When are they accepted in October in Belarus? People's news. Borovlya schoolchildren join the ranks of the Octobrists. — Octobers are future pioneers. “Octobers are diligent guys, they study well, they love school, they respect their elders. - Oktyabryats, honest and truthful guys. —
How TUT.BY found out Many schoolchildren in Borovlyany have already brought a similar statement to their parents. Olga, the mother of a second-grader at the Borovlyany gymnasium, says:
“A month and a half ago, my son brought me an application from school to join the ranks of the Octobrists and, with the words “How will I be without a badge?” asked me to sign. To which my dad promised to buy him other badges, but did not support the idea of joining the Octobrists. There was no pressure about this, although perhaps we were just lucky with class teacher. I think no one is forcing anyone to join the Octobrist, it’s just that children don’t want to be left without a badge or somehow stand out among their peers, so they tell their parents that the application must be signed.”
TUT.BY contacted the Belarusian Republican Youth Union, a subdivision of which is the Oktyabryata group. As the curator of this group, Natalya Valerievna, told us, today there are 232 thousand Octobrists in Belarus.
This program is designed for children aged 6-9 years (upon reaching the age of 10, the child joins the ranks of the pioneers). The "Octobers" program is exclusively voluntary, however, according to the Charter, children under 14 years of age can join the organization only with the permission of adults. Therefore, explains Natalya Valerievna, for a child who wants to become an October student, the signature of the parents in the application for the admission of their child to an October student is MANDATORY. It’s interesting that some children, against the wishes of adults, even forge signatures on the application just to join the ranks of the Octobrists, the program curator told us.
The main goal of the "Octobers" program is to foster independence and patriotism in children. As part of the program, the pioneer squad constantly works with the October students. During classes, which are held once every 1-2 weeks, children are taught the history of Belarus and are introduced to state symbols countries. Events are regularly held to involve elementary school students in active social activities: helping nature, elderly people, says the official website of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union.
The entrance fee to the ranks of the "Oktyabryat" is 1500 Belarusian rubles. At any time, a child can leave the organization by writing a statement.
A distinctive attribute of the October sign is an icon in red and green tones.
By the way
The first groups of "Oktyabryat" arose in 1923-24 in Moscow under detachments of pioneers. They accepted children of the same age October revolution 1917, hence the name of the group "Octobers".
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In Belarus, four out of ten children of the corresponding age are considered Pioneers, and nine out of ten are Octobrists. Most of them were not even asked about their wishes, and in some schools they are “accepted” into these organizations against the will of their parents.
The Belarusian Republican Pioneer Organization "BRPO" celebrated the Constitution Day of Belarus by accepting new members of the organization into its ranks. BRPO are Octobrists and pioneers at the same time. The organization describes itself as the largest children's and youth non-political public organization in the country. At the same time, the leaders of the BRPO, together with the leaders of the Belarusian Republican Youth Union, have jobs in the building of the former Central Committee of the Komsomol of Belarus on Karl Marx Street in the center of Minsk, Radio Svaboda reports.
Pioneer with 75 years of “experience”
The Belarusian Republican Pioneer Organization last year celebrated the 25th anniversary of its new Belarusian history. As of January 1 of this year, BRPO numbered 626 thousand children. Of these, 232 thousand are Octobers aged seven to nine years, and 393 thousand are pioneers aged from ten to 18 years.
The leaders call their organization the largest children's and youth organization in the country, created exclusively on a voluntary basis. The purpose of the activity is social and patriotic:
“To help every pioneer become a citizen, to benefit himself, his family, and his homeland through his deeds and actions,” says Marina Bogdanova, deputy chairman of the organization.
“We are continuers of the best traditions, because not everything was so bad with the pioneer organization in Soviet times. Pioneer squads operate in almost all educational institutions, but not 100%. This depends on the desire to create pioneer squads locally, exclusively on a voluntary basis - we do not oblige anyone,” Bogdanova said.
The chairman emphasized that entry into the Octobrists and Pioneers up to 14 years of age occurs with the permission of the parents, and after 14 - at the request of the children themselves. From the age of 14 a person receives a passport, from this age administrative responsibility begins, naturally, he is already an independent person. But any citizen of the country, regardless of age, can be members of the organization.
