On the eve of the anniversary of the Victory, we continue to talk about the exploits of Novosibirsk residents during the war. And the main slogan in the rear then called on everyone to work - both women and children. A Novosibirsk News correspondent will tell you how schoolchildren helped the front.

“Childhood was no longer there, many children tried to become faster adults in order to provide real help to those who were at the front. Why was there a problem with the organization? educational process 100%? Because the children simply ran to the front - to really shoot the Nazis. Those who were not returned through the NKVD to their place, ran away from school to where? To production" - Yulia Martynova.

Children literally lived on factory floors during the war. They slept at work places, on the floor. They worked both day and night. We exceeded the plan by 1000%.

The big spotlight and the children who made this spotlight during the war, their height is quite the same as this spotlight.

And not teenagers 16 - 17 years old, and 12-13 year old children worked in this very production, on lathes, so that they could see the cutter and could work, special boxes were placed for them, the dimensions of the machines were not designed for children.

Anna Lutkovskaya, as a girl, came to the Chkalovsky plant to assemble airplanes; she recalls how, together with her friends, she ate nettles, cake, quinoa and at the same time did a man’s work. We wore old clothes. The children were given rubber chuni, which froze to their feet. The only joy then is a bath - and then once a month.

They were taken to this bathhouse to wash on carts. They unloaded all the children, teenagers and whoever worked at the plant. The clothes were not washed, but fried in braziers. And then you wash in the bathhouse, put on these clean clothes - and it becomes so good.

Even those who are before the machines V Still, I couldn’t reach it, I had my own work to do.

“It’s not for nothing that there is such an article in the newspaper: in the swamps, on the roadsides roads provided assistance- collected things that adults simply couldn’t get around to. The kids were picking berries: cranberries and lingonberries. You see, she not only for food, but also for medicine. They collected mushrooms, went fishing in order to hand them over to the state - it all went to the front,” - says deputy director state archive Novosibirsk regionYulia Martynova.

Schoolchildren also managed to write letters to the front. Various: someone asked to avenge their missing father, someone to smash the fascists, but the lines “Victory will be ours!” were in every letter.

Living under a bench, sleeping on a heating main, working 12 hours a day, fulfilling the quota 1000% - how did these people survive? That's what it was like strong will and an incredible desire to win, this is what makes our people strong. We won this way - because the rear supported the front in such a way, to the point of self-forgetfulness.

Watch the “Novosibirsk News” program on the TV channels “Region TV” (Mon-Fri at 20.30), “Domashny” (Mon-Fri at 00.00) and “TV3” (Tue-Sat at 8.00)

In the winter of 1944, teenagers working at the Perm plant named after. Stalin, they gave out unusual awards - a jar of jam.

Summons to the factory

To organize the work of teenagers, even before the start of the Great Patriotic War, the Main Directorate of Labor Reserves was created in the USSR. It was engaged in mobilizing children and distributing them to vocational and factory schools. To ensure capacity, tuition fees for high school students were introduced. Those who did not have enough money to study had to go into “craft” and join the ranks of the working class.

During the war, children began to be drafted into enterprises, like adults into the army. At the Perm engine plant No. 19 named after. Stalin, which produced aircraft engines, employed about eight thousand teenagers at that time. Most were 14-16 years old, although some were younger: they were hired for auxiliary work from the age of 11.

My father and older brothers were taken to the front. My mother and I stayed in the village of Orlovo Vologda region. In 1943, they brought me a summons to the labor front - to Perm,” recalls Ivan Shilov, who was mobilized to the plant at the age of 14. - Mom cried: “Where are they taking you, so little?” But she didn’t argue: she put two pairs of underwear, a mug, a spoon, three pairs of bast shoes and a bag of crackers in her bag - that’s all the ammunition. I saw my mother again only after the war, in 1946. She immediately clasped her hands: “Why haven’t you grown up since then, son?”

Canvas boots

Children were brought to Perm in trains, mainly from Vologda, Ivanovo and Leningrad regions. Despite their age, they had to work like adults. The same Ivan Shilov once worked 29 hours straight. For this he was awarded a day's rest and a "commercial" lunch, which included soup, millet porridge, tea and two hundred grams of bread. Usually at the factory they fed him empty gruel, so the boy was very pleased with this encouragement.

The situation with clothes was no better. Children who came from far away had no one to turn to for help. They wore out what they brought from home.

In 1943, I was brought from the Vologda region to Perm, to an aircraft factory,” says Alexandra Belyaeva, in Peaceful time became a deputy of the Perm City Council. - She worked as a turner. Often I didn’t even go home from the workshop - I spent the night right at the plant: in stokers, in the toilet on boxes. I remember my boots were canvas, with wooden soles. Behind Good work I received normal shoes and material for the dress. That was a joy...

The plant management understood that the workers, especially children, needed to be supported. That’s why they started sewing clothes and rolling felt boots right at the enterprise. Both were then distributed among those in need.

Frontline workers willy-nilly

We worked 12-16 hours a day. It was very cold in the workshops, so we wore padded jackets all the time,” recalls Anna Titova.

Because of harsh conditions labor, many adults could not stand the stress and ran away. Even before the war, the USSR government decided to assign workers to enterprises, and fugitives were punished for “AWOL.” In 1941, out of the then 12 thousand workers of the Perm Engine Plant, four thousand were convicted of desertion, absenteeism and tardiness. Amnesty was announced to them only in 1945. Prisoners also worked in production during wartime. They were taken to the plant under escort along the central street of Perm. But such “specialists” were of little use. The people were desperate, they weren’t particularly afraid of anyone and they didn’t overwork themselves with work.

There was also little benefit from teenagers, although for a different reason. They had no professional skills and could only do menial work. Many were frail and weak - children, after all, and war is not your own mother, you can’t devour them. Some factory bosses drove such weak workers away: what is the use if the shaft alone weighs as much as 160 kilograms and teenagers, even after straining, still cannot lift it? But besides them, there was no one to work.

According to the law, children under 16 years of age were required to work no more than six hours a day. The plant even issued an order regarding this matter. Director Anatoly Soldatov personally warned the shop managers and reminded them that teenagers should not be involved in overtime and night work. The order also stated that child workers had the right to one day off per week and 12 days of annual leave.

However, orders are orders, and the front needed aircraft engines like air. Moreover, during the evacuation industrial enterprises in 1941, it turned out that the Perm plant for a long time remained the only one in the USSR that produced engines for fighter aircraft. In addition, Shpagin submachine guns, mine fuses and fuses for Katyusha mortar rockets were produced here. It is clear that the rate Supreme High Command demanded from the Permians as much ammunition and aircraft engines as possible. Issues of compliance with labor laws faded into the background.

Sweet reward

But the director of the plant invited young advanced workers to his place. The first time this happened was on November 14, 1944. Fifty-two teenagers timidly entered the office of the strict leader. For this occasion, boys and girls were washed, combed, and in clean clothes.

Anatoly Soldatov, Major General of the Engineering and Technical Service, seated them at a wide polished table. He made a speech, treated him to tea and handed each of those invited a pair of felt boots, and in addition a large jar of canned fruit - jam, in other words.

In December, the director gathered another 95 teenagers, who exceeded the plan by 120-150 percent. Among them were mechanics, turners, inspectors, electricians... Everyone was also rewarded with jars of jam.

Unfortunately, now none of those who received the sweet bonus are alive. But their memories live on in letters now kept in the factory museum. Here is one of them - from former worker Alexander Aksenov:

“I was in a front-line brigade, and one day I managed to fulfill the quota by 570 percent,” he writes. “An article appeared in the factory newspaper: “A front-line father can be proud of such a son as Sasha Aksenov.” I was very happy and sent my dad a note to the front, which made not only him very happy, but also the commanders - he even received a very warm letter from them. A few days after my success at work and the note in the newspaper, the guys and I were leaving the workshop, and a group of people met us - the bosses, judging by the appearance. General Soldatov is with them. One of the boys called me loudly: “Aksenov! Go look at the general!” He heard and said loudly: “And I’m just going to look at Aksenov.” Soldatov kissed me, and after that he gave the command to feed us in the dining room. For such eternally hungry boys as us, this was not amiss ".

Verbatim

From the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated October 2, 1940:

"7. Grant the right to the Council people's commissars The USSR annually calls up (mobilizes) from 800 thousand to 1 million male urban and collective farm youth aged 14-15 years to study in vocational and railway schools, and at the age of 16-17 years to study in factory training schools.

10. Establish that all graduates of vocational, railway and factory training schools are considered mobilized and are required to work for 4 years in a row at state enterprises at the direction of the Main Directorate of Labor Reserves under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, providing them with a salary at the place of work on a general basis."

From Order No. 433 of December 2, 1944 “On bonuses for newly hired workers at the plant”:

“Following the example of the young workers noted in the plant order No. 415 dated November 14, 1944, the newly hired young workers show examples of Stakhanov’s work. For systematically exceeding daily shift assignments by 120-150 percent, express gratitude with entry into work book and reward with gifts (one pair of felt boots and one can of canned fruit).”

Help "RG"

During the war years, Perm Order of Lenin Engine Plant No. 19 named after. Stalin produced 32,000 aircraft engines. They were installed on La-5FN and La-7 fighters. For excellent work in 1943, the enterprise was awarded the Banner of the State Defense Committee, which was left to the plant for eternal storage.

Photo document

Yuri Geiko, a journalist whose material about child labor in Perm at one time caused considerable public outcry:

“In 1983, I worked at Komsomolskaya Pravda and flew to Perm on instructions from the editors. Many of those sitting at this table were still alive. Nina Kotlyachkova (Fedosseva) said:

Where would we then buy such wealth? The contents of the cans were eaten in the youth town and divided among everyone. Each person only needed a few spoons. But even with them we were like drunk.

Everyone I met recalled that the jam was very sweet. But I found out that it was not jam, but an American compote - sour and completely without sugar. But it was impossible to convince them, wartime children, little workers of Victory.

And is it necessary?

