“If you undertake to do it, do it well,” he said main character story "Timur and his team". This slogan was taken up by Soviet teenagers throughout the country. Arkady Gaidar's book about a boy who secretly helps the families of soldiers and officers caused an incredible resonance. This is how the first volunteer movement appeared in the Soviet Union - the Timurites.
Volunteers, or volunteers who unselfishly help others, have always existed. Special role They began to play in the life of Russia after the October Revolution.
At that time, the ideas of voluntary assistance were actively promoted at the state level. The image of a volunteer who restored the national economy and conquered virgin lands was practically imprinted into the consciousness of young people. Sometimes volunteering acquired a voluntary-compulsory character (as, for example, subbotniks), but often a sincere desire for a new life inspired many to selfless help and altruism.
The most striking phenomenon in the volunteerism of the Union was the Timur movement.
© RIA Novosti Reproduction of an illustration for Arkady Gaidar's book "Timur and His Team"
© RIA Novosti
Where it all began
In 1940, Arkady Gaidar wrote the story “Timur and His Team” about a boy who, with his friends, helped the families of military personnel who had gone to the front.
The image of Timur was so inspiring Soviet schoolchildren that imitators appeared. They organized detachments to help the elderly, families of soldiers and officers.
The first detachment appeared in Klin, near Moscow - it was there that Gaidar created this work. Six teenagers practically became pioneers in the Timur movement.
Then such units appeared throughout the country. Moreover, sometimes two or three similar teams coexisted in one area. Because of this, funny things happened - teenagers chopped wood in one yard several times a day or swept it three times.
Many believe that Arkady Gaidar described the experience of scout organizations at the beginning of the 20th century. Be that as it may, the help of the Timurites turned out to be very timely and necessary. Such detachments helped in orphanages and schools, took patronage over the families of officers and soldiers, worked in the fields, collected scrap metal - there’s too much to list. Their work in hospitals deserves special attention, where young activists, on behalf of soldiers, wrote letters and helped medical staff. At the same time, teenagers continued to go to classes.
Rise, decline and rebirth
During the Great Patriotic War Timur's movement expanded. We can say that almost all the schoolchildren were involved in it. In 1945, there were about three million Timurites in the Soviet Union.
After the Victory, Timur's men continued to help front-line soldiers, the disabled, the elderly, and looked after the graves of Red Army soldiers. But gradually the enthusiasm of the volunteers began to fade.
Volunteering was revived only during the thaw period - in the 1960s. Then children and adults tried to help each other, and the state began to celebrate their merits - the best were given awards.
Taking it to the next level
During the same period, the Timur movement resumed and acquired all-Union status. Inspired schoolchildren, in addition to the usual assistance, began searching for those missing in action during the war.
In the 1970s, under the editorship of the Pioneer magazine, Timur's all-Union headquarters was formed. And in 1973, the first all-Union rally took place in the Artek camp. Then the program of the Timur movement was even adopted.
Moreover, it went beyond the borders of the USSR - detachments arose in Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and the GDR.
Camber Soviet Union logically led to the liquidation of almost all Soviet undertakings, not excluding the Timur movement.
However, the desire to help cannot be eradicated - after a few years, volunteering gradually begins to revive. The authorities are actively involved in supporting volunteer initiatives. And again, schoolchildren had the opportunity to directly participate not only in the life of their city, but also the whole country.
As before, teenagers help those in need and try to be useful to society.
To be or not to be
“It was, on the one hand, a game, but on the other hand, we felt like we were involved in something very important and adult,” recalls former Timur member Evgeny.
According to him, youth movements and associations develop respect for older people in teenagers. In addition, responsibility is developed: you take money from people, if you go to a store or pharmacy, you buy exactly what you need.
As psychologists explain, teenagers need to form groups and have a common hobby. It is very important what interests the younger generation will unite.
Much depends on how exactly to present this idea to teenagers. Let me remind you that, according to the book, the Timur movement was formed by the children themselves, without any participation from adults. And such experience of self-organization can only be welcomed in modern conditions, support it, develop it,” notes psychologist Alisa Kuramshina.
