“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, the Timur 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, the all-Union headquarters of Timur was formed under the editorship of the Pioneer magazine. 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.
By and large, almost all schoolchildren of the USSR were Timurites. The desire to help those in need was an absolutely normal reaction to this or that event. Perhaps it is morality, perhaps it is education. But thanks to this attitude towards the world, these children, Timurovites, eventually became real and responsive people. They have preserved the traditions of the Timur movement forever. And this is probably the most important thing...
The book that might not have existed
The Timur movement arose in 1940. That is, when A. Gaidar had just published his last book about someone helping people. The work was called, of course, “Timur and his team.”
A week later, one of the excerpts was already published. In addition, corresponding radio broadcasts began. The success of the book was simply colossal.
A year later, the work was published in quite a large circulation. Despite this, I had to reprint it several times.
Although this book might not have appeared on store shelves at all. The fact is that Gaidar’s idea of uniting children who take care of their elders looked very suspicious. Let us remind you that we were going recent years 30s.
Fortunately, the Secretary of the Komsomol Central Committee N. Mikhailov took responsibility for the publication of the work. When the book was published, a film of the same name appeared. The amazing popularity of the film was explained by the vitality of the image of the main character. Timur became an example and ideal of the young generation of that era.
Trilogy about Timur
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. Oh we were just talking. 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 But only Gaidar, 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. 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 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...
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.
Timur movement in Velikaya Patriotic War enjoyed great prestige among Soviet children, since it was associated with specific work - Timurov’s men 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 Soviet weapons, paraded over hospitals, performed concerts for 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.
Problem. The legislative act - “Law on Education” - defines that “... education is a purposeful process of upbringing and training in the interests of an individual, society, state...”. It is education that comes first. Education is, first of all, a purposeful process of upbringing. And one cannot but agree with this. My position is this: it is possible to teach science almost always and to almost everyone, but teaching to become a human being is a more difficult task. In this matter in modern school there are disadvantages. Being carried away by all kinds of technology, electronics, and modern educational technologies, we sometimes forget about morality. We educate and train through individual events (Day of Politeness, Mercy, Anti-Smoking Day, etc.), but this is a constant, systemic process. We should always be polite, merciful, healthy image life. And when this becomes a need, and not a momentary necessity, we will be able to say that we have raised a moral and educated person who will do good and people need affairs. There is no doubt that in our time the problem of patriotic education of schoolchildren arises. In previous years, this area of educational activity was underdeveloped. As a result of this, we see a grown-up generation for which the concepts of “Motherland,” “Patriotism,” and “Fatherland” are alien. Therefore they began current problems education of defenders of the Motherland of law-abiding citizens, education of mercy and philanthropy. Patriotic education, like everything else, is primarily the responsibility of class teachers. In the Federal Program of Patriotic Education, the development of the Timur movement is highlighted as a separate line. And this means its importance for society as a whole. For many reasons of a socio-economic and political nature, we were deprived for a long time of an organization designed to raise children and organize their reasonable leisure time. This could not but cause a surge in many negative phenomena that began to seriously worry society: increased crime among teenagers and, in particular, the movement of so-called skinheads, fans sports clubs, alcoholism and drug addiction, idle pastime, extreme individualism and aggressiveness of some and avoidance of reality in computer games others. In order to avoid the deepening and expansion of these negative processes, it is necessary to revive and develop the Timur movement, the purpose of which help organize reasonable and creative leisure time for children, promote the upbringing of children in the spirit of national moral values: patriotism, a sense of mercy, compassion and mutual assistance, the desire to work for the good of others. And this education needs to start as early as possible. It is possible that from older preschool age.
Today the task is to revive and develop the Timur movement in Russia. Is this possible and is it necessary? My opinion is the following:necessary, but a number of features should be taken into account:
First, Timur's movement is needed by society. As strange as it may seem, we will no longer be able to cope without the help of children. Is the Timur movement, that is, voluntary and free help from children to adults, possible in our mercantile age? Of course, in the form in which it is described in the story “Timur and His Team,” the revival of the Timur movement is practically impossible. The fact is that the children organized their team during the holidays, in a holiday village, not being there with their parents. Leisure, not limited by everyday academic duties, the absence of petty supervision allowed the children to independently create their own self-governing small organization (team). SuchModern schoolchildren do not have unlimited leisure.
Second, The school should also not stand aside from the organization of the Timur movement. But there is a danger that class teachers, who in the 80s had experience working in this direction, will not be able to avoid the temptation to use “old, proven” methods of work, which at one time led Timur’s movement to degenerate into ordinary compulsory training, “working out ”, which causes nothing in children except boredom and a feeling of wasted time. Stands in front of the schoolthe task is to find new forms of organizing Timurov’s work, which may interest modern children. In my opinion it is:
Business games, specialized shifts in camps"I am a leader" experience of which is available in many cities. The new Timurs can be helped in their work, including by the so-calledstreet psychologistswho have been working with teenagers in the West for quite a long time, and now they are trying to introduce this position in our large cities.
- Replacement of command and administrative formspartnerships between adults and children. This is one of the central tasks in organizing the Timur movement at the present stage.
- Working with parents. Parents of today's 10-12 year old children, who have survived all the economic and political upheavals and have experienced massive financial pressure mass media who promoted Western values of individualism and personal success at any cost are unlikely to take a favorable view of their children wasting time on “someone else’s uncle.” Class teachers it is necessary to provide appropriate work with parents.
. Timurov movement- this is not only a mass patriotic movement of pioneers and schoolchildren, the content of which is civic concern for people in need of help, but also an effective (with game elements) form of socially useful activity for children, contributing to their spiritual, moral, physical, heroic and patriotic education, development of initiative and initiative, socialization of the teenager’s personality.
