“Lots of people are experiencing all kinds of grief”: on the publication of letters from schoolteachers and their pupils during the Great Patriotic War

The article reveals the contents as well as the social and theoretical value of the correspondence between schoolteachers and their pupils during the Great Patriotic War, that was included in the collection of articles compiled by the historians from the Russian state university for the humanities. This publication of unique human documents was released for the occasion of the 75-th anniversary of the Victory. The collection features teachers' and pupils' letters which were found in a number of federal and regional archives. These recently discovered documents helped the authors and editors recreate the picture showing multifaceted activities of soviet teachers during the hard war years to support the morale of their former students. The published letters also reflect the heroic struggle of the soviet people on the occupied territory. The teachers were taken under special control and scrutiny by the occupation authorities and were subject to repressions as representatives of the soviet establishment and potential leaders of the underground and partisan movement. The published letters of schoolteachers and their pupils are extremely valuable in expanding our understanding of anthropological content of the Great Patriotic War.