History of USSR Through Family Albums

Continued from July Issue

By Pavel Krasnov
Translated by Andrey Krasnov

Moscow 1936 – A view of the Parachute Tower in Gorky Park

Soviet Society at that time needed brave and resolute people, not slaves or cowards. Practically all public parks had a parachute tower, shooting range and summer sports stadium. Every city had an airfield, where millions of people mastered gliders and small planes, training their will and courage.

"Hail you Country of Heroes, Country of Dreamers, Country of Scientists!"

Only such people could build the great Soviet country. In 1935 alone over 800,000 people participated in parachute sports. At that time there was a parachute tower in almost every city, every large park, and sometimes even in large collective farms.

Parachute towers began to be destroyed immediately after Stalin died. At that time it was even forbidden to own firearms. Practically all parachute towers in parks were closed by the middle of 1960's by Khrushchev. With the destruction of the Soviet system, the brave, resolute people were becoming dangerous to the people that were in power.

There were sculptures and paintings showing the beauty of the human body during Soviet time. However they were never agitated, they were respected as part of human culture.

Vera Voloshina, October 1, 1941. In two months on November 29, 1941 this beautiful girl will be killed in the Great Patriotic War.

Vera Voloshina, a brilliant Soviet Athlete and parachutist, was the model for the eight meter sculpture (shown) "Girl with a Paddle", created by sculptor Ivan Shadr. She disappeared in November of 1941 during a diversionary operation behind the German front lines. Her sculpture was destroyed a month later by a German bomb. The details of her death were discovered only after a quarter century – she was wounded while returning from her mission, captured by the Germans, and, after long torture, she was hanged in a forest. This happened 10 km from the place of the death of Zoja Komsomolskaja on the same day.

Look at the willful and concentrated face of this Red Army soldier. It shows without words what they felt during the War. No amount of dirt that has and is being thrown at them for past many, many years, will ever taint their memory. 1942 – He died in two months in the battle of Vjazma.

Geology students – 1937

Where did these people work afterwards? Here's what was written on the back of this photograph:

In 1940 (after 3 years)
Kaurov Gutaro – Tagulsk expedition near Nizhneudinsk
Koljazhnov Glushinskij – Red Army
Galushkin – in NKVD
Chulodshnikov – Mongolian Peoples Republic Also take a look at the change in the standard of life of an average person – a suit became a very common possession.

Kirovsk region school of the Komsomol Agitators – Kotepynich 1938

Take a look – almost all boys have the RWD (Ready for Work and Defense) badges. All members of the Komsomol expected to be physically fit. They, along with members of the Communist Party, were allowed to own firearms.

A village in Hakasija - 1939

By this time bicycles became common in the Soviet Union. Practically anyone could afford a bicycle for themselves and their children. However, many people in Western countries at that time were unable to afford bicycles. This was the beginning in the Soviet Union of the Consumer Five Year Plan, which was being successfully fulfilled. The level and standard of life of the Soviet people grew very rapidly from the start of 1939 until June 22, 1941 when the Great Patriotic War started as German fascists invaded the USSR.

A typical Moscow family – 1939-1940

All that remains of their home, 1942, Moscow region.

USSR Lost Over 40% of Its Housing. Belarus Lost Over 85%!

THE SECOND WORLD WAR

The Soviet Red Army Oath – 1947

Look at the willful and concentrated faces of these Red Army soldiers. It shows without words what they felt during the War. No amount of dirt that has and is being thrown at them for past many, many years, will ever taint their memory.

Below we publish several photos of the same person, Which were retrieved from the author's website: Filmodshkin, Alexander Gordeevich. He was born in the village of Agropustyn, Solotchinsk region in 1923: http://alfmos.narod.ru/


After 3 years, at the end of the war. 3 Red Star medals, by now a Red Army Sergeant, speak for themselves.	1942: "And I wanted to study..."	After 2 years, wounded...	Just anormal Soviet person. In two years, 1947, what a life we will have now!

1947 – A village school in Volgogradsk region

These children in the first year after the War reflect the stress and the hard life they had to live through. Almost all of these children have a loved one who died or was wounded during the War. Many of their Mothers were widowed. The marks made by the War do not leave the faces of the people until the middle of 1950's.

I remember going to the Public Baths with my father when I was 5 years old. This was the start of the 1970's. Almost all men over 45 had horrible scars on their bodies while in the public baths.

Grade 4 Village School close to Smolensk at the end of October 1948. It looks as if most of these children aren't 10, but 17years old.

It was against such children that the Western powers prepared plans like "Dropshot, which were to destroy 60% of the population in the first hours of the war. So they said, that they prepared a war against " a nation of widows and cripples", hoping for an easy victory. However, at that time they were stopped.

Village boys -1947

"Trinity 1949" – Kirovsk region

For the past many years it has been said that any religious activities were strictly forbidden, especially when J.V. Stalin was the General Secretary of the CPSU in the USSR. Supposedly, putting a cross on the grave was a criminal offence. This photo speaks for itself.

Top: A class in one of Moscow's schools. 1950
Middle: Citizens of Kaunas, 1950
Bottom left: Student, 1950s
Bottom right: Young man in Ufa, 1953

Top left: A picnic at the start of the 1950s
Top right: A workplace in 1949, Kirovsk region
Middle left: October Revolution celebrations, start of 1950s
Middle right: At the office of a local newspaper, listening to the radio news, Vladimirsk region, start of the 1950s
Bottom left: Village boys, Chupakino, Orlovsk region, 1953. Western propaganda said that zippers only appeared in the USSR in the late 1950s. Take a look at the photo.
Bottom right: Ready for Work and Defense (RWD), 1954!

Top left: A picnic with a record player, end of 1950s. As it turned out, the Soviet people did have record players.
Top right: "Nadia", Moscow, middleof 1950s. Their faced son't reflect the horrors of war anymore.
Second row: A new apartment. Shubin A.I., a worker at the "Red October" factory, Moscow, 1956. A family with 4 children had very few problems: they had excellent daycare, schools, health care and higher education.
Third row right: An apartment in Kiev, 1957
Bottom: Kislovodsk, at a Public Health Sanatorium, 1957. At that time Soviet Resorts and Sanatoriums were free for everyone.

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