Read, the country is huge: how Izvestia greeted the beginning of the war
"Get up, the country is huge, get up to fight to the death" — with these words, Izvestia greeted the beginning of the Great Patriotic War. Vasily Lebedev-Kumach's poem "The Holy War" was published in the first issue published since the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR. And literally on the same evening it was set to music by Alexander Alexandrov. But the following issues also featured literary works and photographs by prominent photographers: the newspaper's task was not only to inform about events at the front, but also to support and inspire the people to fight the invader. On the eve of the Day of Remembrance and Mourning, Izvestia recalls how the publication and its staff helped the Motherland during one of the most difficult and tragic weeks in its history.
Word and deed
June 22, 1941, was Sunday. On this day, the issue that had been prepared the day before was published, so there was still a peaceful atmosphere on its pages: it talked about grain harvesting, coal mining, city committee plenums, and so on. But the Izvestia editorial office was already busy in the morning. Editor-in-chief Lev Rovinsky formed a military department, introduced the post of military commander and immediately sent nine employees to the front. In June 1941, 52 employees went to the front line, 27 of them as soldiers and officers in active units, the rest as journalists.
Red Army soldiers read newspapers and letters from home during a break between battles during the Great Patriotic War
Pavel Troshkin and Evgeny Krieger were among the first military officers. Their fate is significant. Troshkin became one of the most prominent war photographers, photographing the defense of Moscow, the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk, repeatedly risking his life; he died in 1944 in a battle with Bandera in Ukraine. Krieger went through the entire Great Patriotic War, wrote reports and essays, and after the Victory became a famous screenwriter and writer.
However, not only they, but also other Izvestia authors, and even journalists who worked in the rear, sought not just to convey the facts, but to create artistic images of exceptional impact with the help of words and photographs: it was so important in this difficult time to support people's morale and inspire them to a feat. Perhaps that is why the first military issues of the newspaper regularly publish poems, essays, essays, photographs from different parts of the country, showing with what energy the Soviet people are ready to fight back against the enemy.
Pavel Troshkin, a war photographer and correspondent for the Izvestia newspaper (first from right), rides in a car with his comrades during the Great Patriotic War
So, on the second page of the June 24 issue, we see a magnificent panorama of Dmitry Baltermants, another classic of 20th—century photography along with Troshkin. It seems to be a standard plot: a rally at the Moscow Dynamo plant. But Baltermantz turns him into an epic artistic canvas: countless workers listen intently to the speaker with an open, strong-willed face. Yes, they are alarmed and confused, but the reader believes: very soon, fired up by a passionate speech, they will return to the machines and do the impossible.
Moscow military
It was on the 24th, not the 23rd, that the first Izvestia issue dedicated to the war appeared (the newspaper did not appear on Mondays). And in it, along with Molotov's famous speech, reports from the fronts and decrees of the Council of People's Commissars, the famous "Holy War" appeared. The importance attached to this publication can be judged by its location on the front page, directly under the portrait of Stalin. But there are literary works on other pages as well: on the second one, the verses "Let's destroy the robber army!" Evgeny Dolmatovsky (the author of the songs "Homeland Hears", "Beloved City" and many others), on the third is an article by the writer Vsevolod Ivanov "My Fatherland", which begins as fiction and then develops into a passionate journalistic anthem to the Motherland and a call for unity.
"It's cramped and hot on the tram. There are rare, puffy clouds in the sky, the ones you always want to give up on — no shadows from them, no moisture. The streets are hot. The tram is moving fast. In the front seat, by the playground, near the open window, sits a gray-haired, thin old woman. A big, curly-haired worker holds the white head of an old woman in his huge hands. They're looking out the window. She doesn't want to show her reddened eyelids. But you need to look at your son. And we see her face. How much tenderness, love, and affection there is in him..."
A war correspondent reads a newspaper
This is how the text begins, which later became part of many collections of military prose. Describing the send-off to the front, Ivanov creates generalized images in several lines, in which readers from all over the country could recognize themselves and their loved ones. But it is also a picture of Moscow, a city that said goodbye to peaceful life overnight.
Evgeny Krieger also writes about the mood in the capital in this issue. His essay is called "Moscow in these days."
"People on the streets were talking:
— It's a pity that today is Sunday. It's unthinkable to walk around like this, doing nothing. I need to call work, maybe they're gathered there, waiting for me.
Soviet military personnel receive newspapers during the Great Patriotic War
They called and came to the factories themselves, asking if they could join the machines. This was the case at the Ilyich plant. After Moscow listened to Molotov's speech, groups of workers began to flock to the factory. There were a lot of them. They stated: "We're here, we're ready! We want to get to work!" They were told that there was no need, the day off was still a day off. But those who came stayed at the factory. They couldn't, they just couldn't stay at home on a day like this. Some took up the organization of blackout in the workshops, others insisted on their own and went to the machines, others went to neighboring houses and neighborhoods, talked with residents, with housewives, found out if they knew in every house, in every apartment, in every family how to behave during the war to help the army, the state, the people."
