And then the Harvest

Fedor Panferov (born 20 September 1896) came from the Volga region of south-central Russia. Much of his journalism and fiction focused on rural development under Stalin. His epic novel Brusski, published in four parts between 1928 and 1937, was the first literary account of Soviet collectivisation. This single-volume translation into English was published in 1939 with a clearer agricultural title.

The central characters of this propagandist novel are heroes of the proletariat. They are involved in increasing agricultural output, constructing a dam, developing an iron-and-steel industry, manufacturing tractors and many other ventures. Foremost among them is Kirill Zhdarkin, organiser of the metallurgical and tractor works and secretary of the town's party committee. Though viewed heroically at the beginning and end of the novel, the novel also describe Kirill’s adultery and the breakdown of his relationship with Steshka, the mother of his child. As he rages at the prospect of losing Steshka, he rapes her and she abandons the home. The author decides that even with such severe flaws in his character Kirill’s reputation can be redeemed. At the conclusion of the novel, Steshka returns to her love for Kirill as he shows the strength of the character on the eve of the 20th anniversary celebrations of the October Revolution. In a different context, this redemption and forgiveness is a common motif of literature. In the context of Stalin’s Russia, however, this is not a moral restoration of Kirill but rather a political device. A hero of the proletariat has to be shown to overcome all his weaknesses. There was no place for ultimate failure in the Soviet Union of the 1930s.


Kirill is not only depicted as a hero of Stalin’s Russia, he had previously been awarded the Order of the Red Banner for military valour during the Civil War. On a visit to the Kremlin, he recalled that Stalin never wore the badge:
“... he also had been a military man and an outstanding one at that. He had held the supreme command of more than one front, he had worked out the brilliant plan for shattering the enemy. But he never wore any decorations.”

The key heroic event of the novel, however, was the death of Natasha, a young pregnant woman who died trying to rescue a team of female peat workers from a devastating bog fire. The peat workers escaped a burning train by jumping into the grey ash left behind by the fire but “at once sank and fell to a squatting position, clutching their bare legs with their hands, writhing, struggling, bursting into flame. Natasha displayed the impulsive courage that many soldiers showed during the First World War:
“Not realising what was happening to the girls, carried away by the elemental desire to save them, she flung herself towards them and also sank into the grey ash. In a moment she was transformed into a little flaming bonfire. She struggled to her feet... but the flames caught her away and flung her back into the inferno.”
Kirill, who had been with Natasha when she did this, asked himself:
“I've left Natasha Poronina and the girl peat-workers in the fire. How that wound of mine is to be healed I don't know.”
Similarly, many who fought in the First World War added survivor guilt to their grief.