Cold War Captives: Imprisonment, Escape, and Brainwashing

351 Pages·2009·1.12 MB·English

by  Susan L. Carruthers

Cold War Captives
The publisher gratefully acknowledges the generous support
of the Ahmanson Foundation Humanities Endowment Fund
of the University of California Press Foundation.
Cold War Captives
Imprisonment, Escape, and Brainwashing
Susan L. Carruthers
UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS
Berkeley Los Angeles London
Disclaimer: Some images in the printed version of this book
are not available for inclusion in the eBook.
University of California Press, one of the most distinguished university
presses in the United States, enriches lives around the world by advancing
scholarship in the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences. Its
activities are supported by the UC Press Foundation and by philanthropic
contributions from individuals and institutions. For more information,
visit www.ucpress.edu.
University of California Press
Berkeley and Los Angeles, California
University of California Press, Ltd.
London, England
© 2009 by The Regents of the University of California
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Carruthers, Susan L. (Susan Lisa).
Cold War captives : imprisonment, escape, and brainwashing / Susan L.
Carruthers.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn978–0-520–25730–6 (cloth : alk. paper)
isbn978–0-520–25731–3 (pbk. : alk. paper)
1. Popular culture—United States—History—20th century. 2. Cold
War—Social aspects—United States. 3. Captivity narratives. 4. Political
prisoners—History—20th century. 5. Repatriation—History—20th
century. 6. Defection—History—20th century. 7. Brainwashing—
History—20th century. 8. Cold War in mass media. 9. Cold War in
motion pictures. 10. Cold War in literature. I. Title.
E169.12.C293 2009
909.82'5—dc22 2008047712
Manufactured in the United States of America
18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
This book is printed on Cascades Enviro 100, a 100% post consumer waste,
recycled, de-inked fiber. FSC recycled certified and processed chlorine
free. It is acid free, Ecologo certified, and manufactured by BioGas energy.
For Patricia
This page intentionally left blank
contents
List of Illustrations ix
Acknowledgments xi
Introduction: Between Camps 1
1. Upper East Side Story: Repatriation, Romance,
and Cold War Mobilization 23
2. Bloc-Busters: The Politics and Pageantry of Escape
from the East 59
3. Stalin’s Slaves: The Rise of Gulag Consciousness 98
4. First Captive in a Hot War: The Case of Robert Vogeler 136
5. Prisoners of Pavlov: Korean War Captivity
and the Brainwashing Scare 174
Epilogue: Returns and Repercussions 217
List of Abbreviations 239
Notes 241
Bibliography 307
Index 323
This page intentionally left blank
illustrations
1. “Welcome to Moscow!” cartoon, 1952, envisions a Russian
“slave world” 11
2. Playing at captivity in a staged communist takeover, Mosinee,
Wisconsin, 1950 19
3. Kasenkina makes her “leap for freedom,” 1948 25
4. Soviet consul Lomakin introduces Kasenkina to reporters, 1948 28
5. “Ding” Darling’s “Homing Instinct of Russian Pigeons” cartoon, 1948 34
6. Kasenkina receives the press at her hospital bedside, 1948 49
7. A Russian ballerina attempts to evade repatriation in Red Danube
(1949) 57
8. The escapees Pirogov and Barsov are “bemused” by American street
musicians, 1949 62
9. The escapees Pirogov and Barsov admire grapefruit in an American
market, 1949 62
10. Stalin sobs over escaping citizens in “Ding” Darling’s 1948 cartoon
“Wandering Boy” 71
11. The escapee life cycle, illustrated in a U.S. Escapee Program brochure,
1955 86
12. Alexis Chwastow, prevented from taking his daughter back to the USSR
with him, 1956 92
13. “Anti-Red Housewives” protest against Gromyko and Soviet “slave
labor,” 1951 99
14. Kravchenko counters his ex-wife’s accusations in libel trial, 1949 113
15. “See, he’s free!” cartoon indicts Soviet slave labor, 1949 118
ix