Real USSR » propaganda

The Wall: the Unaccounted Tragedies.

eugenia — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 22:08:09 +0000

As previously stated by George Orwell, war is peace. So when Walter Ulbricht, the Leader of the German Socialist Unity Party, on June 15, 1961 said: “No one has the intention of building the wall!”, it took only about two months for the construction to begin. The rundown state of the Eastern part was forcing people to flee in the search of better lives in the West of Germany: in the first six months of the year 1961, about 150 000 people left their houses. However, more stayed — and so the Wall did not only separate the city — it cut families in halves.

On the morning of August 13, 1961 the Berlinians woke up to the first layer of bricks being erected.

Prior to the construction of the Wall, posters fake promises were all over the city

During the first months, this way grandparents got to see their grandkids.

One had to use props to wave to friends on the other side.

The first anniversary of the Wall, 1962: the woman on the roof waving to her mother.

The use of binoculars was helpful during the first few months after the erection.

The other side was watching, as well.

As the time went, the barb wire and bricks were introduced to keep people away. The bride under the windows of her grandparents. The bouquet was lowered on a string.

This bride only got to see her relatives via binoculars.

Many were prepared to leave their lives behind and just flee for the better.

The Eastern authorities trying to stop the Western photographers by sending light into the cameras by mirrors.

Those who got caught fleeing were shot on the spot.

Gunter Liftin was shot on August 24, 1961 — before the construction was even complete.

In February 1975 this brave fellow was caught by the patrol guards, trying to cross the mined field.

Another unsuccessful attempt: wounded in the field.

In 1975 John Runnings from Canada tried to destroy the Wall with a hammer but was severely wounded by the machine-gunned guards.

Within hours after the fall. The happiest of faces.

Images are courtesy livejournal user drugoi.

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The Victory Aftermath. Russia in Second World War.

eugenia — Sun, 16 May 2010 09:12:35 +0000

The V-Day. Copyright unknown

On May, 25th 1945 Joseph Stalin made a celebratory speech devoted to the end of the Russian Great Patriotic War. The Second World War was coming to an end, but the Soviet Union was done fighting. The Russian troops had exited Germany and ahead lied a long road of rebuilding and rehabilitation. So in Kremlin, at the V-day Meeting, Stalin had said the following:

Do not expect me to say anything extraordinary today. I have a very simple, very ordinary toast to make. I would like to raise a glass to health of those people who are low in rank and invisible in the hierarchy. Of those who we consider to be the “small screws” of our huge state mechanism — they might be small but without them us generals, marshals and other top army leaders wouldn’t have made it. They are plentiful, they are a legion, it is tens of millions of people who have not been heard of — yet they hold us together, as the base holds the top. To their health!

Today we have brought to your attention a fragment of the interview with Yelena Bonner, a human rights activist, a dissident, a writer, and a widow of the late Andrei Sakharov — during the war she was a teen and now, courtesy to the Internet-magazine Snob.ru, she tells us about her experience during the war.

So — We did not fight for Stalin or the Soviet Union. We fought because we had no other choice.

Elena Bonner, b.1923. Image couretsy of snob.ru

Do you remember the war motto: “To Stalin! To Soviet Union!”

I was 18 when I was summoned — at the beginning of war, and till very late 1945 I spent with the troops — yet I never heard that motto. Every time there was a fire on the frontline we never shouted “To Stalin””, it was more like “You sons of fucking bitches!”.

So at the beginning of the war we have been told that many — lots! — of young people volunteered to be sent to the front line..

That was another huge lie about that war. Only a tiny percent of people who ended up in the front line volunteered to be there. The rest were mobilised, hands down. Every single man of the appropriate age, be him a farmer or a factory worker — all of them were summoned and sent to the war.

I was also mobilised, as thousands of other girls. I was a student at Hertsen Institute, and they had a huge banner on the wall: “Girls of our country, get your second, military profession now”. So we had to take a compulsory course in military education. The choices we had were about becoming a nurse, a communications technician or a sniper. I chose to be a nurse, and by the end of it I was listed as “suitable for summon”.

So on June 22nd, 1941 you heard about the German invasion –you know you are listed as “suitable”, so did you know you’d be part of the war very shortly? Did you have a feeling of upcoming radical change?

You know, it was a very odd feeling. I am eighty seven years old now, and now I am trying to comprehend what was happening and I am failing at it, how my generation lived anticipating the war. Not just the people of Leningrad — at least we experienced the war with Finland of 1939 — 1940 (the so-called Winter War), and it was a real war, with food shortages and no heating. So starting from 1937 I just couldn’t help but anticipate a war coming — and it was a solid, gut feeling. My Moscow friends felt the same.

