The paper, based on archive sources, addresses professional activities and
everyday life of special design departments in Kazan («sharashkas»). These departments
were located at the 16th Kazan aviation factory and the Kazan powder factory. Among the
prisoners-scientists who worked in 1940-s at these institutions were such famous engineers:
S.P. Korolev, V.P. Glushko, B.S. Stechkin, H.N. List, A.D. Charomskiy, V.V. Shnegas, all
of them contributing to the development of new types of arms.
Keywords
prisoners-engineers, special design department, chemical industry, aircraft designers, memories, «sharashka».
