Re-evacuation of Donbass engineering and technical workers from Western-Siberian region (1943-1945)

For the first time on the basis of archival materials the problem of re-evacuation of engineering and technical personnel of the coal industry of Donbass from Western Siberia, having arrived at the region in connection with the beginning of the war for evacuation, is considered in the article. The solution to this problem was due to the radical change in the war, as a result of the successful Soviet offensive in the summer and autumn of 1943, which allowed the Soviet government to start solving one of the primary tasks seriously - eliminating the consequences of the German occupation of the liberated areas. The affair of the primary importance was to revive the industry of the liberated areas, primarily in heavy industry. The focal point of its restoration was Donbass. Its revival program was outlined in the regulations of SDC (State Defense Committee). Of paramount importance was given to the question of the return of evacuated specialists to their former places. This was one of the main directions of the re-evacuation process. The purpose of the article is to identify by a comprehensive study of the issue the re-evacuated specialists, the mechanisms of implementation of the main activities, its scope, the results for the Donbass coal industry and the consequences for Western Siberia. It is shown, that the secondment of personnel issues were in the focus of the authorities, the extensive preparatory work for the implementation of the governmental tasks was carried out. The positive impact of a significant number of Donetsk technical workers' presence in the Siberian rear for the decision of personnel problems of the industry in the darkest years of the war is stressed. The contribution of Donetsk specialists in the creation of Victory Arsenal in Siberia is marked. The attention is focused on the difficulties of the process, the negative consequences of the re-evacuation of Donbass engineering and technical workers for the Western Siberian region, and associated with it the personnel «hunger». It is concluded, that the re-evacuation exposed the seriousness of lack of highly qualified personnel and, above all, engineering and technical workers, urgent for Western Siberia before the war, and only for a short time this problem was removed due to the arrival in the region a significant number of specialists in connection with the evacuation.