Pioneer Heroes — schoolchildren who bravely fought against fascists. In a broader sense — Soviet Pioneers who performed acts of heroism during the years of the establishment of Soviet Power, collectivization, and the Great Patriotic War.
The official list of "Pioneer Heroes" was formalized in 1954 with the compilation of the Honor Book of the All-Union Pioneer Organization named after V. I. Lenin; local pioneer organizations' honor books were subsequently added. However, some historians contest a number of key facts in the official biographies of Pioneer Heroes, as well as the very existence of some of them.
History
The Emergence of Pioneer Heroes
The first mentions of Pioneer Heroes began to appear in the late 1920s. Newspaper items about the exploits of young "fighters against the class enemy" started appearing in the press; from the mid-1930s, pamphlets dedicated to young heroes were published (most notably about Pavlik Morozov). At the XII Congress of the Komsomol (1954), the "Honor Book of the All-Union Pioneer Organization named after V. I. Lenin" was created. Entered as No. 1 was Pavlik Morozov — who, according to the official version, bravely exposed the crimes of kulaks against Soviet Power and was murdered by them in revenge — and as No. 2, Kolya Myagotin, also killed by class enemies.
In addition to those entered in the all-union Honor Book, local honor books began to appear around the country. Following this, biographies reworked by professional writers were published in large print runs. It should be noted that the fictionalized accounts of certain Pioneer Heroes — in particular Pavlik Morozov, Grisha Akopyan, and some others entered in the "Honor Book of the All-Union Pioneer Organization named after V. I. Lenin" before 1941 — did not correspond to real biographical facts and were embellished for propaganda purposes. This applies especially to Pavlik Morozov, who in all likelihood was never a Pioneer at all, and to other "heroes" of the 1930s allegedly killed by class enemies: Kolya Myagotin and Grisha Akopyan (an entirely fictional character).
Pioneer Heroes during the Great Patriotic War
As early as the first days of the war, during the defense of the Brest Fortress, 14-year-old Petya Klypa, a member of the regimental music platoon, distinguished himself. Many Pioneers took part in partisan units, where they were frequently used as scouts and saboteurs, as well as in underground activities; among the most celebrated young partisans were Marat Kazey, Volodya Dubinin, Lyonya Golikov, and Valya Kotik (all of them perished in combat, except Volodya Dubinin, who was killed by a mine; and all of them, except the somewhat older Lyonya Golikov, were only 13–14 years old at the time of their death).
It was not uncommon for teenagers of school age to serve in regular military units (the so-called "sons and daughters of the regiment" — well known by the eponymous story by Valentin Katayev, whose protagonist was modeled on 11-year-old Isaak Rakov).
For their combat service, tens of thousands of children and Pioneers were awarded orders and medals: The Order of Lenin was awarded to — Tolya Shumov, Vitya Korobkov, Volodya Kaznacheyev; The Order of the Red Banner — Volodya Dubinin, Yuliy Kantemirov, Andrey Makarikhin, Kostya Kravchuk; The Order of the Patriotic War, 1st Class — Petya Klypa, Valeriy Volkov, Sasha Kovalyov; The Order of the Red Star — Volodya Samorukha, Shura Yefremov, Vanya Andrianov, Vitya Kovalenko, Lyonya Ankinovich.
Hundreds of Pioneers were awarded the medal "Partisan of the Great Patriotic War," more than 15,000 the medal "For the Defense of Leningrad," and more than 20,000 the medal "For the Defense of Moscow." Four Pioneer Heroes were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union: Lyonya Golikov, Marat Kazey, Valya Kotik, and Zina Portnova.
After the War
After the Great Patriotic War and the country's transition to peacetime, the list of Pioneer Heroes was finalized. Fictionalized biographies of "Pioneer Heroes," published in fairly large print runs, were used for moral education. Some works about the heroes were included in the compulsory school curriculum, and short films about the Pioneers' exploits were shown in school screening rooms.
Pioneer Heroes in Art
The Template
As noted, fictionalized biographies of "Pioneer Heroes" began appearing and quickly entered wide circulation from the mid-1950s onward, although the first and best-known example of the genre was written somewhat earlier (L. Kassil, M. Polyanovsky, Ulitsa mladshego syna [The Street of the Younger Son], Moscow, 1949, Stalin Prize 1950 — about Volodya Dubinin).
S. G. Leontyeva, a candidate of philological sciences, identifies in the biographies of "Pioneer Heroes" the hallmarks of a template which she, following S. Yu. Neklyudov and H. Günther, sees as bearing numerous parallels with Christian hagiographic literature — particularly in details of characterization, the description of early childhood, and the martyr's death.
