Home – Home – Jornals – Humanitarian sciences in Siberia 2017 number

Estimating population size in Russia and its regions during World War II is among the most difficult problems of the Russian historical demography. Insufficient study of the subject is due to the ideological taboo over a long period, as well incredibly complex source-study aspect. Statistical data used by historians studying demographic effects of the war are inaccurate, contradictory and sometimes incomparable. Before World War II the most inaccurate source of information about the population in Russia was the All-Union Census of the Soviet Union of 1939. In order to determine the population size between the censuses one needs data on parameters of population migrations (arrivals and departures number), as well as natural movement of population (births and deaths numbers). However, there was no accurate data on birth, death or migration during the Great Patriotic War. This fact made it difficult to calculate the population abundance. Besides, during the Great Patriotic War, there was a failure in the data collection system. It was caused by movements of multimillion population (evacuation, military and mobilization) ; changing boundaries of territories with registered population due to occupation of Russia’s western regions; evacuation of statistical bodies responsible for registration of population to the eastern parts of the country. It required immense efforts from statisticians to streamline the work of bodies conducting registration of population. New sources specifying the population size also played an important role. During the war the village Soviets were used to control calculations in the countryside, while in the cities registration was conducted on the basis of ration cards. The article attempts to characterize the Soviet statistics activity during the war and critically examines statistical sources upon which it relied.