Historical story

How were prostitutes in besieged Leningrad identified?

The signs were obvious to everyone, and the people turned out to be absolutely ruthless. But was every such woman really engaged in paid love?

At the top of the new hierarchy that emerged in the besieged city, there were canteen workers and shopkeepers, i.e. people with constant access to food. No wonder - the terrible conditions in the city surrounded by Germans made getting even a piece of bread to survive the next day became a matter of life and death for most residents.

In this new reality, however, there was a group of people who - not having a job in the "food sector" - did better than others, or at least "occupied a high position in the hierarchy determined by access to food" - as Alexis Peri, a researcher from Boston University and author of "Leningrad. Journals from the besieged city ” . Namely ... people who provide sexual services in return for food. The American historian explains that "during the siege of the main" currency "was, in addition to food, sex just like everywhere and always in conditions of war, imprisonment or extreme poverty. "

"Blocker Wives"

Other inhabitants of the city drew attention to the phenomenon of the relative "prosperity" of prostitutes in Leningrad. Diarists mentioned them, calling them "girls from the canteen" ( diewuszki and table ) or "blocking wives" ( Błokadnyje żeny ). A description of a typical lady of light manners can be found, for example, in Nina Kliszewicz's diary:

A well-dressed woman with curly hair, manicured hands and heavy makeup, very high heels - a block wife.

Well-dressed and nourished women were very noticeable among the gaunt inhabitants of besieged Leningrad.

People in the starving community quickly learned to recognize the girls who sold themselves for food. "A healthy female appearance showed promiscuity," says Peri. This is confirmed by an excerpt from Irina Zielenska's diary devoted to the "blocking wives":

Thanks to a special sense (…) one can spot healthy, ruddy faces among these old [looking] damned people. They are mostly young women, and if they are not wearing a uniform, then, of course, it can be suspected that they are "girls from the canteen" - the only segment of the population that has maintained a normal appearance this winter, although at the cost of decency .

As you can guess from the tone of this statement, the other hooligans did not look at the "privileged" with too favorable an eye. Zielenska herself recognized civilians who looked too healthy as "parasites feeding on the rest of the community." On the other hand, she was quite humanly happy to see "fresh, healthy, young faces" standing out so strongly against "lots of living skeletons".

Lovers of "kitchen aristocrats"

It is worth emphasizing that both women and men decided to prostitute themselves. However, the participation of the latter was ignored by most diarists. It was commonly believed that "good looks" was only evidence of questionable behavior in women. A more complete picture of the situation was presented by Ivan Savinkov, one of the inhabitants of the besieged city and the author of the notes cited by Alexis Peri in the book Leningrad. Journals from the besieged city ”. As reported by the researcher:

(…) Ivan Savinkov found that the typical pairing of prostitutes and their male clients was reversed, explaining that men also sold themselves to grocery workers.

You can read more about the nightmare of the inhabitants of Leningrad in the book by Alexis Peri entitled “Leningrad. Journals from a besieged city ”(Znak Horyzont 2019). Buy with a discount in our bookstore.

Savinkov described these clients as "new Leningrad aristocrats" and "kitchen aristocrats" ( aristokratki ot plity ), defeating them verbally as a class enemy.

Savinkov's account is interesting for one more reason. It shows that the hatred of the Leningrad people was directed not against those who obtained food "at the expense of decency". Their anger fell entirely on those who used their services. "Only the most nourished kept their sex drive and could afford to give up food in exchange for sex," reports Peri.

Ivan does not hesitate to call "kitchen aristocrats" "fat, fat mountains of fat" . Especially since he himself fell out of favor with the company cook and fully experienced the power she had over his food ration - and thus the success of his struggle for survival.

Source:

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