“We Will Not Let Many People in Here”: Housing Policy in Leningrad During the Final Stage of the Great Patriotic War

Abstract

Based on a wide range of sources, the article analyzes the housing policy implemented in Leningrad after the lifting of the blockade in January 1943. The policy was implemented after the evacuation of the population was completed. Materials deposited in the archives helps us to determine the evacuation routes. The number of people wishing to return to Leningrad during 1944 exceeded expectations of the municipal administration. Requests for re-evacuation came from representatives of various segments of the population, who emphasized the significance of their activities for the city. The restrictions imposed could not stop people from returning to Leningrad, who used numerous tricks in order to enter the city. The party and Soviet administration of the city attempted to regulate the process of re-evacuation. The number of people re-evacuated was closely related to the ability to provide them with housing. However, the general idea of the city administration about the process of re-evacuation turned out to be deeply flawed. The number of those wishing to return exceeded the stock of available housing. As a result, the decision of June 8, 1944 established a new strict procedure for providing housing for citizens who were evacuated from Leningrad individually or with organizations and returned to the city “in a legal manner”. The existing practice of transferring the housing in need of repair to private individuals on the condition of restoring the property led to abuses and was canceled in March 1945. The passport control was reduced and conditions for registration of arriving citizens were alleviated only in the spring of 1946.