Гельфанд Владимир. Дневник 1941-1946/Русский сборник XXVII "Советские потребительские практики в «маленьком СССР», 1945-1949"

V. A. Kozlov, M. E. Kozlova
“Soviet Consumer Practices in the ‘Little USSR,’ 1945–1949”
(Based on materials of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany)

Publisher: Modest Kolerov
Series / year: Studies in Russian History, 2020
Pages: 568
Binding: Softcover
ISBN 978-5-905040-50-4
Year of publication: 2020
Issue XXVII, Moscow
Dimensions: 14.50 cm × 21.50 cm × 3.00 cm
Format: 60 × 90/16
Weight: 700 g
Code: 1654933
Subject: General works on Russian history
Print run: 500 copies

One of the compensators for the shortcomings of centralized material supply was market trade

. Visiting German markets, as we have already written, was forbidden for Soviet citizens, but, however, far from everyone agreed to reckon with this

. True, things at the markets were not only “forbidden,” but also very expensive

. One could not really splurge on a SVAG salary, although by Soviet standards it was high

.199 A female translator, for example, could buy only a dress cut and second-hand boots with her entire salary in marks

.200 Vladimir Gelfand, who served in Germany, described his experiences very colorfully when visiting the "black market" in Berlin: “A raincoat is being sold for 5.5 thousand (marks. — Author). Good, large, new, red leather

. I want to have it so much my mouth waters, but there is no money.”

201

In Berlin, at Germany's main flea market, the high price level was largely determined by the Americans

. In the memoirs of G. A. Litvin, who served in the SZO after the war, a vivid sketch (September 1945) has been preserved: “Near the Brandenburg Gate, our path was blocked by an impassable flea market crowd

. From the main street of Berlin — Unter den Linden — to the foot of the charred Reichstag building, a crowd of thousands of German, English, and American speculators, buyers, and onlookers seethed

. The so-called reichstagovka (flea market) solved many problems for its clients

. American officers and soldiers in short jackets, rolling up to the bazaar in 'jeeps,' businesslike pulled blocks of cigarettes out of the trunks, disappeared into the flea market crowd, and surfaced from it with heavy luggage — antique vases, expensive sets of tableware, paintings

. Officers, as a rule, were helped by extravagant ladies

. Cars loaded with booty left along Charlottenburgstrasse to the western part of the city.”

202

Commandant's offices conducted inspections in such places

. They caught violators

. One of the regulars noted in his diary on November 11, 1945: “On Alexanderplatz there was no 'black market'

. The commandant's office tried with all its strength

. The whole square was controlled by vigilant patrols, who every now and then checked documents on the spot, unhesitatingly demanding them from officers in front of the Germans.”

203 Those detained at "black markets" justified themselves by saying that they had not yet received their [limit] ration cards, and "there was nowhere to spend money."

One of the offenders even claimed that he faced a "Hamletian" question: "to acquire an item for oneself or to go drinking," swore that he did not know about the ban, and besides, his supervisor knew that he was at the market, "but made no warnings," since he used the market "himself or with the help of his driver."

204

In 1946, the lovers of visiting "black markets" among SVAG personnel were taken on seriously

. On June 1, 1946, the military commandant's office of the SVAG Headquarters and the prosecutor's office conducted an inspection and registration of motor vehicles that were located during working hours (from 11:30 to 15:00) at the "black market" in the Lichtenberg district of Berlin

[...] Author of the statement cited above — translator, Junior Lieutenant Chumakov generally stood out for a certain extravagance, for example, calling colleagues exclusively "sir" and "madam," plunging them into complete bewilderment

.236

It was in the postwar years and precisely in the Soviet occupation community that all SVAG members, not only the bosses, their families, and selected representatives of the intelligentsia, were able for the first time to feel the aroma of what would later be called "itemism" and "consumerism."

After all, "junk-hunting" (barakholstvo) signified not only actions aimed at obtaining things, but also an attitude toward these efforts as an essential vital necessity: "I want to have" instead of "I need to have."

