To the 40th anniversary of the Great Victory

By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Moscow had a significant share in the country's food industry. Back in 1928, one of the largest flour mills in Europe was founded in the capital; in 1930, on the basis of artisanal food production of the Central Union, food processing plant No. 1; in 1933, meat processing plant No. 1, whose sausage factory is still the leading enterprise of the meat and dairy industry, and then it produced more than 21% of sausage products. products in the USSR. In 1939, for its success in the socialist competition, the plant, at that time the only one in Moscow, received the title of Stakhanovsky 1 . A number of other enterprises - Krasnopresnensky sugar refining plant, confectionery factories "Krasny Oktyabr", named after Babayev, etc. were reconstructed. In 1940, 120 food enterprises of the capital with their staff of 57 thousand people produced 2.7612 billion rubles worth of high-quality products, which accounted for 14.5% of the gross output of the food industry of the USSR .2
The war imposed on us by Fascist Germany interrupted the creative work of the food workers and required the restructuring of all work in a military way .3 The raw material base of the food industry was seriously affected by a number of important industrial crops - sugar beets, sunflowers, potatoes, vegetables, etc.; the volume of procurements sharply decreased; there were not enough workers and their qualifications decreased; there was a shortage of not only raw materials, but also fuel, electricity, and transport. Food industry enterprises, producing everyday products, urgently joined in the production of ammunition and anti-tank protection equipment, launched the production of concentrates, vitamins and army crackers, glycerol, acetone and other fire mixtures .4
"We can't have "peaceful" enterprises now. Every factory, every factory must work to meet military needs, "Pravda wrote at the time .5 The Bolshevik confectionery factory, for example, was given the task of setting up the production of incendiary vials and devices for greasing gun barrels; the champagne wine factory - bottles with a combustible mixture; the Krasnopresnensky Sugar Refining Plant-parts for high-explosive bombs; the Svoboda soap and cosmetics factory and the confectionery factory im. Babaeva - ammo 6 .

"From the very first days of the war," says a former employee of the confectionary factory. Babaeva A. G. Romanova, who worked there for more than 40 years, - the factory began to be rebuilt in a military way. In the course of perestroika, a special workshop was formed, where ammunition and flame arresters were produced. The best Communists and Komsomol members were selected to work in the workshop. Operations for the production of special products were very time-consuming, but no one complained, they worked tirelessly. During the most difficult days for Moscow, in the autumn of 1941, front-line brigades were formed in the workshop. " 7 Factory workers, especially Communists and Komsomol members, often did not leave the factory for weeks at a time, and when they did, they went to the hospitals after work to take care of the wounded.

For the food workers, as for the entire Soviet people, the main thing was the slogan

1 Istoriya rabochikh Moskvy, 1917-1945. M. 1983, p. 319.

2 Party Archive of the Institute of Party History of the MGK and MK CPSU (IPA), f. 3, op. 66, d. 34, L. I.

3 For more information, see: Voznesensky N. A. Military economy of the USSR during the Patriotic War, Moscow, 1947; Kravchenko G. S. Economy of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War, Moscow, 1970.

4 TSGANKH USSR, f. 8543, op. 1, d. 850, l. 24; MPA f. 3, op. 66, d. 34, l. 3.

5 Pravda, 10. VII. 1941.

6 Istoriya rabochikh Moskvy [History of Moscow Workers], p. 354.

7 From a recorded conversation with A. G. Romanova (in the author's personal archive).

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"Everything for the front, everything for victory!" The Ongs assured the Communist Party and the Soviet Government that they were ready to carry out any task. "We promise to honestly and selflessly fulfill our duty to the Motherland, we will work honestly at the machine, at any post, we will observe the strictest discipline and organization," the workers of the food processing plant No. 1-8 said at a rally on June 24, 1941 .