So in 1942 you were summoned as a nurse — what did it feel like?

I was a nurse on the train, which was travelling in the Leningrad district, picking up the wounded and delivering them to Vologda or other safe destinations. There they were dropped off, cared for, nurtured a bit and then either returned back to the front line, or sent somewhere else, I am unsure… The train was constantly bombed, or derailed, or lost in the snow. And then I was wounded myself — I had a broken clavicle, a damaged left shoulder, injured nerve and a blood eye — I was bad and I was sent by the same train to Vologda and later to the Urals.

I guess I was very lucky throughout the war. There was no reason for me to be on the train — I could have been right on the front line. It was 1942, the toughest year by some account — nobody summoned during that year came back.

Yelena Bonner in her Moscow apartment. Image courtesy of Snob magazine.

How long did you spend on that train?

Till 1945 — till the very end. We were sent to Germany to evacuate the wounded from their territories in 1945. So on May 8, the VE Day, we were somewhere around Innsbruck, Austria, and this was our last journey bound for Leningrad. We arrived home, the train crew was restructured, I was made the Head of some medical department to care for the wounded bomb disposal soldiers. The war was technically over, yet these guys — working with the explosives — kept coming our way.I was one of the last ones to be demobilised, too — in August 1945.

Can you tell us some more myths about the war?

As I have said, nobody volunteered. Another one was that the Jewish did not fight — it is not true, they did. And probably the biggest one is post war — the exploitation of that war. And all these military parades show offs — they are no longer carried out to remember those who did not come back — now they have a mission of public relations, and TV ratings, and flexing the military muscle — both on the domestic and international levels.

Did you feel that right after the war things would change to the better?

We did — we felt that our country had just survived the incredible! We felt powerful, we felt like we were able to change things around, we hoped for the better.

So why do these war veterans who came back from the war never argue these myths about the war?

Why do you think when we came back and thought ah, we are so powerful — why do you think we all shut up?

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May, 1st: Soviet Labour Day.

eugenia — Sat, 01 May 2010 13:22:03 +0000

Parade of 1984, city of Ufa. Photo by N. Marochkin.

Day of International Solidarity of the Working Class, or Labour Day — was celebrated in Russia on May, 1st from 1919 to 1990. A public holiday for each every city, every township or village had a parade organised: flags were carried, posters and banners were up, kids had red ballons and portraits of the governing men were on display. The attendance usually was compulsory, but judging by the photographs now, I don’t think anybody minded: it looks like people had fum there. By May the weather was usually sunny and crisp, and this holiday was a little more that a propagandist activity: it was a unifying event. Please read on to see some faces behind the crowd.

Novosibirsk 1938. Photo from a private collection.

Novosibirsk 1953. Photo from a private collection.

Moscow 1958. Photo from a private archive by S. Buldakov.

Top Army guys. Moscow 1958. Photo from a private archive by S. Buldakov.

Novosibirsk 1958. Photo from a private collection.

Sports Club Marching. Novosibirsk 1972. Photo from a private collection.

Moscow 1978. Photo from a private archive.

City of Ufa 1984. Photo by N. Marochkin.

Toast to solidarity! Moscow 1978, photo from a private collection.

Moscow, late 1970s. Brezhnev is in the middle. Photo from a private collection.

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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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Moscow Underground Without Stalin — See the Gaps

eugenia — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 06:26:24 +0000

The Moscow underground metro system, opened in 1935, is well known for its ornate decorations, outstanding architecture and artwork. Most of that art is in the socialist realism style, which has its purpose of reinforcing the goals of socialism and communism. In 1932 Joseph Stalin introduced the decree “On the Reconstruction of Literary and Art Organizations”, thus making socialist realism state policy. Understandably, Stalin became the face of this movement — due to strict censorship rules, artists had to obey in order to avoid the punishment. So the majestic Moscow metropolitan system had bearings of many statues, portraits, mosaics of the man himself.

However, after his death, the Thaw and altogether the disintegration of the cult of his persona, images of Stalin were removed — no longer he was the face behind the socialism goals. Please read on to see the scars on the body of the finest example of the Soviet architecture — the Moscow Underground System.

Kurskaya Circle Station, 1944. Stalin by Tomskiy. After the statue was moved, the place was taken by a kiosk.

A mosaic: three women are embroidering a portrait of Stalin. Belorusskaja Station.

Later Stalin was replaced by the Emblem of the Red Labour Flag.

