What did they eat after the war? War Stories: They ate what they could find under their feet. Firearms and traumatic weapons

To this day, the soldiers who defended our Motherland from enemies are remembered. Those who made these cruel times were children born in 1927 to 1941 and in the subsequent years of the war. These are the children of war. They survived everything: hunger, the death of loved ones, overwork, devastation, the children did not know what fragrant soap, sugar, comfortable new clothes, shoes were. All of them have long been old men and teach the younger generation to cherish everything they have. But often they are not given due attention, and it is so important for them to pass on their experience to others.

Training during the war

Despite the war, many children studied, went to school, whatever they had to.“Schools worked, but few people studied, everyone worked, education was up to grade 4. There were textbooks, but there were no notebooks, the children wrote on newspapers, old receipts on any piece of paper they found. The ink was the soot from the furnace. It was diluted with water and poured into a jar - it was ink. They dressed in school in what they had, neither boys nor girls had a certain uniform. The school day was short, as I had to go to work. Brother Petya was taken by my father's sister to Zhigalovo, he was one of the family who graduated from the 8th grade ”(Fartunatova Kapitolina Andreevna).

“We had an incomplete secondary school (7 classes), I already graduated in 1941. I remember that there were few textbooks. If five people lived nearby, then they were given one textbook, and they all gathered together at one and read, prepared their homework. They gave one notebook per person to do homework. We had a strict teacher in Russian and literature, he called to the blackboard and asked me to recite a poem by heart. If you do not tell, then the next lesson you will definitely be asked. Therefore, I still know the poems of A.S. Pushkin, M.Yu. Lermontov and many others" (Vorotkova Tamara Aleksandrovna).

“I went to school very late, there was nothing to wear. The poor and the lack of textbooks existed even after the war ”(Kadnikova Alexandra Yegorovna)

“In 1941, I finished the 7th grade at the Konovalovskaya school with an award - a cut of chintz. They gave me a ticket to Artek. Mom asked me to show on the map where that Artek was and refused the ticket, saying: “It’s far away. What if there's a war?" And I was not mistaken. In 1944 I went to study at the Malyshev secondary school. They got to Balagansk by walkers, and then by ferry to Malyshevka. There were no relatives in the village, but there was an acquaintance of my father - Sobigray Stanislav, whom I saw once. I found a house from memory and asked for an apartment for the duration of my studies. I cleaned the house, did laundry, thereby working for a shelter. From the products until the new year there was a bag of potatoes and a bottle of vegetable oil. It had to be stretched out before the holidays. I studied diligently, well, so I wanted to become a teacher. At school, much attention was paid to the ideological and patriotic education of children. At the first lesson, for the first 5 minutes, the teacher talked about the events at the front. Every day a line was held, where the results of academic performance in grades 6-7 were summed up. The elders reported. That class received the red challenge banner, there were more good students and excellent students. Teachers and students lived as one family, respecting each other. ”(Fonareva Ekaterina Adamovna)

Nutrition, daily life

Most people during the war faced an acute problem of food shortages. They ate poorly, mainly from the garden, from the taiga. They caught fish from nearby water bodies.

“Basically, we were fed by the taiga. We picked berries and mushrooms and prepared them for the winter. The most delicious and joyful was when my mother baked pies with cabbage, bird cherry, potatoes. Mom planted a garden where the whole family worked. There wasn't a single weed. And they carried water for irrigation from the river, climbed high up the mountain. They kept cattle, if there were cows, then 10 kg of butter per year were given to the front. They dug frozen potatoes and collected spikelets left on the field. When dad was taken away, Vanya replaced him for us. He, like his father, was a hunter and fisherman. In our village, the Ilga River flowed, and good fish were found in it: grayling, hare, burbot. Vanya will wake us up early in the morning, and we will go to pick different berries: currants, boyarka, wild rose, lingonberries, bird cherry, dove. We will collect, dry and rent for money and for procurement to the defense fund. Gathered until the dew was gone. As soon as it comes down, run home - you need to go to the collective farm haymaking, row the hay. The food was given out very little, in small pieces, if only there was enough for everyone. Brother Vanya sewed Chirki shoes for the whole family. Dad was a hunter, he got a lot of furs and sold them. Therefore, when he left, a large amount of stock remained. They grew wild hemp and sewed pants from it. The elder sister was a needlewoman; she knitted socks, stockings and mittens" (Fartunatova Kapitalina Andreevna).

“We were fed by Baikal. We lived in the village of Barguzin, we had a cannery. There were teams of fishermen, they caught both from Baikal and from the Barguzin River, different fish. Sturgeon, whitefish, and omul were caught from Baikal. In the river there were fish such as perch, roach, crucian carp, burbot. Made canned food was sent to Tyumen, and then to the front. The weak old people, those who did not go to the front, had their own foreman. The brigadier was a fisherman all his life, he had his own boat and net. They called all the inhabitants and asked: "Who needs fish?" Everyone needed fish, since only 400 g were given out per year, and 800 g per employee. Everyone who needed fish pulled a seine on the shore, the old people swam into the river in a boat, set up a seine, then the other end was brought ashore. On both sides, a rope was evenly chosen, and a net was pulled to the shore. It was important not to let the joint out of the “motni”. Then the brigadier divided the fish among all. That is how they fed themselves. At the factory, after they made canned food, they sold fish heads, 1 kilogram cost 5 kopecks. We didn’t have potatoes, and we didn’t have vegetable gardens either. Because there was only a forest around. Parents went to a neighboring village and exchanged fish for potatoes. We did not feel severe hunger ”(Tomar Alexandrovna Vorotkova).

