The Stigmatisation of Family in the Biography of the Soviet Leader (on the Example of Army General A. V. Khrulev)

Abstract

Creation of Soviet leader official biography assumed using of class patterns. This formed an exclusion zone connected with stigmatization of a family. The soviet leader – “faithful son of the party” – was a man out of nowhere, a production of social industry. However, social experience linked with the family could determine the character’s attitude to major landmarks of the epoch. But some information about the true origin didn’t disappear. It was accumulated to be used as a tool of social control within the framework of repressive policies. The stigmatization of a family as an important part of social rise during the soviet period is studied basing on the biography materials of Army General A. V. Khrulev. The official biography contained mix of real and fictional information, which were constructed following ideological patterns. The true status of Khrulev’s family was reconstructed on the basis of non-published archival materials. The status of Khrulev’s family caused problems for its members who occupied high positions in soviet hierarchy: they were accused of using hired labor (being kulaks) in 1930; of using position by some family members (Mikhail was a deputy chairman of the Murmansk Executive Committee, Andrei – a high ranking military commander). In 1938 Mikhail Khrulev was convicted under article 58 of Criminal Code of RSFSR, and that transformed the status of all relatives: they became “family members of traitor to Homeland”. In this research, the influence of these facts is studied, forming the attitude of Army General A. V. Khrulev to repressive policy of the Soviet state at 1930s – early 1950s, and, namely, to those persons who were responsible for carrying out repressive policy in practice.

Keywords

• a. v. khrulev
• family
• social stigma
• biography
• soviet leader
• repression
• social control
• social myth
• ideology
• class pattern