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History of the formation of the komsomol and its inclusion in the new Soviet Stalinist State

Seit Bestehen der Roten Armee und der Roten Flotte haben die politischen Institutionen der KPdSU in den Streitkräften eine bedeutende Rolle gespielt. Sie garantieren seit jeher den Einfluß und die Kontrolle der Partei über den Militärapparat. Sie besitzen eine eigene hierarchische Struktur, die außerhalb der rein militärischen Kommandolinie steht. Die politische Arbeit wird zwischen den Organen von Partei und Komsomol, die sich z.T. auch ergänzen und zusammenwirken, geteilt. (BIOst-Rsg)

The study of Soviet youth has long lagged behind the comprehensive research conducted on Western European youth culture. In an era that saw the emergence of youth movements of all sorts across Europe, the Soviet Komsomol was the first state-sponsored youth organization, in the first communist country. Born out of an autonomous youth movement that emerged in 1917, the Komsomol eventually became the last link in a chain of Soviet socializing agencies which organized the young. Based on extensive archival research and building upon recent research on Soviet youth, this book broadens our unders.

1. The birth of the Russian youth movement -- 2. Revolution as revelation : the first Red Dawn -- 3. Birth in the civil war : the struggle for an identity -- 4. The Komsomol and the policy of class -- 5. Revolutionizing mind and soul -- 6. A living organisation -- 7. The Komsomol as an object of class war -- 8. The Komsomol as an agent of class war : the second Red Dawn -- 9. Lost identity : a static organization emerges.

pt. 1. Gulag from the outside -- The NKVD : villain or protector? -- First acquaintance with Gulag NKVD : meeting at the Central Committee of the CPSU -- Meeting in the Cadres Department of Gulag NKVD -- 45 Days to Pechorlag -- pt. 2. Gulag from the inside -- At the Construction Administration -- Unit foreman, first contingent of prisoners : Soviet volunteer ski troops in the Finnish War -- The unit bosses -- A change in leadership at Pechorlag -- Transferred to the 93rd Unit, labor force : hardened criminals -- Attempted prisoner revolt in the 93rd Unit -- Boss and foreman at the 93rd Unit, labor force : political prisoners -- Threat of arrest -- The war -- Illness -- Recovery and return to work in the southern part of the camp -- Boss of a militarized section, labor force : captured German prisoners of war -- Boss of a railway division, labor force : professional railwaymen -- The "liberated" secretary of the Communist Youth Organization -- Fascist military landing force -- Deputy boss in the Political Department for Komsomol work at the NKVD's Road Building Camp No. 3 -- pt. 3. Interesting asides -- Some railroad recollections -- Peschanka, a village of de-kulakized people on the River Pechora -- The countryside of Komi on the River Usa -- Women at Pechorlag -- A fellow traveler from Abez to Pechora -- pt. 4. Final words -- The end of my story -- The real essence of the Gulag -- Afterword: The nature of memoir -- Appendix 1: Pretexts for arrest during the Stalin period -- Appendix 2: Article 58 of the RSFSR Criminal Code -- Appendix 3: Glossary

Introduction: Back in the USSR : the "glory days" of late socialism, fascination with the West, identities, and scholars -- The closed rocket city of Dniepropetrovsk -- Anti-Soviet crimes, poetry, and problematic nationalism, 1960-1968 -- The campaign against the novel Sobor and the end of the national literary revival -- The first wave of music from the West : the consumption of jazz -- Beatlemania, shocking blue, and the Ukrainian cossacks -- Sources of rock music consumption -- Western adventure stories and Ukrainian historical novels : problems of the homogenization of Soviet culture -- Crimes from the West : Westerns, the Mafia, and crime films -- Idiocy and historical romance from the West : comedy and historical films -- The democratization of rock music consumption -- Popular religiosity in the Dniepropetrovsk region : cultural consumption and religion -- Taming pop music consumption : from "Tantsploshchadka" to discotheque -- The Komsomol magazine Rovesnik and the ideology of pop music consumption -- Antipunk campaigns, antifascist hysteria, and human rights problems, 1982-1984 -- Tourism, cultural consumption, and Komsomol business -- Conclusion: "Between Moscow and L'viv" : the closed city as an ideological failure of late socialism

Acknowledgments -- Table of Contents -- Tables and Figures in the Text -- Prologue -- Part I. Youth and the Code of Informality -- 1. The Changing Concept of Youth in Modern Societies -- 2. Toward a Theory of Informality -- Part II. Three Paradigms of Youth Movements -- 3. The Emergence of European Youth Movements -- 4. The Loose Youth Movement: The German Wandervogel -- 5. The Established Youth Movement: The British Boy Scouts -- 6. The "Official" Youth Movement: The Soviet Komsomol -- 7. Conclusion: Informal Movements as Forerunners of Postmodern Youthfulness -- Part III. The Combinative Type: Israeli Pioneering Youth Movements -- 8. The Social Context of the Israeli Pioneering Youth Movements -- 9. Major Israeli Movements in the "Golden Period" -- 10. Major Transformative Patterns of the Israeli Youth Movements -- 11. Informal Activities in the Israeli Youth Movements -- 12. Informal Knowledge and Curricula -- 13. Moratorium in Three Socialization Agencies: A Comparative View -- 14. Informal Agencies of Socialization and Role Development -- 15. Informal Framework and Civic Culture -- 16. Preliminary Reflections on Western Youth: Europe and America -- 17. Epilogue: Postmodern Variations of Informality -- Appendix. A Comparative View: The Emergence of Postmodern Youthfulness in Non-Western Countries -- References -- Index