I know that it’s ‘common knowledge’ that the USSR evacuated significant industrial material from European Russia (e.g. Ukraine) to the East during the early days of Barbarossa and that this transfer partly explains the USSR’s industrial prowess later on in the war.
However, as someone who has worked in metals manufacturing, I haven’t seen any explanation that truly appreciates the gravity and magnitude of this task. I don’t mean to put on a conspiracy hat, but I don’t think most people realize the complexity involved in moving a factory. It’s not that simple: concrete floors, power lines, water, supply-chain inputs, waste removal (nearly all requiring being built to spec) are required. Moving even something as ‘simple’ as a blast furnace is an enormous undertaking under ideal circumstances and I can’t imagine having to do so under wartime conditions.
I have read that the Soviets sometimes repurposed planned future expansion sites of other industrial regions and that several factories were repurposed into military production (e.g. from cars to tanks). Still, as they say, the devil is in the details and the logistics. I can accept that some industry was successfully moved east, but it would be nice to hear how this seemingly superhuman feat was accomplished at its alleged scale.
P.S. Absolutely love your work and very much appreciate what you are doing for us and for future generations!