Gulag: A History

“From the very earliest days of the new Soviet state, in other words, people were to be sentenced not for what they had done, but for who they were.”

This quote encapsulates the fundamentally ideological nature of Bolshevik repression, invoking the theme of The Intersection of Ideology and Power. It signifies a departure from traditional notions of justice, where punishment is meted out for actions, and a shift toward a system where identity and class affiliation determined one’s fate. This shift laid the ideological foundation for widespread purges and the establishment of the Gulag, illustrating the early Bolshevik regime’s commitment to remolding society at any cost.

“There are monks and priests,

Prostitutes and thieves.

There are princes here, and barons—

But their crowns have been taken away…

On this island, the rich have no home

No castles, no palaces…”

This poem by an anonymous prisoner captures the essence of the Gulag’s indiscriminate brutality, where societal status is rendered meaningless and all prisoners, regardless of their past lives, are subjected to the same dehumanizing conditions. The poem employs imagery and contrast to underscore the equalizing yet oppressive nature of the camp, where historical and social hierarchies are stripped away.

“We have received notice that the camps and jails in the Ukrainian republic are overflowing as well. Obviously, Soviet policy will not permit the building of new prisons. The construction of large camps, on the other hand—camps which will make rational use of labor—is a different matter.”

This statement from Genrikh Yagoda lays bare the economic calculus behind the expansion of the Gulag, highlighting the regime’s preference for labor camps as a solution to both the problem of overcrowding in prisons and the need for cheap labor. It underscores the chilling pragmatism with which the Soviet leadership approached human rights abuses, viewing prisoners not as individuals but as resources to be exploited for economic gains.

“In changing nature, man changes himself.”

This quote, captioning a photograph in the propaganda book about the canal, encapsulates the Soviet narrative that forced labor was a means of personal and societal transformation, reflecting The Intersection of Ideology and Power. It suggests a dialectical relationship between the individual and their labor, implying that the act of physically altering the environment serves as a mechanism for the prisoner’s own moral and ideological reformation. This message, deeply embedded in Soviet propaganda, sought to justify the exploitation of prison labor under the guise of rehabilitation.

“A terrible confusion ensued. Some people ran to gather up their things, others to bid farewell to friends.”

This quote captures the chaos and fear that pervaded the camps during the purge. The use of “terrible confusion” and the description of prisoners’ frantic actions highlight the human cost of Stalin’s purges, emphasizing the suddenness and brutality of the arrests. The juxtaposition of mundane actions like gathering belongings with the act of bidding farewell underscores the tragic disruption of everyday life by political terror.

“It also happened that people were picked up for far more idiosyncratic reasons.”

This quote captures the Kafkaesque reality of the Soviet legal system, where logic and reason were often discarded in favor of capricious decisions by the authorities. It emphasizes the unpredictable nature of The Mechanisms and Impact of State Repression, where individuals could be arrested for reasons as trivial as a misunderstood comment or a simple personal grudge. This randomness served to instill a deeper sense of insecurity among the populace, ensuring compliance through the fear of becoming the regime’s next arbitrary target.

“The whole process of the disintegration of personality took place before the eyes of everyone in the cell.”

This observation captures the essence of the Soviet prison experience: the gradual erosion of individual identity under constant surveillance and communal living conditions. The quote reflects the harsh reality of life within the prison walls, where every aspect of a prisoner’s existence, including moments of despair and attempts at self-harm, was exposed to public view. It speaks to the prison system’s intention to break down inmates’ sense of self, making them more malleable and compliant to authority.

“Prisoners arrived dressed in summer uniforms, dirty, covered in lice, with obvious signs of frostbite.”

This quote underscores the physical degradation and neglect that prisoners endured during their transport to the camps, highlighting the systemic failure to provide even the most basic care for human beings under the guise of transportation. The reference to “summer uniforms” in freezing conditions encapsulates the indifference of the Soviet system toward the welfare of its prisoners, emphasizing the dehumanizing aspect of the gulag experience.

“People are not machines, the camps were not clean, well-functioning factories, and the system never worked the way it was supposed to.”

This quote contrasts the ideological vision with the grim reality of the Gulag system. Applebaum also suggests that the Gulag was ultimately a failure: It was never as economically productive or successful in inducing ideological conformity as it purported to be.

“General work, the lot of the vast majority of prisoners, was precisely what it sounds like: unskilled, physically demanding hard labor.”

Applebaum’s use of the term “general work” juxtaposed with the description of its nature as “unskilled, physically demanding hard labor” emphasizes the reduction of individuals to mere cogs in the Soviet economic machine. This illustrates the Soviet regime’s utilitarian approach to human life, where the value of an individual was measured solely by their capacity for labor.

“By the 1940s, Moscow had issued elaborate instructions, describing both the construction of punishment blocks and the rules for those condemned to live within them.”

This quote highlights the meticulous planning and systemic nature of punishment within the Gulag. It reflects not only the depth of the Soviet state’s investment in the infrastructure of repression but also its intent to institutionalize suffering and control through clearly defined, centrally dictated procedures. The precision with which punishment was administered underscores the Gulag’s role as a tool for broader societal control, extending The Mechanisms and Impact of State Repression into the minutiae of prison life.

“Status could be lost as easily as gained, however. Just as it was relatively easy for a prisoner to become a jailer, so too was it relatively easy for a jailer to become a prisoner.”

