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Thanks to Comrade Stalin for our happy childhood! - it

Thanks to Comrade Stalin for our happy childhood!

Thanks to Comrade Stalin for our happy childhood!

For the first time this phrase sounded in 1936 as a slogan carried by the participants of the physical culture parade on Red Square. Subsequently, this expression was sounded every time the topics "Stalin and children", "Stalin and youth", etc. arose.

On September 23, 1937, the newspaper Pravda published an editorial entitled “Happy Children of the Stalinist Era,” which included the words “Thank you Comrade Stalin for a happy childhood”. This publication (the editorial in Pravda expressed the official position of the authorities) finally consolidated this phrase in the political use of that time.

Used: ironically (with an appropriate change of name) as a playfully exaggerated gratitude for something.

Encyclopedic Dictionary of winged words and expressions. - M .: "Lokid-Press".

Vadim Serov.

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Vladislav Pavlovich Smirnov (born 1929) - Soviet and Russian historian, specialist in the history of France. Honored Professor of Moscow University (2012), laureate of the M.V. Lomonosov for pedagogical activity (2013). In 1953 V.P. Smirnov graduated from the Faculty of History of Moscow State University, then became a graduate student, and in 1957 began working at the Department of Modern and Contemporary History of the Faculty of History of Moscow State University, where he rose from assistant to professor. Below is a fragment from his book: Smirnov V.P. FROM STALIN TO YELTSIN: self-portrait against the background of the era / V. P. Smirnov. - M .: New chronograph, 2011.

Leader and teacher

When I was born, Stalin ruled the country. Members of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks who were close to him called him "master" in their circle, and in public - "leader and teacher." In 1929, the last legal internal party opposition, the "Right Opposition" headed by N.I. Bukharin and A.I. Rykov. Just on my birthday, Pravda published a long article under the heading: "To stubbornly and mercilessly fight the ideology and practice of right-wing opportunism." Opposition members were expelled from the party, dismissed from work, sent into exile, sometimes arrested, attributing to them fictitious crimes, most often "anti-Soviet activities", "sabotage" or "espionage". Some of the oppositionists, in search of salvation, repented and admitted their mistakes.

At the same time, a campaign of unbridled exaltation of Stalin went on and rapidly intensified. The signal for her was a special issue of Pravda dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Stalin, completely filled with greetings and praises. The photograph “Lenin and Stalin in Gorki” appeared there for the first time, without which not a single biography of Stalin could do without; organizations. The tone was set by the editorial of Pravda, which said: “The Communist Party, the working class and the world revolutionary movement are celebrating today the 50th anniversary of their leader and leader, friend and comrade in arms, Comrade. Stalin ".

For the first time, Stalin was called the "leader", and not only of the party, but also of the working class and the world revolutionary movement. How unusual this was then is evident from the fact that the word "leader" had not yet been used in greetings to Stalin on behalf of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission of the CPSU (b). Stalin appeared there only as "the loyal, best student of Lenin," "the iron soldier of the revolution," "dear friend and comrade in arms" of the rest of the members of the Central Committee and the Central Control Commission. The Moscow Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks turned out to be even more modest in its assessments. He greeted Stalin "as the first among equals in the Bolshevik battle headquarters." In the flattering poems of Demyan Bednyi published by Pravda, another note sounded, which was then constantly repeated in the stream of enthusiastic writings about Stalin: the beloved leader, on top of everything else, is also incredibly modest - only barely tolerates praise.

“Telegrams ... The editorial office is overwhelmed with them.
On the occasion of Stalin's half century!
Let Stalin there, as he wants,
Angry, rumbling,

But Pravda can no longer be silent! " - wrote Demyan Bedny. The stream of praise grew, and the epithets applied to Stalin quickly reached their highest degrees. In 1934, at the XVII Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), officially proclaimed as a "congress of winners", the leaders of the largest party organizations in Moscow and Leningrad - N.S. Khrushchev and A.A. Zhdanov - they called Stalin "genius". It is unlikely that this thought simultaneously occurred to them by pure chance. Khrushchev said that the Moscow Bolsheviks rallied "around our brilliant leader Comrade Stalin," and Zhdanov assured that all the successes of the USSR had been achieved "under the brilliant leadership of the greatest leader of our party and the working class, the greatest man of our era - Comrade Stalin."

