"You are Not an Orphan:" Displaced Children in the USSR During the Second World War
Title VIII Research Scholar Natalie Belsky will examine the evacuation of children in the Soviet Union during the Second World War and consider the ways in which the state mobilized the population to support displaced and orphaned children.
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Overview
Children are often seen as the emblematic victims of war and are cast as symbols of civilian suffering. Title VIII Research Scholar Natalie Belsky examined the evacuation of children in the Soviet Union during the Second World War and consider the ways in which the state mobilized the population to support displaced and orphaned children. She discussed the discourse and narratives surrounding evacuated children to reveal what they tell us about notions of family, belonging, and citizenship in the context of wartime USSR.
Speaker
Natalie Belsky
Assistant Professor, University of Minnesota Duluth; Former Title VIII Summer Research Scholar
This research focuses on the experiences of millions of Soviet civilians forced to abandon their homes in the western regions of the USSR following the Nazi invasion and relocate to the Soviet hinterland for the duration of the war. The project re-conceptualizes the history of the war in the Soviet Union by demonstrating how wartime displacement fractured social bonds, stimulated the creation of new social networks, and brought about a re-calibration of the terms of belonging, citizenship, and identity in Soviet society. This study advances our understanding of legacies of the war and the impact of population displacement in the states and societies of the former USSR.
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Kennan Institute
The Kennan Institute is the premier US center for advanced research on Russia and Eurasia and the oldest and largest regional program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Kennan Institute is committed to improving American understanding of Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the surrounding region though research and exchange. Read more
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