During the Great Patriotic War, industries from various cities of the USSR’S European part, including factories from Leningrad, Stalingrad and Kharkov which became the basis of Tankograd, were evacuated to Chelyabinsk. Stalingrad Mechanical Institute, evacuated in August 1942, performed training of engineering cadres for industry works; in October of that year, the Institute started admission of postgraduates. In the academic year 1942/43, the first year of operating in Chelyabinsk, the Institute overall had about 400 students, including 90 students who attended evening classes.