Bolshevik Doodles

After an avalanche of revelations in recent years about the intimate and public lives of the Bolshevik leaders, the well of historical information seemed to have gone dry. But all is not what it seems ... History has a few tricks up its sleeve ...

In 1995, the Fund (Collection) of Kliment Voroshilov of the Russian Center of Storage and Study of Documents was presented with some fresh new documents from Russia’s presidential archives, including three “top secret” files. These humble-looking files contained a real treasure – 532 drawings, the bulk of them political cartoons.

During long and numerous sessions of the Politburo, the Council of People’s Commissars, permanent and temporary commissions, etc., members of the Soviet nomenklatura relaxed by drawing satirical portraits of their comrades, along with somewhat vulgar scenes rendering the essence of the events taking place.