The hero is invariably endowed with every conceivable virtue (with particular emphasis on good academic performance); as a rule he is a leader who guides and mentors his peers, yet at the same time his "ordinariness" is stressed, meant to show that anyone can become a hero. The hero is marked by a high degree of political consciousness, and his heroic deed is determined by his membership in the Pioneer organization. On the other hand, the hero's "childlike" qualities are especially underlined, intended to lend particular significance to his deeds — deeds worthy of an adult. In this connection one may note that, for example, in Yuriy Korolkov's book Lyonya Golikov is portrayed as a small boy: "The officer looked back and saw that some boy was running after him. Quite small. If you stood them side by side, the boy would barely reach his waist." The sleeves of the German general's tunic — the general killed by Lyonya — hang down past his knees, and so on. Yet the events described took place in August 1942, when Lyonya was 16 years old (born 1926).
Types of Narrative about Pioneer Heroes
S. G. Leontyeva identifies six plot types on a morphological basis:
- the hero's ideological victory over the enemy;
- the hero's victory, accompanied by the elimination of the enemy;
- the hero's victory — revenge by the enemy's accomplices and the hero's death — revenge by the hero's comrades;
- the hero's death — revenge by the hero's comrades;
- the hero's destruction of the enemy on a second attempt;
- the hero's destruction of the enemy on a second attempt — revenge by the enemy's accomplices and the hero's death.
In the depiction of the hero's martyr's death, naturalistic details of torture and suffering are common; in Leontyeva's view, this was directed at satisfying the audience's age-specific appetite for "frightening" and "bloody" stories (a demand that was blocked in all other genres of children's literature of the period).
Pioneer Heroes in Post-Soviet Culture
Pervyy Otryad (English title: First Squad) — a joint animated project by the Japanese studio Studio 4°C, the Canadian company Molot Entertainment, and Russian creators; a fantasy set against the backdrop of the Great Patriotic War, comprising a music video, a feature-length film, a novel by Anna Starobinets titled Pervyy Otryad: Istina (First Squad: The Truth), and a manga by artist Enki Sugihara.
On the eve of 9 May 2005, a music video was released for the track Nasha s toboy pobeda [Our Victory Together] (a rap set to the melody of the tango "Utomlyonnoye solntse" [The Weary Sun]) by Russian rapper Ligalayz. The video was directed by Daisuke Nakayama and produced by Mikhail Shprits and Aleksey Klimov. In the video, Soviet Pioneers fight Nazis with swords while T-34 tanks battle fantastical German combat robots; the visual sequence also features the Palace of Soviets and the Mayakovskaya metro station.
In 2007, the planned release of a feature-length animated film titled "Pervyy Otryad. Moment Istiny" (First Squad: The Moment of Truth) was announced. The film was produced in 2009 by Studio 4°C and the specially created studio Molot Entertainment (whose founders include the authors of the concept and screenplay, Mikhail Shprits and Aleksey Klimov); the distributor was the distribution company Nashe Kino. The director was Yoshiharu Ashino; producers — M. Shprits, A. Klimov, and Eiko Tanaka; character design — Hirofumi Nakata; music — Japanese musician DJ Krush.
The year is 1942. The USSR is the only country managing to hold back the Nazi invaders. Running parallel to the fighting between regular armies is a hidden war between two secret occult services, two special military agencies — the German Ahnenerbe and the Soviet 6th Department of Military Intelligence. These units are armed not with tanks and aircraft, but with the laws of magic and sorcery. An ancient spell allows the mages of the Ahnenerbe to summon from the realm of the dead the spirit of the great master of the Order of the Sword, the Crusader Baron von Wolff, who fell 700 years ago during the Battle on the Ice. The head of Soviet intelligence, General Belov, decides to bring in one of his most gifted agents — 14-year-old Nadya — to counter Baron von Wolff. She in turn summons from the other world her fallen friends, Pioneer Heroes who were executed by the fascists at the very start of the war. The action of the animated film is interspersed with mock-documentary inserts in which supposed eyewitnesses, psychologists, and doctors comment on events.
The film's producer M. Shprits stressed in interviews his commitment to accurately depicting Russian reality, down to the angle of the streetlights. However, apart from serious historical inconsistencies in the plot — which may be explained as artistic license — the film contains a number of more or less significant factual errors.
The second film in the planned quadrilogy, whose screenplay has already been written, will be a horror film, unlike the first, which was made in the fantasy genre.
The project's creators do not expect it to recoup its costs at the box office, but hope to earn additional revenue from publishing comics and releasing merchandise — in particular, red neckties bearing the project's logo and bear-shaped pendants.