A Difficult Return: The Re-Evacuation of Civilians to Moscow in 1942–1948

One of the most poorly studied processes of the Great Patriotic war is the re-evacuation of the Soviet population. During the evacuation of 1941-1942, about 16 million Soviet citizens were moved to the East regions of the Soviet Union. Most of the evacuees managed to return to the former place of their residence, but the way home was by no means simple and easy. People faced with many difficulties and hardships. This study is devoted to the re-evacuation to Moscow, which took place in the period from 1942 to 1948. Based on a wide range of archival sources, diaries, memoirs and letters, the work is aiming to analyze and determine the stages of the re-evacuation, its scope, legal framework, categories of the re-evacuees, as well as social, economic and psychological aspects of this process. The study consists of three chapters, each is devoted to one of the periods of the re-evacuation to Moscow: the initial stage (late 1941-1942), the period of mass re-evacuation (1943-1945) and the post-war re-evacuation (1945-1948).