The Gulag penal system goes down in history as the most inhumane and barbaric means ever used by the Russian authorities to punish Soviet criminals and dissidents. Millions of desperate souls were transported across the desolate Siberian hinterland and deposited in crudely constructed labor camps scattered across the frozen permafrost, never to be heard from again. None was more infamous or inspired more terror in the proletariat than the Gulag Perm-36 prison camp.
Reminiscent of Nazi concentration camps, Perm-36 was the hardest labor camp Soviet officials could have as their motto, designed specifically to house formidable political dissidents, outspoken writers, abstract artists, and anyone else who was considered a immediate threat to the communist ideals espoused by the Russians. government. Once deemed a death sentence to be delivered there, it is now a carefully preserved memorial and a reminder to the world of what governments are capable of when faced with open opposition to their regime.
HISTORY
World War II had ended, and Stalin now faced the daunting task of reconstruction. Heavy damage was inflicted on Russian cities along the western border (the Nazis referred to this as the Eastern Front during the war) and were in dire need of repairs. Thinking that he could kill two birds with one stone, Stalin ordered the construction of logging camps around the Perm region, approximately 1,400 km east of Moscow, on the border with Inner Siberia. Here, 150,000 undesirables were dispersed into one hundred and fifty labor camps and tasked with providing much-needed lumber to Western cities.
Officially known as Camp ITK-6, the notorious Perm-36 quickly filled with a thousand of the “worst of the worst” criminals. The inmates were divided into four bleak sleeping quarters, where they were allowed seven hours of sleep each night, the time they spent freezing under thin blankets as arctic winds whipped through wide cracks in the wooden walls. Along with the barracks, the camp also had a headquarters building, a rudimentary hospital, and a gruesome punishment block, where dissidents were sent if the authorities felt they were perhaps enjoying their winter break too much.
The reform camp had the strictest working hours of all the Perm labor camps. The prisoners were woken each morning at six o’clock, given a meager breakfast, and then briskly marched for an hour and a half to the forest to begin logging. There they were forced to cut down huge poplar and oak trees with hand saws and then haul the wood up the Chusovaya and Kama rivers, which carried the wood southwest to the Volga. After nine hours of non-stop work, the dissidents were herded back to the camp, given dinner, and then sent to the barracks. Rinse and repeat. Whether this rigorous program actually helped reform anyone is unclear, as the vast majority ended up dead and the rest suffered permanent physical and mental damage.
The Soviet government, on the other hand, was quite pleased with the results. Feeling that they were really on to something here, they formally named Perm-36 the official residence for the worst Soviet political prisoners, and in 1972, turned the Gulag into a fully-functioning, modernized prison camp. Enemies of the state continued to be sent here to work and rot until 1987, when it was finally closed.
The most famous dissident who was sentenced to the Gulag prison system was the writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn. After his arrest for writing critical comments on Joseph Stalin, he was sentenced to eight years of hard labor. This ordeal formed the basis of his critically acclaimed works. A day in the life of Ivan Denisovich and gulag archipelagohis scathing account of the Soviet labor camps.
THE AREA TODAY
Shortly after Perestroika in the 1980s, the labor camps were systematically dismantled and the door was quietly closed on this dark period of Russian history. The only field left is Perm-36, chosen for preservation by human rights activists in the former Soviet Union due to its particularly evil nature. The site is now the Museum of the Political Repression History Memorial Center, with all the original fences and buildings intact. Frozen in time, it is a vivid reminder of the lengths governments will go to suppress the human spirit.
Ironically, due to the Russian government’s practice of sending its best and brightest writers and artists to reside in labor camps, the nearby city of Perm has become a mecca for Soviet artists. Along with the prisoners, several theater companies also moved to the area during World War II to escape Soviet repression. This influx of creative people has made Perm a major center for the arts, home to museums and galleries that rival those found in Moscow and St. Petersburg.
TRAVEL INFORMATION
You will need to book an international flight to Moscow, Russia (DME) or to Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia (GOJ). From there, you’ll take a 90-minute flight to Bolshoye Savino Airport, located in Perm, Russia (PEE).
Traveling by car is the most convenient way to get to Perm-36. You can rent a car directly at the Perm airport upon arrival of your flight. Perm is home to modern hotel chains (such as the Hilton) for a comfortable stay between your daily excursions. The Memorial Center Museum of the History of Political Repression is open every day from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm and closes on Mondays.
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