4. The Gulag

Abstract

‘The Gulag’ examines the Stalinist system of camps and ‘special settlements’ that developed through different phases of deportation from 1929–30 through to the late 1950s, although the camp system prevailed until the end of the USSR. Many of these camps were remote, where workers were needed for large mining or factory operations. Throughout the Gulag, the phenomenon of ‘de-convoyed’ prisoners permitted interaction between inmates and those ‘outside the zone’ to a surprisingly large extent. Prisoners in the Gulag could survive for many years and there was a constant stream of prisoners being released. However, in terms of numbers, far more people suffered in the Gulag than in the Nazi camps.