Annotation of the results obtained in 2023
During the implementation of the project, a set of archival materials was identified and introduced into scientific circulation, which showed that the housing stock of Leningrad underwent serious transformations during the first war years. In the published articles, it was possible to analyze a wide range of issues characterizing the essence and direction of housing policy during the years of the siege of Leningrad, at the final stage of the Great Patriotic War and at the stage of restoration of the urban economy in the post-war period. The performers summarized the results of the activities of the party and Soviet authorities of Leningrad in implementing housing policy. It was found that all decisions of the governing bodies aimed at implementing the restrictive practice of providing housing in Leningrad during the war and in the first time after its end were dictated by the emergency circumstances in which the city and its residents found themselves. Evacuation of a significant part of the population, high mortality rate of Leningrad residents in 1941–1942. The housing problem was only temporarily eased. With the return to peaceful life, the city again needed not only production workers, but also specialists employed in other areas. The housing policy of the city leadership, letters from citizens to the authorities testified to the establishment of control over the composition of the returning population from the point of view of its demand both for solving the problems of industry and construction, and for the daily needs of the city. The re-evacuation process was controlled by the party and Soviet leadership. The specifics of providing housing to various groups of the population, including those who had certain privileges, were revealed. In mid-1944, about 40 categories of leaders of party, Soviet, Komsomol, trade union, economic organizations, as well as court authorities, prosecutors, chief doctors of hospitals and clinics enjoyed the right to additional living space. The “closed city” that Leningrad had been since 1943 began to gradually change towards the end of the war. But it happened slowly. From the beginning of 1944, the development of a General Plan for the Restoration and Development of Leningrad was initiated, although the practical implementation of some of its principles began during the blockade. The plan included reducing the density of buildings in the central part of the city, building small apartments, improving the street network that ensured transport accessibility, and restoring buildings of old architecture to their original form. On June 8, 1944, the executive committee of the Leningrad City Council adopted a decision in which it was noted that “in connection with the significant destruction of the housing stock of the city of Leningrad during the war and in order to provide living space for citizens returning to Leningrad,” for the period of war in municipal and departmental houses a housing and sanitary standard was established at 6 square meters per person, which corresponded to pre-war standards. The growing pace of re-evacuation did not correspond to plans for the restoration of the housing stock and public utility enterprises of Leningrad. The result was the adoption on September 3, 1944 of the State Defense Committee resolution “On the limitation in 1944 of the re-evacuation of institutions, institutes and labor to Leningrad.” Private returns to the city were prevented. Previous decisions on the re-evacuation of workers, employees, students and members of their families to Leningrad were canceled. The decisions of the State Defense Committee and the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR on the import of workers and employees to Leningrad were declared fulfilled. The Leningrad City Executive Committee was prohibited from issuing passes (challenges) in excess of the city population of 950 thousand people established on January 1, 1945. In 1944, the enrollment of nonresident students in universities and technical schools in Leningrad was prohibited. Soon after the end of the war, there were relaxations in the passport regime, and by the summer of 1946, entry into Leningrad was open. The decision of the executive committee of the Leningrad City Council dated August 12, 1946 provided “in connection with the permission of free entry into the city. Leningrad" to resume, from August 1, 1946, the collection of rent for living space, which was retained for certain categories of evacuated citizens who were previously exempt from paying utility bills.

 

Publications

---

Annotation of the results obtained in 2022
During the implementation of the first stage of the project, an in-depth analysis of the historiography of the problem was carried out, and the identified archival materials were introduced into scientific circulation. In the published articles, it was possible to analyze a wide range of issues that characterize the essence and direction of housing policy during the years of the siege of Leningrad. On the basis of a complex of sources, the activity of the city evacuation point at the turn of 1941/42 was analyzed. His reports indicate that tens of thousands of refugees who ended up in Leningrad at the start of the war were deprived of minimum living conditions. For their living in the city, they tried to adapt schools. At the same time, there was a "densification" of those who had surplus living space. Already in the autumn of 1941, those who were left without a roof over their heads began to be moved into their apartments. The performers summarized the results of the activities of the bodies of the party and Soviet authorities of Leningrad in the implementation of housing policy. At the same time, it was noted that, despite the efforts made by the leadership of Leningrad in solving the problem of evacuating refugees, the fate of most of them turned out to be tragic. The conditions of stay of thousands of people in dormitories of evacuation centers, difficulties in registering in the city, abuses in issuing food cards and in the process of providing refugees with food, the difficulty of transporting them to the "mainland", early and severe winter led to high mortality. This was superimposed by a weak organization in matters of fixing and distributing the urban housing stock, which, being under the jurisdiction of local Soviets, repeatedly passed from hand to hand during the war years without appropriate legal formalization and logistical support. Describing the content of the housing policy of the city authorities, the publications of the performers show that the fuel crisis that began in Leningrad with the blockade, which became one of the main reasons for the paralysis of industrial life and contributed to the catastrophic death of the population, forced the city authorities to take a radical decision to demolish the vast majority of wooden structures in city line. This decision was not a one-time decision, the search for wood resources took place during the first winter of the siege. But a significant reduction in the population due to mass evacuation and high mortality, as well as the task of restoring industry and preserving the main housing stock, determined the essence of the firewood campaign in the fall of 1942. An analysis of the documents showed that the housing stock of Leningrad underwent serious transformations during the first war years. Some of the buildings were destroyed or required major repairs. As a result of the mass mortality of the population in the winter of 1941/42. and several waves of evacuation, the city leadership got the opportunity to create a reserve housing stock, which was used in emergency situations to provide living space to those who, for various reasons, lost it. The campaign to demolish wooden houses in the city, launched in the autumn of 1942, also led to a reduction in the number of residential buildings in Leningrad. The published articles reveal the main features of the system of providing housing for various categories of the population. In general, during the blockade of Leningrad, the decisions of the city authorities on housing issues reflected the all-Union trends. At the same time, they were dictated by regional specifics - the presence of a large number of wooden houses, some of which were in disrepair and subject to demolition. The enormous mortality of the population in the first blockade winter, as well as the evacuation of hundreds of thousands of residents of Leningrad, allowed the city leadership to populate empty apartments. However, the re-evacuation of industrial enterprises and the population, which began in 1943, led to the need to introduce serious restrictions on tens of thousands of workers, employees, engineers and their families entering Leningrad, turning it into a “closed city” for a while. The project leader and executors published 4 articles, including 2 of them in publications indexed in the international database Scopus (Q-1). The performers made 8 reports at scientific conferences, made oral presentations during the work of 2 "Summer Schools". The housing policy pursued in Leningrad at the final stage of the Great Patriotic War and in the first post-war years will be considered during the next stage of the project.

 

Publications

---