 25–30% of cases.
Health and Safety in employment – extremely high industrial accident rates
Road death tolls

Also, in early 1980s the widespread of sexually transmitted diseases started to take its toll. In 1970 more than 12% of women of reproductive age were diagnosed and treated from STD, many of whom suffered from syphilis. In 1987 the first case of HIV was registered, after which the disease had escalated to the point of people panicking.

The Soviet doctors had all the pressure to catch up with their Western counterparts, and they did their best, given the circumstances. The first successful heart transplant attempt did not happen until March 1987, which was almost 20 years after the American debut. Such a significant delay was not just due to the budget cuts and low financing – the appropriate legislative framework was missing, and so was the concept of organ donors.

This is how the free Soviet medicine had met the death of the Soviet state. It almost seems like the 70 years of the 20^th century did not provide any move forward – despite the antibiotics, vaccination and hundreds of thousands of graduate doctors, the overall state of the health industry was just ever so slightly better than at the end of the Tsar times. And then, of course, the typically Soviet traits of doing things: bureaucracy, corruption, the notoriously abhorrent levels of customer service and the low priority that the state would give the health industry.

This does not deny the Soviet doctors their achievements – over the course of 70 years, there would have been plenty – but nothing was easy and nothing was certainly free.

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Think Big? No, Even Bigger!

eugenia — Mon, 04 Oct 2010 23:18:04 +0000

“New Moscow”, by Tschusev and Zholtovsky, was developed in 1917–1924.

We have come across a few private scans of a book “New Moscow” published in 1982. Just after the Revolution of 1917 the new government officials were very keen to change everything around — even more so, they wanted to raze the existing system to the ground and build a new one. So the architects were busy thinking big — and bigger — for the new Soviet country.

This wooden Lenin’s Mausoleum was built in 1924 and was to presuppose the current one, built in 1929. The architectural historians place a huge significance on this particular building, arguing that this turned the Red Square into the celebratory-memorial place (as opposed to the market place, as it was before).

Lenin’s Mausoleum, 1924. Architect A. Tschusev.

One of the biggest problems of those times was accommodation — there was an acute need to smooth out the gap between the rich and the poor, which the pre-Revolution Moscow was so prone to. In 1918 the first step was to shift the workers from the horrible barracks from the outer areas into the bourgeoisie’s flats in central Moscow. This was an action more symbolic rather it was practical as it did not help much: it only geographically distanced the workers from their factories and increased the density of the inner city.

So the “new era” accommodation was required, and this was the initial plan. Sadly, planning often failed as shortly afterward it was discovered that apartment blocks are cheaper to build and easier to maintain than the individual houses.

Sokol village, 1923–1935. Architect N.Morkovnikov.

So the apartment blocks of the new generation were meant to contain everything for the new Soviet people: initially planned as mini-cities, they were designed to have all necessary facilities for everyday activities (gyms, shops, cafes etc). This building below seemed to be slightly ahead of its times: it was simply too big, and the tiny Moskva-river seemed too shallow of a creek next to it. Fortunately, as the city continued to grow, such apartment buildings grew to be fit the city’s layout in a more harmonious way.

Apartment block on the Bersen Embankment. 1928–1930, Architect M. Iophan.

If you remember our old post “How Khrushchev had Killed the Vamprire” , we covered this architectural style there in more details.

Apartment building of 1934. Architect I. Zholtovsky.

1940. Atchitects A.Burov, B. Blokhin. One of the first apartment buildings built out of whole conctrere blocks

Below are some buildings designed for work and leisure.

Workers’ Leisure Club. 1927–1929. Architect K. Melnikov.

The publishing house “Izvestia” (“News”). 1925–1927, architect G. Bakhtin.One of the first Soviet business centres.

Project of the Palace of Soviets. 1938. Architects — B. Iophan, V. Tschukho, V. Gelfreich. Sadly it was never built due to the lack of financing.

More about this building here: How Khrushchev Had Killed the Vampire.

The lenin’s State Library. 1928–1941, Architects V. Tschuko, V. Gelfreich.

The Crimean Bridge. 1936–1938. Architect A. Vlasov, Chief Engineer B. Konstantinov.

Project of the Red Army Theater and Entertaining Centre. 1934–1940. Architects L. Alabyan & V. Simbirtsev.

