{{Short description|Youth volunteer organization in Soviet Union}} The '''Timurite movement''' or '''Timur movement''' (тимуровское движение) was an altruistic youth volunteering movement in the Soviet Union promoted via mass youth organizations of Little Octobrists and Young Pioneers. The participants of the movement were called '''Timurites''' (тимуровцы, '''timurovtsy''').<ref>"Timur Movement Among Soviet Youth", in: ''The Modern Encyclopedia of Russian and Soviet History'', vol. 54, ''Academic International Press''.</ref>
The idea of the movement was borrowed from the popular novel for youth ''Timur and His Squad'' by Arkady Gaidar. The youngster Timur and his squad clandestinely did good deeds: helped the families of the Red Army soldiers and combated the local gang of young hooligans headed by Mishka Kvakin. At first Timur's squad was taken for hooligans as well, but eventually they earned gratitude. It was written in 1940 first as a newspaper serial and quickly gained popularity, as other Gaidar's books. The same year a movie was released based on the novel as well as a radio drama version. When the German invasion of the Soviet Union started in 1941, teams of Timurites all over the country, in addition to helping the families of soldiers, did large amounts of unskilled work: cleaning railways from snow, preparing firewood, loading/unloading cargo, etc.<ref>Jane Miller, "Eccentric Propositions: Essays on Literature and the Curriculum", 1984, {{ISBN|0-7100-9987-8}}, p. 48.</ref> Their activities were widely reported in newspapers and by radio.
The book was an obligatory part of school curriculum in the Soviet Union.
Later the Timurite movement was centralized and organized, with Central Staff and Congresses.<ref name=bse/>
Timurite teams were also created in other socialist states: GDR, People's Republic of Bulgaria, People's Republic of Poland, North Vietnam and Czechoslovak Socialist Republic.<ref name=bse>[http://bse.sci-lib.com/article110608.html "Timurite movement"]</ref>
The Timurite movement was revived in a number of post-Soviet States: in Russia,<ref>[http://www.molodoi-gazeta.ru/article-2326.html Тимуровцы сегодня и всегда! | Molodoi-gazeta.ru<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> in Belarus,<ref>[http://www.brsm.by/ru/news/details?id=657 Волонтерская социальная акция «Тимуровцы» - Интернет - портал "Молодежь Беларуси" - Подробности / Новости / Русская версия<!-- Bot generated title -->] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080503172422/http://www.brsm.by/ru/news/details?id=657 |date=2008-05-03 }}</ref> in Kazakhstan by Jas Otan, the youth wing of the ruling Nur Otan party.<ref>[http://www.kazpravda.kz/index.php?uin=1152243624&chapter=1210073650&act=archive_date&day=6&month=5&year=2008 "Staking on youth"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110525181419/http://www.kazpravda.kz/index.php?uin=1152243624&chapter=1210073650&act=archive_date&day=6&month=5&year=2008 |date=2011-05-25 }}</ref>
==See also== *Subbotnik *Timur Gaidar
==References== <references/> {{Pioneer movement}} Category:Economic history of the Soviet Union Category:Volunteering in the Soviet Union Category:Child labour Category:Non-profit organizations based in the Soviet Union Category:Youth organizations based in the Soviet Union Category:1941 establishments in the Soviet Union