The militarisation of childhood in the children’s press and illustrated publications in Soviet Ukraine, 1929–1941

An important part of the practice of intellectual communication and the transfer of experience between the generation that spent its childhood in the USSR and the following generations, a kind of chain that connects Soviet discourses with post-Soviet ones, was and still is the phenomenon of familiarisation, accustoming children to Soviet children’s literature, especially poetry. Thus its influence on the consciousness of several generations of »Soviet people« cannot be overestimated. This does not always occur directly through studying or reading aloud; more often it can be an unconscious or semi-conscious transfer of images, ideas and beliefs learned in childhood by adults themselves: commonly used metaphors, rhymes and fragments of texts echo the Soviet upbringing. To this day, there are many Ukrainians born in the USSR who can continue a line from Soviet children’s poems, some of which were written during the Stalin era or in accordance with the established style of the time.

The influence of Soviet children’s literature on the formation of the child’s identity was extremely high until the very end of the USSR, but the most relevant shift in this respect, the transformation of literature into a weapon in the ideologisation of young citizens, took place in the 1930s. This was the time when the basic principles and functioning of the instrumentalized literature, the main goals and objectives, genres, themes, plots, and permitted stylistic principles were established. They survived, with minor variations, until the end of the 1980s.

The »cult of struggle«, one of the key features of totalitarian ideology, was directly mirrored in the militarisation of Soviet society in the 1930s. It took place within the framework of the inevitable war discourse pushed by the authorities and children were among the first to be drawn into its orbit. They were traditionally viewed by the

Bolshevik authorities as future fighters – they had to withstand the final battle »for the power of the Soviets« in the war against global capital. While analysing texts for children and about children in the period 1929–1941, it is hard not to notice that against the background of the general militarisation of social and political life, childhood was also actively militarized. This manifested in the glorification of war, bloodshed, violence, and the propagation of ideas about the hostile environment which must be fought against.

The call to harden »muscles of iron, nerves of steel« was part of the image of an ideal fighter. This process of ideological militarisation began in the 1920s, but from the early 1930s on it turned into a broad mobilisation and propaganda campaign involving a wide range of organizers and performers, and, of course, children of all ages. Its initiators and ideological inspirers were Joseph Stalin himself, the party and the Komsomol, Pioneer leaders of the USSR and the Ukrainian SSR, editors and journalists in all mass media, the artistic intelligentsia (writers, directors, and artists), methodologists of the children’s movement, and performers – teachers at all levels and leaders of the Pioneer detachments. In their speeches addressed to children, the Communist Party leaders Lazar Kaganovich (Лазар Каганович), Kliment Voroshilov (Клімент Ворошилов), Mykola Skrypnyk (Микола Скрипник), Hryhorii Petrovskyi (Григорій Петровський), Pavlo Postyshev (Павло Постишев), and Serhii Andreiev Сергій Андрєєв) spoke in bloody details about the sacrifices and losses suffered by the Bolsheviks in the struggle against capitalism and tsarism, emphasising that Soviet children should be grateful to these heroes and, if the Party called, they should give their lives for the common Bolshevik cause without hesitation. In the Закони та звичаї юних піонерів [Laws and Customs of Young Pioneers],¹ the ideologists included a clause stating that a pioneer is a friend, assistant, and future fighter of the Red Army and helps to strengthen the country’s defence. Children’s literature became an effective tool for ideologising childhood, part of the system of transforming a child into a future fighter. The shortest way for poetry and prose for children to reach their readers was through the children’s press, which had been actively developed since the first post-revolutionary years.

The following magazines for children were published in the republic: Червоні квіти (Chervoni kvity) [Red Flowers] (1923–1931), Більшовиченята (Bilshovycheniata) [Little Bolsheviks] (1924–1931); Піонерія (Pioneriia) [Pioneering] (1931–1941), a new magazine created in 1931 on the basis of Червоні квіти and Більшовиченята; Дитячий рух (Dytiachyi rukh) [Children’s Movement] (published from 1925–December 1941, from the middle of 1934 under the title Піонервожатий (Pionervozhatyi) [Pioneer leader]); На роботі (Na roboti) [At Work] (1930–1933); Октябрьские всходы (Oktjabr’skie vshody) [October Sprouts] (1924–1930); and Жовтеня (Zhovtenya) [Little Octobrist] (1928–1941); in addition to over 30 other magazines and newspapers, such as На зміну (Na zminu) [For the Change] (1925–1941).

During the policy of korenizatsiya, which began in 1923, a network of schools, cultural institutions, newspapers and magazines, and book publishers was organized in Ukraine, operating not only in Ukrainian and Russian, but also in the languages of ethnic minorities. The publications with the largest circulations were Zay greyt

[Be Prepared!] (in Yiddish, Kharkiv, 1929–1936), Oktyaberl [Little Octobrist] (in Yiddish, Kyiv, 1931–1936), Πιονερος (Pioneros) [Pioneers] (in Greek, Mariupol, 1933–1937), Bądź gotów [Be Prepared!] (in Polish, Kharkiv, Kyiv, 1929–1935), and Бъди готов! (Budi gotov!) [Be Prepared!] (in Bulgarian, 1929–1938). In accordance with Stalin’s dictum that »culture should be national in form and international in content«, these publications were also censored and provided readers only with content ideologically approved by the Party. Nevertheless, in practice, korenizatsiya meant derussification and gave an impulse for the development of national cultures, which was perceived with concern in Moscow. From the late 1920s on, Ukraine gradually turned from a political subject into an object, losing all the achievements and gains of the 1920s behind which the Ukrainian Communists stood.² The repressions against the leadership of the CP(b)U and the state apparatus of the Ukrainian SSR, against the Ukrainian creative and technical intelligentsia, and the Holodomor in the Ukrainian countryside completely changed the situation. Stalin no longer saw the need for support from the local national minorities, and the Kremlin’s national policy underwent tangible changes from 1933 on. One of the results of these changes in Ukraine was the reversal of korenizatsiya – first through the reduction and then via the complete closure of national schools, the liquidation of national districts, and the prohibition of publications in national minority languages. In the course of these actions, the Communists of Ukraine who were the initiators of the korenizatsiya, led by Skrypnyk (Микола Скрипник), were repressed. In the second half of the 1930s, all publications in the languages of national minorities were liquidated.

