Surveillance and Terror. \u00a0These two terms were used in\u00a0Sheila Fitzpatricks chapter, A\u00a0Time of Troubles,<\/i>\u00a0as a way of discussing the Great Purges of 1937 and 1938. \u00a0\u00a0<\/i>In this Chapter, Fitzpatrick explored the\u00a0many ways the Great Terror took hold of the Soviet State and how it spread throughout the state.<\/p>\n
The one part of Sheila Fitzpatrick chapter that really stood out to me was\u00a0her section on how the Great Terror Spread. \u00a0Fitzpatrick noted that there were several ways\u00a0that the Great Purge spread. \u00a0The first was through the “NKDVs practice of interrogation, in which arrested ‘enemies of the people’ would be forced to write confessions naming their conspiratorial associates.” \u00a0((Fitzpatrick, Sheila. “Surveillance and Terror” in\u00a0Everyday Stalinism; Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s<\/em>, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999,\u00a0205-206.)) \u00a0If people found themselves in hot water,\u00a0whether it was true or not, were forced to write down names of who helped them commit crimes, even if their ‘associates’ actually existed or not. \u00a0This seemed really interesting to me because it seemed like the state was just as\u00a0interested in weeding out potential enemies than actual enemies. \u00a0 The states main weapon, in the case of spreading the terror and\u00a0finding enemies, was the use of fear. \u00a0The fear of violence, the fear of being sent to Gulags greatly impacted peoples decisions to write down names or tell the state who is an enemy. \u00a0People were afraid that if they didn’t cough up names, they themselves\u00a0could have ended up in the Gulag and possibly end up dead.<\/p>\n Within Fitzpatricks section of how the Great Purge spread, the example of how children were used in the process of finding enemies was really interesting. \u00a0She stated that children thought\u00a0“catching spies seemed like Great Sport.” \u00a0((Fitzpatrick, Sheila. “Surveillance and Terror” in\u00a0Everyday Stalinism; Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s<\/em>, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999,\u00a0207.)) \u00a0She used an example of a girl named Lena who was on a bus coming back from camp and overheard a man speak in German about “rails” and “Signal”.\u00a0((Fitzpatrick, Sheila. “Surveillance and Terror” in\u00a0Everyday Stalinism; Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s<\/em>, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1999,\u00a0207.)) \u00a0 This example that Fitzpatrick used was\u00a0really fascinating to me, but it was also a reminder that children in the Soviet Union were a key component of the\u00a0states future in the eyes of the party. \u00a0As Fitzpatrick noted with this example, the minds and behaviors of children were incredibly important and helpful to the state. \u00a0Not only could the state change their minds through\u00a0indoctrination, but they could also use these children as spies within homes, within camps, and within schools to rat out enemies of the state. \u00a0What really intrigues me is why children saw this as a sport? \u00a0What\u00a0kind of images or stories would the state use on children to help them see a connection between ‘sport’ and ‘catching spies?’ \u00a0If there were\u00a0any rare cases of intelligent children who could see beyond this propaganda game that the State was playing on the children, what do you think might have happened to them?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Surveillance and Terror. \u00a0These two terms were used in\u00a0Sheila Fitzpatricks chapter, A\u00a0Time of Troubles,\u00a0as a way of discussing the Great Purges of 1937 and 1938. \u00a0\u00a0In this Chapter, Fitzpatrick explored the\u00a0many ways the Great Terror took hold of the Soviet … Continue reading