Card-commercial system for the distribution of food and industrial goods in Soviet cities during the Great Patriotic War, 1941-1945

The author examines documents from state authorities related to providing the country’s population with food and industrial goods during the Great Patriotic War. During the war period, the card-commercial state food distribution system generally justified itself. It was an exclusively forced government measure. During the 4-year war, it sometimes malfunctioned due to the lack of necessary goods or their untimely delivery to stores. During wartime, the quantity and quality of food, especially bread, decreased.