It should be mentioned that from the late 1920s to the early 1930s, the Bolshevik authorities began to attach great importance to children’s fiction; it had great influence through »deep emotional experiences«³ and, if well written, won the readers’ sympathy with the characters. Leonid Kormchiy’s thesis about children’s literature as a weapon,⁴ published in 1918, found its full embodiment in the 1930s.

In Ukraine, since the 1920s, children’s books have been published both in the State Publishing House of Ukraine (Державне видавництво України, DVU) and in various private and cooperative publishing houses (Книгоспілка [Book Association], Сяйво [Shining], Слово [Word], Космос [Space]). The existence of this private sector complicated the work of the propaganda apparatus to educate the new citizen, so as early as 1929 the work of private publishers was harshly criticized by the Central Committee of the Komsomol and the Central Bureau of the Communist Children’s Movement.⁵ In 1930, the entire private book publishing sector was liquidated, and cooperative publishing houses were transferred to the DVU.⁶

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, of the authors of children’s books could barely write enough about war; in most cases, this theme was introduced in short essays about the Red Army⁷ and Soviet and foreign revolutionary figures and their struggle.⁸ Fiction stories, poems, and memoirs about the events of the revolution and the Civil War were published in small editions separately⁹ or in thematic collections for recital on Soviet holidays.¹⁰ Such works included poems in Ukrainian by Leonid Pervomaisky (Леонід Первомайський), Yaroslav Hrymaylo (Ярослав Гримайло), Volodymyr Sosyura (Володимир Сосюра), Mykola Khvylovy (Микола Хвильовий), Geo Shkurupiy (Гео Шкурупій), and in Yiddish by Lev Kvitko (Лев Квитко), Hanna Levina (Ханна Левіна), Yosyp Kotlyar (Йосип Котляр), David Hofstein (Давид Гофштейн), and others. But party and Komsomol leaders considered the number of books insufficient and ordered writers to write many new ones.¹¹ Famous and influential Jewish writers also called on creative young people to create new Soviet literature in Yiddish, emphasising the fact that there were no works about the revolution and the Civil War for Jewish children.¹²

The first steps towards the creation of the new literature were several resolutions of the Communist Party aimed at improving its »ideologic and artistic level«. The Resolution of the Central Committee of the VKP(b)¹³ about the publishing house Young Guard (Молодая гвардия) (1931) called literature for children and youth the sharpest Bolshevik tool on the ideological front. The texts were required to »be ­Bolshevikally cheerful, to call for struggle and victory«.¹⁴ The book Наші вороги [Our Enemies] by Yakiv Khelemsky (Яків Хелемський) (1931), illustrated by Izrail Nyzhnyk (Ізраїль Нижник), was conceived in a similar style and depicted certain social types, contrasting them with the proletariat and propagating a picture of a binary world with a division into good and evil, friend and foe.¹⁵

After the accusations of »Ukrainian nationalism« and repressions against the employees of the DVU, in March 1934 a separate publishing house, Dytvydav (Дитвидав), was founded, subordinate to the Central Committee of the LKSMU.¹⁶ In order to prevent children’s writers giving up the party’s ideology, the secretary of the Central Committee of the CP(b)U,¹⁷ Andriy Khvylya (Андрій Хвиля), played an active part in developing the thematic plan of the publishing house.¹⁸ It was tasked with »creating such books for children that, combining interesting and accessible presentation for children with a high ideological level, would instil interest in the struggle and construction of the working class and the party«.¹⁹

At the First All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers in Moscow (August 17, 1934), the problem of the lack of high-quality Soviet literature for children was voiced repeatedly, especially in the report by Samuel Marshak (Самуил Маршак), who very clearly set the framework for the plot of the history of the Bolshevik Party, emphasising that the children themselves insist the old Bolsheviks tell them about their revolutionary past, how they worked in military underground organisations, and how they fought.²⁰

Ukrainian writers and publishers acted according to the theses voiced at the congress and the publication of children’s literature increased significantly. From 1934 to 1936, Dytvydav published 470 titles with a total circulation of about five million copies, including 127 titles that were published for the first time.²¹ These publications included military works by Petro Panch (Петро Панч), Mykola Skazbush (Микола Сказбуш), Oles Donchenko (Олесь Донченко), and Maria Pryhara (Марія Пригара).²²

If we follow the dynamics of the introduction of militaristic issues in texts for children, one of the leading themes was the »Great October Socialist Revolution« and the Civil War in Ukraine from 1918–1921. »October« was the starting point for the existence of the new Soviet era, a fundamental element of the Bolshevik myth, and a tool for legitimising the new government. This myth became an instrument in the political struggle and was used as a powerful weapon against entire social groups, becoming a theoretical justification for terror.

The children’s press addressed the topic of revolutionary events very actively, as it had to provide a quick response to the request from the authorities. Poems in honour of the Red Army²³ and Fleet,²⁴ articles, memoirs by workers and revolutionaries, excerpts from works of fiction about the battles of the Civil War, and the struggle against the enemies of the revolution were published in the late 1920s and early 1930s, on the occasion of public holidays (the anniversary of the October Revolution, the anniversary of the Red Army (February 23), birthdays of party leaders, or anniversaries of the Komsomol or Pioneer organisations).²⁵ Portraits and biographies of the Red Army commanders²⁶ and photos and drawings of parades by paramilitary units were widespread.²⁷ The children’s press urged readers to support the Red Army and to raise funds for it.²⁸ Adult authors swore on children’s behalf that they would be loyal to the Soviet government and give their lives for the cause of the proletariat.²⁹

The rhetoric of the texts addressed to the Pioneers was marked by statements and concepts of military origin or associated with violence.³⁰ The words »struggle«, »battle«, »blood«, and »sworn enemies« were included in the headlines and the texts, even those devoted to such peaceful issues as the reform of the education system, discipline in schools, increasing the level of school achievement, etc. In this period, the topic of death in texts for children was intensified, which in itself was extraordinary. Mentioning the death of the »best fighters« for the cause of the party was an obligatory element of biographical stories and works of fiction about the era of revolution and civil war. Death was a mandatory payment for a better future, a sacred sacrifice laid on the »altar of the revolution«. Children were taught that sacrifices were mainly for their sake, so that they could play with friends and learn in schools.

