Bezymyanka – the core of the aviation complex in the Middle Volga Region during the Great Patriotic War

During the Great Patriotic War, the Middle Volga Region became one of the cen-ters for military-industrial complex enterprises evacuation from the western regions of the country. The city of Kuybyshev (now Samara) accepted 40 largest enterprises. The factories of the People’s Commissariat of the Aviation Industry functioned as their basis. This decision was associated with the ongoing construction of three aircraft fac-tories in the city. By the beginning of the war, the construction had not been completed and the completion degree of the plants buildings varied. The decision to evacuate avi-ation production to the city was also influenced by the presence of the metalworking industry, energy capacities and labor concentrated in one of the largest camps of the GULAG system – Bezymyanlag. The equipment of the evacuated enterprises was ar-riving at the Bezymyanka station of the Kuibyshev railway where aviation factories were being constructed. Unloading and placing the equipment caused considerable dif-ficulties. The machines were installed in unfinished facilities or even simply on the ground. A large industrial center developed near the city where the enterprises of the aviation complex were located. A closed production cycle was created for the first time in the country here; it produced the Ilyushin IL-2 and the Ilyushin IL-10 Shturmoviks. The Ilyushin IL-2 attack aircraft was recognized as the best one in World War II. The production establishment faced great difficulties: placement on unsuitable production ma¬nufacturing sites, extremely tight timeline for manufacturing production, and the need for its constant modernization. The personnel issue was especially urgent. It was deci¬ded to mobilize women, youth and adolescents to work for manufacturing enter-prises. Howe¬ver, their low qualifications caused production problems. It was self-sacrifice and labor heroism that helped to tackle these tasks. The work of the Bezymy-anka aviation comp¬lex supplied the country’s armed forces with combat aircraft. The presence of a large aviation complex predetermined the development of the industrial cluster of the Samara Region.