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A satirical report by the Soviet magazine Perets on the use of official vehicles for private Affairs, 1960
The humorous and satirical magazine Perets, published (albeit intermittently) since 1922, served as a supplementary weapon for the government in its fight against social issues. Its editorial board frequently aligned with various official campaigns, wielding its sharp wit to expose violations, shortcomings, and vices, thereby shaping public attitudes. Hryhorii Bezborodko, an experienced feuilletonist for Perets, often targeted the “antipodes of Soviet morality,” such as indifference, mismanagement, careerism, and other societal flaws. His report was no coincidence; it aimed to bolster the campaign against the misuse of official vehicles. Despite the 1959 restrictions on the use of state cars, members of the nomenklatura continued to exploit loopholes, necessitating public shaming rather than relying solely...
Corruption in Kolomyia, Stanislav (Ivano-Frankivsk) Oblast, 1962
In the early 1960s, the Ukrainian prosecutor's office reported to the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine about “exposed groups of large-scale embezzlers of socialist property and bribe-takers who had long been operating within various sectors of the national economy.” The scale of the defendants' shadow income was staggering: during investigations into four cases, authorities seized hundreds of thousands of rubles, single-story houses, kilograms of gold, dozens of cars, and other assets. Such wealth was enabled by a well-developed “shadow economy.” Despite inflated economic plans, strict resource controls, and rigorous oversight, resourceful producers consistently found ways to generate “surplus” production, which they used to enhance their own comfort and secure patronage....
Illegal Construction of Dachas in Kherson, 1970
The satisfaction of Soviet citizens’ basic needs led to a growing demand for an improved quality of life, with one key indicator being access to comfortable recreation. Members of the nomenklatura became active participants in the establishment of “gardening societies,” which involved allocating land plots to factory workers for gardening and horticulture. However, the widely publicized “Kherson case” revealed that their interest lay less in gardening and more in personal comfort. Instead of allowing the construction of simple “summer-type buildings,” the nomenklatura opted for “permanent brick large summer cottages, often equipped with heating.” These practices not only violated the 1960 government decree banning the construction of such dachas but also involved the illegal...
Abuses of a Sugar Factory Director and his Party Rehabilitation, 1953
The case of H. illustrates the activities of the Party Control Commission under the Central Committee of the Communist Party, which reviewed appeals for reinstatement into the party. H. had been expelled for “the use of his official position for mercenary purposes and illegal spending of public funds” while heading a sugar factory. Specifically, he exchanged his old cow for a younger one and fed his pig on the farm of the Division of Workers' Supply (rus. Отдел рабочего снабжения), which was under his supervision. Additionally, he had two employees in excess of the factory’s staffing needs and persecuted the chief accountant for exposing his abuses. H. was also accused of selling sugar...
“Connections” as a Preventive Measure of Punishment for Abuse, 1985
The discussion of Case N at the Party Control Commission under the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine was initiated by letters from citizens—a typical occurrence in Soviet realities. What was unusual, however, was that these appeals eventually proved effective, leading to the punishment of a high-ranking official and his patrons. The central issue under the party commission’s consideration was N’s flawed management style, which resulted in a subjective personnel policy and adversely impacted the economic performance of the main department (abbreviated as Glavk), which had accumulated substantial receivables. Case N underscores the pervasive influence of patron-client relationships and sycophancy within the Soviet system. Despite repeated deficiencies in performance between 1981...
Financial Fraud by High-Ranking Party Officials in the Voroshylovhrad Oblast of the Ukrainian SSR, Early 1970s
Nelia Nemyrynska, born in 1930 in Odesa, worked as a lawyer at the Luhansk Bar Association beginning in 1954. Over her career, she defended and provided moral support to dissidents such as Mykola Rudenko, Yosyp Zisels, and others. In her memoirs, written in 1995, she exposed the darker side of Soviet justice: backroom deals, the political dependence of judges, the dictates of the CPSU, the impunity of the nomenklatura, and more. A fragment of her memoirs recounts two cases she deemed “not quite ordinary for the period of communist rule in Ukraine and the former USSR.” These cases vividly illustrate the interplay between the nomenklatura and the legal system. The first case involves...
