"EVERYTHING FOR THE FRONT, EVERYTHING FOR VICTORY"

The rusty, mangled, weather-beaten German Messer-schmitt warplane lay on waste ground between Mirali Seidov and Sarifzada Streets (formerly 9 and 10 Khrebtovaya), listing to one side with its nose buried in the stony ground. It had lain there unattended for ages, next to a school, six years after it was brought down by an accurate shot from an anti-aircraft gun. Children played nearby and a military band used to come at weekends. The Messerschmitt became a local attraction, overgrown with grass and the stains of red rust - and rumours. It was well preserved and some said it hadn't been shot down at all but just fell out of the sky when it ran out of fuel.

Fuel, and not just fuel

Almost until the end of the 19th century Baku and its suburbs were among the main sources of oil for the whole of Europe. And for the USSR Abseron became virtually the only place for oil extraction. The West Siberian fields had not yet been discovered (this came later, in the mid-1960s) and here 80 per cent of Soviet petrol and paraffin, almost all of which went to the front, was obtained.

However, there were all kinds of problems. The northern route for the transportation of oil and fuel had been blocked by the fascists, leaving just the road to the east - via the Caspian Sea to Krasnovodsk. The fuel was sent by tankers and, when they ran out, in iron canisters and even barrels - the barrels were chained to ships and sent to Krasnovodsk and from there by rail.

Generally speaking, all industry was reassigned for the war effort during those harsh years and new kinds of output had to be produced. In Azerbaijan military uniforms were made, as well as artillery weapons and shells. Scientists, who had devoted years to other more peaceful things, had to be re-trained during the war. Projects for more economic ways of distilling oil were carried out, successful attempts were made to create purer "brands" of petrol, new types of steel were created and tested and the results immediately applied to the production of artillery.

Occasionally, one hears from the people of other towns that the Bakuvians did little fighting at the front or that many of them were exempt from active service. But there were strong reasons for this - Baku was a city of top-class experts and engineers (anyone who has read that splendid book "The Mekong Crew" by Voyskunskiy and Lukodyanov will know what I mean) and these people made a significant contribution to the victory cause and as many Azerbaijani soldiers died during the war as in other republics. Here one should remember the work done during the war years by an Azerbaijani doctor of chemistry, academician Yusif Mammadaliyev. Mammadaliyev and his colleagues made wide use of research into the composition and properties of natural and artificial casing-head gases. Under his leadership, methods of the synthesis of chlorinated methane and ethane were developed, as well as a method for obtaining high-octane additives for aviation fuel based on casing-head gases.

It is interesting to note that when the Soviet Army, after its victory in the battles for the Volga and the Caucasus, drove the fascists back to the west, Mammadaliyev's homespun device, which was built under his leadership near the Baku community of Kesla, developed thousands of tonnes of a high-octane component which enabled Baku's factories to considerably increase the production of high-grade aviation fuel for combat aircraft on the Southern Front. In January 1944 Professor Mammadaliyev was awarded the Order of Lenin for his work in providing the front with aviation fuel.

The heroic work of Azerbaijan's oil workers and petrochemists was highly appreciated in active units of the Soviet Army. During the war years the Central and Baku committees of the Azerbaijani Communist Party (B) received several letters and telegrams from soldiers, officers, generals and admirals of the Soviet Army expressing their profound gratitude to the Bakuvians for their prompt supply of oil and lubricants for military equipment. In his letter to the Central Committee of the Azerbaijani Communist Party, Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Rokossovskiy (1896-1968) wrote that "…Baku's oil workers were to a considerable degree behind each strike by the fearless falcons, each raid by the valiant Soviet tank crews and each victory over the German fascist forces".

Marshal Georgiy Zhukov acknowledged that "the oil workers of Baku are providing the front and the country with as much fuel as is necessary to defend our Motherland and for victory over the enemy".

The work of creative intellectuals was not ignored, either. 

Intellectuals and the war

On 17 October 1941, that dark autumn when the fate of the country hung on a thread, the 800th anniversary of the birth of the great Nizami was suddenly marked on a vast scale in the Hermitage. Scientists and writers from all over the Soviet Union took part in the celebrations. The Soviet leaders were well aware of the role Azerbaijan, Baku and the intellectuals of the city would play in the cause of future victory. So they strove in every way to support the "masterminds" from the southern republic who had emerged at such an important and crucial moment of history.

