Russian Kafe » communism

Photo: Pioneer Camp

jim — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 04:30:52 +0000

Found Footage: Russia split over Lenin’s legacy

jim — Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:08:45 +0000

More than 80 years after his death, Russians are still divided about the legacy of Vladimir Lenin. Last week saw the 138th anniversary of Lenin’s birth. In the past, his home town was renamed in his honor, but now there’s talk of returning the city’s original name. Here’s an interesting piece from Russia Today covering the controversy.

Russia split over Lenin’s legacy

Soviet May Day Postcards

jim — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 13:10:21 +0000

With May Day approaching, we bring you a collection of Soviet May Day postcards. These are great examples of soviet art and we hope you will enjoy them. These were originally posed to Flickr by iwasayeyeman.

Found Footage: May Day 1961

jim — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 22:48:10 +0000

Here is a short American news clip from 1961 covering the May 1st celebrations in both the Soviet Union and Cuba. While the clip shows little about the actual May Day events, it does provide examples of both American and Soviet Cold War propaganda.

Stalin Era Architecture

jim — Tue, 03 Apr 2007 10:00:22 +0000

The Schusev State Museum of Architecture has some very nice online galleries featuring photos and drawings from the Stalin era. The first gallery features drawings of grandiose, yet unrealized, architectural projects. The second gallery, entitled “Life Became Better, Comrades, Life Became More Cheerful”, features photos of Moscow celebrations and construction projects from the same era.

Link: The Architecture of Moscow from the 1930s to the early 1950s. Unrealized projects
Link: Life Became Better, Comrades, Life Became More Cheerful

Artek International Young Pioneer Camp

jim — Tue, 30 Jan 2007 10:00:57 +0000

From 1925 until the fall of the Soviet Union, hundreds of thousands of children vacationed near the Black Sea at the Artek Pioneer Camp. This was the premier camp for young pioneers and it was considered an honor to be able to vacation at Artek. Not only Soviet children spent time at Artek but also many international kids as well. Here is a collection of old photos from the Artek camp posted by Jens Toftegaard on Flickr.

1970s Postcard From Artek

Two Little Pioneers at Artek (1930s)

Pioneers Marching in Artek

Parade in Lasurnaya, one of ten compounds comprising the Artek pioneercamp, 1970s.

Four pioneers from Guinee at Artek, summer of 1976.

International friends at Artek. Danish girl, Charlotte, susu boy, Samba from Guinee.

Link: Wikipedia article about Artek