Научная статья на тему 'HISTORICAL MEMORY OF WORLD WAR II REFUGEES: OVERCOMING CULTURAL TRAUMA'

HISTORICAL MEMORY OF WORLD WAR II REFUGEES: OVERCOMING CULTURAL TRAUMA Текст научной статьи по специальности «История и археология»

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Ключевые слова
WORLD WAR II / EVACUATION / CULTURAL TRAUMA / REFUGEES / HISTORICAL MEMORY

Аннотация научной статьи по истории и археологии, автор научной работы — Potemkina M. N.

When forming the collective historical memory of the Second World War, traditionally, primary attention was paid to events at the front, the exploits of soldiers and partisans. The tragic and painful experience of prisoners of ghettos, concentration camps, refugees remained for a long time a taboo topic. At the same time, a number of important historical aspects remain outside the field of official memory and the possibility of falsifications arises. The purpose of this study is to present war refugees as a social group with cultural trauma, to show the necessity and ways of overcoming it. The source of the study was the memories of people who survived the evacuation. The concept of «cultural trauma» and the theory of historical memory were used as a methodological approach. Analysis of interviews and recollections of refugees made it possible to single out the evacuees into a special stigmatized social group, which was united by the lack of housing and property upon arrival in the evacuation, common sources of supply, and a special social status that determined relations with the authorities, as well as with local residents. The article identifies the factors that contributed to the formation of cultural trauma in people during evacuation. Throughout the evacuation period of their lives, these people were often condemned in public opinion. In the rear areas, the evacuees were perceived as outsiders. It is concluded that the articulation of cultural trauma by a stigmatized social group that survived it contributes to the preservation of objective historical memory and changes the life values of society. Forms of such articulation can be oral interviews, published memoirs, documentaries, and feature films.

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Текст научной работы на тему «HISTORICAL MEMORY OF WORLD WAR II REFUGEES: OVERCOMING CULTURAL TRAUMA»

УДК: 94 (470) «1941/1945»

DOI: 10.18503/2658-3186-2021-5-4-97-100

М. Н. Потемкина (Магнитогорск, Россия)

ИСТОРИЧЕСКАЯ ПАМЯТЬ БЕЖЕНЦЕВ ВТОРОЙ МИРОВОЙ ВОЙНЫ: ПРЕОДОЛЕНИЕ

КУЛЬТУРНОЙ ТРАВМЫ

Аннотация: При формировании коллективной исторической памяти о Второй мировой войне первостепенное внимание традиционно уделялось событиям на фронте, подвигам бойцов и партизан. Трагический и болезненный опыт узников гетто, концлагерей, беженцев долгое время оставался в табуированной темой. В связи с этим целый ряд важных исторических аспектов остается вне поля официальной памяти и возникает возможность фальсификаций. Цель данного исследования - представить беженцев войны как социальную группу с культурной травмой, показать необходимость и пути преодоления этой травмы. Источниковую основу исследования составили воспоминания людей, переживших эвакуацию. В качестве методологического подхода использована концепция «культурной травмы» и теории исторической памяти. Анализ интервью и воспоминаний беженцев позволил выделить эвакуированных в особую стигматизированную социальную группу, которую объединяли отсутствие жилья и имущества по прибытии в эвакуацию, общие источники снабжения, особый социальный статус, определявший отношения с властными структурами, а также с местными жителями. В материалах доклада выявлены факторы, которые способствовали формированию культурной травмы у людей в ходе эвакуации. На всем протяжении эвакуационного периода своей жизни эти люди часто подвергались осуждению в общественном мнении. В тыловых районах эвакуированных воспринимали как чужаков. Автор сделал вывод о том, что артикуляция культурной травмы стигматизированной социальной группой, ее пережившей, способствует сохранению объективной исторической памяти и меняет жизненные ценности социума. Формами такой артикуляции могут быть устные интервью, опубликованные воспоминания, документальные и художественные фильмы.

Ключевые слова: Вторая мировая война, эвакуация, культурная травма, беженцы, историческая память.

M. N. Potemkina (Magnitogorsk, Russia)

HISTORICAL MEMORY OF WORLD WAR II REFUGEES: OVERCOMING CULTURAL TRAUMA

Abstract: When forming the collective historical memory of the Second World War, traditionally, primary attention was paid to events at the front, the exploits of soldiers and partisans. The tragic and painful experience of prisoners of ghettos, concentration camps, refugees remained for a long time a taboo topic. At the same time, a number of important historical aspects remain outside the field of official memory and the possibility of falsifications arises. The purpose of this study is to present war refugees as a social group with cultural trauma, to show the necessity and ways of overcoming it. The source of the study was the memories of people who survived the evacuation. The concept of «cultural trauma» and the theory of historical memory were used as a methodological approach. Analysis of interviews and recollections of refugees made it possible to single out the evacuees into a special stigmatized social group, which was united by the lack of housing and property upon arrival in the evacuation, common sources of supply, and a special social status that determined relations with the authorities, as well as with local residents. The article identifies the factors that contributed to the formation of cultural trauma in people during evacuation. Throughout the evacuation period of their lives, these people were often condemned in public opinion. In the rear areas, the evacuees were perceived as outsiders. It is concluded that the articulation of cultural trauma by a stigmatized social group that survived it contributes to the preservation of objective historical memory and changes the life values of society. Forms of such articulation can be oral interviews, published memoirs, documentaries, and feature films.