To supply the army, they needed products that were compact, low-capacity, easy to transport and at the same time nutritious, high-calorie and delicious. From the very beginning of the war, the Moscow Concentrate Plant started developing new products. In two weeks, the production of concentrated pea soup was launched. A few days later, Red Army units began to receive requests to send more of this concentrate .9 During the first four months of the war, the capacity of Moscow enterprises for the production of concentrates was increased to 265 tons per day, which accounted for 74% of their output in the country10 . In total, during the war, Moscow food producers produced 245 thousand tons of concentrates and 21 million pieces of dry rations, i.e. 90% of all such products sent to the front 11 .

A special role in the supply of concentrates to the Red Army was played by the staff of food processing plant No. 1. Its workers, engineers and technicians repaired cookers on their own, manufactured dryers, adapted a groat-breaking workshop for the production of concentrates, and set up the production of vegetable concentrates. A great contribution to providing the front with food concentrates was made by meat processing plant No. 1, which during the war years produced 50 thousand tons of these products for the Red Army .12 In its workshops, brigades of wives of Red Army soldiers were organized. They met the norm by 210-220% 13 .
Wives, sisters, and mothers replaced husbands, brothers,and sons who had gone to the front in Moscow. During the first five months of the war, more than 100 thousand women joined the Moscow industry. In many factories and factories, they accounted for up to 75% of the employed 14, and in food processing enterprises-even more. For example, in May 1942, 3,454 (almost 83%) out of 4,164 women working at meat processing plant No. 1 were 15 . A movement for the mastery of men's professions arose among them, and they became millers, turners, pressers, machine gunners, electricians. The employee of the confectionery factory "Marat" MI Sedykh was the first woman in the country who mastered working on a vacuum apparatus 16 . Veteran of the meat processing plant A. S. Savelyev recalls: "From the very first days of the war, housewives and teenagers came to work at the plant. Women replaced men in all areas of work. For example, A. I. Yakhovskaya... I spent the whole war boning meat. " 17 Aina Sergeevna herself was transferred to the master, then became the head of the shop.

With the approach of the front line, the evacuation of industrial enterprises, including food, from Moscow began. In October-November 1941, some of them were completely evacuated 18 . The equipment of the Krasny Oktyabr, Babayev, Bolshevik, Roth-Front, Udarnitsa, Svoboda factories, the Java and Dukat tobacco factories, the food processing plant No. 1, and others were partially dismantled and evacuated. 19 Together with the equipment, workers and specialists left in order to establish the production of products necessary for the front in new places. In addition, Moscow personnel and equipment have played an important role in the creation of new enterprises. Thus, concentrate factories were established in Kuibyshev, Sverdlovsk, and Gorky; confectionery factories in Kuibyshev and Kazan were built on the basis of Krasny Oktyabrya equipment; a branch of the im. Babaeva, Kazan branch of the Bolshevik factory, Sverdlovsk branch of the Svoboda factory 20 . This was all the more important because out of 10,400 food processing enterprises, 5,500 were affected by the war. 21
8 Mikoyanovets, 24. VI. 1941.

9 Moscow Bolshevik, 22. II. 1942. u MP, f. 3, on. 66, d. 34, l. 4.

11 Ibid., l 5.

12 Ibid., f. 1812, op. 1, d. 5, l. 1.

13 Ibid., 7, l. 59.

14 Essays on the history of the Moscow Organization of the CPSU. Kn. P. M. 1983, p. 628.

15 MPA, f. 1812, op. 1, d. 6, l. 44.

16 Moscow Bolshevik, 2. XI. 1941.

17 From a recorded conversation with A. S. Savelyeva (in the author's personal archive).

18 TsGAOR USSR, f. 7860, op. 4, d. 230, l. 67; d. 249, l. 35.

19 MPA, f. 769, op: 1, d. 1, l. 1; f. 1048, op. 1, d. 1, l. 1; f. 395, op. 1, d. 54, l. 16; f. 3155, op. 1, d. 1, l. 4; f. 1049, op. 1, d. 1, l. 68, f. 727 op. 1, d. 1, ll. 12, 30.

