OSOAVIAKhIM members in training camp. Collection of photos.: 42 photos

[Vyatskiye Polyany], 1931-1933.

OSOAVIAKhIM (Society for Assistance in Defense and for the Aviation-Chemical Build-up of the USSR), the most powerful paramilitary voluntary organization, was created in January 1927 by merging three societies, one of which was created by L. Trotsky. The goal of the society was preparation of reserves for armed forces. A person could join OSOAVIAKhIM as early as 14. Military training and general military studies were carried on with instruction in what came later to be called civil defence. Beyond that, OSOAVIAKhIM had taken the responsibility for continual retraining of the reserve officers in the new techniques and technology appearing in the Red Army.
First camps of OSOAVIAKhIM appeared in summer 1931. 'To support the military training program, the network of training points was expanded to more than 2 000 by 1933. As the number of Osoaviakhim camps also increased, the practice of taking groups away from their jobs in industry for short training periods became widespread' (Odom, W.E. The Soviet Volunteers: Modernization and Bureaucracy in Public Mass Organization. Princeton University Press, 2016).
These photos of OSOAVIAKhIM members were taken in camps near Vyatskiye Polyany town (Kirov Oblast) and Nizhny Novgorod city. Especially interesting are photos of groups in gas masks and tactical firearms training.