In Azerbaijan, despite the difficulties of war and the total poverty, new theatres were set up showing works by Azerbaijani and world writers. Three new theatres were opened in Ganca alone. An important place was allotted to artists and sculptors. The struggle against fascism shone through vividly and had its own strength in their works. In short, more than 20 Azerbaijani artists left for active service, including the legendary Mehdi Huseynzada, as well as Qafar Seyfullayev, Hasan Haqverdiyev, Eyub Mammadov, Oqtay Sadigzada and many others. Virtually all artists, even those who could have been of service right there in the rear and made use of the aforementioned exemption, left for the front.

During the war years posters became the most important and effective means of propaganda and recruitment. That is why, at the instigation of the eminent Azerbaijani painter Azim Azimzada, posters such as "Agitokno", "Fighting Pencil", and others began to be produced. The graphic works of Azimzada, Xaliqov and Haciyev went down in the history of the period of the war as basic, vivid works of art. The eminent sculptor Fuad Abdurrahmanov created a number of busts of leading war heroes.

At the same time, composers and musicians created their own works, as did writers. In this context one might recall the creative duos Uzeyir Hacibayov and Samad Vurgun, Said Rustamov and Mammad Rahim, as well as Niyazi, Cahangir Cahangirov and Rasul Rza. Wandering around Baku during the war, one could hear from the loudspeakers the results of their work - songs like Sister of Mercy", "To the Front" and "Baku".

In the first two years of the war branches of the Writers Union had to be closed in Naxcivan, Ganca, Xankandi and Saki. The fact was that many authors had left for the front. Most of those who left in 1941 (the gravest year of the war) were killed. But in 1942 authors who were seriously wounded started to return and creative life seethed again in these towns.

Open questions

The war generated a number of questions. The most important of these was the low standard of efficiency of the Soviet Army which had been preparing to face Hitler from the mid-1930s and which conceded the initiative in the first months of the war. But there are also other matters that directly concern Azerbaijan. For example, Soviet troops who had escaped from captivity were often repressed - sent to prison for long terms or shot. And therefore so many of our fellow countrymen remained in the enemy's rear and joined the partisan movement in Italy, Yugoslavia and France, including Ahmadbay Cabrayilov and Mehdi Huseynzada, whose named are widely known. At the same time, among them there are also other, no less heroic people. One of them - Cavad Hakimli - was the commander of the detachment in which Mehdi Huseynzada himself fought. Our compatriots were also active in occupied Yugoslavia after escaping from captivity: people like Rza Agazada, Mikayil Qulubayev, Camil Ismayilov, A. Abisev, G. Ibadov, M. Mammadov, V. Hacibayev and M. Alimardanov. They distinguished themselves in the fighting in Czechoslovakia.

Another no less important subject is the repressions in the rear, which continued throughout the war. In Azerbaijan the Soviet authorities were very wary of intellectuals in those years. On the one hand, they were given every encouragement, and on the other they might be suspected of links with Turkey, which was then neutral, and could be repressed. During the war years, in order to escape from the NKVD, many had to leave Azerbaijan. In the context of military repressions (which, it is true, were not as severe as in 1937, 1939 and 1949) much is unclear. However, the high strategic importance of our city could hardly be a justification for the destruction of thousands of human destinies. Azerbaijan, and Baku in particular, did much for the front. To complete the picture, one should add that the headquarters of the Transcaucasian Front of the Anti-Hitler coalition was based there. And even after the war, the HQ of the 4th Army was in Baku and in terms of power was often a far cry from other HQs. It was here to Baku, via Iran, that high-ranking guests and leaders of European partisan movements, including the head of the biggest of them, Marshal de Gaulle, came.

Today, the representatives of various diasporas in Azerbaijan (primarily Jewish and Tatar) are campaigning for Baku to be given the status of hero-city. However, the problem is that it is unclear who is authorized to resolve this problem. Although the logistics of this decision are vague, at least they will help to promote the subject of our city's importance to the cause of the world victory over fascism.