Hostel near the Kremlin: how and why Soviet citizens settled in the GUM

Few people today know that in the first years of the existence of the USSR, ordinary citizens lived in the well-known GUM in the center of the capital, because communal apartments were located there. It would seem that it is an ideal place to live: in the very heart of Moscow, overlooking the Kremlin.

GUM opened in 1893 and was called Upper Trading Rows. During the Soviet regime, the functionality of some spaces was changed: due to the lack of housing stock, some pavilions on the upper floors were converted into shared apartments. Despite all their attractiveness, these apartments had a significant drawback – the lack of kitchens, due to which people had to cook food directly in their rooms.

Proximity to Red Square also did not give any privileges. So, next to the GUM department store, special services dressed in civilian clothes constantly served to monitor residents. From 1936, during ceremonial parades, military personnel were stationed in all apartments and forbade residents to approach the windows. So even the citizens were deprived of an exclusive view.

Even on normal days, however, there were many problems: for example, crowds of noisy buyers at the doors of GUM, waiting in line for scarce goods. At night, citizens were awakened by the signal of the Spassky Gates as government cars drove out of the Kremlin. By the way, it was also not possible to bring guests without permission.

It was only in 1953 that it was decided to return the State Department Store to its original purpose and resettle the tenants (and that is 22 families of 80 people) in new communal apartments.

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