The Last Heroes of Leningrad

Download or read book The Last Heroes of Leningrad written by Alexandra Wachter and published by V&R unipress. This book was released on 2022-08-08 with total page 283 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alexandra Wachter investigates how survivors of the Siege of Leningrad (1941–44) were able to come to terms with their memories in Soviet and post-Soviet society. Subject to political fluctuations, official remembrance ranged from enforced silence to extensive exploitation for propaganda purposes, a framework which corresponded with psychological strategies to cope, but not deal, with trauma: repression, denial, acting-out and idealization. Based on a combination of oral history interviews, ethnographic and archival research, this study examines narratives and activities of child and adolescent survivors. Individual experiences are related to varying degrees of involvement in survivors’ organisations, and thick description adds to the understanding of trauma in the context of a (post-)totalitarian society.