Valentina Borisovna Zhiromskaya,
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor, Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Natalia Arkadievna Aralovets,
Doctor of Historical Sciences, Institute of Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia, e-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Disabled People during the Great Patriotic War of 1941−1945
DOI: 10.31518/2618-9100-2025-2-2
Based on a set of archival and published statistical data, the article shows a significant increase in the number of disabled people during the Great Patriotic War in the RSFSR and the USSR as a whole. Determining their number causes historians many of difficulties. It is shown that before the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, both the USSR and the Union republics had a significant number of disabled people from the First World War and the Civil War. During the First World War, people with disabilities received state benefits (pensions) in accordance with the degree of their disability. The return of the disabled to work was expected as well. After the October, the class approach towards people with disabilities intensified. Thus, disabled people who received benefits and pensions included only Soviet citizens who had lost their ability to work. During the period of war communism, the state mainly provided for the disabled of the Red Army. After the end of the Civil War, war invalids were allocated to a special category, and the status of disabled citizens, disability groups, and forms of state aid were established. In the 1930s, in the context of industrialization and the increasing need of the state for labor, disabled people who were able to work were considered as an additional source of labor attraction. During the Great Patriotic War, the largest number of disabled people were among the direct participants in the fighting. Medical and labor expert commissions (VTEC) determined disability groups depending on the injuries. However, in the harsh conditions of wartime, the country's need for workers increased dramatically. The current situation has significantly tightened the requirements for disabled groups of the population. Since June 1942, the disabled of the second group were employed as logistics and support workers. The invalids of the Great Patriotic War received state pensions, were provided with housing, and special shops and canteens were created for them. People with the most severe signs of disability, including lonely people, were assigned to homes for the disabled and boarding schools. Homes for the disabled of the Great Patriotic War were created. Attention is drawn to cases of embezzlement, abuse of administration, failure to provide medical care, and ill-treatment of people with disabilities held in homes for the disabled and boarding schools. The specifics of state assistance to children with disabilities are demonstrated. The achievements of the policy towards people with disabilities are assessed and unresolved issues are noted.
Publishing: 28/04/2025
The article has been received by the editor on 27/01/2025
How to cite: Zhiromskaya V.B., Aralovets N.A. Disabled People during the Great Patriotic War of 1941−1945 // Historical Courier, 2025, No. 2 (40), pp. 11−40. [Available online: http://istkurier.ru/data/2025/ISTKURIER-2025-2-02.pdf]
The article was completed during the work on the project of the multi-volume publication “History of Russia”.
Links: Issue 2 2025
Keywords: People with disabilities; RSFSR; First World War; Civil War; Great Patriotic War; numbers; disability groups; state aid; disabled children