For many Soviet children, the first lesson in learning Russian letters begins not with "A" but with "S", because this is the first letter of the great leader Stalin's name.

The first lesson is especially important for children, which means leaving a first impression in their minds. The first impression is very impressive, and all the children educators in the Soviet Union know it well. We must seize this opportunity to impress the image of a great leader in children's hearts. As a Soviet ode sang: "When my child started learning English, he must have called that resounding name: Comrade Stalin!" " "[Before the Cultural Revolution, the first lesson of Chinese textbooks for the first grade of primary school was the word" starting school ";" "Long live Chairman Mao" was the slogan in the Cultural Revolution. 〗

The first step of induction is often carried out in this way of first impression. Its purpose is to form some basic elements of ideology in children's minds, such as the names of political parties and leaders, so that they can't forget them. This constitutes the first raw material for brainwashing. But at this time, children only know the existence of leaders and political parties and feel their omnipresence, but it is difficult to have a concrete impression on them. So the second step is to process these raw materials and strengthen children's understanding of this impression through various means.

The initial inducement is often harmless or even pleasant. Children will hear a series of examples about the personal virtues of leaders, their love for children, and how the country creates beautiful conditions for children. In a book called Summer Camp for Young Pioneers in the Soviet Union, the author told teachers and instructors that "one of the most important tasks is to educate young pioneers and pupils with the excellent life and career examples of Lenin and Stalin".

In order to achieve the goal, this kind of education method should also be gradual according to the child's psychology. Children in the third grade of primary school (nine to ten years old) mainly know the life and career of Lenin and Stalin according to the contents of textbooks; In the fourth grade, we should study the history course of the Soviet Union, "so that they can fully understand the life and career of great leaders in combination with historical events". It was not until the seventh grade that I began to study the Soviet Constitution. [At least there is a "Constitution" class! All this is based on "children's accumulated knowledge level to arrange their own work."

There are many ways to induce, but it is obviously unwise to instill this ideology into children's minds only by telling stories, which will easily make children rebellious. So the best way is to induce the child to believe that this consciousness was discovered by himself. Therefore, symposiums and seminars have become the necessary steps for entry. The form of a successful forum seems to be quite free and democratic, full of pleasant atmosphere, and everyone can put forward their own views, but in fact these views have long been confined to a strict framework. Because the topics of these symposiums are carefully designed, such as "How did Lenin learn?" "How did Stalin bring us a happy childhood?" "How did Stalin serve the people selflessly?"

Now that the theme has been decided, all the children involved in the discussion can do is to prove how it is "correct". Teachers will encourage children to look for "correct" examples, but will suppress and criticize those who disagree. Between praise and criticism, students will definitely choose praise. In this process, they will learn how to figure out the intention of their superiors and make answers that meet this intention. The initial obedience is formed by it.

Although obedience is one of the goals of cultivating children, it is not enough to just "obey for the sake of obedience". Because children must know that the object of obedience is absolutely glorious, great and correct, so that they can cut off their inner doubts and rise from obedience to voluntary dedication.

Tell the young pioneers with examples of the life and career of great leaders that they must cultivate the necessary qualities in themselves and how they can be worthy of the title of young Lenin's disciple. As this sentence says, "essential qualities", that is, virtues, also exist in educational manuals. Whether it is the manual of the Nazi Youth League or the regulations of the Soviet Young Pioneers, it is hard not to make people believe that this is a necessary quality for a morally perfect person, integrity, loyalty, courage and selflessness. These words describing virtue are almost everywhere in education. But in fact, although these words are still literal, their contents have undergone subtle changes. Honesty means that you can betray your relatives and friends for a higher truth, or call it the sense of social responsibility advocated by the party; Loyalty means unreserved love for leaders and unconditional obedience to superiors; Courage is the same as the slogan of that era: "Always be ready!" Dedicated to the call put forward by the party at any time.

Virtue is twisted into an ideological ornament, and only its words are preserved. Even good and evil were divided into simple binary opposites from the beginning. Social groups are simply divided into "good guys" and "bad guys" in the struggle. In Nazi Germany, good or bad was divided by race. In a children's book "Poisonous Mushrooms" widely circulated in Nazi Germany, it was written: "There are good mushrooms and poisonous mushrooms. There are good people and bad people. Jews are bad people. " In the Soviet Union, good or bad is divided by class. Propaganda materials tell children that "hidden enemies" will always exist, and the bourgeoisie, rich peasants, supporters of the tsar, and hostile forces in the West ... This long list makes children believe that the way to accomplish one of the virtues is to find out, expel or even kill these "bad guys".

