Solikamsk

Solikamsk Magnesium Plant

Main types of products:

bulk magnesium for the production of armored vehicles

magnesium alloys for aircraft production

Director of the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant in 1942-1944. F.G. Falsky. 1942
PermGASPI. F. 105. Op. 102. D.4202. L.4

Chief engineer of the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant in 1942-1946. M.A. Eidenzon. 1940s
PermGASPI. F. 105. Op. 262. D.3544. L.4

Solikamsk Magnesium Plant

The plant was established in the City of Solikamsk, Perm region, in the second half of the 1930s. During the Great Patriotic War, the enterprise produced bulk magnesium used in the manufacture of armored vehicles, and magnesium alloys for aircraft production. Some of the equipment used at the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant was from the evacuated Dnieper Magnesium Plant from the city of Zaporozhye, as well as from the evacuated Volkhov Aluminum Plant and Tikhvin Alumina Plant from the Leningrad region. By 1945, the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant produced about 5,000 tons of magnesium per year.

For its successful work during the Great Patriotic War, the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant repeatedly received the Challenge Red Banner of the State Defense Committee of the USSR, and in 1985 the enterprise was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st degree. Many workers of the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant were also given state government awards for their hard work during the war period.

The directors of the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant during the Great Patriotic War were Fyodor Falsky and Yuri Krzhizhanovsky.

The chief engineers of the Solikamsk Magnesium Plant during the Great Patriotic War were Mikhail Boyarsky and Moisey Eidenzon.

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


Plants of the Perm Region
 Lysva  Solikamsk Berezniki