Labor Reserves in the USSR, 1930-1945: Educational and Political Aspects

9 months before the start of the Great Patriotic War, the Decree “On State Labor Reserves” is issued. There was systematic recruitment of young people in artisan, railway schools FZO schools. What was the motive behind the creation of the “Labor Reserves” system? What role did they play in the Great Patriotic War? These issues are covered in the presented research work. The author traces the history of the development of labor education in the 1920s and 1930s, focuses on ideologies in educating young people, establishes a link between Labor Reserves and youth organizations. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the works of historians engaged in the study of Soviet society: S. Fitzpatrick, Julie C. de Graffenried, Ewing E. Thomas, O. Kucherenko. The unpublished documents found in the largest federal archives of the GARF and RGASPI become the basis for the implementation of the retrospective research method and help answer the questions posed.