Young Pioneer camp (russian: Пионерский лагерь) was the name for the

vacation A vacation (American English) or holiday (British English) is either a leave of absence from a regular job or an instance of leisure travel away from home. People often take a vacation during specific holiday observances or for specific festi ...

summer camp A summer camp or sleepaway camp is a supervised program for children conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as ''campers''. Summer school is usually a part of the academ ...

of Young Pioneers. In the 20th century these camps existed in many socialist countries, particularly in the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

. The Young Pioneer camps of the Soviet Union were the place of vacation for children from the

Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union The Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization ( rus, Всесоюзная пионерская организация имени В. И. Ленина, r=Vsesoyuznaya pionerskaya organizatsiya imeni V. I. Lenina, t=The All-Union Pioneer Organi ...

during summer and winter holidays.

History

The first All-Union Young Pioneer camp, Artek was formed on June 16, 1925. The Young Pioneer camp phenomenon grew in popularity and in 1973 approximately forty thousand Young Pioneer camps existed in the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

. In that year, approximately 9,300,000 children had vacations in these camps. There were different types of camps: sanitation camps, sports camps, tourist camps, thematic camps (for young technicians, young naturalists, young

geologist A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid, liquid, and gaseous matter that constitutes Earth and other terrestrial planets, as well as the processes that shape them. Geologists usually study geology, earth science, or geophysics, althoug ...

s and children of other potential careers). Generally speaking if parents wanted their child or children to go to one of these Young Pioneer camps, they had to pay a fee to apply for accommodation in the camp. However, typically the state organization where the parent worked "sponsored" the child by allotting the worker's child a place in the camp free of charge to the parent or parents as an incident to the parent's employment. The main Young Pioneer camps of the Soviet Union were All-Union Young Pioneer camp ''Artek'' (near

Gurzuf Gurzuf or Hurzuf ( uk, link=no, Гурзуф, russian: Гурзу́ф, crh, Gurzuf, gr, link=no, Γορζουβίται) is a resort-town (urban-type settlement) in Yalta Municipality of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, a territory recognized b ...

), republican camps: ''

Orlyonok The Russian Children's Center "Orlyonok" (russian: Орлёнок, lit=eaglet) is a federal state all-year camp for kids aged 11–16 (school grades 6 through 10). It is located in the Southern Federal District of Russia, on the eastern shore of ...

'' (near

Tuapse Tuapse (russian: Туапсе́; ady, Тӏуапсэ ) is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the northeast shore of the Black Sea, south of Gelendzhik and north of Sochi. Population: Tuapse is a sea port and the northern center of ...

Russian SFSR The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...

, opened in 1960), '' Okean'' (near

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( rus, Владивосто́к, a=Владивосток.ogg, p=vɫədʲɪvɐˈstok) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai, Russia. The city is located around the Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, c ...

, Russian SFSR, opened in 1983) '' Molodaya Gvardiya'' (near Odessa,

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...

) and '' Zubryonok'' (in

Minsk Oblast Minsk Region or Minsk Oblast or Minsk Voblasts ( be, Мі́нская во́бласць, ''Minskaja voblasć'' ; russian: Минская о́бласть, ''Minskaya oblast'') is one of the regions of Belarus. Its administrative center is Minsk, ...

, Byelorussian SSR). It was very difficult to apply for accommodation to the main camps, especially to Artek, as they were very popular. Western children also sometimes attended Soviet Young Pioneer camps, including children from Canada in the 1970s. In

East Germany East Germany, officially the German Democratic Republic (GDR; german: Deutsche Demokratische Republik, , DDR, ), was a country that existed from its creation on 7 October 1949 until its dissolution on 3 October 1990. In these years the state ...

the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation built a pioneer camp (known as a "pioneer republic") in 1952 at

Werbellinsee Lake Werbellin ( German ''Werbellinsee'') is a lake in the Barnim district of Brandenburg, Germany. It is located south of Joachimsthal in the Schorfheide-Chorin Biosphere Reserve. The southern shore belongs to the Schorfheide municipality. With ...

north-east of

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...

. It was based on the Artek camp. It was considered a privilege to be chosen to go to this camp.

References

External links

* {{commons category, Young Pioneer camps

History

See also

References

External links