Foster children fates of the Sarapul remand house in 1920-1921

Child neglect is an extremely negative social phenomenon, when a child loses contact with his parents and is deprived of a permanent place of residence. This phenomenon existed at different times and gain momentum in times of wars, turmoil, and revolutionary upheaval. The cause of child neglect could be orphanhood - the loss of one or both parents. The Revolution and the Civil War resulted in millions of neglected children, a topic that continues to be the subject of historical research and scholarly debate. The article is based on rare, previously unpublished documents from the State Archive of the Perm Territory. They depict the incarceration conditions of foster children in the Sarapul Remand House (Collector) during the four months of 1920-1921. Taking into account the degree of spread of diseases in this environment, the probability of death, disability, and mental disorders was high among neglected children of the period in question. It is emphasized that the investigators who wrote the reports on the inhumane treatment of the children held there did not set out to protect the minors or to improve the conditions of their detention. It was important for them to prove the fact of the pernicious political influence of the “bourgeois element” alien to Soviet power.