20 Ibid., f. 727, op. 1, d. 1, l. 33; f. 395, op. 1, d. 54, l. 16; f. 769, op. 1, d. 1, l. 9; f. 3155. op. 1, d. 1, l 4.

21 Pravda, 4. VIII. 1945.

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Despite the evacuation of some of the equipment, the enterprises remaining in Moscow continued to work intensively for the needs of the front. From the very beginning of the war, breadcrumbs were organized at bakeries and mill complexes. The capacity of Moscow bakeries was then 175 tons of breadcrumbs per day, and in total during the war they gave the army 195 thousand tons of breadcrumbs22 . Bakeries of the capital produced products from flour supplied from flour mill No. 1. During one of the raids of Nazi planes in November 1941, a bomb fell on the building of the mill of the combine, its grain cleaning department was disabled, and the elevator was damaged. In peaceful conditions, it would take about 15 days to repair the damage. Employees of the plant completed the restoration work in two days. Both the front and Muscovites were not left without bread 23 .

A significant contribution to meeting the needs of the front was made by workers of meat and dairy enterprises, primarily meat processing plant No. 1. Its main products were then canned food. In just four months of 1942, it produced up to 600 tons of compound fat, 22 tons of dry meat, 67 tons of special concentrates for submariners, 24 in the same year, the production of dietary concentrates for seriously wounded soldiers was mastered. By the beginning of 1943, 87 tons of such concentrates had been produced .25 During the war, the staff of the meat processing plant mastered 65 new types of products, including 20 - food, 13 - technical, 26 - medical (including penicillin) and 6 - special.

On the basis of the old sausage factory, a plant of endocrine preparations was organized. By mid-1943, it was already producing 15 types of products, including epinephrine, hepatocrine, insulin, pancreatin, and others that were vital for hospitals .26 Despite the difficulties of wartime, the production of chocolate at the Krasny Oktyabr factory did not decrease; the corresponding workshop produced about 100 million bars of chocolate for pilots and submariners .27 In January 1942, the factory fulfilled a special task: in honor of the Guards regiments that participated in the Battle of Moscow, it released a new variety of chocolate - "Guards" 28 .

Workers of other branches of the food industry of the capital made a great contribution to meeting the needs of the front. For example, by the beginning of 1942, the staff of the Svoboda factory produced 12 types of special products, including dynamite, special powders, and aviation lubricants .29 Enterprises of the starch industry produced vitamins, carbon dioxide 30 . At the Bolshevik confectionery factory, 100 workers worked in the ammunition shop, and in the spring of 1942, the factory supplied 75% of its products exclusively to the front 31 . But here is the story of a cadre worker of the meat processing plant F. A. Pchelnikov: "As soon as the war began, he went to the front. After a serious injury in 1943, he returned to the plant and began working in the mechanical repair shop. They produced universal explosive chambers (mines)for the front. The workshop mainly employed women and teenagers. We worked in three shifts, it was often cold, we worked in padded jackets, but no one complained, everyone understood that it was even more difficult for the soldiers at the front. In the shop, everything was fulfilled and exceeded the production rate " 32 .

During the days of the Battle of Moscow, the food producers of the capital supplied their products mainly to the Western Front. Social competition was growing among them. Not only individual workers competed at Red October, but also workshops and 33 shifts . In the spring of 1942, the collective of food processing plant No. 1 initiated the All-Union Social Competition of food industry workers. The collective's appeal emphasized:" For the fastest defeat of the Hitlerite army, along with the supply of weapons and ammunition, it is necessary to maximize the production of food products to supply the front and rear. " 34 From May to November 1942, this enterprise doubled its output, reduced its prime cost, and doubled its labor productivity35.
22 MPA, f. 3, op. 66, d. 34, l. 7.

