The Daily Life in Dnipropetrovsk in the Conditions of Post-war Reconstruction of 1944–1947 (by the Contemporaries' Memoirs)
Authors: Nikiliev Oleksandr 
Published: November 2020

The aim is the daily life of inhabitants of the Dnipropetrovsk (Dnipro) are considered in the conditions of the first post-war years.Research methods: historical and genetic; historical and comparative, system.Main results. The situation in different spheres of city life, state of communal infrastructure, centralized water supply and heating, food supply, priority areas of development of the city economy are shown. The forms and methods of solving the acute problems of the post-war policy and each family, factors of the material and everyday condition of the working people are considered. The ways of restoring the residential area of the city are shown. The restoration of the housing stock was given in two directions: by repairing partially destroyed buildings and, to a lesser extent, by new construction. In the city, due to the lack of material and technical base, mostly one- and two-storey residential buildings were erected. The way out of the situation was the settlement of the incoming families in the apartment of the surviving state houses, as well as the provision of land to those who were ready to solve their housing problems at their own expense. The various spheres of life of the inhabitants of the city in 1944–1947, their social and economic problems are analyzed: the material and communal conditions of their everyday life, social behavior and strategies of survival of different categories of the population of the policy. The social deviations of the deviant character that took place at this time are shown. The situation in the city under conditions of famine of 1946–1947 was studied. The forms and methods of solving problems of specific categories of inhabitants of the city in this difficult period. The attention was paid to such categories as infants, children of nursery, kindergarten and schoolchildren and students of technical schools. The real situation with wages was investigated, it was found that due to the necessity of various types of voluntary and compulsory loans and mandatory taxes, it was low in itself, it could not ensure the proper existence of a person. It is shown that the system of ensuring food and real needs of the population, namely, normalized supply of food and cargoes through the trading network at government prices for cards. It was found that the supply of food and household goods was extremely unsatisfactory, incomparable with a negligible payment of labor, making the price even unattainable, even on the shelves. At the same time different norms were applied for the workers, for the unemployed, the workers of various sectors of the national economy, employees of different institutions and different rank. In parallel, there was state open (commercial) trade with high prices, and also - bazaars at their prices. Many residents of the city were forced to ride in the villages and exchange household items for food. An impoverished day-long menu of many inhabitants of Dnipropetrovsk consisted mainly of vegetable food. Despite the difficult conditions for the restoration of the industrial and residential sectors, the cityʼs social sphere was restored. Understand the destroyed buildings and exported garbage. Every year, thousands of trees were planted on the streets and in parks, new squares were broken, repairs of the pavement, sidewalks, dwelling houses were painted, and markets were adjusted according to sanitary requirements. Works were underway to increase the capacity of urban water supply. Hospitals, various kindergartens were restored. To provide everyday needs of the population, shops were open, workersʼ dining rooms, equipped sports, dance and playgrounds, parks were improved, new baths were renovated and new baths were introduced, working clubs were being built.Main results. It is concluded that the everyday life of the first post-war years of Dnipropetrovsk was characterized by the difficult conditions of the existence of its inhabitants. Despite the ongoing rehabilitation of the city material, domestic and communal conditions of their existence were determined by the complex socio-economic situation, severe socio-demographic consequences of the war, as well as causes of a natural climatic nature. All this determined the strategies of their existence in the difficult conditions in which the majority of the city population, despite the difficulties, continued to fulfill the basic purpose of the person – to live, work, raise and raise children.Practical significance. For the historians of the everyday life of Dnipropetrovsk in post-war times.Originality. On the basis of research materials and memoirs of participants of events, the situation of the city's everyday life was reconstructed.The scientific novelty. The article was first presented in the history of post-war Dnipropetrovsk through the prism of everyday life, the various spheres of the existence of its inhabitants.Type of article: empirical.