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Title Pages of Never Published Editions of the DP Journal KHORS, 1945-1951
The idea of the Ukrainian DP-creation KHORS as a movement and a journal was kept alive for many years, even though the journal’s publication, initially planned as a quarterly, could never be realized beyond a first edition in 1946. The title pages listed here were never published, but they can provide interesting insights into the senses put into KHORS by its creators, its design, and the materials used. In 1945, immediately after the war, Ukrainian artist Halyna Mazepa drew the first cover with simple paint on a piece of cardboard. Its design was intended to reveal the idea of the future edition. The journal’s title is written in wheat, an important symbol in...
View on the Monument to the Soviet Constitution, Lviv 1940
The monument to the Soviet constitution, or the Stalin Constitution, was built in Lviv in October 1939. The authors were the sculptor Serhyi Lytvynenko and Kyiv artist Mykhailo Dmytrenko, it’s possible that, the artists adapted the project, originally conceived in Moscow, to the new city conditions. The sculptors Yevhen Dzyndra and Andryi Koverko carried out the project, but the participation of Lytvynenko’s student the young sculptor Yakiv Chaika is also a possibility. The monument was made in the ceramic-sculpture factory, which opened on Muchna St. in 1939. The location for the monument was chosen in the city centre, the “island” on the boundary mark of the Hetman embankments, between Yahellon’ska st. and Holy...
Members of the cinema club in the village of Novooleksandrivka, Ukrainian SSR, during a film shoot, May 1981
In addition to film studios, which predominantly comprised adults, the network of amateur filmmaking also encompassed groups tailored for children and teenagers, typically organized within houses of culture or schools. Oversight of these groups was typically carried out by representatives from People’s Studios and local film clubs. The archival caption of this photograph reads as follows: “Members of the cinema club at the House of Culture in the village of Novoaleksandrovka, Belovodsk district, Voroshilovgrad oblast, during a film shoot. From left to right: students Naydysh A, Petrov P, the club’s leader Kolesnik V. I., student Burian V. — village Novoaleksandrovka, 15 May 1981, by Y. Khromushyn (outdoors against the backdrop of a river).”
Film amateurs of the steam locomotive and car repair plant, photograph dated of 1956
“The initiators of a film studio at the steam locomotive and truck repair plant (from the left to the right) Slutskyn S.S., Art Club Director of Tool and Inventory Shop, Skybalo G.L., Director of Radio Broadcasting Center, and Zirka A.V. are looking through the first shots of the new film about the plant, Lviv December 7th, 1956". This archival record accompanies this photograph in the Central State Audio/Visual and Electronic Archive (until the recent times called Central State G.S. Pshenychnyi Filming Archive) in Kyiv. Despite it is the official representation of film amateurs that was probably created for the purpose of media publications, careful analysis of the details makes it possible to discern...
Wall newspaper of Kostyantynivka’ bottling plant, 1967
This wall newspaper is part of a series of wall newspapers from the Kostiantynivka bottling plant, created in 1967. The series consisted of 13 excerpts dedicated to local participants in the fights against the White Guards after the First World War. Thirteen newspaper issues reveal the plant's history, explain its name "13 Executed Workers Plant", and call for the publication of photographs and memories related to the confrontation with the White Guards. The presented here example tells the story of the family of Bobylov Aleksandr Semenovych and Bobylova-Chumychkina Mariia Semenivna, who were participants in the revolutionary movement. In 1918-1920, Kostiantynivka underwent numerous power changes, seized first by the White Guards and then by...