23 Gelman D. In search of a new technology, Moscow, 1949, p. 19.

24 MPA, f. 1812, op. 1, d. 6, l. 16.

25 Ibid., d. 2, l. 8.

26 Ibid., 5, ll. 1-5.

27 Nasha pravda, 18. V. 1945.

28 Confectionery factory "Krasny Oktyabr" - 100 years old. Moscow, 1967, pp. 110-111.

29 TsGAOR USSR, f. 7860, op. 4, d. 235, ll. 16, 19, 20.

30 Ibid., f. 5471, op. 27, d. 30, l. 11.

31 MPA, f. 1048, op. 1, d. 2, l. 76; d. 5, ll. 1-5.

32 From a recorded conversation with F. A. Pchelnikovym (in the author's personal archive).

33 MPA, f 395, op. 1, d. 25, l. 86.

34 Moscow Bolshevik, 18. VI. 1942.

35 MPA, f. 727, op. 1, d. 2, ll. 215, 217.

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success in the All-Union social competition of food workers factory named after Babaev during five months of 1942 was noted among the winners of 36 . From June to September 1942, Mill No. 1 ranked first among the flour-milling industry enterprises 37 .

Great attention was paid by food producers to saving fuel, electricity and raw materials. A new technology was developed, substitutes were used in the manufacture of products, and innovative proposals were made. Moscow food specialists initiated the introduction of food yeast as a protein substitute. In 1943, 40 hydrolysis and yeast workshops were put into operation in Moscow, producing yeast from non-food raw materials. By the end of the year, they, together with the yeast factory, were producing up to 500 tons of yeast per month for public catering .38 Dairy plant No. 1 has mastered the production of malt milk and during the war gave it 193 thousand tons 39 . Vitamin factories have been set up in Moscow.

Food workers directly participated in the defense of the capital. On the construction of defensive lines, N 1,365 people worked from the meat processing plant, from the dairy plant N 1-400, from the factory named after him. Babaeva - more than 200, from the fish processing plant-more than 900. About 25,000 food workers were awarded the medal "For the Defense of Moscow", including 8,928 bakers, 685 employees of meat processing plant No. 1, 523 confectioners of Krasny Oktyabrya 40 .

During the patriotic movement to raise funds for the construction of tank columns and squadrons of combat aircraft at meat processing plant No. 1, 604 thousand rubles were collected for the construction of the Moscow tank column .41 At the factory named after him. The Babayevs raised a lot of money for the construction of the Moscow Railwayman armored train, and when it was built, representatives of the workers of the Moscow Railway District handed it over to the soldiers of the Red Army .42 Throughout the war, food industry workers actively subscribed to state military loans and cash and clothing lotteries, participated in collecting gifts and warm clothes for the Red Army, and supplied hospitals with donor blood. Thus, at dairy plant No. 1, there were 42 donors who constantly donated blood to 43 .

The party and the government highly appreciated the labor feat of the Moscow food workers. Meat processing Plant No. I was awarded the Order of Lenin and Flour Mill No. 1 was awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Labor for successfully completing GKO tasks. Many employees of food enterprises of the capital were awarded orders and medals. The Red Banners of GKO were transferred to the confectionery factory "Krasny Oktyabr" and meat processing Plant No. 1 for perpetual storage, a number of enterprises received the Red Banners of the All-Union Trade Union and Branch People's Commissariats for perpetual storage. M. P. Semyonova, an employee of Krasny Oktyabrya, became a Knight of the Order of the Red Banner of Labor 44 . The newspaper Pravda wrote: "In the difficult conditions of the war, Soviet food workers worked selflessly to ensure that the front did not lack for their products." 45 This assessment fully applies to the work of Muscovites.

36 Ibid., f. 769, op. 1, d 3, l. 54

37 Ibid., f. 3963, op. 1, d. 1, l. 47.

38 Ibid., f 3, op. 66, d. 34, l. 4.

39 Ibid., l. 5.

40 Ibid., l. 9.

41 Ibid., f. 1812, op. 1, d. 2, l. 29.

42 From a recorded conversation with A. G. Romanova (in the author's personal archive).

43 MPA, f. 3, op. 66, d. 34, l. 9.

44 Nasha pravda, 18. V. 1945.

45 Pravda, 4. VIII. 1945.

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