1944 Little workers in the office of plant director Anatoly Soldatov immediately after the award ceremony.

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND SCIENCE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION

Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution
higher vocational education
"KUBAN STATE UNIVERSITY"

(FSBEI HPE "KubSU")

Department of History and Methods of Its Teaching

COURSE WORK

USE OF CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS BY THE SOVIET AUTHORITY DURING THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR

The work was completed by: ____________________________I.. Volkova

(signature, date)

Branch of the Federal State Budgetary Educational Institution of Higher Professional Education "KubGU" in Slavyansk-on-Kuban

Specialty 050401.65 “History” with additional specialty 050402.65 “Jurisprudence”

Scientific adviser:

Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor _________________________E.V. Manuzin

(signature, date)

Standard controller:

Candidate of Historical Sciences, Associate Professor _____________________________________

(signature, date)

Slavyansk-on-Kuban 201 4

CONTENT

Introduction…………………………………………..…………………………….3

1 Children and adolescents in wartime conditions………………………………..8

1.1 From the desk to the machine - the policy of the Soviet regime

regarding the use of labor of children and adolescents in the rear………………8

1.2 Organization of education for working children and adolescents,

improving their qualifications……………………………………………………………...12

2 Soldiers of the labor front – children and teenagers……………………………….25

2.1 Labor of children and adolescents in industry……………………………..25

2.2 Labor of children and adolescents in agricultural work……………...30

Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………….37

List of sources used………………………………………………………..39

INTRODUCTION

The relevance of research. In the history of the Great Patriotic War There are still a lot of white spots left. One of the problems that has not been properly studied is the use by the Soviet authorities of the labor of children and adolescents during the war of 1941-1945. It was children and teenagers who were under 18 years of age during these terrible years who took on the hardships of heavy rear work in production and agricultural work. The need to attract children to work in production was a forced step, which, on the one hand, was explained by the needs of the front, and on the other, by the lack of labor resources among the adult population due to participation in hostilities. The colossal contribution that the youngest representatives of the military generation made to the cause of victory today needs to be explored modern historians on a new methodological basis, since its importance is difficult to overestimate.

Historiography of the problem. In the existing extensive historiography about the Great Patriotic War, one can highlight separate direction presented historical works on the issues being studied. The study of military childhood in general and the work of children and adolescents in particular in Soviet historiography was under strong influence ideology. This influenced research priorities and analysis of military events, interpretation of the source base and choice of scientific terminology. Much attention was paid to the heroism and patriotism of children and teenagers in the rear.

A significant number of works revealed and popularized various shapes helping children to the front: raising funds for the defense fund, for the construction of military equipment, sending warm clothes to front-line soldiers, helping their families, the Timur movement and other initiatives. Soviet researchers characterized the work of schoolchildren at enterprises, on collective and state farms, and participation in the construction of defensive structures.

Much attention was paid to describing the leading role of the Komsomol in organizing the patriotic upsurge of Soviet children.

The history of the labor feat of children and adolescents was reflected in general works on the history of the CPSU and the history of the Komsomol, which were also published during this period of the 60-80s. However, the presentation historical facts was distorted by party ideology.

At the end of the 90s, the Nauka publishing house released a new popular science work in 4 books, “The Great Patriotic War. 1941-1945: Military-historical essays". This multi-volume work on the history of the war revealed the actual extent of the use of child and teenage labor in wartime. In the 1990s, the historiography of the Great Patriotic War was replenished with new, unbiased works, scientific articles and dissertations. In them, the authors revealed previously unexplained facts about the labor exploits of children and adolescents in general and in particular in the regions of the Russian Federation.

In 2004, the Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences published a fundamental collective treatise"War and Society, 1941-1945" in 2 books edited by academician G.N. Sevostyanova. Based on modern historiography, the team of authors placed emphasis on studying the lives of various social groups Soviet society during the war and their heroic feat.

New works of researchers are considered earlier unknown facts the destinies of young war participants from a new angle of a new historical paradigm. Also in recent years, studies have appeared that reveal living conditions during the war and psychological condition, work and study, other circumstances of the life of Soviet children and adolescents in the occupied territory of the USSR, which were not given attention in the historiography of previous years.

The object of the study is labor assistance to children and adolescents during the war period 1941-1945.

The subject of the study is the conditions and legal basis for the labor of children and adolescents at various stages of the Great Patriotic War.

The chronological framework covers the period 1941-1945. This is predetermined by the fact that the events that are studied in the work completely coincide with the time of the Great Patriotic War.

Geographical boundaries research covers the territorial borders of the USSR in 1941-1945.

The purpose of the work is to analyze the situation of children and adolescents in the USSR during the Great Patriotic War and the policy of the Soviet government regarding them.

To achieve this goal, it is necessary to solve the following research tasks:

Characterize the main vectors of the policy of the Soviet government regarding the use of labor of children and adolescents in the rear;

Investigate the use of child and teenage labor by the Soviet authorities;

Identify the significance of child labor in the wartime economy.

The practical significance of the results obtained lies in the fact that the factual material, theoretical provisions, conclusions and generalizations accumulated in the study significantly expand modern knowledge on social aspects of the Great Patriotic War.

Methodological basis research is a set of general scientific and special principles of research: objectivity, historicism, comprehensiveness. The application of such principles oriented the author towards an integrated approach to studying the problem posed, impartiality of assessments, and the use of only reliable information, disclosure historical patterns, establishing cause-and-effect relationships. The methodological principles outlined above also determined the methodological research tools adequate to them, the basis of which was the theory of knowledge. Used by the author general scientific methods research: analysis, synthesis, grouping, typification. The leading place belongs to special methods: problem-chronological, comparative-historical, as well as historical-biographical.

Source base. Used in course work wide range documents and materials from 1941-1945, in particular: Directive of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks to party and Soviet organizations in front-line regions “On the mobilization of all forces and means to defeat the fascist invaders” dated June 29, 1941; Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On the working hours of workers and employees in wartime” dated June 26, 1941, Resolution of the All-Union Central Council of Trade Unions “On the expansion of individual gardening among workers and employees in 1942” dated January 5, 1942.

Numerous collections of documents are of great scientific value for studying the work of wartime children and adolescents .

The source study base used in the course work made it possible to more fully reflect the labor activity of children and adolescents, the means and methods of implementation by the state of labor policy in relation to minor workers during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

Practical significance. The practical significance of the study lies in the fact that the analytical materials, scientific conclusions and generalizations presented in it can be used in preparing training courses on the modern history of Russia for secondary schools.

Structure of the work: the work consists of an introduction, two sections, a conclusion and a list of sources used.

1 Children and adolescents in wartime conditions

1.1 The problem of provision war economy USSR labor resources

Since the beginning of the war, significant production forces were attracted to the Red Army, as a result of which its number increased during the war from 5 million. up to 11.3 million Human. However, this had a negative impact on military production, since there were practically no workers left in the rear. The front required more and more military equipment, which was used in combat operations, and therefore there was a need to attract the unconscripted population to work for the front. Strengthening the defensive power of the army and the construction of defensive structures required attracting simply a huge number of workers. This task, given the occupation of large areas of the country by the enemy, seemed impossible. A lot of Soviet people remained in territory temporarily occupied by the enemy and was stolen to Nazi Germany.

The problem of providing the military economy of the USSR with labor resources was very acute. During the war years there were real changes in the balance of labor resources, labor organization, structure wages .

At this moment, the Soviet government faced two most important tasks: the first was to provide social production with the necessary labor resources, replacing workers who had gone to the front with reserves; second, new personnel were supposed to raise labor productivity to unprecedented heights. These tasks were difficult to achieve, since by attracting the population that remained in the rear, and these were women, old people, disabled people and children (!), the problem of qualified personnel, and therefore labor productivity, was not solved. People who have never worked in heavy industry, women, children - they all did not have the proper qualifications and therefore their work did not provide high productivity .

The entire industry of the country was evacuated to the east and the task professional personnel was solved by the fact that workers moved with the enterprise to the rear areas. These were mainly women, youth and teenagers, as well as men unfit to serve in the army for health reasons, pensioners, disabled workers and war veterans.

Youth, children and teenagers actively participated in production for the front. Their number increased during the war years, and this significantly compensated for the lack of workers in factories. Thus, in most enterprises the main working category was young people. So, if in 1939 the share of workers and employees under the age of 18 was 6% total number workers and employees employed in industry, then in 1942. it increased to 15%. At the same time, the share of workers and employees aged 18–49 years decreased from 85% in 1939 to 73% in 1942.

By the end of 1945, teenagers from 14 to 17 years old employed in industry, construction and transport were 10.5% of total number working. They worked with great desire, but were physically weak and tired quickly. Therefore, it often happened that two teenagers worked on one machine and replaced each other every hour or two. .

The authorities undertook a planned redistribution of labor resources from the food, light and local industries. Food and beverage workers were sent to heavy industry light industry. There are 69 thousand people at leading construction sites, in military industry– 59 thousand people. Also, workers who were released from work due to staff reductions, conservation of construction, at enterprises defense industry the administration provided employment at large enterprises. In order to retain qualified personnel in the military industries, career workers were exempted from mobilization into the army and were considered mobilized into the defense industry. For the entire period of the war, they could not leave their combat post on the labor front.

The Soviet government used administrative measures to obtain results expressed in increased labor productivity. To use the full potential of the available labor resources, according to the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 26, 1941 “On the working hours of workers and employees in wartime,” the duration of the working day was increased, planned and preferential leaves were exchanged, and mandatory overtime work was introduced. lasting from 1 to 3 hours per day. These measures, promptly implemented by the administration of the enterprises, made it possible already at the beginning of the war to increase the utilization of production capacities with the forces that were available. In order to rationally distribute labor resources at defense enterprises, on June 30, 1941, the Committee for Accounting and Distribution of Labor was created under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR.

By 1942, the civilian population of the occupied German fascist invaders territories, the period of greatest occupation according to Soviet statistics, the country's population was about 130 million people compared to 194.1 million people on January 1, 1940. The total number of workers and employees in the national economy of the country decreased from 31.2 million workers and employees in 1940. to 18.4 million people in 1942, including in industry - from 11 million to 7.2 million people, which was 59 and 65.5% of the 1940 level.

