the Great Patriotic War

In the Russian historical science there are almost no studies devoted to propaganda, mass cultural and educational activities of the Department of Plenipotentiary of Soviet Union on repatriation of Soviet citizens amongthe Soviet displaced persons duringthe Great Patriotic War and after it. The article analyzes the propaganda, mass cultural and educational work of the Administration of the Plenipotentiary of the USSR Council of People’s Commissars, political organs, the administration of collecting-transfer points and collection camps in 1944–1946.

During World War II, the Soviet Union provided large-scale and multifaceted military assistance to the national liberation movement of Yugoslavia. This activity had several main directions, including training of Yugoslav military personnel in the USSR. The second direction was the training of Yugoslav military personnel in the USSR with the simultaneous creation of military formations. Thirdly, the formation of military units and the training of their personnel took place on the territory of Yugoslavia.

In the article the author addresses one of the little-studied issues of the history of the Great Patriotic War in regional historiography. The construction of defensive lines on the territory of the Saratov region, which was located for a long time in the near rear of the Soviet-German front, was carried out for a year and a half, took on a large spatial scale and required large-scale expenditures of human and material resources. From the autumn of 1941 until March 1943, six field-type defense lines with a total length of over 600 kilometers were built in the region.

The paper deals with Volga river crossings as a vital means of transportation during the Great Patriotic War. The information on river crossings work before and duringthe Battle of Stalingrad are summarized, systematized and supplemented. The changes intheir number, location and work in fighting are traced. The results of Volga crossings work are established. The conclusion on Volga crossings vital importance for evacuation as well is made.

The article examines the state of agriculture and the financial situation of rural residents of the Saratov region during the Great Patriotic War from the point of view of the mobilization model of the Soviet economy. The specific indicators and ways of implementing the state policy in the region to maximize the mobilization of human, logistical, food and financial resources of the village in the interests of the army, the impact of this factor on the livelihoods of the population are analyzed.

The article deals with such aspects ofmilitary everyday life ofthe 50th and 51sttank brigades duringthe Great Patriotic War as problems of nutrition, clothing allowance, sanitary and hygienic conditions and housing. The source base of the study was the documents of the Central Archive of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, methodological manuals, as well as memories of veterans. The conclusion about the importance of solving these issues in a comfortable, as far as possible, arrangement of life for tank soldiers is formulated.

The paper analyses the condition of the Volga river transportation in the beginning of the 1942 navigation and the peculiarities of its organization. The author demonstrates the outcomes of the measures on improvement of the Upper-Volga, Middle-Volga and Lower Volga Steamship Lines as well as the “Volgotanker” Steamship Line. The paper concludes on the exceptional character of transportation of cargoes, oil included, on the Volga in the period.

In the article, the editorial Board of the journal refers to a significant event in the life of the region of recent times – the awarding of the honorary title of «City of Labor Valour» to Saratov Saratov. The reasons for making such a decision by the President of the Russian Federation are considered. It shows the contribution of Saratov as one of the largest military-industrial centers of the country in ensuring victory in the Great Patriotic War and the most important facts of the labor feat of its residents.

 The article analyzes the work of the Office of the Commissioner of the SNK of the USSR for the repatriation of Soviet citizens, Military councils, headquarters of fronts and armies for the return of Soviet displaced persons on foot in 1944–1945. The central place in the publication is occupied by the analysis of the organization of the mechanism of pedestrian crossings of released Soviet prisoners of war and civilian displaced persons to the western border of the USSR.