Seventy-Five Years Ago Today, Moscow Created Hero Mother Order

Paul Goble

            Staunton, July 8 – On this date in 1944, Stalin created the Hero Mother Order for Soviet women who had given birth to ten or more children, the Medal of Maternity for those who gave birth to five children, and the Order of Maternal Glory for those who brought seven or more children into the world (stoletie.ru/obschestvo/oni_dostojny_poklonenija_843.htm).

            The Soviet authorities introduced these awards to boost the birthrate in the face of massive losses in World War II. (They had already banned abortions in anticipation of the conflict in 1936.)  And over the ensuing 47 years, 430,000 women became Hero Mothers, and more than five million were given one of the other awards.

            The first Hero Mothers were identified only in November 1944 because the Soviets hoped to find a communist among those with so many children. They finally gave up on that effort and awarded them to non-party women. The last awarding of the Hero Mother Order took place on November 14, 1944.

            Many people both in Russia and the West have long made fun of these “orders” viewing them as representing a uniquely Soviet absurdity. But in fact, they had precedents in the Russian Empire; and some Russians are asking whether they should be restored albeit with perhaps somewhat lower numbers of children required.

            In 1913, for example, the Russian Empire created a mark of distinction of the St. Princess Olga for women who displayed particular services including the education of children.  And since 1991, there have been various efforts to restore something like Hero Mothers to boost Russia’s falling birthrates.

            In 2008, President Dmitry Medvedev created the Order of Parental Glory for mothers and fathers who raised four or more children. Two years later, the criterion for this award was raised to seven or more children. Now, some Russians are asking whether Moscow should take the next step and restore the Hero Mother Order, the Russian nationalist site says.

            But it asks the obvious question: “Are there going to be found in our time many women who will take on themselves such an enormous burden – to give birth and raise ten children?”