Legal Foundations of Social Security of Military Personnel of the NKVD of the USSR and Their Family Members during the Great Patriotic War
Ivanova G.M. Legal foundations of social security of military personnel of the NKVD of the USSR and their family members during the Great Patriotic War. Penitentiary Science, 2025, vol. 19, no. 3 (71), pp. 232–239. doi 10.46741/2686-9764.2025.71.3.001.
the article considers legal foundations of social security of NKVD soldiers of the USSR and their families during the Great Patriotic War. Purpose: based on the analysis of legal acts of principles, rules and norms, to reveal a mechanism of the Soviet social security system for military personnel during the war. Methods: the research was conducted in accordance with the constitutional principle of preserving historical truth based on a critical analysis of sources using empirical methods of description and interpretation, as well as formal legal methods. Results: the study of a legal framework that has served as the basis for organizing and regulating the social security system for military personnel shows that state support for military personnel and their families during the Great Patriotic War was an important element of the Soviet social policy. It included various types of support, such as financial support (pensions and allowances), employment, industrial training and retraining for the disabled, placement in boarding schools for the disabled for full maintenance, and prosthetics. The social security system of the NKVD of the USSR military personnel was differentiated by the disability group, the amount of salary before joining the service, and the number of disabled family members. This made it possible to take into account different life situations and provide support to those who needed it. Retroactive application of the law “On pensions for enlisted and junior military personnel and their families” of July 16, 1940 opened access to social assistance for those military personnel who became disabled as a result of hostilities after January 1, 1938, as well as for families of military personnel who died after that period. This legal policy testified to the state’s desire to provide maximum support to defenders of the Fatherland and their loved ones.
Keywords: social security; military personnel; troops of the NKVD of the USSR; family members of military personnel; the disabled; the Great Patriotic War.
1981. 64 p.
2. Glazunov A.D. L’goty uchastnikam voiny [Benefits for war participants]. Moscow, 1981. 191 p.
3. Zinich M.S. Assistance to families of veterans and invalids of the Great Patriotic War in 1941-1945. In: Problemy vneshnei
i vnutrennei politiki SSSR v gody Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny (1941–1945 godov) [Problems of foreign and domestic
policy of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War (1941–1945)]. Moscow, 1988. Pp. 167–183. (In Russ.).
4. Semenova E.N. Employment of the servicemen’s family members in West Siberia during the Great Patriotic War (1941–
1945). Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo pedagogicheskogo universiteta = TSPU Bulletin, 2010, no. 9, pp. 58–63. (In
Russ.).
5. Semenova E.N. Formation of the organs of the state support and everyday guaranteeing of the families of servicemen
during the Great Patriotic War (on basis of the West Siberian materials). Vestnik Tomskogo gosudarstvennogo
pedagogicheskogo universiteta = TSPU Bulletin, 2015, no. 2, pp. 31–37. (In Russ.).
6. Manuilova Yu.N. Sotsial’naya reabilitatsiya invalidov voiny na Yuzhnom Urale, 1941–1945 gg.: dis. … kand. ist. nauk
[Social rehabilitation of war invalids in the Southern Urals, 1941–1945: Candidate of Sciences (History) dissertation
abstract]. Chelyabinsk, 2002. 269 p.
7. Nasonov K.A. Social security of the Red Army soldiers during the Great Patriotic War: essence, content and modern
significance. Vestnik voennogo universiteta = Bulletin of the Military University, 2010, no. 3, pp. 65–70. (In Russ.).
8. Nasonov K.A. Pension provision for Red Army servicemen and their family members during the Great Patriotic War.
Voenno-istoricheskii zhurnal = Military Historical Journal, 2013, no. 2, pp. 26–28. (In Russ.).
9. Nasonov K.A. Monetary allowance of the Red Army soldiers during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. Voennoistoricheskii zhurnal = Military Historical Journal, 2018, no. 8, pp. 44–50. (In Russ.).
10. Nasonov K.A. Benefits, allowances and advantage of Red Army servicemen and their family members during the Great
Patriotic War of 1941–1945. Voennyi akademicheskii zhurnal = Military Academic Journal, 2022, no. 3, pp. 84–92. (In
Russ.).
11. Ignat’ev E.A. Legal features of providing military personnel and employees of the NKVD of the USSR during the War
years. Gumanitarnye, sotsial’no-ekonomicheskie i obshchestvennye nauki = Humanities, Socio-Economic and Social
Sciences, 2020, no. 3, pp. 94–97. (In Russ.).
12. Ignat’ev E.A. Pension support of military service officers of the internal affairs of the USSR during the Great Patriotic
War. Voenno-pravovye i gumanitarnye nauki Sibiri = Military-Legal and Humanitarian Sciences of Siberia, 2019, no. 2,
pp. 124–127. (In Russ.).
