THE JOURNAL OF REGIONAL HISTORY V.10 No.1
“The Name of the Kryukov Works Is Familiar...”: Episodes from the History of Evacuation to the City of Molotov in 1941
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Based on unpublished archival materials, the article offers a reconstruction of two stories connected by the unity of action (evacuation of two large enterprises from the RSFSR and Dnieper region), the unity of time (late summer – winter of 1941), and the unity of place (the village of Kislotnyi in the territory of the city of Molotov, determined as the evacuation destination of both Kryukov and Kalinin carriage works). The first story refers to the evacuation of a large engineering plant from combat zone of the Southwestern Front. The second story provides a description of the events that unfolded in a heated freight car of a special train transporting workers and equipment of the Kalinin carriage works to the same village of Kislotnyi, where the Kryukov works was rout into operation again thanks to the efforts of several dozen engineers and workers that had arrived together with the incomplete equipment. During the Great Patriotic War, it began producing high-explosive aerial bombs.
In addition to those two stories, the article contains two research approaches. The first one is the institutional approach, which is crucial for the reconstruction of evacuation efforts. The second one is the anthropological approach, which aided the authors in characterizing the interpersonal tensions developed among the 36 people who were forced to stay in a confined space of a heated freight car with triple bunks for a month. The narrative focus is the conflict between the train master and female party activists amidst the collective trauma shared by all participants.
The intention of our research is to present the tragic side of wartime evacuation in 1941–42 and later years in two private stories.
In addition to those two stories, the article contains two research approaches. The first one is the institutional approach, which is crucial for the reconstruction of evacuation efforts. The second one is the anthropological approach, which aided the authors in characterizing the interpersonal tensions developed among the 36 people who were forced to stay in a confined space of a heated freight car with triple bunks for a month. The narrative focus is the conflict between the train master and female party activists amidst the collective trauma shared by all participants.
The intention of our research is to present the tragic side of wartime evacuation in 1941–42 and later years in two private stories.
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1941–1943]. Kul'turnyi kod, no. 1 (2025): 112–24. (In Russian)
Eshelony idut na vostok (iz istorii perebazirovaniya proizvoditel'nykh sil SSSR v 1941–1942 gg.): sbornik statei i vospominanii [Special trains go to the east (from the history of relocation of productive forces of the USSR in 1941–1942): A collection of articles and memoirs], edited by Yu.A. Polyakov et al. Moscow: Nauka, 1966. (In Russian)
Fizeler, B., and R.D. Markvik, comps. Sovetskii tyl 1941–1945: povsednevnaya zhizn' v gody voiny [The Soviet rear, 1941–1945: Everyday life during the war years]. Moscow: Politicheskaya entsiklopediya, 2019. (In Russian)
Karavaeva, I.V., ed. Ekonomicheskii fundament Pobedy: paralleli istorii i sovremennosti [Economic foundation of victory: Parallels of history and modernity]. Moscow: Institut ekonomiki Rossiiskoi akademii nauk, 2015. (In Russian)
Khristoforov, V.S., ed. Velikaya Otechestvennaya voina. 1941 god: Issledovaniya, dokumenty, kommentarii [The Great Patriotic War. 1941: Studies, documents, commentaries]. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo Glavnogo arkhivnogo upravleniya goroda Moskvy, 2011. (In Russian)
Krinko, E.F., I.G. Tazhidinova, and T.P. Khlynina. Chastnaya zhizn' sovetskogo cheloveka v usloviyakh voennogo vremeni: prostranstvo, granitsy i mekhanizmy realizatsii (1941–1945) [Private life of a Soviet person during the war: Space, boundaries, and mechanisms of implementation]. Rostov-on-Don: Izdatel'stvo YuNTs RAN, 2013. (In Russian)
