Stalingrad p.10 by Grossman

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Show Notes

This week, Matt and Cameron finish up Vasily Grossman’s Stalingrad as we close the story of Rodimtsev’s embattled Guards Regiment in the city of Stalingrad and close out (for now!) the stories of the people we’ve been following for months now. We’ll be talking about Feminist perspectives on the work, de-mythologization of warfare, and spending some time drinking our feelings out about our favorite character, Pyotr Vavilov. Grab your copy of Stalingrad, your preferred celebratory drink, and tune in!

Major themes: Motherhood, the soldier as adolescent, the spirit of the worker at war

04:30 - Sorry about the bells, those are my housemate’s kittens.

05:50 - The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich

05:52 - Love of Worker Bees by Alexandra Kollontai

07:20 - Life and Fate by Vasily Grossman

47:49 - Slight correction, the Wehrmacht was not the organization that implemented the Final Solution proper, although their units were involved in the “shoah by bullet.”

50:49 - Nestor Makhno

51:39 - “Ukraine without Jews” by Vasily Grossman

01:02:14 - It’s the Old Testament prophet Elijah that is taken to heaven in a whirlwind.

01:15:36 - “The Myth of Stalingrad in Soviet Literature, 1942 - 1963” by Ian Garner

01:15:36 - “Stalingrad in Popular Memory - The Battle Remembered” - WW2TV w/ Ian Garner

01:15:39 - Stalingrad Lives! by Ian Garner

The music used in this episode was “soviet march,” by Toasted Tomatoes. You can find more of their work on Bandcamp and Youtube.