Young Pioneer camp was the name for the vacation

Annual leave

Annual leave is paid time off work granted by employers to employees to be used for whatever the employee wishes. Depending on the employer's policies, differing number of days may be offered, and the employee may be required to give a certain amount of advance notice, may have to coordinate with...

 or summer camp

Summer camp

Summer camp is a supervised program for children or teenagers conducted during the summer months in some countries. Children and adolescents who attend summer camp are known as campers....

 of Young Pioneers

Young Pioneers

- Organizations :*Pioneer movement various communist youth movements*Young Pioneers Charity A charity run by young people for young people.- Fiction :*Young Pioneers - a 1932 book by Rose Wilder Lane, also known as "Let the Hurricane Roar"...

. In the 20th century these camps existed in many socialist countries, particularly in the Soviet Union

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

.

The Young Pioneer camps of the Soviet Union were the place of vacation for children from the Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union

Young Pioneer organization of the Soviet Union

The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union, also Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union, also Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer Organization The Young Pioneer Organization of the Soviet Union, also Vladimir Lenin All-Union Pioneer...

 during summer and winter holidays. The first All-Union Young Pioneer camp, Artek

Artek (camp)

Artek is a Young Pioneer camp near Gurzuf, Ukraine. It was established on June 16 1925 on the Black Sea in the town of Gurzuf located on the Crimean peninsula, near Medved Mountain, Ukraine. The camp first hosted only 80 children but then grew rapidly. In 1969 it had an area of 3.2 km²...

 was formed on June 16, 1925. The Young Pioneer camp phenomenon grew in popularity and in the USSR

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 there existed approximately forty thousand Young Pioneer camps in 1973. Approximately 9,300,000 children had vacations in these camps that year. There were different types of camps: sanitation camps, sports camps, tourist camps, thematic camps (for young technicians, young naturalist

Natural history

Natural history is the scientific research of plants or animals, leaning more towards observational rather than experimental methods of study, and encompasses more research published in magazines than in academic journals. Grouped among the natural sciences, natural history is the systematic study...

s, young geologist

Geologist

A geologist is a scientist who studies the solid and liquid matter that constitutes the Earth as well as the processes and history that has shaped it. Geologists usually engage in studying geology. Geologists, studying more of an applied science than a theoretical one, must approach Geology using...

s and children of other potential careers). Generally speaking if parents wanted their child or children to go to one of these Young Pioneer camps, they had to pay a fee to apply for accommodation in the camp. However, typically the state organization where the parent worked "sponsored" the child by allotting the worker's child a place in the camp free of charge to the parent or parents as an incident to the parent's employment.

The main Young Pioneer camps of the Soviet Union were All-Union Young Pioneer camp Artek

Artek (camp)

Artek is a Young Pioneer camp near Gurzuf, Ukraine. It was established on June 16 1925 on the Black Sea in the town of Gurzuf located on the Crimean peninsula, near Medved Mountain, Ukraine. The camp first hosted only 80 children but then grew rapidly. In 1969 it had an area of 3.2 km²...

 (near Gurzuf

Gurzuf

Gurzuf or Hurzuf is a resort in Crimea, Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea.Gurzuf is a former Crimean Tatar village, now a part of Greater Yalta. It was made famous by Alexander Pushkin who visited the place in 1821. The famous ballet master Marius Petipa died here...

), republican camps: Orlyonok

Orlyonok

Orlyonok was one of the main Soviet Young Pioneer camps and is currently the main Children's Center in Russia.Orlyonok's name is taken from the title of a popular Young Pioneer song "Orlyonok" about a 16-year old Red Army soldier about to be executed by enemies.-History:The Orylonok camp was...

(near Tuapse

Tuapse

Tuapse is a town in Krasnodar Krai, Russia, situated on the northeast shore of the Black Sea, south of Gelendzhik and north of Sochi. It serves as the administrative center of Tuapsinsky District, although administratively it is separate from it...

, Russian SFSR, opened in 1960), Okean (near Vladivostok

Vladivostok

The city is located in the southern extremity of Muravyov-Amursky Peninsula, which is about 30 km long and approximately 12 km wide.The highest point is Mount Kholodilnik, the height of which is 257 m...

, Russian SFSR, opened in 1983) Molodaya Gvardiya

Molodaya Gvardiya

Molodaya Gvardiya is a monthly Russian magazine focusing on literature and politics, founded in Moscow in May 1922 as an organ of the Komsomol....

(near Odessa

Odessa

Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...

, Ukrainian SSR

Ukrainian SSR

The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic or in short, the Ukrainian SSR was a sovereign Soviet Socialist state and one of the fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union lasting from its inception in 1922 to the breakup in 1991...

) and Zubryonok (in Minsk Oblast

Minsk Province (Belarus)

Minsk Voblasc or Minsk Oblast is a province of Belarus with its administrative center being Minsk, although still being a separate administrative subdivision of Belarus...

, Byelorussian SSR

Byelorussian SSR

The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic was one of fifteen constituent republics of the Soviet Union. It was one of the four original founding members of the Soviet Union in 1922, together with the Ukrainian SSR, the Transcaucasian SFSR and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...

). It was very difficult to apply for accommodation to the main camps, especially to Artek, as they were very popular.

In 1977 a group of Canadian teens and pre-teens from across Canada were sent to the Soviet Young Pioneer camp, Orlyonok. The book Lost in Moscow by Kirsten Koza details their unusual escapades at this elite summer camp in the USSR.

In East Germany the Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation

Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation

The Ernst Thälmann Pioneer Organisation, consisting of the Young Pioneers and the Thälmann Pioneers, was a youth organisation of schoolchildren aged 6 to 14, in East Germany...

 built a pioneer camp (known as a "pioneer republic") in 1952 at Werbellinsee north-east of Berlin

Berlin

Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...

. It was based on the Artek. It was considered a privilege to be chosen to go to this camp.