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Likhomanov, M.I., L.T. Pozina, and E.I. Finogenov. Partiinoe rukovodstvo evakuatsiei v pervyi period Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny. 1941–1942 gg. [Party leadership of evacuation in the first period of the Great Patriotic War. 1941–1942]. Leningrad: Izdatel'stvo Leningradskogo universiteta, 1985. (In Russian)
Malakov, D. “‘22 iyunya, rovno v chetyre chasa...’ (Deshcho z ictopii Kieva togo dnya)” [‘On June 22, at four o’clock sharp...’ (Something from the history of Kiev of that time]. Viis'kovo-istorychnyi аl'manakh. Chasnovnyk – Tsentral'nyi muzei Zbroinykh Syl Ukrayiny, no. 1 (2006): 60–74. (In Ukraninan)
Mudraya, V. “Kremenchug i Kryukov: 200 let vmeste!” [Kremenchug i Kryukov: 200 years together]. Telegraf", November 6, 2017. Accessed April 13, 2024. (In Russian)
Nechaev, M.G. “Evakuatsiya nauchnykh, uchebnykh i kul'turnykh uchrezhdenii v gorod Molotov (Perm') vo vremya Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny” [Evacuation of scientific, educational, and cultural institutions to the city of Molotov (Perm) during the Great Patriotic War]. Gumanitarnye issledovaniya. Istoriya i filologiya, no. 5 (2022): 16–40. (In Russian)
Paramonov, B., and I. Tolstoi. Bedlam kak Vifleem: Besedy lyubitelei russkogo slova. Filosofskii kommentarii k russkoi literature [Bedlam as Bethlehem: Conversations of lovers of the Russian Word. A philosophical commentary on Russian literature]. Moscow: Izdatel'skii dom “Delo” RANKhiGS, 2017. (In Russian)
Pashchenko, M.Ya. “K osveshcheniyu voprosa o vremeni sozdaniya Soveta po evakuatsii i ego rukovodstve v nauchnoi i uchebnoi literature” [To the issue of the time of establishment of the Evacuation Council and its leadership in scientific and educational literature]. Bereginya. 777. Sova, no. 3 (14) (2012): 49–54. (In Russian)
Platonov, S.P., ed. Operatsii sovetskikh vooruzhennykh sil v period otrazheniya napadeniya fashistskoi Germanii na SSSR. (22 iyunya 1941 g. – 18 noyabrya 1942 g.) [Operations of the Soviet Armed Forces in the period of repelling the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR (June 22, 1941 – November 18, 1942)]. Moscow: Voenizdat, 1958. (In Russian)
Potemkina, M.N. Evakuatsiya v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny: lyudi i sud'by [Evacuation during the Great Patriotic War: People and fates]. Magnitogorsk: MaGU, 2002. (In Russian)
Potemkina, M.N. “Vykovyrennye”: lichnostnoe vospriyatie evakuatsii v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny [‘Plucked out’: Personal perceptions of evacuation during the Great Patriotic War]. Magnitogorsk: Izdatel'stvo Magnitogorskogo gosudarstvennogo tekhnicheskogo universiteta im. G.I. Nosova, 2016. (In Russian)
Safonova, T.A. “Priem i razmeshchenie evakuirovannogo naseleniya v Zapadnoi Sibiri v 1941–1942 godakh” [Reception and accommodation of evacuated population in Western Siberia in 1941–1942]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Seriya: Gumanitarnye nauki (spetsvypusk), iss. 4 (20) (2000): 122–25. (In Russian)
Shablii, E.A. “Kremenchugskoe podpol'e v gody Vtoroi mirovoi voiny” [Kremenchug underground during the Second World War]. Okrain.net.ua. Accessed May 28, 2025. (In Russian)
Shevyrin, S.A. “Arkhivno-sledstvennye dela NKVD kak istochnik, dopolnyayushchii istoriyu evakuatsii (na primere Molotovskoi oblasti)” [Archival investigation files of the NKVD as a source supplementing the history of evacuation (a case study of Molotov Oblast)]. In Noyabr'skie istoriko-arkhivnye chteniya – 2019 g.: materialy Mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii “Velikaya Otechestvennaya voina. 1941–1945 gg. K 75-letiyu Pobedy” (Perm', 7–8 noyabrya 2019 g.) [November historical and archival readings – 2019: Proceedings of the International scientific and practical conference “The Great Patriotic War. 1941–1945. On the 75th Anniversary of Victory” (Perm, November 7–8, 2019)], edited by S.V. Neganov, 480–86. Perm: Permskii gosudarstvennyi arkhiv sotsial'no-politicheskoi istorii, 2020. (In Russian)
Simonov, N.S. Voenno-promyshlennyi kompleks SSSR v 1920–1950-e gody: tempy ekonomicheskogo rosta, struktura, organizatsiya proizvodstva i upravlenie [Military-industrial complex of the USSR in the 1920s–1950s: Economic growth rates, structure, production organization, and management]. Moscow: Rossiiskaya politicheskaya entsiklopediya (ROSSPEN), 1996. (In Russian)
