It is well established in Russian historiography that there was no charity in Soviet Russia. Modern researchers (A. Kovalev, I.K. Vysotskikh, A.N. Marchenko, et al.) dispute this thesis and give reasons for the existence of charity in this period. The author of the article, supporting the new scientific endeavor, aims at proving (on the example of provincial Tyumen) that social problems caused by the revolution of 1917, the Civil War, and the famine at the beginning of the 1920s stimulated not only the development of state social support of people, but also the development of charity during the NEP period. In the course of a historiographic analysis the author defines the main scientific myths based upon the denial of "Soviet charity". A case study of the information found in archives and media sources of the 1920s allows the author to dispel these myths and come to the conclusions that Soviet charity during the NEP period is a successful symbiosis of pre-revolutionary philanthropy and state social support of people through which the authorities successfully solved problems in the social sphere. The author pays special attention to exploring the charity of the USA and European states in the USSR during the famine period at the beginning of the 1920s. The assistance of capitalist countries in the fight against the famine was timely and saved lives of millions of Soviet citizens. This fact allows refuting the assertion, common among researchers, that, after 1917, all social problems in the USSR were solved solely by the Soviet authorities. In the course of the research, the author also disputes the thesis about the loss of all pre-revolutionary charity traditions in Soviet Russia. The provincial Siberian town had strong traditions of patronage until 1917. Many of them formed the basis of charity campaigns in Tyumen. The press was the main driver for the development of charity, as it covered the acts of charity and urged to help the people in need.
