FEATURES OF THE ORGANIZATION OF MEDICAL SERVICES ON OCCUPIED TERRITORIES OF THE USSR DURING THE GREAT PATRIOTIC WAR
The article deals with issues related to the state of the health care system in the territories of the former republics of the Soviet Union - the Ukrainian SSR, the Belarusian SSR and a part of the territory of the RSFSR, which were subject to Nazi occupation during the Great Patriotic War. Despite initial plans to discontinue the provision of medical care to the population of the occupied territories, the German authorities, aware of the failure of the blitzkrieg and the principle of expediency, worrying, primarily about the health of their soldiers, were forced to create local health authorities and maintain the health of the civilian population. To provide medical services to residents of the occupied territories, the occupiers used medical institutions that functioned in the Soviet era, as well as the staff who worked in them. At the same time, the German command used part of the medical institutions for hospitals and infirmaries for soldiers and officers of the Wehrmacht, for quartering troops and other needs. In the medical institutions that continued their work, services for the population during the occupation were provided on a paid basis. A number of medical institutions that previously provided specialized types of care, by the decision of the occupation authorities, stopped their work. The reduction in the number of health facilities, inadequate funding and supplies, the introduction of fees for the provision of services observed in many areas the shortage of medical personnel has determined the almost universal reduced availability and worsening quality of medical care during the occupation. At the same time, in a number of cases, certain features were noted related to the policy pursued by the occupiers in the field of health in various regions of the enemy-occupied part of the USSR. The result of the occupation was the destruction of a large number of medical institutions by the enemy, annihilation of millions of civilians, and the infliction of huge harm to the health of the local population.