Materials Related to the Second World War in Narimanov’s Personal Archive

Although the war waged by the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany was a part of the Second World War, it has entered Soviet historiography as the “Great Patriotic War”. Azerbaijan also played a significant role in this war both in terms of strategy and human resources. More than 600,000 Azerbaijanis were involved for the war, and more than half of those who went to the front lost their lives. During the war, 128 Azerbaijanis, such as Hazi Aslanov, Mehdi Husеynzаda, and Israfil Mammadov, were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.Azerbaijan supplied the front with weapons, clothing, food, medicine, and other strategic products. Women and teenagers also actively participated in production. It is enough to mention the key role of Baku oil in the victory over fascism to imagine obviously Azerbaijan’s place in this war. The Azerbaijanis with no military obligation did their best for the Soviet Union’s victory over fascism not only within the republic but also beyond its borders. All these processes are reflected in archival materials, including the personal archives of statesmen, cultural figures, and scientists in one way or another. One of such archives is the fund of the prominent statesman and writer Nariman Narimanov, preserved at the Institute of Manuscripts named after Mahammad Fuzuli of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences. These materials help us gain information about the participation of the writer’s wife, Gulsum khanum Narimanova in the aid campaign for the front, his son Najaf Narimanov’s participant in the battles, the course of the war, the reaction of the people to the news of victory, and more.