For some time, in writings for children, death was something unrealistic, related to the »old« times or the distant future. Children encountered death in stories about the deaths of the Bolsheviks during the Revolution and the Civil War, or in songs about future battles with the bourgeoisie for the cause of the proletariat, such as the popular revolutionary song sung by Pioneers marching to the drum:

But in the period of collectivisation, the topic of death acquired another dimension. Children became involved in the interpretation of death as a heroic act. The entire country became aware of the name of the Russian Pioneer Pavlik Morozov (Павлик Морозов), who was murdered with a knife in the forest near the village of Gerasimovka (Герaсимовка) in the Urals in September 1932. According to the official version, he was killed by his relatives because he fearlessly denounced his father and other family members who allegedly opposed Soviet rule in the village (they were »kulaks«³²). According to the court verdict against those accused of the murder, they had sought to prevent Pavlik’s future reporting to the authorities about the activities of the »kulaks«. His death was declared a heroic deed, since even his family ties did not prevent him from fighting against the enemies of the Soviet regime. After his death, two young Moscow journalists, Elizar Smirnov (Елизар Смирнов) and Vitaly Gubarev (Виталий Губарев), visited his village, talked to villagers, attended the trial of his killers, and became the creators of the myth of the boy who denounced his own father for the love of Soviet power and the revolution. The articles of these journalists were later reworked, supplemented, and published in newspapers and as separate books. This myth was replicated in Soviet texts for children almost until the end of the Soviet Union.³³ In 1933, the children’s press in Ukraine published an article by the head of the Central Bureau of the Pioneer Movement (Moscow), Valentin Zolotukhin (Валентин Золотухин), which called for revenge and following his example.³⁴ »Let’s all be like Pavlik!«, the Ukrainian press urged children.³⁵ In 1933–1934, several criminal cases were opened in Ukraine based on murders, beatings or threats of physical violence against Pioneers.³⁶ In the summer of 1933, there was a report about Mykyta Slipko (Микита Сліпко), a young man who lived in the village of Zaplavky (Dnipro region). Like Pavlik Morozov, he was stabbed while trying to detain »two unknown people who were cutting ears of grain on the collective farm fields«.³⁷ In 1934, Pioneer Nadia Ryndia (Надя Риндя) was killed under similar circumstances in the Artemivsk district of the Donetsk region. Criminal cases were opened on beatings or threats of physical violence by fellow villagers towards the Pioneers Ulyana Skakodub (Уляна Скакодуб) from the Chernihiv region, Volodymyr Oleksiuk (Володимир Олексюк) from the Odessa region, Nina Sushcha (Ніна Суща) from the Kherson region, and others.³⁸

Images of children killed by fellow villagers firmly entered the Pioneer pantheon in the republic. Poems and songs were written about them.³⁹ Such stories flooded the children’s press and were used by the authorities to escalate hostility in order to arouse hatred and aggression against those who did not support collectivisation and Soviet power.⁴⁰ Thus, in the official discourse, the death of a child in peacetime, not in war, lost its extraordinary nature; it became a relevant event, tragic, shocking, but possible, acceptable, even exemplary.

The press created the image of an internal enemy that even school children had to learn to recognize.⁴¹ Hatred was incited by descriptions of the trials of »enemies of the people«, which used the most offensive words against the defendants.⁴² In this context, there was intensive use of such inseparable lexical chains as »enemies« – »hate« – »fight« – »revenge« – »retaliation« – »death«. A striking example of such rhetoric was the coverage by the children’s press of Sergei Kirov’s (Сергей Киров) assassination in December 1934. The very first issue of the magazine Піонерія after the murder published the Пісня про Кірова [Song about Kirov] by Pavlo Tychyna (Павло Тичина), which contained the words: «we swear to avenge the blood and kill all enemies for one Stalinist«.⁴³

Militarisation of childhood was also pursued directly through teaching military skills in after-school activities (a variety of paramilitary clubs, studios in schools, Pioneer palaces). This process took place both in various paramilitary societies and in children’s circles created in Pioneer Houses and schools. Schools established contacts and cooperation with military units engaged in the military training of children. In poetic works, the romanticisation of weapons can also be observed. Poems dedicated to weapons glorified their accuracy and reliability and loyalty to the proletariat, and expressed the idea that weapons bring peace.⁴⁴ The press urged children to master military skills and learn to shoot. The newspaper Zay greyt featured a section »Together with the Red Army«, containing, for instance, notes about Pioneers who attended a military circle under the headline: »We learned to use a pistol and gas mask«.⁴⁵ Images of pioneers with weapons were becoming increasingly popular.⁴⁶ The context of such materials was the obligatory narrative that capitalists in the West were preparing for a war against the USSR, building up military potential, and working on the militarisation of young people, including children.⁴⁷ A technique that incited hatred and prepared children for aggressive confrontation was the description of violent measures taken by Western capitalists against ordinary workers.⁴⁸ When writing about violence in other countries, the authors provided naturalistic descriptions of suffering and bloodshed.⁴⁹ This picture was especially emotional in poetic works, as in Dos lid fun der Ershte may [Song of the 1st of May] by the poet Moishe Pinchevsky (Мойше Пінчевський), with lines such as «blood was shed on the streets again«.⁵⁰

At the VIIth All-Union Conference of the Komsomol in 1932, air defence, topography, signalling, communications, camouflage, and shooting were recognized as »elementary skills of military affairs which should be introduced to children«.⁵¹ Texts about the need for military training for schoolchildren were accompanied by similar statements by the republic’s leaders: »Let our enemies know that gray-haired proletarians and kolkhoz workers and young pioneers are ready to defend the country of the Soviets.« All calls for the mobilisation of children for military work began with a story about how the »world imperialists« were preparing an attack and were training the younger generation in military skills for this purpose.⁵² The press propaganda took this process so seriously that future Red Army soldiers were not forgiven for any weakness or any manifestation of childishness. Reporting on the preparations for the All-Ukrainian Spartakiad in one of the camps in the Kyiv region, a correspondent reported with sharp sarcasm about the »shortcomings« and noticed that »while walking in a gas mask, one of the guys, Lenya Freiman (Льоня Фрейман), suddenly saw his mother, who came to see him, took off the gas mask and ran… to his mother. T’at’s how good a soldier is!«⁵³ Poets and journalists began to depict children as soldiers.⁵⁴