13. Ignat’ev E.A. The right of employees of the NKVD of the USSR to provide benefits during the Great Patriotic War. In:
Gosudarstvo i pravo: evolyutsiya, sovremennoe sostoyanie, perspektivy razvitiya (navstrechu 300-letiyu rossiiskoi politsii).
T. I [State and law: evolution, current state, development prospects (towards the 300th anniversary of the Russian police)].
Saint Petersburg, 2017. Pp. 277–280. (In Russ.).
14. On universal military duty: the USSR Law of September 1, 1937. Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta SSSR = Vedomosti of
the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, 1939, no. 32, pp. 82–95. (In Russ.).
15. Bunin S.V. Voiska NKVD v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine. Voenno-istoricheskii trud. T. I [NKVD troops in the Great
Patriotic War. Military historical work. Volume 1]. Moscow, 2015. 280 p.
16. Voiska NKVD v Velikoi Otechestvennoi voine. Voenno-istoricheskii trud.: v 3 t. T. II [NKVD troops in the Great Patriotic
War. Military historical work: in 3 volumes. Volume 2]. Moscow, 2015. 328 p.
17. On pensions for the enlisted and junior military personnel and their families: resolution of the Council of People’s
Commissars of the USSR No. 1,269 of July 16, 1940. In: Sobranie postanovlenii i rasporyazhenii Pravitel’stva SSSR
[Collection of Resolutions and Orders of the Government of the USSR]. 1940. No. 19. Art. 465. (In Russ.).
18. Kapustina O.V. On the issue of pension provision in the USSR for disabled military personnel from among the ranks
in accordance with the resolution of the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR No. 1,269 of July 16, 1940 (1940–
1956). Voenno-yuridicheskii zhurnal = Military Law Journal, 2017, no. 11, pp. 16–20. (In Russ.).
19. On pensions and allowances for the supreme, senior and middle commanding staff, long-term service officers, longterm service specialists and their families: resolution of the Council of People’s Commissars of the USSR No. 1,474 of
June 5, 1941. In: Sobranie postanovlenii i rasporyazhenii Pravitel’stva SSSR [Collection of resolutions and orders of the
Government of the USSR]. 1941. No. 15. Art. 282. (In Russ.).
20. Material’noe obespechenie pri invalidnosti, starosti, za vyslugu let i po sluchayu poteri kormil’tsa [Financial support for
disability, old age, seniority and loss of breadwinner]. Comp. by Kats R.R. Moscow, 1948. 703 p.
21. Nekrasov V.F., Borisov A.V., Detkov M.G. et al. Organy i voiska MVD Rossii: kratkii istoricheskii ocherk [Bodies and troops
of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia: brief historical sketch]. Moscow, 1996. 464 p.
22. Trudovoe zakonodatel’stvo voennogo vremeni: sbornik [Labor legislation of wartime : collection]. Moscow, 1942.
192 p.
23. On the establishment of the Order of Glory of I, II and III degrees: decree of November 8, 1943. Vedomosti Verkhovnogo
Soveta SSSR = Vedomosti of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, 1943, no. 48, pp. 278–281. (In Russ.).
24. Krivosheev G.F., Andronikov V.M., Burikov P.D. et al. Rossiya i SSSR v voinakh KhKh veka. Kniga poter’ [Russia and the
USSR in the wars of the twentieth century. The Book of Losses]. Moscow, 2010. 624 p.
25. Sbornik dokumentov i materialov po voprosam truda v period Velikoi Otechestvennoi voiny (22 iyunya 1941 g. – 5
yanvarya 1944 g.) [Collection of documents and materials on labor issues during the Great Patriotic War (June 22, 1941 –
January 5, 1944)]. Moscow, 1944. 382 p.
26. Kapustina O.V. “Harmful practice of unfeeling and bureaucratic attitude to complaints and statements ... of families
of servicemen, disabled veterans of the Patriotic War”. On written appeals of citizens to the People’s Commissariat of the
Russian SFSR in 1943–1945. Voenno-istoricheskii zhurnal = Military Historical Journal, 2024, no. 9, pp. 60–69. (In Russ.).
27. Speech by the People’s Commissar for Foreign Affairs of the USSR, Comrade V. M. Molotov, in San Francisco on May
9, 1945, in connection with the unconditional surrender of Germany. In: Vneshnyaya politika Sovetskogo Soyuza v period
Otechestvennoi voiny. T. 3. 1 yanvarya – 3 sentyabrya 1945 g.: dok. i materialy [Foreign policy of the Soviet Union during
the Patriotic War. Volume 3. January 1 – September 3, 1945: documents and materials]. Moscow, 1947. 791 p.
