By and large, almost all schoolchildren of the USSR were Timurovites. The desire to help those in need was an absolutely normal reaction to this or that event. Maybe it's morality, maybe it's upbringing. But thanks to such an attitude towards the world, these children, Timurovites, eventually became real and sympathetic people. They have preserved the traditions of the Timurov movement forever. And this is probably the most important thing…
The book that might not have been
The Timurov movement arose in 1940. That is, when just A. Gaidar published his last book about a certain children's organization that helps people. The work was called, of course, "Timur and his team".
A week later, one of the excerpts was already printed. In addition, corresponding radio broadcasts began. The success of the book was simply colossal.
A year later, the work came out in a fairly large circulation. Despite this,I had to retype it several times.
Although this book might not have been on store shelves at all. The fact is that Gaidar's idea of uniting children who take care of their elders looked very suspicious. Recall that the last years of the 30s were coming.
Fortunately, the Secretary of the Komsomol Central Committee N. Mikhailov assumed responsibility for the publication of the work. When the book was printed, a motion picture of the same name appeared. The amazing popularity of the tape was due to the vitality of the image of the protagonist. Timur became an example and ideal for the young generation of that era.
Timur trilogy
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 the 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 also managed to write a screenplay for 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, they will help the families of the Red Army soldiers and peasants in their agricultural work. Actually, that's what happened. Another question is whether the author really wanted to create some kind of alternative to the pioneer organization with his works about Timur … Tounfortunately, we will never know for sure.
Gaidar's idea
They say that Gaidar in books about Timur, he described the experience of scouting organizations in the 10s of the twentieth century. In addition, at one time he led the yard team. And secretly, like his character Timur, he did good deeds without asking for any reward. 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. But only one Gaidar, willingly or unwillingly, managed to bring this idea to life.
Start
What event was 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. Appropriate squads have also appeared.
The Timurovites 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 volunteering.
Timurovites were exemplary teenagers. They unselfishly did good deeds, assisted the elderly, helped collective farms, kindergartens and much, much more. In a word, a real mass movement of schoolchildren has appeared.
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 in this group.teenagers. 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 cut 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 exponentially. In 1945, there were already about 3 million Timurovites in the Soviet Union. These teenagers have really proved to be indispensable.
Such detachments functioned in orphanages, schools, palaces of pioneers and out-of-school institutions. Teenagers patronized the families of officers and soldiers, continued to help harvest.
Also, the detachments did a tremendous job in hospitals. So, the Timurovites of the Gorky region managed to organize almost 10 thousand amateur art 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 along the route "Kazan - Stalingrad". On the ship as cargo - gifts that were collected by the Timurovites of the republic.
And in Leningrad, besieged by the Nazis, the movement of the Timurites acquired special significance. Twelve thousand teenagers acted in 753 Timurov detachments of the northern capital. They provided assistance to the families of front-line soldiers, the disabled andpensioners. They had to procure fuel for them, clean apartments and receive food on cards.
By the way, at the beginning of 1942, the first gatherings of Timurovites 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 Timurov movement appeared, among them “Four friendly guys”, “How high above us is our sky” and, of course, Blanter's “Song of the Timurovites”. Later, such popular musical compositions as "Gaidar Steps Ahead", "Song of the Red Pathfinders", "Eagles Learn to Fly", "Timurovtsy", etc. were written.
Ural Detachment
Returning to the period of the war, one of the famous Timurov teams was a detachment from the mining town of Plast, in the Chelyabinsk region. It was attended by two hundred teenagers. 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 have to work literally to the point of wear and tear. There will be no discount for age. She announced that if anyone changed their mind, they could leave immediately. But no one left. Teenagers were divided into squads and appointed chief.
Every day Rychkova handed out a work plan. They helped the needy, told the townspeople about the situations on the fronts, held concerts for the wounded in the hospital. In addition, they collected medicinal plants, scrap metal, prepared firewood, worked in the fields, patronized the families of front-line soldiers. They also trustedand a serious matter: the Timurovites crawled into the dumps of mines and selected rocks.
Note, despite the work, 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. Timurovites from this mining town were repeatedly written in periodicals. By the way, this detachment is mentioned in the encyclopedia of the Great Patriotic War.
The process of merging the pioneers and Timurovites
In 1942, educators were in some confusion. The fact is that the Timurov detachments, in fact, began to oust the pioneer squads. Recall that the book about Timur told about a “self-disciplined” team. In it, teenagers took on all the responsibilities and solved all the problems themselves, without adult control.
As a result, the leaders of the Komsomol made a decision related to the unification of the pioneers and Timurovites. After some time, the Komsomol members managed to take control of them.
By and large, this situation had its obvious pluses and big minuses. The activities of the Timurovites began to be considered an additional form of work for the pioneers.
Post-war period
Immediately after the victory over the fascist invaders, the Timurovites continued to help front-line soldiers, the disabled, and the elderly. They also tried to take care of the graves of the Red Army.
But at the same time, the movement began to fade. Perhaps the reason was that the Timurovites did notexperienced a special desire to “join” the ranks of the pioneer organization. They were losing their freedom of choice.
The revival of the movement began only with the Khrushchev “thaw”…
60s-80s
The history of the Timur movement in Russia continued. During this period, teenagers continued to engage in socially useful activities. The best were given awards. For example, 11-year-old schoolgirl M. Nakhangova from Tajikistan managed to exceed the norm for an adult by seven times in the cotton harvest. 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 to open museums of the writer in a number of cities. They also organized a library-museum named after the writer in Kaniv.
And in the 70s, the so-called All-Union Staff of Timur was formed under the editorial office of the well-known Soviet magazine "Pioneer". With enviable regularity, Timurov’s gatherings also took place. 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 Timurov movement, aimed at its active development.
Note, such teams were created in Bulgaria, Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and the GDR.
The 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 have officially ceased to exist. Accordingly, such a fate awaited the Timurovskymovement.
But almost at the same time, 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 schoolchildren in Russia. Note that teachers also supported this idea.
A little earlier, a new Timurov (volunteer) movement was officially formed, which is designed to help socially unprotected groups of the population.
New time
Thus, in our time, the traditions of the Timur movement have been preserved. Such groups exist in several regions. For example, in Shuya, in the Ivanovo province, there is a youth movement of Timurovites. As before, they not only help those in need, but also try to be useful to society.
Good to see this movement spreading all over the place again…