From the second half of the 1930s, the strengthening of military propaganda in the children’s press can be observed. Preparations for a new war updated stories about another war – the civil war, which allegedly built a bridge to the present, asserting that the struggle and death of fathers and grandfathers should be an example to their descendants. In particular, many texts were devoted to the topic of confrontation between the Bolsheviks and local Ukrainian revolutionary leaders – Simon Petlyura (Симон Петлюра), Pavlo Skoropadsky (Павло Скоропадський), Nestor Makhno (Нестор Махно), Ataman Zeleny (Атаман Зелений), and others. More fictional stories were based on historical characters who participated in the establishment of Bolshevik power in Russia and Ukraine during the revolution – Mikhail Frunze (Михаил Фрунзе), Sergei Kirov (Сергій Кіров), Hryhoriy Kotovsky (Григорій Котовський), Mykola Shchors (Микола Щорс).⁵⁵ In 1939–1941, the cult of the contemporary children of the military leaders Kliment Voroshilov (Климент Ворошилов), Semen Tymoshenko (Семен Тимошенко), and Semen Budyonnyi (Семен Будьонний) intensified.⁵⁶

But in addition to the legendary Red military leaders, young people also needed young heroes, and the texts noticeably featured images of children who helped the Bolsheviks during the Civil War – they made their way across the front line with reports, rescued wounded Red partisans, did not succumb to gang torture, and did not reveal any secrets. In contrast to the children’s characters of the late 1920s and the first half of the 1930s, who often played the passive role of victims of the previous regime rescued by the Red Army, there was an increase in new active heroes who performed adult tasks.⁵⁷ General militarisation and women’s emancipation also brought an end to traditional gender roles. The authorities urged girls not to stand aside; they were to be inspired by the images of brave revolutionaries who, along with boys and adults, fought for the victory of the Bolsheviks.⁵⁸

Parallel to the stories about the events of 1917–1921, texts devoted to real battles began to appear. They helped include the child in the discourse of war as an active participant. The motivation for strengthening militarist propaganda was the Spanish Civil War,⁵⁹ in which the Soviet Union played an active part. One issue of the magazine Піонерія reported, »In the ranks of the Republican troops, the people’s militia, next to men, women and children are fighting heroically.«⁶⁰ Young citizens had to realize that they can fight, and not just make slogans.

In the second half of the 1930s, the theme of border protection was emphasized on the pages of children’s newspapers and magazines. Red border guards became the heroes for children.⁶¹ Articles in the children’s press in the republic praised the achievements of the Pioneers who tracked down suspicious persons who snuck across the border and reported them to the military or the police. The Ukrainian poet Igor Muratov wrote an entire poem on this topic in which a Pioneer girl tracked down a spy who had snuck across the border. The constant military agitation and propaganda found a sincere response in children’s naive souls, as they quickly learned the terminology and began to think as the ideologues demanded. A poem written by a schoolboy reflected this view of the world full of enemies:

»Spy mania« gripped society; children even played spies. Another inspiring theme was the accession of Western Ukraine in September of 1939 after the partition of Poland. Plots about the liberation of workers around the world by the Red Army were built around this event. Texts about the »eternal aspiration« of Ukrainians in Poland to join Soviet Ukraine, their suffering under Polish rule, and the festive meeting of the Red Army appeared in the children’s press.⁶³ They heroized the Soviet army, seeking to convince children of the justness of its actions. The authors proposed each child join the community of »Soviet children«, on whose behalf they articulated the desire to become heroes and go to war for Soviet power.⁶⁴

Military pilots aroused great admiration in children, who dreamed of the sky. Involvement in aviation was even recommended by Pioneer leaders as a way of correcting the most persistent hooligans. In a speech at a radio rally for teachers across the republic (1935), Vinnytsia Pioneer Leader Zoya Rempa (Зоя Ремпа) said that as a result of being involved in aviation, »one Pioneer, who could not be rehabilitated by any means, is now studying to become a pilot.« A 10th-grade pupil at a Kharkiv school named Soloviy (Соловій), who for a long time was not interested in Komsomol work, demonstrated pessimistic depressive moods, and even attempted suicide, found a sense of purpose in life after being invited by Komsomol members to a parachute club and joined the Komsomol.⁶⁵ The theme of aviation was one of the most favourite in children’s poetry.⁶⁶

From 1935 to 1941, the number of books in which children were portrayed in a military context increased.⁶⁷ The most popular ones were even reprinted several times, such as Петро Панч [Petro Panch], a story about a little partisan. Images of boys were complemented by vivid images of girls who fought for Soviet power.⁶⁸

The work of the Jewish poet Lev (Leib) Kvitko (Лев [Лейб] Квитко)⁶⁹ deserves to be mentioned separately because of his extraordinary popularity in Ukraine and abroad and his great interest in military topics. From 1934, when the collection A freylekh yor [Merry Year] appeared in Дитвидав, to 1941, the number of editions of his works and their circulation in different languages continuously increased. In addition to poems such as Friling zol shoyn kumen [Spring Should Be Here by Now] and Der Zavod [Factory], there were military poems like Parashut [Parachute], Fashist [Fascist], A briv dem Voroshilov [Letter to Voroshilov], and Royt Reyter [Red Horsemen].⁷⁰ For a long time, the poem Letter to Voroshilov was the poet’s »calling card« and was reprinted many times both in Ukraine and abroad. For the period from 1935 to 1941, the Letter to Voroshilov was published as a separate book three times in Ukrainian, with a total circulation of 160,000 copies, ten times in Russian with a total circulation of 184,5500 copies, in 28 languages of the USSR (185,000 copies), including Tabasaran, Mari, Circassian, and Mordvin,⁷¹ and also in Braille.⁷² In the second half of the 1930s it was included in the list of compulsory literature for children.⁷³ The Russian translation of the work was produced by Samuel Marshak in 1936 and published in the Soviet magazine Мурзилка [Murzilka], after which it became popular throughout the Soviet Union.⁷⁴ Kvitko himself noted in a letter to Marshak that »with your light hand, Letter to Voroshilov in your masterful translation went around the country« and emphasized that »poems on Red Army themes are extremely necessary for our children«.⁷⁵