Izvestia Barracks
The editorial office was bustling these days, too. An air defense headquarters was established, employees who did not travel on business trips began to work overtime, and a so—called barracks was set up on the fifth floor, where beds were put up - military personnel spent the night here between trips to the front. It was not easy to transfer a note or a photo from the front line back then. Even if it was possible to dictate a telegram, it could turn out to be undelivered (for example, the first notes of Viktor Poltoratsky, who met the war in Lviv, did not reach Moscow). Therefore, journalists preferred to return to Pushkin Square after collecting their material: in the summer of 1941, when Hitler's army was rapidly advancing, the front line was literally a few hours away from the capital.
Poet and writer Konstantin Mikhailovich Simonov works in his office
Every day at five in the morning, the population of the barracks woke up from sleep and left for the division to return well after midnight and dictate the next texts. Among the "guests" there were not only staff members, but also, for example, the poet Konstantin Simonov (the author of the great poem "Wait for Me"), the writer Evgeny Petrov (known primarily for his creative duet with Ilya Ilf and who created together with him "The Twelve Chairs" and "The Golden Calf"). They wrote with pleasure for Izvestia, and the newspaper was well aware of the importance of collaborating with talented writers.
In the issue dated June 25, the first messages appear, received directly from the military districts of Kiev and Odessa. The military department of the editorial office was headed by Boris Belogorsky, who previously headed the internal information department. Although he did not serve in the army, he was able to quickly establish a correspondent network and ensure that military personnel reports were published in every issue of the newspaper.
But what is striking about the Izvestia issues at the end of June 1941, no less than the high patriotic literature, are the notes and announcements that are completely unrelated to the war. So, from Friday's edition (June 27), we learn that the final exams at the Kiev Conservatory have ended and 33 people have received diplomas. The text ends with the phrase: "All graduates of the conservatory are sent to work in their specialty." Even then, in a war—torn country, everyone understood that culture was the future of the nation. They also wanted to demonstrate that life is going on as usual.
Pavel Troshkin, a military photographer and correspondent for the Izvestia newspaper during the Great Patriotic War
There is also a theater poster.: They watched The Cherry Orchard at the Moscow Art Theater, Dargomyzhsky's The Mermaid at the Bolshoi Theater, and Kalman's Silva at the Operetta Theater. Moreover, Izvestia invites viewers to the cinema, but it already has a repertoire of "for the spite of the day." First of all, the newspaper recommends Eisenstein's Alexander Nevsky. The film about the defeat of the German Crusaders by the Russian prince, originally released in 1939 and shelved shortly after the signing of the Non-Aggression Pact with Germany, was re-released in the early days of the war. "Everyone should watch," reads the headline. As a result, a lot of people really watched, the success of the tape was huge: the parallel between the events of medieval Russia and the war with Hitler turned out to be understandable and close to the widest public.
85 years later
Looking back at the events of 85 years ago, it is impossible not to think about the role played by the media, and first of all the key ones, such as Izvestia, in mobilizing the country and the moral support of the people. Today, this experience and these materials are once again relevant, if not topical, given the number of rhymes between the two eras. And what was originally a momentary newspaper article or a reportage photo is now perceived as invaluable historical evidence. Thousands of testimonies.
It will soon be possible to remember them thanks to the events of the National Center for Historical Memory, in particular the exhibition "Memory in a Book. Without a statute of limitations", where digitized editions and brochures with texts from the first years of the war, including the Izvestia ones, will be presented. But in a sense, the entire program dedicated to the Day of Remembrance and Mourning refers to the experience of June 1941, when all possible tools were used to influence people, both journalistic and artistic.
Rehearsal of the play "And the dawns here are quiet..." on the Stage of the Melnikov Theater on Bronnaya
Here are just some examples. A thematic train "Unity in memory, strength in heroism" has started from the Belorussky Railway Station (from where soldiers went to the front line in the early days of the Great Patriotic War), one of the carriages of which is equipped for a discussion platform, where a series of lectures on the contribution of the peoples of the USSR to Victory will take place. A museum and memorial complex dedicated to the memory of the victims of the genocide is being created in Bryansk and on June 22, the play "And the dawns here are quiet..." will be shown at the Bronnaya Theater (Izvestia told about it earlier).
All these are ways of understanding the events of June 1941. Reading archived Izvestia may also be one of these ways, as all issues of the newspaper have been digitized and are available online. And even today, after 85 years, studying old issues cannot leave you indifferent. But it gives us hope and confidence that the country that stood up then will cope with any challenges.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
