Pavlik Morozov: Difference between revisions

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{{Short description|Soviet murder victim (1918–1932)}}

'''Pavel Trofimovich Morozov''' ({{lang-ru|Па́вел Трофи́мович Моро́зов}}; [[November 14]], [[1918]] – [[September 3]], [[1932]]), better known by [[diminutive]] '''Pavlik''', was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] youth glorified by the Soviet Union [[propaganda]] as a [[martyr]]. His story, dated to [[1932]], is that of a 13-year old boy who denounced his father to the authorities and was in turn killed by his family. It was a Soviet [[morality tale]]: opposing the state was selfish and reactionary, and [[state]] was more important than family. His story was a subject of compulsory children readings, songs, plays, a symphonic poem, a full-length [[opera]] and six biographies. There is very little original evidence related to the story, much of it a [[hearsay]] provided by second-hand witnesses. According to modern research, the story (denunciation, trial) is most likely a [[fiction]]al tale, although there is little doubt that Pavlik was a real child who was murdered in some domestic quarrel.

{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}}

{{More citations needed|date=January 2013}}

{{expand Russian|date=March 2022|topic=bio}}

{{family name hatnote|

Trofimovich|Morozov|lang=Eastern Slavic}}

{{Infobox person

| name = Pavlik Morozov

| honorific_prefix =

| honorific_suffix =

| image = Pavel Morozov.jpg

| alt =

| caption = Soviet portrait supposedly of Pavlik Morozov, wearing the [[Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union|Young Pioneers]] [[red scarf]]

| native_name = Павлик Морозов

| birth_name = Pavel Trofimovich Morozov

| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1918|11|14}}

| birth_place = [[Gerasimovka, Sverdlovsk Oblast|Gerasimovka]], [[Turinsky Uyezd]], [[Tobolsk Governorate]], [[Russian State]]

| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|1932|09|03|1918|11|14}}

| death_place = Gerasimovka, [[Ural Oblast (1923–1934)|Ural Oblast]], [[Russian SFSR]], [[USSR]]

| body_discovered =

| death_cause = Knife wounds

| native_name_lang = ru

| other_names =

| known_for = Supposedly turning his father in to Soviet officials for corruption

| parents = Trofim Sergeyevich Morozov (presumed shot in 1932); Tatyana Semyonovna Morozova (''née'' Baidakova; died in 1983)

| relations = Brothers: Fyodor Morozov (killed along with Pavel at eight years old), Alexei Morozov (killed in World War II), Roman Morozov

| awards =

| signature =

| signature_alt =

| website =

}}

'''Pavel Trofimovich Morozov''' ({{langx|ru|link=no|Па́вел Трофи́мович Моро́зов}}; 14 November 1918&nbsp;– 3 September 1932), better known by the [[diminutive]] '''Pavlik''', was a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] youth praised by the Soviet press as a [[martyr]]. Evidence has emerged since the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] of the fabrication of the Pavlik Morozov legend, as well as what Soviet officials thought of him. His story, dated to 1932, is that of a 13-year-old boy who denounced his father to the authorities and was in turn killed by his family. His story was a subject of reading, songs, plays, a symphonic poem, a full-length [[opera]], and six biographies. His politicized and mythologized story was used to encourage [[Eastern Bloc|Soviet Bloc]] children to also inform on their parents.<ref name="Figes">[[Orlando Figes]] ''The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia'', 2007, {{ISBN|0805074619}}, pages 122–126.</ref>

==The story==

==Popular story==

The most popular account of the story is as follows: born to poor [[peasant]]s in [[Gerasimovka]], a small village near [[Yekaterinburg]], Morozov was a dedicated [[communism|communist]] who led the [[Young Pioneers]] at his school, and a supporter of [[Collectivisation in the USSR|Stalin's collectivization of farms]]. In 1932, at age 13, Morozov reported his father to the [[NKVD]]. Supposedly, Morozov's father had been "''forging documents and selling them to the bandits and enemies of the Soviet State''" (as the sentence read). The elder Morozov, Trofim, was sentenced to ten years in a [[Gulag|labor camp]], and although his fate thereafter is unknown, it is thought that he did not survive for long. However, Pavlik's family did not take kindly to his activities: on September 3 of that year, his uncle, grandfather, grandmother and a cousin murdered him, along with his younger brother. They were rounded up by the NKVD and convicted in a trial.