Others, including those admitted by Stalin to the congress, the former leaders of the opposition — Zinoviev, Kamenev, Bukharin, Rykov — did not lag behind. All of them condemned the chain of their "mistakes, delusions and crimes", dissociated themselves from the already arrested comrades-in-arms, thanked Stalin for defeating them, swore allegiance to him, extolled to heaven. Perhaps, we should recall their statements, because they show how the opposition leaders were morally and politically broken even before the start of the trials organized against them. Zinoviev assured that Stalin was "one of those few rare and rarest writers and thinkers whose works you re-read many times, each time finding in them a new richness of content." Kamenev said that Stalin "is the banner", "the exponent of the will of millions, a blow against which means a blow against the entire party, against socialism, against the entire world proletariat."

Bukharin called for rallying "around Comrade Stalin as the personal embodiment of the mind and will of the party, its leader, its theoretical and practical leader." Rykov promised "to work for the cause of the proletarian revolution under the leadership of our Central Committee and its great leader, Comrade Stalin." Repentance and forced praise of Stalin did not save the opposition leaders. Several years later, during the trials, they had to not only repent, but also "confess" to treason, espionage, murder and other crimes that they did not commit; humiliatingly but ineffectually to beg Stalin for mercy.

After the defeat of the opposition, all the media were overwhelmed (and did not subside until Stalin's death) a wave of stories, poems and "folk tales" about Stalin, enthusiastic memories of people who had ever seen him or at least heard him. A special genre appeared: "Songs of Stalin", where he was compared with a falcon, an eagle and the sun. Their authors were not only obscure rhyming writers, but also very famous, respected and authoritative people. So, in 1938 the composer A.V. Aleksandrov and the poet M. Inyushkin composed "Cantata about Stalin", which from that time opened almost all the festive concerts. It began with the words:

From edge to edge, along the mountain peaks,
Where the free eagle flies
About Stalin wise, dear and beloved
The people compose a wonderful song.

No less famous was the "Song of Stalin" by the poet A. Surkov and the composer M. Blanter. They "composed a joyful song about the Great Friend and Leader." Her chorus read:

Stalin is our military glory,
Stalin is the flight of our youth.
With songs, fighting and conquering
Our people follow Stalin.

In another "Song of Stalin" poet S. Alymov and composer A.V. Aleksandrov, on behalf of the Soviet people, was assured:

We will all follow you to any feat,
Our victory banner, our Stalin.

Along with the image of the great, wise and beloved leader, the songs of the 1930s created the image of the USSR as an exceptionally rich and happy country.

The sunniest and brightest edge
The whole Soviet land has become ...
Stalin's smile warmed
Our kids are happy.

A huge mass of the population of the USSR lived in poverty, was malnourished, in some places real hunger reigned, but in the songs everything looked just wonderful.

We are bursting with bread
In the granaries of the bins,
All the way to the outskirts
All new houses.

The songs were joined by books, articles, films, theatrical performances that glorified the happy life of Soviet people under the leadership of their brilliant, wise, kind, humane leader - Comrade Stalin. In all institutions, military units, schools, hospitals, and in many private apartments, his portraits hung. It was a genuine “cult of personality,” as it was later called, a cult resembling a religious one, accompanied by massive enthusiastic worship.

Not only "ordinary people", but also famous intellectuals gifted with a critical mind were delighted at the mere appearance of Stalin. Seeing Stalin at the Komsomol congress in 1936, K.I. Chukovsky wrote in his diary: “I looked around: everyone had loving, gentle, soulful and laughing faces. Seeing him - just seeing - was happiness for all of us ... We walked home with Pasternak, and both revel in our joy. " The most striking thing is that even people who seemed to know Stalin well, including his relatives, whom he later destroyed, saw in him a "real invincible Eagle" and believed that Stalin was "infinitely kind."