The trumpets are praising noone: the part of the mosaic with the face of Stalin was removed. Paveletskaya Station

This station, opened in 1944, was initially called Stalinskaya. In 1961 it was renamed as Semenovskaya.

Semenovskaya Station nowadays.

Semenovskaya, inside. Another portrait gone, not much polishing given.

Dobryninskaya Station, open in 1950 — Yuri Gararin was a teenager then and could not be portrayed as yet. However he replaced Stalin in mid196s there.

Elektrozavodskaya Station: at the back wall there used to be an ornament with a portrait of Stalin.

Elektrozavodskaya Station, nowadays.

Partizanskaya Staton. Above the statue is Stalin’s portrait and a quote “To defend our country is the most sacred duty of every citizen”.

Partizanskaya Staton. Now both the quote and the portrait have been removed

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Military Discharge Handmade Scrap Book and Comics Album

eugenia — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 09:07:51 +0000

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. Usually away from home, this period of time was meant to train and educate the men should there be a war. It included physical training, political orientation, current affairs, weaponry and so on — a good many posts can be written on life in the army! Today, however, we want to take a different look on this subject. 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. This particular one has a very neat selection of wee hand drawn episodes of the army realities.

The albums were usually this thick and bound in velvet cloth

So the owner served between 1984 and 1986, being called in from Leningrad to serve in Olenegorsk in some special forces

This is an extract which tells us exactly what happened…

Here’s a start to the story — the birds are bringing the army subpoena. Please note that the outfits, the hairstyles, even the stereo — all belong to the mid 80s.

The young guy turns up at the military assembly point.

The parents say good bye. The girlfriend promises to stay faithful.

The changeover: someone is arriving, someone is being discharged.

Learning the ropes

On the cleaning assignment

Those were the days, my friend..!

I wish you were here

In full gear. No hope to finish alive

Out in the city — the officer will never let me out of sight

See you right here in exactly seven days

A year and a half on — so nice to be a senior!NB — most likely, this is the radio espionage equipment.

Counting down the hours…

Hooooooooome!

All images are courtesy of the Livejournal user blackie again, whose album this is.

We hope you find this amuzing Stay tuned!

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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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Happy Birthday Dear USSR! The Great October Socialist Revolution. November 7th 1917.

Lena Traer — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 13:10:26 +0000

The Announcement of the Soviet Government. By Vladimir Serov, 1918.

The Soviet Union was officially created in 1922, however, if there was a date which could be considered as a birthday of the USSR, that would have had to be November 7th of 1917 — this was the day when in St Petersburg the Bolsheviks — the organised military revolutionaries, who later became the Communist Party of the USSR — came to power. The Russian Provisional Government which were the head of the country after the Tsar Nicholas II had resigned, was overthrown and the Soviets, taking the government buildings one by one, had finally captured the town.

The October Coup, as it was initially called, had later been renamed as we know it now - the Great October Socialist Revolution. Many attribute this change in terminology from a coup to a revolution to have a propaganda underline, as revolution is certainly perceived as having more weight and grandiosity that coup. Interestingly, the term “October” is no mistake: the revolutionary events did take place on the 25th October 1917, yet the calendar style was changed in 1918 from the traditional Julian calendar to the Gregorian style calendar. Thus 25 October 1917 became 7 November 1917, yet the title — the October Revolution — was left unchanged.

The first anniversary. 1918.

It is hard to explain briefly what had lead to these drastic events of 1917. The country was exhausted after the First World War. In March 1917 Tsar Nicholas II abdicated, and the Provisional Government came into power, although many refused to recognise it. The country was in crisis on the economic, social and political levels. Workers of many towns were on mass strikes, demanding better pay and better conditions. In towns the rates of unemployment were rising, while in countryside peasants were rebelling against landowners. The total bankruptcy was inevitable, which was odd, given that less that ten years prior to it, it was one of the most strongest economies in the world. Food shortages were becoming more and more frequent, and numerous conspiracies against the government began. So it was no surprise when the Bolsheviks’ Central Committee voted 10–2 for a resolution saying that “an armed uprising is inevitable, and that the time for it is fully ripe”.

Vladimir Lenin, the brain behind the October Revolution, and the face most often associated with it.

The Provisional Government was residing in the Winter Palace and, when the fall of it was announced, a decree was adopted, giving the power to the Union of Workers’, Soldiers’ and Peasants’ Deputies, thus ratifying the Revolution. The peasants were officially granted the land. The workers were allowed to take control over the factories and now manage them as they saw fit. The banks were nationalised,and all private bank accounts were confiscated. The Church was outlawed, and its properties were seized and later redistributed as cinema theatres, leisure clubs, or any recreational venues. All foreign debts were repudiated, and the wages fixed at an artificially high level. Vladimir Lenin was declared as the head of the State, and the long journey to Communism had officially began.