Smykalin, A.S. “Politicheskie nastroeniya evakuirovannogo na Ural naseleniya v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny: po materialam voennoi tsenzury” [Political sentiments of the population evacuated to the Urals during the Great Patriotic War: Based on the materials of military censorship]. In Rol' organov i voisk gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti v dostizhenii pobedy v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine 1941–1945 gg.: materialy regional'noi nauchnoi konferentsii (Ekaterinburg, 25–26 fevralya 2005 g.) [Role of state security agencies and troops in achieving victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945: Proceedings of the Regional scientific conference (Yekaterinburg, February 25–26, 2005), 51–55. Yekaterinburg, 2005. (In Russian)
“Vagonostroenie v gody pervykh pyatiletok. Razvitie vagonostroitel'nykh zavodov” [Carriage engineering in the years of the first five-year plan periods. The development of carriage works]. 1520mm.ru. Accessed April 13, 2024. (In Russian)
Bulyulina, E. “Evakuatsiya sel'skokhozyaistvennykh zhivotnykh v Stalingradskoi oblasti v 1941–1942 gg.” [Evacuation and re-evacuation of farm animals in the Stalingrad region in
1941–1943]. Kul'turnyi kod, no. 1 (2025): 112–24. (In Russian)
Eshelony idut na vostok (iz istorii perebazirovaniya proizvoditel'nykh sil SSSR v 1941–1942 gg.): sbornik statei i vospominanii [Special trains go to the east (from the history of relocation of productive forces of the USSR in 1941–1942): A collection of articles and memoirs], edited by Yu.A. Polyakov et al. Moscow: Nauka, 1966. (In Russian)
Fizeler, B., and R.D. Markvik, comps. Sovetskii tyl 1941–1945: povsednevnaya zhizn' v gody voiny [The Soviet rear, 1941–1945: Everyday life during the war years]. Moscow: Politicheskaya entsiklopediya, 2019. (In Russian)
Karavaeva, I.V., ed. Ekonomicheskii fundament Pobedy: paralleli istorii i sovremennosti [Economic foundation of victory: Parallels of history and modernity]. Moscow: Institut ekonomiki Rossiiskoi akademii nauk, 2015. (In Russian)
Khristoforov, V.S., ed. Velikaya Otechestvennaya voina. 1941 god: Issledovaniya, dokumenty, kommentarii [The Great Patriotic War. 1941: Studies, documents, commentaries]. Moscow: Izdatel'stvo Glavnogo arkhivnogo upravleniya goroda Moskvy, 2011. (In Russian)
Krinko, E.F., I.G. Tazhidinova, and T.P. Khlynina. Chastnaya zhizn' sovetskogo cheloveka v usloviyakh voennogo vremeni: prostranstvo, granitsy i mekhanizmy realizatsii (1941–1945) [Private life of a Soviet person during the war: Space, boundaries, and mechanisms of implementation]. Rostov-on-Don: Izdatel'stvo YuNTs RAN, 2013. (In Russian)
Kumanev, G.A. “Voina i evakuatsiya v SSSR 1941–1942 gody” [War and evacuation in the USSR in 1941–1942]. Novaya i noveishaya istoriya, no. 6 (2006): 7–27. (In Russian)
Likhomanov, M.I., L.T. Pozina, and E.I. Finogenov. Partiinoe rukovodstvo evakuatsiei v pervyi period Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny. 1941–1942 gg. [Party leadership of evacuation in the first period of the Great Patriotic War. 1941–1942]. Leningrad: Izdatel'stvo Leningradskogo universiteta, 1985. (In Russian)
Malakov, D. “‘22 iyunya, rovno v chetyre chasa...’ (Deshcho z ictopii Kieva togo dnya)” [‘On June 22, at four o’clock sharp...’ (Something from the history of Kiev of that time]. Viis'kovo-istorychnyi аl'manakh. Chasnovnyk – Tsentral'nyi muzei Zbroinykh Syl Ukrayiny, no. 1 (2006): 60–74. (In Ukraninan)
Mudraya, V. “Kremenchug i Kryukov: 200 let vmeste!” [Kremenchug i Kryukov: 200 years together]. Telegraf", November 6, 2017. Accessed April 13, 2024. (In Russian)
Nechaev, M.G. “Evakuatsiya nauchnykh, uchebnykh i kul'turnykh uchrezhdenii v gorod Molotov (Perm') vo vremya Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny” [Evacuation of scientific, educational, and cultural institutions to the city of Molotov (Perm) during the Great Patriotic War]. Gumanitarnye issledovaniya. Istoriya i filologiya, no. 5 (2022): 16–40. (In Russian)
Paramonov, B., and I. Tolstoi. Bedlam kak Vifleem: Besedy lyubitelei russkogo slova. Filosofskii kommentarii k russkoi literature [Bedlam as Bethlehem: Conversations of lovers of the Russian Word. A philosophical commentary on Russian literature]. Moscow: Izdatel'skii dom “Delo” RANKhiGS, 2017. (In Russian)
