Tashkent, Uzbekistan (UzDaily.com) -- On the eve of 1941, the population of Uzbekistan amounted to more than 6.8 million people. Since the beginning of the war, about 2 million compatriots went to the front, of which more than 500 thousand died on the battlefields.

More than 200 thousand soldiers and officers were awarded military orders and medals. 301 compatriots were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union, more than 70 were awarded the Order of Glory, third degree.

For courage and heroism at the front, more than 170,000 Uzbek soldiers were awarded orders and medals. In particular, 53 people are full holders of the Order of Glory, and 301 people (70 of our compatriots are Uzbeks) were awarded the title of "Hero". During the difficult period of the war, 19 academies, 7 military schools and 10 military faculties were transferred to the republic, which trained more than 12 thousand servicemen for the army in the field. The contribution of the veterans of Uzbekistan to the Victory is invaluable.

More than 151 large enterprises were moved to the republic, 280 enterprises were built anew and worked for the defense of the state. Including 55 enterprises in the city of Tashkent and the Tashkent region, 22 enterprises in the Fergana Valley, 14 enterprises in Samarkand. 

During the war, Uzbekistan sent to the front 2,090 aircrafts, 17,342 aircraft engines, 1,700,000 mortars, 27,000 tank parts, 2,318,000 air bombs, 60,000 chemical protection equipment, 2,200,000 grenades, 560,000 shells, 1,000,000 grenades, 5 armored trains, 18 military ambulances, leftist military kitchens - 2200, at the initiative of the local population, gymnasts - 7,518,000, cotton padded jackets - 2,639,700, boots and boots - 22,21,200, more than 650,000,000 rubles were transferred to the Defense Fund and 4,226,000,000 rubles were allocated voluntarily.

Uzbekistan has also given shelter to over 1.5 million elderly people, women and children. Of these, over 200 thousand were orphans. The evacuated children were distributed not only to orphanages, they were also taken in by Uzbek families. For example, the head of the republic, Usman Yusupov, adopted three children into his family.

There were families that took in ten or more children. The family of Shoahmed Shamakhmudov adopted 15 children.

It was in those years that Tashkent, which became a kind of evacuation center that gave shelter to refugees from all over the Union, began to be called the Bread City and the City of Friendship of Peoples.