[[File:Rus Stamp PMorozov-1950-40.jpg|thumb|Morozov honoured on a 1950 Soviet postage stamp|left]]

[[File:Могила П. Морозова и его брата Феди.jpg|thumb|Grave of Pavlik Morozov and his brother Fedya in Gerasimovka, Sverdlovsk region ]]

The most popular account of the story is as follows: born to poor [[peasant]]s in [[Gerasimovka, Sverdlovsk Oblast|Gerasimovka]], a small village {{convert|350|km|mi}} north-east of [[Yekaterinburg]] (then known as Sverdlovsk), Morozov was a dedicated [[communism|communist]] who led the [[Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union|Young Pioneers]] at his school and supported [[Collectivisation in the USSR|Stalin's collectivization of farms]].

In 1932, at the age of 13, Morozov reported his father to the political police ([[State Political Directorate|GPU]]). Supposedly, Morozov's father, Trofim, the chairman of the Gerasimovka Village [[Soviet (council)|Soviet]], had been "forging documents and selling them to the bandits and enemies of the Soviet State" (as the sentence read). Trofim Morozov was sentenced to ten years in a [[Gulag|labour camp]], where his sentence was changed to death, which was fulfilled.<ref name="Figes"/> However, Pavlik's family did not take kindly to his reporting his father and on 3 September of that year, his uncle, grandfather, grandmother, and a cousin murdered him, along with his younger brother.<ref>{{Cite news |date=12 November 2002 |title=A Soviet Legend Dies Hard |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-nov-12-fg-pavlik12-story.html |access-date=10 February 2025 |work=Los Angeles Times}}</ref> All of them except the uncle were rounded up by the GPU and sentenced to "the highest measure of social defense" – execution by a [[firing squad]].

Thousands of [[telegram]]s from all over the Soviet Union urged the judge to show no mercy for Pavlik's killers. The Soviet government declared Pavlik Morozov a glorious martyr who had been murdered by [[reactionary|reactionaries]]. [[Statue]]s of him were built, and numerous schools and youth groups were named in his honour. An [[opera]] and numerous songs were written about him. Gerasimovka's school, which Morozov attended, became a [[shrine]] and children from all over the Soviet Union went on school excursions to visit it.

Thousands of [[telegram]]s from all over the Soviet Union urged the judge to show no mercy for Pavlik's killers. The Soviet government declared Pavlik Morozov a glorious martyr who had been murdered by [[reactionary|reactionaries]]. Statues of him were built, and numerous schools and youth groups were named in his honour. An [[opera]] and numerous songs were written about him. The Gerasimovka school that Morozov attended, became a [[shrine]], and children from all over the Soviet Union went on school excursions to visit it. The Cultural Palace of the Young Pioneers was renamed after him.{{Sfn|Baberowski|2016|p=136}} The USSR widely distributed a painting of Pavlik stating "I accuse my father not as his son, but as a Pioneer" while standing underneath a painting of Lenin at a courthouse.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Schmemann |first=Serge |date=16 September 1982 |title=SOVIET 'HERO' INFORMER, 13, LEAVES A BITTER LEGACY |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1982/09/16/world/soviet-hero-informer-13-leaves-a-bitter-legacy.html |access-date=10 February 2025 |work=The New York Times |page=2}}</ref> [[Sergei Eisenstein]] produced a film about Pavlik's life.{{Sfn|Stern|Tismaneanu|2022|p=84}} According to [[Nadezhda Mandelstam]]'s memoirs, while in exile in Kalinin (now [[Tver]]), she met a boy who was also in exile with his family who "spent his days denouncing his parents as traitors and lamenting the fact that, unlike Pavlik, he had not denounced his parents in time", saying "Stalin is my father and I do not need another one."{{Sfn|Pisch|2016|p=78}}

In fact, Morozov was neither a [[Young Pioneers|young pioneer]], nor was he a reporter of his father, Trofim Morozov.

During the investigation of Trofim Morozov's case, his wife Tatyana Morozova stated that Trofim used to beat her and also brought home valuables received as payment for selling forged documents. According to this testimony, Pavlik merely confirmed evidence given by his mother.

Trofim Morozov's case was opened after neutralization of Purtov's gang, a group of gangsters, led by brothers Mikhail and Grigory Purtov, that operated in [[Tavdinsky District]] in the early [[1930s]]. During searches forged documents were found, signed by Trofim Morozov.

==Veracity and later research==

During the investigation of Trofim Morozov's case his wife Tatyana Morozova, Pavel's mother, stated that Trofim Morozov used to beat her and bring home valuables received as payment for selling forged documents. Pavel, who was only 13 at that time, just confirmed evidence given by his mother.

