«Танковый король» и «опальный генерал»: рождение легенды об Исааке Зальцмане
“Tank King” and “Disgraced General”: The Birth of a Legend about Isaak Zaltsman

Summary/Abstract: The article is devoted to the formation of a biographical myth of the famous Soviet tank-builder Isaac Zaltsman. Based on the memoirs, artworks, materials of the press and Internet the stages of formation of an image of Zaltsman prevalent in public consciousness are revealed. In this process it is possible to extract Stalin’s, “ottepel’s”, “zastoy’s”, “perestroika’s” and the modern periods, which are distinguished by the different folding and existence of the myth, sources and discourse. Glorification Zaltsman began during the Great Patriotic war and was conducted both by the official propaganda and by means of rumors and legends, which were widely distributed by himself. Removal of Zaltsman from a position of the director of the largest plant and an exception of the party in 1949 for real faults laid the foundation for his dual perception. For some he turned to the innocently injured hero, but for others to the bureaucrat who received deserved punishment. During the period of the “ottepel” Zaltsman restored in the party, but his name remained under unofficial ban, and he became the prototype of the negative character of the popular novel and movie. It was only during the period of “zastoy” due to anniversaries, to his colleagues and the support of the creative intelligentsia his name once again became public. But the final “return” of Zaltsman happened during the “perestroika», when with the help of his friends, acquaintances and journalists he spread the legend that suffered because of the “Leningrad affair”. This legend completely corresponded to public inquiries, was accepted as the truth and became a basis of the biographical myth, which is now widely circulated in the press and the Internet. Scientific researches about Saltzman’s activity appeared in the late 1980s. But, despite the fact that scientists came to quite critical evaluations of Zaltsman, in the mass consciousness of his glorification and mythologizing continue.

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