A story of the children,
a tale
of the brave.
Young Pioneer Experience Interview
Name: Olga Motin-Wood
Date of Birth: April 2, 1954
Current location: Chicago, IL
I. In what country did you participate in the Young Pioneers?
In the former Soviet Union (Russia)
II. Do you feel your particular country provided a unique Young Pioneer
experience?
Absolutely.
III. Were a majority of your friends Young Pioneers? If not, why?
Yes, all of my friends, in my age group, were Young Pioneers.
IV. Was the role of ideology dominant in your Young Pioneer division? If so how
did you feel about it?
Yes, the communist ideology of former Soviet Union was dominant. We felt proud
to be Young Pioneers and felt very fortunate to have been born in the Soviet Union.
V. How long did you participate in the Young Pioneers? Were members in your
division given the option to drop out from the organization?
Four years. I am not sure if people had the option to drop out. I did not know anyone
who dropped out from my division.
VI. What is one of your best memories from Young Pioneer experience?
I liked the silk, red tie on my school uniform. I liked to be a coach to young Octobers
(who were soon to be become Young Pioneers): I helped them with their homework, played games
with them, answered questions.
VII. What was one of the best qualities of the Young Pioneer organization.
I liked the motto: "One for all and all for one". I liked being involved in helping the old and the
young. I liked that we were taught to be honest and to be good students.
VIII. What was a negative quality about the Young Pioneers?
There was no choice to be or not be in the program. And if you were selected as one of the
leaders, there were too many meetings to attend.
IX. If you could rate your Young Pioneer experience on a 1-10 scale, what would
it be and why?
It would be a 10. I can't imagine my life without this experience. It taught
me to be involved, help people in need, to be a leader and to be responsible.
An Essay on Stalin's Impact on Soviet Society
Stalin, the man of steel, the iron fisted ruler of the Soviet Union, lives in infamy as one of the most powerful yet controversial figures of the 20th century. Although Stalin committed numerous human rights abuses, he provided amazing industrial/economic growth within a single generation. While many decry his leadership as one of the worst forms of totalitarianism to exist, there are the lone few who showed that Joseph Stain's achievements were worth the sacrifice. From the democide committed in the Ukraine (Service, 326) to the rapid industrialization of the Soviet Russia, Stalin showed the power of the Soviet Union. While a complex man with many fears and stricken with paranoia, Josef Stalin shattered the image of Western world's great power and brought the USSR into the spotlight. With his political maneuvering into the power of General Secretary and the purging of those who dared opposed his rule, Stalin showed the might of his power and his form of authoritarian Marxism. With the assassination of Trotsky in 1940 (Service, 344) by a Stalinist Agent and his massive killings of the old Bolsheviks Stalin effectively secured his rule up until his death in 1953 at the age of 75 (BBC,1). While there were a suspected 13 million dead under Josef Stalin's 28 year rule, many cried and mourned his death. It showed that even with Khrushchev's DeStalinzation, Stalin had effectively set the course for the Soviet Union until its dissolution in 1991. While many internationally criticized the numerous deaths under Stalin, it was many who also realized that Nazism was destroyed with the help of Stalin. Stalin's political maneuvering at the Yalta Conference helped carve up what would be the vast Soviet territory expanding into Europe. It was Stalin, who as a controversial figure, received praise and denunciation that would effectively set the course for future communist politics.
Josef Stalin was made General Secretary of the communist party in 1922(Lewman, 3), just 5 years after the 1917 revolution. Although the position of General Secretary was not of significant importance at the time, it would later be the launch pad for the political maneuvering after the death of Lenin in 1924 (O'Brien, 4). Stalinism was based off the main idea of "socialism in one country" and was directly against the ideals of forwarding an international revolution, as Trotskyism is. The effects of Stalinism on the Soviet Union were extremely detrimental. With a complete lack of democracy, freedom of speech, human rights, and the existence of a cult of personality only rivaled by North Korea, Stalin effectively rebuilt authoritarian Marxism. The ideals of Stalin were in a sense a fusion of fascism and communist into a form of syncretic political ideology, into a sort of nationalist communism or national bolshevism. Stalinism would later set the political course for the Soviet Union until its collapse on December 26, 1991 and provide a model that would be followed by the "Derg" in Ethiopia, Enver Hoxha in Albania, Horloogiyn Choybalsan in Mongolia, Mátyás Rákosi in Hungaria, and countless other communist affiliates and associates. The Ideals of Stalinism are based off the idea of large military industry and agriculture collectivization. Although Stalin's implimentation of strong industry was an amazing feat of industrial growth in a single generation, it was masked by a terror of the masses. The great purges left the Soviet Red Army command in shambles and sparked fear and terror throughout much of the Soviet population. There was also a mass opposition to the agricultural collectivization by the kulaks and millions were slaughtered for rebelling against the forced collectivization. Stalin's ideology is a step away from true marxist-leninist ideology because of its aversion to democratic process and its creation of a cult of personality. Marxist and Leninist doctrine is opposed to the cult of personality in a clear manner and views the cult of personality as a direction away from communism. The Stalinist ideology was largely based off an egotistical and paranoid behavior that was, for the most part, largely false. Stalinist ideology has long since died as many communist countries have realized its detrimental effects. Evem if many dismiss the ideology of Stalin it is still important to note its massive impact on the international communist movement.