According to her, if helping one’s neighbor is the responsibility of every schoolchild, then it should be done very carefully, gently, and presented as a norm of life, without which a person cannot be considered a full-fledged citizen, a member of society.
“By observing these conditions, we can hope that responsibility and care for people will be instilled. The result will be even better if not only schoolchildren, but also their families are involved in this,” says the psychologist.
As domestic historians note, in the summer of 1941, Timur’s movement had already covered the entire USSR. A. N. Balakirev in his scientific work According to the research of this organization, he provides statistics characterizing the difference in the attitudes of children towards the Pioneers and Timurovites using the example of Buryatia: there, during the war, the number of Pioneers decreased by 5 times, and the number of Timurov organizations, on the contrary, increased by 3 times and reached 25 thousand people.
The movement of the Timurites in the Great Patriotic War enjoyed great prestige among Soviet children, since it was associated with specific work - the Timurites looked after the families of front-line soldiers, the elderly - they chopped firewood for them, carried water, collected ash and chicken droppings for greenhouses, money and bonds for the construction of the Soviet weapons, paraded over hospitals, gave concerts to the wounded... As A.N. Balakirev wrote, in the Chelyabinsk region alone in 1942-1943 there were over 3 thousand Timurov teams with a total number of 28 thousand people, children took care of 15 thousand families of front-line soldiers. In the Khabarovsk Territory, about a thousand teams of Timurovites were engaged in renovating the homes of families who fought on the fronts of the Second World War, helped in raising small children, weeded vegetable gardens and collected the grown crops, and prepared firewood. IN Voronezh region During the war, more than 50 thousand Timurites acted.
At the beginning of 1942, Timur’s rallies took place in the USSR, where the results of the work of these organizations in the country were summed up. Volunteer Komsomol assistants who acted in besieged Leningrad. In the besieged city, there were 753 teams with 12 thousand Timurites. Leningrad Timurites also took care of the families of front-line soldiers, pensioners and disabled people, purchasing food cards for them, storing fuel and cleaning apartments.
During the Great Patriotic War, the Timur movement arose - a mass patriotic movement of schoolchildren and pioneers, whose ideology called for being useful to the Motherland. “Timurovets” is a title that obliges the guys to be disciplined and evokes noble and patriotic actions in them. Their activities had enormous socio-political and pedagogical significance.
Timurites provided assistance to the families of front-line soldiers: they renovated apartments, looked after the sick and children, and helped with housework. They considered one of the most important aspects of their activity to be monitoring the condition of the roads along which troops and ammunition were transported to the front.
It is impossible not to note the work of this movement in sponsored hospitals. The guys organized amateur art concerts, were on duty in hospitals, wrote letters at the request of the wounded, and performed various chores. Each Timur member had his own business.
In August 1941, 5 thousand schoolchildren were engaged in agricultural work. Teenagers aged 11-13 worked in the fields of collective farms, learned to reap rye, collected the remaining ears of corn and knitted sheaves. From scrap metal collected by the Timurites, the Tanya tank was built and sent to the front, named after the feat of the brave girl 3rd Kosmodemyanskaya.
During the war, the enterprises produced: boxes for mines, brake pads for tanks, sapper blades, skis, anti-personnel mines, casings for aircraft bombs, barrels for mortars, camouflage nets, spoons, and soldiers' bowler hats. Behind all this is the work of the Timurov children, who replaced the men who went to the front at the machines.
The patriotic activities of the Timurov pioneers received well-deserved recognition from the soldiers of the army and navy, and were highly appreciated by the Communist Party and the Soviet government. The main driving force behind all thoughts and aspirations, willful efforts and practical deeds was the ardent desire of the children to give all their strength to the Motherland.