Pashchenko, M.Ya. “K osveshcheniyu voprosa o vremeni sozdaniya Soveta po evakuatsii i ego rukovodstve v nauchnoi i uchebnoi literature” [To the issue of the time of establishment of the Evacuation Council and its leadership in scientific and educational literature]. Bereginya. 777. Sova, no. 3 (14) (2012): 49–54. (In Russian)
Platonov, S.P., ed. Operatsii sovetskikh vooruzhennykh sil v period otrazheniya napadeniya fashistskoi Germanii na SSSR. (22 iyunya 1941 g. – 18 noyabrya 1942 g.) [Operations of the Soviet Armed Forces in the period of repelling the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR (June 22, 1941 – November 18, 1942)]. Moscow: Voenizdat, 1958. (In Russian)
Potemkina, M.N. Evakuatsiya v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny: lyudi i sud'by [Evacuation during the Great Patriotic War: People and fates]. Magnitogorsk: MaGU, 2002. (In Russian)
Potemkina, M.N. “Vykovyrennye”: lichnostnoe vospriyatie evakuatsii v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny [‘Plucked out’: Personal perceptions of evacuation during the Great Patriotic War]. Magnitogorsk: Izdatel'stvo Magnitogorskogo gosudarstvennogo tekhnicheskogo universiteta im. G.I. Nosova, 2016. (In Russian)
Safonova, T.A. “Priem i razmeshchenie evakuirovannogo naseleniya v Zapadnoi Sibiri v 1941–1942 godakh” [Reception and accommodation of evacuated population in Western Siberia in 1941–1942]. Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta. Seriya: Gumanitarnye nauki (spetsvypusk), iss. 4 (20) (2000): 122–25. (In Russian)
Shablii, E.A. “Kremenchugskoe podpol'e v gody Vtoroi mirovoi voiny” [Kremenchug underground during the Second World War]. Okrain.net.ua. Accessed May 28, 2025. (In Russian)
Shevyrin, S.A. “Arkhivno-sledstvennye dela NKVD kak istochnik, dopolnyayushchii istoriyu evakuatsii (na primere Molotovskoi oblasti)” [Archival investigation files of the NKVD as a source supplementing the history of evacuation (a case study of Molotov Oblast)]. In Noyabr'skie istoriko-arkhivnye chteniya – 2019 g.: materialy Mezhdunarodnoi nauchno-prakticheskoi konferentsii “Velikaya Otechestvennaya voina. 1941–1945 gg. K 75-letiyu Pobedy” (Perm', 7–8 noyabrya 2019 g.) [November historical and archival readings – 2019: Proceedings of the International scientific and practical conference “The Great Patriotic War. 1941–1945. On the 75th Anniversary of Victory” (Perm, November 7–8, 2019)], edited by S.V. Neganov, 480–86. Perm: Permskii gosudarstvennyi arkhiv sotsial'no-politicheskoi istorii, 2020. (In Russian)
Simonov, N.S. Voenno-promyshlennyi kompleks SSSR v 1920–1950-e gody: tempy ekonomicheskogo rosta, struktura, organizatsiya proizvodstva i upravlenie [Military-industrial complex of the USSR in the 1920s–1950s: Economic growth rates, structure, production organization, and management]. Moscow: Rossiiskaya politicheskaya entsiklopediya (ROSSPEN), 1996. (In Russian)
Smykalin, A.S. “Politicheskie nastroeniya evakuirovannogo na Ural naseleniya v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny: po materialam voennoi tsenzury” [Political sentiments of the population evacuated to the Urals during the Great Patriotic War: Based on the materials of military censorship]. In Rol' organov i voisk gosudarstvennoi bezopasnosti v dostizhenii pobedy v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine 1941–1945 gg.: materialy regional'noi nauchnoi konferentsii (Ekaterinburg, 25–26 fevralya 2005 g.) [Role of state security agencies and troops in achieving victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945: Proceedings of the Regional scientific conference (Yekaterinburg, February 25–26, 2005), 51–55. Yekaterinburg, 2005. (In Russian)
“Vagonostroenie v gody pervykh pyatiletok. Razvitie vagonostroitel'nykh zavodov” [Carriage engineering in the years of the first five-year plan periods. The development of carriage works]. 1520mm.ru. Accessed April 13, 2024. (In Russian)
Keywords:
Great Patriotic War, 1941–1942, evacuation of industry, organization, people, interpersonal relations, the city of Molotov
For citation:
Leibovich, O.L, and Yu.S. Kolchanova. “‘The Name of the Kryukov Works Is Familiar. . .’: Episodes from the History of Evacuation to the City of Molotov in 1941.” Historia Provinciae – the Journal of Regional History, vol. 10, no. 1 (2026): 47–97, https://doi.org/10.23859/2587-8344-2026-10-1-2; EDN: ZFWLGX
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ISSN 2587-8344 (Online)