“There was nothing to eat, they walked around the field and picked spikelets and frozen potatoes. They kept cattle and planted vegetable gardens” (Kadnikova Alexandra Yegorovna).

“All spring, summer and autumn I went barefoot - from snow to snow. It was especially bad when they worked on the field. On the stubble, the legs were stabbed into the blood. The clothes were like everyone else's - a canvas skirt, a jacket from someone else's shoulder. Food - cabbage leaves, beet leaves, nettles, oatmeal mash and even the bones of horses that died of hunger. The bones hovered and then sipped salted water. Potatoes, carrots were dried and sent to the front in parcels ”(Fonareva Ekaterina Adamovna)

In the archive, I studied the Book of Orders for the Balagansky District Health Department. (Fund No. 23 inventory No. 1 sheet No. 6 - Appendix 2) Found that epidemics of infectious diseases during the war years among children were not allowed, although by order of the District Health Service of September 27, 1941, rural obstetric centers were closed. (Fund No. 23 inventory No. 1 sheet No. 29-Appendix 3) Only in 1943 in the village of Molka an epidemic is mentioned (the disease is not indicated). . I conclude that preventing the spread of infection was a very important matter.

In the report at the 2nd district party conference on the work of the district party committee on March 31, 1945, the results of the work of the Balagansky district during the war years are summed up. It can be seen from the report that 1941, 1942, 1943 were very difficult years for the region. Yields dropped drastically. Potato yield in 1941 - 50, in 1942 - 32, in 1943 - 18 centners. (Annex 4)

Gross grain harvest - 161627, 112717, 29077 centners; received for workdays of grain: 1.3; 0.82; 0.276 kg. Based on these figures, we can conclude that people really lived from hand to mouth. (Appendix 5)

Hard work

Everyone worked, both old and young, the work was different, but difficult in its own way. They worked day in and day out from early morning until late at night.

“Everyone worked. Both adults and children from 5 years old. The boys carried hay and drove horses. Until the hay was removed from the field, no one left. The women took the young cattle and raised them, while the children helped them. They took the cattle to the watering place and provided food. In the autumn, while studying, the children still continue to work, being at school in the morning, and at the first call they went to work. Basically, the children worked in the fields: digging potatoes, picking spikelets of rye, etc. Most of the people worked on the collective farm. They worked on a calf, raised cattle, worked in collective farm gardens. We tried to quickly remove the bread, not sparing ourselves. As soon as the bread is removed, the snow will fall, and they will be sent to logging sites. The saws were ordinary with two handles. They felled huge forests in the forest, cut off branches, sawed them into chocks and chopped firewood. The lineman came and measured the cubic capacity. It was necessary to prepare at least five cubes. I remember how my brothers and sisters were bringing firewood home from the forest. They were carried on a bull. He was big, with a temper. They began to move down the hill, and he carried it, fooled around. The cart rolled, and the firewood fell out to the side of the road. The bull broke the harness and ran to the stable. The cattlemen realized that this was our family and sent my grandfather on a horse to help. So they brought firewood to the house already dark. And in winter, the wolves came close to the village, howled. Cattle were often bullied, but people were not touched.

The calculation was carried out at the end of the year according to workdays, some were praised, and some remained in debt, since the families were large, there were few workers and it was necessary to feed the family during the year. They borrowed flour and cereals. After the war, I went to work as a milkmaid on a collective farm, they gave me 15 cows, but in general they give 20, I asked them to give me like everyone else. They added cows, and I overfulfilled the plan, milked a lot of milk. For this they gave me 3 m of blue satin. This was my prize. A dress was sewn from satin, which was very dear to me. There were both hard workers and lazy people on the collective farm. Our collective farm has always exceeded the plan. We collected parcels for the front. Knitted socks, mittens.

There were not enough matches, salt. Instead of matches at the beginning of the village, the old people set fire to a large deck, it slowly burned, smoke. They took coal from it, brought it home and fanned the fire in the furnace. (Fartunatova Kapitolina Andreevna).

“Children worked mainly on firewood. Worked with 6th and 7th grade students. All adults fished and worked at the factory. They worked weekends.” (Vorotkova Tamara Alexandrovna).