In agriculture there was also a labor problem. If in 1941 loss of male part rural population was reimbursed by 77.4%, then in 1942. - only 1/3, mainly due to women, the elderly and teenagers. There were battles on the sown lands of collective farms and collective farmers suffered huge personnel and agricultural losses. In 1943 – 1944 this loss of human resources on collective farms was almost never compensated. The total number of workers in rural areas has decreased due to their involvement in large enterprises. The village worked on a residual principle.

In order to fill the country's military economy in incredibly difficult conditions with human resources, the Soviet government administratively attracted able-bodied and unemployed city residents to work in industry, and rural residents who remained in the villages to work on collective farms.

This was a forced measure, but despite its harshness, it was fundamentally different from the mobilization, which was also carried out in particular in Nazi Germany. They also looked for ways to use labor to achieve a winning result. The fascists met the urgent need for labor in the war economy by using the forced labor of forcibly deported workers from occupied states and prisoners of war.

For the Soviet people, who sought to hasten the defeat of the enemy, work in favor of the front became the most important public matter. The patriotic upsurge of the population that accompanied labor mobilization attracted women, old people, children and teenagers to enterprises. They voluntarily worked above the norm in favor of the front in order to bring victory over the enemy closer with their selfless labor.

From the first days of the war, the slogan “Let’s replace our fathers, brothers, husbands, sons in production!” became popular among home front workers. It was the patriotic sentiments of the workers that had great importance to ensure the normal operation of plants and factories. The maximum involvement of labor resources already in 1943 gave not only an increase in the number of workers and employees in the national economy (over 1 million people compared to 1942, about 19.4 million people), but also an increase in labor productivity, at the cost of unprecedented efforts .

In 1943 alone, 1,320 thousand people entered factories and factories for restoration work. Statistics from the Committee for Accounting and Distribution of Labor under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR from 1942 to July 1945 indicate the involvement of 12 million people in large enterprises of the defense industry and construction of restoration work, and in transport. This figure includes those recruited for permanent work in industry, construction and transport - over 3 million. people, more than 2.1 million people in the labor reserve system, as well as more than 6.7 million people for seasonal and temporary work .

After the liberation of Soviet territory from the enemy, the Soviet state sent the necessary human resources to the liberated areas. The reserves for providing the restored enterprises with a workforce of workers were the mobilization of the population not engaged in social production, organizational recruitment, public conscription, especially Komsomol members, as well as the development of the patriotic movement among women.

1.2 From the desk to the machine - the policy of the Soviet government regarding the use of labor of children and adolescents in the rear

With the outbreak of World War II, changes occurred in the lives of ordinary Soviet teenagers. Teenagers from the age of 14 were forced into the reformed system of training qualified workers. By legislative acts of the Soviet state, already in 1940, all students in the labor reserves were mobilized, and after graduating from school and secondary education, they were required to work for 4 years at an assigned enterprise. For breaking the rules, established by law, minors were subject to criminal liability for up to one year and sent to labor colonies . Teenagers who remained in school were actively involved in defense and physical education work. So, already during the 1940-1941 academic year. years, only in the Stalin region there were already clubs and sections in various sports and military training, which covered 134,518 schoolchildren. This, on the one hand, contributed to the militarization of young people, and, on the other, even before the start of the war, it prepared them for possible extreme conditions15.

The Great Patriotic War affected all spheres of life younger generation(personal, educational, public, etc.). Young residents experienced psychological trauma, they were left without proper parental supervision, living conditions worsened, they were assigned responsibilities that were unusual for them, so the children did not mature according to their age. The state's attention to military and physical training of children and adolescents has increased even more. In accordance with the resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated July 2, 1941, students from 8 years of age to special classes gained skills in using tools air defense. The number of defense circles of the Society for Assistance to Defense and Chemical Construction of the USSR (OSOAVIAHIM) has increased. Thus, school students in 1941-1942. en masse passed standards for defense badges: “Ready for sanitary defense”, “Voroshilov shooter” and “Young Voroshilov shooter”, “Anti-aircraft and anti-chemical defense” .

On October 2, 1940, the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR “On State Labor Reserves of the USSR”17 was adopted. The USSR State Labor Reserves, a system of organized training of new workers from urban and rural youth, was designed to create the necessary labor reserves for sectors of the national economy. One of the main goals of the Soviet government at that stage was the systematic mass training of skilled workers and the organization of their distribution.

In order to train skilled workers at large industrial enterprises, three types of educational institutions were created in 1940. These are vocational schools with a 2-year training period for the training of qualified metal workers, metallurgists, chemists, miners, oil workers, workers for maritime transport, communications and railway enterprises; schools with a 2-year training period for training assistant drivers, mechanics for repairing locomotives and carriages, boiler workers, road repair foremen and other complex working professions railway transport; factory training schools (FZO) with a 6-month training period for training workers in mass professions, primarily for the coal, mining, metallurgical, oil industries and construction .

The state took full responsibility material support all students. Already in May 1941, educational institutions graduated 250 thousand young workers for industry, construction, and railway transport. During the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the front required replenishment, and regular workers were sent there directly from the machine.

In the fall of 1941, in preparation for October, the first Komsomol youth front-line brigades appeared. According to a special decision of the government, from the beginning of 1943, training and production workshops began to open at some schools and in orphanages, where schoolchildren carried out special orders for the front. “Gulliverian” were the production standards in the fields where children worked: thousands of hectares of mown grain, thousands of tied sheaves, tons of threshed grain.

From 4 o'clock in the morning to 10 o'clock in the evening, the working day continued in sowing, and during harvesting, night threshing was not uncommon. The youngest schoolchildren went out into the fields to collect spikelets. The successes of the Soviet military economy were achieved at the cost of mobilizing the maximum human and material resources of the country. At the end of June 1941, mandatory overtime work lasting up to three hours was introduced, and vacations were canceled. In December 1941 at military enterprises, all workers were declared mobilized; unauthorized departure from the enterprise was equated to desertion in the army .

Due to the constant shortage of workers in production, construction, state farms and collective farms, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued a decree “On the mobilization of the working population during wartime.” Since May 1942 they began to accept industrial training teenagers 14 years old, establishing a six-hour working day for them. Much attention was paid to on-the-job training. Teenagers aged 14 to 17 years often did not leave their workplaces for days. By the end of the war, they accounted for 10.5% of the total number of workers in industry, construction and transport. And on collective farms this percentage was even higher20.

The restructuring of the Soviet economy on a war footing was completed within one year. Her main goal was the achievement of decisive military-technical superiority over the enemy.

1.3 Organization of education for working children and adolescents, improvement of their qualifications

One of the largest economic problems which the Soviet government tried to solve in wartime, as indicated above, was to increase labor productivity. New untrained personnel have entered the industry, as they say, because of their desks. At first, maintaining labor productivity at a consistently low level and increasing production occurred due to mass application overtime, cancellation of vacations and a large number of unqualified personnel consisting of minors, children and women. Next, radical measures were needed in order not to keep labor productivity at a low but stable level, but to ensure its growth at a rapid pace. The production of new products and mechanization of production required trained personnel. Outdated equipment, manual labor, and low qualifications of workers led to a decrease in labor productivity. It is worth considering that pre-war production had outdated technology, since mechanical engineering enterprises that produced new high-performance machines were switched to the production of military products. There was virtually no automation or comprehensive mechanization. Modernization required financial investments, and the plant administration increased production by increasing the share of manual labor. Let us note that the level of labor productivity grew every year during the war and amounted to 180% compared to 1940, 139 in 1943, and 142% in 1944. The growth factor was the dedicated work of workers and engineers. in factories, plants, mines. In industry as a whole, the growth in labor productivity in 1942 amounted to .

During the first period of the war, industrial output increased due to an increase in working hours and the introduction of new capabilities. In 1943-1945. - mainly due to increased labor productivity, as well as the restoration of enterprises in the territory liberated from the enemy.

The highest rates of growth in labor productivity were achieved in the military industry. If in two years (from May 1942 to May 1944) in industry as a whole, labor productivity increased by 40%, then in the tank industry - by 43, in the aviation industry - by 47, in the ammunition industry - by 54% .

The modernization of enterprises during the war was still carried out. Production lines and conveyor production systems were introduced in assembly, machining and procurement shops; preferential material and technical supplies for military production, including new types of high-performance machine tools; creation of normal reserves and modernization of some equipment.

With the departure of experienced workers to the active army, the bulk of the workforce consisted of workers with lower ranks and little production experience. Therefore, during the war years, the Communist Party and the Soviet government showed great concern for the training and retraining of personnel.

Training newly arrived workers was one of the central problems during the war. Individual-team training in the training of new personnel was on-the-job training. This form of training contributed to the fact that young workers of enterprises, construction sites and transport learned new professions and improved their skills directly on the job. The main and undoubted advantage of vocational training was that this form significantly contributed to increasing the efficiency of the use of labor resources.

During the war, the training of workers for industry took place in two periods. The first, associated with a massive influx of new workers, was characterized by continuous training of newcomers in the most necessary and basic techniques of work. This was something without which enterprises could not function normally. The second period came when these new wartime cadres stabilized to a certain extent and acquired some production skills. Beginners, as a rule, bet on independent work only after they have mastered the necessary minimum knowledge. Then the task of improving the qualifications of new personnel came to the fore.

At the first stage main form The training of new operational workers involved individual or team training directly at the workplace. It was the widespread use of this form of industrial training that made it possible to quickly train millions of new workers who joined socialist industry. In the second period, training in special training workshops and other forms of vocational training began to play a significant role.

This is the most mass form The training of new workers, as well as on-the-job training, required a huge number of “teachers”. This problem was solved by widely involving in the training of young people the bulk of qualified, qualified workers who had practical and life experience. It was they who provided invaluable assistance in the mass training of young people. Personnel workers involved in training, as a rule, received a certain remuneration, the amount of which was established depending on the timing and quality of training .

Through individual apprenticeships under the guidance of experienced craftsmen, young workers spent several months mastering complex production operations, and the training was combined with the execution of production tasks. After the students mastered the specialty, they passed tests, based on the results of which the qualification commission assigned them ranks.

Along with individual apprenticeship, the brigade method of training has become widespread. Especially big positive value had the creation of Komsomol youth brigades, which were usually made up of two or three skilled workers and several newcomers. In brigades, newcomers not only received qualifications, but also, like all brigade members, mastered one or two additional specialties, which allowed the teams to fulfill and exceed production program with fewer workers .

