The first of the main ones

A year after the founding of the Moscow Metro Construction, the first issue of a large circulation was published, covering the most romantic and long-awaited construction site of the early 20th century. The newspaper at that time was called “Drummer of Metrostroy”. Its first editor was Efim Reznichenko, a young graduate of the All-Union Communist Institute of Journalism.

The head of Metrostroy, Pavel Rotert, suggested that Reznichenko head the editorial office of the newspaper. To be on the same page with builders, the first editor studied mining, structural mechanics, listened to lectures on strength materials, and traveled to the Dnieper Hydroelectric Station and Donbass.

“I walked around shocked. It was the best school,” Efim Davydovich later recalled.

The newspaper, first published on August 6, 1932, played a very important role in the life of the team. It became a bright militant leaflet, kindling the enthusiasm of young builders who came from all over the Soviet Union. It is not for nothing that, together with the best metro builders, Reznichenko was awarded the Order of Lenin. This was the first government award of this magnitude to be presented to the editor of a large-circulation newspaper.

Almost immediately, the publication turned into a kind of platform where propaganda materials, literary and historical essays, educational articles and pointed notes about the problems of ordinary builders were posted. Here everyone was given the floor, the leaders were praised and the lagging brigades were encouraged. The daily release was awaited by professors, workers, and ordinary Muscovites who were monitoring the construction of new transport in the capital.

The editorial team at that time consisted of more than 20 people. We had our own printing house. A lot of materials came directly from construction sites where labor reporters worked.

Not everyone could become a correspondent. Before joining the editorial staff, future employees of the pen underwent mandatory training in mining. They became not just literary collaborators, but professionals who understood the intricacies of the mining business. This is how the spirit of unity between printing and construction was born.

In 1937, the first editor of Udarnik Metrostroy was expelled from the party and accused of anti-Soviet agitation due to a false denunciation by a former friend. By decision of a special meeting, Reznichenko was sentenced to administrative exile in Kazakhstan for five years. He returned to Metrostroy many years later. Completely rehabilitated, he continued his work until the end of his life. Now he was already editing a magazine and publishing books about metro builders.

Thanks to Efim Davydovich, several books were published, one of which is “Days and Years of Metrostroy”, published for the 50th anniversary of the Moscow Metrostroy.