Stalin's Citizens: Everyday Politics in the Wake of Total War

289 Pages·2014·20.224 MB·English

by  Serhy Yekelchyk

Stalin’s Citizens

Stalin’s Citizens
Everyday Politics in the Wake of
Total War
xwx
Serhy Yekelchyk
1
3
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Yekelchyk, Serhy.
Stalin’s citizens : everyday politics in the wake of total war / Serhy Yekelchyk.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978–0–19–937844–9 (hardback : acid-free paper) 1. Kiev (Ukraine)—Politics and
government—20th century. 2. Kiev (Ukraine)—Social life and customs—20th century. 3. Citizenship—
Social aspects—Ukraine—Kiev—History—20th century. 4. Political participation—Ukraine—Kiev—
History—20th century. 5. Political customs and rites—Ukraine—Kiev—History—20th century. 6. Group
identity—Ukraine—Kiev—History—20th century. 7. Communism—Social aspects—Ukraine—Kiev—
History—20th century. 8. Patriotism—Social aspects—Ukraine—Kiev—History—20th century. 9. World
War, 1939–1945—Influence. 10. Citizenship—Soviet Union—Case studies. I. Title.
DK508.935.Y45 2014
947.084’2—dc23
2014000011
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
To my mother and father,
Olena and Oleksandr Yekelchyk—
a book about the city of their youth

CONTENTS
Preface ix
Introduction: Stalinist Political Rites 1
1. The Civic Duty to Hate 9
2. Stalinism as Celebration 34
3. A Refresher Course in Sovietness 68
4. The Toilers’ Patriotic Duty 103
5. Comrade Agitator 141
6. Election Day 179
Epilogue: “Good” Stalinist Citizens 218
Notes 227
Index 263
( vii )

PREFACE
As someone who grew up in the Soviet Union, I did not always have a purely
academic interest in the everydayness of political life under state socialism.
The political rituals that I analyze in this book are not alien territory to me;
I marched in parades, voted for Communist Party candidates, served as an
agitator, subscribed to state loans, and protested against American imperi-
alism. Admittedly, my brief personal experience of political participation
under socialism reflects the realities of the late Soviet period with its wide-
spread cynicism and dissimulation as well as the state’s formal, almost sta-
tistical, approach to citizen involvement in politics.
This book, however, is about the period when the system of Soviet mass
political rituals was being established in its most developed form under
Stalin or, more precisely, reestablished after the years of Nazi occupation.
I came to be interested in the immediate postwar years because they best
demonstrate how the formulaic rituals could create space for the people to
express their concerns, fears, and prejudices, as well as their eagerness to
be viewed as citizens in good standing. It was also toward the end of the
Stalin period that the Soviet state and its citizens settled for a more ossified
routine of political participation, which persisted until the Soviet Union’s
collapse.
There was another, more personal, reason for me to try and understand
the everydayness of politics in the last decade of Stalinist rule. This book
is about the era when my parents came of age in the very city that serves
as a setting for my narrative. They tried, unsuccessfully, to find themselves
in some of the photographs used as illustrations in this book: they were
convinced that they were somewhere in those crowds of marchers, mourn-
ers, or onlookers. This sense of their being living links to the late-Stalinist
society was indispensable to me, and the many now obscure, small details
of political rituals or workplace duties were easy for me to clarify just by
asking Mom or Dad, who laughed at my viewing the year 1948 as “history.”
I dedicate this book to my parents in appreciation of their unfailing love and
support, as well as their service as history’s witnesses.
( ix )