Book

Inventing the enemy : denunciation and terror in Stalin's Russia

Goldman, Wendy Z

Overview

\"Ordinary people and the Stalinist terror uses stories of personal relationships to explore the behavior of ordinary people during Stalin's terror. Communist Party leaders targeted specific groups for arrest, but also strongly encouraged ordinary citizens and party members to \"unmask the hidden enemy.\" People responded by flooding the secret police and local authorities with accusations. By 1937, every work place was convulsed by hyper-vigilance, intense suspicion, and the hunt for hidden enemies. Spouses, coworkers, friends, and relatives disavowed and denounced each other. People confronted hideous dilemmas. Forced to lie to protect loved ones, they struggled to reconcile political imperatives and personal loyalties. Work places were turned into snake pits. The strategies that people used to protect themselves--naming names, preemptive denunciations, and shifting blame--all helped to spread the terror. A history of the terror in five Moscow factories [that] explores personal relationships and individual behavior within a pervasive political culture of \"enemy hunting.\"\"--Provided by publisher.

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Subject: Kommunisticheskaëiىa partiëiىa Sovetskogo Soëiىuza Purges History. / Political purges Social aspects Soviet Union History. / Political culture Soviet Union History. / State-sponsored terrorism Social aspects Soviet Union History. / Working class Soviet Union History. / Interpersonal relations Soviet Union History. / Factories Russia (Federation) Moscow History. / Soviet Union Politics and government 1936-1953. / Soviet Union Social conditions 1917-1945. / Moscow (Russia) Social conditions.
• ISBN: 9780521191968, 0521191963, 9780521145626, 0521145627

Item info:

1 item available

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Holdings :

Call Number	Copies	Material	Location
DK268.4.G65 2011	1	BOOK	AUTOSTORE