An exhibition of dolls from the war years opened in St Petersburg, on the 65th anniversary of the lifting of the blockade of Leningrad. These are not children’s toys, but, they are dolls from the Museum of the Demeny Puppet Theatre. During World War II, these marionettes appeared on the stage in the blockaded city and were also taken to give performances at the most-forward positions of the front line.
Bear Cub, Matryoshka, Pupsy, the Smiling Tiger and the King of the Rats were the heroes of the play Kukolny Gorod (Puppet City), based on a fairy-tale by Yevgeni Shvarts. It was extremely popular amongst the kids of Leningrad before the war. Who would have thought that during the blockade of the city, this children’s play would be so necessary and important for the soldiers going to protect the city and for the remaining adults who were not evacuated? The plot of the play, where the Puppet City was attacked by the rats, took on a different meaning. Moreover, there was a line immediately under the title “Puppet City”, “The War of the Rats and the Toys”.
Faina Kostina, one of the puppeteers at the Demeny Theatre, said, “The plot of the play is very insightful. The central characters were toys, which fled into the forest, running away from naughty children, who built a puppet city. At first, everything was good, but, the Piggy Bank was a traitor, and a war of between the rats and toys began. To everyone’s surprise, the play proved to be a patriotic favourite. Both children and adults came and watched it with pleasure. Everyone laughed and rejoiced, and believed that the war would, one day, come to an end, and that good would conquer evil”.
Ms Kostina went on to say, “People came to the theatre and it seemed like the old pre-war days had returned, where there were no bombs, no explosions, or no deaths. Indeed, in the world of the theatre, nothing had changed. The hall, chairs, stage, and, above all, the atmosphere were unchanged, which made it possible for a time to forget the misfortunes of the present, so, people came. The only thing that changed was the times of the performances. There were no shows in the morning or in the evening. The only show of the day was at 13.00, when the punctual Germans stopped bombing and arranged a lunch break”.
By January 1942, only 10 people were left in the theatre troupe. Some went to the front; some were killed by the bombing. When the actors were evacuated, they thought on how to preserve their unique props and puppets. Ms Kostina said, “Even in the darkest days of the blockade, we preserved our marionettes. Despite the terrible cold, not one doll was burnt in the stove for heat, even though they were all made of wood. Yes, we burnt scenery, and we burnt anything that we could get our hands on, anything but our precious dolls. When our actors were evacuated, you could take only 10 kilogrammes (22 pounds) as baggage, and everyone who left took their dolls with them”.
At the same time, in 1942, the poet Samuil Marshak wrote the satirical pamphlet Yuny Frits (Young Fritz) for the theatre troupe. Very quickly, the theatre created a new puppet show based on the pamphlet and the show travelled to the front to play for the soldiers of the army in the field. More than 600 performances of this play were given for the troops. Ms Kostina remembered, “It was a very funny story. Amongst the characters, in addition to Hitler, were Göring, Göbbels, and the parents of Young Fritz. Papa, Mama, and even Grandma, in the play, sent Fritz to conquer Russia. Eyewitnesses say that the forest shook with laughter. The marionettes used in this performance were preserved. Their heads, arms, and legs are like they were just cut from the tree, and they still all work properly. For example, the puppet of Hitler, when he is angered, his eyes pop out of their sockets. It was all very funny”.
None of the artists of the theatre who went to the front, returned from the war, many more were killed during the siege, but, the dolls, witnesses to those terrible days, were saved and returned again to their native city. The marionette theatre on the Nevsky was revived. Today, it presents other plays, and the grandchildren of the children of the siege of Leningrad come and wonder. However, the dolls that once helped the city to survive are now in display cases. Here are the same old friends, the Smiling Tiger, the Monkey, Pupsy and Hitler with his popping eyes.
22 January 2009
Svetlana Andreyeva
Voice of Russia World Service
http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=rus&q=98971&cid=22&p=22.01.2009
On Thursday, the polling organisation VTsIOM said that Russians identified Metropolitan Kirill, the interim leader of the MP, as the most likely candidate to become the next patriarch. According to the VTsIOM survey, 28 percent of Russians expect Kirill, aged 62, to be chosen as the new patriarch. However, 71 percent of those surveyed failed to answer the question, including 69 percent of the respondents who could not name any member of the MP hierarchy. Half the respondents said they would like the next patriarch to be a spiritual leader and a mentor to the Russian nation. The opinion was most often voiced by elderly respondents (52 percent) and Orthodox believers (57 percent). Another 8 percent of those surveyed viewed the patriarch as a prominent statesman and a member of the highest leadership of Russia. The pollster said 14 percent of the respondents favour an intelligent and educated patriarch, and another 12 percent said they would like the candidate to be compassionate and sympathetic. The VTsIOM conducted the poll on 10-11 January amongst 1,600 people in 140 towns across 42 Russian regions.
Fourth place was taken by Metropolitan Yuvenaly Poyarkov of Krutitsa and Kolomna, who garnered 14 votes. The remaining votes were scattered amongst some other figures in the hierarchy. Metropolitan Vladimir Sabodan of Kiev and all the Ukraine gained 10 votes, Metropolitan Onufry Berezovsky of Chernovitsy and Bukovina received 10 votes, Metropolitan Sergei Fomin of Voronezh and Borisogleb gained 7 votes, Metropolitan Vladimir of Kishinev and all Moldova got 4, and Metropolitan Agafangel Savvin of Odessa and Izmail won 3. Metropolitan German Timofeyev of Volgograd and Kamyshensk, Metropolitan Platon of the Argentine and South America, Metropolitan Hilarion Kapral of New York and Eastern America (the First hierarch of the ROCOR), Metropolitan Vladimir Ikim of Tashkent and Central Asia, Bishop Pitirim Volochkov of Syktyvkar and Vorkutinsk each received one vote. One ballot was determined to be invalid, but, there were no spoilt ballots detected.
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