Abstract
Introduction. The purpose of this article is to highlight the features of daily life in cities of rearguard during World War II (as exemplified by Alma-Ata), the strategy of survival of people in the extremely difficult war years (1941–1945). Methods and materials. The study of features of daily city life in the extreme wartime from the point of view of the systematic approach is a basis for analytical generalizations and scientific hierarchization of the collected historical material. The system method is inextricably linked with the macro-and micro-approach, the combination of which allows to reveal the general and the particular in the studied processes, both from the point of view of the state-institutional view – “from above” and from the point of view of their ordinary participants and witnesses – “from below”. The micro-level of the research allows to study the problem in different projections: economic, political, socio-cultural one, helps to show the humanitarian dimension of the city daily life in wartime. Using the multifaceted approach to the formation of the research source base, introducing new declassified archival documents into scientific circulation allows to restore the daily life of Alma-Ata during the Great Patriotic War, to approach its objective and multidimensional understanding. As the main group of sources the authors use documents extracted from the archives of the Republic of Kazakhstan, in particular, the Central State Archive of the Republic of Kazakhstan (Almaty) (CSA RK), the National archive of Kazakhstan (Astana) (NA RK). Analysis and Results. The result of the research is a demonstration of the daily life of ordinary citizens who bravely endured all the hardships of war both at work and at home, in the family, helping fellow citizens who were evacuated to the city during the war.