naked communism

OK, here's something else a bit offbeat for the day:

A lesser known aspect of the Russian Revolution is the flourishing of … nudism. After the revolution, the famous actress, Ida Rubenstein, played naked on stage. The poet Goldschmidt would appear naked on the streets. A movement called ‘Down with shame’ would walk the streets in Soviet cities, catch trams, go about their daily lives wearing nothing but a red sash over their shoulders. A White Army newspaper joked in 1919 that the price of suits must have skyrocketed, since so many people were going around naked. At international nudist conferences in the 1920s, the Soviet delegates far outnumbered those from other countries. Over the summers, rivers, beaches and lakes witnessed millions of old people, children, families, singles in the prime of their life gathered to play games, picnic or enjoy the sun – all naked.

How did it begin? It appears that during his long exile before the Revolution, Lenin visited a nudist beach in Austria and was favourably impressed. It was not so much the naked bodies everywhere, but the emphasis on healthy living. Given that Lenin was – as many noted – a muscular man with a love of outdoor activities, nudism was a natural extension of that passion. Soon enough both he and Krupskaya were regularly tossing their clothes in a corner and diving into the nearest river, lake or sea completely starkers.

I wonder if, when the wind changed, so to speak, anyone was ever sent off to the Gulag for counterrevolutionary clothing crimes, their nakedeist deviations exposed.

Comments

[ajay]

Many have observed that Russia in 1917 was not ideally adapted for Communism - Marx reckoned Britain would be the first Communist state, Lenin at one point believed Germany would lead the way - but surely it was even less well adapted to nudism.

[Richard J]

I've been overdosing a bit of Eastern Front memoirs lately (mainly thanks to the Kindle), and it's interesting that several of them note that both sides seem to have independently solved the problem of waterlogged clothing when attacking from a swampy bridgehead, in up to, remarkably, battalion size.

[ajay]

A marked contrast, in that case, to the Western Front.
"If I can remind you of the realities of battle, George, one of the first things that everyone notices is that all the protagonists have got their clothes on. Neither we nor the Hun favour fighting our battles au naturel."

[septicisle]

To go by The Baader-Meinhof Complex, certain members of the Red Army Faction were partial to nudism as well, including sunbathing naked when they were meant to be training at a camp in Lebanon. Which rather excited the young Palestinian recruits they were meant to be working alongside with.

[Barry Freed]

For decades now there's been this persistent prank caller to the late night programs on lefty radio station WBAI who just shouts "Commie nudie!" when he gets through.

I've been overdosing a bit of Eastern Front memoirs lately...

Anything you'd care to recommend for the list?

[Cian]

lefty radio station WBAI

I think that's ex-lefty. These days its mostly crank medicine and truthers, surely?

[Barry Freed]

Too many these days to be sure, especially in the daytime and during fund-raising, but Mr. Commie-nudie guy never calls in to their shows to do his shtik.

[Richard J]

Barry> Eastern Inferno by Hans Roth. Which I wouldn't recommend for literary merit, but as a contemporary diary from Barbarossa to Kursk, written by someone in a bog-standard infantry division who disappeared in Operation Bagration (and hence was unable to carefully edit out post-War his complete taking onboard of Nazi ideology) they're a fascinating verification and disproven of Omer Bartov's thesis. Also chilling in how quickly he gets over his revulsion at encountering what looks suspiciously like Babi Yar - he's horrified by the sight, but his main concern is what the perpetrators will do when they get back to Germany.

[chris y]

Lenin at one point believed Germany would lead the way - but surely it was even less well adapted to nudism.

And St. Tropez was so poorly adapted to Communism! The whole project was doomed from the get go, it seems.