Questions about Soviet "Closed Cities"

[para944]

Hey guys,

I've been doing some research on the Soviet nuclear-weapons programm and ran across those "Closed Cities" (Atomgrads and Naukograds) and I now have a few questions concerning this topic.

- Who was responsible for guarding those cities? The KGB border guards?
- How many people worked/lived in those cities?
- What kind of clearance was required to work in such a place?
- How was live in one of those cities?

Thanks in advance, any help will be much appreciated!

[SevernayA]

How many people worked/lived in those cities?
The populations ranged anywhere from 30k to over 100k. Today closed cities in Russia have an average population of about 30k or so.

What kind of clearance was required to work in such a place?
The USSR had an internal passport service. Specific documents were required for entry.

How was live in one of those cities?
As far as I'm aware it was normal. The city of Vladivostok was a closed city during the Soviet period and had the normal Soviet living standards.

[para944]

The populations ranged anywhere from 30k to over 100k. Today closed cities in Russia have an average population of about 30k or so.

The USSR had an internal passport service. Specific documents were required for entry.

As far as I'm aware it was normal. The city of Vladivostok was a closed city during the Soviet period and had the normal Soviet living standards.

Thanks for your answers. Could you elaborate those "specific documents" please?

[[WDW]Megaraptor]

You had to have a passport and permission to travel anywhere in the USSR. Soviet citizens were not able to freely move around the country.

[para944]

Megaraptor;5319236']You had to have a passport and permission to travel anywhere in the USSR. Soviet citizens were not able to freely move around the country.

No, what I wanted to know was what kind of security checks etc. you had to undergo before being allowed to work in such facilities.

[AlexMartin2]

Live in closed cities was somewhat better, because they were supplied better. Also much less crime.


Megaraptor;5319236']You had to have a passport and permission to travel anywhere in the USSR. Soviet citizens were not able to freely move around the country.
I'm sure that in Brezhnev times and later you didn't need any permission to travel, also you didn't need any permission to relocate to another city.



- What kind of clearance was required to work in such a place?

I believe basically none. But you, off course, couldn't just go and try to work there. You need to be invited first.

[[WDW]Megaraptor]

I'm sure that in Brezhnev times and later you didn't need any permission to travel, also you didn't need any permission to relocate to another city.


You sure?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propiska

This seems to indicate that due to the centrally planned economy you needed permission to relocate anywhere. This system remained in place until the 1990s.

[AlexMartin2]

Megaraptor;5319753']You sure?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propiska
This seems to indicate that due to the centrally planned economy you needed permission to relocate anywhere. This system remained in place until the 1990s.
No, you got this wrong. Any Soviet citizen could relocate anywhere he wants, except a few areas (close cities and near-border regions, also Moscow is another story).
The problem was that almost all housing in SU was free, so if you dont have your own house/flat and want to relocate to another city, you couldn't pretend to get a new home there.
Only if you have job in your new city, you could get a hostel at first, then a flat after a few years later. So its job and not housing (and definitely not propiska) was real restriction.

My parents married in 1964 and relocated a few times until they settled in Ural region. I never heard about any troubles from them.

[SmoothieX12]

Megaraptor;5319753']You sure?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propiska

This seems to indicate that due to the centrally planned economy you needed permission to relocate anywhere. This system remained in place until the 1990s.

Labor migration in USSR worked on a completely different premises--it was all about employment. If one got the job somewhere, one could move there. Well, to find a job in USSR was very easy. The only problem was a work in the closed cities (such as main Naval Bases, for example) one needed vyzov (official invitation) to move there.

P.S. Uh, yes, if one wanted to relocate somewhere just because--one did not need a permission.

[SmoothieX12]

The populations ranged anywhere from 30k to over 100k. Today closed cities in Russia have an average population of about 30k or so.

The USSR had an internal passport service. Specific documents were required for entry.

As far as I'm aware it was normal. The city of Vladivostok was a closed city during the Soviet period and had the normal Soviet living standards.

Actually, standard of living on the Far East of USSR (apart from vastly larger salaries thanks to a regional coefficients) realistically was considerably higher.

[G-AWZT]

Those in the science field could work in a closed city. I'm certain you had to be a Party member.

None of the closed cities had actual names. For example a location would be called "Omsk 70", a postal code meaning that the "city" was 70 km from the nearest known landmark.

[SmoothieX12]

Those in the science field could work in a closed city. I'm certain you had to be a Party member.



Absolutely not true. A huge amount of non-party people worked there.

[G-AWZT]

Absolutely not true. A huge amount of non-party people worked there.



Seriously? Jeez I'd imagine you had to be politically reliable to work in such a place.

[SmoothieX12]

Seriously? Jeez I'd imagine you had to be politically reliable to work in such a place.

Not necessarily. By 1960-s they did not really give a damn too much about one's party orientation as long as one was a good specialist. I knew people from some pretty "closed" institutes who, apart from not being a communists, never were even in Komsomol. Well, I knew some officers from the Boarder Guards (and You, probably, know to whom it belonged) system and other interesting "corporations", in fact, one of them was my classmate, who never joined Communist Party.

[Asheren]

Labor migration in USSR worked on a completely different premises--it was all about employment. If one got the job somewhere, one could move there. Well, to find a job in USSR was very easy. The only problem was a work in the closed cities (such as main Naval Bases, for example) one needed vyzov (official invitation) to move there.

P.S. Uh, yes, if one wanted to relocate somewhere just because--one did not need a permission.

Also its worth a note that communists states did not encuraged peopls to move that much. Mostly from farming areas to the cities but not from city to city. Especialy in smaller cites it was common that its entire existence was around a single factory or other facility. Many even had dedicated schools that would provide qualified labor soo most of peoples born i those cites lived there for their entire lives. Its a fairly big problem in post commie countries now. Many of those factories are gone bacause in free economy they should never existed in first place. Those cities lost its reason of existence and now are full of poverty and crime but peoples still live there becuase they lack mobility of the peoples from the west. For example averange pole changes his living place no more than 2-3 times in his life. Usualy he is not going more than 100km from his previous living place.