Heroes-Pioneers
During the Great Patriotic War, many pioneers were part of partisan detachments. There they were used for tasks that adults could not complete. For example, they were sent on reconnaissance. The teenagers, ragged and emaciated, did not arouse suspicion among the German administration. They could freely appear in cities and bring the necessary information about the location of troops, the number of guards at important facilities, etc. The partisans also used them for sabotage. They participated in train bombings and poisoned food in German soldiers' kitchens. Children often participated in underground activities.
For military services, tens of thousands of children and pioneers were awarded orders and medals. Four pioneer heroes were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union: Lenya Golikov, Marat Kazei, Valya Kotik, Zina Portnova.
Leonid Golikov
Born on June 17, 1926 in the village of Lukino, which is located on the banks of the Polo River. Graduated from 5th grade. When his native village was occupied by the Nazis, the boy joined a partisan detachment.
Lenya has been in reconnaissance more than once and participated in the burning of enemy warehouses and trains. One of the most important battles in his life was a one-on-one fight with a fascist general. A grenade thrown by Golikov knocked out an enemy car from which a Nazi with a briefcase got out and, firing back, ran away. Without being confused, the boy rushed after him. After a kilometer of chase, Lenya kills the general. What was in the general's briefcase was great value: drawings and descriptions of new samples of German mines, inspection reports to higher command and a number of other papers.
On account of the reconnaissance group in which Golikov was a member there were: 78 German soldiers and officers, two railway and 12 highway bridges, two fodder warehouses and 10 vehicles with ammunition.
Leonid Golikov died on January 24, 1943 in an unequal battle in the village Spicy Luka Pskov region, where the enemy was especially fierce, sensing imminent reprisals.
On April 2, 1944, a decree was issued by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR to award pioneer partisan Lena Golikov the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Were you a Timurite? Thirty years ago, this question, asked of a recent student, would have caused bewilderment. Almost all the guys in the Soviet Union were Timurites. Helping someone who needs your help and doing it selflessly was a normal human reaction to an event. This can be called morality, it can be education, but the essence was the same - this attitude towards the world around us allowed Soviet children to grow into decent people and worthy citizens.
It is also interesting that the Timurites were often confused with the pioneers. However, this is not the same thing. As a researcher of this issue, historian Alexei Nikolaevich Balakirev, writes, during the Great Patriotic War, out of twenty million schoolchildren, only a third of the children were pioneers. The reason is that in difficult times, when most men went to the front, teachers had no time for political education and children educated themselves. Or rather, they were raised by books and the personal example of their older comrades.
This is how the Timur movement was born. It quickly became popular and grew exponentially. During the five years of the war, there were already three million teenagers in the USSR who proudly called themselves Timurites. These guys were irreplaceable both in the rear and in the partisan movement, and today we also owe our Great Victory to them.
Let's contact the organization
The movement was born in 1940 after the story “Timur and His Team” by Arkady Gaidar was published. The story was completed on August 27, and a week later the excerpt was published in print. Then radio broadcasts began - the success was stunning. A year later, the story was published in large numbers, it was immediately sold out, and more and more were printed. And until the end of the 1970s, the story “Timur and His Team” became one of the most significant and most importantly beloved works of children's literature.
Immediately after the release of the first edition, detachments of Timurites began to appear in all cities and villages of the USSR, like mushrooms after rain. It even happened that in one small village there were two or even three detachments. And they even fought for good deeds: they cut the same firewood twice for the widow of a war hero, swept the yard three times or rinsed the laundry. Such funny things happened.
He did not invent the organization that Gaidar describes, but created it himself in his childhood: he was the commander of a yard team, secretly did good deeds and did not ask for rewards for them. In modern language, the guys who help their neighbors could be called volunteers. And then they were something new and unusual, because teenagers organized themselves, without the participation of adults and without their leadership
Konstantin Paustovsky wrote about a similar yard team; he recalls a case when the boys helped find a very rare medicine and thanks to this, a seriously ill child recovered.
