Khabarovsk
War in Europe ended in 1945 with a capitulation of Hitler’s Germany. But in the Far East the danger of the Japanese troops’ invasion remained. That is why the leadership made a decision to be the first one to attack. As soon as after 24 days of fighting Japanese resistance was crushed. And in September of 1945 Act of Unconditional Capitulation of Japan was signed. Then in Khabarovsk from December 25 until December 31 of 1949 a trial took place for crimes of war committed by former military personnel of Quantun Army headed by general Yamagata who were accused of development and application of bacteriological weapons. 12 people including 5 generals appeared before the tribunal.
But even in the hard years of war our city continued to develop. Along with new factories public construction was also carried out. In April of 1944 a decision was made to open a children’s park of culture and recreation in Khabarovsk as well as a civil engineering college. And in the next year a regional drama theatre was established. In September of 1943 a department of the peoples of the North at the Khabarovsk teachers’ training college opened its doors.
Khabarovsk and its residents held out during those terrible years with honor. And those times will never be forgotten. Exploits of the residents of Khabarovsk in labor and fighting are immortalized in monuments which now can be seen all over the city.
After the end of the war reformation of the industry towards peace-time production began. This task did not seem to be a difficult one. A big number of soldiers were coming back from the war and joining workforces. Migration of people to the Far East continued.
At that time administrative-territorial division of the Far East radically changed. Back in 1938 two regions – Primorsky and Khabarovsky – ceased to be part of one big Far Eastern region and became separate ones. And then after the war Khabarovsky region was split into even smaller parts. In 1947 Sakhalinskaya territory ceased to be part of Khabarovsk region and became a separate one. In 1948 – Amurskaya region was formed, in 1953 – Magadanskaya region, in 1956 – Kamchatskaya region. Splitting up of Khabarovsk region ended with formation of Jewish autonomous region that used to be part of it. Since then Khabarovsk region has remained that way. And Khabarovsk has remained to be its capitol.
Khabarovsk continued to develop and to be built. However, it was not heroic years of the conquest of the Far East or the Civil War. That is why development went prosily and was almost unnoticed by the ordinary residents of Khabarovsk. Factories and plants continued to be built and put into operation, but they became so numerous that these events were mentioned only in newspapers. Mass residential construction began in the city but the buildings were featureless and dismal so the outward appearance of the city did not gain from that very much. In the places of mass construction new microdistricts formed.
Of the industrial factories built until 1991 several can be mentioned: 1956 – “Amurcabel” factory, 1961 – factory of large-panel house-building, 1965 – motor-car repair factory, 1977 – constructional aluminum works. Large factories of Khabarovsk enlarged their capacities – Dalenergomach, Daldisel, Ordzhonikidze factory, Chemistpharm factory. In 1969 Energomach factory produced the first line of gas turbines. Because the population of the city grew very rapidly, a big amount of food was required, and in the suburbs of the city poultry and pork farms as well as hothouses began to emerge. And then also factories of food industry – bread-baking plants, meat-packing factory and even an ice-cream factory.
The main kind of transport for people living in Khabarovsk right after the war was still railway service. New trunk-lines connected more and more cities of the Far East. In 1960s mass electrification of railroad trunk-lines took place. But beside habitual trains air transport began to enter the life of the residents of Khabarovsk. In 1948 regular flights Moscow-Khabarovsk were opened, and in 1954 an airport was built. In March of 1970 Khabarovsk’s airport received an international status after a regular flight from Paris to Tokyo landed in it. And in the next year a line Khabarovsk-Tokyo was opened. One year later a new building of the airport was constructed.
The system of city transport in Khabarovsk developed. In 1949 the first taxi cabs appeared in the city – 8 “Pobeda” cars. In 1956 the first city tram line was put into service which later would become one of the most popular city transports.
Also in the city the system of education continued to develop. During that time a big number of schools, colleges and universities began to work. Training schools and colleges now began to prepare specialists almost for all fields of industry. In 1958 an automobile-highway institute was opened, then polytechnical college. In 1967 – institute of physical culture, 1968 – institute of culture, 1970 – institute of national economy etc. At the same time a big number of scientific-research institutes were opened in Khabarovsk that worked in almost all spheres of science.