One of the most epic buildings of that era: Moscow State Universty. 1949–1954, designed by a group of architects.

These monumental beauties would have belonged to the last “big” lot. Shortly afterwards the architects were told to downsize, to design affordable simplistic buildings for mass production. The war had certainly played its part, but it was just a sign of those times — grand, hopeful for the best, and monumental.

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Take Me To The River!

eugenia — Tue, 21 Sep 2010 20:47:25 +0000

Late 1950s was an interesting epoch for the Soviet Union. The death of Stalin was like a beginning to a new era, “the Thaw” of Khrushchev, the very first signs of the Cold War and the famous Fulton speech of Churchill — all of those were the signs of uneasy times coming up. But just before the Iron Curtain fell heavily, Russia was the place to visit — and we are very grateful to the Life magazine photographers who took plentiful photos for us.

So we are going to make a 50 year leap into the past to the mid-Russia region of the Volga river — here, the sparkly brand new ships were making their first cruises. So — full throttle!

Captain Palkin on a Maiden Voyage of Krylov Ship. 1958.

From a small dingy…

Steamship Vladimir Lenin. Built in 1913, retired in 1965.

The valley of the Volga river.

Ernst Thälmann docked in Yaroslavl

Ernest Telman

Lounging on the upper deck

Sunbathing.

At a cafe

Fine Soviet dining

Sunset on the dance floor

Of course not all ships were that glamorous.

Voroshilov timber trawler

A sign of its times: such beauties disappeared in 1980s

This was the way to move timber in smaller volumes.

A firefighter

On a ferry

M189 Steamship

Uglich-town ferry terminal

Samara (then Kuibyshev) ferry terminal

Samara (then Kuibyshev) embankment. A recital before the departure.

Bon voyage!

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Celebrities of the 1960s: Queen of Belgium et al

Stas Kulesh — Thu, 06 May 2010 21:06:25 +0000

I find great pleasure in looking at the faces of people from the days long gone. Reading the fine lines is like trying to map out the events that took place before we were even born — or were too far away from where it happened. Please enjoy a fine collection of the images below — some are just regular faces in the crowd, some were the mighty lot. Click on the pictures to see the larger images and as always — spread the word!

Queen of Belgium, Moscow 1962

Ho Chi Min, 1959, Moscow

Korean delegates, c 1960

Indian Delegates, c 1960

One of the oldest persons — Mahmud Eivasov from Azerbaijan, claiming to be 150 years old.

Semen Budenny, a prominent military commander, late 1960s

Poland Military band, 1954

A tour to the corn fields.

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Best of Winter 2009–2010

Stas Kulesh — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:40:13 +0000

Military Discharge Handmade Scrap Book and Comics Album

You’re in the army now

The compulsory two years of military service was a rite of passage for every Soviet guy. When one turned eighteen — unless for sickness or injury — it was time to be called in for the military life — two years in the barracks. The guys usually bonded well and during their spare time created so called “Discharge Albums” — like scrapbooks, they were full of photos, songs lyrics, quick notes from the buddies etc.

Slava Kurilov: Alone at Sea. An Unbelievable Way to Escape the Iron Curtain

The only person to escape the Iron Curtain by swimming.

By job he was an oceanographer, by heart he was a dreamer, by nationality he was a citizen of the planet Earth — in short, he was an extraordinary guy. Yet his personal file in the USSR was stamped as “not worthy of an exit visa” so he was not allowed to leave the country, even if it was for a holiday. So in December, 1974 he jumped a cruise boat “The Soviet Union” off the coast of the Philippines islands — and he swam to freedom.With no food or drink, no swimming equipment apart from flips and goggles, he swam to the shores about a hundred kilometers for three days — completely alone at sea.

A Rough Guide to Moscow from the Daughter of the American Embassador

Emlen Knight Davies, at the age of 20 (ish)

Joseph E. Davies was the second Ambassador to represent the United States in the Soviet Union in 1937–1938. His daughter, the twenty years old Emlen Knight Davies, took some pictures of the surroundings. These images, courtesy of her private collection, were on display in Moscow for the anniversary of the Spaso House — the official diplomatic residence.

So! What Do You Want To Be When You Grow Up?

You will be quite a craftsman!

