In his two articles, Donald Raleigh interviewed two people, Natalia P and Victorovich Ivanov, who were from the city of Sarastov, in the Oblast region of Russia. \u00a0Both of whom\u00a0grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, recalled memories of their childhood, families, events, and learning experiences during the early years of their lives. \u00a0Natalia’s interview was particularly striking to me.<\/p>\n
One of the more striking points that Natalia P. made in her interview involved her discussion of her father. \u00a0Growing up in the mid fifties, she discussed the experience she had with her family. \u00a0She mentioned that despite some of the needs of the family, her father, as a university professor,\u00a0did not care for the things he spent his money on. Although he spent his money on educating her, Natalia stated that despite the ties his father had with other prominent people and the fact that he could get certain things from those people, he “never regretted spending money on such things, on books, on education, on tutors, on music, on English lessons….yet nothing that was connected\u00a0with living conditions interested\u00a0him.” ((Donald Raleigh, “Russia’s Sputnik Generation: Soviet Baby Boomers talk about their lives” Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 103)) \u00a0Although she did not talk about this, this belief \u00a0might suggest to the\u00a0fact that her father was influenced by Stalins time in power. \u00a0During the Stalin era, people had to deal with having very little, particularly during the famines. \u00a0In addition, if you had too much stuff, you could have been accused of being a Kulak and be sent off to a Gulag for that. \u00a0For Natalia, it could be that her father was very much influenced by the painful time period that he grew up in. \u00a0 One of the most important aspects that Natalia mentioned was that despite the lack of materials regarding living conditions, she was still provided education materials. \u00a0During Stalins time and throughout the 1950s, the state had recognized that the children were the future of the party. \u00a0In order to have them become good Soviet citizens, \u00a0the children had to be given a proper education so that they could push the state forward. As a result of Natalias mothers and fathers likely experience under Stalin, Natalia\u00a0was given the same kind of upbringing\u00a0by stating that their upbringing\u00a0was passed down to her.\u00a0((Donald Raleigh, “Russia’s Sputnik Generation: Soviet Baby Boomers talk about their lives” Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 90)) This seems to suggest that although the Stalin era had ended, the memory and scaring of it for some Soviet citizens may very well have lasted well into the 1950s.<\/p>\n
Do you think it was common to see people upbringing their children the same way Natalias father did? \u00a0If so, did the state try to make the rules clearer for its populous so that they could overcome the hard times of the Stalin era?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In his two articles, Donald Raleigh interviewed two people, Natalia P and Victorovich Ivanov, who were from the city of Sarastov, in the Oblast region of Russia. \u00a0Both of whom\u00a0grew up in the 1950s and 1960s, recalled memories of their … Continue reading