Thursday, December 11, 2014

The word gulag is Russian for Chief Administration of Corrective Labor Camps. The gulag contained many smaller labor camps that prisoners were divided into. The camps were located in remote regions of Siberia and the Far North. Throughout the time the gulag was active, about 18 million people passed through.

The gulag was first established in 1919, but the population of the gulag did not reach its climax until the 1930’s. In the 1920’s, the population per gulag was about 100,000, but it increased significantly and by about 1936 the gulag held about 5,000,000 prisoners. This number stayed pretty consistent until Stalin died in 1953.
Prisoners working at labor camps

Prisoners in the gulag included military officers, Communist Party members, German prisoners of war, Soviet soldiers and other citizens taken prisoner or used as slave laborers during the war, murderers, thieves, political and religious dissenters, traitors, and other innocent people who were victims of Stalin’s purges. Lots of people experienced the torture of these camps, and many were innocent.
Prisoners at gulag

Prisoners were treated harshly. They were responsible for construction of industries such as railways, roads, mining, and timber. There was not a sufficient food supply for the prisoners, and did not receive clothing fit for the temperatures in Russia. Guards sometimes abused the prisoners, and the death rate was very high due to the insufficient food supply, harsh labor, and the cold. The amount of deaths did not concern the authorities, however, because they were easily replaceable with new prisoners.


Stalin died in 1953. After this, the population of the gulag was reduced and the circumstances in the camps were improved a little. The camps continued to exist, but many less prisoners were held. The camps were then opened up to journalists and human rights activists so they could see the harsh conditions and cruelty the prisoners had to go through. Finally, due to the transition to a more democratic political regime, prisoners were released from all camps.

Abandoned Gulag

http://gulaghistory.org/nps/
http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/249117/Gulag

"Gulag: Soviet Forced Labor Camps and the Struggle for Freedom." Gulag: Soviet Forced Labor Camps and the Struggle for Freedom. Center for History and New Media, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2014.

"The Gulag." The Gulag. Library of Congress, n.d. Web. 08 Dec. 2014.

"Gulag (labour Camps, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica, n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2014.


Images:
http://gulaghistory.org/nps/onlineexhibit/stalin/work.php

http://socialistworker.org/2013/10/02/britains-gulag-in-kenya

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kolyma

http://weburbanist.com/2008/10/19/ghost-town-abandoned-city-examples-images/6-abandoned-gulag-concentration-camp1/

Video Link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nUu7D9cHJc












9 comments:

  1. I like the visual appearance of your blog and I like the captions under all your pictures. Your video is also very interesting because it is actual footage from a gulag. There is an immense amount of information within your post, which is very clear and interesting. Your external link also provides insightful additional information. It was cool learning about the reasons why the people were in the camps. Overall, your blog was very good and insightful.

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  2. I think they way you set up your blog is really neat and organized. I also think that your pictures are well chosen and capture what a gulag is like. I especially like the last picture because it shows how the gulags were just abandoned. Your video was also really interesting and helped me understand the gulags on another level. I think its crazy how much the number of prisoners in the camp spiked from 100,000 to 5,000,000 in 16 years.

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  4. The videos and images along with the small descriptions underneath them were very helpful in understanding the gulags better. I thought the third video was most helpful as actual videos showing what the people had to do all day and every day as there intense labor. I also liked how you included the Gulags transition after Stalins death. Although the circumstances were not great they at least improved. I also found it astonishing that over 18 million people had passed through labor camps. It is almost hard to read about the harsh circumstances people had to go through away from family and friends.

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  5. I like how in the very beginning of your blog you explain what the word gulag means because it gives a better understanding of the blog to the reader. I find it very sad to think how around 18 million people passed through gulags in parts of Siberia and north. I find it crazy how starting around the 1920's there were about 100,000 people per gulag but around 1936 the number rose to 5,000,000. I like how you separated each paragraph with either a picture or a video. These aspects really made the blog nice to look at and easy to navigate. I found it interesting how after the death of Stalin the population of the gulags reduced. This really showed how much of an effect Stalin had on the people.

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  6. I like how your blog has good pictures to give us a good idea of what the gulags looked like. I thought that it's pretty crazy that about 18 million people passed through the gulag. I also found it interesting that the amount of deaths in the camps was not important to the authorities. They would just replace them with new prisoners. I learned that after Stalin died, the camps were opened to journalists and human rights activists. It's hard to believe that so many people went through this torture and harsh living and so many people didn't make it out alive.

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  7. Well done on the blog, it looks really nice. Its amazing how many people were kept in these gulags and how high the death rate was. It makes me wonder how similar they were the the Nazi concentration camps. Its sad that the people in power cared very little for the health and wellbeing of the prisoners, even though they were prisoners. However, it makes sense at the same time because why waste food and other resources on workers that can very easily be replaced. I like how you showed pictures of an abandoned gulag and pictures of a populated gulag. Its a cool comparison. Nice job.

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  8. Emily, cool blog, It was really informative and set up really well. I liked the pictures because they game me an idea of the prisoner's situation. Its also crazy how many people died in these gulags. Its good that after Stalin died the conditions were bettered a little and the overall population of the gulags was reduced.

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  9. This is a nice looking blog, I like the use of pictures to illustrate what the gulags actually looked like. I didn't know that there were eighteen million people who went to gulags and that there were five million people there at a time. Your blog is very organized and the video shows what the people there actually did. It is nice that it is actual footage from a real gulag. It's amazing how many innocent people Stalin sent to a gulag and how harsh the conditions were for the prisoners. This shows just how cruel Stalin could be to people.

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