Personal Stories
The Story of Aleksandr Martynov - head of the electrical department of the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant
In the autumn of 1941, the electrical engineer of the Dnieper Magnesium Plant, Aleksandr Nikolaevich Martynov, together with other employees of this enterprise and equipment, were evacuated from the city of Zaporozhye, Zaporozhye region, to the city of Solikamsk, Molotov region. Soon after his arrival, Aleksandr was appointed foreman of the electrical workshop of the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant and immediately began work. At the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant, an electrolytic method of production was used, which required high consumption of electricity, which, in turn, led to frequent breakdowns and rapid deterioration of electrical equipment. For days A.N. Martynov and his subordinates had to repair cables and electric motors, turn off and turn on electricity in workshops, conduct briefings with other employees of the plant on the rules for using electrical appliances and safety measures.
In February 1942, at the end of one of the work days, A.N. Martynov was summoned to the office of the plant director F.G. Falsky. Fyodor Falsky informed Aleksandr Nikolaevich that a few minutes ago V.I. Khalturin, the chairman of the Solikamsk City Executive Committee, phoned him and asked for urgent assistance in the repair of wires of the high-voltage line that supplied electricity to the Solikamsk City Bakery. A strong snowstorm that raged over Solikamsk that evening cut the wires and the bakery was left without electricity. The stoppage of the bakery could have led to interruptions in the supply of bread to the population of Solikamsk, and N.S. Romadin, the only electrician of the bakery, was unable to restore the power supply alone. All the electricians who were at the disposal of the Communal Services Department of Solikamsk City Administration were by that time in the army and the only way to restore the power supply to the bakery was to invite electricians from some plant. Therefore, V.I. Khalturin, the chairman of the Solikamsk City Executive Committee, turned to the Magnesium Plant for help.
Director of the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant F.G. Falsky asked A.N. Martynov to restore as soon as possible the wires of the high-voltage line supplying electricity to the Solikamsk City Bakery. Aleksandr Nikolaevich gathered a team of electricians and went to the spot of the break. The blizzard did not weaken, they had to work at night, in the cold below -25 degrees Celsius, and even standing up to the waist in the snow. The icy wind cut the wires connected in several places again, so the workers had to repair them again and again. The visibility in the blizzard at night was extremely poor. Together with the employees of the Magnesium Plant, N.S. Romadin, the electrician of the bakery, worked on the spot.
The whole night electricians led by of A.N. Martynov, in difficult weather conditions, repaired broken wires and closer to morning they managed to restore the power supply to the bakery. Interruptions in the supply of bread to the population of Solikamsk were avoided.
The next day, the electrician of the Solikamsk bakery, N.S. Romadin, in gratitude for the help, presented to A.N. Martynov's fur hare hat with earflaps. Aleksandr Nikolaevich, who had come to Solikamsk from warm Zaporozhye, did not have his own winter hat at that time. The hat was not entirely new, but A.N. Martynov accepted it with gratitude, wore it with pleasure and then kept it as a keepsake for many more years.
Magnesium of Solikamsk. - Perm, 1976, pp. 34-35
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Solikamsk
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