TO THE FIRST ANNIVERSARY OF THE CREATION OF
KARELO-FINNISH SOVIET
SOCIALIST REPUBLIC
31-III-1940-31-III-1941
DIGEST OF ARTICLES
STATE PUBLISHING HOUSE OF KARELO-GINNISH SSR
PETROZAVODSK — 1941
I.
IVANOV
Deputy of the
Supreme Soviet of the Karelo-Finnish SSR
SOVIET VIIPURI
The city of Viipuri (Vyborg) is a young
Soviet city among other cities of the Karelo-Finnish SSR.
A year ago, our valiant Red Army,
defending the security of the city of Lenin and the northwestern
borders of the great Soviet Union, stormed Viipuri.
When departing from the city, the White
Finns, in furious rage, destroyed everything on their way. At the exit
all means were taken : explosions, arsons, the destruction of all
installations without which the normal life is unthinkable in the city.
As a result of these barbarous actions of the White Finns, the city of
Viipuri suffered most severely in comparison with other cities of the
Karelian Isthmus. There was not a single apartment house, not one
factory and mill, not a single branch of the economy, which would not
have been destroyed to some extent.
More than one third of the city was
burnt. From the houses and industrial enterprises located on this
territory there were only chimneys, foundations and ruins in some
places, reminding that here there were some installations.
There was not a single apartment
building in the city where the central heating, water supply, sewerage,
gas and electric lighting were not put out. In a number of buildings,
in the chimneys, the retreating White Finns left mines. The
bridges were blown up. The equipment of water pump stations were
disabled. The other water pump station, which is the main source of
water supply to the city, was completely destroyed. All the electric
power and electrical equipment of the city were brought to an unfit
state, and the power station was blown up.
At the gas plant, the gasometer and
other structures were blown up, and the gas network was rendered
unusable. The tramway was also completely destroyed.
All industrial enterprises with their
equipment were destroyed or burned. Also, the buildings of cultural
institutions - schools, hospitals, cinemas and so on - have been
severely damaged.
The enemies believed that after their
departure the city would not soon heal back to a normal life, that it
would take a long time to restore it. To this end, in addition to the
destruction, they destroyed or carried away all the technical
documentation: plans, drawings, explanatory notes, etc.
Caption:
Ancient Swedish fortress in the city of Viipuri.
Until recently, the Finnish
imperialists stalkily portrayed this fortress on their arms, seals and
banners, as a symbol of the constant threat to our country. Now
tourists coming to the Soviet Viipuri, with curiosity, inspect the
gloomy monument of the Middle Ages and admire from its high walls a
handsome-city living a new, creative and creative life.
The war was over. Peace time has come.
Soviet people came to Viipuri. They brought with them the experience of
Soviet construction. The Party and non-Party Bolsheviks set themselves
the task of rebuilding all urban economy, industry, organizing
commerce, opening canteens, cinemas, theaters, schools, hospitals,
kindergartens, nurseries, etc., in the shortest possible time.
The political activity of the urban
population has risen high. By decision of the Sixth Session of the
Supreme Soviet of the USSR, the Karelian ASSR was transformed into the
Union Karelian-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic. Workers of Mr.
Viipuri actively, with exceptional enthusiasm, conducted elections of
deputies to the Supreme Soviets of the USSR and the Karelian-Finnish
SSR, to the City Council of Working People's Deputies. These elections
were a powerful demonstration of the moral and political unity of the
Soviet people.
Soviet people showed high models of
socialist work. In a short period of time, almost
all industrial enterprises and a large number of residential buildings
were restored; the city received water, electricity, gas; trams and
buses run, schools, clubs, theater, cinema, library, kindergartens and
day nurseries work normally. The transportation was restored, mail,
telegraph, radio and telephone work. The city has begun to live a new,
Soviet life.
To restore the Viipuri was a huge work
done. It should be noted that the city, in essence, was created again.