The Professional Orientation in the USSR meant, first and foremost, a process of advising the youth on the future career choices. A group of teachers and fresh graduates of a college would go to high schools to give talks to school kids in order to deliver the first hand information on vocational choices. Every occupation is regarded highly in the Soviet Union — well, this slogan turned out to be quite untruthful.

Moscow Winters, Fragments of the 20th Century.

1925. A private house on the bank of the Tarakanovka river

Here is a fine collection of images of Moscow winters, dating from 1920s till 1991. Sadly many places portrayed on these photographs are gone now, just like the Soviet Union itself, yet lest we forget. Please read on to see the image of the first set of traffic lights in Moscow CBD in late 1930s, which was operated by a specially trained person; or the largest freshwater outdoor swimming pool in the world - as well as people, wooden houses, old boulevards covered with the virgin snow.

Labour Riots in Novocherkassk: Soviet ‘Tiananmen’

Meat, butter, pay rise!

Novocherkassk is a small town in the South of Russia, also known as the unofficial capital of the Cossacks, the Slavic military community. Unfortunately this town was the place of a huge tragedy, when in 1962 the civilian demonstration was opened fire on.

Russian Ice Cream In Winter — Bring It On!

The city of Khabarovsk, 1970.

In the USSR, the very first ice cream factory was opened in 1932 — when the Minister of Food Supply (if translated not too liberally) Anastas Mikoyan visited the United States of America and was so impressed with their ice cream, he decided that Russia needed something of the kind. So the ice cream making technology and equipment were imported and the ice cream supply to all and everybody began.

Novosibirsk: Then and Now.

The Communal Bridge, nowadays.

The unofficial capital of Siberia, the city of Novosibirsk was founded in 1893 with the initial population of only 8,000 people. By the time of the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917, it grew to the population size of 80,000. The name, literally meaning New Siberian City, was adopted in 1926 — and since then, the town had become to grow and prosper.

The Fearsome Threesome – Lenin and His Lovebirds

Paris, city of love, brought them all together. A Russian movie of 1981.

The official history often misses a very important and interesting point in the course of the Russian Revolution – not everybody knows that Vladimir Lenin, a formidable mind behind the Great October Patriotic Revolution and the leader of all communists, had less than straightforward love life – apart from a wife, he had a mistress – and not only that, these two women knew each other and got on very well!

21+ Depressing Photos of Post-Revolutionary Russia by Arkady Shaikhet

Gymnasts. Red Square. 1924

When the new Soviet country was born, the people were promised a wonderful future under the socialism — just a few more years, the billboards boasted — and we’ll live in a glorious state. However the early days were more than gloomy: the rundown economy, disoriented society, the reek of fear and uncertainty — and that clearly can be seen through the photos of a prominent Soviet photographer Arkady Shaikhet.

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Best of Fall 2009

Stas Kulesh — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 01:08:32 +0000

A Glance at the Soviet Lifestyle, Captured by Marc Riboud.

Museum, Moscow, 1960s

This is our third post devoted to Marc Riboud, an outstanding French photographer, who traveled extensively throughout the Soviet Union. His images captured an array of everyday life episodes from the lives of the Soviet people. Here is the first lot — and here is the second one. As always, click on the magnifying glass icon to see the photos in detail.

Soviet Cars: History of the Copy-and-Paste Industry — Part 3 of 3

Volga

A good example of how the ideas to make a new car were born is the story of the factory “Communar”. The Minister of Car Manufacturing made a call to the factory where designers thought over the scheme of a new Ukrainian car and literally said: “I heard you were going to make a spring suspension from the “Volkswagen” but I actually like the Italian Fiat-600”. Shortly the factory commenced the production of ZAZ-965 –nearly the exact copy of the Fiat.

Diamond Dog’s Run 4,000 miles long: David Bowie in the USSR.

Sightseeing in the USSR

Just like John Lennon or Elton John, in 1970s David Bowie was an iconic figure of the Western music scene. Nicknamed Chameleon of Pop for his flamboyant outfits, pale make up and eccentric tunes, David Bowie made a train tour of Russia, all the way from Vladivostok to Moscow, eighteen days in a sleeper. Back in the days, when the Cold War was in its prime, getting a permission to look behind the Iron Curtain was an incredible phenomenon by itself. Well, did David enjoy himself while in the USSR? Let’s see.