The poem’s lyrical subject, a little boy whose brother goes to serve in the Red Army, sends a letter to Marshal Kliment Voroshilov (Климент Ворошилов), the People’s Commissar of Defence of the USSR:

The boy writes that he »heard that the fascists are planning a war« (in some editions, »fascists« was replaced by »bourgeois«) and are preparing an attack, dreaming of plundering the Soviet country. What is interesting is the fact that the bourgeois changed back to fascists several times, depending on the political preferences of the authorities. Thus, in the collection A freylekh Yor [Merry Year] (1934) it is printed as »fascists«,⁷⁷ as is also the case in Lider un Meyses [Songs and Stories] (1937)⁷⁸ and the anthology Royte Armey (1938).⁷⁹ But in the collection Lebedik un freylekh [Live and Fun]⁸⁰ (1939) and in the anthology Разговоры с близкими⁸¹ [Conversations with Loved Ones] (1940) we again encounter the word »bourgeois«. Confessing his love, he requests that his brother be included in the advanced detachment (that is, the one that goes into battle first) and assures »Comrade Voroshilov« (Khaver Voroshilov) that his brother will serve faithfully and even »die, but will not allow the enemy to enter his native land«. If he does die, he is ready to replace him in the army ranks.

Composer Pavel Akulenko (Павел Акуленко) set the poem to music in 1938. The modern listener cannot fail to be impressed by the combination of such a sad theme as the death of his brother and the cheerful, vigorous rhythm of the song.

The hero of the poem Akh, az ikh vel oysvaksn⁸² [When I Grow Up] is a little boy, delighted with horses that are still too big for him. He dreams that in adulthood he will become a rider and Marshal Semen Budyonnyi, the hero of the Civil War, will take the young soldier to serve in the cavalry. On the book’s last page, the artist Йосип Дайц⁸³ (Yosyp Daitz) depicted the boy’s dream: he is wearing a Budyonovka⁸⁴ hat and with a rifle behind his shoulders and standing in front of a group of horsemen led by Budyonny on a horse (the figure of the marshal is marked by the famous thick moustache). Next to the marshal is a saddled horse intended for the little hero. Military themes are also present in other poems by L. Kvitko. Their popularity increased significantly in the second half of the 1930s and early 1940s. The branches of Дитвидав in Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odesa published collections of poems in Yiddish by Kvitko: Red Cavalry (1936), Red Cavalrymen (1936), and When I Grow Up (1937) with a total circulation of 8.5 thousand copies. Even larger editions of these books were published in Ukrainian from 1935 to 1939: some 235 thousand copies.⁸⁵ The Moscow publishing house Детиздат (Detizdat) and others published Russian translations of When I Grow Up (1937), Red Army (1938, 1940), and Young Shooters – about 1.6 million copies in total.⁸⁶ And that is not counting general anthologiess which also included military works. The children’s press also regularly published the popular poet. From 1934 to 1941, the magazine Жовтеня published seven different war poems by L. Kvitko.

These works were meant to convey a sense of threat from the »hostile capitalist environment«, constructing an image of the enemy. The poem Fascists from the collection Merry Year depicted a terrible image of a »fascist« who walks around looking for communists, waving an axe to cut off their heads. Here, two images of enemies are combined at once – the »bourgeois« has a »fascist son« who is ordered to kill quietly, without noise.⁸⁷ In the poem »Forward«, the author addresses the workers abroad with the words: »help the communists, death to the fascists!«⁸⁸ In the poems of the late 1930s the war is felt as inevitable, and so their little heroes are ready to go to war immediately. Moreover, in two poems, both mother and grandmother are prepared to let their little boys go to the front, because they »can’t be held back anyway«.⁸⁹

No less than the texts themselves, illustrations, being visual tools for conveying meanings, introduced young readers to social discourses. After all, the books were intended for children who could not read. In addition, texts and images influenced the adults who read and explained words and pictures to their children. The peculiarity of the illustrations to militaristic texts was an expressive depiction of warfare; it was always romanticized and dynamic. In the illustrations by the famous Soviet artists Vladimir Konashevych (Владимир Конашевич) and Vladimir Alfeyevsky (Владимир Алфеевский)⁹⁰ tanks are advancing on the ground, covering the infantry, and paratroopers are descending from planes in the sky.⁹¹ All illustrations in children’s books to texts about the army are united by an idealized image of Red Army soldiers. They are always slim, physically strong, andsome, and wearing new uniforms that fit them perfectly. They have either a stern look when it comes to repelling enemies or smiling and gentle faces when they communicate with children. This image was one of the representations of the new Soviet man; it made the dream of joining this community attractive and desirable for a child.

During the years 1929–1941, military propaganda gradually gained momentum and the new children’s literature shaped a new person who did not doubt the extraordinary, outstanding role played by the Bolshevik Party and its army in the fate of their country and in the development of mankind. These stories were written in language that was accessible for children. The age of the heroes was close to the age of the reader, but they had already formed character and a strong will, and were ready to defend their proletarian principles and fight for Soviet power. The plots of these books are transformed eternal myths about the struggle between good and evil, embodied in the war between communists and their enemies. All of them were imbued with the pathos of confidence in victory and faith in the power of the Red Army, and encouraged teenagers to study military affairs in their free time. But the militarisation of childhood was a broader process than just teaching military skills in after-school activities. It also included emphasis of the inevitability of violence and the sharp struggle between classes and states. It led to the perception of violence as a cruel but effective means of solving all problems. The downside of this process was that the individual began to tolerate violence against himself and his loved ones by the state.

