Soviet Street Children and the Second World War : Welfare and Social Control Under Stalin

No responsibility for loss caused to any individual or organization acting on or refraining from action as a result of the material in this publication can be accepted by Bloomsbury or the author. Contents vi Conclusion Glossary Appendix Notes Select Bibliography Index I am indebted to many friends and colleagues who helped bring this book to fruition. No words can convey my gratitude to the Fellowship of St John's College that inspired and supported my research, both intellectually and fi nancially. Becoming part of this vibrant and engaging community was a major milestone in my academic career and a personal triumph. Returning to Cambridge as a Research Fellow off ered an opportunity to meet new people, exchange ideas and form long-lasting friendships. I am honoured to count Ksenia Afonina and Tanya Zaharchenko, both wonderful companions and brilliant thinkers, among my closest friends. Research in the former Soviet archives would have been a much more gruelling task without the assistance of the archival staff . Be it in Moscow, St Petersburg, Kiev, Odessa or Stanford, I was fortunate to encounter enthusiastic and generous individuals, whose readiness to help was truly appreciated. I am grateful to everyone at Bloomsbury who contributed to the editing and production of this book. I also thank the editors of Th e Russian Review and Australian Journal of Politics and History for permission to reprint parts of my earlier papers 'State v. Danila Kuz'mich: Soviet Desertion Laws and Industrial Child Labor during World War II' and 'Without a Family: Public Order, Social Welfare and Street Children in the Wartime Soviet Union' . Finally, I bow my head to my parents, Natalia and Vitaliy, for ensuring that their daughter never lacked in aff ection and care. Th ey unquestioningly accepted the eccentricities of the two 'archival rats' in the family, and together with my mother-inlaw, Irina Emel'ianova, took turns to look aft er their grandson for prolonged periods of time while his parents whizzed around the world attending conferences and searching for new discoveries in dusty archives. My husband, Andrei Kozovoi, deserves a special thank you for being such a splendid and loving partner in crime and father, especially now that we have a new addition to the family. Our children, Arthur and Adèle, are a true blessing! I dedicate this book to them. Russian endings ий and ый appear as ii and yi, and most diacritics are omitted, except the Russian 'soft ' (') and 'hard' (") signs. Personal names and toponyms appear in their non-Anglicized Russian form, except when such names are commonly used in their familiar English version, for instance Krupskaya and Gorky. Toponyms, such as Kiev and Kharkov, as well as those that have since been changed, such as Stalingrad (Volgograd) and Gorky (Nizhnii Novgorod), are mentioned as they were known at the time. All translations are mine, except where indicated otherwise. To simplify matters, I use the word 'police' instead of the Soviet term 'militsiia' . To minimize repetition, the offi cial designation for the Soviet government agency concerned with ensuring administrative legality, the Procuracy, and its employees, procurators, appear interchangeably with the names that are more familiar to Western readers, Prosecutor's Offi ce and prosecutors. "A time of great hardship, the Second World War became a consequential episode in the history of Soviet childhood policies. The growing social problem of juvenile homelessness and delinquency alerted the government to the need for a comprehensive child protection programme. Nevertheless, by prioritizing public order over welfare, the Stalinist state created conditions that exacerbated the situation even further, transforming an existing problem into a nation-wide crisis. In this comprehensive account based on exhaustive archival research, Olga Kucherenko investigates the plight of more than a million street children and the state's role in the reinforcement of their ranks. By looking at wartime dislocation, Soviet child welfare policies, juvenile justice and the shadow world both within and without the Gulag, Soviet Street Children and the Second World War challenges several of the most pervasive myths about the Soviet Union at war. It is, therefore, as much an investigation of children on the margins of Soviet society as it is a study of the impact of war and state policies on society itself."-- Provided by publisher A time of great hardship, the Second World War became a consequential episode in the history of Soviet childhood policies. The growing social problem of juvenile homelessness and delinquency alerted the government to the need for a comprehensive child protection programme. Nevertheless, by prioritizing public order over welfare, the Stalinist state created conditions that only exacerbated the situation, transforming an existing problem into a nation-wide crisis. In this comprehensive account based on exhaustive archival research, Olga Kucherenko investigates the plight of more than a million street children and the state’s role in the reinforcement of their ranks. By looking at wartime dislocation, Soviet child welfare policies, juvenile justice and the shadow world both within and without the Gulag, Soviet Street Children and the Second World War challenges several of the most pervasive myths about the Soviet Union at war. It is, therefore, as much an investigation of children on the margins of Soviet society as it is a study of the impact of war and state policies on society itself. Cover Half-title Title Copyright Contents Acknowledgements List of Illustrations Terms and Transliteration Abbreviations and Archive References Introduction Part One: Bezottsovshchina 1. Rolling Stones 2. The Crime Wave 3. The Great Migration 4. Efforts to Help 5. Coda Part Two: Step-Motherland 6. Empty Promises 7. Forced Displacement 8. Making Labourers into Criminals 9. Law and Order Soviet Style 10. Coda Part Three: In Beria’s Care 11. State House 12. Maloletka 13. Challenges to Authority 14. Educating through Labour 15. Coda Conclusion Glossary Appendix Notes Select Bibliography Index "A history of child homelessness and delinquency in the Soviet Union during the Second World War and its aftermath"-- Provided by publisher