Dirty Dancing Soviet Style

Dancing in the Ural Mountains, by G. Sorokin.

Just like anywhere else in the world, the Soviet youngsters wanted to socialize, to listen to the music and to dance. The nightclubs were unheard of – anything of that kind would have been announced as promoting debauchery or morally wrong lifestyle habits. So the best one would hope for were the discotheques – the special dance occasions, organized by the officials on a weekly basis. They always had a designated supervisor – a school principal or a city council representative in charge.

Declassified: the Great and Powerful Stalin.

Smiley face.

Joseph Stalin was probably one of the most multifaceted, controversial and yet unknown persons in the course of the world history. In January 1943 Time magazine featured Stalin as the Person of the Year, saying:

The year 1942 was a year of blood and strength. The man whose name means steel in Russian, whose few words of English include the American expression “tough guy” was the man of 1942. Only Joseph Stalin fully knew how close Russia stood to defeat in 1942, and only Joseph Stalin fully knew how he brought Russia through.

The Great Patriotic War: the Villainous Hitler’s Plan or the Provokation?

In accordance with the official history the Second World War (in Russia called ‘the Great Patriotic War’) was commenced on the Soviet territory by Germany: the treacherous attack on 22 June, 1941when they invaded into the USSR. This official version of the Soviet Government is written in every history book. At the same time there is numerous evidence of Stalin’s desire to start the war first with the intention similar to Hitler’s . And that is why there is the theory that Stalin provoked German aggression against the USSR.

BT-7 — High Speed Tank

Christian Dior in Moscow: a Fleeting Sense of Happiness

Girls just want to have fun!

The Khrushchev’s Thaw was to cover many aspects of the Soviet life, and fashion was one of them. The decision to allow the Soviet fashion designers to learn off their French counterparts was made as high as at the government level, which implicitly put fashion above politics or international ideological regimes. The colour of the Soviet Union, a generic grey, was about to be mixed up with the motley and lithe palette of the French fashion.

Ethusiastic Photography from Soviet Russia, 1950s — 1960s.

Waiting for the play off.

Just a very pleasant collection of photos from a private family archive. All photos were taken in 1950s — 1960s, in the streets of Yaroslavl, a small town not far from Moscow. Simple things — outdoor sports, fishing, swimming, enjoying the music or spending time with the family — these 38 photos are relishing small pleasures and bringing a smile to a face.

The 50th Anniversary of the Soviet Union in Old American Mags

Life and Look on the 50th Anniversary of the USSR, 1967.

In 1967, when the USSR turned 5o, it was a big day for both the country and the world. The Soviet Union had made it through, despite everything — and the world now had to take it seriously. The Cold War, which was at its highest at the time, kept the USSR in the spotlight, too, so the media were more than interested in the young Russian country. It really is a shame that the writing cannot be deciphered due to the low resolution of these scans. However, these images convey the atmosphere of the times quite well — a wild yet sophisticated country in the eyes of the civilised world.

Picturing the Soviet Republics: Moldavia

Veterans by A. Simanovsky

No doubt photography was a popular art in the USSR. Here and below are pictures taken by the people all over the Soviet state of Moldavia. Today’s set based on the book called “Moldavian Art of photography”, Kishinev (recently renamed to Chisinau), 1985.

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Labour Riots in Novocherkassk: Soviet ‘Tiananmen’

Dmitry Yakimenko — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 00:22:20 +0000

Meat, butter, pay rise!

The turmoil started on June, 1 when the Soviet government announced the grocery price increase of about 30 per cent. The riot began at the progressive electro locomotive factory: just before the price increase, the salary had been lowered, which already was below the living minimum (about a hundred rubbles). The workers demanded an explanation, and threatened to strike. Faced with an ultimatum, the CEO Kurochkin mounted the platform and demanded that people went back to work. ‘If you do not have enough money for meat, buy the liver pie’ answered Kurochkin with the snarl.

This phrase sparked the unrest. The news about the riot quickly spread through the factory, so more and more labourers stopped their work. Someone made a fire using the portraits of the country leader Nikita Khrushchev as fuel. At the same time the factory illustrator drew some posters with the workers’ claims. Later, for writing four words “Meat, butter, wages increase” on the poster he was imprisoned for 12 years.

