For the 80th anniversary of the Victory in the Great Patriotic War, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of the Russian Federation has prepared an exhibition dedicated to the activities of the Chamber in 1941-1945.
The exhibition, located in the lobby of the first floor of the Chamber building on Ilyinka, presents rare photographs of the All-Union Chamber of Commerce (VTP), photographs of Soviet pavilions at foreign exhibitions, archival documents, as well as materials from the Bureau of Commodity Expertise from 80 years ago, accompanied by a detailed description of how the VTP worked and helped the country during the most difficult time for the Soviet Union.
The All-Union Chamber of Commerce was also actively involved in exhibition activities before the war, including abroad, carried out maritime and foreign trade arbitration proceedings, conducted related commodity examinations, provided legal and informational support to foreign trade institutions and organizations, and was engaged in the translation of relevant literature. After the attack of Nazi Germany on the USSR, the VTC experienced the full political and economic hardships of the war, and from the very first days the Chamber's activities were entirely focused on helping the front. The VTC compiled trade and economic reviews of the warring states, collected technical and economic information on strategic raw materials, compiled and prepared visual military training aids and drawings, and schematic maps of communication routes.
The Bureau of Commodity Expertise conducted examinations of food products, the Translation Bureau served the military-historical department of the General Staff of the Red Army, and arbitration worked throughout the war. And even the employees of the Leningrad branch of the VTP, who had a particularly hard time during the blockade, continued to work, conduct examinations and assess the quality of goods, were engaged in the production of field first aid kits and "Field Paramedic" boxes for the army, mastered the manufacture of a drag boat for the removal of the wounded from the battlefield, as well as a field printing house.
Some of the stands are dedicated to the pre-war exhibition activities of the VTP, which introduced the foreign market to export goods and the growth of the economic power of the USSR. Exhibitions were held, in particular, in Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, the USA. All of them received high international praise and enjoyed great success. The war broke this good tradition, forcing the Chamber to reorganize its activities for four long years with a focus on the military needs of the country. The VTP resumed participation in foreign exhibitions only in the victorious year of 1945. Separate sections of the exhibition are devoted to the work on streamlining the activities and resuming the pre-war functions of the All-Union Chamber of Commerce to the same extent after the adoption of the new Charter of the All-Union Chamber of Commerce on August 2, 1943, as well as the activities of the All-Union Chamber of Commerce in the victorious year of 1945.
The exhibition pays tribute to the employees of the All-Union Chamber of Commerce, whose names will forever remain in the memory of the Chamber’s staff – those who worked in the rear and fought on the warfields, honorably fulfilling their duty to the country. All available information about them is presented at the exhibition, which can also be viewed online.
By Nina Ogolenko,
Press Service of the Chamber