The Soviet period is the time of the Heroes of Labor. One of the facts confirming this idea is the life of the weaver Yekaterina Yakovlevna Demidova. She, who was left without a father and mother at the age of 14, managed to build a working career thanks to her unceasing desire to work.
From biography
Demidova Ekaterina Yakovlevna was born in 1940 in the Pskov region into a large peasant family. Father during the war was a liaison, died in 1946. Since childhood, Katya helped adults in the flax fields. She was interested in weaving. In the village everyone was waiting for the flax to bloom. The huge blue fields are a special beauty. We lived with flax. Collected in sheaves, passed through a dryer, through the teeth of a crushing machine, through a scraper. The result was fiber, and a harsh cloth was spun.
Mother was a skilled weaver. The most cherished place in their house was at the loom. When little Katya secretly sat down for him and confused something in the canvas, her mother scolded her, and she always wanted to learn faster.
Mother guarded the store and the savings bank. Once the bandits killed her. Katya was informed about this by her brother Vasya. She lost consciousness and her brother took her to a neighbor. Mother was only 49 years old.
At the age of 14 she went to her brother in Leningrad. It was necessary to somehow determine the path of life, somehow provide for oneself. She got on the tram and drove off. The first thing that got in the way was a factory, where she would then work all her life, and there would be only two entries in her work book: about hiring and about the fact that she became a trade unionist.
Time of the weavers
The 60s-70s of the twentieth century is a time when the profession of a weaver was the most widespread among the demanded female professions. Many girls then dreamed of becoming weavers, because creating beauty is a woman's business, because what they created pleased the soul and the eye … How many songs and poems were composed about them, how many films were created about the Heroines of Labor!
Melody of machines
At the end of the 60s, E. Demidova studied at a factory school, and then began the difficult, but from childhood, interesting work of a weaver.
She recalled how she was afraid of machines, afraid of herself, afraid of what people would say, how tired she was, because she was on her feet all day. The web tape freezes, at this moment the thread may break, and the machine stops. The weaver is tying the threads. The norm for this operation has been determined - 21 seconds, and Demidova does it in 14.
The weaving machines seemed to be singing a certain melody to her, and the shuttle hummed like a bumblebee. And the fabric seemed to flow like a colored river that shone like a rainbow. She felt like a mistress here. The stream was chintz, the stream was silk, and the fingers flew like birds, as if they were intertwining her destiny. But she did not even think that she was creating fame for herself, because the people of the Soviet period possessed titanic patience and hard work.
Five-year plan is overfulfilled
E. Demidova admitted that she always wanted to work. I tried to cope with a five-day assignment in 4 days. The results of the competition were reflected in the records that were posted: for example, Demidova's output - 114, Ivanova's - 106; the number of defects in Demidova's was 0, Ivanova's was 0.01. She always had more machines. The so-called increased service area. And the five-year plan was done in 3 years and 10 months. The weavers were aware that looms should not be idle. If someone got sick, each other was replaced.
E. Demidova did not work in accordance with the norm, but served a larger number of machines. If it was necessary to work at six, then she followed eight, or instead of eight she took fourteen. So the five-year plan was overfulfilled. In 1973 she became a Hero of Socialist Labor. In the future, E. Demidova will have other awards.
When she was no longer working, she still often visited the shop and once saw portraits of Putin, Medvedev appear on the canvas, and then … her portrait. She could not resist and began to cry.
And her merit is
E. Demidova was always convinced that she had to work. The weaver mastered the techniques of fast tying of threads, quick turns, and correct walking around the loom. When she left for plenums, for congresses, she always worked out this time so that people would not talk about her as a lazy person. She traveled abroad to share her experiences. When she became famous, the factory had tours that, she recalled, distracted her. She became more fond of night shifts. At work, her windows faced east, and in the morning they were beautifully illuminated. During the war years, they weaved parachute cloth. They were responsible for it so that the fabric would not break from the wind. In times of peace, she liked to prepare canvases for light, transparent clothes for ballerinas. E. Demidova loved light colors. When I went to the ballet and looked at the ballerinas, I always remembered that there was her merit too.
A happy family
E. Demidova received a secondary, and then a higher special education, although she had a family: a husband and a daughter. It was difficult and she slept little, but she did not regret it. She did not know that she was awarded, since she had gone on a visit. And when we arrived at night, the director of the factory called and informed about it. At first she did not believe it, she even wanted to run for the newspaper and make sure. And the husband said that now a heroine will live in their house.
Energetic social activist
She has written books about shock work and worker glory. In the 80-90s. E. Demidova was a regional trade union leader. She talked with the younger generation about her working days in the 60-80s, about how honorable work was in general and the work of a weaver, in particular. E. Ya. Demidova was awarded the title of Honored Worker, twice awarded for labor valor with the "Big Dipper" prize.
The life of the famous weaver ended in 2018.
Life trace
The motto of her life was her simple understanding, which was to be in the right place and do everything well. She told her granddaughter about this, showed old documents and photographs, bequeathed to her to preserve the memory of the valiant grandmother.