In our class, the guys have been caring about pensioners and veterans for a long time. Gradually, this voluntary assistance grew into the organization of a rapid response squad. We are often joined by high school students and parents. This year we developed the squad's Charter.
RAPID RESPONSE UNIT (RET)is an association created for boys and girls, fathers and mothers, teachers, everyone who wants to do good and useful deeds, who loves their native land, your people.
The OBR includes children who can rightfully be called kind, friendly, selfless, and sociable.
They love very much do good deeds, actively participate in the life of the school, village, district.
They really don't like when they offend children, do not respect elders, do not take care of their health and harm the environment.
CHARTER
We are members of the OBR WE - children and our adult friends, united by a common desire, a common idea: “Light yourself, light someone else.”
We came together in our squad in order to create good works and do onlygood deeds, do the world around us warmer and kinder.
We are united by FAITH in what is GOOD can save the world.
We set and implement high GOALS:
Involvement in people's concerns and problems;
Providing assistance to those in need;
Showing love and care to native nature and the animal world.
The SPIRIT reigns in our squad...
understanding,
Kindness
Mercy.
Compassion,
Care,
Friendship,
Trust.
We protect:
The weak
Elderly and lonely
Nature.
Our squad is distinguished special relationship:
Shower,
opinions,
One noble cause.
We honor and protect TRADITIONS:
Respect for the older generation: caring for veterans,
In memory of those who gave their lives for their people, for their Motherland,
Friendship: do not leave each other in trouble,
Mutual aid: help everyone in difficult times,
Words and deeds: keep all promises,
Precision: don't be late.
In our squad there are LAWS:
KINDNESS: “Kindness is born of kindness”;
TRUTH: “Where there is truth, there is happiness”;
RESPONSIBILITY: “If not me, then who?!”;
HONOR: “It is not the one who is stronger who is right, but the one who is more honest”;
CONCERNS: “Before you demand attention to yourself, show it to others.”
Here we take care of:
To the person
His health (physical and moral),
Towards relationships
To the beauty and harmony of nature at any time of the year.
Here we always remember that:
Life is the main value.
Mercy is the highest selfless form of love.
Good contributes to the moral improvement of a person and the salvation of his soul.
Our main activity is CARE OF:
Veterans of labor and wars,
Lonely and elderly people
Four-legged and feathered.
In our squad it is allowed:
Do only good deeds
Do only good deeds
Fantasize and make your fantasies come true.
Our team encourages:
Kindness,
Respect,
Hard work,
Love for nature
Healthy lifestyle.
Relationships between adults and childrenin the detachment are built on the basis of mutual assistance and understanding. Good relationships are cherished here.
Adults are helpers and like-minded people for younger ones.
Self-government.
Timurov's work has been going on at our school for many years. It is carried out systematically, and most importantly - with desire. Our work is needed, because elderly people sometimes need not only help, but also just attention. In addition, by communicating with elderly fellow villagers, the children learned a lot about their village, traditions and customs, and also listened to their memories of events of bygone days.
The guys took part in various operations “Snow”, “A Veteran Lives Nearby”, “Salute to Veterans” and “Obelisk”. The guys went to their wards and provided them with all possible help: they cleared the paths of snow, threw snow off the roof, cleaned the room, washed the floor, and carried water.
The expression of the children’s sensitive attitude towards people is manifested not only in helping pensioners in household. Along with this, schoolchildren provide them with moral support: congratulating them on the occasion of the holiday, organizing meetings with war veterans. And won’t the former warrior’s heart beat excitedly when, on Victory Day, the guys congratulate him and present him with a gift made with their own hands?
Along with helping veterans, schoolchildren help animals and birds survive the winter, and in spring and summer they take care of green spaces and look after the school garden.
Conclusion: The work carried out made it possible to verify that extracurricular groups represented by Timur’s groups significantly influence the degree of growth in demands on each other. In the process of performing Timurov's work, children come into contact with people who have great life experience, worthy and respected in society. They have a huge educational influence on the behavior of young Timurites. The tasks carried out by Timurovites are the acquisition of citizenship, the cultivation of kindness, sensitivity, compassion and empathy, involvement in the affairs of adults, the development of children's initiative; This is the creation of conditions conducive to the formation of a personality capable of independently building their life on the principles of goodness, truth, and beauty.
GENERAL FEE
Alarm Committee
(reception of applications and distribution of cases)
Committee "Patronage"
(Timurov's post)
Committee "Creativity"
(souvenir workshop “Joy”)
July 6, 2017
By and large, almost all schoolchildren of the USSR were Timurites. The desire to help those in need was an absolutely normal reaction to this or that event. Perhaps it is morality, perhaps it is education. But thanks to this attitude towards the world, these children, Timurovites, eventually became real and responsive people. They have preserved the traditions of the Timur movement forever. And this is probably the most important thing...
The book that might not have existed
The Timur movement arose in 1940. That is, when A. Gaidar had just published his last book about a certain children's organization helping people. The work was called, of course, “Timur and his team.”
A week later, one of the excerpts was already published. In addition, corresponding radio broadcasts began. The success of the book was simply colossal.
A year later, the work was published in quite a large circulation. Despite this, I had to reprint it several times.
Although this book might not have appeared on store shelves at all. The fact is that Gaidar’s idea of uniting children who take care of their elders looked very suspicious. Let us remember that these were the last years of the 1930s.
Fortunately, the Secretary of the Komsomol Central Committee N. Mikhailov took responsibility for the publication of the work. When the book was published, a film of the same name appeared. The amazing popularity of the film was explained by the vitality of the image of the main character. Timur became an example and ideal of the young generation of that era.
Trilogy about Timur
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 engaged in some kind of 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 did 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 significance. 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 socially useful activities. 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, the 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...