1. The Central State Archive of Higher Authorities and Administration of Ukraine, fonds 166, op. 11, spr. 141, p. 29 ↩︎

2. Васильєв В. Політичне керівництво УРСР і СРСР: динаміка відносин центр-субцентр влади (1917–1938) [The Political Leadership of the Ukrainian SSR and the USSR: the Dynamics of Centre–Subcentre Power Relations]. Київ 2014. ↩︎

3. Воспитаем ленинцев [Let’s educate Leninists]: In: Литературная газета, 30.12.1929, p. 2. ↩︎

4. Леонид Кормчий: Забытое оружие. О детской книге [Forgotten Weapons: about a Children’s Book]. In: Правда, 17.02.1918, ap. 3. ↩︎

5. Central State Archives of Public Organisations of Ukraine, fonds 7, op. 1, spr. 422, [Transcript of the 1st All-Ukrainian Komsomol Conference, 1929], pp. 96–128. ↩︎

6. Євген Костюк. Діяльність кооперативно-приватних видавництв в умовах радянської цензури 1920-х рр. [Activities of Cooperative and Private Publishing Houses under the Conditions of Soviet Censorship in the 1920s.] In: Проблеми історії України: факти судження, пошуки. Київ 2004, no. 11, p. 289. ↩︎

7. Галина Чичагова, Ольга Чичагова: Наша Червона Армія [Our Red Army]. Харків, Київ 1930. ↩︎

8. М. Тихонов: Друг народу [Friend of the People]. Харків, Одеса 1930. ↩︎

9. Андрій Головко: Червона хустина [Red Scarf]. Харків 1930. ↩︎

10. ראטאמאלקעד [Reciter]. Харків 1929; Жовтень піонерський. Читанка-декламатор для дітей старшого віку [Pioneer October: a Book to Read for Older Children]. Харків, Одеса 1932. ↩︎

11. Central State Archives of Public Organisations of Ukraine, fonds 7, op. 1, spr. 422, p. 98 ↩︎

12. Mark Daniel: Likvidirn dem durhrays vet kanen noh a groyser kolektiv shrayber [Great Collective Efforts are Needed to Eliminate the Breakthrough.] In: Zay greyt, 21.5.1931, p. 3. ↩︎

13. The All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) was the ruling party of the Soviet Union. ↩︎

14. КПСС о средствах массовой информации и пропаганды. Сборник [Communist Party of the Soviet Union on the Media and Propaganda. Collection]. Moskva 1987, pp. 393–394. ↩︎

15. Яків Хелемський: Наші вороги [Our Enemies]. Київ 1931 ↩︎

16. The Leninist Communist League of Youth of Ukraine, the name of the youth organisation that existed on the territory of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic under the control and leadership of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine, a component part of the All-Union Leninist Communist League of Youth (Komsomol). ↩︎

17. The Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Ukraine was the ruling political party of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic and operated as a republican branch (union republics) of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. ↩︎

18. Виктор Костюченко. Літературними стежками. Нарис історії української літератури для дітей ХХ ст.. [Literary Paths. Essay on the History of Ukrainian Literature for Children of the 20th Century]. Kyiv 2009, p. 103. ↩︎

19. Роза Барун: Про дитячу літературу [On Children’s Literature]. In: Дитячий рух. ١١–١٢ (١٩٣٤), pp. ٣٧–٤٢. ↩︎

20. Первый Всесоюзный съезд советских писателей, 1934. Стенографический отчет [First All-Union Congress of Soviet Writers, 1934. Verbatim report]. Москва 1934, p. 36. ↩︎

21. Роза Барун: Украинская детская литература [Ukrainian Children’s Literature]. In: Детская литература 19 (1936), p.  25. ↩︎

22. Петро Панч: Маленький партизан [Little Partisan]. Харків, Одеса 1934; Микола Сказбуш: Повість про Петра Рубанта [The Story about Peter Rubant]. Харків, Одеса 1934; Олесь Донченко. Кулемет [Machine Gun]. Харків, Одеса 1934; Марія Пригара: Парашут [Parachute]. Харків, Одеса 1936. ↩︎

23. Володимир Сосюра: Червона Армія [Red Army]: In: Червоні квіти 10 (1929), p. 23. ↩︎

24. Іван Калянник: Пісня про Червоний флот [Song of the Red Fleet]: In: Жовтеня 2 (1934), S. 3. ↩︎

25. Жовтень здобуто боями. Стара гвардія розповідає [October Was Won by Fighting. The Old Guard Relates]. In: На зміну, 7.11.1932, p. 2; Ярослав Гримайло: Партизани [Partisans]. In: Жовтеня 11 (1934), pp. 16–17. ↩︎

26. Товариш Фрунзе. Стаття-некролог [Comrade Frunze. Obituary Article]. In: Більшовиченята ٢٦ (١٩٣٠), pp. ٢٣. ↩︎

27. На зміну, 12.1.1932, p. 3; E. Fininberg: Fun royter plaz [In the Red Square ]. In: Oktyaberl 1 (1935), 7. ↩︎

28. На оборону країни. Про збір коштів на будівництво дирижабля [For the Defence of the Country. On Collecting Funds for the Construction of an airship]. In: Червоні квіти 23 (1930), pp. 12–13 ↩︎

29. Tsuzamen mit der Royter Armey shvern mir! [We Are Strong with the Red Army!] In: Zay greyt, 1.5.1929, p. 5. ↩︎

30. Запеклі вороги прогульників [Bitter Enemies of Truants]. In: Піонерія 17 (1931), pp. 12−13; Борімось за нормальну роботу школи! [Let’s Fight for the Normal Working of the School!] In: Піонерія 19–20 (1931), pp. 14; Pionery KhTZ v borotbi za svoiechasnyi pusk zavodu. In: Піонерія 19–20 (1931), p. 12; Мобілізуємо маси школярів на роботу за поліпшення якості навчання, за свідому дисципдіну у школі! [We are Mobilising Masses of Schoolchildren to Work to Improve the Quality of Education, for Conscious Discipline at School!] In: Піонерія 21–22 (1931), p. 5. ↩︎

31. Воспоминания Аарона Шапиро: »Я пионер Советского Союза« [The Memoirs of Aaron Shapiro: »I am a pioneer of the Soviet Union«], In: Время 82 (мая 16, 2007), <http://www.vremya.ru/print/178256.html>, 1.5.2023. ↩︎

32. Kulak (in Russian) and also kurkul (in Ukrainian) was a term used to describe wealthy peasants, but »kulak« gradually became a vague designation for peasants who were seen as opposed to creating collective farms in the villages. In Ukraine in the period 1930–1933 there was also the term »podkurkulnik«, denoting those who supported »kurkuly« in the fight against Soviet power. ↩︎

