Khrushchev's Cold Summer

Miriam Dobson

Description

Between Stalin's death in 1953 and 1960, the government of the Soviet Union released hundreds of thousands of prisoners from the Gulag as part of a wide-ranging effort to reverse the worst excesses and abuses of the previous two decades and revive the spirit of the revolution. This exodus included not only victims of past purges but also those sentenced for criminal offenses.In Khrushchev's Cold Summer, Miriam Dobson explores the impact of these returnees on communities and, more broadly, Soviet attempts to come to terms with the traumatic legacies of Stalin's terror. Confusion and disorientation undermined the regime's efforts at recovery. In the wake of Stalin's death, ordinary citizens and political leaders alike struggled to make sense of the country's recent bloody past and to cope with the complex social dynamics caused by attempts to reintegrate the large influx of returning prisoners, a number of whom were hardened criminals alienated and embittered by their experiences within the brutal camp system.Drawing on private letters as well as official reports on the party and popular mood, Dobson probes social attitudes toward the changes occurring in the first post-Stalin decade. Throughout, she features personal stories as articulated in the words of ordinary citizens, prisoners, and former prisoners. At the same time, she explores Soviet society's contradictory responses to the returnees and shows that for many the immediate post-Stalin years were anything but a breath of spring air after the long Stalinist winter.

Sujets

• Histoire
• USSR
• Soviet Union
• Russia
• History of Europe
• Union des républiques socialistes soviétiques
• Russie

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 15 janvier 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780801458514
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

Khrushchev’s Cold Summer

Khrushchev’s Cold Summer

Gulag Returnees, Crime, and the Fate of Reform after Stalin

Miriam Dobson

Cornell University Press

ithaca and london

Copyright ©2009

by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House,512East State Street, Ithaca, New York14850.

First published2009

by Cornell University Press

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Dobson, Miriam. Khrushchev’s cold summer : Gulag returnees, crime, and the fate of reform after Stalin / Miriam Dobson. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN978-0-8014-4757-0(cloth : alk. paper) 1. Soviet Union—Politics and government—1953–1985.2prisoners—. Political Rehabilitation—Soviet Union—History.3Union—History.. Exconvicts—Soviet 4aspects—Soviet Union—History.. Crime—Political 5. Political Culture—Soviet Union—History.6. Soviet Union—Social conditions—1945–1991Title.. I. DK274.D637 2009 947.0852—dc22 2008047451

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetable based, lowVOC inks and acidfree papers that are recycled, totally chlorinefree, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress. cornell.edu.

Cloth printing

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

vii 1

1.1953: “The Most Painful Year” 2. Prisoners and the Art of Petitioning,1953–1956 3. Heroes, Enemies, and the Secret Speech

4. Returnees, Crime, and the Gulag Subculture 5. The Redemptive Mission 6. A Return to Weeding

Conclusion Bibliography Index

Contents

Part III. A Fragile Solution? From the TwentySecond Party Congress to Khrushchev’s Ouster

21 50 79

189 215

237 241 257

109 133 156

7.1961: Clearing a Path to the Future 8. Literary Hooligans and Parasites

Part II. Stalin’s Outcasts Return: Moral Panic and the Cult of Criminality

Acknowledgments Introduction

Part I. Reimagining the Soviet World after Stalin, 1953–1956

v

Acknowledgments

I would first like to thank the funding bodies that enabled me to complete this book. During my first three years at the School of Slavonic and East Eu ropean Studies (SSEES) in London, the Arts and Humanities Research Board offered generous financial support, and a Scoloudi Research Fellowship from the Institute of Historical Research allowed me a precious “writingup year.” Additional grants from the University of London Central Research Funds, University College London, SSEES, and the Royal Historical Society helped enormously with travel costs. I am grateful to the University of Sheffield for granting me research leave during my second year working here, and to the British Academy for funding a muchneeded archive trip during that sab batical. Over the nine years that I have been working on this project many people have helped me. Susan Morrissey was an amazing adviser, pushing me to think without forcing me toward any one conclusion. On a personal level, she was extraordinarily supportive, seeming to know instinctively when to be demanding, and when to remind me that there’s more to life than Russian history. Others also provided important encouragement along the way. Chris Ward was an inspirational undergraduate teacher, and Geoffrey Hosking has given me great support throughout, always asking probing and insightful questions of my work. Two of the most rigorous readings of my work came from Steve Smith and Stephen Lovell, and as I revised and rewrote my manu script their detailed and incisive comments proved absolutely invaluable. Many others have discussed my ideas, read drafts, or helped with transla tions and queries, and I would like to thank all of them, in particular Steve Barnes, Yoram Gorlizki, Maya Haber, Cynthia Hooper, Hubertus Jahn, Polly Jones, Ann Livshchiz, Ben Nathans, Holger Nehring, Kevin McDer mott, Rachel Platonov, Susan Reid, Kelly Smith, Claudia Verhoeven, Amir Weiner, and Benjamin Ziemann. In the book’s final stages, the input from

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viii

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Acknowledgments

Cornell University Press has been outstanding: I am particularly grateful to John Ackerman, Karen Laun, Carolyn Pouncy, and the two anonymous re viewers. Sections of chapter8appeared inSlavic Review(vol.64, 3[Fall 2005]) and are reprinted here with the permission of the American Associa tion for the Advancement of Slavic Studies. The support I received while conducting research in Russia made this proj ect possible. There are many people in the libraries and archives of Moscow, Vladimir, and Cheliabinsk who helped me. Special thanks go to Leonid Weintraub, Elena Drozdova, and Galina Kuznetsova, who started me on the right path. My biggest debt of gratitude must lie with Denis Klimov and Natasha Kurdenkova for sharing their home and friends with me for almost a year. I am also grateful to Pavel, Masha, Dima, and Nastya for their warm hospitality each time I go back. The late Svetlana Zamiatina was an inspir ing friend, and I thank Eduard Kariukhin for introducing us and for his sup port while I was living in Moscow. During my postgraduate study, SSEES offered a stimulating environment: staff at the library have always been helpful and the Centre for Russian Stud ies offered a friendly forum for debate. Fellow doctoral students helped make London a great place to live and study, especially Nick Sturdee, Bettina Weichert, and Maya Haber. Penny Wilson and Kate Wilson were incredible friends and flatmates during these years and helped in many ways. Since I moved to Sheffield four years ago my colleagues have been supportive and interested, offering useful guidance as I began the process of revising my manuscript. My family deserves special thanks for their encouragement, and I particularly appreciate the enthusiasm with which my parents Heather and Mike came to visit me in Russia. Last but not least, all my love goes to Thomas Leng—knowing him makes it harder to go to Russia, but so much more fun to be at home.

Khrushchev’s Cold Summer