“The war began, the brothers went to the front, Stepan died. I worked on a collective farm for three years. First, as a nanny in a manger, then at an inn, where she cleaned the yard with her younger brother, drove and sawed firewood. She worked as an accountant in a tractor brigade, then in a field farm brigade, and in general, she went where she was sent. She made hay, harvested crops, weeded the fields from weeds, planted vegetables in the collective farm garden. (Fonareva Ekaterina Adamovna)

Valentin Rasputin's story "Live and Remember" describes such work during the war. The conditions are the same (Ust-Uda and Balagansk are located nearby, stories about a common military past seem to be written off from one source:

“And we got it,” Lisa picked up. - Right, women, got it? It hurts to remember. On a collective farm, work is fine, it's your own. And only we will remove the bread - already snow, logging. I will remember these logging operations until the end of my life. There are no roads, the horses are torn, they do not pull. And you can’t refuse: the labor front, help our peasants. From the little guys in the first years they left ... And whoever is without children or who is older, they didn’t get off those, went and went. Nastena, she did not miss more than one winter, however. I even went there twice, I left the kids here. Heap these woods, these cubic meters, and take the banner with you to the sleigh. Not a step without a banner. Either it will bring it into a snowdrift, or something else - turn it around, little girls, push. Where you turn out, and where not. He won’t let the wall be torn off: the winter before last, a mare rolled down the hill and didn’t manage to turn around - the sleigh was in negligence, on its side, the mare almost knocked over. I fought, fought - I can not. Got out of strength. I sat on the road and cried. Nastena drove up from behind - I burst into a roar in a stream. Tears welled up in Lisa's eyes. - She helped me. Helped, we went together, but I can’t calm down, I roar and roar. - Even more succumbing to memories, Lisa sobbed. I roar and roar, I can’t help myself. I can not.

I worked in the archives and looked through the Book of Accounting for the Workdays of Collective Farmers of the “In Memory of Lenin” Collective Farm for 1943. Collective farmers and the work they performed were recorded in it. The book is written by family. Teenagers are recorded only by last name and first name - Nyuta Medvetskaya, Shura Lozovaya, Natasha Filistovich, Volodya Strashinsky, in general, I counted 24 teenagers. The following types of work were listed: logging, grain harvesting, hay harvesting, road work, horse care and others. Basically, the following months of work are indicated for children: August, September, October and November. I associate this time of work with hay making, harvesting and threshing grain. At this time, it was necessary to carry out the harvest before the snow, so everyone was attracted. The number of full workdays for Shura is 347, for Natasha - 185, for Nyuta - 190, for Volodya - 247. Unfortunately, there is no more information about the children in the archive. [Fund No. 19, inventory No. 1-l, sheets No. 1-3, 7.8, 10,22,23,35,50, 64,65]

The resolution of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks of 09/05/1941 "On the beginning of the collection of warm clothes and linen for the Red Army" indicated a list of things to collect. Schools in the Balagansky district also collected things. According to the list of the head of the school (surname and school not established), the parcel included: cigarettes, soap, handkerchiefs, cologne, gloves, hat, pillowcases, towels, shaving brushes, soap dish, underpants.

Holidays

Despite hunger and cold, as well as such a hard life, people in different villages tried to celebrate holidays.

“There were holidays, for example: when all the bread was removed and the threshing was finished, then the “Threshing” holiday was held. At the holidays, they sang songs, danced, played different games, for example: towns, jumped on a board, prepared a kochul (swing) and rolled balls, made a ball from dried manure. They took a round stone and dried the manure in layers to the desired size. That's what they played. The older sister sewed and knitted beautiful outfits and dressed us up for the holiday. Everyone had fun at the festival, both children and the elderly. There were no drunks, everyone was sober. Most often on holidays they were invited home. We went from house to house, as no one had a lot of treats. ” (Fartunatova Kapitalina Andreevna).

“We celebrated the New Year, Constitution Day and May 1st. Since the forest surrounded us, we chose the most beautiful Christmas tree and put it in the club. The inhabitants of our village carried all the toys they could to the Christmas tree, most were homemade, but there were also rich families who could already bring beautiful toys. Everyone went to this tree in turn. First graders and 4th graders, then 4th-5th grades and then two final grades. After all the schoolchildren, workers from the factory, from shops, from the post office and from other organizations came there in the evening. On holidays they danced: waltz, krakowiak. Gifts were given to each other. After the festive concert, the women held gatherings with alcohol and various conversations. On May 1, demonstrations are held, all organizations gather for it” (Vorotkova Tamara Alexandrovna).

Beginning and end of the war

Childhood is the best period in life, from which the best and brightest memories remain. And what are the memories of the children who survived these four terrible, cruel and harsh years?

Early morning June 21, 1941. The people of our country sleep quietly and peacefully in their beds, and no one knows what awaits them ahead. What torments will they have to overcome and what will they have to put up with?

“We all collective farm removed stones from arable land. An employee of the Village Council rode as a messenger on horseback and shouted "The War has begun." Immediately began to collect all the men and boys. Those who worked directly from the fields were collected and taken to the front. They took all the horses. Dad was a foreman and he had a Komsomolets horse, and he was also taken away. In 1942, a funeral came for dad.

On May 9, 1945, we worked in the field, and again an employee of the Village Council rode with a flag in his hands and announced that the war was over. Who cried, who rejoiced! (Fartunatova Kapitolina Andreevna).

“I worked as a postman and then they call me and announce that the war has begun. Everyone was crying with each other. We lived at the mouth of the Barguzin River, there were still a lot of villages further downstream from us. From Irkutsk, the Angara ship sailed to us; 200 people were placed on it, and when the war began, it gathered all future military men. It was deep-water and therefore stopped 10 meters from the shore, the men sailed there in fishing boats. Many tears were shed! In 1941, everyone was taken to the front in the army, the main thing was that the legs and arms were intact, and the head was on the shoulders.

