Vinnitsa region

The new period in the history of the Vinnitsa region began in October 1917. Since February 1918 began a period of foreign intervention and civil war, which lasted until the end of 1920. After the war, this territory became part of Ukrainian SSR. There began the process of the revival of national economy, which was held in incredibly difficult conditions - collectivization, industrialization and cultural revolution.

Vinnitsa region was formed on Feb. 27, 1932, among the first five areas of Ukraine, consisting of 69 districts. September 22, 1937 Kamenets-Podolsk region was allocated in Vinnitsa region.

In July 1941, Vinnitsa region was occupied by fascist invaders. With the weapon in the hands the population of Vinnitsa region defended their homeland, in the years of occupation in the area there were several partisan units and individual units.

Although during the Great Patriotic War in the Vinnitsa region were not conducted major military operations, but Nazis built the most notable and top-secret military facility in Vinnitsa region - the headquarters of Adolf Hitler "Werwolf" (werewolf), where Hitler came in 1942-1943 three times and in total spent here about 5 months. During the retreat of 1943 the Nazis blew up the underground headquarters, leaving behind wrecked large concrete blocks with protruding reinforcement.

The war brought the large destructions; the Nazis completely burned 17 villages, more than 200 thousand civilians in the area were killed, more than 60 thousand boys and girls abducted to Germany for forced labor.

In March 1944, Vinnitsa region was liberated from the Nazis. However, after the victory, the winners did not become free people in their land. Huge taxes laid on every family – one had to pay for the house, livestock, every tree in the garden, so over the famous gardens of Podillya threatened destruction. The farmers were actually serfs, they did not have passports, and their children were not free to go to school. Such a system of socialist enslavement of the peasantry continued until the end of 1950.

Despite all the difficulties, the land was restored after the destruction of war and continued to grow. In the postwar years, Vinnitsa region has become one of the major areas of sugar-beet and sugar industry of the Soviet Union. In addition to sugar beet production there were developing crop production, horticulture, gardening, as well as major meat and dairy livestock.

In industrial production dominated the food industry. In the postwar period there began the development of mechanical engineering, chemical, textile and other industries. Engineering and metal industries were represented by enterprises, which mainly served the agriculture and food industry.

The territory of Vinnitsa region is located within Pridneprovskaya Upland in the south-east and Podolsk Upland in south-west, the surface - undulating plain, the south-western part is dissected with narrow valleys of the left tributaries of the Dniester. The region is located within the boundaries of the forest-steppe zone, there are forests of oak, lime, hornbeam, maple, ash, elm. The forests and shrubs cover 12.6% of the territory, more than 70% are the arable lands. The soils are mainly chernozem and gray.

There are over 1159 deposits of more than 30 kinds of minerals, there is the world's largest deposit of mineral raw material - kaolin (800 million t), there are deposits of peat, lignite, granite, garnet, fluorite, different construction materials. There are developed the curative mineral water sources and healing properties of radon fields in Khmelnik.

The climate of Vinnitsa region is temperate continental with long cool summer, with plenty of moisture and relatively short winter.

On the territory of Vinnitsa region flow 204 rivers, all of them belong to the basins of the Southern Bug and Dniester. In the central part there is the Southern Bug with numerous tributaries, and on the south-western border of the region flow Dniester and its tributaries.