Public mutual assistance funds as an institute of social protection for collective farmers on the eve and during the Great Patriotic War (materials of the Ural archives)

The article highlights a little-studied form of social protection of the eve and during the Great Patriotic War - public mutual assistance funds for collective farmers. The party and state policy and the activities of the authorities to preserve and develop the system of funds were studied and the evolution of their network were studied in materials from the Greater Urals (Bashkir ASSR, Udmurt ASSR, Kurgan, Molotov, Chelyabinsk, Chkalov regions). The problems that arose in the public mutual assistance funds for collective farmers, primarily related to the formation of their material and financial resource base and adaptation in wartime conditions, were identified. The differences between the two stages of development (pre-war and war) of the funds as an institution of social protection of collective farmers, which arose in line with the Soviet social policy in the collectivized village on the «from the bottom up» initiative, was revealed. It was concluded that social assistance, social support, and social services have become the three main areas in the activities of public mutual assistance funds for collective farmers, and despite the unfavorable conditions during the years of war, this social institution was not destroyed and continued to perform its functions.