Evidence has emerged since the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] of the fabrication of the Pavlik Morozov legend, as well as what Soviet officials thought of him. [[Maxim Gorky]] spoke to the Communist youth organization in 1933 of "the heroic deed of Pioneer Pavlik Morozov, the boy who understood that a person who is a relative by blood may well be an enemy of the spirit, and that such a person is not to be spared". Gorky was an ally and favourite of Stalin's, but this particular initiative does not seem to have been to Stalin's taste, at least according to rumour: "What a little swine, denouncing his own father," is one remark attributed to Stalin.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v27/n21/sheila-fitzpatrick/a-little-swine |title=A Little Swine: On Snitching |last=Fitzpatrick |first=Sheila |date=11 March 2005 |journal=London Review of Books |volume=27 |issue=21 |publisher=LondonReviewOfBooks |access-date=1 January 2021}}</ref>

In the mid-1980s, [[Yuri Ilyich Druzhnikov|Yuri Druzhnikov]], a dissident writer expelled from the Soviet Writers' Union, performed an investigation, met with surviving eyewitnesses, and wrote a documentary exposé about Pavlik. Originally circulated through the ''[[samizdat]]'', it was published in Russian in the UK in 1988 and soon thereafter translated into several languages. The first English translation appeared in 1996 under the title ''Informer 001: The Myth of Pavlik Morozov''. Druzhnikov disputes every aspect of the Soviet propaganda version of Pavlik's life. For example, different sources in Soviet literature list different ages for Pavlik at death and show photographs of different boys. Pavlik was not a Pioneer when he was killed. Pavlik's father was the chairman of the local soviet, not a kulak like the Soviet propaganda had claimed.{{Sfn|Fitzpatrick|1994|p=255}} According to the Soviet version, Pavlik's grandfather was responsible for his murder; according to Druzhnikov, the grandfather was heartbroken about the death of Pavlik, organized a search when the boy went missing, and maintained his innocence during the trial. While not saying it outright, Druzhnikov hints that Pavlik was killed by a [[Gosudarstvennoye Politicheskoye Upravlenie|GPU]] officer, whom Druzhnikov met while doing his research.

==Fabricated?==

It has been suggested since the [[collapse of the Soviet Union]] that Pavlik Morozov may not have been as perfect as it was supposed. [[Catriona Kelly]] in her [[2005]] book ''Comrade Pavlik: The Rise and Fall of a Soviet Boy Hero'' makes it clear that the official version of the account is almost wholly bogus, the evidence sketchy and based mostly on second-hand reports by alleged witnesses, and that Pavlik did not snitch on his parents and was murdered after a mundane squabble. Kelly also shows how the official version's emphasis shifted to suit the changing times and [[propaganda]] lines: in some accounts, Pavlik's father's crime was not forging the documents, but hoarding grain; in others, he was denounced not to the secret police, but to the school-teacher. The one surviving photograph of him shows a [[Nutrition|malnourished]] child, who bears almost no resemblance to the statues and pictures in children's books. It has also been said that he was nearly [[illiterate]] and was coerced to inform on his father by his mother, after Pavlik's father deserted the family.

[[File:PavlikMor.jpg|200px|thumb|right|Pavlik Morozov (second row, in the middle): this is the only surviving photograph known of him]]

There is, however, no doubt that Pavlik was a real person. According to Dmitry Prokupyanko, an 86-year-old war veteran, who went to school with Pavlik, "he was a hero, very brave, very clever. He was perfect. We used to pick mushrooms and catch fish together. Now everybody just wants to spit on his memory."

In her 2005 book ''Comrade Pavlik: The Rise and Fall of a Soviet Boy Hero'', [[Catriona Kelly]] agrees with Druzhnikov that the official version of the account is almost wholly fictional. Kelly had access to the official archives of the case. She determined the evidence is sketchy, based mostly on second-hand reports by alleged witnesses, and that Pavlik did not inform on his parents but was murdered after a mundane squabble. Kelly also shows how the official version's emphasis shifted to suit the changing times and [[propaganda]] lines. In some accounts, Pavlik's father's crime was not forging the documents, but hoarding grain; in others, he was denounced not to the secret police, but to a schoolteacher. In some accounts, the method of Pavlik's death was decapitation by saw. The one surviving photograph of him shows a [[Nutrition|malnourished]] child who bears almost no resemblance to the statues and images in children's books. It has also been said that he was nearly [[illiterate]] and was coerced to inform on his father by his mother; the father deserted the family. Kelly also refuted some of Druzhnikov's claim about OGPU investment in the murder, maintaining that: "while there are traces of OGPU suppression and cover-up of minor facts, there is no reason to believe that the murder itself was instigated by them".<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-05-23 |title=Журнальный зал {{!}} Вопросы литературы, 2006 N3 {{!}} Катриона КЕЛЛИ - Без заголовка. |url=http://magazines.russ.ru/voplit/2006/3/kk13.html |access-date=2024-12-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120523230959/http://magazines.russ.ru/voplit/2006/3/kk13.html |archive-date=23 May 2012 }}</ref>

