Social adaptation and employment of disabled people during the Great Patriotic War (on the materials of the Tatar ASSR)

The article deals with the problems of social adaptation of disabled veterans of the Great Patriotic War in the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic after their return to peaceful life. Based on the documentary materials extracted from the funds of the federal and Tatarstan archives The author characterizes forms of state support for war-maimed people, resolution of their production training and employment, appointment of pensions, opening of boarding houses, organization of health care services, etc. It is noted that for the majority of disabled people this targeted support was often a determining factor in ensuring their livelihoods. The employment of disabled veterans of the Patriotic War made it possible to solve a two-fold problem: in the conditions of an acute shortage of workers, a new personnel reserve was created for the economy and at the same time social protection of veterans returned after treatment in hospitals was provided. Many disabled veterans of the Great Patriotic War showed themselves well in the workplace, became leaders and were nominated for leadership positions. But there were those who led an immoral lifestyle, begging. The authorities, called to solve the issues of social rehabilitation of disabled people, did not always cope with the tasks assigned to them. Evidence of this is the facts of the soullessly-bureaucratic attitude of certain officials to the needs and requests of disabled people, cases of appropriation of funds and squandering of state funds.