Historical Memory and Modernity: Bashkortostan and the Donbass During the Great Patriotic War

Abstract

 This article turns to the relationship between the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (ASSR) and the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (SSR) to demonstrate the solidarity of Soviet peoples and regions during the Great Patriotic War. This period was a gruelling test of strength and unity for the fraternal peoples of the USSR. Special attention in the study is given to the role of the workers of the Bashkir ASSR in the restoration of the national economy of the Donbass, liberated from the Fascist occupation. Little-studied archival documents are introduced here, covering the extent of the aid, including social assistance, provided by the people of the Bashkir ASSR to the affected territories (machinery and building materials, industrial equipment, livestock, food and consumer goods). It is noted that during the harsh war years, the best qualities of Soviet peoples were drawn forth, which have enduring significance and stay relevant today: solidarity, cooperation and selfless mutual aid, which made an important contribution to the victory. In addition, it is argued that the aid to the liberated regions strengthened the economic and political unity of Soviet society and laid the foundations for the country’s successful post-war reconstruction. The research is based on documents from the National Archives of the Republic of Bashkortostan, which keeps an extensive body of invaluable sources on the history of the relationship between the peoples during the Great Patriotic War (materials on the evacuation of factories and scientific and cultural institutions as well as the population of the Ukrainian SSR, on launching the evacuated industrial plants in the Bashkir Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, on the cooperation between Ukrainian and Bashkir scientists, writers and cultural figures, as well as on the aid of Bashkir workers to the liberated territories of the Ukrainian SSR).