After the exposure of Stalin's crimes at the XX Congress of the CPSU, when it became absolutely not scary to criticize him, it turned out that some prominent scientists and writers, for example, A.A. Akhmatova, did not harbor illusions either about Stalin or about the Stalinist regime. Perhaps, many "ordinary people" thought the same way, especially those who suffered from the Soviet regime. However, they kept their moods to themselves, because it was deadly to express them. I was then a little boy, growing up in an atmosphere of continuous praise of Stalin and perceived it as quite natural. I will tell you an episode from my childhood impressions, which was unexpectedly continued. Apparently, I still did not know how to read, but with great pleasure I looked at the large, beautiful posters hanging everywhere, on which Stalin, with a kind fatherly smile, was holding in his arms a little girl with a large bouquet of flowers.

Many years later. In the fall of 2000, I met a beautiful middle-aged woman with my friends. They told me: “Get to know. This is Gel Markizova; do you remember the girl with the bouquet in Stalin's arms? " I remembered, began to question Gela, and this is what she told me. Her father was the Minister of Agriculture of the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, one of the secretaries of the Buryat Regional Committee of the CPSU, a convinced communist. He named his children in honor of the founders of Marxism-Leninism: his son - Vladilen (in honor of Lenin), and his daughter - Engelsina (in honor of Engels). In 1936, the father, together with his wife and Gela (as she was called at home) came to Moscow for a decade of Buryat art. He was invited to a government reception, and Gela, who was then 5–6 years old, begged to take her with her. They bought a large bouquet of flowers and went to the Kremlin. There Gela got tired of listening to speeches, she got up and went with her bouquet straight to Stalin. This caused a stormy delight in the entire audience. Stalin raised her in his arms, they were immediately photographed, and the next day the photo appeared in the newspapers with the caption "Thank you Comrade Stalin for our happy childhood." A stream of congratulations and gifts fell on Gela. Stalin gave her a wrist watch and a gramophone. According to Geli, he asked: “Will you drag it?”, And Geli answered: “I’ll ask Daddy.”

Following Stalin, Gele began to send gifts to various institutions and organizations. Some collective farm even donated a cow and a calf. Posters depicting Geli in Stalin's arms made her famous throughout the country. And then 37 years came ... Father was arrested, accused of spying for Japan and conspiracy to secede Buryatia from the USSR, brutally tortured and shot. The posters with Gela in Stalin's arms disappeared. Gelia, her brother and mother were exiled to Kazakhstan. After the rehabilitation of the parents, Gela was able to see her mother's personal file. It contained a request from the local branch of the NKVD: What to do with the mother? She keeps a photo of Geli in Stalin's hands, and can use it in the future. Beria, who replaced Yezhov at the post of People's Commissar of Internal Affairs, imposed a resolution in blue pencil: "Eliminate." After that, Geli's mother, under some pretext, was admitted to the hospital and a few days later was told that she had committed suicide in a fit of depression by cutting her throat with a shard of a bottle. Gela didn't believe it. According to her, she herself saw the mark from the cut - it was narrow, thin, like from a knife or lancet, and not torn, as it would be from a splinter of a bottle. The further fate of Geli and her brother developed relatively well. They were adopted by distant relatives, they were not considered "members of the family of a traitor to their homeland", received a higher education, and worked. Gelya graduated from the Faculty of History of Moscow State University. In her story, Gela mentioned a detail that now surprised her herself. She did not believe the accusation against her father, but in 1953, when Stalin died, she cried and was very sorry that her little daughter would never see such a great man.

) that the current neo-Banderites should pray to the founding fathers of the USSR, who divided the state along ethnic lines. Yes, the idea was not theirs, and even the first steps on this path were taken by the Austro-Hungarians with the Poles in Galicia. But it was the Bolsheviks who did not let these seedlings dry out.

