It seems that little of the ferment that followed Khrushchev's anti-Stalin speech in January 1956 is still working among Russian students, at least on the surface. Some indication of the forces working beneath the surface calm are given in a little booklet, "Perspectives on Russian Youth." by Yaroslav Bilinsky, a Ukrainian refugee now working at research in Political Science in the U.S. Some of the complaints, patiently culled from Russian newspapers since 1956, sound like echoes of our own.

The Soviet-German officers' school in Naumbe rg, East Germany, where uniformed children are familiarized with the tenets of Communism.

For example, at the 1958 Komsomol Congress, one V. M. Ketov said,

"The students at Tomsk live in very crowded quarters; the dormitories are overcrowded and a significant number of students have to live in private dwellings. The buildings used for teaching are packed; it is hard to study and to listen to lectures in overcrowded auditoriums … We would also like the Education Ministry to take an interest in the equipment of our work rooms and laboratories which have become obsolete." He also complained about the non-availability of certain vital text-books due to faulty government planning. The situation in Leningrad, one of the largest cities, does not seem much better. According to a speech by a Komsomol (Youth Organisation) official, students have to sometimes double as electricians, carpenters and charwomen in order to maintain their dormitories. This saved the administration 90,000 roubles in 1957, a "part" of which was graciously granted for student activities and the support of needy students. He also said that Leningrad students had established the praiseworthy tradition of doing "socially useful work," such as harvesting, during the summer vacations. Some of this work, also done on weekends during the term, on a compulsory basis, has led to a lowering of academic standards and considerable unrest among students.

Light And Shade

Apart from these common grievances, Bilinsky notes four other categories of complaints, as mirrored in the Soviet press.

Much of the last, of course, is kept out of the press and muffied in other ways, but it takes place nonetheless. For example, in 1956 members of a literary discussion group in Moscow were arrested after the soirees got out of hand and developed into "discussion of the government and criticism of the present leadership for delaying genuine democratization." In the same year a stormy students' meeting at Moscow University resulted in a manifesto demanding the replacement of the Supreme Soviet with a genuinely democratic body based on free elections.

However, this does not indicate that all Soviet students are a rebellious crowd living and working in sub-standard conditions. Judging by its results, the Soviet education system is competent; in a few fields it is outstanding. While a university student must undergo some hardships before graduating, educational standards are high in the big universities, and the cultural life full—and available at special student concession rates. Government scholarships take care of most financial worries, and students in important professions receive handsome rewards and prestige.

For the average student, however, there remains the problem of avoiding assignment to an unwanted job. During and immediately after the last war it was obligatory to serve in an "assigned" occupation for at least four years after graduation. Apparently this rule later became easy enough to evade, but has again been drastically enforced in an effort to channel qualified manpower where it is needed.

Nonconformity

The regime has made strenuous efforts to combat symptoms of rebellion among youth, particularly the "stilyagi," or teddy-boy cult. The methods used are to increase participation in sport, and in the D.O.S.A.A.F. (Voluntary Organisation to co-operate with the Army, Navy and Air Force) a para-military outfit which teaches its members to shoot, drive cars and motor cycles, fly planes and sail boats. These pursuits undoubtedly satisfy many of the outdoor types, but for others Bohemianism is often the only escape from everyday drabness. A more disturbing symptom has been juvenile alcoholism, with an increased crime rate among teenagers, both of which the government castigates as evils without enquiring into the causes.

Curiosity About The Outside World

After Stalin's death overseas visits were allowed for those whose loyalty was beyond doubt. Even these, however, had a disturbing effect in the universities. Newspaper articles about Western countries were openly denounced as untrue, and Western periodicals and papers began, despite government reluctance, to become more readily available. Even Yugoslav papers were eagerly sought as "the nearest thing to an objective account of the outside world that we have.

A poem by Y. Yevtushenko, a gifted and outspoken young writer, expresses the mood of many young Russians:

"Long live movement
And fervour
And Longing—
Triumphant longing!
Boundaries hinder me …
I do not like
Not knowing Buenos Aires, New York
I want to roam about
As much as I like
To talk to everybody
Even in broken English
Like a boy
Hanging out of the bus,
I want to travel through Paris in the morning,
I want art, but different—like myself."