Children of War: on the issue of providing assistance to children evacuated to the Stalingrad region in 1941 – early 1942.

Abstract

The object of the study is the social policy of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War. The subject of the study is social policy measures aimed at protecting childhood in the period under review. The methodological basis of the article is the principles of objectivity, historicism and determinism, which allow us to consider the content and significance of all the events that took place related to the creation of a system of measures aimed at protecting children, to show the multidimensionality of the events taking place, a holistic historical picture of a specific chronological period, consisting of a set of facts and their interaction. The author presents a comprehensive analysis of measures aimed at evacuating children from frontline areas to the rear, providing assistance to evacuated children's institutions, transferring orphaned children to foster families. The author draws attention to the changes in the legislative framework, the purpose of which was to more effectively regulate issues related to the provision of assistance to children. The article examines the initiatives of local authorities implemented within the framework of the state policy for the protection of childhood at the initial stage of the war. The materials of the regional archive are introduced into scientific circulation, which allow illustrating issues related to the evacuation of children to Stalingrad and the mechanisms of interaction between the authorities and society in the process of helping children. The author concludes that there are a number of difficulties associated with the placement of evacuated children's institutions and the possibilities of overcoming them, despite the difficult conditions of wartime.