On the contrary, they groomed and cherished, seated and defended the party of the dictatorship of the proletariat by merciless force. I do not even want to argue that it was justified by objective conditions - this is not the point. The main thing is that this is the handiwork of the Bolsheviks of the Stalinist period in the first place.

Yes, Ukrainization began even before Lenin's death. The same Stalin back in 1921 at X Congress of the RCP (b) declared: “... Recently it was said that the Ukrainian republic and Ukrainian nationality are an invention of the Germans. Meanwhile, it is clear that Ukrainian nationality exists, and the development of its culture is the responsibility of the communists... You can't go against history. It is clear that if Russian elements still predominate in the cities of Ukraine, then over time these cities will inevitably be Ukrainianized».
But even after Lenin's death, nothing changed and the brochure "On the Right of Nations to Self-Determination" was not burned. On the contrary, the USSR was built from a "union of nations" with the right to secede from the USSR. Moreover, when after the Victory it was possible to transform the USSR into a single state with a "new community of Soviet people" - this was also not done.

So it was the party and it was in the USSR that created the Ukrainians as a nation, turned Little Russia itself into a huge, full-fledged founding state of the UN, gathered all the territories into this state up to the Crimea in its composition and, in a Stalinist manner, implanted the Ukrainian language even where he was not born.

Historical fact - there were no "Ukrainians" in the Republic of Ingushetia! Look at any census. You will find there all the peoples of the empire, except for one ... In order not to be unfounded (census of the Republic of Ingushetia in 1897). There were no Ukrainians in neighboring countries either. There were Russians or Rusyns, Ruthenians, Little Russians, whoever. There were no Ukrainians until the First World War even in the United States and the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which just on its territory in Galicia raised the Ukrainians from the Rusyns (fortunately, the Polish reserves were made along the way). We must pay tribute to the Russian Empire, in which "Ukrainians" were fashionable and popular (remember Shevchenko's reburial).

However, only World War II started official Ukrainization. Pay attention to the passport of the newspaper # 61 dated October 13, 1914 and compare the passport of the next number 62 on October 15, 1914.

But these were only beginnings.

Unsuccessful attempts to split the belligerent Russian Empire. And even all sorts of UNR Hrushevsky, Hetmanats of Skoropadsky and Petliura's Directory were not crowned with success. With the end of the civil war, the winners could replay everything - and the attempt to create the Donetsk-Kryvyi Rih Republic is just one example of a different construction. But for the reasons that I wrote about in the previous article (Stalin and the time bomb that destroyed the USSR), the Bolsheviks followed the principle of national division of the USSR.

It was the most cruel and all-encompassing of Ukrainizations - Yushchenko is resting (in total, under the USSR, there were at least three waves of Ukrainizations with all the secretaries general, except for the little-ruled Andropov and Chernenko). It was in the USSR that the population of the Ukrainian SSR and adjacent territories of the RSFSR learned that they were "Ukrainians". Stalin did not "destroy" the "Ukrainians" - he created them!

In 1923, at the XII Congress of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks, Stalin, in accordance with Lenin's ideas, made a decision on "indigenization" - replacing the Russian language with local national languages ​​in administration, education and culture. In Ukraine, as well as in the Kuban, in the Stavropol Territory, part of the North Caucasus, Kursk and Voronezh regions, such indigenization was officially called Ukrainization.

The very same Grushevsky, the head of the UPR from Galicia, already treated kindly by the Soviet regime, wrote: « about 50 thousand people moved to the Ukrainian SSR from Galicia with wives and families, young people, men. Many Galicians work in the apparatus of the People's Commissariat for Education of Ukraine. M.I. Yavorsky, K. I. Konik, M. L. Baran; A. I. Badan-Yavorenko and then Zozulyak were the learned secretaries of the People's Commissariat for Education; the personal secretary of Skrypnik was a Galician N. V. Erstenyuk. "

Together with them, 400 officers of the former Galician army were discharged from the then Polish Galicia to the Ukrainian SSR, led by G. Kossak - the uncle of Zenon Kossak, who became the author of 44 rules of life for a Ukrainian nationalist. I can imagine how delighted Pilsudski & Co. was.

