New documents entered the Collection of digitized archival documents, film and photo materials dedicated to World War II

On July 1, 2022 resolutions and orders of the USSR State Defenсe Committee (GKO USSR) №№ 501-1000 from August 16 to December 7, 1941 from the collections of the Russian State Archive of Socio-Political History (RGASPI) entered the Collection of Digitized Archival Documents, Film and Photo Materials dedicated to World War II, which is available on the Presidential Library’s portal.

The first 500 resolutions and orders of the State Defence Committee of the USSR, the highest emergency authority in the country during the Great Patriotic War, entered the Collection on June 1, 2022. Today, the Presidential Library’s portal features more than 6.5 thousand digitized archival documents for the period 1933-1941.  

The largest number of decrees and orders of the USSR State Defence Committee from August to early December 1941 was devoted to the production of military equipment, various types of weapons and ammunition, and the increase in production volumes. The number of decisions on the production of prototypes and the adoption of new weapons and ammunition has noticeably increased. So, on August 22, new DShK and DShKM-2 machine gun mounts and new 76.2-mm anti-aircraft guns were adopted by the Navy (decrees №№ 541ss and 542ss). On August 24, the M-82 engine was adopted by the Air Force, which was later massively used on bombers and fighters (№№ 574ss). On August 29, J. V. Stalin personally wrote down the text of the decree (№№ 597ss) on the adoption of the Simonov anti-tank rifle (PTSR) into service with the Red Army; in November 1941, the PTRS was first used in battles in the Moscow direction.

The successful and rapid development of rocket artillery in the first months of the war led to the formation of new military units - mortar units (№ 642ss of September 8). Within a few days from September 8 to 20, the State Defence Committee of the USSR adopted a number of resolutions on the organization of the Southern, North-Western, Bryansk, South-Western and Leningrad operational groups of mortar units M-8 and M-13 of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command ((№(№ 643ss, 648ss, 659ss, 672ss, 693ss). On September 30, according to the results of tests at the Sofrinsky training ground, the army received the M-8 combat vehicles on the T-60 and M-13 tanks on the chassis of the STZ-5 tractor, and six new guards mortar regiments ((№ 726ss) were also formed.

As the enemy advanced to the east, the USSR State Defence Committee made decisions on conscription and mobilization, the evacuation of defense enterprises, important industrial facilities, the population and material property from the front line.

In August - September 1941, at the height of the battle for Kyiv, a number of decrees were issued on the evacuation of tank, metallurgical, chemical and other defense plants, coal industry enterprises and the Dnepropetrovsk hydroelectric station from the territory of the Ukrainian SSR. On September 12, the State Defence Committee of the USSR decided to evacuate the Kharkov plant № 183 and the Illich Iron & Steel Works at Uralvagonzavod in Nizhny Tagil (№№ 666ss, 667ss). In the shortest possible time, at this site, which received about ten exported enterprises, the Ural Tank Plant  № 183, an industrial giant of the Great Patriotic War period that produced T-34 tanks, was created and launched.

Interestingly, until the last opportunity, the defence enterprises of the Ukrainian SSR continued to fulfill and exceed the plan and master the production of new military equipment. This is evidenced by a note by N. S. Khrushchev to J. V. Stalin dated August 31, 1941, preserved among the materials for the decree of the USSR State Defence Committee № 640ss of September 8, - on the extra production of weapons and ammunition for the defenders of the republic of the Southern and South-Western fronts.

By the end of the summer of 1941, the stronghold around Leningrad was shrinking more and more. On August 26, the USSR State Defence Committee appointed commissioners for defence, evacuation of enterprises and the population of the city - V. M. Molotov, G. M. Malenkov, N. G. Kuznetsov, A. N. Kosygin, P. F. Zhigarev and N. N. Voronov (№ 586). Decrees were adopted on the evacuation of factories from Leningrad and Leningrad Region, including the largest - Kirov and Izhora. It was originally planned to evacuate them to Uralvagonzavod (№ 587ss of August 26). However, two days later this decision was canceled, and on October 4 a new decree was issued on their immediate evacuation (№ 734ss). Tank production and personnel of the Kirov Plant were evacuated to the Chelyabinsk Tractor Plant. Thus the history of the legendary "Tankograd" - the largest enterprise for the production of tanks, self-propelled artillery mounts and armored vehicles during the war years began.

At the same time, the USSR State Defence Committee appointed commissioners for individual plants and entire branches of the defence industry and approved plans to speed up production. So, for example, on November 14, Decree № 899ss was issued on measures to increase the production of tanks to 140 vehicles per day by the end of January 1942. In accordance with the same resolution, the People's Commissariat of Machine Tool Building was merged with the People's Commissariat of the Tank Industry.

In October 1941, alarming days for the whole country came when the enemy appeared close to Moscow. The USSR State Defence Committee adopts a whole range of resolutions on the organization of the defence of the capital: “On the protection of the Moscow zone” (№ 765ss of October 12), “On the construction of the 3rd line of defence of the mountains. Moscow” (№ 768ss of October 12), on the mobilization of military reserve up to 45 years of age and conscripts born in 1922-1923 in Moscow and Moscow Region (№ 807ss of October 16), on the introduction of a state of siege in Moscow and adjacent areas (№ October 19). On October 15, Decree № 801ss "On the evacuation of the capital of the USSR, Moscow" was adopted. The draft was handwritten by A. I. Mikoyan, the final version contains corrections and signature of J. V. Stalin. It is noteworthy that the very next day it was decided not to stop the operation of the metro and partially restore the work of factories in Moscow and the region - both those not evacuated and those expected to be evacuated (№ 808s dated October 16 – autograph J. V. Stalin).

In August - December 1941, the USSR State Defence Committee as before, continued to make decisions on the leadership of the Armed Forces - on the appointment of members of the military councils of military districts, directions, fronts and armies, on the formation and supply of military units. On August 22, J. V. Stalin signed Decree №562ss "On the introduction of vodka for supply in the active Red Army" - the famous "People's Commissar's 100 grams", on September 12 - Decree № 662ss "On the norms of the food supply of the Red Army".

Today, the website contains 1,000 decrees and orders of the State Defence Committee of the USSR with accompanying materials - this is more than 9 thousand electronic images. 4 thousand new archival documents from the initial period of the Great Patriotic War on June 22, 1941 - November 19, 1942, including recently declassified ones from the federal state archives, as well as the archives of the Ministry of Defence, FSB, SVR, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, state archives of Belarus, archival institutions of the constituent entities of the Russian Federation will enter Rosarkhiv and the Presidential Library until the end of 2022.

Based on the materials of https://archives.gov.ru portal