Novocherkassk Mosaic Wall

The strike leaders sent the representatives to other factories of the region – so a large meeting was scheduled for the day after.

By the evening the army entered the town, headed by the vice-minister of internal affairs, as well as a huge group of government representatives. The order to arrest the riot instigators was issues, but it failed to stop people from protesting – by now, the crowds were approaching the town centre and the City Council offices.

Perhaps the tragedy could have been avoided if the Saturday was not a working day. People came to the factory and gathered in front of the factory building. With the red banners and portraits of Lenin in their hands, the march to the town centre had begun. While they were moving through town, a lot of students and ordinary city dwellers joined the demonstration – mainly because of idle curiosity. No one could imagine that it may turn to carnage, mayhem and years in prison.

The crowd came to the main town square and broke into the City Council building: off the balconies speeches were being made addressed to the public and the Soviet government, demanding wage increase and better price policies.

Meanwhile the army troops kept arriving from the neighbourhood regions. The situation was labelled as coup – it is still unknown whether the order to open fire was issues by Khrushchev himself, but the reality was that it was very unlikely without his approval.

About fifty soldiers of special troops tried forcing people back. First some soldiers made the warning one-off shot in the air. Immediately there was a shout from the crowd that it was blank shooting – so the people made a move at the soldiers. That moment the fire was opened.

People rushed in all directions causing chaos. Several dozens of people were on the ground, with blood all over. The whole thing did not last an hour.

Right away the fire fighters were called to wash the blood off the square and posters with a promise of a dance party for the following day were put up to make the citizens forget about the tragedy

The news about shooting quickly spread around the town. The spontaneous protest meeting of outraged people continued in the night after the tragedy. Introducing a curfew the army troops forced people to leave the square. The next few days were the real challenge for thousands of citizens who were afraid that they had been caught by the KGB photographers during the march. That time the government leaders discussed various options to prosecute the people involved in the unrest. Some of them even proposed to deport all the town citizens to the Middle Asia.

The Soviet government feared that the news about the riot in a small town would spread around the country and around the world. To prevent this, the KGB attracted several special machines to control the radio frequencies which could transmit the information about the tragedy. All the mail sent from the town of Novocherkassk was opened and looked through.

Novocherkassk Riots Memorial

Long after the unrest the KGB officers found the leaflets with claims and slogans about the protest. The tragic outcome was 33 persons lost and 90 injured. 122 people were arrested where 7 were blamed for terrorism and were later executed. The majority were imprisoned for 10–15 years for participating in abortive riots.

The cases were revised after the resign of Khrushchev. Some people were later released, but it was poor consolation for families of the killed civilians.

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The case of The Kremlin Doctors and its Consequences: the State of Anti-Semitism

Dmitry Yakimenko — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 06:44:02 +0000

Be Vigilant! Disclose an Enemy Under any Mask!

1953 was the last year of long and terrifying governing of Stalin. In January the huge country although accustomed to repressions shuddered from the new horror – this time the enemies-saboteurs were Kremlin doctors of a Jewish origin. The commenced persecution also applied to ordinary doctors. Soviet people who believed to the politically edited stories broadcast in the media were scared to be patients of Jewish doctors. On March, 5 of 1953 Stalin passed away and the case of Kremlin doctors was dismissed. Humiliated, maimed doctors were released. However this was only the beginning of the political repressions of the Jewish specialists and today we would like to introduce you to a striking example — the story of my family.

1951. Soviet doctors with the patient and recovered sight

My grandfather graduated from the Marine Military School in 1945, the last year of the Second World War. The training for the young officers was accelerated as the country was preparing to start the war with Japan. Soon my grandfather chose the profession of the submariner. He was a sailor on the most little submarines – so called ‘baby-submarines’ where the conditions were especially harsh. When the war with Japan ended he had a 5 year service contract in Port-Arthur in China.

By 1953 my grandfather was already a successful military officer who was preparing to get the position of the submarine commander two months later. My grandmother was a doctor, but in winter of 1953 she did not work as she gave a birth to her daughter, my mother. That February, just within a day all the officers of Jewish origin were dismissed fromtheir work. No, they were not imprisoned, nor withdrawn from work completely. They were simply sent to work for the Training Troop Base in Vladivostok, the camp traditionally used as a punishment camp for alcohol-addicted or misbehaving officers. With no explanation, a huge group of people — from navigators to mechanics, including highly qualified staff from the Leningrad Military Engineering Academy were sent to the Training Troops Base.

