What did they do in the Gulag?

At its height the Gulag consisted of many hundreds of camps, with the average camp holding 2,000–10,000 prisoners. Most of these camps were “corrective labour colonies” in which prisoners felled timber, laboured on general construction projects (such as the building of canals and railroads), or worked in mines.

What was so bad about the gulags?

In addition to food shortages, the Gulag suffered from labor scarcity at the beginning of the war. The Great Terror of 1936–1938 had provided a large supply of free labor, but by the start of World War II the purges had slowed down.

What was life like in Gulag?

Conditions at the Gulag were brutal: Prisoners could be required to work up to 14 hours a day, often in extreme weather. Many died of starvation, disease or exhaustion—others were simply executed. The atrocities of the Gulag system have had a long-lasting impact that still permeates Russian society today.

What is the most famous Gulag?

The Vorkuta Gulag was one of the largest camps in the GULAG system with 73,000 prisoners at its peak in 1951, containing Soviet and foreign prisoners including prisoners of war, dissidents, political prisoners (“enemies of the state”) and common criminals who were used as forced labor in the coal mining works.

What is it like inside gulags?

Gulag living conditions were cold, overcrowded and unsanitary. Violence was common among the camp inmates, who were made up of both hardened criminals and political prisoners. In desperation, some stole food and other supplies from each other.

What was life like in the Russian gulags?

In the cramped quarters of the gulags, disease was rampant. Thousands of prisoners died from pneumonia, influenza, strep, smallpox, and more, but viruses weren’t the only things spreading through the gulags. If a prisoner was sentenced to 10 years in the gulag, he or she could expect 10 years of lice.

How many people died in the gulags in Siberia?

Barnes described the Gulag as an institution of forced labor, where workers had real prospects of being released. According to the author 18 million people passed through the work camps. While approximately 1.6 million died, a large number were released and reintegrated into Soviet society.