Forced Labor in The Soviet Union - Gulag: Soviet Penal System

Gulag: Soviet Penal System

The Gulag which is an acronym for Glavnoe Upravlenie Ispravitel-no-trudovykh Lagerei or Chief Directorate of prison camps in former Soviet Union. The Gulag was the main agency that implemented the policy of forced labour during the Stalin Era. It was created after the 1917 revolution and greatly grew throughout the thirties during Joseph Stalin’s reign in order to turn the Soviet Union to an industrialized nation. Many historians believe that the camps were a way of handling any enemies of the regime and used as a threat to millions, others believe that it was created by the means of rapid industrialization and economic growth.

Prisoners had to work in intense climates, unsanitary conditions and work extremely hard for long periods of time. Also the prisoners were fed meager food rations and were punished excessively by the NKVD causing high death rates among the camps. Though the prisoners were unskilled and thereby inefficient they were put to work for economic purposes The camps were home to many different kinds of people, some were murderers, thieves and rapists but the majority were innocent individuals who were sent to the Gulag without trial due to speculations that they were traitors or capitalists. Millions of people were sent to the Gulag or work camps for reasons including being late for work, saying anything against the government or even taking a few potatoes from a field to eat.