Volunteers of the People’s Militia of the Moscow Agricultural Academy named after K.A. Timiryazev went to the front of the Great Patriotic War from this building in 1941
In the very first hours and days after the attack of nazi Germany on the Soviet Union, at the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, meetings of workers and employees took place at factories in Moscow. Muscovites condemned the aggressors with anger and indignation and expressed their readiness to stand up for the Motherland with their breasts. Thousands of people, for various reasons who were not subject to mobilization, demanded immediate dispatch to the front in order to personally take part in the armed struggle against the enemy. The age limit of the militia was from 17 to 55 years. Nevertheless, in fact, older Muscovites also got into the militia. People signed up for the militia, regardless of their state of health and age. 16-year-old and even 15-year-old boys and girls, as well as elderly people who were over 60, and in some cases over 70, aspired to the front. This is evidenced by the lists of militia members preserved in the archives. The militia and their families did not have the benefits due to the personnel of the Red Army. However, they retained the average earnings at the place of their work, and volunteers in their institutions, enterprises and organizations were officially listed as “gone on a business trip to the people’s militia.” Enlisted personnel, junior staff, 50% of platoon commanders, up to 40% of company commanders, medical personnel and the entire political staff were recruited from workers, employees and students of the districts. The rest of the commanding staff was completed at the expense of the Red Army personnel. A memorial plaque has been erected in Moscow in memory of the feat of the volunteers of the People’s militia who went to the front.
Address: Moscow, Timiryazevsky ave., 2