The most important form of advanced training was targeted short-term courses for the practical study of one specific topic. The program of targeted courses was designed for several sessions, usually within 10 - 15 hours.

The pace of training new personnel and advanced training during the war years significantly exceeded the pre-war level. If in 1940 1,950 thousand workers and employees were trained, then in 1941 - 1945. An average of 2,672 thousand people trained in new professions annually, i.e. 37% more. In 1940, 1,655 thousand workers and employees improved their skills, and during the war period, an average of 2,556 thousand people annually, or 55% more. Thanks to the widespread development of individual-team apprenticeships, the organization of courses and Stakhanov schools in 1941, they mastered the specialty and raised the level professional excellence 2,765 thousand workers, in 1942 – 3772 thousand, in 1943. – 5134 thousand. workers. In 1941 - 1945 11.3 million people were trained on the job, more than 9 million people improved their skills .

During the Great Patriotic War, a significant part of the working population was withdrawn from social production. At the same time, the widespread deployment of military production to ensure that additional personnel was required became a vital task for the country. .

The total number of workers and employees in the country's national economy decreased significantly - from 31.8 million. people in the first half of 1941 to 22.8 million people in the second half of the year. By the beginning of 1942, it was already a little more than 18 million people .

To ensure production in wartime, it was necessary to solve two main problems: to find additional labor resources capable of replacing workers who went to the front, and not to reduce labor productivity. This turned out to be quite a difficult problem. Code of Labor Laws of the RSFSR, which has been in force since 1922. provided for labor relations only on a voluntary basis. Labor conscription could only be applied as a necessary measure to combat natural disasters or performing critical government tasks. Forced labor was also authorized to be used by the authorities on the basis of special resolutions of the Council of People's Commissars (SNK) or bodies authorized by it. The conditions of the war dictated the need for tough decisions, and already with the outbreak of hostilities, the Soviet authorities issued a number of laws and by-laws that granted additional rights to all local regional authorities under martial law. Involving citizens in labor service to perform defense work, protect communications routes, structures, communications, power plants, electrical networks and other critical facilities, to participate in the fight against fires, epidemics and natural disasters; declare labor and horse-drawn conscription for military needs (clause 3). on the basis of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council (SC) of the USSR of June 22, 1941 “On martial law” .

The possibility of attracting citizens to labor service was expanded by the Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR dated August 10, 1942 "On the procedure for attracting citizens to labor service in wartime." Citizens who were involved in labor service could perform it both at their place of primary residence and abroad. The decree set age limits for men from 16 to 55 years old and for women from 16 to 45 years old. However, in order to help the front and the country, many children went to work even at 14.

Along with forced labor service, as well as a forced measure, labor mobilization was used for the needs of the national economy .

Mobilization civilian population to enterprises was carried out in stages, starting from the end of 1941.

In order to bring to justice citizens who did not want to work and could leave their place of work without permission, a measure of liability was introduced by the Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of December 26, 1941 . All workers on the basis of this decree were considered mobilized and their hours of work and rest were strictly regulated.

However, the strength of the population was still not enough, and in February 1942 all able-bodied men from 14 to 55 and women from 14 to 50 years old had to be mobilized. Pupils of grades 6-10 of incomplete secondary and secondary urban schools, students of technical schools and universities were recruited to work on collective farms, state farms and MTS. Teenagers who lived in rural areas from the age of 14 began to be required to perform agricultural work on state farms .

Colleges and schools of the Main Directorate of Labor Reserves systematically trained new cadres of workers for industry, construction and transport from urban and rural youth. At the beginning of the war, colleges and schools of the labor reserve system were forced to practice early graduation of students to the detriment of their theoretical training. In subsequent years, as a result of the strengthening material base colleges and schools, as well as replenishing them with qualified teaching staff, the quality of student training has improved.

In 1941 - 1945 2,475 thousand skilled workers were trained through FZO schools, vocational and railway schools, including 685 thousand people in craft, railway and mining schools, and 1,790 thousand people in agricultural mechanization schools and vocational schools for agricultural mechanization. This system of vocational education, time-tested, during the war years, significantly contributed to solving the problem of reproduction of qualified labor.

Thus, the Soviet government solved the problem of ensuring the expanded reproduction of qualified workers.

The involvement of schoolchildren, pupils and students to work in enterprises and agricultural work has created difficulties in obtaining an education. This significantly changed the order of the educational process. The training was organized in two or even three shifts, which could last up to 8 hours, and the study of basic school disciplines was kept to a minimum. In addition, the terms of training, functions and content of activities of educational institutions have changed. Schools and vocational schools had the task of rapidly preparing students for work in production and in the national economy to fulfill defense orders. There was a military need to train new personnel and retrain or retrain old ones .

This problem was best solved through mass training using the individual-team method. This is how they studied in 1941 - 1945. at least 85% of all new workers in industry, construction and transport32 Training lasted from one to three months so that teenagers of 14 years of age hired by enterprises as apprentices were accepted into the main place of work after three months of training33.

Since 1943, according to the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of August 21, 1943 “On urgent measures to restore the economy in areas liberated from German occupation,” vocational schools were created in which the training period was 4 years. They educated children aged 12-13 who, as a result of hostilities, were left without parents. To enter a vocational school it was enough primary education. The state took full responsibility for their maintenance .

The implementation of production plans and tasks that were dictated by wartime was recorded by the Decree of the Presidium of the USSR Armed Forces of June 26, 1941 “On the working hours of workers and employees in wartime.” The Decree gave directors of industrial, transport, agricultural and trade enterprises the right to establish how for all workers and employees of enterprises, as well as for individual workshops, sections and groups of workers and employees, mandatory overtime work lasting from one to three hours a day. It was indicated that persons under 16 years of age could be involved in mandatory overtime work lasting no more than 2 hours a day .

For students of individual and team training aged 14 to 16 years, the working day, both during the training period and for subsequent work at enterprises, was set at six hours.

According to the Decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of August 10, 1942 “On the procedure for attracting citizens to labor service in wartime,” citizens were involved in labor service for a period of up to two months with a working time of eight hours per day and three hours of mandatory overtime .

Along with measures to increase the material incentives of all workers, the state also established stricter measures aimed at strengthening labor discipline.

By the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 26, 1940 “On the transition to an eight-hour working day, to a seven-day working week and on the prohibition of the unauthorized departure of workers and employees from enterprises and institutions” prohibited the unauthorized departure of workers and employees from state, cooperative and public enterprises and institutions, as well as the unauthorized transition from one enterprise to another or from one institution to another. For absenteeism good reason and for unauthorized departure from an enterprise or institution, criminal liability was provided for. At this time, many children and adolescents could not withstand the workload and ran away. For escape or violation of labor discipline, both adult workers and children were severely punished on equal terms with adults. .

To tighten labor discipline, the Decree differentiated the concepts of labor discipline, labor misconduct and labor crimes. This made it possible to further tighten measures to combat desertion. Even minors guilty of leaving without permission (desertion) were punished with imprisonment for a term of 5 to 8 years.

2 Labor Front Soldiers – Children and Teenagers

2.1 Labor of children and adolescents in industry

Providing industrial enterprises with labor became one of the primary tasks of the Soviet government. The majority of the adult male population fought at the fronts. Significant human losses, forced transfer of the working-age population to Germany and occupation large territories enemy, created conditions when there was practically no one to work at a factory or construction site. Large enterprises operated under martial law. This, first of all, was reflected in the position of workers who could not leave their workplace without permission or refuse or resign from it. Weekends were cancelled. Irregular working hours were established. In particular, enterprise managers received the right, if necessary, to work time of 3 hours for an adult worker and 2 hours for a teenager over 16 years old. Just on hazardous industries exceptions were made. A teenager's working day could last several days. Ivan Shalov was mobilized to work at the plant at the age of 14. He said that he once worked for 29 hours in a row, for which he was rewarded with 24 hours of rest and an “improved” lunch, which included soup, wheat porridge, tea and 200 grams. of bread. Sasha Belyaeva, who after the war became a deputy of the Perm City Council, worked as a turner at a factory during the war as a teenager. I recalled that often I didn’t go home from their workshop - I spent the night right at the factory: in the stokers, in the toilet on the boxes. For advanced work, she was awarded normal shoes and material for the dress. Since February 1942, all men from 16 to 55 years of age and women from 16 to 45 years of age were mobilized mainly at large defense enterprises that produced aircraft structures, heavy armored vehicles, weapon and shells, as well as to metallurgical, chemical and fuel plants. Mobilization was the main source of labor reserves and affected about 12 million people. Almost half of these citizens were involved in restoration work, as well as almost 3 million. was involved in permanent jobs in industry. The number of workers began to increase when part of the occupied territory was liberated. The mobilization was total and historians are right when they claim that the workers created a labor front. All efforts were aimed at defeating the enemy .

Children began to be drafted into enterprises, like adults into the army. At the Perm Engine Plant No. 19 named after. Stalin, who produced aircraft engines, employed about 8,000 teenagers in the early forties. Most were 14-16 years old, although some were younger: they were hired for auxiliary work from the age of 11. Children and teenagers, on their own initiative, took part in various patriotic movements. Archival materials allow us to assert that during the construction of defensive structures among thousands civilians there were a lot of teenagers .

In conditions of labor shortage, enterprises received all possible assistance from teenagers who, along with adults, stood at the factory machines. Girls and boys - pioneers and Komsomol members - collected winter clothes and gifts for the Red Army soldiers. Children assisted medical workers in serving the wounded, organizing their meals, distributing gifts, organizing concerts, writing letters, and reading books. Wanting to help the front, children and teenagers en masse took part in community cleanups and Sundays, and the money they earned was transferred to the country’s Defense Fund. So, in August 1941. More than 300 thousand young men and women worked at the first All-Union Komsomol Youth Sunday in the Stalin region alone41. In addition, targeted fundraisers were held among students for the construction of military equipment, to help children of front-line soldiers and orphans, subscriptions for government loans, and the distribution of a cash and clothing lottery. Thus, in 1942, schoolchildren of the Voroshilovograd region signed a state loan in the amount of 523,220 rubles and collected 363,985 rubles. for the construction of tank columns “Pioneria” and “Komsomolets”. Subscribed 114453 rub. cash and clothing lottery . Children and teenagers took an active part in collecting scrap metal for the front.