33. Губарєв В. Павлик Морозов [Pavlik Morozov]: Київ 1954; Губарєв В. Павлик Морозов [Pavlik Morozov] Київ 1977; Губарев Виталий. Павлик Морозов [Pavlik Morozov], Москва 1984. ↩︎

34. Валентин Золотухін: Він зростав більшовиком. Памяті юного більшовика Павліка Морозова. [He Grew Up a Bolshevik. In Memory of the Young Bolshevik Pavlik Morozov]. In: Дитячий рух 1 (1933), pp. 20–22. ↩︎

35. Будемо всі як Павлік![ Let’s All Be Like Pavlik!] In: На роботі 2 (1933), p. 16. ↩︎

36. Central State Archives of Public Organisations of Ukraine, fonds 7, op. 1, spr. 470 [A Special Report of the DPU of the USSR and Reports on the Murders of Komsomol Activists by the Class Enemy and the Suicide of Members of the Komsomol, February 2, 1929–March 5, 1936], pp. 6, 8, 9; ↩︎

37. Про терористичний замах куркулів на активіста-піонера – Микиту Сліпка [On the terrorist attack by the kulaks on the pioneer activist Mykyta Slipko], Дитячий рух 11 (1933): p. 7. ↩︎

38. Central State Archives of Public Organisations of Ukraine, fonds 7, op. 1, spr. 470, pp.  6, 8. ↩︎

39. Нехода І. Пісня-рапорт [Song-report]. In: Піонерія 5 (1934), p. 40. ↩︎

40. Сафо С. Так працював ворог [This Is How the Enemy Worked]. In: На роботі 6 (1933), p. 9; Малицький Б. Використати досвід краснопільців [Use the Experience of Krasnopil Residents]. In: На роботі 2 (1933), p. 7. ↩︎

41. Завжди памятай про ворога!: з »Піонерської правди« [Always Remember the Enemy!: from »Pioneer’s Truth«]. In: Жовтеня 9 (1936), p. 2. ↩︎

42. Скажена банда фашистських негідників [A Mad Gang of Fascist Scoundrels] In: Жовтеня 3 (1938), p. 5. ↩︎

43. Павло Тичина: Пісня про Кірова [Song about Kirov]. In: Pioneriia 1 (1935), p. 5. ↩︎

44. Петро Шатун: Снайпер [Sniper]; Дорош Паланський: Рушниця на зводі [Shotgun Cocked]. In: Пионерія 2 (1934), p. 12−13; Микола Нагнибіда: Гвинтівка: [Rifle]. In: Дитячий рух 4 (1941), p. 21. ↩︎

45. Azelhe kleyne un punkt vi saldatn [So Small and Just Like Soldiers] In: Zay greyt, 8.5.1929, p. 4. ↩︎

46. Er shist shozn nit shleht [He shoots well]. In: Zay greyt, 31.5.1929, p. 1; На зміну, 8.3.1932, p. 3. ↩︎

47. Сергій Андрєєв: Змагайтеся за кращу поставу військової роботи [Compete for the Best of Military Work!] In: Піонервожатий 18 (1934), p. 9. ↩︎

48. Варварство в американській школі [Barbarism in the American School]. In: Pioneriia 16 (1931), p. 12; Борис Дуум: Школа під фашистським чоботом [School under the fascist boot]. In: Піонерія 9 (1933), pp. 11−12. ↩︎

49. Ллється кров трудящих Західної України! [The blood of the workers of Western Ukraine is pouring!]. In: Більшовиченята 26 (1930), p. 24 ↩︎

50. Moyshe Pinchevsky: In: Zay greyt, 2.5.1932, p. 1. ↩︎

51. Вище якість комуністичного виховання дітей! [Let’s Improve the Quality of the Communist Education of Children!]. In: Друг дітей 15–16 (1932), p. 9. ↩︎

52. Сергій Андрєєв, »Змагайтеся за кращу поставу військової роботи« [Compete for the Best Production of Military Work!]. In: Піонервожатий 18 (1934), p. 9. ↩︎

53. До всеукраїнської спартакіади [On the All-Ukrainian Sports Day]. In: На зміну, 21.8.1932, p. 2. ↩︎

54. Наталія Забіла: Івасик-танкіст [Ivasik – tankman]. In: Жовтеня 10 (1937), pp. 14–16; Лев Квітко: Танкіст [Tankman]. In: Жовтеня 2 (1939), p. 2; Kinder fun di arbeter fun der kharkover traktar zavod repetirn dem parad [Children of the Workers of the Kharkov Tractor Zavod Rehearse the Parade]. In: Zay greyt, 16.5.1936, p. 2. ↩︎

55. Григорій Іванович Котовський (1887–1925) [Hryhoriy Ivanovich Kotovskyi]. In: Жовтеня 8 (1940), pp. 2–3; Fun Kirovs lebn [From Kirov’s Life] In: Oktyaberl 12 (1936), pp. 3–5; Sergey Mironovich Kirov i Volodya Matysov [Sergei Mironovich Kirov and Volodya Matyusov]. In: Πιονερος 12 (1935), pp. 3–15; Ст. Крижанівський: Оповідання про Миколу Щорса [Stories about Mykola Shchors]. In: Жовтеня 10 (1935), pp. 6–9. ↩︎

56. Климент Єфремович Ворошилов [Kliment Yefremovich Voroshilov]. In: Жовтеня 2 (1941), p. 2; Ігор Всеволжський: Маршал Тимошенко [Marshal Tymoshenko]. In: Жовтеня 9 (1940), p. 5; М. Люлько: Командарм Будьонний [Commander Budyonny]. In: Піонерія 3 (1940), p. 14. ↩︎

57. М. Шмушкевич: Маленький танкіст [Little tankman]. In: Жовтеня 11 (1939), pp. 8−9; Микола Сказбуш: Наказ командарма [The Commander’s Order]. In: Піонерія 10 (1935), pp. 3−6 ↩︎

58. Р. Розін: Тамара [Tamara] In: Піонерія 2 (1936), pp. 2−6; Арон Копштейн: Жіноча партизанська [Women’s Partisan Song]. In: Піонерія 3 (1936), p. 5. ↩︎