“May 9, 1945. They called me and told me to sit and wait until everyone got in touch. They call “Everyone, Everyone, Everyone” when everyone got in touch, I congratulated everyone “Guys, the war is over.” Everyone rejoiced, hugged, some cried! (Vorotkova Tamara Aleksandrovna)

Bread for the rear and the front On the instructions of the government, the production of bread for the population was established in conditions of a huge shortage of raw materials. The Moscow Technological Institute of the Food Industry has developed a recipe for working bread, which ...

Bread rear and front

On the instructions of the government, the production of bread for the population was established in conditions of a huge shortage of raw materials. The Moscow Technological Institute of the Food Industry developed a recipe for working bread, which was brought to the heads of public catering enterprises by special orders, orders, and instructions. In conditions of insufficient provision with flour, potatoes and other additives were widely used in baking bread.

Front-line bread was often baked in the open air. A soldier of the mining division of Donbass I. Sergeev said: “I will tell you about the combat bakery. Bread made up 80% of the fighter's entire diet. Somehow it was necessary to give bread to the shelves within four hours. We drove to the site, cleared deep snow and immediately, among the snowdrifts, they laid down the stove on the site. They flooded it, dried it and baked bread.”

Dried steamed vobla

My grandmother told me how they ate dried vobla. For us, this is a fish intended for beer. And my grandmother said that roach (she was called a ram for some reason) was also given out on cards. She was very dry and very salty.

They put the fish without cleaning it in a saucepan, poured it with boiling water, closed it with a lid. The fish had to stand until completely cooled. (Probably better to do it in the evening, otherwise you won’t have enough patience.) Then the potatoes were boiled, the fish was taken out of the saucepan, steamed, soft and no longer salty. Peeled and ate with potatoes. I tried. Grandmother did something once. You know, it's really delicious!

Pea soup.

In the evening, peas were poured into the cauldron with water. Sometimes peas were poured along with pearl barley. The next day, the peas were transferred to the military field kitchen and boiled. While the peas were cooking, onions and carrots were overcooked in lard in a saucepan. If it was not possible to do frying, they laid it like that. As the peas were ready, potatoes were added, then frying, and lastly, stew was laid.

"Makalovka" Option number 1 (ideal)

The frozen stew was cut very finely or crumbled, onions were fried in a pan (if available, carrots can be added), after which the stew was added, a little water, brought to a boil. They ate like this: the meat and the “gustern” were divided according to the number of eaters, and slices of bread were dipped into the broth in turn, which is why the dish is called that.

Option number 2

They took fat or raw fat, added it to fried onions (as in the first recipe), diluted with water, brought to a boil. We ate the same as in option 1.

The recipe for the first option is familiar to me (we tried it for a change on campaigns), but its name and the fact that it was invented during the war (most likely earlier) never occurred to me.

Nikolai Pavlovich noted that by the end of the war, food at the front had become better and more satisfying, although, as he put it, “sometimes empty, sometimes thick,” in his words, it happened that they didn’t bring food for several days, especially during an offensive or protracted battles, and then they handed out the rations laid down for the past days.

Children of war

The war was brutal and bloody. Grief came to every home and every family. Fathers and brothers went to the front, and the children were left alone, - A.S. Vidina shares her memories. “In the first days of the war, they had enough to eat. And then they, together with their mother, went to collect spikelets, rotten potatoes, in order to somehow feed themselves. And the boys mostly stood at the machines. They did not reach the handle of the machine and substituted boxes. Shells were made 24 hours a day. Sometimes they spent the night on these boxes.

The children of the war matured very quickly and began to help not only their parents, but also the front. Women left without husbands did everything for the front: they knitted mittens, sewed underwear. The children were not far behind. They sent parcels in which they put their drawings telling about peaceful life, paper, pencils. And when a soldier received such a package from children, he cried ... But this inspired him: the soldier with redoubled energy went into battle, to attack the Nazis, who had taken away childhood from the kids.

The former head teacher of school No. 2, V.S. Bolotskikh, told how they were evacuated at the beginning of the war. She did not get into the first echelon with her parents. Later everyone learned that it had been bombed. With the second echelon, the family was evacuated to Udmurtia “The life of the evacuated children was very, very difficult.

If the locals still had something, then we ate cakes with sawdust, - said Valentina Sergeevna. She told what was the favorite dish of the children of the war: they put grated unpeeled raw potatoes into boiling water. This one was so delicious!”

And once again about soldier's porridge, food and dreams.... Memoirs of veterans of the Great Patriotic War:

G.KUZNETSOV:

“When I came to the regiment on July 15, 1941, our cook, Uncle Vanya, at a table knocked down from boards in the forest, fed me a whole pot of buckwheat porridge with lard. I haven't eaten anything better"

I. SHILO:

“During the war, I always dreamed that we would eat plenty of black bread: there was always not enough of it then. And there were two more desires: to warm up (in a soldier's overcoat near the gun it was always dank) and to sleep.

V. SHINDIN, Chairman of the Council of WWII Veterans:

“From the front-line cuisine, two dishes will forever remain the most delicious: buckwheat porridge with stew and naval pasta.”

* * *

The main holiday of modern Russia is approaching. For a generation that knows the Great Patriotic War only from films, it is more associated with guns and shells. I want to remember the main weapon of our Victory.