In Nazi Germany, the children of the Youth League burned the effigy of Jews at the bonfire party, or simply joined the stormtroopers to smash and rob Jewish shops and contribute to the "pure race". In the Soviet Union, the game of "Civil War" and "Grain Requisition" was popular. In the game, children will strive to become Bolsheviks: "Everyone wants to be the Red Army and Bolsheviks, and no one wants to be the White Army and the Mensheviks. Only adults can stop this quarrel-it is recommended not to decide the name at the beginning of the game. Whoever wins is the Bolshevik. "

But the most important of these virtues is selflessness. The word appears so widely that it is sublimated into the highest virtue, such as courage, loyalty and integrity, which can all be unified under this virtue. Because it represents the ultimate goal of ideology, that is, to destroy the self and integrate the individual into the collective wholeheartedly. As Anatoly lunacharski, a member of the People's Education Committee, wrote in 19 18, "Young people should learn to think and abandon all selfishness and distractions." Or like the slogan of the Nazi Youth League: "Not for yourself, everything is for Germany."

In this ideology, self-possession, or selfishness, is one of the greatest evils, from which all evils are born. It is shameful for a person who can't integrate into the collective. It is right to follow the actions of most people. The collective system creates an illusion of equality and makes children believe that all differences will be eliminated as long as they join the collective: "They are wearing the same brown shirt. Where did they come from-no one will ask. They look exactly the same, as if they were cast in the same mold. Children of the haves, children of the proletarians, children of the former bourgeoisie, children of entrepreneurs, children of farmers, and so on, but on the surface, everyone seems to be the same. "

Hitler's children. In the speech of 1937, Hitler said to the children who stood in front of him and raised their arms to salute: "Just as you stand in front of me today, hundreds of years later, the younger generation will stand in front of the future head of state and express their faith in Germany, the Germany we won through struggle."

Collective ceremonies, choruses, parades and other collective activities fully integrate individuals into the collective ocean. In this vast ocean, individuals are small. His only choice is to join the chorus praising the leader and contribute his virtue, belief and even life to this regime. From an individual child to a group of people, the process of induction has achieved its goal step by step. It seems that every step is glorious and correct, and it is completely carried out on a sunny day, but there is also a dark side behind it, and that is the second lesson that children need to learn: fear.

Lesson 2: Fear

"We learned to shut up at an early age. Your tongue will get you into trouble. -That's what adults keep telling our children. We have always been afraid to express our opinions in our lives. Mom always said that there must be a snitch between two people. We are afraid of our neighbors, especially the police ... even today, I am still scared to see the police. "

The difference between fear and inducement is that the latter tells children what to do, while the former tells them what not to do. Fear can actually have a greater impact on children's minds than induction, so that they can consciously avoid certain things and build a taboo dam in their minds from an early age.

In Nazi Germany, inferior race is one of the taboos, disrespect for the Fuehrer is also taboo, and any behavior that doubts imperial ideology is taboo; In the Soviet Union, every child knows what will happen if he meets the "bad" class, does anything that damages the reputation of the great leader, criticizes the party, and so on. That is the most severe punishment waiting for them.

One of the (lowest) punishments is to be isolated and expelled from the group. In a country where political power controls all social resources, only by joining the collective can life be possible. Therefore, expulsion from the collective has become the most serious punishment for children. He will be despised by his classmates and isolated by his friends, and no one will pay attention to him and help him. Despise and indifference will make him expelled from the whole society and have no place to stand. A man named Gelter Eckhardt Lorenz recalled his school life in Potsdam National Institute for Political Reform and said, "The names of laggards will be publicly named before the roll call, and those who don't obey will be publicly condemned. Whoever is not a' comrade-in-arms' will have a hard time and will be rejected. " Students in the class will deliberately not talk to such a person and completely ignore him as a punishment. In the Soviet Union, these taboo-tainted children not only were condemned and isolated, but also had a more terrible fate: "being disappeared". This disappearance is sometimes not obvious, but there is an empty desk in the classroom the next day, and the teacher will not tell the students why the former deskmate didn't come to school. Of course, the students know very well that they won't ask this question for fear that they will be next. Sometimes in order to play a deterrent role, this "disappearance" is carried out in full view of the public. Eugene Jelchin described this fear of being forced to turn a blind eye when he broke Stalin's nose. The secret police of the National Security Bureau wandered around the classroom door, and the students could even hear the sound of leather boots pacing, and then a student was called out, which was the last time the teacher called his name. Then, the teacher skillfully ordered the students to blacken the faces of the classmates in the class photos with pens.