From Gorky's letter to the Ukrainian writer A. Slesarenko: “Dear Alexey Makarovich! I am categorically against the reduction of the story "Mother". It seems to me that the translation of this story into the Ukrainian dialect is also unnecessary. I am very surprised by the fact that people, setting one and the same goal, not only assert the difference of adverbs - they strive to make the adverb "language", but also oppress those Great Russians who find themselves a minority in the area of ​​this dialect. "

V1930 in Ukraine, 68.8% of newspapers were published by Soviet authorities in Ukrainian language, in 1932 there were already 87.5%. In 1925-26. 45.8% of the books published by the communists in Ukraine were printed in Ukrainian; by 1932 this figure was 76.9%. There was no market, the growth and distribution of circulation was purely a party matter and was not dictated by demand.

Here is a quote from the decision of the 4th plenum of the Donetsk regional committee of the CP (b) U: “ Strictly observe the Ukrainization of Soviet bodies, resolutely fighting all attempts of enemies to weaken Ukrainization. " The decision was made in October 1934.

And six months earlier, in April, the same regional committee made a strong-willed decision "On the language of city and regional newspapers of Donbass." In pursuance of the party's decisions on Ukrainization, the Donetsk residents decided to completely translate 23 out of 36 local newspapers into Ukrainian, 8 more had to print at least two-thirds of information in Ukrainian, 3 in Greco-Hellenic, and only TWO newspapers (!) In the region were decided leave in Russian.

Before the revolution, there were 7 Ukrainian schools in Donbass. In 1923, the People's Commissariat for Education of Ukraine ordered the Ukrainianization of 680 schools in the region within three years.

But the peak of the Ukrainization of education here fell precisely in 1932-33! As of December 1, 1932, out of 2,239 Donbass schools, 1,760 (or 78.6%) were Ukrainian, and another 207 (9.2%) were mixed Russian-Ukrainian.

By 1933, the last Russian-language pedagogical technical schools were closed. In the 1932-33 academic year in the Russian-speaking Makeyevka there was not a SINGLE Russian-speaking class in elementary school, which caused violent protests from parents. This year, no more than 26% of the region's pupils could study in Russian.

Party bodies (well, yes, of the same party that they are now trying to accuse of genocide of the Ukrainian people) have also been actively Ukrainianized. If in 1925 the ratio of Ukrainians and Russians in the CP (b) U was 36.9% by 43.4%, in 1930 - 52.9% by 29.3%, then in the peak year of the "Holodomor" (1933. ) - 60% Ukrainians 23% Russians

Wow, "destroying" the "Ukrainians", Stalin for some reason planted MOV everywhere and persecuted the Russian language. Some kind of strange "destruction".

And here's another interesting document for you:

Decree of December 14, 1932 of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR "On grain procurements in the Ukraine, the North Caucasus and in the Western region", quote:

D) Suggest the Central Committee of the CP (b) U and the Council of People's Commissars of Ukraine to pay serious attention to the correct implementation of Ukrainization, to eliminate its mechanical implementation, to expel the Petliura and other bourgeois-nationalist elements from party and Soviet organizations, leadership and control over the conduct of ukrainization.

Read it - an interesting document. The fight against hunger and (ATTENTION!) Ukrainization are discussed! In the same place, by the way, it is decided to abolish Ukrainization in the Kuban, tk. the local population does not understand MOV well. :)

"Confirm that only persons who speak Ukrainian can be recruited into the service, and those who do not own can be accepted only by agreement with the District Commission for Ukrainization. " R-401 op.1, d.82 Presidium of the Luhansk Okr. executive committee: "Confirm to employees that careless attendance of courses and unwillingness to learn Ukrainian language entails their dismissal from service." R-401, op. 1, case 72.