Decisions on the use of child labor were made by the authorities in an extremely difficult military situation, when soldiers were needed at the front, but there were no able-bodied men left in the rear. Women and children stood at the machines. Teenagers replaced their parents in production: they began to work in enterprises, factories, and collective farm fields. Young workers were then 13–15 years old, and in order for them to work at the machines, they needed stands for their feet. The teenagers had no professional skills and could only do menial work. Many were weak and physically undeveloped due to malnutrition and harsh working conditions. But besides them, there was no one to work .

It is interesting that many of the workers at that time historical moment did not realize the nature and intensity of their work, did not see an alternative to other behavior, and treated it as the only possible one. Only after decades did many of them begin to view their work as heroic. A resident of the Kirov region, Anisya Vasilievna Limonova, recalled in a letter: “I started working on the collective farm early, I had to learn how to do everything..., I did all the work for an adult. As soon as I turned 16 years old, I received a summons to go to the forest to harvest... It’s hard to remember and hard to imagine how I, just a girl, sawed by hand with a saw and carried huge logs... There were no working conditions then, hungry, barefoot.” It is characteristic that the authors similar letters, most often, they do not try to explain the motives for such hard work. For them, the main motive is necessity. Taisiya Ivanovna Semenova described her work this way: “And during the war, from the age of 11, she went to work with her mother and did all the work. adult work... They worked, not sparing themselves, not caring whether adults or children. Perhaps the most succinct definition of the reasons for the necessary high work output is contained in a letter from a resident of Murmansk, Galina Andreevna Alekhina. During the war, she worked in the Kirov region: “Although we were children, there was a demand from adults, because there was a war, and old people and we, children, remained in the villages.” An analysis of such letters shows that, brought up in the socialist spirit, young home front workers were mainly guided in their work by national priorities. The main need that determined the motives for work was victory in the war, which made it possible to return to a normal, safe, peaceful life. Defense of the Motherland and family, moral principles, subordination and subordination are a kind of value system formed by the social practice of the functioning of Soviet society back in the pre-war period. War, as an emergency, activated these behavioral moral imperatives. It is interesting that material reward for work as a motive for work became relevant for workers only “after the fact.” Only after decades had passed did many heroes of the home front realize the full significance of their work and began to more insistently demand well-deserved material compensation for mental and physical costs. As V.V., a resident of the Lyskovsky district of the Gorky region, recalled. Nikitina (born 1927): “Almost all the men went to the front. But it was necessary to grow and harvest bread. Everyone worked - both old and young. No one was sitting at home. Great hopes were placed on us - schoolchildren in grades 8-9... We gave up from fatigue, we wanted to sleep and eat, and not see the sheaves. We waited impatiently for the thresher to break down so that we could take a nap for at least an hour right on the haystack.” .

It was not material reward, but the state’s recognition of selfless labor that became a powerful impetus for labor activity for the majority of workers. For success in work, the authorities awarded teenagers the Order of the Red Star. This caused a high emotional upsurge in their minds45.

The authorities tried to constantly maintain in the minds of the workers an element of analogy between military duty and the obligation to strictly fulfill production tasks. The feeling of the significance of each person’s work for the common cause was also a necessary volitional impulse for active labor. Responsibility, duty - these concepts, thanks to school and pioneer education, were perceived by many as natural moral and legal characteristics of labor behavior. Examples of irresponsibility that negatively affected labor activity and labor results show the nature of the attitude towards them on the part of “responsible” citizens. No matter how we evaluate the essence and consistency of Soviet communist morality today, it is necessary to recognize that in the conditions of the Great Patriotic War it was precisely this that became a powerful spiritual incentive for selfless intensive work in factories, factories, collective farms and state farms. Responsibility for the country, for this obligation, solemn promise, oath, sense of duty to the Motherland - these definitions, far from exhausting the concept of communist morality, were perceived by the majority of workers as really valid moral imperatives that largely determine labor behavior. That is why deviation from these norms was characterized not only as dangerous for the defense of the state, but also as a socially unacceptable style of behavior. Having analyzed the factors that shaped the spiritual image of a civilian during the Great Patriotic War, and the main motivations for his behavior, it is possible to reconstruct those features of his spiritual portrait that contributed to the organization of resistance to the enemy, thanks to the presence and development of which, the state achieved victory in the war. In addition, it is possible to identify traits opposite to constructive ones, which were suppressed by the state because they could potentially interfere with the organization of defense.

The working hands of teenagers and women literally carried the country's economy during the war years. Total percentage the percentage of underage workers in certain industries ranged from 15 to 23%, but in some plants and factories it exceeded 60–70% .

New types of weapons were tested in military operations and industry was focused on their production. T-34 tanks, planes, guns, etc. - in the last years of the war, they outgunned the enemy. The quality of weapons and their quantity have improved. The successes of the Soviet front included a huge contribution from children and teenagers, who won victory with their labor.

2.2 Labor of children and adolescents in agricultural work

The Patriotic War presented socialist agriculture with such extremely difficult tasks as uninterrupted supply of the army and home front with basic types of food, and industry with agricultural raw materials; removal of grain and agricultural machinery from threatened areas, evacuation of livestock.

The solution to food and raw materials problems was complicated by the fact that at the beginning of the war a number of the largest agricultural regions captured by the enemy fell out of the country's economic turnover. Before the war, about 40% of the country’s total population lived in the territory temporarily occupied by Nazi troops, 2/3 of which were rural residents; there were 47% of the sown areas, 38% of the total number of cattle and 60% of the total number of pigs; produced 38% of the pre-war gross grain production and 84% of sugar .

Some agricultural equipment, livestock, horses and agricultural products remained in the temporarily occupied areas. The productive forces of agriculture were subjected to monstrous destruction. The fascist invaders destroyed and plundered 98 thousand collective farms, 1876 state farms and 2890 machine and tractor stations, i.e. more than 40% of the pre-war number of collective farms, MTS and over 45% of state farms. The Nazis captured and partially drove away to Germany 7 million horses, 17 million heads of cattle, 20 million pigs, 27 million sheep and goats, 110 million heads of poultry.

A significant part of the remaining material and technical base of collective farms, state farms and MTS (more than 40% of tractors, about 80% of cars and horses) was mobilized into the army. Thus, 9,300 tractors from collective and state farms of Ukraine were mobilized into the army, almost all diesel tractors and several thousand tractors with a total capacity of 103 thousand hp. With. from the MTS of Western Siberia, about 147 thousand working horses, or almost 20% of the total horse population, from the collective farms of Siberia. By the end of 1941, there were 441.8 thousand tractors left in the MTS (in 15-horsepower terms) against 663.8 thousand that were available in the country’s agriculture on the eve of the war.

The energy capacity of agriculture, including all types of mechanical engines (tractors, cars, electrical installations, as well as draft animals in terms of mechanical force), by the end of the war decreased to 28 million liters. With. versus 47.5 million liters With. in 1940, or 1.7 times, including, the power of the tractor fleet decreased by 1.4 times, the number of trucks - by 3.7, living tax - by 1.7 times .

With the outbreak of hostilities, supplies to agriculture of new machines, spare parts, as well as fuel, lubricants and building materials, mineral fertilizers. Loans for irrigation and other construction have decreased significantly.

All this caused a sharp deterioration in the general condition of the main means of production on collective farms, state farms, and MTS and reduced the degree of mechanization of agricultural work.

A significant reduction in the working population in the countryside could not but affect agricultural production. The war diverted the most productive category of agricultural producers to the front, to industry and transport. As a result of mobilization into the army, for the construction of defensive structures, into the military industry and transport, by the end of 1941 the number of able-bodied people in the countryside was reduced by more than half compared to 1940. In the first year of the war, the number of able-bodied men in agriculture decreased by almost 3 million people, in 1942 - by another 2.3 million, in 1943 - by almost 1.3 million people. Particularly difficult for agriculture was the conscription of collective and state farm machine operators into the army. In total, during the war years, up to 13.5 million collective farmers, or 38% of rural workers as of January 1941, went into the army and industry, including 12.4 million, or 73.7%, men and over 1 million women . State farm labor resources have been significantly reduced .

All these factors have made it extremely difficult to solve food and raw materials problems. In order to replenish qualified agricultural personnel, on September 16, 1941, the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR adopted a resolution on teaching agricultural professions to students of senior secondary schools, technical schools and students of higher educational institutions. By July 1942, in 37 autonomous republics, territories and regions of the RSFSR, over 1 million schoolchildren graduated from machine operator courses, of which 158,122 people received the specialty of tractor driver, 31,240 - combine operator. These personnel provided great assistance to collective farms, state farms and MTS.

Throughout the war, rural workers provided the front and rear with raw materials and agricultural products. In villages, as in cities, male population went into the active army. All agricultural work was performed by women, children and teenagers.

Teenagers worked in the fields and on farms next to their mothers and older brothers and sisters. In the country as a whole, more than 20 million children and adolescents living in villages have become the main labor force in agriculture. During the war years they worked more than 585 million workdays . Pioneers and Komsomol members helped sow, process vegetables, and harvest crops on collective farms. Thus, the pioneers of the village of Borisovo, Moscow region, in 1941 weeded 34 hectares of beets, 12 of carrots, 60 of clover and about 30 hectares of gardens, and in 1941-1942, 185 thousand pioneers of the Moscow region produced 12 million 30 thousand on collective farm fields. workdays Graduating school courses tractor-combiner drivers, boys and girls, became active participants in the harvest. In most not only rural schools in 1941-1942. circles were created to study agricultural machinery and agricultural technology.

Teams of teenagers were created to harvest grain harvests already in June 1941. Providing food and medical care was the responsibility of local authorities. The children worked all day long, and sometimes even in the dark for 12-14 hours. It was noted that teenagers worked long hours on their own initiative .