In 1940 before the German invasion of the Soviet Union the Soviet Union was producing roughly 18,317,000 tons of steel (Bagsen 2). During the height of the conflict between 1941-1944 statisics on nearly all industrial outputs were unable to be measured due to the destruction of much of the infrastructure and large industry. But by 1949 the Soviet Steel industry had bounced back and began producing up to 23,291,000 tons of steel (Bagsen 5). This shows the rapid rebound of industrialization that occurred while Stalin was in power. This goes as well for Electrical output between 1951 and 1953 where in 1950 there was a total output of 91,226 Mil. Kwh, but by 1953 (the death of stalin being March 5, 1953(BBC, 1)) was a total of 134,325 Mil. Kwh (Bagsen, 5). These types of substantial industrial growths prove, regardless of personal opinion on Josef Stalin, the amazing economic and industrial achievements he was able to create. Industry under Stalin revolved around the idea of state-owned industry that set quota for how much and what type of each thing should be produce. An example would be the production of clocks and hand watches within the Soviet Union. After the devastation from WW2 of the Soviet Union in 1944 336,000 clocks and watches were made (Bagesen 7). By 1953 there was a total of 12,838,000 watches were being produced within the Soviet Union (Bagsen 8). This amazing economic growth is what western powers feared most; there was rarely any personal strife between Stalin and Roosevelt. What startled and turned away many of the western powers was the model that Stalin had set up for economic success. Many within the American government had said their opposition to Stalin came from their disgust with his human rights. Stalin, more or less, scared the western governments with this staunch economic growth and his buildup of Soviet Power within a single generation. The Stalinist economic plan provided an amazing centralized growth within the Soviet Union that was much needed and much deserved.
"The formation of the Third International swiftly led to the creation of mighty communist parties throughout the most important countries in the world. In Germany, France, Czechoslovakia and other countries, communist parties with a mass membership were created. In Britain a small communist party was formed which wielded considerable influence. The success of the world revolution in the next period seemed assured by the development of events. (Grant, 6)" as Stalin consolidated his power within the international communist movement the influence of the Soviet Union became apparent and Stalinism seemed to grip the Eastern European communist movement. The Communist International, which served as a European communist congress, was effectively dismantled by Stalin. "The Comintern held four more congresses, the last of which, in 1935, adopted the Popular Front strategy of coalition-building with all "progressive forces" against fascism. Once a beacon to Communists throughout the world, the Comintern succumbed to its subordination to the dictates of the Soviet Communist Party and its determination of Soviet state interests, periodic purges of other Communist parties, mutual denunciation and arrest in 1937, and disbandment in 1943. (Geldern, 1)" The disbandment of the Communist International leads to a near complete Stalinist ideology that began to overshadow the various communist movements within Europe such as the Trotskyites, Council Communists, and various Anarcho-Communist groups. This complete influence of Stalin on the international Communist Stage lead to an unhealthy imbalance of ideology that became predominant in much of the Soviet influenced Socialist and Communist led countries.
It is undeniable that the Cult of Personality under Stalin along with the mass execution of many innocent people existed. At the same time it also provided amazing economic growth (as shown in the sections depicting electrical and steel output of the Soviet Union during the Stalinist era) and helped provide a model to the world that was powerful yet anti-capitalist. Stalin unfortunately acted against the New Economic Policy (NEP) put forth by Lenin and saw it as acting outside the interest of the state even if it was largely in favor of the peasant and agricultural population within the Soviet Union (Rempel, 6). An excerpt from one of Stalin's speeches at the 1928 Central Party Committee goes as: "Our theses proceed from the premise that a fast rate of development of industry in general, and of the production of the means of production [i.e., the creation of industrial machinery such as machine-tools] in particular, is the underlying principle of, and the key to, the industrialization of the country . . . and the key to the transformation of our entire national economy along the lines of socialist development. But what does a fast rate of development of industry involve? It involves the maximum capital investment in industry. And that leads to a state of tension in all our plans, budgetary and non-budgetary. . . (Rempel 4)" this shows Stalin's unwillingness to accept an industry or trade outside the Soviet state sphere. Because Karl Marx had said "Democracy is the road to socialism" it is well shown that Stalin did not follow the fundamentals of a socialist ideal. It is up to the interpreter to decide whether a country serves its people through bringing wealth and power or bringing its people civil rights and liberties.
