To the question of specific features of the mobilization of servicemen conscripted by the Elista Military Commissariat in 1943 (based on materials of the Conscript Register Book)

Abstract

The article analyzes the mobilization of military personnel conscripted by the Elista Military Commissariat of the Kalmyk ASSR in 1943, based on a previously unstudied logbook from the Elista City Military Commissariat discovered in the National Archive of the Republic of Kalmykia. The author provides a detailed examination of the dynamics, scale, and specifics of the mobilization, which was conducted in the recently liberated republic under challenging conditions, including destroyed infrastructure and lost documents. A statistical analysis of data on 1,577 conscripts revealed several characteristics. The ethnic composition was predominantly Russian (54.2%); the proportion of Kalmyks was also significant (40.1%), which generally corresponded to the demographic profile of Elista at that time. The wide geographic distribution of the conscripts’ birthplaces indicates not only a mass conscription of the republic’s indigenous population but also a considerable number of individuals born in other regions of the Soviet Union and even abroad. The main contingent of conscripts consisted of young men born in 1924–1925. The mass voluntary conscription of 54 girls for service in air defense forces is also noted. The monthly dynamics of mobilization were uneven: peak values at the beginning of the year were followed by a sharp decline after May. This was due both to the exhaustion of human resources and to the preparations for the deportation of the Kalmyk people in December 1943. The author concludes that military commissariat logbooks are a highly valuable historical source for a comprehensive study of the contribution of military personnel from Kalmykia to the Victory in the Great Patriotic War and for introducing new data on mobilization into scholarly discourse.