During the war years, the Timur movement acquired a mass character. There were many problems in each yard and the guys, as before, did not work according to orders from above, but decided for themselves what to do and whom to help. But still, if before it was more of a game, now it is necessary help. “Conspiracy” and “secret plans” remained in peacetime, but now there were lists of urgent matters and duty schedules. Around the same time, having appreciated the attractiveness of Timur’s teams, mature people also joined the movement.
Baba Sasha's squad
In 1941, Timurov’s team of 250 children operated in Kyiv, and a team of 200 teenagers gathered in the city of Plast, Chelyabinsk region. She was led by 74-year-old Alexandra Petrovna Rychkova.
One of her former wards recalled that when in August 1941 in the mining town of Plast they learned that a team of Timurites was gathering in the center, all the local guys came running to help the front.
And although at the very first training camp Alexandra Petrovna announced that they would work hard, without discounts for age (and those who changed their minds could immediately leave), the ranks did not move. There were 108 children and teenagers in the ranks. Those who wished were divided into groups, and a leader was appointed for each group.
We acted according to the plan that Baba Shura handed out every day. The plan included helping those in need, political information and ideological work, and holding concerts for the hospital. There were also general tasks that concerned everyone: collecting medicinal plants, preparing firewood, collecting scrap metal for the front, and other current affairs. And there were many of them: work in the fields, patronage of the families of front-line soldiers, many worked as nannies for other people’s children while their parents worked.
Over the course of six months of active work, the detachment gained an impeccable reputation. And then the authorities allocated them an empty room in which the headquarters was located. The Trimurites are here, and local residents, carried gifts for soldiers at the front and for hospitals: knitted socks, sleeveless vests, scarves, hats, mittens.
It is also interesting that gold was mined in the mines near the city of Plast, for which we, the USSR, bought from America and Britain military equipment and products. The main mining work was done by the miners, but if the lights suddenly went out (and this happened often), the employees called Timurovites for help. The boys descended underground and, together with the adults, lifted a heavy load to the surface.
Another task that they were entrusted with was that they crawled into the dumps and selected from the already mined rocks what the miners had missed.
Despite being so busy, the children still went to school. Their military work did not go unnoticed - the detachment from the town of Plast was written about more than once in Soviet newspapers. And today a mention of this Timurov team can be found in the encyclopedia of the Great Patriotic War.
Under the wing of power
In 1942, the pedagogical community became worried: Timur’s teams began to replace and displace pioneer organizations. The fact came to light that the pioneer organization had been disbanded in the capital. The Komsomol members got scared and began active work to merge the Pioneers and Timurites. In the final, Timur's team took control. There were both pros and cons here. We can talk about this for a long time. But the point is that now the Timurites have lost their freedom of choice; they have been transferred to the category of an additional form of work of the pioneer organization. And some researchers believe that the movement died in the 60s and 70s.
I'm not a historian. Born in 1979. And my childhood was in the second half of the eighties. I remember long lines, coupons, lump sugar instead of sweets. But I also remember how I was part of the Timurov school team in the town of Saratov, Odessa region.
We carried water to grandmothers, cleaned apartments for disabled people, helped in gardens and played with other people's children. I don’t remember doing all this under pressure. On the contrary, she was proud that she was able to bring benefit to her country and do something good for someone. My school friends thought so too. That's how we were raised.
Therefore, talk about what recent years In the USSR, the Timur movement has outlived its usefulness, I consider them dishonest.
Today Timurites can be called volunteers, or volunteers. There are detachments at schools and at sports clubs. But still this is a little different. Because new times give birth to new idols. And this is inevitable.
As psychologists explain, teenagers need to form groups and have common hobbies. That’s how they, or rather, you and I, people, are structured. But what kind of groups these are, and what kind of hobbies they are, is determined by time. Or rather, those adults who are at this time are making this story today. For example, during the war there were Timurites in the USSR, and a little later the boys ran to conquer the North, build the Baikal-Amur Mainline, and develop virgin lands. In the 70s there were hippies, in the 90s the skinhead movement flourished.