Roman Brackman claims that Pavlik's mother encouraged him to report on his father because she was hoping that it would intimidate him into leaving his mistress and return to them, but this backfired after the [[State Political Directorate]] instructed Pavlik on how to incriminate his father in court while testifying.{{Sfn|Brackman|2004|p=201}}

[[Yuri Druzhnikov]] performed an investigation, met with surviving eyewitnesses, and wrote a documentary book about Pavlik in the mid-1980s. It was printed by [[samizdat]] and translated into several languages. (Юрий Дружников, Доносчик 001, или Вознесение Павлика Морозова) In his book, Druzhnikov disputes every aspect of the Soviet propaganda version of Pavlik's life. For example, different sources in Soviet literature listed different ages for Pavlik, when he was killed; in the Soviet textbooks, there were differing photographs of Pavlik all showing different boys; the fact that Pavlik was not a pioneer when he was killed. According to the Soviet source, Pavlik's grandfather was responsible for his murder; according to Druzhnikov, grandfather was heartbroken about the death of Pavlik, organized the search when the boys went missing, and maintained his innocence during the trial. While not saying it outright, Druzhnikov hints that Pavlik was killed by an [[NKVD]] officer, with whom Druzhnikov met while doing his research.

According to the most recent research, Gerasimovka was described in the Soviet press as a "[[kulak]] nest" because its villagers refused to join the [[kolkhoz]], a state-controlled [[collective farm]] during the [[Collectivization in the USSR|collectivization]]. Pavlik informed on neighbours when they did something wrong, including his father, who left the family for another woman.<ref name="Figes"/> Pavlik was not a Pioneer, although he wanted to be one. Kelly believes there is no evidence that the family was involved in the murder of the boy, and that it probably was the work of some teenagers with whom Pavlik had a squabble over a gun.<ref name="Figes"/> Some villagers from Gerasimovka who claim to have known Pavlik described him as a "shithead", who "did nothing but cause trouble". They said that he always had lice in his hair and that he smelled terrible. He and his brother reportedly urinated on each other after a fight.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Service |first=Robert |date=13 May 2005 |title=The death of a comrade |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2005/may/14/featuresreviews.guardianreview23 |access-date=10 February 2025 |work=The Guardian}}</ref>

Druzhnikov did not have access to the archives on the case, so his theory is mostly conjecture. Kelly, who did have access to the archives, makes clear in her book that Druzhnikov's theory that Pavlik was killed by the [[NKVD]] is as unlikely as the official story.

==In film==

Morozov's story was the basis of ''[[Bezhin Meadow]]'', an unreleased film from 1937 that was directed by [[Sergei Eisenstein]], as well as the 2015 Latvian film [[Dawn (2015 film)|''Dawn'']].

==See also==

* [[Joseph Bara]]

* [[Les Podervianskiy]], Ukrainian author of a (satirical) play ''Pavlik Morozov''

* [[Lei Feng]]

* [[Herbert Norkus]]

* [[Horst Wessel]]

==References==

{{Reflist}}

* [http://economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=4032697 Death in Taiga: Soviet Childhood], The Economist, 2nd Jun 2005, last accessed on 18 Jun 2005

*{{cite news| url= https://economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=4032697 |title= Death in Taiga: Soviet Childhood| newspaper= [[The Economist]]| date= 2 June 2005| url-access= subscription | accessdate= 18 June 2005}}

* [[Yuri Druzhnikov]], ''Informer 001: The Myth of Pavlik Morozov'', Transaction Publishers, [[1996]] ([http://lib.ru/PROZA/DRUZHNIKOV/morozow.txt online, in Russian]).

