Perception in the Soviet Union was one of the most critical concerns of the government, from identifying \u201ckulaks,\u201d real or imagined, to outing prisoners-of-war turned German spies, and the legions of orphaned vagrants in the streets were no exception. \u00a0The prospect of orphaned children in the public eye created a challenge to the effort to portray the Soviet Union as an idyllic society free of the capitalist-based sins of the West. \u00a0Eventually, however, children were subjected to the same \u201cwork or starve\u201d ethic that their elders found themselves placed under, and the focus of rescuing wayward children became an initiative to build socialism rather than add any particular meaningful happiness to their lives. \u00a0Children were considered a symbol of the state, an innovative presence to foster for the future, and thus could not be allowed to become tainted or lose their value to the state.<\/p>\n
More than merely failing to contribute to the image of a healthy Soviet family life, many vagrant children became beggars or thieves living on railways. \u00a0This blatant lawlessness struck at the regime as an inability to police their own house, as it were. \u00a0The government response to child-crime was a far cry from the salvation campaigns aimed at rescuing orphans. \u00a0Waifs were to be ousted from their train station hideouts in raids reminiscent of hunting game.\u00a0 Just as children were measured in productivity by the same measure as older Soviets, so too were they subject to the same level of prosecution.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Perception in the Soviet Union was one of the most critical concerns of the government, from identifying \u201ckulaks,\u201d real or imagined, to outing prisoners-of-war turned German spies, and the legions of orphaned vagrants in the streets were no exception. \u00a0The … Continue reading