Funny holidays - Birthday of the Krokodil magazine

Humor, irony and satire help us come to terms with the small imperfections of life and fight blatant manifestations of injustice. In the Soviet Union, the Krokodil magazine exposed bribe-takers, bureaucrats, parasites and hacks, and criticized incompetent low- and middle-level managers. The first issue in the form of a supplement with illustrations to the Rabochiy newspaper was published on June 4, 1922. Materials on the topic of the day, anecdotes, criticism of dudes, a satirical assessment of the policies of the imperialist countries - this and much more could be found on the pages of the printed publication. At the peak of its popularity, its circulation reached 6.5 million copies. June 4 marks the birthday of the Krokodil magazine. Lapot also criticized the shortcomings that hindered the building of socialism and communism. But it was suspected of being a bourgeois satire serving the Nepmen, and was closed. In 1933, "The Cheerful and Poisonous Peasant Magazine" was published for the last time. "Crocodile" became the only all-Union printed publication with a satirical orientation. In the magazine, humorists honed their skills in feuilletons and pamphlets, and artists who drew caricatures and caricatures got their chops. One of the painters became the author of the symbol - a red crocodile with a pitchfork in its paws. The famous Soviet poet Demyan Bedny explained the concept of the magazine in poetic form: In the corridors of the editorial office one could meet famous writers: M. Zoshchenko, Y. Olesha, V. Mayakovsky, I. Ilf and E. Petrov, V. Kataev, representatives of the creative team "Kukryniksy". The printed publication, whose policy fully corresponded to the party line, was published 3 times a month. Issues of the magazine were published in 5 versions: main, Leningrad, Moscow, Ural-Siberian and Ukrainian. Special leaflets (“attacks”) dedicated to individual factories and factories were also published. "Crocodile" not only ridiculed the vices of Soviet citizens, criticizing rootless cosmopolitans, lazy people, swindlers and moonshiners, but also mercilessly castigated the imperialists, West German revanchism and NATO. The satirical publication was considered the most important official mouthpiece of the CPSU at all levels of social and political life. His regular columns with titles that speak for themselves were “Pitchforks to the Side!”, “At an Angle of 40 Degrees,” “Moral Deadlock,” “From the Hall to Here,” “In Our Workshop,” etc. In addition to the printed version, An animated film magazine "Kinokrokodil" was also produced, which is considered the predecessor of the famous "Wick". In September 1965 D.D. Shostakovich created a humorous cycle called “Five Romances based on words from the magazine “Crocodile”. The popularity of the printed edition explains the attempts to revive it in the early 2000s. However, the magazine could not be saved. In 2008, Krokodil finally ceased to exist. But the memory of the brightest example of highly artistic satire of the Soviet period in our country still lives in the hearts of readers. Therefore, those who cherish the memory of the best that happened in the USSR celebrate the birthday of the Krokodil magazine on June 4th.