60

Stalin’s inner circle has often been described as a group of men from which women were entirely absent. However, an anthropological approach reveals the presence of the Kremlin leaders’ wives, who were in fact involved in establishing the interpersonal relationships that formed the basic architecture of the Stalinist élite. By excluding the wives of the Kremlin, the terror modified gender relationships within this microcosm, thereby producing a homosocial group. At the same time, gender relationships also influenced the shape taken by the terror, with women being at stake in power struggles. The trajectory of Polina Zhemchuzhina Molotov is an emblematical case for analysing both the role of gender in the terror and the effects of the terror on gender.