All urban economy and industry were more or less separated from each
other. Their existence was not welded into a single organic whole, into
a single complex of the national economic plan. At present, the city
economy has entered a new period of its development. Even during the
organization of departments under the Provisional Directorate, measures
were taken to combine the work of all types of utilities and various
amenities into a single urban economy, governed by generally agreed
principles. At the same time, prospects and prerequisites for
coordinating the work of the city economy with industrial enterprises
appeared. Very different forms of economic organization were created,
sharply differing in essence from the capitalist forms.
Under Soviet conditions, the city
economy of Viipuri was an integral part of the socialist sector, the
state of which predetermined the general pace and development of the
city.
To restore the housing stock in 1940
there were 11.050 thousand rubles released. Special construction
organizations were created, as a result of the seven-month work of
which 2,062 residential buildings were rebuilt and populated, and in
212 houses with central heating the boiler installation was repaired.
Restoration of the heating system was
not easy. In the beginning, it even seemed that due to the variety of
heating systems and lack of spare parts for replacement, and also
because there was not a single drawing in the city that could locate
the places of installation for the underground system, it would not be
possible to completely restore the central heating. A lot of effort for
this task was done by the builders of the Soviet Viipuri, among which
it is necessary to mention such workers as engineers Comrades Kruglov
and Goroshko, contractor Comr. Semenov, Stakhanovite workers Comrades
Pavlov, Lebedev, Dolev and many others.
A significant number of small
residential houses are restored by the workers themselves. In the
southern region, where everything was burned or destroyed, there are
now more than 400 houses with a population of 5,000 people.
An exceptionally large amount of work
has been done to restore the city's electric facilities. Restored were
120 transforming stations, 92 km of cable and 96.8 km of aerial wires
were laid.
At present, over 3,000 apartments and
422 public organizations use the current. There are 1,030 street lamp
posts in the city. As for the city's water supply, a lot has been done.
In the water supply network with a length of 80 km all three
water-pumping stations are put in order. The supply of water to the
city reaches 170 thousand cubic meters per month.
One of the great achievements in the
restoration of urban enterprises should be considered the restoration
and commissioning of the gas plant. According to the specialists'
opinion, a period of 2-3 years was planned for the restoration of the
gas plant. It was necessary to rebuild the gas gathering chamber, gas
container, plant communications, etc. The workers and engineering and
technical staff of the gas plant made every effort to restore the
installation, and four months later the plant was put into operation.
Consumers of gas are 24 residential houses, a bakery and a
confectionery factory.
No less successful work was carried out
to restore the tram service. On August 22, the tramway was put into
operation. Totally restored 15 km of tracks, repaired 15 motor and 8
trailer cars. At present, measures are being taken to fully restore all
other track facilities and the rolling stock.
In Viipuri, after the retreat of the
White Finns, all schools were destroyed, while the increase in the
number of school-age children forced in 1940 to open ten secondary,
lower level secondary and primary schools. However, for the growing
youth of the Soviet city these schools were not enough: the schools are
working in two shifts.
A kindergarten has been opened in the
city and the House of Pioneers and schoolchildren is being prepared for
the opening. In addition, the city has a pedagogical and vocational
school, the FZO [fabric-run vocational] school and the Naval
School of Economics. This year the network of secondary schools and
schools will be expanded.
To restore the hospital facilities
extremely much is done. Here, as in a number of other branches of the
municipal economy, the destruction was quite significant. The City
Hospital was especially damaged. Of the nine pavilions, seven had major
destruction. The main building of the hospital was severely damaged,
communications were undermined and out of order. All this has now been
restored.
The city has a new outfit that provides
medical care for all types of diseases. Now work is under way to
restore the hospital town on Patterinmauml;ki, where a number of
hospital facilities will be located. On the basis of this hospital town
will be a paramedic-midwifery and dentistry school.
In the city, there are organized and
opened nurseries, children's consultancy and dairy kitchen.