“We have a pioneer who joined the organization on May 19, 1941,” said Marina Bogdanova.
“The place where the star fell was called “zero kilometer” - the beginning of all roads in the center of the capital, on Oktyabrskaya Square”
Modern history and the attributes of the Belarusian October pioneers differ significantly from the history and external symbols of their Soviet predecessors. The legend about the Belarusian Octobrists, in particular, says:
"To far, far away mysterious times There lived guys like you - brave and curious. They lived in a beautiful country among green forests, blue lakes and rivers. Only one thing confused them - they could not leave the city in which they lived, because there were no roads yet. But one autumn, in October, when the stars in the sky were at their zenith, the night blue sky cut by a falling star. She was very small and fell right into the city, on one of the squares of the capital. The place where the star fell was called “zero kilometer” - the beginning of all roads in the center of the country’s capital, on Oktyabrskaya Square, and the brave children are called Octobermen.”
The legend of the “Creator and the little man” - the counselor
Unlike the Octobrists, the Belarusian pioneers have several legends of their origin. One of them is called “The Legend of the Creator and the Little Man”:
“This happened at the beginning of life. The great Creator sat on the top of the mountain and looked down at the Earth. He was very bored. What did I do wrong? Why do they hate each other so much? And suddenly the Creator saw the Little Man deftly climbing the mountain. Wow, how young and how persistent! The face is open, serious, and the eyes are kind and kind. Wait! Where are you going? What is your name? - I have no time, O Great One! There, by the fire, the children are waiting for me! And my name is counselor!”
There are legends about other signs and symbols of the pioneers: a fire, a flag, a tie. The red and green tie no longer symbolizes red blood and the unity of Komsomol pioneers and communists. A raised hand is not a symbol of the elevation of the public over the personal, but simply a pioneer greeting. October and Pioneer badges - without Lenin, with the outlines of Belarus in red and green trim.
BRPO is a public organization, buildings are state-owned
Marina Bogdanova emphasizes that BRPO is a public organization, and teacher-organizers in educational institutions work with October pioneers on a voluntary basis. When joining the organization, children pay a one-time fee, which every child is “able to” make. At the same time, the leadership of the Central Council of the BRPO is located in the building of the former Central Committee of the Komsomol on Karl Marx Street, which is in the center of Minsk and next to Lukashenko’s administration.
“The Belarusian Republican Youth Union is located on Karl Marx, and we, the Central Council of the Belarusian Republican Pioneer Organization, are also there. We don’t rent premises - this is how it happened historically,” says Bogdanova.
“Public organization” for which children are campaigned in schools
Is it really the children themselves and their parents who express the initiative and desire to become Octobrists or pioneers? Journalists asked parents of schoolchildren about this. They also asked about their thoughts about the social status of BRPO-BRSM. The mother of a sixth grade student at Minsk Gymnasium No. 23, Elena, says:
“As far as public organizations are concerned, just by their name one can assume that they are founded and operate with funds and efforts from the public. This means that, in addition to the legal procedure for drawing up a charter, a meeting of founders, and registration, they are required to have a legal address.
That is, either have your own premises, or rent it, paying a lot of money today. BRPO-BRSM - as I understand it - received a building near Lukashenko’s administration as a gift from the state, since it does not rent it, but has its own premises there. What other public organization in the country has received such a gift from the state, and most importantly, for what merit?
Or what other public organization, besides the October pioneers, are children campaigning for in schools? What kind of public organization is it then? It is directly connected with government structures. And here we can really talk about “continuity of traditions,” since only in Soviet times did Komsomol communists build the best buildings for themselves with taxpayers’ money,” says Elena.
The woman believes that the same applies to the activities of this organization in schools.
The Belarusian-language gymnasium is located in the city center. Children are brought here from different parts of Minsk precisely so that they can study in Belarusian. Therefore, the overwhelming majority of parents have an active life position and are well aware of the role of Bolshevism in the history of the country. Therefore, in the gymnasium no one even talked about the October pioneers. But the director changed, and the class teacher suddenly began asking the children who would like to become pioneers, and asking their parents if they gave permission. In the class of the child Elena, there were no such people, but in the gymnasium itself they say that something like this did appear.
