1 Главное Управление Лагерей The Gulags Christopher Tarassoff April 2004

2 GULAGS Glavnoye Upravleniye LAGerej Main Adminisitration of Camps Main Directorate for Corrective Labor Camps

3 Number of forced labor camps between Hungary199 Czechoslovakia 124 Bulgaria99 Romania97 Poland47 There were over 450 camps throughout all of Russia, most centralized in the north east

4 Introduction of the Soviet Gulag: First established in 1919, but did not fully reach its potential for treachery until the 1930s.

5 Siberian Images

6

7

8 The Gulags as Portrayed in Art

9

10

11

12 Timeline 1919: Lenin introduces Soviet detention centers (Checka) 1930s: Stalin deports millions in series of great purges (NKVD) July January 1, 1934: The number of prisoners incarcerated in labor camps increased 23 fold

13 History of Exile in Russia: “In the 19th century the Russian government deported around 1.2 million prisoners to Siberia. Most of the revolutionary leaders in Russia spent time in Siberia. This included Lenin, Leon Trotsky and Joseph Stalin” Siberia LeninLeon TrotskyJoseph Stalin

14 Map of Russia

15 The Solovetsk Special Camp Solzhenitsin -- may be considered as the "mother of the GULAG". This camp was neither the biggest nor most brutal, yet it became a model camp where the NKVD developed and tested security measures, "living conditions", production norms for prisoners, and all possible methods of repression. /gulag/b.htm

16 Slave Labor Serfdom Abolished – 1862 The Gulag System was responsible for the some of the worst human right abuses throughout the 20 th century for a country against its own people

17 Product of Gulag Labor:

18 Other Projects Completed By Gulag Labor: White Sea – Baltic Sea Canal Moscow River – Volga River Canal Dam and power station at Dneprostroi Industrial center at Magnitka. The labor from the Gulags was essential in keeping the Five-Year Plans on schedule

19 Official Cover Stories Official publications and periodicals Represented slavery as a tool of reeducation changing people minds, turning them into dedicated builders of Communism. These newspapers were only distributed within labor camps At the same time, the events transpiring at The camps were hidden from the public

20 Necessity of the camps: Deal with Dissidents Maintain the Soviet Economy People were equivalent to natural resources Shortfalls of the system balanced by exploitation of labor Interestingly, no shortage of patriotism amongst prisoners. Although people may have been anti-Soviet, they were not anti- Russian Many volunteered for duty in the Great Patriotic War “Industrial miracles" of the Bolsheviks all around Russia

21 It is estimated that around 10 million perished in Soviet gulags between 1930 and 1950.