During the difficult years of the war, when almost the entire large part of the country was occupied by the enemy, it was very important not to lose the grown crops and preserve those collected for the front. Therefore, since 1942, attracting students to agricultural work has become labor mobilization. By decree of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR of March 10, 1942, spring school was canceled for students in grades 5-10 vacation period, and also shortened by 10 days academic year . By decree of the People's Commissar of Education of April 28, 1942, in order to increase the productivity of schoolchildren in agriculture, a militarized daily routine was introduced.

Pioneers and schoolchildren worked even more actively in 1942. “Now,” Pravda reported on June 27, “most schools are empty. Schoolchildren are in the fields. They serve the Motherland and help fight for the harvest." . In 1942, 5 million schoolchildren were involved in weeding, hilling and fertilizing potatoes and vegetables; they worked over 145 million workdays. In 38 regions of the country, over 190 thousand schoolchildren in 1942 graduated from courses for tractor drivers and combine operators and participated in sowing and harvesting.

Resolution of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR and the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks dated April 13, 1942 "On the procedure for mobilizing the working population of cities and rural areas for agricultural work on collective farms, state farms and MTS, students of grades 6 - 10 of incomplete secondary and secondary urban schools, students of technical schools and universities who were recruited to work on collective farms, state farms and MTS, the duration of the working day was set from 6 to 8 hours, depending on their age and the nature of the work .

Every able-bodied collective farmer and collective farmer considered it their duty to work out not only the mandatory minimum of workdays per year (up to 150 in cotton-growing regions, up to 120 for all other regions of the USSR), but also to work more than the norm. Just as in industry, local authorities could increase (within 20%) or decrease (depending on local conditions) the number of workdays. Children and adolescents aged 12–16 were required to work at least 50 days a year. They recorded their results in work books, which were given to them by the collective farm administration. .

The proximity of victory over the enemy depended on the quick solution of the military-economic task - strengthening and organizing the rear, subordinating the entire economy to the interests of defeating the enemy. The unity of the front - the armed forces and the labor front - the rear, in which the entire population of all ages was involved, became the basis for victory over the enemy. The victory was common, achieved both on the battlefield and on the labor front. Soviet children and teenagers provided great help on their own.

The conditions of occupation complicated the work of agriculture. However, collective farm rural youth, children and adolescents were the main sources of labor effort. It should be noted that in 1942-1943. 1380.9 thousand people from rural areas were attracted to industry and transport. Having been trained in FZO schools and vocational schools, they joined the ranks of the working class. We are talking about almost 2094.3 thousand. a man from a collective farm village. In the whole country in 1941-1945, collective farms provided the army, industry and transport with 38% of able-bodied citizens. According to the Central Committee of the Young Communist League, which were announced at the IX Congress of the Komsomol in March 1949, up to 50% of all workdays worked in agriculture in 1941-1942. accounted for teenagers and young adults. In 1943-1944. this figure was close to 70%59. At the cost of great efforts, the victory of the Soviet people over the fascist invaders was predetermined. Victories at the front can be considered as a long-term result of intensive work expected by workers. The successes of the Red Army at the front served as direct confirmation of the effectiveness and efficiency of selfless labor. Information about positive changes at the front gave intensive work a character total contribution to the cause of Victory. The external threat factor, manifested in a feeling of danger, was an effective motivational factor. The quantity, quality and nature of information about the situation at the front influenced a person’s consciousness with a characteristic effect: the lack of information caused anxiety, reports of abandonment Soviet troops territories, about the defeats of the Red Army - a feeling of danger. Such feelings reduced motivation. Information about victories caused a surge in labor, because, firstly, it reduced the feeling of danger, secondly, it increased the hope for a speedy end to the war and a return to peaceful life, and thirdly, it produced a feeling of belonging to the general success. Brought up in the socialist spirit, young home front workers were mainly guided in their work by national priorities. Responsibility, duty, these concepts, thanks to school and pioneer education, were perceived by many as natural moral and legal characteristics of labor behavior. Responsibility for the country, for a given obligation, a solemn promise, an oath, a sense of duty to the Motherland - these definitions, far from exhausting the concept of communist morality, were perceived by the majority of workers as really valid moral imperatives that largely determine labor behavior.

CONCLUSION

As a result course work the solution to research problems should be outlined. Thus, we have studied the state of the problem of the Soviet government using the labor of children and adolescents during the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.

In an extremely difficult military situation, when soldiers were needed at the front, and there were no able-bodied men left in the rear, the Soviet government decided to use child labor. Children and teenagers replaced their parents in production: they began to work in enterprises, factories, and collective farm fields. The teenagers had no professional skills and could only do menial work. Therefore, already in the first years of the war, vocational schools were opened, in which children of 12-13 years old, left without parents as a result of hostilities, studied. The state took full responsibility for their maintenance. Also, training took place on the job in conditions of labor mobilization. These measures were applied to solve the main tasks of strengthening the labor rear and securing the front. Forced labor service, including for minors, punitive measures for violators of labor discipline, increasing the working day in production and workdays in agricultural work - all these measures applied during the Great Patriotic War by the Soviet authorities to children and adolescents are inhumane and undemocratic from the point of view of the Convention on rights of the child, however, these measures were dictated by wartime and the authorities needed to quickly and effectively solve various problems. Objectivity historical view appeals to the problem in favor of the authorities of the Soviet state.

At the same time, it should be noted that the majority of teenagers quite consciously performed a labor feat in the rear. For children and teenagers, this was the only way to help their fatherland and the army. That is why propaganda became the most important lever of influence of the Soviet government on the working population, including teenagers and children. Information about victories caused a rise in labor because strengthened hope for a speedy end to the war and a return to peaceful life, and produced a feeling of belonging to the common success. Brought up in the socialist spirit, young home front workers were mainly guided in their work by national priorities. Responsibility, duty, these concepts, thanks to school and pioneer education, were perceived by many as natural moral and legal characteristics of labor behavior. Responsibility for the country, for a given obligation, a solemn promise, an oath, a sense of duty to the Motherland - these definitions, far from exhausting the concept of communist morality, were perceived by the majority of workers as really valid moral imperatives that largely determine labor behavior.

LIST OF SOURCES USED

Aniskov, V. T. Soviet rear in the first period of the Great Patriotic War [Text] / V. T. Aniskov. – M.: Nauka, 1988 – 424 p.

Bakharev, K. Child workers in the USSR during the war. Memoirs of eyewitnesses [Text] / K. Bakharev. – M.: AST, 2011. – 320 p.

Boffa, J. History of the Soviet Union: in 2 vols. T. 2. From the Patriotic War to the position of the second world power. Stalin and Khrushchev. 1941 – 1964 [Text] / J. Boffa. – 2nd ed. – M.: International relationships, 1994. – 316 p.

The Great Patriotic War. 1941-1945: Military historical essays [Text]. - In 4 books. Book 1. Severe tests. – M.: Voenizdat, 1998; Book 2. Fracture. – M.: Voenizdat, 1998; Book 3. Liberation. – M.: Voenizdat, 1999; Book 4. People and war. – M.: Voenizdat, 1999.

War and society 1941-1945 In 2 books. [Text] / answer ed. G. N. Sevostyanov. – M.: Nauka, 2004. – 412 p.

Children of the wartime [Text] / comp. E. Maksimova. – 2nd ed., add. – M.: Politizdat, 1988. – 320 p.

Directives of the CPSU and the Soviet government on economic issues. 1917-1957. Collection of documents. In 3 vols. – T. 2: 1929-1945. [Text] / comp. V. N. Malin, A. V. Korobov. – M.: Gospolitizdat, 1957. – 547 p.

Directives Soviet power[Text]. – M.: Nauka, 1983 – 325 p.

Emelin, A. S. Legal basis for the transformation of the USSR into a single military camp during the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945: The Soviet state and law during the Great Patriotic War of 1941 - 1945. [Text] / A. S. Emelin. – M.: Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. Moscow Academy, 2000. – 149 p.

Historiography of the Great Patriotic War [Text]. – M.: Nauka, 1980. – 284 p.

Story Communist Party Soviet Union [Text]. – M.: Mysl, 1970. – T.V. – Book 1.

Kiselev, I. Ya. Labor law of Russia. Historical and legal research [Text] / I. Ya. Kiselev. – M.: Publishing house “Norma”, 2001. – 384 p.

Kulkov, E. War 1941-1945. Facts and documents [Text] / E. Kulkov, M. Myagkov, O. Rzheshevsky; Institute of General History RAS. – 4th ed., expanded and revised. – M.: Olma-Media-Group, 2011. – 512 p.

Kufaev, V.I. Caring for children during the Great Patriotic War [Text] / V.I. Kufaev // Soviet pedagogy. – 1942. – No. 8. – P. 9-14.

Mitrofanova, A.V. Soviet rear during the period of radical change in the Great Patriotic War, November 1942 - 1943. [Text] / A. V. Mitrofanova, V. T. Aniskov. – M.: Nauka, 1989. – 391 p.

Movzalevsky, V. Ya. Children of the Fatherland [Text] / V. Ya. Movzalevsky. – Stavropol: YURKIT Publishing House, 2001. – 416 p.

Movzalevsky, V. Ya. Little soldiers of the Patriotic War. 1941-1945 [Text] / V. Ya. Movzalevsky. – Stavropol: YURKIT Publishing House, 1995. – 268 p.

Najafov, G. D. The brave do not die [Text] / G. D. Najafarov. – M.: DOSAAF Publishing House, 1968. – 96 p.

The national economy of the USSR in the Second World War, 1941-1945. Statistical collection [Text]. – M.: Information and Publishing Center of the USSR State Statistics Committee, 1990. – 134 p.

Nikolaev, V. I. Pioneer organization during the Great Patriotic War [Text] / V. I. Nikolaev. – M.: Mysl, 1973. – 421 p.

Fire years. Youth during the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union of 1941-1945: Collection of documents [Text] / comp. V. N. Malin, A. V. Korobov. – M.: Nauka, 1965. – 246 p.

Decisions of the party and government on economic issues. 1917-1967 Collection of documents for 50 years [Text]. – M.: Politizdat, 1967. – T. 2.: 1929-1940. – 775 p.

Collection of documents and materials on labor issues during the Great Patriotic War (June 22, 1941 - January 5, 1944) [Text] / Cabinet of Socio-Economic Sciences of the All-Union Political School under the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks; comp.: D. G. Kuzmenko, ed.: A. P. Lyapin. – M.: BI, 1944. – 379 p.

