Children learn from their parents first, and from their teachers next. And what the adults tell them must be true, because the children have no other frame of reference. Their sponge-like minds absorb it all, and accept it as gospel.

The idea is that, by the time they’re old enough to think for themselves, they will have been taught not to . . . and the damage will be done.

In Nazi Germany, it was the Hitler Youth. In Lenin’s Soviet Union, there were the Komsomol (ages 14-28), the Pioneers (ages 9-14), and the Little Oktobrists for the really vulnerable (under age 9). And in the schools, there were the carefully crafted lessons in history and patriotism by which the teachers drummed into their brains the “virtues” of Mother Russia and the “evils” of the West.

And now, thanks to the courage and skill of one primary school teacher from the mining town of Karabash in the Ural Mountains, we are able to see proof of the present-day return to official political indoctrination of Russia’s youth under Vladimir Putin’s rule.

It began in earnest shortly after the Russian invasion of Ukraine — euphemistically known in Russia as Putin’s “special military operation” — in February of 2022. In Karabash, a teacher named Pavel Talankin, who also happened to be the school’s official videographer, was instructed by his superiors to document the implementation of a new directive from the Kremlin: shaping the younger generation by immersing them in ultra-nationalist views and preparing them to one day join the army fighting in Ukraine.

But Talankin is an independent-minded, free-spirited individual, whose classroom had always been open to innovative thinking on the part of his students. And he wanted no part of Putin’s return to Soviet-style ideology. And so, the opportunity having presented itself to him almost as a gift, he developed a plan — an extremely risky one — whereby he would secretly film and show the world an unfiltered view of how Putin’s war against Ukraine was affecting the lives of Russia’s children. In Talankin’s own words:

“I immediately knew this had to be preserved for the historical record. I quickly realised [sic] this material can’t be lost.” [Pjotr Sauer, The Guardian, February 9, 2025.]

He began reaching out to independent film outlets, and eventually found his “angel” in David Borenstein, a U.S. filmmaker who agreed to co-direct the project with Talankin.

And thus was born:

Talankin has said: “Any journalist trying to film what was going on in schools would be immediately jailed. I was put in this unique situation. The Russian ministry of education would send extremely detailed orders that certain lessons had to be filmed, and I would go and film.” [Id.]

In his documentary he shows children being ordered to march with the Russian flag, reading newly-printed history books defending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and competing in grenade-throwing tournaments. He also spoke of war veterans — often former convicts from the Wagner paramilitary group — visiting schools to preach “patriotic values” to the children. “Schools are one of the main places where they spread propaganda,” he says. “Fascism can take root in the simplest ways — starting in schools, with children.” [Id.]

Although many of the teachers were vehemently opposed to the new curriculum, they had no choice but to obey orders. At best, they might lose their jobs . . . and, as Mr. Talankin says, jobs in Karabash are scarce. And at worst . . . well, they didn’t even want to think about the worst-case scenario.

By the summer of 2024, he had become aware of police surveillance outside his home, and word of his anti-war views circulating throughout the town. So in June, without telling anyone, he fled the country . . . taking with him seven hard drives of footage. [Id.]

The documentary premiered last month at the Sundance film festival, where it won the World Cinema Documentary Special Jury Award. Since its release, Talankin has received both messages of support and “a lot of threats, long voicemails calling me a scumbag, a traitor to the Motherland.” [Id.]

But he adds: “I want as many people in Russia to see this as possible — not just in Karabash, but everywhere. For their own good.” [Id.]

I can’t wait to be one of those people.

Just sayin’ . . .

Brendochka
2/10/25

NOTE: This story ties in directly with a post I am writing concerning the Feenstra family from Canada, now living in Nizhny Novgorod, Russia, and what it augurs for the future of their eight children.