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Soviet Culture in the GULAG

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Soviet Culture in the GULAG ╢118╞ Chapter V. Painting the Dogs Into the Racoons: Soviet Culture in the GULAG «Perekovka» If the key to understanding the institutional history of the GULAG rests in broad- er political and economic context of the Soviet history, to understand it's social and cultural aspects one needs to refer to Soviet cultural and educational policy. From the middle of the 1930s Soviet culture (also frequently referred to as «Stalinist cul- ture») repudiated earlier iconoclasm, and the avant-garde, replacing it with neo-classicism (reverting to Russian classical heritage) and Socialist Realism. Th e policy was pursued of creating a cultural order in which the lower classes would receive proper education and share in Russian high culture and create all-union culture that would serve as a unifying force among all Soviet citizens. Appeal to the «masses» to participate in the process of «cultural construction» coincided with a didactic popularization of Russian and European classics. In the camps the cultural-educational mission was entrusted to the Cultural-edu- cational Section of the GULAG (the KVCh). Initially, the KVCh was a subdivision of the Political Section of the GULAG. Th e chief of the camp KVCh was an assis- tant to the chief of the camp, and the latter was also responsible for directing and controlling the camp propaganda [17. P. 120]. Th e cultural mission of Soviet labor camps, pursued along these lines, coincided with the well-known re-forging, «perekovka» theme that resounded during the construction of the White-Sea Baltic Canal. It was accompanied by the propaganda of the Soviet forced labor camps in literary works, newspaper articles and theatrical plays.* Soon a favourable regime towards ordinary delinquents was created. Th ieves and recidivists were treated as «social allies» and granted multiple privileges. Th e prac- tice of zacheti (providing the prisoners with extra work days counting towards their early release) was arranged in such a way, that for «especially dangerous» prisoners (namely, those sentenced for «counterrevolutionary» crimes), it was extremely diffi - cult to get zachet for excellent labor. On the contrary, the common criminals easily obtained zacheti, frequently through the falsifi cation of the records. At the beginning of the 1930s the cases of early release were frequently used as in- structive examples to raise the labor enthusiasm among the prisoners of the White- Sea Baltic Combine and the Camp NKVD: «From time to time Yakov Rappoport [a leading offi cial during the BBK construc- tion] issued an order releasing a «a shock worker of the grand construction» from the ranks of the «socially allied «prisoners». Th e Newspapers Perekovka and Zapolyarnaya perekovka immediately published pictures of the «Stakhanovites» * Apart from popular works, such as collective volume on the White-Sea Baltic Canal, BBK: Istoriia Stroitelstva, and Nikolai Pogodin's play «Aristokrati», a large number of newspaper articles and several propagandistic documentary fi lms devoted to the forced labor camps were created in the 1930s. ╡119╟ with inscriptions «Motherland Has Forgiven Th em» «Let All Follow An Example», or «Labor is a Subject of Honour». Th e event was refl ected in theatrical plays and at the concerts. Additionally, the KVCH instructors arranged asummit at the con- struction site. A «liberated» delinquent read a speech «I have been a thief all my life. Now due to comrade Stalin and the Soviet Power I have become a useful citizen for my Motherland. I have decided to stay in my brigade for yet another month to to demonstrate all the reptiles, the enemies of the people, that their wrecking and sabotage will not prevent the proletariat from completion of our greatest construc- tion of the Communism, our dear White-Sea canal! Comrades, be vigilant and expose wreckers who hide among us in order to ruin our plans. Long live comrade Stalin! Long live Comrade Rappoport!» [6. Op. 1. D. 96. P. 18]. At the end of the 1930s this policy was abandoned. Th e resolution of the GULAG apparatus party meeting from December 1938 states: Concerning our approach to recidivists, it seems that the more time one spends in the camps, the more honour he receives, for hardly has he time to get out of the train carriage, B. (a KVCh offi cial) climbs on the tribune and starts to shriek «the party and the government have entrusted you with a glorious task to build a canal/a road/ a plant», or «you are the heroes of the White-Sea Canal, Moscow-Volga Route, «Second Rout». As a result, a «hero» soon appears in our offi ce in Moscow, at Kuznezky 24, [the address of the central GULAG apparatus] saying «I am a hero of two canals and two routes» and demanding privileges and fi nancial support without understanding that he is not a hero but a recidivist. We have to get rid of this practice as soon as possible [5. Op. 3. D. 176. P. 2]. Although offi cially «re-education of the z/k», sentenced for «domestic and duty crimes» was proclaimed as the chief goal of the cultural-educational service in the camps, in reality its most important task was «to assist to the fulfi llment of the production plans of the camps» [17. P. 118]. According to the Corrective-Labour Code of the USSR dated August 1, 1933, those imprisoned for political crimes were not primary targets of the cultural-educational policy. However, until the end of the 1930s, apart from the ban to appoint them to «responsible positions» no other lim- itations on their participation in political and educative activities existed [17. P. 81]. According to the initial plan posts in the Cultural Educative Section were supposed to be staff ed only with the non-z/k offi cials. However, soon due to the lack of the hired staff the post of kultorganizator — a prisoner assistant to the cultural instruc- tor was established. Any prisoner could obtain this position except for the «count- er-revolutionary» crimes (outlined in the articles 58 and 59of the Soviet penal code) and some other crimes, such as «attempted escape», «bribery», «gender» crimes, «robbery», and «violation of the camp regime». Th e prisoners who had more than one previous conviction, former White Guard members, «Trotskyites», «Zinovievites», «Bukharinites», and other members of the anti-Soviet parties and organizations, former kulaks, believers, and foreigners were also not allowed to apply for this position [17. P. 120]. ╢120╞ 16—23 March, 1932. Th e club of the 1st camp section. Caricatures on loafers and false shock-workers Cultural-educational service in the camps included propaganda related to politics, «politmassovaya rabota», and propaganda related to production themes «proizvodstvenno-massovaya rabota», such as the «Socialist competition». Another important aspect of cultural service was the installation of clubs and libraries in the camps, «klubnaya and bibliotechnaya rabota». Th e most popular forms of political propaganda in the camps included political study groups, discussions, public readings of the newspapers and the journals (the so called «chitki») and antireligious propaganda. Visual forms of propaganda in- cluded wall-newspapers, posters, slogans, and fi lms. Political discussions were considered as the most important aspect of cultural ser- vice in the camps. A well-developed network of political study groups evolved there in the 1930s. Offi cially the classes were supposed to be organized at least once a decade. Local party organizations were responsible for appointing the instructors. In reality in many camps most of the instructors were recruited among the prison- ers [5. Op.3. D. 3. P. 47]. Th e z/k, sentenced for «counter-revolutionary crimes» were also allowed to visit the classes with exception of those sentenced for the «betrayal of the Motherland», «espionage», «terrorism», «sabotage», as well as «Trotskyites», «Zinovievites», «Bukharinites», «participants in the nationalist counter-revolution- ary organizations», and the foreigners [17. P. 121]. As a result, apart from the ordi- ╡121╟ nary delinquents, only prisoners sentenced for «counter-revolutionary propaganda and agitation» were allowed to participate in the political study groups. According to the regulations, daily readings of the newspapers for the prisoners had to take place even in the smallest camp subsections. Antireligious propaganda in the camps was yet another refl ection of the economic interests of the state secu- rity organs. It was targeted against the believers who stayed away from work during the religious holidays and weekends. Th e changes in the forms of propaganda, tar- geted at the increase of the production output in the course of 1930s were merely formal. It cultivated either Stakhanovite labor or «shock work». In the camps Stakhanovites and shock workers enjoyed certain privileges such as a «fi rst priority to enter the canteen». Sometimes they were invited to a short jazz performance of the camp artistic troupe [1. Op. 1. D. 1435. P. 9]. Th e «Socialist competition» was supposed to embrace all the z/k by brigades and individually through «labor contracts». As a rule, the surveillance of the contracts took place once a month, or once a week, depending on the circumstances [17. P. 122]. However inspections of courses of Socialist competition frequently re- vealed upward distortions of the production data (pripiski) and the presence of a large numbers of debilitated z/k among the participants. In their zeal to «overful- fi ll the norms» and to win the «Socialist competition» the camp administrators frequently sent sick prisoners off to work. Other measures of fostering «labor enthusiasm» among the prisoners included lav- ishness of petty objects coloured red that were supposed to be laden with symbolic meaning: banners, certifi cates, badges, and so on. Sometimes they were accompa- nied by certain privileges such as a possibility of a better communication with one's family.
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