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"Picture this..." The man starts to tell his tale.
Pavel Trofimovich Morozov, Pavlik for short. 13 years old from Gerasimovka or any other rural place. He leads the Young Pioneers at school and supports the collectivization of farms.
His father is the city's chairman. One day, coming back from school, he sees his father doing something illegal, maybe selling grains for profit or forging documents and selling them to traitors. It doesn't matter.
Young Pavlik doesn't know what to do. He wants to be loyal and protect his father, but, at the same time, he wants to be true to the Party. Pavlik decides to do what's right and denounces his father.
Of course, as punishment, his father is sent to a Gulag. There, the sentence changes to death, and the father dies.
Pavlik's family, maybe grandfather and grandmother, some uncles, whomever you see fit, don't think the youngling did the right thing and decide to punish him while avenging the dead father. They kill young Pavlik.
People get angry—telegrams begging for us to avenge Pavlik's death flood the government and the newspapers. Of course, we deliver swift and rightful justice by killing the assassins.
We spread the story through music, opera, theatre, movie. We can even build statues for young Pavlik.
Pavlik Morozov becomes a martyr. A created one.
The man ends his tale. Stalin asks, "Is there another kind?"
Everyone laughs.
A second later, everyone is quiet, waiting for Stalin's approval or disapproval.
The leader doesn't say a word. Suddenly, the light mood becomes very grim.
The longer he thinks, the more sure everyone becomes that he'll reprove the idea. There's no way for him to approve. How would he? The story is full of holes. Whatever city they choose, people will know the lie.
But then, Stalin talks.
"This is an absurd idea. It will never work. People will know that this is a lie. The word will spread, and our martyr will turn against us," everyone in the room breaks out in a cold sweat. Few survived a criticism made by Stalin. "However, we will do it."
Everyone freezes in utter shock.
"The story will work even when it should not because," Stalin takes a moment to look at every one. He smiles. In a very sinister way, it's a pleasant smile. "The story will work even when it should not because this country only knows and only has one truth, me!"
THE END
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Pavel Trofimovich Morozov (Russian: Па́вел Трофи́мович Моро́зов; 14 November 1918 – 3 September 1932), better known by the diminutive Pavlik, was a Soviet youth praised by the Soviet press as a martyr. His story, dated to 1932, is that of a 13-year-old boy who denounced his father to the authorities and was, in turn, killed by his family. His story was a subject of reading, songs, plays, a symphonic poem, a full-length opera, and six biographies. The apotheotic cult had a massive impact on the moral norms of generations of children, who were encouraged to inform their parents.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pavlik_Morozov
