In the footsteps of history. Obligatory requirements: to work not less than 12 hours, to plant 1 tree and 2 shrubs

Clean-ups of Wednesdays, Saturdays, and Sundays. Historical documents on measures to clean up the territories in the XIX-XX centuries can be found in the State Committee of the Republic of Tatarstan on archival matters (Kazan, Novo-Pesochnaya St. 44).
On May 1, 1920, the population of Kazan and Kazan Province took an active part in the All-Russian May Day Clean-up. To manage all works, both in preparation for the action and in its conduct, a special Office was established at the Kazan Province executive committee. According to the minutes of the meetings of this Office of April 17 and 26, 1920, it dealt with questions about the plan for the May Day clean-up, the distribution of duties between members of the Office, and the celebration program. Mandatory requirements for people: work out at least 12 hours, plant 1 tree and 2 shrubs. The report on holding the May Day clean-up in Kazan noted that 20,005 people took part in it. The population was involved in cleaning streets, squares, courtyards, gardens, removing garbage, planting trees, making new gardens, and repairing and building works. So, for example, in the Yudino depot five locomotives were brought out of repair.
There survived reports on the conduct of the May Day clean-up in the county-level cities of the Kazan province, which show the enthusiasm of the residents. So, in Yelabuga, 1,485 people took part in the clean-up. On this day, the building of the dining hall was laid, the opening of the Institute of Public Education was held, trees and shrubs were planted. The residents of Chistopol showed great activity: 5,100 people took part in the May Day clean-up. In the city, the People’s House was laid and the bridge over the river Eryklu was built.
Members of the Communist Party, Komsomol, and trade union organizations were actively involved in carrying out clean-ups. In the 1920s, for example, in the program of the “Week of Trade Movement”, along with the organization of meetings of trade union members, lectures, reports on the history of trade unions, Saturday clean-ups were also included.
In the postwar years, such form of people participation in cleaning and improving urban areas as a Sunday clean-up was also widely used. So, for example, in the report of the transport department of the Kazan city committee of the All-Union Communist Party presents the results of the Sunday clean-ups in 1946 in support of the construction of the Opera House, in which industrial enterprises took part.
On April 12, 1969, a jubilee Communist Saturday clean-up was held in Kazan in honor of the 50th anniversary of the first Communist clean-up. 357 leaders in the production were awarded with the title “shock worker of Communist labour”. More than 110,000 people participated in the jubilee clean-up, as evidenced by the information of the Leninsky District Committee of the CPSU in the Kazan City Committee of the CPSU.



Press Service of MENR of RT