Sergey Aleksandrovich Vlasov,
Candidate of Historical Sciences, Institute of History, Archaeology and Ethnology of the Peoples of the Far-East of the Far Eastern Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Vladivostok, Russia, e‑mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Little Home Front Workers: Child and Adolescent Labor in the Far East during the Great Patriotic War
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2025-2-12
The article, based on a wide range of archival materials introduced into scientific circulation for the first time, examines the place and significance of child and adolescent labor in the Far East during the Great Patriotic War. It has been established that the main area of the economy where child and adolescent labor was widely used was agriculture. Schoolchildren from grades 5−10 worked in the fields of collective and state farms, and sometimes fourth-grade students were involved in the harvesting. High school students learned the profession of machine operators and worked as tractor drivers, combine operators, and chauffeurs. The work of teenagers in industrial enterprises and transport after training in the labor reserve system is not considered, since other researchers had previously conducted studies on this topic. At the same time, the article provides information about teenagers who came to permanent work in enterprises, organizations, and institutions voluntarily, on a freelance basis, bypassing training in factory or plant schools and vocational schools. In conditions of an acute shortage of workers, their labor activity was extremely necessary for the region’s economy. It is noted that children and teenagers were involved in collecting medicinal herbs and wild plants, collecting scrap metal, preparing fuel, repairing schools, and other work. It is concluded that the work of children and adolescents had no alternative, as the country could not survive in the difficult conditions of wartime without their labor participation, and thath they made their worthy contribution to the victory in the Great Patriotic War.
Publishing: 28/04/2025
The article has been received by the editor on 23/01/2025
How to cite: Vlasov S.A. Little Home Front Workers: Child and Adolescent Labor in the Far East during the Great Patriotic War // Historical Courier, 2025, No. 2 (40), pp. 149–159. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2025/ISTKURIER-2025-2-12.pdf]
Links: Issue 2 2025
Keywords: children and teenagers; agricultural work; gathering wild plants; Sunday work; fuel procurement; school repairs