A worker from the Lviv Confectionery Factory “Bilshovyk,” T.M. Etinger, at work, 1956
The photo is part of the collection of press photos from the State Archives of Lviv Region showing different economic areas: industry, agriculture, culture, and sports. The photo shows a worker of Lviv Confectionery Factory, T.M.Etinger. According to the accompanying inscription, she is “one of the best” workers, a labour veteran). She is captured at making a Kremlin’s Savior Tower. The nature of this photo and of the entire collection implies the genre of press photos that had to accompanied by a text (newspaper publication). The photo was meant to illustrate the message, to make it sound more convincing, to encourage and inspire the reading workers to accomplish more in their labour. In...
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“Bohdan Khmelnytskyi,” Soviet historical propaganda film, 1941
“Bohdan Khmelnytskyi” is a 1941 Ukrainian Soviet historical propaganda film directed by Ihor Savchenko. It is about the life of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, the hetman of the Zaporozhian Cossacks, and the first years of Cossacks liberation war against the Polish nobility led by him. This film was shot at the Kyiv Film Studio (now the Oleksandr Dovzhenko National Film Studio). Its script was based on the 1939 play of the same name by the Ukrainian Soviet playwright and publicist Oleksandr Korniychuk.
“Where Are We Headed?”, film 1989
Where Are We Headed? reflects the ideas of Perestroika. It shows the increasing concern among the grassroots movements over the environmental issues. The film was created at the amateur “Kadr” film studio in Mariupol, Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic. It addresses the most pressing environmental problems in Mariupol (in 1984-1989 called Zhdanov, after the Soviet revolutionary, politician, and accomplice in the Great Purge of 1937-1938, Andrei Zhdanov). The filmmakers employed various narrative methods: voice-over narration; shots of city scenes and landscapes; filming near industrial enterprises; landscapes and close-ups of rivers and coastal areas; overlaying visuals with a list of harmful chemicals; and excerpts from expert commentary (including the chairwoman of the City...
Bilka, film,12 minutes
A film by amateur filmmaker Roman Buchko, co-directed with Volodymyr Bordiuk and Roman Chyzhyk. The film is named after the Bilka River in Lviv Oblast, a right tributary of the Poltva (Vistula River basin). It was created at the Murator People’s Film Studio of the Lviv House of Culture of Builders. The triple authorship reflects the specifics of amateur filmmaking in the USSR, where any amateur activity had to be collective. The chosen topic and content of the work were characteristic of Roman Buchko, who systematically worked with this theme. Buchko hailed from the area depicted in the film, the village of Hai, near Zvenyhorod. Noteworthy is that Volodymyr Bordiuk, head...
ASUP Can Do More: A 1975 TV Story by Lviv Television
A 1975 news report made for Lviv television describes the use of the ASUP (Avtomatyzovana systema upravlinnya pidpryjemstvom - Automated Enterprise Management System) at the Lviv Electron plant, one of the largest TV manufacturers in the Soviet Union. Developed in cooperation with the Kyiv Institute of Cybernetics between 1964 and 1969, the system employed an electronic computer to perform calculations and record production data, marking the first implementation of its kind in the Soviet Union. The story emerged during a period of technological optimism in Soviet state policy, with the fields of cybernetics and computer engineering having developed over nearly two decades. By 1967, more than 500 institutions and tens of...
The Electronic Eyes of a Traffic Inspector: A 1971 TV Story by Lviv Television
A 1971 television story produced for Lviv Television news describes an experiment using television cameras to regulate traffic at one of the busiest intersections in the center of Lviv. The source does not provide information about the authors or the context of the device’s development. However, it is known that the Electron plant, one of the largest TV manufacturers in the city at the time, operated a special design bureau for television equipment. This suggests the presence of technological expertise and infrastructure capable of developing such devices using the relatively new technology of transmitting images via television signals. This technology was becoming increasingly popular in various fields, including traffic control. The...