“They forced my daughter to hang a pioneer rag with communist flowers around her neck”
At school number 23, which is located on the outskirts of Minsk, the situation with the pioneers is almost the opposite. Not all parents succeed in preventing their children from being accepted into this organization. The father of 12-year-old Anyelya Dmitry Marchuk says:
“In our school, children were accepted without exception, they were simply forced into it. At first they campaigned for the October pioneers, and then they simply drove everyone away. I went to the director and said, why are you campaigning for the Octobrists, the Pioneers? If this public organizations, then why doesn’t he campaign for other organizations too? For example, for the Belarusian Christian Democracy, for the Young Front, for the Young Democrats or some others? Children should have an alternative, and why are you depriving your children of it?
My ex-wife agreed for her daughter to be accepted as a pioneer; no one asked my opinion and no one was interested in it. Are these legal actions of the administration? I later found out that only one girl from the class where my daughter studies did not join anywhere. I myself am a believer, and I asked her parents if they were believers. And they said that no, they are not believers, but we know how much blood the Bolsheviks have on their hands, and these children’s organizations are their followers, so we don’t need them. And I fully support them,” said Dmitry Marchuk.
He told reporters that he asked his friends whether such a massive drive of children into pro-Bolshevik organizations was happening in other schools. “Thank God, not in all of them.”
Dmitry wanted to understand what caused such persistent idolatry of communist idols in this school.
“Is it really to express gratitude to the main Bolshevik ideologist of the country, since this school is the most expensive of all? Be that as it may, the result is that God punishes the people and the country for idolatry. And, despite my prohibitions, they still forced my daughter to hang a pioneer rag with communist flowers around her neck!
This is how teachers and school leaders instill disrespect for their parents in children! Thus, they force children to break one of the 10 commandments in order to honor their parents! They are not afraid to anger either God or people, which is why God’s curse and punishment did not escape this school! It was in this school that a student died under the wheels of a car in front of the porch during a parent meeting, which was discussed in the media in November 2012,” Marchuk shared.
Honestly, I feel sorry for today's children. They have never been and will never be October students... Oh, what a joy and pride it was when you, yesterday’s “just a first-grader”, and more recently a snotty “preschooler”, were solemnly accepted in front of the whole school (!) in October! And now you are no longer just a first-grader, but an October child, and, most importantly, now you have an October child BADGE on your chest... It was the October child’s star that raised you a step higher in the hierarchy of your peers. After all, this is not my uncle’s army badge, which was just for “showing off in front of the boys.” The October badge was the first (!) legal insignia, a sign of belonging to a special group. And what kind of ideology and politics are there (at seven years old...), an ordinary game. Everything is like adults - meetings, discussions, responsibilities. It was precisely these responsibilities that made us more mature and responsible. There were even Rules of the October Revolution. And there was nothing wrong with them. Judge for yourself...
— Octobers are future pioneers.
“Octobers are diligent guys, they study well, they love school, they respect their elders.
- Oktyabryats, honest and truthful guys.
- The Octobers, friendly guys, read and draw, play and sing, they live happily.
Only those who love work are called Octobers.
To let down his comrades, to fail to complete an assignment was a disgrace for the October boy. We took this very seriously. And the title of October-born gave the right to become a member of various communities, such as “Friends of Birds”, “Green Patrol” and many others, I don’t remember... But I remember well how in the spring my grandfather trimmed the garden, and I (a member of the “Green Patrol” "!), ran after him around the garden and did not let him cut the branches, poking him with his ID. Certificate! In fact, it was mainly for his sake that they joined these societies. But what? A real document! My! With my name, surname and seal (school, of course).
A later version of the badge is plastic. The clasp often broke.
At night they were placed under the pillow, and when meeting like-minded people, they were presented to each other. A game? Of course! But this game made us friendlier, more united, made us a team. There is a lot of talk now that this suppressed the child’s personality and deprived him of his individuality. Nonsense!!! Only in a team can a real personality manifest itself; without a sense of responsibility, the development of a full-fledged personality is impossible. Anyway. This is already a debatable issue and problems of pedagogy...
