The Great Patriotic War

The Great Patriotic War and Western Siberia

In the early morning of June, the peaceful peace of the Motherland was blown up by the roar of artillery cannonade, the roar of tanks and airplanes, the explosions of bombs, shells and mines. On June 22, 1941, the Great Patriotic War began.

Already in the first days of the war, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR announced the mobilization of those who were liable for military service, born from 1905 to 1918 inclusive. On the third day of the war, the first group of volunteers was sent to the front.

Having given the best forces to the front, the Siberians concentrated all their forces on helping the Red Army. During the war, woodworking and forestry, fish production, and the food industry were preserved and developed. So, the Tobolsk forestry enterprise has established mass production of special materials — weapon blanks, butts for light machine guns and submachine guns, ski ridge, barrel linings, aviation and ordinary plywood.

During the Great Patriotic War, fishing was not only a successful branch of the national economy (valuable fish was part of the payment for Allied lend-lease supplies), but also very often a source of survival for the population. Siberians doubled and then tripled the catch and harvesting of fish and the production of fish products. During the four years of the war, fishermen of the Ob-Irtysh basin produced 3 million 734 thousand quintals of fish. Fish harvesting required urgent modernization of fishing vessels — the Tobolsk shipyard received a new development at that time.

Production companies made felt boots, knitted mittens, sewed sheepskin coats.

Agriculture suffered heavy losses. Natural disasters have been added to the troubles of the war here. For three years in a row, the fertile lands of Tobol and Irtysh were subjected to devastating floods. The worst of them was the flood of 1941, when the water stood until late autumn. The rampant elements undermined the village’s economy, causing material damage estimated in millions of rubles. Despite this, the machine and tractor stations donated their cars and tractors to the Red Army. The place of the men who went to the front was taken by the elderly, women and children. More than half of the workers on collective farms were women. During the difficult years of the war, MTS managed to train tractor drivers and combine harvesters instead of men who went to the front.

The victory came at a high price. 27 million Soviet citizens died.

The war has drained the villages of blood. Only 3% of young men born in 1921−1922 remained. There was no family that did not lose a father, son or brother.

Siberian rear

Due to the occupation of a significant part of the country’s territory, the main burden fell on the eastern regions to meet the needs of the army. In a short time, the factories and plants of the region repurposed production.

There were great difficulties in agriculture. The reason for this was, among other things, the flood of 1941. In many areas, nothing has been planted or sown. Due to the lack of feed from 1941 to 1944, the number of cattle decreased by 34.3%, sheep — by 29.6%, pigs — by 63.5%. At the same time, for each case of livestock deaths, collective farmers were put on trial. By 1945, the sown area had decreased from 890 thousand to 576 thousand hectares compared to 1940. The average yield did not exceed 5 kg per hectare.

From the first days of the war, in connection with the departure to the front, men in factories and factories were replaced by women, who also became the main force in collective farms and MTS. About a hundred girls got on tractors in Vagay and Ushakov MTS. In the Nadym district, the name of 17-year-old Nenka Val Optu was widely known, who extracted an average of 360 squirrels, exceeding the task set for hunters by 150 percent.

During the war, pensioners and war invalids began to return to production. So, in the fishing collective farm "Stalinskaya Tribune" (Khanty yurts of the Scarecrow), Kuzma Chuchelin, a disabled person of the Patriotic War, worked, who led the link of young fishermen.

When the restructuring of the Soviet rear in a military manner was completed, its workers launched an All-Union competition, which was divided by industry and territory. For example, in the collective farms of the Tobolsk district in 1941, the movement "More bread to the front" unfolded.

In 1942, a month of logging dedicated to the soldiers of Stalingrad took place. The best results were achieved by the team of the Aremzyansky forest section under the leadership of D.D. Kandakov. The girls of the Ulyana Bobova link from the village of Kutarbitka in the Tobolsk district harvested 785 cubic meters of wood, completing the monthly task by 220 percent.

During the war, a movement of home front workers to provide material assistance to the front began. It took a variety of forms: the creation of the national defense Fund, collecting warm clothes for soldiers of the Red Army, sending parcels and holiday gifts to veterans, subscribing to military loans, purchasing tickets for a money and clothing lottery, etc.

The war had an impact on education and culture. Many school buildings were occupied by dormitories, hospitals and recruiting stations. Some of the schools were transferred to orphanages and boarding schools, they housed about 22 thousand children. Children from Leningrad, the Moscow region, Zaporizhia, and Novocherkassk were evacuated to Tobolsk. A Polish orphanage is located in the city. There was an orphanage for Tatar children "Red Vostok". In 1943, there were 19 orphanages and boarding schools in Tobolsk, they contained more than 2,000 pupils. Tobolsk families have adopted about 400 children who have lost their parents.

The educational process did not stop. In addition, many universities have been transferred to the Siberian hinterland. In August 1941, the Omsk Pedagogical Institute named after A.M. Gorky was transferred to Tobolsk. It was located in the same building as the Tobolsk Teachers' Institute. A military infantry school transferred from Tallinn was located in Tyumen, the Leningrad Artillery Special School worked in Tobolsk, and the Leningrad Aviation Technical School worked in Ishim.

