Social Adaptation of Graduates from Orphanages for Spanish Children (1940-1947)

Abstract

The article examines the issue of social adaptation of the orphanages for Spanish kids graduates. Based on the documentary materials, an attempt is made to review the policy of the People’s Commissariat for Education (Narkompros) regarding the Spanish youth, to consider the features of social adaptation among the Spanish youth in labor collectives and educational institutions and also to analyze how the pursuit of preserving their national identity influenced the socialization of the graduates of Spanish orphanages in Soviet society. The author seeks to trace the main stages and organization of the processes of adaptation of the Spaniards by the Soviet authorities. In the framework of this study he tries to reconstruct the everyday life of Spanish boys and girls in this period,their household and housing conditions. Special attention is paid to the issue of material assistance to Spanish graduates. It is concluded that the process of adaptation to individual life was extremely difficult for the Spanish youth, and the assistance provided by the authorities was clearly inadequate.