Therefore, some SVAG employees combed through "black markets" in search of both necessary and exotic items: “Yesterday I went junk-hunting

. I bought gloves, socks, several pairs of each, many hats and caps of various colors — there will be suits, once there is something to cover the head

. I could not acquire a radio receiver

. Now it remains to get a typewriter and tires for a bicycle

. For 250 marks I bought a Rasier Apparat (an electric shaving device), cheaply got two pairs of women's shoes (for 100 and 200) — I will send them to mom

. Cheaply gave away women's dresses

. But I was cheated on the coat

. In the morning, when I looked at it closely, it turned out to be full of holes, so you couldn't even make trousers out of it... I acquired a typewriter — an elegant one... It is small, in a case, so it fit into one of my suitcases

. Now I have seven suitcases, the eighth — a small one, and two overcoats, and a bicycle, and a radio receiver, and so much bother and trouble ahead.”

237 In the cited diary entry, one can clearly see a certain embarrassment of the "Stalinist man" from the "excessiveness" of his junk-hunting, an unfamiliar pleasure from possessing things, the opportunity to share them with loved ones, and an incomparable consumer enthusiasm

Footnotes

199 Kozlov V. A., Kozlova M. E. Pay Paradoxes of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany (1945–1949) // History. Ostkraft. Academic Review. M., 2018. No. 5

200 In November 1945 in Berlin, new leather men's boots on the market cost from 800 to 1,200 marks (1 mark equaled 50 kopecks. — Author), second-hand — from 200 to 600, new women's — 700–1,000, second-hand — 300–750 marks

. Men's second-hand suits cost 1,000–2,000 marks, shirts — from 150 to 200 marks, artificial silk stockings — 150–180 marks, new men's coat — 1,600–2,000, second-hand — 650–1,000 marks, cuts for ladies' woolen dresses — 1,000–1,300 marks (GA RF. F. R-7317. Op. 29. D. 423. L. 38)

201 Gelfand V. Diary 1941–1946. M., 2015:

http://knigosite.org/library/read/34392

202 Litvin G. A. On the Ruins of the Third Reich, or the Pendulum of War. Reflections of an Eyewitness. M., 1998:

https://www.rulit.me/books/na-razvalinah-tretego-rejha-ili-mayatnik-vojny-read-31585-13.html

. M. I. Semiryaga, referencing the journal "American" from April 1946, reports that over a year (from May 1945 to April 1946) American soldiers "sent home 60 million dollars earned on the 'black market'" (Semiryaga M. I. How We Governed Germany. Politics and Life. M., 1995:

https://rbook.me/book/21889161/

)

203 Gelfand V. Diary 1941–1946:

http://knigosite.org/library/read/34392

204 GA RF. F. R-7317. Op. 40. D. 54. L. 38

236 GA RF. F. R-5704. Op. 1. D. 56. L. 33

237 Gelfand V. N. Op. cit.

The first distinctive feature of the proposed Russian Collection is that, as still happens only rarely even today, it is the product of a completely independent, extra-institutional initiative. Its publication is not subsidized by any state or public institution, and its compilation is not part of scheduled work under any grant or academic program. The compilers and publisher hope to establish the Russian Collection as an independent research institution alongside journals, yearbooks, and similar publications burdened with statuses and regalia.

The second distinctive feature of the Russian Collection is that from the outset it was conceived as a collective undertaking by researchers of Russia from different countries. This issue includes scholars from Russia, Ukraine, Great Britain, Serbia, the Czech Republic, and the United States. It is international both in principle and in practice, although in its language — in the fact that works written in other languages are invariably translated into Russian — it consciously follows its subject of study: Russia.

The third and most important feature of the Russian Collection is its rejection of the prevailing periodization of Russian history, and its refusal to divide Russia’s single history into isolated periods. It is obvious that the Russian Empire, the USSR, and contemporary Russia are distinct objects of study. But in the focus of current, concrete, inevitably partial studies that make no claim to encyclopedic completeness — the kind of studies of which actual scholarship is made — there can be no doubt about the continuity, interconnectedness, and mutual conditioning of the histories of imperial, Soviet, and contemporary Russia, and of the post-imperial and post-Soviet spaces. They are united in the past and united in the present collection.

Valery Anatolyevich Kozlov and Marina Evgenievna Kozlova are Russian historians specializing in the social history of Soviet society in postwar Germany.

