h, which was badly damaged during the Yaroslavl uprising
The economy of Yaroslavl took part in the early Soviet Union's program of accelerated industrialization. Milestones for this period include the opening of the city's first municipal power plant in 1926, the beginning of Synthetic rubber mass production in factory SK-1, the reestablishment of domestic production facilities for the production of automobile and aircraft tires in the 1928-founded Yaroslavl Tyre Factory, and the opening of therubber-asbestos combined works in 1933. In addition to all this the Yaroslavl Automobile Works (founded 1916) continued to produce vehicles, including a number for the municipal transport administration of Moscow, well into the 1930s.
During the years of the Second World War Yaroslavl managed to escape the prospect of a German occupation of the city, since the Wehrmachtdid not manage to break through the Soviet defense lines surrounding Moscow. However, due to its location as a large transportation hub, and since the 1913-built railway bridge over the Volga in Yaroslavl was the only point at which to cross the river, the city became a major target for air raids during 1942-1943. During the one of the heaviest of all these raids on 11 June 1943 over 120of the city's inhabitants were killed, whilst another 150 or so were badly injured. In addition to this around 200 buildings (including one of the tire factory's main workshops) were completely destroyed. Most of the city's industry, including the automobile, tyre and textile plants, were converted, during the war, to produce armament and equipment for the Soviet Red Army. Overall about 200,000 people from the Yaroslavl area died on the fronts during World War II. This sacrifice is today memorialized through a monument and eternal flame which was opened near the mouth of the Kotorosl River in 1968.
Red Square with its Lenin monument in Soviet-era Yaroslavl. Major building and infrastructure projects, as well
