Residents of the secret cities of the Soviet Union almost knew what socialism was - in their numbered settlements it was much easier to get goods that were in short supply at that time, crime was minimized, and the salary in almost all spheres exceeded the all-Union level.
However, all these privileges had to be paid for with non-freedom - those living in closed administrative-territorial formations (ZATO) could neither leave the secret cities nor return to them without special passes.
Multilevel filter for residents
In these ghost towns, some of which remain in their previous status after the collapse of the USSR, not everyone could live and work: secret objects of national importance were located in ZATO. They could be associated with the energy, defense, space industries. Secret closed cities were not indicated on the maps of the USSR and usually existed under numbers with the addition of the name of the settlement-regional center, on the territory of which the ZATO was located (for example, Arzamas-16).
In essence, they were full-fledged cities with all the accompanying infrastructure, only with a strict access control and with an indispensable subscription not to disclose information about places of residence and work, which was taken from every adult resident. Before being registered in ZATO, any of them was thoroughly checked by the KGB, the biographies of the candidate's relatives were studied almost under a microscope. By definition, there was no way for outsiders to enter the closed city.
What was the crime situation there
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According to the statistics of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs, the crime rate in the closed cities in comparison with the all-Union level was extremely low: people with low social responsibility were simply not allowed to live in closed cities. It is noteworthy that if one of the residents of the closed city nevertheless turned out to be involved in crime, he was no longer allowed into the closed city, even if he had a wife and children there - such a restriction, in particular, existed in Sverdlovsk-45, built back prisoners of the GULAG.
ZATO residents were jealous of the full shops …
The level of well-being in the secret cities was such that residents of the same Sverdlovsk-45 were often (simply out of envy) beaten by neighbors from the neighboring "ordinary" city of Nizhnaya Tura. The socio-economic life of ZATO was strikingly different from the usual Soviet one - such settlements were better equipped, the service sector, social conditions, the supply of food and industrial goods were at their best.
Inhabitants of towns and villages close to ZATO tried in every possible way to enter the secret territory in order to get hold of scarce goods - their stores had half-empty shelves, and very close, behind a high fence, there was plenty of all of this. In Zagorsk-7, such "defectors" were often caught when they jumped over the high fence of the closed city. In Mirny (Arkhangelsk Oblast), the inlet-outlet control modes were weaker, so it was easier for hunters for shortages from neighboring villages and villages to get there.
… and a good salary
Every employee in ZATO, be it an employee of a defense enterprise or a teacher, was entitled to a “secrecy” bonus to his salary. In Arzamas-16, the average salary was about 200 rubles (2 - 2.5 times higher than the average salary in the 60s in the USSR).
The best personnel from all over the Soviet Union were selected for the spheres of education, medicine and culture in secret cities, and the level of service in the same polyclinics and hospitals was an order of magnitude higher than in other medical institutions of the USSR.
Than you had to pay for it
For many years, residents of Arzamas-16 were not allowed out of the closed city even on vacation. Exceptions were made only for business travelers. Only with the growth of the city were the entry and exit rules softened, and relatives were allowed to come (subject to strict adherence to the access control). Such harsh restrictions were associated, first of all, with the increased attention to the ZATO on the part of Western intelligence services.
Nevertheless, very many specifically sought to gain a foothold in secret cities, since work there during the Soviet era was considered very prestigious. For example, Mirny, once nicknamed "the city of baby carriages", was chosen for the place of permanent service by professional military men, who were sent en masse to this ZATO after graduating from universities. Intelligent officers quickly found a mate there and acquired families.
Nikolay Syromyatnikov