They are co-authors of a number of studies devoted to the everyday life and consumer practices of Soviet citizens in the occupation zone of Germany in 1945–1949.

One of their joint works is the article “Soviet Consumer Practices in the ‘Little USSR,’ 1945–1949 (Based on Materials of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany),” published in volume 27 of Russian Collection: Studies in the History of Russia.

In this study the authors analyze how Soviet military personnel and administrative employees adapted to conditions in postwar Germany, examining their everyday life, including black-market trade, barter, and other forms of consumption.

They are also the authors of the monograph The “Little USSR” and Its Inhabitants: Essays on the Social History of the Soviet Occupation Community in Germany, 1945–1949, published in 2021.

This book is an in-depth study of the social structure and everyday life of the Soviet occupation community in Germany during the period in question.

Kozlov and Kozlova’s works are based on a broad range of archival materials, including documents of the Soviet Military Administration in Germany, and make a significant contribution to understanding the social aspects of Soviet occupation policy in postwar Europe.

	Издательство Модест Колеров Год Исследования по истории России._2020 Страниц 568 Переплёт мягкий ISBN 978-5-905040-50-4 Год издания 2020, Выпуск XXVII. М. Размеры 14,50 см × 21,50 см × 3,00 см Формат 60х90/16 Вес 700 г. Код 1654933 Тематика Общие работы по истории России Тираж 500 экз.


	Первая особенность предлагаемого «Русского Сборника» — в том, что он, как это нечасто бывает даже сегодня, является плодом совершенно независимой, внеинституциональной инициативы, его издание не субсидируется ни одним из государственных и общественных институтов, его составление не выступает в качестве плановой работы по какой-либо грантовой или академической программе. В надеждах составителей и издателя — создание «Русского Сборника» как самостоятельной исследовательской институции наравне с обремененными статусами и регалиями журналами, ежегодниками и т. д. Вторая особенность «Русского Сборника» — в том, что он изначально создавался как коллективное дело исследователей России из разных стран: в этом выпуске исследователей из России, Украины, Великобритании, Сербии, Чехии и США. Он принципиально и практически интернационален, хотя в своем языке, в том, что даже написанные на иных языках работы непременно переводятся на русский, осознанно следует предмету исследования — России. Третья и самая важная особенность «Русского Сборника» — в отказе от преобладающей периодизации русской истории, в том, что он не разделяет единую историю России на изолированные друг от друга периоды. Очевидно, что Российская Империя, СССР и новая Россия — самостоятельные объекты для изучения. Но в фокусе текущих, предметных, неизбежно частных, не претендующих на энциклопедичность исследований (из которых, собственно, и состоит актуальная наука) преемственность, взаимосвязь и взаимообусловленность историй имперской, советской и новой России, постимперского и постсоветского пространств — не вызывает сомнений. Они едины в прошлом, едины и в настоящем сборнике.






	Валерий Анатольевич Козлов и Марина Евгеньевна Козлова — российские историки, специализирующиеся на социальной истории советского общества в послевоенной Германии. Они являются соавторами ряда исследований, посвящённых повседневной жизни и потребительским практикам советских граждан в зоне оккупации Германии в 1945–1949 годах. Один из их совместных трудов — статья «Советские потребительские практики в „маленьком СССР“, 1945–1949 (по материалам Советской военной администрации в Германии)» — опубликована в 27-м томе «Русского сборника. Исследования по истории России». В этой работе авторы анализируют, как советские военнослужащие и сотрудники администрации адаптировались к условиям послевоенной Германии, исследуя их повседневную жизнь, включая торговлю на чёрном рынке, бартер и другие формы потребления.Vestnik GUM Кроме того, они являются авторами монографии «„Маленький СССР“ и его обитатели. Очерки социальной истории советского оккупационного сообщества в Германии, 1945–1949», изданной в 2021 году. Эта книга представляет собой углублённое исследование социальной структуры и повседневной жизни советского оккупационного сообщества в Германии в указанный период. Работы Козлова и Козловой основаны на широком спектре архивных материалов, включая документы Советской военной администрации в Германии, и вносят значительный вклад в понимание социальных аспектов советской оккупационной политики в послевоенной Европе.

Russian Collection XXVII

Footnotes