Keywords: World War II, evacuation, cultural trauma, refugees, historical memory.

This report is about the problems of the historical memory of the refugees of the Second World War through the concept of «cultural trauma».

Modern trends in the formation of collective historical memory in the official public space are characterized by the dominance of the triumph discourse and the silencing of the trauma discourse. This makes the picture of the reconstruction of the events of the Second World War incomplete, a number of important historical aspects remain outside the field of official memory, it becomes possible to falsify historical events and

facts [1].

Therefore, a comprehensive study of the history of the war, including coverage of painful and «inconvenient» aspects of historical events, is necessary to preserve in the memory of future generations. An important way to objectively comprehend traumatic historical facts is the concept of cultural trauma.

The concept of «cultural trauma» was introduced into scientific circulation by the Polish scientist P. Shtompka [4]. He reveals the idea of cultural trauma as a «rupture of the cultural fabric», as a result of which the consequences of traumatic events affect a person for a long time, passing even through generations.

Trauma is understood not only as a one-time event that dramatically changed a person's life, but also as a process that continues to influence people's attitude to their past, present and future. Among others, P. Shtompka refers to migrations and wars as traumatic events.

The Second World War was of a long total and bloody nature. The rapid offensive of the Fascist troops in 1941 and the occupation of the western territories of the USSR led to the displacement of the traditional center of the country, which caused a large-scale evacuation of industrial equipment, cultural property and the population from the frontline areas to the east of the country.

Evacuation was not prepared, but the need for it became obvious already in the first days of the war and was dictated by the following reasons: the speed of the enemy's advance through the territory of the USSR, the occupation policy in the occupied territories aimed at mass physical destruction of the population.

The evacuation process combined elements of organization and spontaneity. The enemy occupied part of the territory of the USSR, where about 85 million people lived before the war, and about 12 million people managed to evacuate to the Soviet rear.

Evacuation processes were managed by the Evacuation Council, established on June 24, 1941 under the USSR Council of People's Commissars. Accounting and provision of social assistance to the evacuated population in the rear regions of the country were provided by specially created bodies: Departments for household management of evacuation.

Although all residents of the rear experienced psychological and material difficulties during the war, the study of documents makes it possible to single out the refugees in a special stigmatized social group. It was united by the lack of housing and property upon arrival in the evacuation, common sources of supply, a special social status that determined relations with government structures, as well as with local residents.

Of course, it should be remembered that the social group of the refugees itself was not homogeneous: the capital's creative intelligentsia and representatives of the nomenclature lived better.

Analysis of documentary sources and personal memories of refugees allows us to identify the following traumatic factors:

- as early as in the process of evacuation, conflict situations with representatives of government structures arose due to a lack or distortion of information, a ban on evacuation for certain categories of the population, refusal to help evacuate. Sometimes evacuation took the form of a stampede, provoking interpersonal conflicts.

- a strange city (village), unusual climatic conditions, lack of their own housing and property, household inconveniences; additional difficulties were experienced by metropolitan residents who were evacuated to the countryside and forced to adapt to the specific conditions of village life [3].

- absence of relatives and close friends who could help;

- the need for employment in a new place. This problem did not concern the workers evacuated together with their company or institution, but they also needed to adapt to a new work collective.

- sometimes national hostility, differences in social status, educational and cultural level were added to these difficulties.

Throughout the evacuation period of their lives, these people were often overtly or covertly condemned in public opinion. During the evacuation, they were condemned for fleeing by those who believed that they should help defend their city or remain to suffer with it. In the rear areas, the evacuees were perceived as outsiders [5]. And when the evacuees returned to their former places of residence, to their small homeland, they were again met with caution and hostility because their fellow-townsmen believed that they had «sat it out in the rear».

At home, they faced numerous difficulties not only with getting their former housing back, but also with

restoring their social status: being evacuated quickly became a stigma, especially for Jews and men fit for military service.

In the post-war period, during forming the cultural memory of the Great Patriotic War, for many decades, primary attention was paid to the heroes among the front-line soldiers, partisans and underground workers. All commemorative practices were aimed at glorifying the feat of fighters and commanders who had performed feats, monuments were erected to them, films were made about them, stories and stories were written.

As for historical memory, in the post-war period, the experience of evacuees remained mostly part of family history, while in public discourse it was almost completely forgotten. This was largely due to the fact that the history of the evacuation is closely connected with the very negative events of 1941-1942 for the Soviet regime (defeats at the fronts, chaos and panic in the rear, the flight of officials from settlements and enterprises that were under threat of being captured by the Germans, thousands of families abandoned to the mercy of fate, etc.) and does not fit well into the victorious history of the Patriotic War.