Collection of laws of the USSR and Decrees of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR [Text]. – M.: Gosyurizdat, 1945. – 700 p.

Collection of legislative materials of the USSR and RSFSR. 1917-1958 [Text] / compiled by: A. I. Volkov, V. K. Grigoriev, G. V. Ivanov, N. D. Kazantsev, E. N. Kolotinskaya, A. V. Smirnov. – M.: Gosyurizdat, 1958. T. 2. – 539 p.

Simonov, N. S. Military-industrial complex of the USSR in the 1920s–1950s: pace economic growth, structure, organization of production and management [Text] / N. S. Simonov. – M.: “Russian political encyclopedia"(ROSSPEN), 1996. – 336 p.

Sinitsyn, A. M. Caring for neglected and homeless children in the USSR during the Great Patriotic War [Text] / A. M. Sinitsyn // Questions of history. – 1969. – No. 6. – P. 35-45.

Sinitsyn, A. M. National assistance to the front [Text] / A. M. Sinitsyn. – M.: Voenizdat, 1985. – 319 p.

Glorious path Lenin Komsomol. History of the Komsomol [Text]. – M.: Young Guard, 1978. – 656 p.

Somov, V. A. Because there was a war...: Non-economic factors of labor motivation during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945) [Text] / V. A. Somov. – N. Novgorod: Publishing House of the Volgo-Vyatka Academy civil service, 2008. – 234 p.

Somov, V. A. According to the laws of war. Essays on the history of labor policy of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War (1941-1945): monograph [Text] / V. A. Somov. - Nizhegorsk. state University named after N.I. Lobachevsky. – N. Novgorod: UNN Publishing House, 2001. – 154 p.

Tonguzov, V. A. The Soviet state and law during the Great Patriotic War and the post-war years (1941 - 1964) [Text]: text of lectures / V. A. Tonguzov. – St. Petersburg. : SPbGUAP, 2008. – 71 p.

Rear to front (collection of memoirs, essays, documents, letters) [Text]. – Chelyabinsk: South Ural Book Publishing House, 1990. – 284 p.

These childhood war years. 1941 – 1945. Collection of documents and materials [Text] / comp. N. Prykina, E. Turova, I. Yangirova. – Chelyabinsk: South Ural Book Publishing House, 2009. – 308 p.

See: Youth matured in battle. M., 1966; Young heroes of the Great Patriotic War. M., 1970; We stood next to adults. L., 1985; Children of wartime. M., 1988, etc.

Nikolaev V.I. Pioneer organization during the Great Patriotic War. M., 1973; The glorious path of the Lenin Komsomol. History of the Komsomol. M., 1978; Kufaev V.I. Caring for children during the Great Patriotic War // Soviet pedagogy. 1942. No. 8. P. 9-14.

History of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. M., 1970. T.V. Book 1; History of the Second World War 1939-1945. M., 1973-1982. T.1-12; History of the USSR from ancient times to the present day. M., 1973. T.10; Sinitsyn A.M. Caring for neglected and homeless children in // Questions of history. 1969. No. 6.

The Great Patriotic War. 1941-1945: Military historical essays. In 4 books. Book 1. Severe tests. M, 1998; Book 2. Fracture. M., 1998; Book 3. Liberation. M., 1999; Book 4. People and war. M., 1999. The Great Patriotic War. 1941-1945: Military historical essays. In 4 books. Book 1. Severe tests. M., 1998. P. 47. Years of Fire. Youth during the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union of 1941-1945: Collection of documents. M., 1965. P. 49.

Collection of documents and materials on labor issues during the Great Patriotic War (June 22, 1941 - January 5, 1944). M., 1944. P. 315

To organize the work of teenagers, even before the start of the Great Patriotic War, the Main Directorate of Labor Reserves was created in the USSR. It was engaged in mobilizing children and distributing them to vocational and factory schools. To ensure capacity, tuition fees for high school students were introduced. Those who did not have enough money to study had to go into “craft” and join the ranks of the working class.

During the war, children began to be drafted into enterprises, like adults into the army. At the Perm engine plant No. 19 named after. Stalin, which produced aircraft engines, employed about eight thousand teenagers at that time. Most were 14-16 years old, although some were younger: they were hired for auxiliary work from the age of 11.

My father and older brothers were taken to the front. My mother and I stayed in the village of Orlovo, Vologda region. In 1943, they brought me a summons to the labor front - to Perm,” recalls Ivan Shilov, who was mobilized to the plant at the age of 14. - Mom cried: “Where are they taking you, so little?” But she didn’t argue: she put two pairs of underwear, a mug, a spoon, three pairs of bast shoes and a bag of crackers in her bag - that’s all the ammunition. I saw my mother again only after the war, in 1946. She immediately clasped her hands: “Why haven’t you grown up since then, son?”

Canvas boots

Children were brought to Perm in trains, mainly from the Vologda, Ivanovo and Leningrad regions. Despite their age, they had to work like adults. The same Ivan Shilov once worked 29 hours straight. For this he was awarded a day's rest and a "commercial" lunch, which included soup, millet porridge, tea and two hundred grams of bread. Usually at the factory they fed him empty gruel, so the boy was very pleased with this encouragement.

The situation with clothes was no better. Children who came from far away had no one to turn to for help. They wore out what they brought from home.

In 1943, I was brought from the Vologda region to Perm, to an aircraft factory,” says Alexandra Belyaeva, who in peacetime became a deputy of the Perm City Council. - She worked as a turner. Often I didn’t even go home from the workshop - I spent the night right at the plant: in stokers, in the toilet on boxes. I remember my boots were canvas, with wooden soles. For good work I received normal shoes and material for the dress. That was a joy...

The plant management understood that the workers, especially children, needed to be supported. That’s why they started sewing clothes and rolling felt boots right at the enterprise. Both were then distributed among those in need.

Frontline workers willy-nilly

- We worked 12-16 hours a day. It was very cold in the workshops, so we wore padded jackets all the time,” recalls Anna Titova.

Due to the harsh working conditions, many adults could not stand the stress and ran away. Even before the war, the USSR government decided to assign workers to enterprises, and fugitives were punished for “AWOL.” In 1941, out of the then 12 thousand workers of the Perm Engine Plant, four thousand were convicted of desertion, absenteeism and tardiness. Amnesty was announced to them only in 1945. Prisoners also worked in production during wartime. They were taken to the plant under escort along the central street of Perm. But such “specialists” were of little use. The people were desperate, they weren’t particularly afraid of anyone and they didn’t overwork themselves with work.

There was also little benefit from teenagers, although for a different reason. They had no professional skills and could only do menial work. Many were frail and weak - children, after all, and war is not your own mother, you can’t devour them. Some factory bosses drove such weak workers away: what is the use if the shaft alone weighs as much as 160 kilograms and teenagers, even after straining, still cannot lift it? But besides them, there was no one to work.

According to the law, children under 16 years of age were required to work no more than six hours a day. The plant even issued an order regarding this matter. Director Anatoly Soldatov personally warned the shop managers and reminded them that teenagers should not be involved in overtime and night work. The order also stated that child workers had the right to one day off per week and 12 days of annual leave.

However, orders are orders, and the front needed aircraft engines like air. In addition, during the evacuation of industrial enterprises in 1941, it turned out that the Perm plant for a long time remained the only one in the USSR that produced engines for fighter aircraft. In addition, Shpagin submachine guns, mine fuses and fuses for Katyusha mortar rockets were produced here. It is clear that the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command demanded as much ammunition and aircraft engines as possible from the Permians. Issues of compliance with labor laws faded into the background.

Sweet reward

To enlarge a photo, click on it and then on the cross in the lower right corner.

But the director of the plant invited young advanced workers to his place. The first time this happened was on November 14, 1944. Fifty-two teenagers timidly entered the office of the strict leader. For this occasion, boys and girls were washed, combed, and in clean clothes.

Anatoly Soldatov, Major General of the Engineering and Technical Service, seated them at a wide polished table. He made a speech, treated him to tea and handed each of those invited a pair of felt boots, and in addition a large jar of canned fruit - jam, in other words.

In December, the director gathered another 95 teenagers, who exceeded the plan by 120-150 percent. Among them were mechanics, turners, inspectors, electricians... Everyone was also rewarded with jars of jam.

Unfortunately, now none of those who received the sweet bonus are alive. But their memories live on in letters now kept in the factory museum. Here is one of them - from former worker Alexander Aksenov:

“I was in a front-line brigade, and one day I managed to fulfill the quota by 570 percent,” he writes. “An article appeared in the factory newspaper: “A front-line father can be proud of such a son as Sasha Aksenov.” I was very happy and sent my dad a note to the front, which made not only him very happy, but also the commanders - he even received a very warm letter from them. A few days after my success at work and the note in the newspaper, the guys and I were leaving the workshop, and a group of people met us - the bosses, judging by the appearance. General Soldatov is with them. One of the boys called me loudly: “Aksenov! Go look at the general!” He heard and said loudly: “And I’m just going to look at Aksenov.” Soldatov kissed me, and after that he gave the command to feed us in the dining room. For such eternally hungry boys as us, this was not amiss ".

Verbatim

From the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR dated October 2, 1940:

"7. Grant the right to the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR to annually conscript (mobilize) from 800 thousand to 1 million urban and collective farm youth males aged 14-15 years to study in vocational and railway schools, at the age of 16-17 years to study in factory training schools.

10. Establish that all graduates of vocational, railway and factory training schools are considered mobilized and are required to work for 4 years in a row at state enterprises at the direction of the Main Directorate of Labor Reserves under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, providing them with a salary at the place of work on a general basis."

From Order No. 433 of December 2, 1944 “On bonuses for newly hired workers at the plant”:

“Following the example of the young workers noted in the plant order No. 415 of November 14, 1944, the newly hired young workers show examples of Stakhanov’s work. For systematically exceeding daily shift assignments by 120-150 percent, express gratitude with entry in the work book and give bonuses gifts (one pair of felt boots and one can of canned fruit)."

