Kerry Kubilius's Blog
Posted by Kerry Kubilius
The collapse of the Soviet Union opened up a wave of interest in collecting Soviet military memorabilia. Western visitors to Russia and other countries of the former Soviet Union could purchase medals, hats, and even full uniforms in open-air markets for a song. It is still possible to find their like in souvenir markets, but the prices they command are much greater than in the early 1990s. What may have begun as novelty souvenirs for travelers seeded interest in building full-fledged collections. Now individuals seek out information about the items in their collection and search for special items to fill out those collections.
The site Soviet Military Awards is a welcome home for these collectors. Begun when interest in this subject took off, the site offers pages and pages of useful descriptions and photos of Soviet awards. The forum brings enthusiasts together in one place. These pieces of the past represent Soviet values and say much about the former USSR.
Posted by Kerry Kubilius
Alexander Sozhenitsyn has died of a stroke at age 89. This Nobel Prize-winning author was highly critical of the Soviet regime. A prisoner of labor camps, he went on to write novels that exposed the horrors of the Gulag system, like A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and The Gulag Archipelago.
The NPR All Things Considered piece described typed copies of Solzhenitsyn's work being passed between readers when the books were banned in Russia. Solzhenitsyn was eventually exiled from Russia, though he returned after several years in the United States. Highly critical and highly criticized in his later life, Solzhenitsyn is best known for his early works that have now become important classics.
Posted by Kerry Kubilius
Since Prince Vladimir chose Christianity as the faith for his people, 1,020 years have elapsed. The groundbreaking decision to convert from paganism changed history in Ukraine, Russia, Bulgaria, and elsewhere forever. Rus was the initial center of Eastern Orthodoxy, with St. Sophia Cathedral standing in for the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople. St. Sophia still reigns as monument to that time of learning, law, and religion, though it has seen change and restoration.
The words for "Christian" and "peasant" were once almost synonymous in meaning, even though the lowest classes practiced a religion that was something of a hybrid between Orthodoxy and paganism. Colored eggs, or pysanky, are good examples of this hybridization - while eggs might now be associated with the Orthodox Easter holiday, they were once used in pagan rites of spring.
Posted by Kerry Kubilius
A declining population has had officials in Russia worried, but concern about population growth is nothing new to Russia. In the first half of the 20th century, pronatal campaigns encouraged mothers to have more children, by increasing the length of maternity leave, improving prenatal education, and setting up summertime nurseries for working mothers. The facilitators of these programs had difficulty reaching the most rural villages due staffing limitations and prevailing traditions of childbirth and childcare or infant care in rural Russia.
Illness and disease affected child mortality rates, and accidents and other dangers prevented many children from reaching adulthood. There was a firm belief among mothers that children who survived malnutrition, sickness, accidents, and being left alone for hours during daytime hours would become strong through these childhood trials.
Posted by Kerry Kubilius
If you know where to look, you can find historical data that is free to access on the web. Luckily, if you're looking for information on Bulgaria and Macedonia, this list is a great place to start. Not all of the books are in English, but if you read German, this shouldn't be a problem. However, the entries that are in English provide first-hand looks (both in text and in photos) of this region of the world during the the first half of the 20th century and before.
