District press and censorship during the Great Patriotic War (based on the materials of the Tatar ASSR)
Authors:   Sh. Marjani Institute of History of the Academy of Sciences of Tatarstan Republic, Kabirova Aislu Sh. 
Published: December 2024

The article is devoted to the role of the regional press of the Tatar Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic in
mobilizing the masses to defeat the enemy and gain the victory during the Great Patriotic War. A study of the historiography of the issue shows that, unlike the central press of the war years, which is fairly well studied, the transformation of the content of regional, especially district periodicals, is not yet represented in historical literature. The source base of the work was the documents of the State Archive of the Russian Federation (GARF) and the State Archive of the Republic of Tatarstan (GART), many of which are first put into scientific circulation. On the basis of declassified documents, the author analyses the content of newspaper headlines, describes the tasks assigned to correspondents, outlines the mechanisms for organizing political control over the content and presentation of material in regional periodicals during the war. The article emphasizes that, despite the wartime difficulties associated with mobilizing many employees to the front and the lack of material resources, the TASSR authorities made every effort to maintain the number of newspapers published in the regions of the republic. Mostly they printed notes "on the topic of the day." The reports propagated the experience of the leading workers, talked about achievements and production successes. Negligent bosses were exposed in critical notes, deserters of the labor front were condemned, shortcomings and omissions in the work of collective farmers were revealed. Published materials were distinguished by information richness and targeting. An important function of the press was to inform the readers about the Sovinformburo reports. The editors of the regional publications were responsible for ensuring that residents of the TASSR receive “fresh” news and verified information. Letters from front-line soldiers that testified to the close communicative ties between the front-line soldiers and those remaining in the rear were published in a separate section. The “Letter of the Tatar people to the front-line soldiers-Tatars” published in March 1943 in the newspaper Pravda and then reprinted in the republican and many regional newspapers caused a great resonance, inspiring soldiers to new military exploits. A necessary component of political and ideological work with the population during the war years was the "increase of revolutionary vigilance" of citizens. Party-Soviet bodies with special care monitored the non-disclosure on the pages of newspapers of information containing military and state secrets, for which they sent relevant instructions to the district committees. Responsibility for complying with the requirements issued from above was carried by the editors and authorized personnel of Glavlit. If political distortions or factual errors were found, strict measures were applied: the material was removed from print, circulations were seized or reprinted. Censors who committed serious violations were severely punished.