We’re survivors, children of survivors. It was once thought (Mendeleev), in Russia in 2000 will live about 600 million people, within its present borders – more than 310 million.
Where are they? They are not. Only in the Great Patriotic war killed at least 26 million people. And how many unborn! In the best male ages 20 to 44 years, was missing every third1.
Here’s their letter.
Michael Denisov, 34 years. “I feel so sorry for their children, let them stay without me, but I liked them a lot, and here I will probably write the last letter and it is unlikely more will have to write you a letter”2.
Not necessary, killed.
Nikolai Palicin, 43. “I Send greetings and best wishes in your life to you, dear Kate, and dear children Zoe, Lowe and little Nina… will Have to come back? Still, hope lives, and I hope, if not kill, then come back when the war is over”3.
don’t have to. Missing.
Konstantin Volkov. “Hello, my family, wife Lisa, and my dear children Utochka, Lilichka, Borecka and silly baby girl… Hot and hard… you all Forgive me for such a small awkward letter. I write it in such terms as not to mix, because above us now all mixed up, the explosions turning the ground into the air along with the flame, turning it to dust, blown with gunpowder, lifting him in the air parts or pieces of the ruptured victims and all the other things that came under their power. In General, all mixed in the air, and the result is a storm that you can’t see anything. Sometimes it happens that 10 meters wouldn’t recognize his close friend, and now I’m already on 12 July. And every day, it happens from dawn to dusk”4.
He never returned to the Kursk bulge.
No orders, no camps, no executions will not drive people to war. Only he can say to himself: I will do anything to survive, to endure and be victorious. Any price.
It was after all, personal decisions. To take the General will to obey it is also a solution. Every one of these letters knew that writes, for the last time.
Boris Maslennikov, 19 years. “Good day, fun minute. I’m sending You my militant greetings and wish You a good life… the First battles seemed scary, but after accustomed. It is very cold here… no more Letters wait more, maybe you won’t”5.
They saw.
Paul Suslov, 38 years. “Tanya, can come upon us happiness to meet you. Tanya, you write that you cry all the time about me, it’s wrong, because I’m still alive and maybe will survive. And if you kill, you say what will happen. Lived, admired, and made good children, but to educate and to attach to it, maybe not we’ll have together, Tanya, you”6.
Not necessary.
the War was won not with examples of the scale of destruction of the people, where everyone was individual, was alive, was his. Never been in any country in the world of such human losses. Even close to them did not come.
We are in a population decline for thirty years.
the Whole policy, any breath of society and the state should be for people’s savings, in order to tighten the human wounds of the twentieth century, to fill out people – active, wealthy – all the land of Russia.
We’re survivors, children of survivors. We are their debtors.
We don’t know how they did it.
We are from the peace time, even with the crises, even with a thousand inconsistencies, but we don’t know how they did it. In 1941-1942 in the West, under the Germans lost about 70% iron, 60% steel, 60% aluminum, 40% length of Railways, almost 50% of the cultivated land and, worst of all, nearly 40% of the population7.
As of these losses could grow an economic miracle to beat the enemy’s weapons, their manufacture, in all that higher, further, deadlier? If in 1941 the military-technical potential of Germany was more than the USSR in 1.5-2 times8, in 1942 – in 3-4 times. In December 1941, cast iron, steel and rolled steel produced in the USSR in 3-4 times less, than in June9. From the economy remains exactly half.
Only the people who dared to wonder, could do this:
2600 enterprises, transferred to the East,
1.5 million cars with the equipment
10 million people10.
How is this possible? With what courage, determination and speed over great distance was moved a millionth of the mass of people and resources in the most inhumane conditions, under fire, to the wheel to start the installation of new plants! They were put into operation for a few months. In the winter of 1942, with its cold desert of the great rotation.
But the main thing – people. Exported, saved people.
Anna Lobachevsky, 4 years. “When the train caught fire and the flames engulfed the entire structure, all ran to the forest. Returning after a RAID, we saw a terrible picture… In the background lit the small enclave cars running around wounded and burned people. All the shouting. Mothers screaming for their children, and children mothers. I was very scared and speechless”11.
Arkady Shatalov, 10 years. “the Whole human stream had presented a terrible picture. A huge mass of people moving silently, not even able to say… see convoy was flying the German fighters and fired machine guns on defenseless people. People mowed by machine-gun fire, died on the spot”12.
Victor Rosenthal, 4 years. “Soon the train came dead… I Remember the smell of rotting corpses, the burning of the human body, and Chad stench of burning buildings and cars. Hear Cree��and the pleas and moans of the wounded and mutilated. See dead mom and crying near their children, mothers with corpses on his hands or his chest…”13.