*[[Yuri Ilyich Druzhnikov|Yuri Druzhnikov]], ''Informer 001: The Myth of Pavlik Morozov'', Transaction Publishers, 1996 ([https://lib.ru/PROZA/DRUZHNIKOV/morozow.txt full text online in Russian])

* [[Catriona Kelly]], ''Comrade Pavlik: The Rise and Fall of a Soviet Boy Hero'', Granta Books, 2005,

*[[Catriona Kelly]], ''Comrade Pavlik: The Rise and Fall of a Soviet Boy Hero'', Granta Books, 2005

== Sources ==

* {{Cite book |last=Fitzpatrick |first=Sheila |title=Stalin's Peasants: Resistance and Survival in the Russian Village After Collectivization |date=1994 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=9780195104592 |pages=255-256}}

* {{Cite book |last=Baberowski |first=Jörg |title=Scorched Earth: Stalin's Reign of Terror |date=22 November 2016 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0300136982 |pages=134-136 |translator-last=Gilbert |translator-first=Steven |chapter=Subjugation |translator-last2=Komljen |translator-first2=Ivo |translator-last3=Taber |translator-first3=Samantha Jeanne}}

* {{Cite book |last=Brackman |first=Roman |title=The Secret File of Joseph Stalin: A Hidden Life |date=23 November 2004 |publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]] |isbn=9781135758400 |pages=201}}

* {{Cite book |last=Pisch |first=Anita |title=The Personality Cult of Stalin in Soviet Posters, 1929-1953: Archetypes, Inventions and Fabrications |date=2016 |publisher=ANU Press |isbn=9781760460631 |pages=77-78}}

* {{Cite book |last=Stern |first=Radu |title=Communism and Culture: An Introduction |last2=Tismaneanu |first2=Vladimir |date=3 May 2022 |publisher=Springer International Publishing |isbn=9783030826505 |pages=84-85}}

== Further reading ==

* {{Cite book |last=Druzhnikov |first=Yuri |title=Informer 001: The Myth of Pavlik Morozov |date=15 November 2012 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781412849616}}

* {{Cite book |last=Kelly |first=Catriona |url=https://archive.org/details/comradepavlikris0000kell/page/n5/mode/2up |title=Comrade Pavlik: The Rise and Fall of a Soviet Boy Hero |date=2005 |publisher=Granta Books |isbn=978-1862078451 |access-date=10 February 2025 |url-access=registration |via=Internet Archive}}

==External links==

* {{cite web| url= https://soviethistory.msu.edu/1934-2/pavlik-morozov/ |title= Pavlik Morozov| website= Seventeen Moments in Soviet History| via= soviethistory.msu.edu| publisher= Michigan State University | date= 18 June 2015| access-date= }} Information about Soviet children-informers

*[http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/90/363/10951_morozov.html Soviet Hero Pavlik Morozov Still Mysterious]

*{{cite web |url=http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/90/363/10951_morozov.html |title=Soviet Hero Pavlik Morozov Still Mysterious |date=23 September 2003 |last=Sloboda |first=Yamskaya |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050410065112/http://english.pravda.ru/main/18/90/363/10951_morozov.html |archivedate=10 April 2005 |work=[[Pravda]] }}

*[http://hnn.us/readcomment.php?id=27304 Squalid truth of Stalin's little martyr]

* {{cite web |url=http://hnn.us/readcomment.php?id=27304 |title=Squalid truth of Stalin's little martyr |date=27 December 2003 |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20050314010149/http://hnn.us/readcomment.php?id=27304 |archivedate=14 March 2005 |website= hnn.us |publisher= History News Network, [[Roy Rosenzweig Center for History and New Media|Center for History and New Media]]}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1918 births|Morozov, Pavlik]]

[[Category:1932 deaths|Morozov, Pavlik]]

[[Category:Propaganda examples|Morozov, Pavlik]]

[[Category:Russian people|Morozov, Pavlik]]

[[Category:History of the Soviet Union and Soviet Russia|Morozov, Pavlik]]

[[cs{{DEFAULTSORT:Pavlík Morozov]], Pavlik}}

[[Category:1918 births]]

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[[esCategory:Pavlik1932 Morosovdeaths]]

[[eoCategory:PavelSoviet Morozovpeople]]

[[Category:People from Sverdlovsk Oblast]]

[[fr:Pavel Morozov]]

[[Category:People murdered in the Soviet Union]]

[[hr:Pavlik Morozov]]

[[Category:Propaganda in the Soviet Union]]

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[[ru:Морозов, Павел Трофимович]]