Now being reborn search parties, patriotic movements, sports clubs, they say that in some places there are new Timurites. It is unlikely that they will be able to be a real alternative to “those” Timurovites, but it’s good that they exist. Now the theme of love for the Motherland, for Russia is coming to the fore and this gives us hope that in the near future we will see a new generation. And it will be better than us...
Even before the publication of the work, Gaidar was interested in the problems of military education of schoolchildren. In any case, traces of such interests were reflected in his diary and all his works about Timur. We just talked about the first book. But a little later the writer wrote a second work. It was called “Commandant of the Snow Fortress.” The characters were already doing some war game. Well, at the very beginning of the war, Gaidar managed to write the film script “Timur’s Oath.” From the pages he spoke about the need for a children's organization in military conditions. Members of this community will be on duty during the blackout and bombing. They will protect the territory from saboteurs and spies, and will help the families of Red Army soldiers and peasants in their agricultural work. Actually, that's what happened. Another question is whether the author actually wanted to create some kind of alternative to the pioneer organization with his works about Timur... Unfortunately, we will never know for certain.
Gaidar's idea
They say that Gaidar, in his books about Timur, described the experience of scout organizations in the 10s of the twentieth century. In addition, at one time he led a yard team. And secretly, like his character Timur, he did good deeds without asking for any reward for them. By and large, teenagers who help those in need are now called volunteers.
By the way, such eminent personalities as Anton Makarenko and Konstantin Paustovsky wrote about such a children’s organization in their time. But only Gaidar alone, willingly or unwillingly, managed to bring this plan to life.
Start
What event served as the beginning of the Timur movement? The answer to this question seems quite obvious. It was after the appearance of the book about Timur that the informal Timur movement began. Corresponding detachments also appeared.
The Timurites themselves became, in fact, part of the ideological system of the Soviet Union. At the same time, they managed to maintain a certain spirit of volunteerism.
Timurovites were exemplary teenagers. They selflessly committed good deeds, provided assistance to elderly people, helped collective farms, kindergartens and much, much more. In a word, a real mass movement of schoolchildren has emerged.
Who was the founder of the Timur movement? The very first detachment appeared in 1940 in Klin, in the Moscow region. By the way, it was here that Gaidar wrote his “imperishable story” about Timur and his team. There were only six teenagers in this detachment. They studied at one of the Klin schools. Following them, such detachments arose throughout the entire territory of the Soviet Union. Moreover, sometimes in one of the small villages there were 2-3 such teams. Because of this, funny things happened. Let's say teenagers repeatedly chopped wood for an elderly person and swept the yard three times...
The era of the great war
During the war, the Timur movement in the USSR grew in arithmetic progression. In 1945, there were already about 3 million Timurites in the Soviet Union. These teenagers actually turned out to be irreplaceable.
Such detachments functioned in orphanages, schools, palaces of pioneers and out-of-school institutions. The teenagers patronized the families of officers and soldiers and continued to help harvest the crops.
The teams also carried out tremendous work in hospitals. Thus, the Timurites of the Gorky region managed to organize almost 10 thousand amateur performances for the wounded. They were constantly on duty in hospitals, wrote letters on behalf of the soldiers, and performed a number of various chores.
Another example of the Timur movement occurred in the summer of 1943. The steamer "Pushkin" set off on the route "Kazan - Stalingrad". On the ship as cargo are gifts that were collected by the Timurites of the republic.
And in Leningrad, besieged by the Nazis, the Timur movement acquired special meaning. Twelve thousand teenagers operated in 753 Timurov’s detachments in the northern capital. They provided assistance to the families of front-line soldiers, the disabled and pensioners. They had to prepare fuel for them, clean their apartments and receive food ration cards.
By the way, at the beginning of 1942, the first rallies of Timurites were held throughout the USSR. At these events they talked about the results of their successful activities.
Also by this time, the first songs about the Timur movement appeared, among them “Four friendly guys”, “How high is our sky above us” and, of course, “Song of the Timurites” by Blanter. Later, such popular musical compositions as “Gaidar Walks Ahead”, “Song of the Red Pathfinders”, “Eaglets Learn to Fly”, “Timurovites”, etc. were written.
