The Recriminalization of Homosexuality under Stalin: New Sources, New Answers
Journal: The Russian Review
Year: 2025

Abstract Drawing on newly uncovered archival and printed sources, this article offers a fresh perspective on the recriminalization of homosexuality under Stalin by challenging key assumptions in existing historiography. It demonstrates that the OGPU did not actively advocate for new anti‐sodomy legislation. Although Leningrad homosexuals had been under surveillance and selectively prosecuted by the secret service since the early 1930s, their consistent prosecution in the summer and autumn of 193