Vladimir Astrakhan. 15. “In Kalinin drove the former oil tanker, was put in the hold… with two or three hatches above”14.
by Any means – to take. To save.
In 1941 – 1944 Germany, even in its borders of 1937, a multiple superior to the Soviet Union in the production of ferrous metals, coal, electricity, machine tools, cement,15.
And the manufacture of armaments during the war?
the Soviet Union produced more than Germany, guns and mortars – 2.2 times, tanks and self-propelled artillery guns – in 2.4 times, combat aircraft – by 1.4 times, small arms – in 1.9 times. Each tonne of steel has been removed the arms 5 to 8 times more than in Germany,16. In 1942-1943 40-44% of the national income of the USSR went to war17.
People were committed economic miracle 1942-1945 years. It could do only the people who decided to be beyond his powers. From every human power, every piece of raw material during the war he removed to the army much more than in other belligerent countries. This is not achieved by deterrence. It can’t be done exhausting propaganda. Only the people themselves, their conscience and moral sense, can take on such a cross. Not slavish adoration, not for a piece of bread – the total tension forces when in no other way.
no-One ever thought of those who died from hunger, from exhaustion, from disease caused by non-human labor. No one.
Zoe ilinykh. “I was 14 years old… Gave me the item for processing. The detail is so heavy that I could not keep… And went to mom – mom worked in the same shop…. Mom keeps the detail, and I process it”18.
Nikolai Tyurin. “I was 15 years old… Worked like the rest for 16 hours. Often had to work in two shifts. That is, since the plant is not left for days. Sometimes the shift ends. At this time, the foreman and says, “Stay on your next shift.” And all continue to work. Slept right there in the shop, where they have very long”19.
Tatyana Chudinova, 13 years. “A growth to the machine was missing, so we tripped up the stairs… I tripped up two stairs”20.
Sergey Ferulev. “I came to the factory on 1 August 1941, I was 13 years old. We collected guns. Worked great… When you go with the second shift home… I can’t feel under my feet. He is hungry, nothing can be done”21.
Galina Elkina. “I came to the factory when I was 15… When came the day of Victory, I was 17 years old. It was crazy: all cried, laughed, hugged, kissed. We went to the street cousin. Meet three of the wounded go. And they have kissed. It was my first kiss”22.
Marietta Shahinian. June 18, 1942 “I Looked at them and felt how clenched his heart and flowed the tears of such a sacrificial, perfect, pure, from such burning of their young lives”23.
we Need to bow to those who managed the war economy. Yes, vertically, mobilization economy, superrigid. Yes, the surveillance, the threats, punishments, treatment of consciousness. No – control day and night, very precise – how many and what weapons when. Today would say – “project management”.
the State Committee of defense, took it part of the industrial departments. Vertical organizer, vertical, responsible for shipping, sending, production in thousands of pieces. Dozens of temporary boards, commissions, committees (now would tell – project offices), created under and existing problem until it is solved. Job monthly, daily, workshops, large factory settings.
Responsibility – personal. Or done, or not.
the People who ran this car in the center, is well known. They had both light and darkness. And different fate then. Then. But in this metal, with determination of economic management of 1941-1945 in the center were they.
Large people.
Without them it would never happen scrapping German iron machine.
“the Main branches of the military economy in the war years was in charge of the Deputy Chairman of the SNK of the ascension, Kosygin, Malyshev, Mikoyan, Molotov, Pervukhin, Saburov, and Secretary of the Central Committee Malenkov. Industry defense was led by Commissars: Shakhurin (aviation), Ustinov (arms), Lomako (nonferrous metal), Akopov (automotive), Parshin (mortar weapons), Vannikov (ammunition), Tevosyan (metallurgy), Benedict (agriculture), Vakhrushev (coal), marmots (oil), Khrulev (rear), Kaganovich and I. Kovalev (railway transport)”24.
And was Beria. Yes, there was. Witness its role in the production of weapons – Mikoyan.
When we do a roll-call book about the thousands of Directors, the Department heads, about the engineers? “Remarkable property of human memory: I saw them as they were during the war,”25. “His face was pale, almost translucent, his eyes are bloodshot”26 is about them, about everyone. War technical ideas, scientific and engineering schools – she, too, was won.
“Leningrad. 25 Jan 1942. Has electricity, no water, no running water; ceased communication… frost – 28 . Started the crash… Switch to temporary structures; all the forces (though weak) are being used to save the plant and equipment. People are hungry, but it works… little by little Handing out to people flax seed oil, and cooked for ttechnological needs”27.
This is a siege diary of the Director of the plant Alexey Kozlovsky. Factory – military, cable. To save the plant. People are hungry. Work. Distribute linseed oil.