All this speaks of how the Soviet
government tirelessly cares about the health of the working masses.
At disposal for the population there are
several cultural institutions. Two cinemas, a state drama theater, a
public library, clubs, the House of Party Education, the House of the
Red Army, etc. are open in the city. The working people of the city
actively visit these institutions.
In the houses of the ruined city it was
quite difficult to immediately organize a system of stores and public
catering. Nevertheless, at the moment 113 shops, 44 stalls, 29 dining
rooms, 2 restaurants, 39 buffets and 7 wholesale bases are open in the
city. Turnover for the IV quarter of 1940 was 40 million rubles.
The Viipuri railway junction, as a
result of the war, appeared to be very badly damaged: tracks, bridges,
a locomotive depot, etc., were blown up, burned or damaged to a
significant extent. Soviet railwaymen received a government task to
restore the entire farm of the hub as soon as possible. And they coped
with this task. The railway junction was the first enterprise put into
operation.
A particular mention should be made of
the work to restore communications. When leaving the city, the White
Finns destroyed all city communications, burnt out the city telephone
exchange, took out the telegraph equipment, and destroyed the building.
Cable installations were severely damaged, the radio station was
destroyed. However, all this was soon restored. Currently, the city of
Viipuri is connected with all the cities of the great Soviet Union, has
well-established telephone and radio communications, operates mail,
telegraph. The equipment that was brought down and destroyed was
replaced by domestic equipment and is running smoothly.
Along with the restoration of urban
economy, special attention was paid to the restoration of industry. Of
the 23 enterprises, 18 were restored in 1940, of 18 of enterprises 9,
including roofing, soap, brewery, tobacco factory, printing press,
three confectionery factories and a ship repair plant, were put into
operation ahead of schedule.
In 1940, your industrial enterprises,
after their restoration, gave a production of 10.2 million. rub. (at
unaltered prices in 1926-27) to the state.
The production of our industrial
enterprises go far over the boundaries of the city of Viipuri. The
tobacco factory, which produces 38.5 million pieces of cigarettes,
satisfies not only their own market, but also the demand of other
cities. The soap factory produces 24 tons of toilet soap, 20 tons of
household soap and 14.5 tons of candles per month; The plant satisfies
a number of cities of the Soviet Union with its products.
Viipuri became one of the largest cities
of the Karelo-Finnish SSR. In the city there are about 50 thousand
inhabitants. For 1941, a lot of restoration work is planned.
Stakhanovite construction workers and engineering personnel took upon
themselves the honor to fulfill this task with honor.
In the new Soviet city, new forms of
labor are widely unfolding - socialist competition and the Stakhanovite
movement. Viipuri turns into an authentic Soviet city.
All these significant successes were
achieved by the Viipuri builders under the leadership of the Central
Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) and the Council of
People's Commissars of the Karelo-Finnish SSR, as a result of the daily
assistance of the Leningrad Bolsheviks, led by their glorious leader
Comr. Zhdanov and fatherly concern about our city, manifested by the
great Stalin.
Google assisted
translation from Russian by Pauli Kruhse.
Viipuri, as
well as other Finnish cities, were subjected to several air raids
during the Winter War (30 Nov 1939 - 13 March 1940). When the Red Army
was able to make advances, Viipuri was also bombarded by long range
railway cannons, which people called as 'ghost cannons' because no
gunshot sounds were heard and the high speed projectiles gave no
warning before exploding at random targets.
Map of the
city indicating sites of dropped aerial bombs and gun projectiles up to mid-February 1940 from the book Koponen, Emil & Viitanen,
Eero: Viipurin viimeiset päivät :
asiakirjojen ja omien kokemusten perusteella kuvattuna. WSOY,
1940, by Emil Koponen and Eero Viitanen. Published in
Swedish as Viborgs
sista dagar : skildrade på grundvalen av dokument och egna erfarenheter. Fahlcrantz & Gumaelius. Stockholm, 1941.
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