Vorkuta and Ukhta: features of urbanization in the Komi Republic during the Great Patriotic War

The paper presents an overview of research materials, facts, opinions and conceptual approaches to the problem of the formation of industrial towns on the basis of the central administrative settlements of the Correctional Labour Camp GULAG. During the Great Patriotic War, two towns were formed in the Komi Republic (from 1936 to 1992 - Komi ASSR): Ukhta - the flagship of the oil industry, the center of Ukhtpechlag (since 1938 Ukhtizhemlag) and Vorkuta - the center of the coal mining industry in the Arctic, the center of Vorkutlag. The study of "accelerated Gulag urbanization" or "camp urbanization" usually takes place in three mainly disjoint areas: the first is the functioning of the Correctional Labour Camps, the second is production activity, and the third is the socio-cultural and demographic development of towns. An integrated approach is important, which will allow us to assess the uniqueness and scale of such a phenomenon as the "Gulag town". The Great Patriotic War was a period of labor feat and important changes in the life of new towns and the Komi Republic as a whole. During the war years, railways, industrial and mining centers were built, which determined the development of the republic for many years to come after the Great Patriotic War.