THE CLOSED SYSTEM OF FOOD DISTRIBUTION AS A FACTOR OF SOCIAL SUPPORT FOR WORKERS: THE ACTIVITIES OF WORKERS' SUPPLY DEPARTMENTS (1941–1945)

Abstract

This article analyzes the role of Workers' Supply Departments (Otdel Rabochego Snabzheniya – ORS) in providing social support and food supplies to workers in strategic industrial, construction, and transport enterprises during the Second World War (1941–1945). It examines the formation of a centralized and closed distribution system under the conditions of wartime food shortages, investigates their legal and financial status, explores the administrative hierarchy, and evaluates the experience of mobilizing internal resources through auxiliary farms.