Radio Communication: A 1959 TV Story by Lviv television
A 1959 TV story filmed for Lviv Television’s Lvivska Nedilia (Lviv Week) (№19) captures the early years of Lviv television and depicts the Soviet modernization of the city. Although the sound is lost, the visuals effectively narrate the story of public transport operations and how remote communication enabled quick responses to breakdowns, preventing disruptions in the public transport infrastructure. In the context of Lviv at the time, the introduction of the trolleybus was a significant symbol of Soviet modernization. Previously, the city only had a tram network. The new trolleybus routes connected the historic city center with the outskirts, where large enterprises and working-class neighborhoods were located. This report highlights...
![Image for The Morality of Mrs. Dulska, 2013 TV Movie [Moralność pani Dulskiej]](https://edu.lvivcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/moralnosc-pani-768x508.jpg)
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Roman Buchko on Soviet Film Amateurs: Excerpt from an Interview on November 1, 2012
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“Oh, in the meadow blooms the red viburnum,” a Ukrainian resistance song
This source is an audio recording of the folk version of the one of the most popular Ukrainian resistance songs. It is known by various titles: “The rifleman’s Anthem,” [Cтрілецький гімн] “The song of the viburnum,” [Пісня про калину] or “Oh, in the meadow blooms the red viburnum” [Ой у лузі червона калина]. The song’s worldwide spread was facilitated by the performance of Andriy Khlyvnyuk, the lead singer of the Boombox band, who on February 28, 2022, the fourth day of Russia’s full-scale attack on Ukraine, sang only the first stanza of the song. His performance on St. Sophia Square in Kyiv led to the emergence of remixes. Among the many performers are...
Legend about the “disguised emperor” during the First World War
This source is the audio recording of the legend about the events of the First World War. The storyline describes an “emperor” who was incognito inspecting his army and its provisions. The prototype for the protagonist is Franz Josef I (1830–1916), the emperor of the Austrian Hungarian Empire. This artistic image shows the elements of naive monarchism. The type of “just and kind” ruler is based on his favorable attitude to Galician Ukrainians, who he took as loyal to the Habsburgs. This social myth about the “loyal troops” consisting of Ukrainians was reflected in the prose but also in songs from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Our emperor is getting old...
Grine kuzine (Green Cousin), song about emigration, 1921
The song, with a debatable authorship, was written for a Jewish theater. It was performed both in Europe and in the United States, and it became one of the most popular migrant works. The word “green” was an ironic definition of new immigrants who did not navigate well in American reality. The song “Green Cousin” raises the issue of disappointment of migrants in America, where hard work exhausts new-comers and does not bring the expected profit. The “Columbian state” appears not as a dream country where dreams come true, but a society of inequalities. Despite the hilarious music and satirical plot, the song shows the anxiety of emigrants due to the lack of...
A brivele der mamen (A Little Letter to Mama), song about emigration, 1907
The song was written by a Belarusian composer and singer, Solomon Smulewitz (1868-1943) in 1907. The author also had experience of migration to the United States. The song became very popular. In particular, it was used as a basis for a theatrical production and a film in Yiddish. The work raises the issue of migration caused separation of families. While the son who went to America has a successful life and a new family, his mother feels abandoned. Before her death, she asks her son not to forget to read Kaddish, a memorial prayer for her. The problem of separated families remained common to all migrants, but in this text the Jewish prayer...
“Goldene land” (Golden land), song about emigration, 1889
The song was written by a Lithuanian Jewish poet, Eliakum Zunser (1840-1913) based on his own experience of emigrating to the United States. The song "Golden Land" touches on the issue of new migrants, whose high expectations fail. The American city turns out to be a space full of dirt, noise, and poverty. Although jobs are available, they are poorly paid and dangerous to health. America is also not a place of social equality, because like in Europe, there is a disproportion in the distribution of wealth. This is an urban experience that was shared by many Jewish migrants who found work in the textile industry, or like Zunser himself, in the printing...
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