59. Пісня іспанських дітей [Spanish children’s song]. In: Жовтеня 1 (1935), pp. 7–8; Хання Левіна: Іспанська пісня [Spanish Song]. In: Жовеня 5 (1938), pp. 14–15. ↩︎

60. Піонерія 12 (1936), p. 12. ↩︎

61. Степан Крижанівський: На кордоні [At the Border] In: Жовтеня 2 (1936), pp. 5–7; Давид Каневський: На варті [On Guard] In: Жовтеня 2 (1938), p. 2. ↩︎

62. Ігнатенко М. Прикордонники [Border Guards] In: Піонерія 6 (1936), p. 14. ↩︎

63. Валентин Бичко: Привіт вам, браття! [Hello, Brothers!] In: Жовтеня 9 (1939), p. 2; Б. Бездомний: Принесли ми браттям волю! [We Brought Freedom to the Brothers!]. In: Піонерія 2 (1940), p. 10. ↩︎

64. Олесь Донченко: Хочу бути героєм! [I Want to be a Hero!]. In: Жовтеня 3 (1936), pp. 18–20; Марія Пригара: Хочу бути пілотом [I Want to Be a Pilot]. In: Жовтеня 11 (1938), pp. 10–11. ↩︎

65. Central State Archives of Public Organisations of Ukraine, fonds 7, op. 1, spr. 1294 [Transcript of the meeting at the Central Committee of the LKSMU on communist education of youth, 28.9.–30.9.1935], p. 225. ↩︎

66. Давид Каневський: Сталінські пілоти [Stalin’s Pilots]. In: Жовтеня 10 (1936), pp. 12–13; Інна Кульська: Парашутистка [Parachutist Girl]; Аероплан [Airplane]. In: Жовтеня 11 (1936), p. 11. ↩︎

67. Петро Панч: Син Таращанського полку. Одеса, 1938; Марія Пригара: Прикордонник. Харків, Одеса 1938, p. 11. ↩︎

68. Леонід Юхвид: Оля [Olia]. Харків 1938; Олесь Донченко: Лукія [Lukiia]. Київ 1939. ↩︎

69. Leyb Kvitko (١٨٩٠–١٩٥٢) was a prominent Yiddish poet, an author of well-known children’s poems, and a member of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC). He was one of the editors of Eynikayt (the JAC’s newspaper) and Heymland, a literary magazine. He was executed in Moscow on 12 August 1952, together with twelve other members of the JAC, a massacre known as the Night of the Murdered Poets. He was born in a Ukrainian shtetl, moved to Kyiv in 1917, and soon became one of the leading Yiddish poets of the »Kyiv Group«. He lived in Germany between 1921 and 1925, where he joined the Communist Party of Germany and published critically acclaimed poetry. He returned to the Soviet Union in 1925, first living in Kharkiv and Kyiv before moving to Moscow in 1936 and joining the CPSU in 1939. He was the most published ­Jewish poet in Soviet Ukraine and the USSR. ↩︎

70. Lev Kvitko: A freylekh Yor [Merr Year]. Odessa 1934, p. 98. ↩︎

71. Counted for: Жизнь и творчество Льва Квитко: сборник [The Life and Works of Lev Kvitko: Collection], сост. Б. Квитко, М. Петровский, Москва 1976, pp.  277–288. ↩︎

72. Ibid., p. 277. ↩︎

73. Книжкова поличка. Що читати до дня Червоної Армії [Book Shelf. What to Read before Red Army Day] In: Піонервожатий 1 (1937), pp.  32–33. ↩︎

74. Лев Квитко: Письмо Ворошилову [Letter to Voroshilov]. In: Мурзилка 2 (1936), pp. 5. ↩︎

75. Жизнь и творчество Льва Квитко, pp. 245–246. ↩︎

76. Lev Kvitko: A freylek Yor [Merry Year]. Odessa 1934, pp. 22–23. ↩︎

77. Ibidem, p. 23. ↩︎

78. Lev Kvitko: Lider un Meyses [Songs and Stories]. Odessa 1937, p. 73. ↩︎

79. Lev Kvitko: Royte armey [Red Army]. Moskva 1938, p. 16. ↩︎

80. Lev Kvitko: Lebedik un freylekh [Lively and funny]. Moskva 1939, p. 103. ↩︎

81. Лев Квитко. Разговоры с близкими [Conversations with Loved Ones] Москва 1940, p. 65. ↩︎

82. Lev Kvitko: Akh, az ikh vel oysvaksn! [When I Grow Up]. Odessa 1937, S. 10. ↩︎

83. Yosyp Daits (1897–1954), Ukrainian graphic artist, member of the Association of Revolutionary Art of Ukraine, professor at the Kharkiv Art Institute from 1947 on. Illustrator of publications of Ukrainian and foreign classical literature for children and adults. ↩︎

84. A Budyonovka is a distinctive type of hat, an archetypal part of the Communist military uniforms of the Russian Civil War following the Russian Revolution (1917–1922) and later conflicts. ↩︎

85. Жизнь и творчество Льва Квитко, pp. 280–281. ↩︎

86. Ibidem, p. 276–277. ↩︎

87. Kvitko: A freylekh Yor, p. 85–87. ↩︎

88. Ibidem, p. 88. ↩︎

89. Лев Квітко: Танкіст [Tankman]. In: Жовтеня 2 (1939), p. 2; Мій онук [My grandson]. In: Жовтеня 10 (1938), p. 17. ↩︎

90. Volodymyr Konashevich (1988–1963) is one of the most famous illustrators of Soviet children’s books; his works adorned the publications of the popular poets Samuil Marshak, Vladimir Mayakovsky, Daniil Kharms, Korney Chukovsky, and others. Valery Alfeevsky (1906–1989), Soviet artist, illustrator, graphic artist. Author of illustrations for publications of not only Soviet but also foreign children’s writers such as: Carlo Collodi, Lewis Carroll, and Hans Christian Andersen. ↩︎

91. Kvitko: Lebedik un freylekh, p. 101. ↩︎

92. This text was made possible thanks to the NUMO scholarship programme libraries and archives of the German Library Association (dbv) funded by the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and Media on the basis of a resolution of the German Bundestag, for which the author expresses her sincere gratitude.