The Soviet authorities dispersed protesters on this day in Novocherkask in 1962. Reportedly Stalin, at the reception celebrating the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany, offered a toast to the long-patient Russian people. There are these stereotypes that Russian people are paradoxically both very individualistic and, at the same time, communal. However, Russian people are the same as any other people. They have a threshold of endurance. Yes, one may have a point that the White movement during the Russian Civil War (1918-1922) could not have won because of the lack of public resistance to Bolshevism. However, from the beginning, there were multiple revolts against the oppression of the one-party system. The first one happened in Yaroslavl in 1918, then in Kronstadt in 1921. The following year, in the Tambov region of central Russia, In Vichuga, in another central Russian province of Ivanovo, 1932. And I am not mentioning revolts in Georgia, Dagestan, and Chechnia before World War Two. All these protests were heroic attempts of individuals to show their disagreement with the brutal state. On June 1, 1962, Nikita Khrushchev announced a decree about the increase in prices for milk and meat products (prices went up 25-35%). Three months before this event, the administration of the Novocherkask Electro Locomotive Plant decreased the prices of hard labor. Catalyzing the situation was the food shortage, the hard-working conditions (the minimum production quota was increased), and the lack of empathy from local authorities. The mass strike and demonstration were suppressed with the help of Gendarmes (Internal Troops), including snipers. As declassified in the 1990s, documents show the order to use lethal force came down from Khrushchev through the whole chain of command. As a result, 26 protesters were killed and 87 wounded. One may ask how this is relevant to the daily reports on the history and theology of the Orthodox Church. I think it is important to understand the Russian people adequately since such an understanding is one key to understanding the Russian Church. | 