During the war, when hunger was as common as death and the unfulfilled dream of sleep, and the most insignificant thing in today's view - a piece of bread, a glass of barley flour or, for example, a chicken egg, could serve as an invaluable gift, food very often became the equivalent human life and was valued on a par with military weapons ...

The first thing you need to understand about war is that your lifestyle will change. Whether you work as a programmer, a designer, a copywriter, a PR man or a factory worker (are there any?), everything will break down with the outbreak of hostilities. From where you work, where you live, your wardrobe, to your menu and habits. And if you live quite freely without glazed curds, then the lack of suitable shoes in winter will lead to sad consequences.

Let's immediately dot the i's so that Internet specialists who read diagonally will splash out less bile in the comments - it will still be needed to process burgers.

1. Even during the war, clothing stores and supermarkets continue to operate, but the closer to the front line, the higher the prices, the worse the range and quality. No one bothers with the supply of good things, they carry the cheapest and often poor quality shoes and clothes. Most people don't have the money for a good one.
2. With a high degree of probability, with the outbreak of war, you will lose your job. Therefore, it is better to buy everything you need in advance, while spending is not so noticeable for you.
3. The period until business and the state are being rebuilt on a war footing usually stretches for at least six months. At this time, the assortment will be completely bad.
4. Yes, you can go closer to civilization and buy what you need, but moving from a war zone is extremely expensive both in terms of finances and time. The hassle and all sorts of risks when crossing checkpoints make you think 10 times whether you need it.
5. War means a sharp rise in prices and inflation in general. What cost 100 rubles yesterday will be sold for 300 tomorrow morning.

Necessary things

Medium city backpack

I understand that many people are used to being content with a shoulder bag, carrying a wallet, a tablet and a mobile phone with them, but with the outbreak of war, all this will remain in the past. Any of your trips somewhere implies a very specific goal: to pick up a package, things, buy medicines or products. The bag in this regard is much less practical and convenient.

Do not buy a tourist backpack, an ordinary urban backpack of 20-30 liters will be more than enough.

Be sure to try on the backpack before buying, make sure the straps are comfortable and have wide padding on the shoulders.

Try to choose a backpack without laptop compartments: it is extremely unlikely that you will have an urgent need to carry a laptop on trips, and a special pocket with protection will only steal a useful place. Two or three compartments on double-sided locks are enough: in a small one you load small things like keys, a knife, a bandage, hydrogen peroxide, a handkerchief, toilet paper, a lantern, documents, a notebook and a pen, the main thing remains for things.

The abundance of pockets is also useless - just spend extra time during searches and checks. Much more important is the strength of the material and its impermeability. Highly desirable chest straps that allow you to run with much more comfort.

Suitcase on wheels

In the conditions of the termination of mail forwarding, it is necessary to take out the necessary things not immediately (this is very expensive), but as needed. In this case, one backpack will not be enough.

If you have a family - be sure to take a suitcase on wheels. Key points to pay attention to:

• High quality plastic wheels. Rubber pads will wear off the road and trails very, very quickly.
• Carry handles on both sides for two people to carry at once.
• Large bottom and a maximum of 2-3 small compartments. You will still be forced to dump all things during searches.
• Good double sided locks on each compartment.
• Rigid suitcase construction.

Lugging a suitcase with broken wheels or trying to unfasten jammed locks at gunpoint or in a queue of thousands in the pouring rain is not a pleasant occupation. Don't skimp on this purchase. Avoid bright colors and eye-catching designs. The simpler the better.

Cases, covers and wallets

In the first months of the beginning of the war and during periods of exacerbation, documents on the streets can be checked 10 or more times a day. It is even worse for those who often travel on roads with roadblocks. No one cares what difficulties you will encounter when replacing your passport, so the documents are more like a footcloth: worn out, falling apart and looking extremely deplorable.

A good cover is a guarantee of the life of your passport, although not a guarantee.

Try not to take bright, very cheap and with various kinds of cover symbols. Simple, discreet, preferably a different color for each family member. Be sure to check that the covers do not fade or leave stains when wet. For insurance, wrap documents before leaving in a file or package.

A similar story with a purse (forget about fashionable micro wallets that fit a couple of credit cards and banknotes), a phone case or a case for glasses. Anything you can protect from falls, water, and shock, protect it. Sooner or later, you will have to get wet in the rain more than once, fall to the ground during shelling, or huddle in the crowd at roadblocks.

Bike

Not a hoverboard, not an electric scooter and other hipster fetishes. And a simple, most common, with affordable parts bike. Don't bother with expensive 20-speed models with an ultra-light frame. Don't skimp on tires and tubes. The rest is secondary. It's just a way to get from point A to point B without public transport, which will be limited and bad. Be sure to think about the best. Two-wheeled friends are stolen more often than cars, especially in small towns.

Knife or multitool

No huge cleavers with stops and miscarriages. A simple folding knife with minimal features, but made of good steel and with a non-slip handle. By and large, you only need a knife and a can opener. If the budget allows, you can look towards multi-tools. But even there you need extremely minimalistic options from a knife, bottle opener and pliers. Keep it in your backpack among the rest of the small things, and then it will not raise questions during checks.