Help "RG"

During the war years, Perm Order of Lenin Engine Plant No. 19 named after. Stalin produced 32,000 aircraft engines. They were installed on La-5FN and La-7 fighters. For excellent work in 1943, the enterprise was awarded the Banner of the State Defense Committee, which was left to the plant for eternal storage.

Photo document

Yuri Geiko, a journalist whose material about child labor in Perm at one time caused considerable public outcry:

“In 1983, I worked at Komsomolskaya Pravda and flew to Perm on instructions from the editors. Many of those sitting at this table were still alive. Nina Kotlyachkova (Fedosseva) said:

Where would we then buy such wealth? The contents of the cans were eaten in the youth town and divided among everyone. Each person only needed a few spoons. But even with them we were like drunk.

Everyone I met recalled that the jam was very sweet. But I found out that it was not jam, but an American compote - sour and completely without sugar. But it was impossible to convince them, wartime children, little workers of Victory.

VICTORY DAY! The path to this day was not easy. The Great Patriotic War turned out to be the most difficult and cruel for our people. Our women who remained in the rear did not fight, but stood at machine tools, at metallurgical furnaces, in villages. They bore the enormous burden of the war on their fragile shoulders, working 12-16 hours a day, seven days a week.

How little we know about this side of our lives, how rarely we remember about those women who were then young and middle-aged, but really wanted Victory for their Motherland and their personal happiness, but never got it. On the eve of Victory Day, I would like to remember our women who made a huge contribution on the home front for our Victory.

The country woke up peacefully on this July day

Her lilacs have just unfurled in the parks.

Moscow greeted the morning rejoicing in the sun and peace.

Suddenly memorable words echoed across the airwaves...

In the morning, war broke out on our doorstep.

During the Great Patriotic War Soviet people accomplished a great feat not only on the battlefield, but also in the rear.

Rear - what a strong-sounding word. The rear is the second front. And he held on to the weakest half of humanity. Speaking about the heroic deeds of the people during the war, I especially want to say about the labor exploits of women.

Woman and mother are synonymous words. Our women experienced a lot during the Great Patriotic War. What an insane weight fell on their fragile shoulders! Together with the soldiers, they forged victory, fed and clothed the defenders of the Motherland. And how mothers and wives worried about the men who went to the front!

Everything we know about a woman is best summed up in the word mercy. There are other words: sister, wife, friend and the highest - Mother.

A woman gives life, a woman saves it, “Woman” and “life” are two inseparable concepts. Their work is inscribed in golden letters in the heroic chronicle of the history of our homeland, worthy of memory.

A woman comes into the world

To light a candle.

A woman comes into the world

To save the hearth.

A woman comes into the world

To be loved.

A woman comes into the world

To give birth to a child.

A woman comes into the world

So that the flowers bloom.

A woman comes into the world

To save the world!

Women are the most fragile creatures on earth; they stood up to defend their Motherland, their children and their future. They had to do backbreaking work during the war.

About the labor feat of women during the war, the poet M. Isakovsky wrote:

...Can you really tell me about this?
What years did you live in?
What an immeasurable burden
It fell on women's shoulders!..

That morning I said goodbye to you
Your husband, or brother, or son,
And you and your destiny
Left alone.

One on one with tears,
With unharvested grain in the field
You met this war.
And all - without end and without counting -
Sorrows, labors and worries
We fell for you for one.

To you alone - willy-nilly -
But you have to keep up everywhere;
You are alone both at home and in the field,
You are the only one to cry and sing.

And the clouds hang lower and lower,
And the thunder roars ever closer,
More and more bad news.
And you are in front of the whole country,
And you before the whole war
She said who you are.

You walked, hiding your grief,
The harsh way of labor.
The entire front, from sea to sea,
You fed me with your bread.

In cold winters, in snowstorms,
At the one at the distant line
The soldiers were warmed by their greatcoats,
What you sewed with care.

They rushed in the noise, in the smoke
Soviet soldiers into battle,
And the enemy's strongholds collapsed
From bombs filled with you.

You took on everything without fear.
And, as in the saying,
You were both a spinner and a weaver,
She knew how to use a needle and a saw.

I chopped, carried, dug -
Can you really re-read everything?
And in letters to the front she assured,
It's like you're living a great life.

The soldiers read your letters,
And there, at the forefront,
They understood well
Your holy lies.

And a warrior going to battle
And ready to meet her,
Like an oath, whispered like a prayer,
Your distant name...

It was difficult for the woman in the rear. More than half of all workers in enterprises were women, 75 percent in rural areas. They worked under the motto: “Everything for the front - everything for victory!”

At the beginning of the war, all enterprises that could find themselves in the occupation zone were hastily evacuated to the east of the country, to the Urals, and Siberia.

Hundreds of different enterprises were evacuated to the Chkalov region and the city of Chkalov alone: ​​plants, factories, orphanages. The factories were organized on the basis of workshops and old factories, the machines stood under the snow without roofs or heating, and they were already worked for 12-14 hours, mostly by women.

The production of mines, shells, cartridges, and aircraft was established. It was difficult for women at first; they studied and worked at the same time. Motto: “For yourself and for your husband who went to the front, 200-300% each.”

M. Isakovsky

Girl in position

I saw off the fighter,

On a dark night I said goodbye

On the porch steps.

And while behind the fogs

The boy could see

On the window on the girl's

Everything was on fire.

The guy was met by a nice guy

Frontline family.

There were comrades everywhere

There were friends everywhere

But a familiar street

He could not forget:

"Where are you, dear girl,

Where are you, my light?"

And a distant friend

He sends news to the guy,

That her maiden love

Will never die.

Everything that was planned

In due time it will be fulfilled,

Won't go out without time

Golden light.

And spacious and joyful

In the soul of a fighter

From such a good

From her letter.

And the hated enemy

The boy hits harder

Behind Soviet Motherland,

For the native light.

There was no war in Siberia

But we consider the front-line area

There was no war in Siberia.

But we glorify the feat of the rear!

In 1941, the Novosibirsk Aircraft Manufacturing Plant named after Chkalov received five aviation enterprises evacuated from Moscow, Leningrad, and Kyiv.

Already in December 1941, production of new Yak-7 fighters began and by the end of the year 21 aircraft were produced. In 1942, 2,211 of these machines were assembled. At that time, the plant operated under the motto “A regiment a day!”, that is, it produced 28-30 aircraft every day.

From the memoirs of home front worker Zinaida Gavrilova.

I was 14 years old when I started working at the factory. We weren't taught anywhere they just showed what to do. We glued the inside of the plane with a special glue on which the material sat. The caustic glue corroded the gloves, and they were uncomfortable, and we worked with our bare hands, the skin hanging off in shreds.

They made 12 cars per shift. Strength was given by the consciousness: victory depends on me personally! One day I fell asleep during my shift and it almost cost me my life. Then people had two main desires - to sleep and to eat. And if people somehow got used to hunger, it was sometimes impossible to overcome sleep. So I fell asleep and fell into the fuselage, and when they began to lift it, I fell straight onto the cement floor and almost broke.

In the villages, women got on tractors and combines. They plowed, sowed, harvested. In 1942, more than 800 tractor drivers, including 346 female tractor drivers and 10 female tractor brigades, took part in the All-Union Socialist Competition of Tractor Drivers and Tractor Brigades in the Republic.

The Komsomol tractor drivers of the Chkalovskaya MTS used the STZ NATI tractor to produce at least 900 hectares and save fuel by 5%.

From the memoirs of Maria Feodorovna's Mirrors.

In 1931, she moved from Ukraine to snowy Siberia.

Her work in the rear began with driving lessons on the STZ - “NATI” tractor. And after 3 days she began to work independently. She had to sit at the helm of a tractor for many years, until April 1946. Our hands were frozen, our feet were cold, we constantly didn’t get enough sleep, but we knew that this was all for victory.

The whole day was spent in the field, and at night they transported grain to the floor. And then we had to repair the tractors. She was on time everywhere, but there was also homework.

Poem by Vladimir Abrosimov

Yes, there were moments like centuries.

It's hard to remember

-If only I had enough strength, patience,

- The mother repeated barely audibly.

When the dawn was still dozing

And the roosters slept soundly,

She, weakened, stood up

To the frantic beeps.

She was twenty-seven incomplete.

Bringing a Siberian blizzard into the hut,

She fell down I remember

Barely undressed for bed.

Tired beyond words during the day,

She whispered like yesterday:

- I wish I had time to rest overnight,

-And it calmed down until the morning.

Only later did it become clear to me:

To them, women, like mothers,

The heart commanded the “persistent”

To save the Fatherland in the rear.

In the summer of 1943, the movement of Komsomol youth brigades began to confer the title of “front-line brigade”. It was a very honorable title. The documents stated: “To be called front-line means to work in the rear as soldiers fight at the front; this means all the strength, all the knowledge, all the ability to devote to production, to squeeze out of technology everything that it can give.”

Knitting mittens for Soviet soldiers

In Novosibirsk, Shura Kalinkina’s team from the Chkalov plant was the first to win this title.

“...At first, Shura Kalinkina worked alone. Then she became dissatisfied with such work and decided to organize a team of four people. Their work went better and the team began to fulfill the quota by 400-500 percent. In the evenings, when the working day was completed, young people often gathered together to review the results of the day and exchange experiences.

Shura Kalinkina’s initiative was taken up by the youth of the entire plant. From year to year, labor productivity in Komsomol youth brigades increased.

During 1944 it increased 2.5 times. By May 1945, the title of “front-line” was awarded to 1,775 brigades in the city.

Housewives, pensioners, and students were attracted to the hospitals. They washed, cleaned, did laundry, wrote letters. They knitted gloves, scarves, mittens, and socks and collected parcels for the front. The donors were also women.

The war was a great test for the women of our country, who not only suffered the bitterness of loss of family and friends, but also went through all the hardships

and the hardships of life at the front. Women who worked in the rear of the country bore the brunt of the burden there in production and agriculture.

Heroic work has been repeatedly rewarded with high awards. During the war, many home front workers were awarded, including:

-Order of Lenin

-Order of the Red Banner of Labor

-Order of the Badge of Honor

27 million of our people - men, women, children - were killed by the war. But we must remember them! May our memory always preserve the past.

We congratulate you, women, on the Great Day! Happy Victory Day!