The ideology of collectivism was essential to overcoming the traumatic military experience. The ideas of sacrifice, heroism, perseverance were designed to shift the attention to individual problems. As a result, there was no elaboration of the trauma, the «experience of pain» was pushed into silence [2].

Articulation of trauma had a therapeutic effect. The ideological pluralism of the 1990s contributed to the voicing of previously suppressed topics in the public space. Commemorative practices began to spread to the victims of the war, namely, civilians killed by the enemy in the occupied territory, in concentration camps.

In this sense, the collection of oral memories and the creation of archival collections of «oral history», which gained popularity in Russia in the 1990s-2000s, is important. Writers, artists, and film directors did not stay away from the formation of cultural memory about the evacuation. In 2005, the documentary 4-episode film «Evacuation» was shown (producer Yu. Khanyutin, the author of the idea S. M. Zelikin).

Cultural trauma has an indelible impact on society and has a great force of inertia, affecting several generations. Articulation of cultural trauma by a stigmatized social group that has experienced it contributes to rethinking the events of the past, forms a more objective historical memory and changes the life values of society.

ЛИТЕРАТУРА

1. Гузельбаева И. А. К вопросу формирования исторической памяти о Великой Отечественной войне в парадигме культурной травмы // Гуманитарные науки в XXI веке. 2020. № 14. С. 16-29.

2. Кучева А. В. Исторические интервью как источник интерпретации культурной травмы (на примере воспоминаний о Великой Отечественной войне) // Исторические, философские, политические и юридические науки, культурология и искусствоведение. Вопросы теории и практики. 2016. № 11-2 (73). С. 133-136.

3. Потемкина М. Н. Конфликтные зоны эвакуации в СССР и способы их преодоления (1941-1945 гг.) // Проблемы истории, филологии, культуры. 2016. № 3 (53). С. 219-226.

4. Штомпка П. Социальное изменение как травма (статья первая) // Социс. 2001 № 1 С. 6-16.

5. Potemkina M. N., Pashkovskaya T. G., Ivanov A. G., Koldomasov I. O., Sedliarova O. M., Terentieva N. G. The clash of clichés: migrants and local people during World War II (The case of the Urals, the USSR) // Revista Turismo Estudos & Práticas. 2020. № 4. P. 26.

REFERENCES

1. Guzel'baeva I. A. K voprosu formirovaniya istoricheskoi pamyati o Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine v paradigme kul'turnoi travmy, Gumanitarnye nauki v XXI veke, 2020, no. 14, p. 16-29.

2. Kucheva A. V. Istoricheskie interv'yu kak istochnik interpretatsii kul'turnoi travmy (na primere vospominanii o Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine), Istoricheskie, filosofskie, politicheskie i yuridicheskie nauki, kul'turologiya i is-kusstvovedenie. Voprosy teorii i praktiki [Historical, Philosophical, Political and Law Sciences, Culturology and Study of Art. Issues of Theory and Practice], 2016, no. 11-2 (73), pp. 133-136.

3. Potemkina M. N. Konfliktnye zony evakuatsii v SSSR i sposoby ikh preodoleniya (1941-1945 gg.), Problemy istorii, filologii, kul'tury [Problems of History, Philology and Culture, Journal of Historical, Philological and Cultural Studies], 2016, no. 3 (53), pp. 219-226.

4. Shtompka P. Sotsial'noe izmenenie kak travma (stat'ya pervaya), Sotsis [Sociological Studies, Socis)], 2001, no. 1, pp. 6-16.

5. Potemkina M. N., Pashkovskaya T. G., Ivanov A. G., Koldomasov I. O., Sedliarova O. M., Terentieva N. G. The clash of clichés: migrants and local people during World War II (The case of the Urals, the USSR), Revista Turismo Estudos & Práticas [Tourism Studies & Practices], 2020, no. 4, pp. 26.

Потемкина М. Н. Историческая память беженцев Второй мировой войны: преодоление культурной травмы // Гуманитарно-педагогические исследования. 2021. Т. 5. № 4. С. 97-100

Potemkina M. N. Historical Memory of World War II Refugees: Overcoming Cultural Trauma, Gumanitarno-pedagogicheskie issledovaniya [Humanitarian and pedagogical Research], 2021, vol. 5, no. 4, pp. 97-100.

Дата поступления статьи - 01.12.2021; 0,34 печ. л.

Сведения об авторе

Потемкина Марина Николаевна - доктор исторических наук, профессор заведующий кафедрой всеобщей истории института гуманитарного образования Магнитогорского государственного технического университета им. Г. И. Носова, г. Магнитогорск, Россия; ведущий научный сотрудник Центра изучения военной экономики института общественных наук Российская академия народного хозяйства и государственной службы при Президенте РФ (РАНХиГС), г. Москва, Россия; mpotemkina@mail.ru

Author:

Marina N. Potemkina, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor Head of World History Department of Institute of Humanitarian Education, Nosov Magnitogorsk State Technical University (NMSTU), Leading Researcher of the Center for the Study of Military Economics of the Institute of Social Sciences, The Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RPANEPA); mpotemkina@mail.ru.

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