Everyday life of people in Western Siberia during the Great Patriotic War: on housing and household

During the Great Patriotic War Western Siberia turned to one of the main region with evacuated factories including big defense factories. Not only industrial plants came to the region, but also workers, engineers, employees with families. All-time evacuated citizens from occupied and front-line regions came here. At the same time the migration flowed backwards: troop trains went to the front. But the population didn't decrease. Population density grew high. All newcomer needed accommodation. In this connection the living problem was the main one for the cities in Western Siberia during the Great Patriotic War. Executive organs of the local Soviets made such decisions. They planned a building of simple houses: barracks, quarters, mud huts, etc. Granaries, goods sheds and others buildings were adapted to houserooms. The committee of AU-Union Communist Party in Tomsk and the City Council enacted a plan of speed housebuilding of such buildings, which were easy to build: barracks, mud huts. But the housebuliding didn't keep up with the industrial-production growth and the growth of population. In Nowosibirck 1941 the plan of housebuilding was defeated. Every year money war appropriated for housbuilding, overhaul and current repairs, but generally money wasn't spend. To solve the problem the local government authorities freeed places for newcomer from west at high speed. Certainly accommodations were given. Thousands of citizens understood the complexity of situation and offered evacuated people their houses. However the living conditions were complicated. Special focus was on building of dormitories. The half of public housing of many plants and factories included simplified buildings, where a large part of workers and employees lived. But the most part of dormitories was overcrowded. At a time of war lack of fuel, bedclothes, chairs, bedside table, also stealing of belongings, bugs, lack of radio and clocks were typical. Sometimes workers had to live in production shops. A huge flow of evacuated people, overcrowded accommodation, of living accommodation contributed to an epidemiological ill-being in the region. This problem was also to solve. During the War weeks or months of cleanness were held, dumpsites were organized. However situation was practically impossible to change under conditions of the War.

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