Sverdlovsk and Perm Railways in 1941–1945: Patriotic Movement of Ural Railway Workers

The paper analyses the level of socio-political consciousness of workers of the Sverdlovsk and Perm railways during the Great Patriotic War. The paper shows that Ural railway workers made a significant contribution to the process of forming an indissoluble unity of the front and rear, both by achieving high production indicators and by actively participating in the patriotic movement. The paper also provides a detailed description of participation of railway workers in their free time in subbotnik (Saturday clean-up) and voskresnik (Sunday clean-up), in raising funds for the Defence Fund, in sending warm clothes and gifts for front-line soldiers, and in helping areas of the USSR liberated from the German occupiers. The paper focuses on the formation of special-purpose trains as an important area of military-patriotic activity of the Ural railway workers during the Great Patriotic War. In addition, the paper notes that armoured trains, military sanitary trains and bath trains, created during off-duty hours with money received because of patriotic events, were the necessary material embodiment of gratuitous support for soldiers and commanders of the Red Army from home front workers. The paper concludes that the high level of ideological and political motivation of employees of the Sverdlovsk and Perm railways contributed to their effective work, bringing victory over the hated enemy closer.