The fate of children as whistleblowers
Soviet propaganda portrayed the deeds of Pavlik Morozov as heroic. The participation of children in the denunciation during the period of collectivization was strongly supported by the state. The training of the pioneer as an informant was seen as an important ideological focus.
The pioneer was obliged to report all illegal acts, including against his relatives, because his treachery served the great goal of building communism.
And this denunciation by pioneers across the country was massive. But not all informers were able to survive after such a denunciation. In total, more than 30 pioneer spies were murdered in the 1930s.
The most zealous symbol of treachery, of course, was the “heroic deed” of Pavlik Morozov, who reported his father to the police. But there were other children as well.
Kolya Myagotin
The investigative propaganda was in full swing. However, in the case of Kolya Myagotin, things were ambiguous. As a child, his mother sent Kolya to an orphanage because there was simply nothing to eat for her son. There, Kolya became a pioneer and later returned to his mother’s home.
13-year-old Kolya, together with his friend Petya Vakhrushev, stole sunflowers from a field of the collective farm. During this action, they were caught by a security guard, a Red Army soldier. During an escape attempt, Kolya was shot by the guard. Petya was able to escape.
Petya was found and arrested. But since the country needed heroes, the case was solved quite differently. It was said that Kolya reported acts of sabotage by the local kulaks, for which he was killed by his cousins. This “denunciation” led to the arrest of 12 people. Five of them received the death penalty, the rest were sentenced to prison. And Kolya was named an All-Union Hero. Petya was gone immediately.
Olya Balykina
In March 1934, Olya denounced her father and his friends. Here is their accusation with small cuts:
“To Spassk, OGPU. From the pioneer of the pioneer department of Otradna, Balykina Olga. I inform the OGPU bodies that there is a scandal in the village of Otrada. Agricultural public goods have been and continue to be stolen. So my father, Grigory Semenovitch, together with Kuznetsov, a brigadier of the First Brigade, and his kulak, Firsov V.F., stole the bread from the collective farm while threshing and transporting the bread to the town of Spassk. They hid the bread in an empty hut and then sold it.
When they stole, I had to hold the bags. I did. I don’t want to carry such a heavy stone on my soul anymore. At first, I decided to tell my teacher about the crime that was taking place before my eyes. After discussing the case, I demanded to be reported.
A policeman came, but he did the wrong thing. He summoned me and my mother for interrogation. Threatened by my mother, I didn’t dare say what was on my mind. But I will not be silent any longer. I must do my pioneering work, otherwise these thieves will continue to steal and in the future completely destroy our collective farm. And to prevent that, I’m going to make everything public and then let the higher authorities do whatever they want with them. My duty is done. My father threatens me, but I am not afraid of this threat.
After the denunciation, 16 people were arrested, including her father. Olga’s fate, ironically, did not come true. During the war, Olga appeared in the territory occupied by the Germans. After the liberation, she was denounced by her neighbors. For her service to the Germans, Olga received 10 years of camp.
Pronya Kobylin
Pronya scolded his mother, who was gathering ears of corn that had just fallen off to feed him. His mother was arrested, and Prona was sent to the “Artek” camp.
Dmitry Gordienko
Dmitri denounced a few neighbors for collecting fallen ears of corn. The head of the family was shot and his wife was imprisoned for 10 years. For his denunciation, Dmitry received new boots, a pioneer suit, a personalized watch and a subscription to the newspaper Leninskie Granchata from the authorities.
But the more the pioneers denounced their fellow residents, the harder the kulaks struck back. A total of 56 murders of juvenile pioneer spies were officially confirmed during the Stalinist regime.