Taboo is so frightening that once you get contaminated with it, the only way is to pass a more rigorous test to clear your guilt. Pavlek Molotzov, the "young hero" of the Soviet Union, is a typical example. According to official propaganda materials, his father belonged to the "bad class" rich peasants, and he reported his father to the police, so he was killed by a "rich peasant counter-revolutionary" family. The Soviet propaganda machine soon shaped Molotov into a moral model of loyalty and integrity. Gorky called for a monument to be built for him: "Blood relatives may be your enemies, and you can't let such enemies go."

In the hearts of a whole generation of Soviet children, Molotov is a perfect young hero. He not only provided a model of Soviet-style virtue, but also gave children living in taboo fear the possibility of self-redemption. A campaign to learn from Morozov soon began. A teenager named Alexander exposed his father and demanded his arrest. Another 16-year-old Jewish boy from near Cremenciuc, at his father's insistence, wrote a letter to the local newspaper, publicly stating that he divorced his family:

"I refuse to be a part of this family. I think, the real father is a * * * youth league, he can teach me the great events in my life; The real mother is our motherland, and the Soviet Socialist Republic and the Soviet people are my family. "

In this way, fear turned into a new inducement. It is commendable and encouraging to sacrifice family members in order to achieve moral standards and integrate into the collective. This is why ideology has separated these children's families and won their firmer loyalty. Because they have been "reborn" in this regime by destroying their personal feelings. Therefore, they were pardoned, forgiven by the regime and accepted collectively again. The treatment he enjoyed as a "normal person" after returning to the collective further convinced him that he was right to expose his father's relatives and friends, and he was therefore tested more severely than ordinary children.

In order to keep the "honor" gained by their great sacrifice, these people often become more defenders of this system. A woman named Kira Koyenkova still claimed to be "Stalin's lover" 30 years after Stalin's death, but both her uncles were arrested in labor camps on charges of "slacking", which made her deeply fall in love with Stalin, a "great leader with clear rewards and punishments". This seems to have no solution, but it is reasonable. She has sacrificed so much to integrate into this system. If she denies it, all her sacrifices are meaningless, and she will completely deny herself. Therefore, she still lives in her childhood-a great era that is always ready to die for lofty ideals.

Graduation: a "newcomer" who doesn't grow up.

"We must educate a new type of people so that our people will not perish because of the decline of the times."

"We must mold young people into a new generation of * * * producers. Children are as plastic as soft wax. "

The will of the Fuehrer and the slogan of the great leader complement each other. They are eager to shape their children into perfect "newcomers" that meet their own wishes. In a sense, their purpose has been achieved. Through the dual means of induction and fear, an ignorant child can be trained into a qualified "new person" Whether they are eager for honor or afraid of taboos, they will restrain their behavior and convince themselves that propaganda under ideology is reasonable. After all, integration into the collective and dedication to this system are the only choices they can have.

But when they grow up and enter the adult society, they find that everything is completely different from their education. This country is not beautiful, hierarchical, bureaucratic, lifeless and lifeless, and the fear that haunts it pervades every corner of daily life. They may also be the target of informants themselves, or they may be sent to concentration camps because of a slip of the tongue. But the problem is that although they may find hypocrisy in real life, their brains have been instilled with ideology in their childhood. They are used to that kind of speech, expression and thinking-these consciousness have been deeply rooted in their minds, so they can only act according to this model. This is also the only way for them to interact with society. When they encounter inexplicable difficulties, their only choice is to go back to the leaders and heads of state, to the ideology they are used to, and to seek justice.