Back to USSR: Sneak Peek of Soviet Youth's Daily Life

October 29, 2018 marks the 100th anniversary of the creation of a Soviet political organization known as the All-Union Leninist Young Communist League or, more commonly, as Komsomol.

Boasting a membership numbering in the hundreds of thousands, Komsomol played an important role, often helping the Soviet leadership to mobilize manpower for important construction and infrastructure projects.

The organization was officially abolished in September 1991, with its leadership decreeing that the organization should be transformed into a federation of independent youth groups.

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© Sputnik / David Sholomovich

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The participants of a Soviet Youth Day rally in Moscow. 1959

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© Sputnik / Anatoliy Garanin

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A gym teachers parade in Ashgabat. 1939

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Komsomol members travel to take part in the construction of Magnitogorsk Iron and Steel Works. 1930

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© Sputnik / Ivan Shagin

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Komsomol members take part in International Workers' Day rally at Red Square in Moscow. 1924

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Komsomol member arrive at a shipbuilding plant construction site at Komsomolsk-on-Amur. May 10, 1937

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Komsomol members take part in a International Workers' Day parade in Leningrad. 1930s

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© Sputnik / Vladimir Grebnev

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Komsomol members head out to take part in the Virgin Lands Campaign. 1954

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© Sputnik / Mark Redkin

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Komsomol volunteers head to take part in construction projects in Norilsk. Summer 1956.

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© Sputnik / Alexander Mokletsov

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Komsomol volunteers head to take part in construction projects in Norilsk. Summer 1956.

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Komsomol members construct defensive positions near Moscow. July 1941.

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© Sputnik / Edward Kotlyakov

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Komsomol members taking part in the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline hold a rally at Tyndinsky village (currently known as the town of Tynda). 1974

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A group of Komsomol members prior to their departure to the Moscow Coal Basin. 1930

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© Sputnik / Boris Kavashkin

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A construction crew comprised of students of the Moscow Engineering and Construction Institute. 1974

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© Sputnik / Vladimir Vyatkin

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Students of the Moscow State University taking part in a construction project hold a sports fest. 1976

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© Sputnik / David Sholomovich

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Soviet youth at Red Square in Moscow. 1963

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© Sputnik / Vladimir Vyatkin

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A student from Charles University in Prague takes part in a construction project in USSR alongside the students from Moscow State University. 1976

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© Sputnik / Anatoly Skurikhin

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Komsomol members help build houses at Yuri Gagarin State Farm in Kazakhstan. 1961

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© Sputnik / Edward Kotlyakov

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Komsomol members take part in a rally prior to heading out to take part in the construction of the Baikal-Amur Mainline.

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© Sputnik / Tikhomirov

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A construction crew comprised of students of the Moscow Aviation Technological Institute. 1968

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© Sputnik / Max Alpert

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A Komsomol member plays guitar during a lunch break. 1959

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© Sputnik / Miroslav Murazov

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A group of Soviet students in Moscow. 1963