How often, when we are told that we have read about something or something in the newspaper, in response we hear a contemptuous answer - "Yes, everyone is lying there, in these newspapers!" That is, for some reason, a person initially casts doubt on the reliability of the materials contained there. What does this mean? Well, firstly, that this person himself is inclined to deceive and, accordingly, knowing this vice behind himself, sees it in everyone else. And secondly, that he has the experience that, indeed, yesterday the newspaper wrote one thing, but today it is quite another.
And, nevertheless, even in this case, newspapers, including Pravda, remain the most valuable sources of information "about the affairs of bygone days." It is clear that published material should be viewed critically, but careful analysis of printed newspaper material can be of great benefit.
This is how the filing of all issues of the Pravda newspaper for 1942 looks like. A heavy "album" has to be brought by the researcher on a trolley!
Very good photo. We are not alone in the fight against Hitler, help will come.
And … help came! Also a very good and timely photo in the newspaper # 327 dated November 25, 1941, although the Matilda tank itself is not very visible on it. By the way, about the Matilda tanks, the Penza newspaper “Stalin's banner” in 1941 wrote: “… In the column, the tanks of Captain Morozov's unit stood out with their impressive appearance … These are British tanks with powerful diesel engines, working clearly and silently … From the very first days studying British tanks, our soldiers were convinced of their high qualities. The multi-ton tank is very mobile. It has steel armor, simple controls and powerful firepower to fight enemy tanks and infantry … The armored British transporters following in the column were of great interest. They are well armed, their weapons can strike air and ground targets with equal success."
Who is in this photo on the left, like this, not looking at the signature, not everyone will say. It was at this time that they were going to write a book about this man, awarded for the defense of Moscow, placed a photo on the pages of Pravda, surrounded by people who are well known to all of us today. Who is this? This is … the future traitor General Vlasov. So far, among the heroes …
Surprisingly, even then in Pravda there were materials written according to the principle “we wanted the best, but it turned out … not very bad”. It could be the author's desire to please the authorities, and a direct order from it. In any case (although we will not know this now), we are dealing with a distortion of reality, and quite unwise and inept! For example, we are looking at the article "Lenin and Stalin - the founders and leaders of Pravda" in the issue of May 5, 1942, dedicated to its anniversary. It says that the newspaper was founded at the direction of Lenin, at the initiative of Stalin. And here we read that at that time Stalin was in exile. True, then he fled from it, and, having arrived in St. Petersburg, set about organizing the work of the newspaper. But all this took time, that is, when Pravda began, it was quite far from it, and mobile phones did not exist at that time. And on the day 1 issue came out, he was again arrested and sent to the Narym Territory for three years. And when did he run the newspaper together with Lenin? And if this strikes me, then was it really not noticed by people who still remembered how it all really happened at that time? And after all, they noticed it and, probably, said something about it, although not all and not always loudly.
And here is the question: why was it necessary to write such an ambiguous article, after which any more or less thinking person had more questions than she gave answers. For example, as an editor guarding the foundations of the Soviet state, I would not have missed such an article. But … it came out and, do you think, did it strengthen the people in a certain opinion, or, on the contrary, undermined this opinion in a certain way?
We read the article by M. Sergeev, published in the same 1942, about the growing economic power of the United States. Everything seems to be fine. Such a powerful ally and his successes are encouraging. But … and where are the starving workers, about whom the same Pravda wrote literally a year ago, the Negroes hanged by the lynching, destitute farmers? With this how - was it over? Or was it simply not ordered to write? Meanwhile, it was necessary to write about it, because our ideological and economic disagreements had not gone anywhere, and people had to be periodically reminded that “it’s bad there”, that “we are enemies,” but allies are only temporary. Then there would be no need to break the rosy picture of the success of the United States, and, therefore, to cause distrust of readers - yesterday, they say, like this - like that today …
On June 21, 1942, Pravda placed on the first page the text of an agreement between Britain and the USSR on cooperation for a period of 20 years, that is, until 1962. Great news for 1942, isn't it? What was missing? And here's what - articles about whether the "British bourgeois" have enough goodwill to keep it to the very end! Because immediately after the war, both this and all other treaties with Britain and the United States de facto, or even de jure, ceased to operate and … that they cannot be trusted! " and "How bad they are!" By the way, the notorious George Orwell, who brought an article about Stalinism in the USSR to one of the British newspapers, was also refused, motivated by the fact that "now is not the time." "But how do you explain to the workers after the war why you started writing about it now, but did not write then?" - he asked a reasonable question to the editor. "And then we will think how to explain!" - answered the editor. What if he printed it? Would this have affected the combat capability of the Red Army and Lend-Lease deliveries? No, of course, just people would not flatter themselves - "friendship is friendship, and tobacco apart!"