In July 1930, the Presidium of the Stalin Okrug Executive Committee made a decision "to prosecute the leaders of organizations formally related to Ukrainization, who have not found ways to Ukrainize their subordinates, violating the current legislation in the case of Ukrainization." Newspapers, schools, universities, theaters, institutions, inscriptions, signs, etc. were Ukrainianized. In Odessa, where Ukrainian students accounted for less than a third, all schools were Ukrainianized. In 1930, only 3 large Russian-language newspapers remained in Ukraine.

Ukrainization of the Communist Party of Ukraine

Years Party members and candidates Ukrainians Russians others
1922- 54818... 23,3 %...... 53,6 % 23,3 %
1924- 57016... 33,3 %..... 45,1 % 14,0 %
1925- 101852 36,9 %... 43,4 % 19,7 %
1927- 168087 51,9 %.. 30,0 % 18,1 %
1930- 270698 52,9 %.. 29,3 % 17,8 %
1933- 468793 60,0 % .. 23,0 % 17,0 %
It would be a mistake to think that Ukrainization ended in the mid-1930s. Yes, it quietly faded away in the Kuban Stavropol Territory, the North Caucasus. But without exception, all the lands that joined the Ukrainian SSR were harshly and mercilessly Ukrainized. In 1939, it turned out that the inhabitants of Galicia were also insufficiently Ukrainianized due to the prevalence of the Polish language. The Jan Casimir Lviv University was renamed in honor of Ivan Franko and Ukrainianized in the same way as the Lviv Opera, which received the same name. The Soviet government opened new Ukrainian schools on a massive scale and founded new Ukrainian-language newspapers. It's just that here they changed into Ukrainian not Russian, but Polish.

Derusification also took place in Transcarpathia after joining the Ukrainian SSR. About half of the locals, even before the First World War, through the efforts of the Austro-Hungarian authorities, who used the Terezin and Talerhof concentration camps to persuade, chose the Ukrainian identity. The other half of the Rusyns adhered to a general Russian orientation and stubbornly considered Russian their native language. Nevertheless, in 1945, all Rusyns, regardless of their wishes, were called Ukrainians by the Soviet government. Well, there is no need to talk about Crimea, its Ukrainization began as soon as Khrushchev stuck it into the Ukrainian SSR.

I will not bore readers with a list of documents from different years - a few photocopies of newspapers:

"... pay serious attention to the correct implementation of Ukrainization, eliminate its mechanical implementation, expel Petliura and other bourgeois-nationalist elements from party and Soviet organizations, carefully select and educate Ukrainian Bolshevik cadres, ensure systematic party leadership and control over the conduct of Ukrainization"

On Red Square on July 6, 1936. Then the phrase appeared in the text of the posters, the title of a number of paintings. A year earlier, the "Song of Soviet Schoolchildren" appeared with the lines: "For our happy childhood / Thank you, home country!" (words of V.M. Gusev), which definitely influenced the creation of the slogan.

In the publicistic literature about the history of the meeting between Stalin and Gela Markizova there is information according to which Stalin allegedly pronounced in Georgian, as if he was present at the meeting of L. P. Beria: “ მომაშორე ეგ ტილიანი! » ( Momashore Yeg Tiliani!- Take away this lousy!). However, it is unlikely that the first secretary of the Transcaucasian Regional Committee of the CPSU (b) Beria, who was living in Tbilisi at that time, was present in Moscow on January 27, 1936 (where he would move only in 1938); photo and newsreels of the meeting also did not capture the presence of Beria next to Stalin. [~ 1] Doubts are also expressed by the granddaughter of Engelsina Sergeevna, Daria Andreeva:. The author of the publication in the magazine "Cinema Art" (2014) Sergei Tsyrkun instead of Beria says about "Georgian guards":.

At the May Day demonstration, a column of deep old people carries a placard: "Thank you Comrade Stalin for our happy childhood."

Someone in civilian clothes runs up to them:
- Are you kidding me? When you were children, Comrade Stalin was not yet born!

