The Indispensable Work of Knitters During the Great Patriotic War

It is hard to overestimate women's labour during the Great Patriotic War. Selflessness and courage in combat and back-breaking work on the home front speak of a strong spirit and the ability to be needed wherever necessary.

There are amazing facts in the history of Orenburg down shawls. Yes, these women did not hold machine guns; their weapons were ordinary knitting needles. In the first months of the war, with the onset of cold weather, the Soviet government issued an order to equip the army with warm clothing and gear. And then those very down shawls that could be pulled through a wedding ring came to the rescue. The ancient craft turned into a strategic plan for saving soldiers in the hardest conditions of the war years. The shawls were in demand both on the battlefield and on the home front. The home front and the front line forged victory together. Everyone wanted to do as much as possible to bring the bright days of peace closer.

All the craftswomen, regardless of fatigue, worked literally day and night to provide the soldiers with warm mittens and sweaters, socks and shawls. Collection points for warm clothing were opened everywhere. Orenburg knitters faithfully observed the order: "Every family must clothe one soldier!"

The shawl became a true symbol of all-conquering love in the snowy steppes. The Orenburg down shawl is the pride of our country. During the Second World War, it was with these very shawls that military equipment bought abroad was paid for. Down shawls both provided food and kept people warm in the winter cold. The knitters' artel took patronage over soldiers who ended up in hospital. With their threads, the women laid a kind of road of peace and home warmth. More than two hundred heroines of needles and down threads received awards for valiant labour.

Interestingly, down shawls were worn not only by women. Men also valued such a gift. After all, a thin but incredibly warm and soft shawl protected against piercing wind and bitter frost. And enemy scouts considered it incredible luck if they managed to take this legendary shawl as a trophy. Whole sabotage operations were organised to capture the "warm gold".

For the 60th anniversary of the Great Victory, the memory of the great craftswomen of the war years was immortalised in the settlement of Akbulak. Money was raised for a monument. Imagine: a beautiful Russian woman stands as a symbol of courage, selflessness and heroism, with that very Orenburg shawl on her shoulders. Of course, health was lost, because both eyes and hands worked tirelessly, at the limit of human capacity. Time passes, but memory lives on, and the secrets of the craft are passed down from generation to generation. This is a genetic memory for preserving universal human values and moral upbringing.