The newspaper is "so bad" that you have to think over every word in it, because black letters printed on white paper cannot be cut out with an ax - this is a document! However, one should think no less about the photographs placed in it. Others are just a godsend for spies. Here is a photo in the newspaper dated May 7, 1942, page 1: our tanks with landing troops on their armor are attacking the enemy. But look at the wheels. No rubber on them! And this, as you know, greatly worsened their performance characteristics. Moreover, in the photo of the T-34 in the newspaper for the 41st year, the wheels were with rubber, but here, as you can see, it is not. It is clear that the Germans at the front already knew that we were sorely lacking rubber, and that the roar from our tanks could be heard for many kilometers, which was what the "quiet" German "Sturmgeshütze" on the T-III base used. But … why confirm this photo in the newspaper of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks? Well, they would have removed these tanks close up, so that apart from the tower and the people, nothing could be seen! And if I were a German propagandist-agitator, I would immediately reprint this photo in all German newspapers and write that the Russians are out of rubber, that their tanks are worse day by day, and our victory is near! And now - see "direct proof of this!"
In the source analysis of newspaper material, the frequency of images of the same weapon in the photo plays a very important role. For example, in the newspaper Pravda in 1941 we see soldiers of the Red Army armed with submachine guns PPD, rifles SVT and AVS, and only by the end of the year they are replaced by PPSh and "three-line". In the 42nd year of the newspaper, there is only one photo of SVT, but since the second half of the year, PCA has completely replaced the PPD, and there are a lot of them in the photos.
This photograph (No. 10, January 10, 1942) simply does not belong in the newspaper! After all, on it you see PPD-34/38 - a rare specimen and … how, for example, would I use this photo, if I were a German propagandist? And here's how: “You see that the Russians have taken out the last weapons from their warehouses, the 1934 submachine guns are being used. The Soviet industry is falling apart! Our victory is close!"
But the lend-lease deliveries began to take their toll, and tires appeared on the front wheel of the T-34, which Pravda immediately reported on October 2, 1942!
Amazing, isn't it? And this despite the fact that during the whole 41st year our tankers fought on anonymous tanks, and pilots on anonymous combat aircraft. The planes had the names "bomber", "hawk", as if their very name contained a terrible military secret. We ought to be proud of our technology, educate the people on the example of the wonderful models of our weapons, and what we had instead was sheer anonymity, but how can we be proud of the fact that it has no name?
It was only in No. 309 of November 5 that the brands of Soviet T-34 and KV tanks appeared in Pravda, and the article was written by Zh. Ya. Kotin! They wrote about tanks before, even for some reason the numbers of the factories producing them were given in the newspaper, but … without designations! True, the KV itself was named earlier than the T-34. As early as July 8 of the same year, in the article "Struggle for KV", the author of which was S. Makhonin, director of the Kirov plant.
Here it is, the famous photograph of the assembly of KV tanks. But underneath it does not say that this is KV! Secret!
And this is the first photo, under which it is written that it shows the assembly of Yak aircraft! ("Pravda", June 8, 1942, No. 159. P.3)
However, all this mystery of the 40s (after all, the war!) Is not as funny as the “mystery of the 80s”. Then, namely from 1980 to 1991, I hosted television programs for children on Penza television on children's technical creativity ("Let's Make Toys", "Studio of Young Technicians", "The Stars Are Calling", "To Children-Inventors"), and after each of the second script submitted to the editor, I was summoned to the Committee for the Protection of State Secrets in the Press! “You have it written here,” a woman in glasses asked me, shaking with a volume of deadly thickness that we had a T-34/85 tank. Where did you get this from? This is secret data!"
An article about polar explorers who bought KV tanks for the front. At that time, such articles appeared in Pravda quite often, but photographs for them were not always published, but in vain!
Knowing who I was dealing with, I took in advance the most children's magazine "Young Technician" and showed the vigilant lady: "That's where it comes from!" She literally sniffed this magazine, looked at all its output and was wildly surprised: "Well, wow, but in my book it is written that this is a military secret!" "And what year is it, let me see?" "It is impossible, this is also a secret!" This is how I worked then, and there was not a single case, not a single one, when I could not confirm my information with the data of the open press, the magazines "Yuny Tekhnik", "Tekhnika Molodoi" and "Modelist-Constructor", but I don't care they were summoned there every time they met any military abbreviation. Once I could not resist and asked how it is possible to keep such an illiterate fool in such a responsible position? Oh what happened! I was invited to the chief, and he very politely explained to me that spies are not asleep! "Then all the editors of these magazines must be jailed!" “But we are in Penza! - the chief shrugged his shoulders, - we have to work according to the old instructions! " On this and parted! So one can imagine, on the basis of what and how this "committee" worked at that distant wartime!
And, finally, observing the interests of the country, I would not give photos of these German self-propelled guns in the newspaper. They are very unremarkable! They still seem to be undignified, but in 1942 they did not seem solid either. But the Germans fought on them and reached the Caucasus! On such shit, God forgive me! It would be necessary to put a gun with a larger caliber in the photograph of trophies, and the barrel towards the viewer. And visually, and scary, and joyfully, and pride covers! It has been tested on modern young people!
Everyone likes this photo with a trophy gun much more!
So it is obvious that the publication of a newspaper, especially if it is published in wartime, requires a lot of art and the highest professionalism. And with that, and with the other in "Pravda" was not bad, yes, but all this could have been done much better, right? More efficiency at the same cost!
A very impressive photo, and there should be more of them?
