Popova A. D.

Law Enforcement Officers’ Memoirs as a Historical Source on Social History of the 1940s–1950s Р. 59-69.

UDC 930.2:94(47)«194/195»

DOI 10.37724/RSU.2022.76.3.007

Abstract. The article analyzes law enforcement officers’ memoirs as a historical source on social history of the 1940s–1950s. The author analyzes three unpublished memoirs written by law enforcement officers and discovered by the author. The writers of the memoirs were Soviet law enforcement officers in the 1940s–1950s. These officers are D. M. Kurland (Odessa), T. A. Sivak (Ryazan), V. M. Bernikov (Kronshtadt). The author underlines that these sources have different structures, different representation of details. However, all of them reflect law enforcement officers’ experiences. The article shows that the memoirs contain several layers of information on social history of the Soviet Union in the 1940s–1950s. The writers of the memoirs focus  on the description of their fight against crime. The analysis of the three memoirs reveals a picture of post-war years in the Soviet Union, describes the level of crime, speaks about its causes and about some methods used by law enforcement bodies to prevent and investigate crime. D. M. Kurland’s memoirs enable a researcher  to critically assess myths widely spread in mass media. The author of the article maintains that the law enforcement officers’ memoirs contain valuable information on people’s everyday life, on law enforcement officers, on Soviet citizens’ leisure activities, on some of their social problems, such as scarcity of goods, for example. 

 

Keywords: memoirs, everyday life, Soviet law enforcement bodies, D. M. Kurland, T. A. Sivak, V. M. Bernikov.

 

References:

 

  1. Bernikov V. M. Memoirs. Lichnyj arhiv A. D. Popovoj [A. D. Popova’s Personal Archive]. (In Russian).
  2. Bogdanov S. V., Orlov V. N. Totalitarian State and Economic Crimes in the USSR in the First Post-war Years. Sovremennoe pravo [Modern Law]. 2009, no. 5, pp. 139–143. (In Russian).
  3. Gosudarstvennyj arhiv Rossijskoj Federacii [State Archive of the Russian Federation]. F. R-9478, Op. 1, D. 712. (In Russian).
  4. Georgieva N. G. Memoirs as a Phenomenon of Culture and a Historical Source. Vestnik Ros-sijskogo universitteta druzhby narodov. Serija “Istorija Rossii” [Bulletin of People’s Friendship University

of Russia. Russian History series]. 2012, no. 1, pp. 126–138. (In Russian).

  1. David Kurljand — real’nyj prototip Davida Gocmana v fil’me “Likvidacija” [David Kurland

as a Real Prototype of David Gottsman  in Liquidation]. Available at : https://pressa.tv/znamenitosti/47650-david-kurlyand-realnyy-prototip-davida-gocmana-v-filme-likvidaciya-11-foto.html (accessed: 02.03.2022). (In Russian).

  1. Interesnye fakty o seriale “Likvidacija” [Interesting Facts about the Liquidation series]. Available at : https://www.domkino.tv/news/9569 (accessed: 02.03.2022). (In Russian).
  2. Ishhenko O. V., Neverov A. V. Russian Memoirs in the Second Half of the 18th–19th Centuries as a Historical Sources. Istoricheskie, filosofskie, politicheskie i juridicheskie nauki, kul’turologija i iskus-stvovedenie. Voprosy teorii i praktiki [Historical, Philosophical, Political Sciences and Law, Culturology and Art Studies]. 2016, no. 6–1 (68), pp. 81–85. (In Russian).
  3. Kurilo S. G. Zhizni svoej ne shhadja: iz istorii milicii Har’kov’shhiny [Without Regard to Their Own Life: Kharkov Law Enforcement Agencies]. Kharkov, Ensign Publ., 1987, 294 p. (In Russian).
  4. Kurljand D. M. Memoirs of a Veteran of Criminal Investigation of Odessa. Narodnyj muzej istorii organov vnutrennih del Odesskoj oblasti [Museum of the History of Law Enforcement Agencies]. D. 5342. (In Russian).
  5. Mitina V. “The Wolf Dog” from Moldovanka District. Mir kriminala [The Criminal World]. 2016, no. 1, pp. 28–29. (In Russian).
  6. Petuhov V. N. Zapiski prokurora [Attorney’s Notes]. Kaliningrad, Amber Tale Publ., 1997, 327 p. (In Russian).
  7. Popova O. D. O godah “seminarskoj tjagoty”: istorija duhovno-uchebnyh zavedenij v memuarah ih vospitannikov (seredina XIX — nachalo XX v.) [About the Seminary Hardships: the History of Seminaries in Seminarians’ Memoirs]. Ryazan, Concept Publ., 2017, 159 p. (In Russian).
  8. Sivak T. A. Memoirs (in 5 parts). Lichnyj arhiv A. D. Popovoj [A. D. Popova’s Personal Archive]. Parts 1 and 2. (In Russian).
  9. Sinova I. V., Proskurina K. V. Memoirs as a Historical Source on National Peculiarities and the Diplomatic Role of National Cuisines. Istorija povsednevnosti [History of Everyday Life]. 2020, no. 1, pp. 114–123. (In Russian).
  10. Fedorov M. K., Balkarej B. I. Zagadki slobodskogo doma [Riddles of a Village House]. Odessa, Beacon Publ., 1989, 170 p. (In Russian).
Uncategorized