«Vertushki» loaded with kerosene for the battle-front
“All for the battle-front. All for the Victory!” – these slogans dating back to sever wartime became “milestoneous” for a whole generation of the Soviet times. The enemy was penetrating deep into the Russian lands and it was necessary to do everything possible for the victory over the Fascists no matter what it could take. Toilers of the rear were doing their best. Thousands of people in the province going through hunger and hardships provided the army with ammunition, food and fuel. In 1943 in the highest point of the war not far from the present Stepnoye regional center there was built an oil pumping station (nowadays – oil loading station ОАО «Saratovneftegaz»). Old residents of Nalivnaya village told the story of the uneasy procedure of the station installation to the correspondent of the «A&F - Saratov» by.
Hardships of construction in starvation
- In 1942 Germans were approaching the Caucasus. At that time the first Soviet trunk pipeline called «Baku - Batumi» was stationed there, - says the Chief of Administration of Municipal Nalivnyanskiy Institution Mariya Drozdenko, turning the pages of the history album containing time-yellowed photos of the station. – By the decision of the government it was dismantled because of the danger of the German troops’ breakthrough. Pipes and other equipment were evacuated to the Volga river region and were there used to build a strategically important oil-products pipeline called «Astrakhan- Saratov».
In record-setting time the line was constructed. All pipes, equipment, even tanks damaged by the bombardment –everything was evacuated from the Caucasus. In a six-month period of time a pipeline of 685 km long was installed. There were as well laid telephone communication and selection lines. On the 5th of December, 1943 – only six months later after the construction had started – the Nalivnaya station began functioning. The battle front started to receive oil products, such as kerosene and diesel oil.
According to the recollections of Elizaveta Litovchenko, one of the first residents of the Nalivnaya village: «to install the pipe line there was laid a dam over the river near the old bridge. The ground was transported by wheelbarrows. Measured daywork was two cubic meters. And the price was bread - 600 grams per worker. Each worker could also get 1200 grams of sun-flower seed oil and a little grain».
Intergenerational continuity
- «Astrakhan-Saratov» pipe line functioned as to the following pattern. Kerosene coming from Makhachkala went to “Astrakhan-2” by barges and from that point it was pumped through our stations: Seroglazovo, Mungai, Verbluzhya, Alton, Pallassovka, Comsomolskaya, Urbakh and Nalivnaya. The terminal was Uvekskaya oil depot – says Anna Vasyaguina who worked there almost from the day of its foundation. – Our station was the only station that not only pumped oil but also accomplished oil tank loading. In December 1943 the first train was loaded with oil that was a «battle front vertushka (a back-and forth train)» for Stalingrad front. A train consisting of twenty coaches was called a «vertushka» because the tanks were unloaded at the front and returned back. We plenished not only the front and military units, but also objects of nation’s economy: Saratov and Orenburg regions, the Urals, Kazakhstan, Siberia, Far East and even Mongolia.
Almost 150 people worked at the Nalivnaya station during the war. They lived in huts where at first there was even no light. Later a water tower was installed and after the war there appeared a club, a school, a nursery school and two-storeyed blocks of flat. Since 1946 when people were coming back form the front the village started to expend. The Victory over the Fascists gave people forces. «We were young, inexhaustible and despite the consequences of the war we wanted to live a complete life and enjoy ourselves – Litovchenko recollects. – Concerts, that we organized ourselves, meetings in local clubs, weddings and birth of our children – all that gave us a positive perception of life». Intergenerational continuity is evident because a decent young generation has come to take the place of their grandparents who worked there during the war period.
Not long ago «Saratovneftegaz» accomplished a huge modernization at the loading station, oil loading being interrupted during the whole period of reconstruction. Thus, we can say that despite its considerable age the loading station is living a second youth.
«RussNeft» and its affiliate ОАО «Saratovneftegz» in their social policy have always paid much attention to taking care about the veterans. This year more than 900 thousand roubles will be spent to support veterans including those of Saratov region rear. On the eve of the Victory Day at «Saratovneftegaz» there were traditionally honored former workers of the entity - veterans of the Great Patriotic War and Rear toilers.