“After the war, would have needed to rest… after working many years seven days a week and 17 hours a day. I had vacation from 1936 to 1948”28.
This is from the records of the chief engineer of tank factories Anatoly’yanovich.
12 years without a vacation. For many years seven days a week and 17 hours a day. Director, chief engineers, designers, with all the cunning and ingenuity – with the extreme scarcity of resources and people, making their production of deadly, high-speed, rapid production time, outstanding service.
In the years 1942-1945, they made the economic miracle.
Us is just ahead.
“They” probably say that is impossible. We are their continuation, we – they, too, are one people, one tree people. And we also need an economic miracle. In 1970-1980-ies of the USSR lost in the competition between countries. For 30 years, since the beginning of 1990-ies Russia, in the past, the core of the Soviet Union, instead of one of the world’s largest universal economies has become a raw, deeply dependent on imported technology and components.
We broke the mobilization system in 1940-1950 and its hybrids 1960-1980’s, But we never developed a social market economy. We have “human desertification”, the reduction of the population. We are unable to solve the problem of quality of life. Today Russia is at 95-100 th in the world for life expectancy. Every year we are lagging behind world growth rates. 5 crises-storms for 30 years (the beginning of the 1990s, 1998, 2008/2009, 2014, 2020) is too much.
once again, We need an economic miracle. It’s already made 15-20 countries after the Second world war. How to do it – you know, there is a huge experience. What ideas? Also known – the social market economy, large, universal, which would be easy to breathe. Young, agile. For anyone who is thinking, looking for a new. Goals? The quality and duration of life, growth, and modernization.
But this requires our energy, our inner freedom, the determination to change the economy. Need confidence of the people that can not continue. Change. Do. Competing for quality of life. For how many years I live. And for that, I know more and better than others. We are a talented.
Only then we can all say: we are – one tree of people. The people of 1941-1945 and the people of the 2020s is one that conquers people.
1. Andreev E., Darsky L., Kharkov T. The Population Of The Soviet Union. 1922-1991. – M.: Nauka, 1993. P. 78.
2. “Hello, my dear…” (letters 1941-1945). – N. Novgorod: Center. archive Nizhegor. reg., 2015. P. 121.
3. Ibid. P. 326.
4. Ibid. C. 87.
5. Ibid. P. 291.
6. Ibid. P. 383.
7. Voznesensky N. And. The military economy of the USSR during Patriotic war. – M.: OGIZ, 1948. P. 42; the Great Patriotic war. Volume 7. – Moscow: Kuchkovo pole, 2013. Pp. 64-65, 122, 146.
8. The great Patriotic war. Volume 12. – Moscow: Kuchkovo pole, 2015. P. 248.
9. The great Patriotic war. Volume 7. – Moscow: Kuchkovo pole, 2013. P. 138.
10. The great Patriotic war. Volume 12. – Moscow: Kuchkovo pole, 2015. P. 255.
11. In the book: Evacuation. Memories of childhood, scorched with fire disaster. Of the Soviet Union. 1941-1945. – Jerusalem, 2009. Address: http://www.lost-childhood.com/shkola vyzhivaniya/ 553-lobachevskaya-anna
12. Ibid. Address: http://www.lost-childhood.com/shkola-vyzhivaniya/170-arkadij-shatalov
13. Ibid. Address: http://www.lost-childhood.com/shkola-vyzhivaniya/561-rosensaft-viktor
14. Ibid. Address: http://www.lost-childhood.com/shkola-vyzhivaniya/376-astrakhan-vladimir
15. The great Patriotic war. Volume 7. – Moscow: Kuchkovo pole, 2013. C. 828-830.
16. Ibid. P. 830-831.
17. Ibid. P. 835.
18. Immortal shop – Perm: “Cannon” Motovilikhinskie Zavody, 2017. P. 38.
19. Ibid. P. 66-67.
20. Ibid. P. 72.
21. Ibid. P. 69.
22. Ibid. Pp. 31-32.
23. Shahinian M. Ural diary / / the “New world”, 1985, N 4.
24. Mikoyan A. it was. – Moscow: Vagrius, 1999. Chapter 37.
25. Ustinov In the name of Victory. – Moscow: Military Publishing, 1988. P. 194.
26. Ibid. P. 187.
27. The publication of tsgaipd SPb. F. 4000. Op. 11. 46. L. 25-25 about. Address: https://spbarchives.ru/cgaipd_publications/-/asset_ publisher/yV5V/content/listaa stranicy-proslogo-blokadnye nevniki?inheritRedirect=false
28. Tanks and people: “battle in the path of the” chief engineer’yanovich. – M.: “The Whole World”. P. 45.
