On health services for railway workers during the Great Patriotic War

Based on the analysis of documents from the funds of the central and regional archives, memoirs, periodical press materials, the article examines the state of medical care for USSR railway workers during the Great Patriotic War using the example of the front-line Kirov Railway. The focus is on the provision of medical and preventive care, protection, and improvement of the working conditions of railway workers. Extreme working conditions, labor intensification, housing, food and clothing problems caused by the war, non-observance of sanitary and hygienic standards had a negative impact on the state of health and working capacity of railway workers. During the Great Patriotic War, cases of violation of sanitary-hygienic and sanitary-anti-epidemic rules and norms were recorded on the Kirov Railway, the result of which was the creation of prerequisites for the spread of dysentery and pediculosis. Inadequate and unbalanced nutrition led to the emergence of diseases of dystrophy and scurvy. Failure to comply with safety and labor regulations contributed to the growth of injuries and accidents in the performance of professional duties on the railway.

The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945, the Kirov Railway, health care services, labor protection in rail transport