This quote captures the fluidity and instability of social positions within the Gulag, illustrating how the distinctions between guard and prisoner were not as rigid as might be assumed. The cyclical nature of status within the camps reflects the broader unpredictability and arbitrariness of Stalinist repression, where loyalty and brutality could swiftly turn into accusations and downfall. Applebaum uses this dynamic to explore the pervasive fear and insecurity that characterized life within the Gulag system.

“They were the cream of the criminal world: murderers, sadists, adept at every kind of sexual perversion.”

This quote captures the menacing aura of the urki within the Gulag system, portraying them as the embodiment of criminality and depravity. Applebaum quotes memoirist Evginiya Ginzburg, who uses language to emphasize their dominance and the immediate threat they posed to newcomers. The characterization of the urki as “the cream of the criminal world” ironically inverts the notion of excellence, highlighting the perverse social order within the camps where brutality and sadism conferred status and power.

“The children’s home was also part of the camp compound. It had its own guardhouse, its own gates, its own huts and its own barbed wire.”

This quote, also from Ginzburg, illustrates the pervasiveness of the Gulag system, extending its reach even to families. The parallel drawn between the children’s homes and the rest of the camp compound, complete with guardhouses and barbed wire, serves as a reminder of the complete lack of freedom and the pervasive control exerted over all aspects of life within the Gulag. It underscores the system’s indifference to age, treating children with the same harshness as adult prisoners.

“Death in the camp possessed another terror: its anonymity.”

This quote explores the psychological torment inflicted on prisoners by the secrecy surrounding death in the Gulag. Applebaum uses the concept of “anonymity” to examine the existential dread experienced by inmates, who faced not just the physical reality of death but the erasure of their existence from memory and history. The mention of “anonymity” acts as a critique of the Soviet system’s attempt to suppress individual stories and the human cost of its policies, highlighting the ultimate cruelty of denying prisoners their identity even in death.

“We were saved by youth, health, physical strength, because there we lived by Darwin’s laws, the survival of the fittest.”

This quote, from an interview with survivor Yuri Zorin, encapsulates the brutal reality of life in the Gulag, where survival often hinged on physical capabilities. It draws on Darwinian theory to describe a world stripped of humanity and reduced to primal survival instincts. The mention of “youth, health, physical strength” not only highlights the physical aspects of survival but also implies the loss of the weak, the old, and the sick, underscoring the harshness of the environment and the survival strategies that emerged from it.

“The escaping prisoner was not likely to find much help from those local people who were not guards or prisoners, either.”

This quote underscores the isolation of the prisoners from wider Soviet society, illustrating how the camp system and the surrounding societal fear effectively prevented any form of external assistance. It reveals the pervasive reach of the Soviet regime’s propaganda and control, where the paranoia and suspicion it sowed among its citizens ensured that prisoners remained pariahs, further alienating them and diminishing their chances of survival outside the camp.

“Suddenly the music was interrupted, and we heard Molotov’s voice speaking of the Nazis’ ‘treacherous attack’ on the Soviet Union.”

This quote, from Gulag prisoner Karlo Stajner, captures a pivotal moment of shock and the beginning of a drastic change in the lives of Gulag prisoners. The interruption of normalcy by news of the attack ends any illusions of safety or stability for the inmates. It underscores the immediacy and gravity of the war’s impact on individual lives, setting the stage for the increased hardships that would follow.

“Many deportees were mentally and physically unprepared for lives as foresters or kolkhoz farmers.”

This quote illustrates the challenges faced by deportees, many of whom came from urban or intellectual backgrounds, as they were forced into manual labor in harsh, unfamiliar environments. It reflects the broader theme of the Soviet state’s disregard for individual lives and identities, treating people as mere tools for achieving geopolitical and ideological goals, regardless of the human cost.

“First of all, I inform you that I am in a hospital in Kharkov, wounded […] I too was sentenced for working badly, but our beloved Party gave me the chance to pay back my debts to society by achieving victory on the front line.”

This quote reveals the intricate blend of gratitude, guilt, and redemption felt by a former prisoner turned soldier. The acknowledgment of a “debt to society” suggests an acceptance of the Soviet narrative that justified their imprisonment, while the pride in contributing to the war effort reflects a deep-seated patriotism. This complex interplay of emotions highlights the multifaceted identities of prisoners, who could simultaneously critique the injustices they faced and express loyalty to the very system that oppressed them.

“By the early 1950s, the Gulag’s masters found themselves faced with a paradoxical situation.”

This quote highlights the inherent contradictions within the Gulag system that became increasingly apparent by the early 1950s. Despite the Soviet leadership’s intent to exploit the camps for economic gain, the inefficiencies and the prisoners’ Resilience in the Face of Adversity within the system began to undermine its viability. Its unsustainable nature contributed to its own crises of productivity and dissent.

“We will not, we will not be slaves. We will not carry the yoke any longer.”

This quote, derived from a hymn sung by the striking prisoners, encapsulates the Resilience in the Face of Adversity that fueled the Gulag uprisings. The repetition of “we will not” serves as a rhetorical device, emphasizing the prisoners’ resolve to resist subjugation. The metaphor of refusing to “carry the yoke” evokes imagery of enslavement and oppression, effectively communicating the depth of the prisoners’ suffering and their collective refusal to accept it any longer.

“The judicial system had to look like a judicial system, even if everyone knew it was a sham.”

This statement reflects the superficial reforms implemented by the Soviet authorities in the post-Stalin era, highlighting the disconnect between legal appearances and reality. The use of the word “sham” emphasizes the cynicism and duplicity of the Soviet legal reforms, which were designed more to placate international criticism than to ensure justice or protect human rights.