Uploaded September 2021 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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The residents of the Soviet Union not only knew how to work, but also how to rest. Even Grandpa Lenin said that effective recreation of the workers was one of the main tasks of the Soviet state. Since the 1920s, the USSR spent a lot of money and efforts on the development of its resort industry. Let's take a look at how the average Soviet citizen could spend his vacation.

Recreation in the USSR was a large-scale task. Each summer the beach was like a magnet for people throughout the Soviet Union. It is quite understandable when you live in a cold northern country. A beach holiday could be arranged independently and inexpensively—what Soviets referred to as “wild” — or an organized stay at a sanatorium or hotel using a voucher from an enterprise or a trade union. The most unique places to spend a holiday were Soviet sanatoriums. Soviet sanatoriums were state-run institutions that provided workers with constructive rest. They were built all over the country as places where one could not only distract oneself from work, but also be cured. The most popular health resorts were in Abkhazia, Krasnodar Krai and the Crimea, and on the Riga seashore. Everyone dreamed of coming to Yalta, Sochi, Pitsunda, Gelendzhik, Yevpatoria or Jurmala. Sanatoriums were a cross between medical institution and spa, and formed an integral part of the Soviet political and social apparatus. They were designed in opposition to the decadence of European spa towns such as Baden-Baden or Karlovy Vary, as well as to the west’s bourgeois consumer practices. Every detail of sanatorium life, from architecture to entertainment, was designed to instill a Soviet lifestyle into the employees , encouraging interaction with other guests and nature. The approach was simple, advocating maximum rest, as evidenced by adding a few extra pounds at departure, which was considered a sign of good health. This was thought to ensure maximum productivity after the sanatorium, a notion that still holds true today.

00:00 - Introduction
01:47 - How sanatoriums appeared in the USSR
05:56 - Types of recreation facilities in the USSR
10:54 - Downsides of the system

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Hey there. Somehow you found my video and decided to watch it. So let me introduce myself. I'm Sergei and I'm from Russia. My channel is about my native country. I want to tell English-speaking viewers about the real Russia, about its past and present. Unfortunately, you can find a lot of propaganda about Russia on the Internet, both from the Russian media and from the Western ones. I want to tell you about Russia, as it really is, the country in which I was born, grew up, and lived all my life.

Some additional links and sources (RUS/ENG):
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