The Great Patriotic War. The Knitters' Contribution to Our Victory.

Everyone knows that the Orenburg Region (Chkalov Region during the war) was on the home front; there was no fighting here, so a considerable part of the production supplying the army was evacuated to us. And although some knitters were transferred to defence enterprises, goat down items did not lose their relevance, and the artels continued to work. Moreover, like everyone in those difficult years, the knitters had to work three times as hard in their field. It is not by chance that we say "three times", because down knitting was carried out in three major directions.

Traditional shawls and warm down items

Of course, they were in demand in the harsh conditions of the front. Cold winters would have rendered the army unfit for combat overnight if the soldiers had not been equipped with warm clothing. And knitted sweaters, socks and vests made of goat down protect against cold better than any other items. Good-quality down lets air through, allowing the body to breathe, but retains moisture, which was especially relevant in the cold season in marshy terrain and in battles on frozen bodies of water. A well-known example is the "Road of Life", the only route out of besieged Leningrad. Warm shawls were also used by women fighting at the front, military medical staff, signallers and many others. Every knitter considered it her duty to send as many warm things to the front as possible; work on making them did not stop day or night.

Specialised items for the army

This direction was new for the knitters; nevertheless, they had to master it quite quickly. Orders for such items came directly from the front; a vivid example is knitted helmet liners for soldiers, since a metal helmet that freezes instantly is simply impossible to put on your head in a harsh winter.

Another item new to the knitters was special gloves "with a thumb and index finger" – warm and convenient for firing. Such mittens were held in especially high esteem among snipers. By the way, in a recent selection we talked about the film "Enemy at the Gates", in which the legendary Vasily Zaitsev used just such mittens and wore a knitted helmet liner.

Openwork shawls and gossamer shawls

It may seem surprising, but demand for these down-knitting items did not fall either. Of course, they could not help the front directly, but as an export product they were a huge success (the fashion for gossamer shawls did not fade abroad; countries the war had not reached showed particular interest). And since money is an unstable currency during a world military crisis, a kind of barter was set up, in which gossamer shawls served as a means of payment and were exchanged for weapons, armoured vehicles and aircraft for the army (because of the huge losses in the first years of occupation, some of these had to be bought abroad).

The production plans were enormous; to fulfil them, knitters had to gather in the artels at night, and during the day find time for work in the fields and again for knitting. But no one complained or gave up; everyone understood how important their work was, that "the army and the home front" are one. If they had broken down, the harsh cold at the front would have done everything for the fascists. But no one gave up, and the victory – our Great Victory – is the merit of all: the soldiers, the leading workers of defence production and, of course, those very knitters...

In the end their contribution was recognised. More than 200 knitters were awarded the medal "For Valiant Labour in the Great Patriotic War", and some of them a number of other medals, orders and honorary titles. For our part, we should be grateful to them, as to everyone who brought victory in that terrible war closer in that difficult time. Thank you so much, and happy Great Victory Day!

(Materials from the book by I.V. Bushukhina were used in writing this article).