In March 1953 my grandfather, offended by unfairness to the innermost of his heart, wrote to Nikita Khrushchev. He satated that he had graduated from the Marine Military School with merits, had 5 year of experience of military service on submarines with permission to control and that he wanted to continue his career there. Surprisingly he received a reply, albeit not from Khrushchev personally. The Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Marine Army replied that the order for transfer would not be reversed and that was the end of story. He did not provide any explanation or apology.

With time, the doctors were rehabilitated but the innocent officers were not. The years after that were full of career obstacles, like a total ban on further study, should one enter the Military Academy. At the same time my grandfather’s colleagues of non-Jewish origin were aquiring the experience on the most contemporary nuclear submarines. None of them are alive at present as those first nuclear submarines were too dangerous for the health!

Surfacing Soviet Submarine

The overt discrimination of the Jews in different forms continued till the very end of the Soviet Union. Being accused of anti-Semitism was not something the Soviet officials liked: so there usually were formal examples of successful careers of Jewish specialists. For instance, the General of the Red Army Comrade Dragunskiy, who held a high ranking post despite his origin. However, that was exceptionally rare and was nicknamed as ‘museum rarity’.

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From Admirals to Dictators: Prominent Soviets on the Cover of Time Magazine.

Stas Kulesh — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:32:06 +0000

Here’s our little something for your Monday — a compilation of Time magazine covers with a USSR focus, 1925 — 1991. The prominent Soviet and Russian politicians, government leaders, poets, composers, writers, philosophers, scientists, astronauts, dissidents, admirals and a few dictators — the list of 110 remarkable citizens of the Soviet Union; those who made the West cringe — or laugh for that matter.

The faces are certainly repetitive, yet some covers are a piece of art –this collage is worth a good look, so click on the flash bit below, zoom in and explore.

If you would like to learn more please do not hesitate to click the fancy carousel. Thanks for being with us.

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Christian Dior in Moscow: a Fleeting Sense of Happiness

eugenia — Mon, 28 Sep 2009 08:52:24 +0000

1959. The official photo shoot, images courtesy of LIFE archives (Howard Sochurek)

The Khrushchev’s Thaw was to bring change to many aspects of the Soviet life, and fashion was one of them. The decision to allow the Soviet fashion designers to learn off their French counterparts was made as high as at the government level, which implicitly put fashion above politics or international ideological regimes. The colour of the Soviet Union, a generic grey, was about to be mixed up with the motley and lithe palette of the French fashion.

The fashion house of Christian Dior was chosen for many reasons. Firstly it was the epitome of elegance and style, defining the haute couture all over the globe. Secondly and most importantly, the Dior fashion was considered to be classic, regardless of the season or collection — and this suited the Soviet clothesmakers immensely. A “classic” cut of a suit would be considered “ideologically neutral” by the Soviets, as well as stable and practical. It would also mean lower production costs, as after having produced a set of patterns, the clothesmakers could go on releasing the same clothes for years.

Girls just want to have fun!

Full of life.

The statue of Liberty, French style.

Out in the streets, mesmerising the simple folk.

GUM — the biggest and the most upmarket Moscow department store.

Buying flowers from street vendors.

After 1957, the teams of Russian fashion designers regularly visited the fashion houses of Christian Dior, Givenchy, Yves Saint Laurent, Lanvin. Special attention was also paid to the art of shop window displays: in Paris, no two were the same; in Moscow, it was a sad, standartised, withered look. In short, a lot was to be taken home.

This reminds me of the Sex and the City episode, season five — girls partying with sailors.

I wish those girls had twitter — I wonder what they were thinking!

Looking swell, Dolly!

An alien on the street

Three graces

The wow factor

However, things were so much behind in the USSR. The implementation of new styles and techniques was inhibited by the overall conservatism of the state. The decorative elements of dresses were often omitted (Russian women were considered to be above cheap frills), and the cuts were simplified not to let the seduction slip in. The magazines were scarce and of Polish or Czech origin, if one was lucky. The clothes on sale were identical and sad-looking– it was labelled practical. Overall, despite the efforts, the French fashion had very little influence over the Russian fashion until the very late 1980s.

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