The 1942 “Egg Expeditions” to Novaia Zemlia and the Struggle for Food in the Wartime Soviet Union

Abstract

In 1942 over 150 schoolchildren from the northern Soviet cities of Arkhangel'sk and Murmansk took part in dangerous expeditions to the Arctic Archipelago of Novaia Zemlia. Their aim was to collect eggs from island bird colonies and hunt seabirds in order to supply famished cities with eggs and salted birds’ carcasses. The voyages were part of the local struggle for food and a reaction to the Soviet government’s urgent call to use all available local resources to ward off large‐scale famine on the Soviet home front. This essay discusses the organization, the course, and the outcome of the expeditions, and evaluates the role of specialist knowledge, local economic tradition, and various agencies—from Soviet, party, and Komsomol organizations to Soviet economic trusts and individual actors—in bringing these expeditions to life. It argues that, rather than being a centralized campaign staged by the state, the struggle for food was largely fought on the local level, with regional institutions assuming substantial responsibility and demonstrating a significant ability to improvise in their search for food. Ultimately, the population’s efforts to survive the famine, and their association with the regime through their collective struggle for food, were important factors that strengthened Soviet resilience.