Flashlight

Absolutely indispensable thing, especially in conditions of regular power outages. Ideally two. One wearable, small, but bright enough and energy-intensive to light up the road for an hour. Better with batteries - always carry a spare with you. And a large home lamp on the battery with the possibility of recharging from the mains.

In both versions, it should be possible to put it on the end (flat bottom) with a light beam to the ceiling to illuminate the entire room, a lanyard attachment and several brightness modes.

Watch

Climbing for the phone to find out the time in rain or frost is not the best solution. And while war teaches you patience, time is no longer a resource you have control over. Being late for a train, bus or meeting becomes an unaffordable luxury in peacetime. Any shockproof and waterproof watch with backlight and alarm will do.

first aid kit

I would not advise you to stock up on a large number of medicines, especially if there is no clear understanding of what you can use after the expiration date. But make sure you have 3-4 packs of bandages, cotton wool, hydrogen peroxide, iodine or brilliant green, analgin, aspirin, paracetamol, activated charcoal, thermometer, ammonia and ethyl alcohol.

Put the bandage and peroxide in your backpack, let them be with you all the time.

In principle, in conditions of hostilities, they get sick a little. The body seems to be mobilizing, and it is difficult to catch a cold or other illness, if you don’t try hard. Retribution comes in periods of relaxation and truces. Then people's health crumbles like a house of cards.

Warm jacket or down jacket

The emphasis on winter clothing is made for a reason. In peacetime, any of my movement in winter was reduced to the need to walk 10 minutes to a public transport stop or take a taxi. If I wanted to take a walk in winter, I knew that at any moment I could go to a cafe or shop and warm up. In the distant peaceful past, I wore a cashmere coat, trousers and patent leather boots, and I, like many others, was quite comfortable.

In a situation where you have to spend from 4 to 48 hours on the road with a high probability of long walks or overnight stays in an open field, tastes in clothes and the entire wardrobe as a whole require rethinking. Getting sick in the absence of heat, medicines and doctors is a rather dangerous occupation for health.

When choosing a jacket, be sure to take a warm sweater with you and try it on. You shouldn't be cramped.

If you don't have the right size, feel free to choose a slightly larger one. This way, heat is better retained and moisture is removed.

Good zippers, a large insulated hood, capacious patch pockets with flaps (preferably with Velcro), inside pockets (with a zipper) for a phone, money and documents - all this should be in your jacket. Add to that a high, padded collar (to keep the wind out of your face), adjustable cuffs (to keep snow out) and, of course, waterproof fabric.

Many jackets and down jackets at first glance look high quality, but are unsuitable for wear due to wetness. Rain with snow or a short-term entry into a warm room during a snowfall - and your clothes get wet to the skin. Take a bottle of water to the store and make sure the fabric repels moisture.

Try not to take bright colors and eye-catching designs. You do not have the task of attracting too much attention, you are not a tourist.

Sports boots

The key point to pay attention to when buying shoes is the thickness of the sole. It will protect you from the cold and allow you to move comfortably on broken glass, slate and brick.

Do not take low boots or winter sneakers: in them you leave a very vulnerable part of the legs exposed.

No zippers or zippers, just lacing.

Try on shoes with a thick warm toe, and if you are a cold person by nature, put an extra insole (ideally made of natural felt). After that, your foot should be fairly loose in the boot. No sizing. Otherwise, you will definitely freeze.

A huge disadvantage of boots of low and medium price categories is their tightness. The foot in such a boot feels like in a spacesuit, and after a long journey, the condensate can be poured out of the shoe. If possible, buy expensive shoes. No - take a pair of spare socks with you on the road and change to dry ones if necessary.

Ski pants

The main advantage of these pants is waterproof and windproof fabric. Even in very severe frost and wind they are warm. And snowfall or rain will not make your trip less comfortable.

Pants, unlike trousers and jeans, hold you down less in movement and do not fit as tightly. Traditionally, for winter clothes, take a stock in size and try on thermal underwear. With it, ski pants are much more comfortable to wear: even after running or physical exertion, the lining will not stick to the legs, and the body will not cool down so intensely.

Pay attention to the belt. It is highly desirable that the pants have both belt loops and lacing. Spacious pockets with locks, and additional fabric pads on the knees and buttocks will also be useful.

Sweater under the throat

Forget about jumpers and light pullovers. Thick, high-wool sweaters that cover the entire neck, preferably in black, navy blue or charcoal gray - that's your choice.

It may happen that you will not have the opportunity to wash and dry clothes throughout the winter.

No acrylic or other artificial fabrics. They are beautiful and, perhaps, even appropriate for urban wear, but under extreme conditions they are absolutely useless.

Other little things

There are a number of things that do not require a lot of money, but will please you with their presence more than once. I'll just list them without going into details:

1. Twenty pairs of socks, including 3-4 pairs of warm ones.
2. Sneakers with hard soles.
3. Strong jeans (no decorative stripes or damage).
4. Raincoat.
5. Warm waterproof gloves.
6. Autumn and winter hats (even if you walked in peacetime without a hat in severe frost).
7. Thermal underwear.
8. Swimming trunks.
9. Stock of cotton t-shirts.

stupid spending

Huge stock of groceries

Cereals, flour, butter and canned food in industrial quantities - all this, of course, is fine and necessary, and you can even eat something, but with large stocks everything will gradually deteriorate. Keep the minimum number of main positions without turning your apartment into an Auchan branch.