By the end of third grade, the October fervor usually faded. Any game gets boring, and we grow out of it. The October badges on third-graders looked like those worn by demobilized soldiers - dashing and careless. Many of them were worn, with peeling enamel, and they were often pinned crookedly. In fairness, it must be said that this concerned mainly the boys, the girls kept the mark until the last. We grew out of the October age, and being an October child, like “first-graders,” was no longer interesting. After a year, some girls also gave up; the October badge could rarely be seen on them either. Was ahead new stage growing up - in the fourth grade they were accepted into the pioneers. And this is much more serious...
During the first pioneer detachments in the cities, groups of proletarian children aged 8 to 11 years were organized - assistants and future replacements of pioneers and Komsomol members. These groups were given various affectionate names, for example, “red stars” in Ukraine, “red poppies” in Siberia, “flowers,” “bouquets” and “gardens” in the Caucasus, “red grains” in Odessa, etc.
In Moscow, the name “Octobers” became popular, in honor of the victory of the October Revolution. This is how they began to be officially called in 1923. The Octobrists were united into stars (analogous to the pioneer unit) - October 5 and also the “sickle” and “hammer” - the leader of the star and his assistant.
Just as the Komsomol led the activities of the pioneer organization, young Leninists were responsible for the Octoberists - pioneer squads and detachments created October groups and organized their work. One of their laws directly said: “A pioneer is a comrade and leader of the Octobrists.”
The first laws and customs of the Octobrists, in fact, are the quintessence of the pioneer ones.
Laws:
Octoberists help pioneers, Komsomol members, communists, workers and peasants.
Octobers strive to become young pioneers.
Customs:
October people take care of the cleanliness of their body and clothing.
Octobers love to work.
The mottos and slogans of the kids were the same as those of the pioneers. But instead of a red tie, the Octobrists wore a red star sewn onto their shirt on the left chest. Subsequently, it was transformed into a star-shaped badge, in the middle of which there was a portrait of Lenin as a child.
In the 1930s and 40s, the number of Octobrists increased slowly; their laws and symbols often still merged with those of the pioneers. For example, the first October march, written in the early 1920s, began like this:
We are marching with joy,
Children of villages and cities
To the aid of older brothers
Pioneer is always ready!
Hey, October squad,
Double up the columns!
Line up!
To the parade.
Raise your banners.
And in the 1936 primer, which was used to learn to read in elementary school, the following rhyme is given:
We are funny guys.
Our name is October.
We don't need any extra words.
Be ready!
Always ready!
After a radical restructuring of the pioneer organization according to the school principle, October groups began to be created in grades 1–3 of the school. The groups were led by counselors from among the school's pioneers or Komsomol members. In these groups, children prepared to join the All-Union Pioneer Organization named after V.I. Lenin.
When joining the ranks of the Octobrists, children were given a badge - a five-pointed ruby star with a portrait of Lenin as a child. The symbol of the group was the red October flag. The October group consisted of several units called “stars”, each of which usually included 5 children - a symbol of a five-pointed star. As a rule, in the “star”, each October child occupied one of the positions - commander, florist, orderly, librarian or athlete.
All-Union (“Funny Pictures” and “Murzilka”) and republican magazines were published for the October students. For example, in the Moldavian SSR the magazine “Stelutsa” (“Star”) was published in Moldavian and Russian. Pioneer newspapers also published materials intended for the Octobrists. Every year for October children the publishing house “Malysh” published the table calendar “Zvezdochka”. Methodological materials about work with the October students were regularly published in the magazines “Counselor”, “ Primary School", "Education of Schoolchildren" and other publications.
The rules of the Octobrists were explained with all their might, both orally and in posters and in literature for the little ones. To make them easier for young children to remember, they rhymed.
Here is the latest edition October rules:
Octobers are future pioneers.
October students are diligent guys, they love school and respect their elders.
Only those who love work are called Octobers.
Octobers are truthful and courageous, dexterous and skillful.
The Octobers are friendly guys, they read and draw, play and sing, and live happily.
A marching octobers became the verse of O. Vysotskaya “Octobers”:
We are funny guys
We are October guys.
It’s not for nothing that they called us that
In honor of the victory of October.
We are all accustomed to order.
We do exercises in the morning
And we want the mark "five"
In lessons you will receive...