Ural detachment
Returning to the war period, one of Timur’s famous teams was a detachment from the mining town of Plast, in the Chelyabinsk region. Two hundred teenagers took part in it. And it was headed by 73-year-old Alexandra Rychkova.
The detachment was created in August 1941. At the very first training camp, Rychkova said that she would literally have to work hard. There will be no age discounts. She announced that if anyone changed their mind, they could leave immediately. But no one left. The teenagers were divided into groups and appointed leaders.
Every day Rychkova handed out a work plan. They helped those in need, told townspeople about situations at the front, and held concerts for the wounded in the hospital. In addition, they collected medicinal plants, scrap metal, prepared firewood, worked in the fields, and patronized the families of front-line soldiers. They were also trusted with a serious matter: Timur’s men crawled into mine dumps and took away rocks.
Note that despite working, teenagers still continued to go to school.
As a result, in six months the team from Plast was able to gain a truly impeccable reputation. Even the officials gave the guys a room for their headquarters. Timurites from this mining town have been repeatedly written about in periodicals. By the way, this detachment is mentioned in the encyclopedia of the Great Patriotic War.
The process of merging pioneers and Timurites
In 1942, teachers were in some confusion. The fact is that Timur’s detachments, in fact, began to displace the pioneer squads. Let us remember that the book about Timur was about a “self-disciplined” team. In it, teenagers took on all the responsibilities and solved all problems themselves, without adult supervision.
As a result, the leaders of the Komsomol made a decision related to the unification of the pioneers and Timurites. After some time, the Komsomol managed to take control of them.
By and large, this situation had its obvious advantages and big disadvantages. The activities of the Timurites began to be considered an additional form of pioneer work.
Post-war period
Immediately after the victory over the fascist invaders, Timur’s men continued to help front-line soldiers, the disabled, and the elderly. They also tried to care for the graves of Red Army soldiers.
But at the same time the movement began to fade away. Perhaps the reason was that the Timurites did not feel much desire to “join” the ranks of the pioneer organization. They lost their freedom of choice.
The revival of the movement began only during Khrushchev’s “thaw”...
60-80s
The history of the Timur movement in Russia continued. During this period, teenagers continued to engage in social activities useful activity. The best were awarded. For example, eleven-year-old schoolgirl M. Nakhangova from Tajikistan managed to exceed the norm for an adult by seven times in picking cotton. She was awarded the Order of Lenin.
Timurovites began to engage in search work. So, they began to study the life of A. Gaidar and, as a result, helped open museums of the writer in a number of cities. They also organized a library-museum named after the writer in Kanev.
And in the 70s, under the editorship of the famous Soviet magazine “Pioneer,” the so-called All-Union Timur Headquarters was formed. Training sessions for Timurites also took place with enviable regularity. Poems about the Timur movement were actively composed and read. In 1973, the first All-Union rally took place in the Artek camp. Three and a half thousand delegates attended the event. They then even managed to adopt the program of the Timur movement, aimed at its active development.
Note that such teams were created in Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and the GDR.
Collapse and revival of the movement
At the very beginning of the 90s, the role of the Komsomol and the Pioneers was declared exhausted. These organizations officially ceased to exist. Accordingly, the same fate awaited Timur’s movement.
But almost simultaneously the Federation of Children's Organizations was created, independent of any political party. A few years later Russian President announced the creation of a movement of Russian schoolchildren. Note that this idea was also supported by teachers.
A little earlier, a new Timurov (volunteer) movement was officially formed, which is designed to help socially vulnerable groups of the population.
New time
Thus, in our time, the traditions of the Timur movement have been preserved. Such units exist in several regions. For example, in Shuya, in the Ivanovo province, there is a youth movement of Timurites. As before, they not only help those in need, but also try to be useful to society.
I'm glad that this movement is spreading everywhere again...