Re: [Cz-L] 1940 "Liberation" of Northern Bukowina Soviet Propaganda Movie

Basically, the movie is a typical piece of Soviet 1940's propaganda, trying
to justify Soviet annexation of the Northern Bukowina.
Here's a brief synopsis. It starts with a Bukowinian peasant folk song,
which is "always sad because of a sad history of this region". Shows a
young illiterate peasant lad, says that 9 out of 10 people in the region are
illiterate and don't know why. The narrator goes on to state that people
here sustain on mamalyga and potatoes all their life (which is,
apparently, in Russians opinion a proof that people are really poor). Then
the narrator declares that people here were desperately begging for help
 from the outside...
Then Bukowinian history is described from the pan-slavic and
ukrainian/russian perspective, emphasizing foreign domination of local
Ukrainian population by Turks, then by Austro-Hungary, then, from 1918, by
Romania. Describes horrors perpetrated in Bukowina by Romanian Gendarmes.
Ukrainian language is not to be spoken, local Ukrainian population becomes
destitute under Romania, didn't have even matches or kerosene and had to
resort to carrying ambers from "khata to khata" (home to home). Apparently
Russians really liked Henri Barbusse; he is quoted stating that Romania is
"the Hell of Europe". By the time of 'liberation", there were no industrial
enterprises left, education for Ukrainians was not accessible, the region's
economy was in shambles. However, there were 4,000 stores, 20,000 merchants
(this was to prove, in Russians' eyes, that the Ukrainian population was
being exploited by a parasitic class of - you guessed it! of a certain
ethnicity). The movie then shows beautiful buildings in Czernowitz, namely
the Residence and the Synagogue (Temple). The narrator states that while
there was no money for educational establishments or upkeep of the
industrial enterprises, however, the ruling classes and capitalists had no
trouble financing construction of the Synagogue.
The movie then goes into statistics of moral degradation of the local
bourgeois society, stating that there were 3,000 prostitutes and 100
brothels in Czernowitz. Romanian Prime Minister is quoted stating that
"...fate of non-Romanians is of no interest to us"...
The movie then shows how the local Ukrainian population was hoping and
preparing for future liberation by the Red Army. The movie then has a very
lengthy footage of jubilant crowds meeting their Soviet liberators, arriving
to Northern Bukowina on their tanks. However, while local Ukrainian
peasants, workers and intelligentsia were cheering the arrival of the
Soviets, there were some "well-fed" men in Czernowitz, who were not happy
seeing the Soviets, and the narrator ominously states, "we were not too
excited seeing them either"... Bukowinians are then shown returning to
Northern Bukowina from Romania, where they were forcibly taken by Romanians,
to rejoin their brethren in the liberated homeland.
The last segment of the movie shows how the local peasants and workers life
is dramatically improving under the Soviets. Awakening of the cultural
life, reopening of industrial enterprises, redistribution of the farmland
among the peasants, etc.
Well, this was my attempt to give you the gist of this interesting movie, a
typical product of the propaganda efforts trying to justify Russian land
expansion under the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact.

Greg Fedner, Columbus, OH

On Sun, Nov 1, 2009 at 10:55 AM, Miriam Taylor <mirtaylo_at_indiana.edu> wrote:

> Dear Greg and members of the list, could anyone please translate the gist
> of
> what is being said in the movie. Aside from "krasavitza Bukovina",
> I understood very little.
>
> Mimi
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Received on 2009-11-01 17:30:19