Lots of frozen meat and semi-finished products

Sooner or later you will be left without light, and all this will have to be cooked, eaten or thrown away in an emergency mode. At such moments, the dogs, which once loving owners throw out into the street, leaving the city, do not walk, but crawl along the roads with bellies swollen to incredible sizes.

Military / paramilitary uniform

These are obviously unnecessary questions, attention and risks. Among civilian clothes, there are no less comfortable options.

Firearms and traumatic weapons

The benefits from it will be much less than the questions and problems.

Binoculars

This is a real chance to get a bullet.

Outcome

This list could be expanded, but you will not be able to stock up for all occasions. It is impossible to guarantee that on the very first day the projectile will not destroy your house or apartment, and with them all the lovingly collected supplies. Even the most hard-nosed gadgetophiles and perfectionists who suffer from a watch strap on the wrong color or painfully choose a feng shui table take a year to look at things and the world much easier.

Don't get hung up on choosing the best things. Just buy what meets the requirements - life itself will lead you to the right ones. Peace!

January 27th we celebrate breakthrough Blockade of Leningrad, which allowed in 1944 to finish one of the most tragic pages of world history. In this review, we have collected 10 ways who helped real people survive in blockade years. Perhaps this information will be useful to someone in our time.

It was incredibly difficult during the Siege of Leningrad for families with children, especially with the smallest ones. After all, in conditions of food shortages, many mothers in the city stopped producing breast milk. However, women found ways to save their baby. History knows several examples of how nursing mothers cut the nipples on their breasts so that babies get at least some calories from the mother's blood.

By the way, after the war, two monuments to cats from the so-called “meowing division” were erected in Leningrad, which made it possible to cope with the invasion of rodents that destroyed the last food supplies.

***
The blockade of Leningrad lasted 872 days from September 8, 1941 to January 27, 1944. According to the documents of the Nuremberg Trials, during this time 632 thousand people out of 3 million pre-war population died from hunger, cold and bombing.

But the Siege of Leningrad is far from the only example of our military and civil prowess in the twentieth century. On the site website you can also read about during the Winter War of 1939-1940, about why the fact of its breakthrough by Soviet troops became a turning point in military history.

It is not possible to work productively on an empty stomach - an indisputable fact. It is not in vain that in the hierarchy of needs of Abraham Maslow, the satisfaction of hunger is one of the first places. And it is impossible to win a war without being properly reinforced (we note that during the war, about a hundred orders were issued that concerned only the nutrition of the military). Like, cooks at the front were very cherished. We decided to remember how the field kitchens worked during the Great Patriotic War, what the soldiers ate, what "military" dishes they especially loved.

Eating during the war was important for soldiers: not only because it allowed them to get enough, it was both a short rest and an opportunity to talk with colleagues. If you like, these short minutes were, so to speak, a fleeting return to peaceful life. Therefore, the field kitchens were actually the center of the life of a combat unit (however, the civilian population flocked there from time to time, especially children, who were willingly fed in the field kitchens). "The soldier's commandment: away from the authorities, closer to the kitchen," Lieutenant Alexandrov (aka Grasshopper) thoughtfully noted in the film "Only "old men" go into battle, and he told the absolute truth.

The field kitchen was needed to prepare food and organize meals for soldiers in field conditions, at remote sites, in military units. It often consisted of several boilers (up to four, but there could be only one). The kitchens were heated, of course, with firewood, the water in the boiler boiled in about 40 minutes, a two-course dinner for a company of soldiers was prepared for about three hours, dinner - an hour and a half. Favorite dishes prepared in the field kitchen were kulesh (millet soup, with the addition of other ingredients, millet groats and lard), borscht, cabbage soup, stewed potatoes, buckwheat with meat (beef was mainly meat, it was used in boiled or stewed form). These dishes were ideal for camping conditions (in terms of, for example, caloric content), and they were quite simple to prepare in a field kitchen.

According to the appendix to the GKO resolution? 662 of September 12, 1941, the norm? 1 of the daily allowance of the Red Army and the commanding staff of the combat units of the active army was as follows:

Bread: from October to March - 900 g, from April to September - 800 g. Wheat flour 2nd grade - 20 g. Various cereals - 140 g. Pasta - 30 g.
Meat - 150 g. Fish - 100 g. Combined fat and lard - 30 g.
Vegetable oil - 20 g. Sugar - 35 g. Tea - 1 g. Salt - 30 g.
Potatoes - 500 g Cabbage - 170 g Carrots - 45 g Beets - 40 g Bulb onions - 30 g Greens - 35 g
Makhorka - 20 g. Matches - 3 boxes (per month). Soap - 200 g (per month).

The daily allowance of the flight personnel of the Air Force was increased: 800 g of bread, 190 g of cereals and pasta, 500 g of potatoes, 385 g of other vegetables, 390 g of meat and poultry, 90 g of fish, 80 g of sugar, as well as 200 g of fresh and 20 g of condensed milk, 20 g of cottage cheese, 10 g of sour cream, 0.5 eggs, 90 g of butter, 5 g of vegetable oil, 20 g of cheese, fruit extract and dried fruits. Non-smoking female soldiers were given an additional 200 g of chocolate or 300 g of sweets per month.

