Love, Fear, and Resistance: Teenage Diaries from Stalin’s Russia Unearthed by Cambridge Researcher
What did it mean to be young in one of the most repressive regimes of the 20th century? A groundbreaking new study by Dr Ekaterina Zadirko (Faculty of Modern and Medieval Languages and Linguistics, University of Cambridge) reveals the inner lives of teenage boys growing up under Stalin’s rule—through their own handwritten diaries.
Between 1930 and 1941, boys from across the Soviet Union—rural villages, industrial towns, orphanages, schools—poured their hopes, fears, and romantic dreams into notebooks. Now, for the first time, these intimate accounts are being closely studied, giving voice to a generation that grew up with collectivisation, censorship, political terror, and the looming threat of war.
“These diaries are rarely taken seriously by scholars,” says Zadirko. “But for their authors, writing felt urgent, sometimes even existential. They were trying to define who they were—and who they wanted to be.”
The Private Lives of Public Subjects
Far from being uniformly shaped by Soviet ideology, the boys’ diaries reveal strikingly personal concerns—first love, exams, alienation, and ambition. Some dreamed of becoming writers. Others wrestled with guilt over eating extra rations. Many lived through hunger and family separation. Their reflections show just how complex and emotionally rich youth culture was in the Soviet Union—often at odds with official expectations of loyalty and heroism.
One diarist, 18-year-old Vasilii Trushkin, writes of sneaking kisses with a girl in the back of a lorry. Another, Sergei Argirovskii, grapples with loneliness, purpose, and the meaning of life. And in a haunting final entry, Ivan Khripunov—whose father had been exiled to Siberia—writes of being called up to the Red Army. He was never heard from again.
Writing as Self-Construction
These journals were more than personal records. Influenced by Russian literary traditions and authors like Maxim Gorky, the diarists saw themselves as authors-in-the-making. In a world where public life was tightly controlled, the diary became a rare space for free thought—a private rehearsal of selfhood.
Zadirko’s research not only uncovers these hidden lives, but also challenges conventional assumptions about Soviet subjectivity. The boys were not passive vessels of state ideology—they were active participants in shaping their own narratives, even if only on the page.
Why It Matters
This project reminds us that history isn’t just made up of leaders and laws—it’s built from the stories of ordinary people, often written in the quiet corners of their lives. For scholars of modern languages, literature, and history, these diaries offer a unique resource: a window into how young people understood literature, friendship, loyalty, masculinity, and their place in the world.
Read the full Cambridge feature: Teenage boys’ diaries from Stalin’s Russia