What are the gateways of fate and what cynicism. One of the most famous posters of the times of the personality cult is a poster with a photograph of Stalin holding a girl in his arms. But what was the name of this girl - there are discrepancies. Sometimes they write that it is "Stalin and Mamlakat". Which is completely wrong: this is historical confusion. In the arms of the leader sits Gela Markizova - a Buryat girl, a symbol of gratitude for a happy childhood. Mamlakat, on the other hand, stands behind Stalin's back - an early-formed Eastern girl in a headscarf, with a simple peasant face.

True, the confusion did not arise by accident. Gela was born into the family of the People's Commissar of Agriculture of the Buryat-Mongolian Autonomous Republic, Ardan Markizov. In January 1936, Ardan Markizov was one of the leaders of the delegation from Buryat-Mongolia that arrived in Moscow. The pretty girl was specially taken to a meeting with Stalin, having prepared her properly. At the meeting, Gela handed Stalin a bouquet of flowers with the words: "These flowers are given to you by the children of Buryat-Mongolia." The touched leader lifted the girl in his arms and kissed her. This moment was captured by the many photographers and newsreels present. The next day, a photograph of Stalin with Gela in his arms appeared in all the newspapers with the inscription "Thank you Comrade Stalin for our happy childhood!" Later, this photograph was replicated, posters and paintings were drawn from it, hundreds of sculptures were made.

In 1937, Ardan Markizov was arrested, accused of preparing an attempt on Stalin's life and shot. Soon Geli lost her mother as well: Geli's mother was also arrested. Gela went through Soviet orphanages and special detention centers, where no one believed that she was the very girl from the photograph. Ella Olkhovskaya, a former artekova, says:
- In the 35th year, the Tajik girl Mamlakat Nakhangova became famous. Someone came up with the idea of ​​making a stakhanovka out of her and forced a dark, completely illiterate girl to pick cotton with both hands. At that time it was a real boom, cotton was always picked with one hand. It was said that Mamlakat allegedly picked up an insane amount of cotton and exceeded the norm. Stalin personally received her, awarded her with an order and presented her with a gold watch. In the Primer, a poem was printed on the title page:

“The Tajiks have resounding names
Mamlakat means a country ”.

Before the war, children all wore embroidered Central Asian skullcaps. They became fashionable because of Mamlakat. In the book "The Fourth Height" about the pioneer Gulya Koroleva it was written that in Artek Gulya met and made friends with Mamlakat. The fate of Mamlakat was successful: the girl did not become arrogant, did not turn into a ceremonial dummy for conventions and rallies, but was able to get an education, learn English and leave for the United States. It can be said that she was very lucky.

Since an unaccountable number of posters, paintings, statues and other propaganda materials were made from the photograph of the leader with the daughter of the disgraced People's Commissar Markizov in his arms, it was not possible to remove them, so the ideologists, on the sly, decided to rename the unreliable Gela into a strong peasant woman Mamlakat. Or maybe they didn't really care, well, who really cares whether she is a Tajik girl or a Buryat ... Well, they decided to call the six-year-old girl Mamlakat, who is physical capabilities could not get the Order of Lenin for shock work.

But if someone noticed that something was wrong here, it was not the time to ask such questions. You never know what can happen to a person who doubts that in a Soviet country a six-year-old girl can pick double the norm of cotton, or that a great leader can easily pick up an adult cotton-growing girl with his left hand?

Later, Gela Markizova was found by a relative of his mother and brought up under his last name, which, probably, saved her. She received her education, worked at the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences, married happily, and, interestingly, she also left to work abroad. But to India. She worked in India for half her life and became a doctor of sciences. She passed away in 2004. The episode with the photograph "For Our Happy Childhood" has a funny life detail that greatly enlivens and animates official vocabulary entries from Wikipedia and other sources. Holding the girl in his arms and smiling affectionately into the camera lens, Stalin said to his entourage: "Momashore eg tiliani."
The words of the beloved leader, spoken in an unfamiliar language, were tremulously kept in her memory by Gela for many years and carried through all the trials. But she learned their meaning only when she became an adult. In Georgian they mean "Take this lousy thing away!"