Seizing of the Winter Palace in St Petersburg by Bolshevik Baltic Sailors. The movie October, 1927.

The Bolsheviks viewed themselves as representing an alliance of workers and peasants and memorialized that understanding with the Hammer and Sickle on the flag and coat of arms of the Soviet Union. So the day was an official public holiday and the tradition to celebrate it with a parade, people marching in the streets with red flags and carrying red balloons and carnations — the official flower of the Revolution — had lingered for almost 70 years. The Red Square access roads in Moscow were re-constructed specifically for the November 7th annual Military parade showing off the latest developments in the Soviet weaponry.

Moscow 1941.

Not even the Military parade of 1941 was skipped, the year Germany invaded into Russia. The Soviet Army tanks were moving that day across the Red Square and straight to the army front. That act itself was as important as a large military operation as the Soviet people were showing their desperate sublime heroism. It is believed that the same day, November 7th 1941, was planned by Hitler as the day of the grand victory march of German troops through the Red Square having conquered Moscow, but it didn’t happen.

Probably one of the most famous images of the Soviet power –tanks in the Red Square in 1941.

Stalin gave a truly inspiration speech that day.

The tradition to commemorate the day of November 7th was spread all over the country. Any town — no matter how big or small — would participate. The attendance often was compulsory.

A parade in the small town of Lyvny, 1954.

Small town of Volzhsky. 1978.

Small town of Usinsk. 1979.

By the end of 1970s the enthusiasm about this day started to cease. A great deal of years passed since the original Revolution and people stopped feeling that excited about the Soviet state. The celebration march of the Working People was now enforced by factories and other organisations: it was no longer voluntary. This military parade was not as popular anymore, the new generation of the Soviets was not interested in weaponry and the great world power of the Soviet Union. However, from the outside it still looked the same and it was almost impossible to register the tiny changes in the mood.

Town of Ufa, circa 1980.

1986. Town unknown, but could have taken place anywhere.

Small town of Volzhsky. 1986.

Small town of Lyvny. 1988.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union the first Russian president Boris Yeltsin officially renamed the holiday in 1994, giving it a completely different meaning. November 7th became the Day of the Liberation of Moscow from the Polish occupation in the year 1612. The next year he came up with a new name and changed it to the Day of People’s Unity. Almost 10 years later, in the year 2004, Vladimir Putin changed the name again, bringing it back to the original roots: it became the Day of 1941 Military Parade on the Red Square in the city of Moscow in the memory of the 24th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution. It stopped being a day off, rather, the Day of People’s Unity sprawled as a new holiday, celebrated nowadays on November the 4th. Who knows what the future holds for this day now.

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Social Advertising on Soviet Matchbox Labels

Lena Traer — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 10:26:07 +0000

Matches in the Soviet Union were an important part of everyday life. Many apartments were not connected to the central gas, power or electricity systems, so people needed matches to light a stove to make food or to boil water to take a bath.

Thus, matchbox labels served as a daily reminder of the socially accepted rules of behavior or life wisdom advice, most commonly in the form of a friend recommendation from the Soviet state. So let’s have a look at this primitive yet very quaint form of social advertising.

Honey is good for doing sports. 1959.

Do not hang onto a handrail outside of a leaving train. 1959. (In case too many people would try to get on the train).

Do not slide the doors open on a moving train. 1959.

The image below is about Kerogas: a type of a portable primus kerosene stove. It was commonly used instead of electric stoves as the energy was too expensive, and the majority of the apartments were not connected to central gas lines. Highly flammable and not that safe as advertised

It will help you more than once, this simple and safe appliance – kerogas. 1959.

Do not let the children cross railway tracks. 1959.

Do not bring highly flammable substances onboard the train. 1959.

A vacuum cleaner is a great buy: to dust and dirt you will say good bye! 1959.

Do not jump off a moving train. 1959.

I praise every home where milk is on the house! 1959.

Vodka. Villainess with a label. 1959.

Riding on the roof of a train is dangerous. 1959.

Forget the way you washed before — now the washer is there for!

Be careful with a lantern! (kerosene lamp) Be careful with a kerogas! (kerosene stove) In case of fire, call 0–1. Know how to use a fire extinguisher! 1959.

One bottle of milk neutralises the harm done by three cigarettes. 1959.

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