The Soviet Gulag System - Part Five - The End

Russian Rulers History Podcast

Mark Schauss

History, Putin, Ussr, Usa, War, Tsar, Belarus, Arts, Revolution, Social Sciences, Ukraine, Science, Crimea, Russia, Soviet

4.8 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 30 July 2023

⏱️ 25 minutes

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Summary

Today, we finish up our five-part series on the Soviet Gulag system. The punishments and rewards as well as the dismantling of the camps are discussed. If you'd like to support the podcast with a small monthly donation, click this link - https://www.buzzsprout.com/385372/support

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0:00.0	Welcome to Russian History Retold, Episode 277, The Soviet Gulag System, Part 5, The End.
0:20.2	Last time, we described the abhorrent work that many of the prisoners of the Gulags were
0:25.4	forced to do. Today, we talk about punishment, rewards, rebellions, corruption, and the end
0:33.6	of the Gulags with the death of Joseph Stalin. And Applebaum, in her book, Gulag, A History,
0:43.0	points out something very interesting, the fact that almost none of the Soviet concentration
0:48.8	camps still stand today except for one structure, the punishment block buildings. One of the
0:56.9	main reasons is that they were built of bricks while the other structures were made of wood.
1:02.7	These punishment isolators, as they were called, were created based on strict instructions from
1:08.9	Moscow. They would be surrounded by fences making escape from them almost impossible.
1:16.3	The location of these stark grade buildings was also mandated by the following rule. They,
1:23.9	quote, should be set up in a place which is furthest away from populated regions, and from
1:30.4	transport routes should be well guarded and guaranteed strict isolation. The guards should
1:37.5	consist of only the most trusted, disciplined, and experienced riflemen selected from among the
1:44.6	free workers. There was to be one in every camp except for the smaller ones, which would usually
1:51.2	share one with the nearby prisons. The whole idea of separate punishment borders on the absurd,
1:59.2	given what we know about the Gulags. These poor souls were kept in isolation, not allowed to work
2:06.2	or exercise or have any tobacco, paper, or matches. Of course, they could have no relatives visiting
2:13.2	or received letters and packages. Food was also rationed more than outside the isolation buildings.
2:22.7	The amount of food served to most people in the Gulags was pretty meager. It was worse for those in
2:29.2	the isolation, as Applebaum writes, quote, officially, the daily punishment rations for prisoners
2:35.7	who had failed to fulfill the norm consisted of 300 grams of black rye bread, 5 grams of flour,
2:42.5	25 grams of buckwheat or macaroni, 27 grams of meat, 170 grams of potato.
	...

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