In the diet of submariners, 30 g of red wine, sauerkraut (30% of the total diet), pickles and raw onions were always present, as this prevented scurvy and made up for the lack of oxygen. Bread on small ships was baked on land, and on large ships there were special ovens. Crackers were also common, and condensed milk and butter were given as a bite.

Memories of soldiers

“Products were taken out by the assistant commander of the battalion for food supply. He brought them from somewhere on a truck. He distributed them among companies, and I had a field kitchen with three boilers drawn by a horse. At the front near Iasi, we sat on the defensive for several months, and the kitchen was covered in the hollow. There are also three boilers: the first, second and hot water in the third. But nobody took boiling water. We dug three-kilometer trenches from the front line to this kitchen. We walked through these trenches. It was impossible to stick out, the Germans as soon as they saw the helmet, they immediately beat we were hit with shells and mines. They didn’t let us lean out. I never went to that kitchen, but only sent soldiers,” says infantryman Pavel Avksentyevich Gnatkov.

“They fed us just fine. Of course, there were no chops in our diet, but there were always cereals and soups. Both there and there meat. I’ll tell you more, we also received money for each flight. And I know that tankers ", and the infantry was also fed excellently. Yes, sometimes there were interruptions in the delivery of food, but they are constantly on the move. It happened that the field kitchen did not have time for them, and during the battle there is no time for feeding. We were better in this respect "- recalls bomber pilot Alexei Nikiforovich Rapota.

“There could be interruptions in food. True, only when, indeed, we were far off. We broke far ahead, the kitchen lagged behind or did not have time to cook, or the territory was such that it was impossible to drive through. ", who is responsible for feeding, will prompt something. I did not have to go so hungry. Dry rations were given when it was not possible to feed, as expected, with hot food, or if they were going on a hike somewhere. There were different rations in dry rations "They put a piece of bacon, then a piece of bread. And an extra ration, it was given to officers. There was tobacco, cookies, all kinds of canned goods. I ate too much canned food once, it was "pink salmon in its own juice." I ate so much that I got poisoned. After that I couldn't eat it for a long time," says infantryman Igor Pavlovich Vorovsky.

“Food was delivered to us by a field kitchen. In the spring, it was very difficult with the delivery of food, especially when they advanced in the Kalinin region, in marshy places. always got it: sometimes the boxes were carried away to the neutral zone or to the Germans, or into an impenetrable swamp. Then we sat for several days without crumbs in our mouths. In the summer it’s easier. hide the grain from the Germans. We looked for it like this: we walked around the gardens and poked the ground with bayonets. Sometimes the bayonet fell into the pit in which the inhabitants stored cereals. We cooked porridge from them, "says Yuri Ilyich Komov.

"It used to be hungry. But this is when the kitchen falls behind! And so - a field kitchen is assigned to each battery. So they fed normally. But, it happened, the rear lagged behind. Come to the kitchen. "Come in. If the cook had time to cook something for dinner - well, he didn’t have time - then eat dry rations. It happened that we shot chickens and other living creatures. And if you find a German warehouse, it was not forbidden to take canned food or something else They didn’t pay much attention to it, they didn’t consider it looting. You need to feed the soldier, "said artilleryman Apollon Grigoryevich Zarubin.

“If we were standing somewhere in the second line, then the food was bad. Up to the point that I myself personally unloaded frozen potatoes from the wagons. And not only potatoes: there were frozen carrots and beetroots there. that there was always bad food, although not enough, but they brought it in. And in the tank corps it became easier, dry rations were issued for three days, or even five during a breakthrough. The T-34 will pass, the truck will get stuck. I also want to add: in 1942, we in the tank troops lived on the same Lend-Lease dry ration. So American help helped out. Lend-Lease became a big help to the front, "says tanker Nikolai Petrovich Vershinin.

From the memoirs of veterans of the Great Patriotic War: "Our cook made various soups, and sometimes main courses, which he called" vegetable confusion "- it was unusually tasty. At the end of the war in the spring of 1944, maize (corn) groats arrived, which were sent by the allies. Nobody knew what to do with it. They began to add it to the bread, which made it brittle, quickly stale and caused complaints from the soldiers. The soldiers grumbled at the cooks, the cooks scolded the allies who melted maize for us, with which the devil himself would not understand. Only our cook did not grieved - he took a half-monthly norm, sent an outfit to the steppe, asking them to collect almost everything in a row - quinoa, alfalfa, shepherd's purse, sorrel, wild garlic, and prepared delicious in taste and beautiful in appearance corn pies - cakes with greens, bright, yellow on the outside and burning green inside. They were soft, fragrant, fresh, like spring itself, and better than any other means, they reminded the soldiers of home, the imminent end of the war and peaceful life. And two weeks later ovar made hominy (coolly brewed porridge made from cornmeal, for consumption instead of bread, hominy is made thicker, and can be cut into pieces). Almost the entire battalion got acquainted with this national Moldavian dish. The soldiers were sorry that they sent too little maize, and would not mind exchanging wheat flour for it. Even simple acorn coffee, our cook tried to make it tastier and more aromatic by adding various herbs to it."