History of Russia: Rare newsreel footage of the Great Patriotic War discovered in Perm

Authors of the film project Perm as a Movie, timed to coincide with the 300th anniversary of the capital of Prikamye, discovered unique newsreel footage. The archival film from 1942 shows the transfer of cannons, collected by the youth and Komsomols of Molotov (Perm) Region, to the front-line soldiers.

The scene only lasts 20 seconds. Nevertheless, authors of the project Perm as a Movie did not stop there. Instead, they collected information about the events captured on archival film. According to historical references, on July 31, 1942, an appeal of the working youth of the Molotov (Motovilikhinsky) plant was published on the pages of the Zvezda newspaper with a proposal to build 16 artillery batteries to give them to the active unites of the North-Western Front. It was over this front that Molotov Region took “patronage” during the war.

The necessary two million rubles were collected. The artillery batteries were built by the young workers of the Motovilikha themselves and handed over to the soldiers of the North-Western Front. It was this process that was filmed in Soyuzkinozhurnal in 1942.

It was possible to establish the history of battles and war zones, where Perm cannons were used. Part of the shield of one of those sorokopyatkas handed over to the front with a donation inscription was found in 2011 by searchers from the Poisk-Dnepr Organization. On July 16, 2022, the find was transferred to Perm. According to the press office of Perm Territory Government, today the shield is stored in the factory Museum of History.