Cultural workers also made a feasible contribution to the victory over the enemy. On the stage of the Tyumen Drama Theater there were plays "Wait for Me" by K. Simonov, "Partisans in the steppes of Ukraine" by A. Korneychuk, "The Sea is Wide" by V. Vishnevsky. Even in difficult times, people could not do without art.

Siberians on the fronts of the Great Patriotic War

On June 22, 1941, Nazi Germany attacked the Soviet Union. The Great Patriotic War began, which became a cruel test for the peoples of the USSR. Siberians occupy a special place in the battles and battles of the Great Patriotic War. Siberian divisions and regiments fought in all sectors of the vast Soviet-German front, participated in Moscow, Stalingrad, Kursk and other important operations, as well as in battles against Japanese militarists.

In the first week of the war, hundreds of residents of our region submitted applications for voluntary membership in the ranks of the Red Army, so 98 collective farmers in the Ishim district submitted it, 30 in the village of Isetskoye.

On June 25, 1941, the first volunteers, mostly collective farmers, set off from Tobolsk to Omsk on the steamer Alexei Bui. The 65th Infantry Division, which was stationed in Tyumen, Ishim and Kamyshlov from 1932 to 1939, was the first to engage the enemy. On November 7, the division participated in the historic parade on Red Square, and a few days later went on the offensive and liberated Tikhvin on December 8. For the differences in the battles, the division was transformed into the 102nd Guards, received the honorary name "Novgorod-Pomeranian", was awarded many orders.

In the first months of the war, the 712th line communications battalion, created in the region, went to the front, as part of the First Shock Army, which took part in the famous Battle of Moscow and subsequent battles. In the early spring of 1942, the 364th Infantry Division arrived from our region on the Northwestern Front, which later fought at Sinyavino and Tosno. The Steel Siberian Tosnenskaya Rifle Division — that’s what it was called at the front. From here, the 368th Infantry Division, the 6th and 7th separate anti-tank fighter brigades went into battle.

But not all Siberian divisions had a chance to experience the joy of victory. Sent from Ishim in November 1941 to the Northwestern Front, the 384th Infantry Division was drained of blood in the battles near Staraya Russa. The 229th Infantry Division formed from conscripts in Ishim was also tragic. In July 1942, in the bend of the Don, she was surrounded. Almost all of its fighters and commanders died or were captured.

During the difficult battles near Stalingrad and in the Caucasus, the Siberian Volunteer Division was formed from the best sons of Siberia. This patriotic initiative was followed in other Siberian cities. In Omsk, Tyumen, Kemerovo, Barnaul, and Krasnoyarsk, the formation of volunteer brigades began, which then became part of the Siberian Division. The Siberians equipped the division with weapons, equipment, and ammunition. On September 14, 1942, the division went to the front. The backbone of it were Communists and Komsomol members.

The experience of the Stalingrad soldiers was skillfully used by the participants of the Battle of Kursk. In the area of the village of Pokrovki, Belgorod region, the 10th Guards fighter-anti-tank brigade formed in Tyumen held the defense.

The 368th Infantry Division, formed in autumn 1941 in Tyumen, participated in the liberation of the Soviet Arctic and Northern Norway. During the fighting, the soldiers and officers of this division liberated more than 400 settlements of the Vologda and Leningrad regions and Karelia from the invaders. The division was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the honorary name "Pechengskaya".

Siberians participated in the liberation of Ukraine, the Baltic States, Belarus, and liberated the countries of Eastern Europe.

In the fierce battles with the Nazis, thousands of our countrymen showed miracles of heroism. For their exploits, they were awarded orders and medals of the USSR, 76 people in the Tyumen region were awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union, 9 became full holders of the Order of Glory.

Restoration of agriculture after the war

The restoration of agriculture, which suffered from the war, was very difficult in the USSR. There were not enough equipment and workers in the country. But the most terrible blow to agriculture was inflicted by nature.

In the summer of 1945 Ukraine, Moldova and the Volga region were hit by drought. In August-September 1945, heavy rains fell in Western Siberia. The ground was so saturated with water that the trailer combines were sinking and the tractors did not have the strength to pull them out.

It was a rainy summer in 1947. It has been raining continuously since the end of July, and snow fell in many places in the second half of September. The collective farms had not harvested hay, and the already harvested rotted in stacks. Rains have complicated the harvest. By mid-September, most of the collective farms in the district had completed the harvest plan by only a third.

In 1948, there was a severe flood in Western Siberia.

In 1946, a five-year plan for the restoration of the national economy (1946−1950) was adopted. By the end of the five-year period, it was expected to exceed the pre-war level of acreage by 8%, cattle by 71%, horses by 61%, sheep by 82%, pigs by 250%. Life has shown how fantastic these plans were.

There was practically no production base in the collective farms. Barnyards and workshops were emptied during the war. Most of the work was done on horseback or by hand. The remaining equipment was so worn out that in the spring of 1946, 20 thousand cows were used during sowing in the Tyumen region. Often, the role of the traction force was performed by the people themselves.

At the end of the reconstruction five-year plan, in 1950, it was possible to achieve only 79% of the sown areas of the 1940 level, for the production of livestock products — 67%.

In 1953, the level of acreage in 1940 was reached, but the average yield (8.5 c) was even lower. It was not possible to reach the pre-war level of grain procurement. The standard of living of the villagers remained low. The village was waiting for a change.