Sources:
1. BBC Publication. "Historic Figures: Joseph Stalin (1879-1953)." BBC.CO.UK.
2001. British Broadcasting Channel. May 10th, 2006.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/stalin_joseph.shtml
2. Lewman, Lary. "Joseph Stalin (1879-1953)." PBS. 1999. Public Broadcasting
Service. May 10th, 2006.
http://www.pbs.org/redfiles/bios/all_bio_joseph_stalin.htm
3. Rempel, Gehard. "THE NEW ECONOMIC POLICY" Western New England
College Lecture. 21-Apr-2000. WNEC. May 10, 2006.
http://mars.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/stalin/lectures/NaziSoviet.html
4. Grant, Ted. "The Rise and Fall of the Communist International." IDF. 1989. In
Defense of Marxism. May 10th, 2006. http://www.marxist.com/TUT/TUT1-
4.html.
5. Geldman, James. "The Third or 'Communist' International" Seventeen Moments.
2003. Organization of Soviet History. May 10, 2006.
http://www.soviethistory.org/index.php?action=L2&SubjectID=1921c
omintern&Year=1921
6. Basegan Brian. " Soviet Industrial Ouput: 1940-1985." Marxist Organization. 2000.
Soviet History Archive. May 6th, 2006.
http://www.marxists.org/history/ussr/government/economics/
statistics/ind-out.htm
7. O'Brien, Joseph. "Stalin in the Need to Industrialize, 1928."JJ. EDU. Date of
Creation Not given. John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
May 7th, 2006. http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/jobrien/reference/ob98.html
8. Service, Robert. "STALIN a Biography". Cambridge, Massachusetts: Belknap Press,
May 7th, 2006. http://web.jjay.cuny.edu/jobrien/reference/ob98.html
How I Became Interested
I became interested in the Young Pioneer movement after reading deeper into the history of the Soviet Union. By creating hierarchy of the communist structure, they were able to groom future KPSS (the Russian Translation of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union) comrades, and also realize early dissent in children. The Young Pioneers were an indoctrination program, but isn't that to be said for any youth organization of any nation? The seeds that the social institutions sows in the population are intended to create a positive and support viewpoint of that society, an uncontroversial and obvious understand of what makes social institutions. The Young Pioneers were stronger, and far more inclusive than the boy scouts because they stressed inclusion of all (KPSS loyal) races, ethnicities, and genders. By doing so, their base was situated in an overall true representation of the Soviet Population, unlike many of the American scouting organizations representing a middle-class and mostly white constituency. This website is made to put a more positive and sympathetic lens on the Young Pioneers, and use information and reason to explain the positive attributes of an all-inclusive youth organization.
Recent News
I recently read somewhere about Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's experience with Young Pioneers in the Soviet Union, mainly the abuse he suffered from Jewish Pioneers who would taunt him for his religious (Russian Orthodox) garb and faith. What bothered me about the description was that it was noted that the perpetrators were "Jewish" as if their own faith determined their behavior. I would not call for a detail to be removed from any story, but the use of the "Jewish" description somewhat bothered me. The reference seems like a nod to the notion that Bolshevism is entirely a Jewish ploy. It should also be noted that Solzhenitsyn is unable to unmask the real brutality of the Soviet system, choosing to lay the entire blame in the Soviet-style socialism. Solzhenitsyn chooses to omit criticism of the Russian Orthodox Church and it's long oppressive history, yet can openly criticize the "Jewish" Young Pioneers who harassed him.
I Recently Read
I was reading an article about the Belarusian Young Pioneers that exist today and act as a supporting force for the incumbent President Alexander Lukashenko and used to quell popular protest against his rule. This is an adaptation of the Young Pioneer structure by post-Soviet countries, a realization that indoctrinating the youth is vital to having a dedicated population later in rule. Lukashenko is using the Young Pioneer structure in a way that is more analogous with a modern day Hitler Youth than a organization dedicated to keeping kids active; a sad state of affairs for the Belarusian Young Pioneers. The post-Soviet despotism has only shifted the authoritarian aspects of the Soviet Union into its scope while adopting oppressive state-capitalist economic policies. Hopefully the Young Pioneer movement independent of the post-Soviet despotic rule will take a hold within the youth and eventually become a true Young Pioneer movement.