In the Soviet Union, there were many children who didn't have parents to take care of them. These children were called orphans. Sometimes, their parents died in wars, accidents, or diseases. Other times, their parents were sent to prison or labor camps. It was a very sad situation for these children.
The government of the Soviet Union said they would take care of these orphans. They built special places for them to live called orphanages. In these orphanages, the children had a place to sleep, food to eat, and clothes to wear. They also had people who took care of them, like teachers and caretakers.
However, life in these orphanages wasn't always easy. The children had to follow strict rules, and there wasn't a lot of freedom to do what they wanted. They also didn't have a lot of personal possessions, like toys or books. They had to share everything with the other children.
The Soviet Union also had a policy called adoption. This meant that people who wanted to take care of a child could adopt an orphan. However, the process of adopting wasn't always easy either. People had to go through a lot of paperwork and background checks to be approved for adoption.
Overall, being an orphan in the Soviet Union was a difficult situation. While the government tried to take care of these children, life in the orphanages wasn't always easy, and there wasn't always a guarantee that they would find a loving family through adoption.