Life in the Occupied Territory during the Great Patriotic War (Based on Autobiographies of Graduates of the Humanities Faculties of the Pskov State Pedagogical Institute in 1948–1953)

Abstract

This article is a review of the autobiographies of the first post-war graduates of the History and Literary faculties of the Pskov State Pedagogical Institute as a historical source of information about the events taking place in the territories of the USSR occupied by Germany during the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. All post-war graduates witnessed and participated in the events of the Great Patriotic War. This is reflected in the autobiographies stored in students' personal files. The review of these autobiographies is based on the method of complex analysis of various sources and on the method of contextual analysis. A comparison is made between the information provided by students who survived the hardships of the occupation regime during the war and the information presented in documentary and literary historical sources.