BI-WEEKLY PROPAGANDA GUIDANCE NUMBER 82

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP78-03061A000100050006-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 11
• Document Creation Date: November 17, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 11, 1998
• Sequence Number: 6
• Publication Date: January 1, 1962
• Content Type: PERRPT

25X1C10b
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THE SOVIET PENI`I`ENTIA.RY SYST`~M:
EVGLUTIOIV' OF CbNCENTI2ATION CAMPS
(Le SysteYne Concer_~~;-ationnaire Sovietique)
By Paul-Barton Le Cantrat Social, Jul-Aug, `1961, pp. 223-230._
0~6-1
After the death. of Stalin,?-the Soviet concentration-camps delivered --
aver aperiod of three years -- their. secret to the non-communist world.
Many foreigners regained their freedom, and most of them :were even
repatriated.
~3e *lxese mans, it was learned that the system of forced labor had been
5~;~?C)tt:al?wr damaged by the effects of an alarming population problem which
h~:nceforth made mass deportations impossible, by the crisis in authority
following tlxe death of Stalin,- and by the strikes and insurrections which took
place in the camps af~tex the end of 1952. The returnees also brought infor-
~rsaa.tion on the measures intended to reduce' the mortality among the inmates,
to rationalize their work, and to reduce the congestion in the camps by
cutting down the strengths and modifying the system of control, But since
t'ie repatriation of the inmates fxoixx the non-communist countries had nearly
teen completed by 1956, when the process of trarxsforrnation was hitting its
stride, tittle- was known about its final ou.tc'ome. The men in power took
advantage of the situation to?cla.im glory'for reforms which had been imposed
on them by the aver-all situation and by the revolt of their victems. In
official statements, the changes which have occurred have been presented
in more-.and more slanted form.
Nevertheless, fr-arr~ time. to time events occur which are revealing.
I~'uxther, a legal text-book, The Soviet Law of Gorrective Labor, appeared
in Moscow in 1960 under the. irecta~on o ro . tevs x, which after
more than 30 years-constitutes an authority in this field (no book of this .type
has been published since 1.936). True, the work swarms with euphemisms
and superfluous assertions; a number of prickly questions are treated in
deliberately obscure language, or even passed over in silence. But never-
theless~?. it is an abundant source of information for anyone familiar with
the Soviet camps and #,he esoteric language of their inhabitants.
The T,)etainees
The number of detainees in the concentration camps has greatly diminished
since 1953. The testimony of the majority of the returnees leaves no doubt-
on this score. It is impossible to give in figures, even approximately, the
importance of this dirninu.tion. Certain concentration "complexes" lost the
majority of their inmates. In others, the process took much smaller pro-
portions, There were also some where the strength had not stoppedgrowing
at the time the foreigners departed. Besides, even there, where the decrease
was mast spectacular, it was not due- only to the liberation of prisoners:
transferrals- into other penal establishments played a not unimportant role.
Various facts reported by the repatriates lead to the conclusion that,
simultaneously with the reduction in strength, there was being carried ovt a
transfer of a part of this strength to camps located further east. Ukrainians
involved in the disturbances in Karaganda in 1952 were transferred to
Norilsk. A certain :rmamber of those who took part in the uprising at Norilsk,
in the spring of the following year, were sent to Taishet, where some of the
strikers from V~rkuta also arrived. Following the revolt which brake out
in 1954 at Kinguir (sic} in Kazakhstan, Kolyma received a large contingent
of prisoners from that camp. At the same time, the reduction in strength
seemed to decrease as one went eastward; the Japanese .released from
Kolyma at the end of 1956 estimated that the number of detainees in that
enormous concentration complex in Northeast Siberia remained unchanged.
bne returnee, confined at Taishet from 1953 to 1956, reported that he had ~--
the impression that the penal administration was trying to stabilize the rnan-
power at Kolyma by means of a system of "exchange" with the camps at
Taishet: some prisoners, chosen among the strongest, were often sent from
Taishet .to Kolyma, while a goodly number of worn-out men, sick men or
cripples, travelled the same road in the. opposite direction,
Moreover, the diminution in the number. of detainees at the camps was
accompanied by an increase in those in the prisons. It appears that they
undertook the construction of a whole series of new prisons, and expansion
of some of the old ones. The detainees at the prisons were com elled to do
forced labor, in conditions even more severe than in the camps (cf. Izvestia,
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13 September 1956, and The Soviet Law of Corrective 3~abar, pp. 187-2Q2}.
A portion of the. prisoners were trans errs rom a camps to the prisons
in reprisal-for the uprisings and were given additional ~centences for
"banditism in camp. " The field of application of the sentence to prison was
considerably extended by the "Principles of ..penal legislation of the USSR
and the Fedex'a;ted Republics, "promulgated on 25 :Decerr~ber 1958. This
sentence was to apply to ."persons having committed grave crimes" and
"paxticulaxly dangerous multiple offenders.'! -The handbook by. Frafesaor
Outevski sees in this inspvation a "reinforcement- of~ the penal repression
of grave crimes" (p, 88). The pe~rsan presenting the law to the Supreme
Soviet explained" that the erid in view was an "increase in accountability far ..
the gravest crimes"against the state and for crime's against the life a~ health
c-f citizens. " Political prisoners and assassins were placed, once again, in
the same bag.
In any case, if one were to believe the `official decl;~rations, there. are no
more political detains-es. Already in May 1957, t~vo ,high officials had stated
to Professor Harold J. Berman of Harvard University that as a result of the
amnesties and rehabilitations, political` prisoners represented only a little
under:2% of the total number of prisoners, arx3. that these were traitors, guilt~r '
of "crimes against Soviet 'citizen's in collaboration with the Germans',' (news-
papers. of 16 May 1957}. Bold claims these, soon proye~z false by testimony
reporting the presence, 'in ~raariaus concentration com,ple;xes, of Polish..
detainees, a Frenchman, freed at the beginning of 1958, was in contact up
until the end of his detention with partisans -from the .Caucasus and the Ukraine
who continued to"flow iota the prison at Vladimir fqr h~~ring .refused to ~ubliely
renounce their ideasaf national'iridependence (J'ean-Paul ~Serbet, Po1it-isolator,
Paris 1961, p. 41?}.
At the beginning of 1959, Khrushchev thought it'gossible to rid himself
of the `two per cent in question: "Today in the Soviet Union there" are. no more
cases of indictments for political crimes;`'.' he declared ar the 21st Congress.
And even further;' "As I live alreadysaid., there-are now in ourcountry no
political detaine~s'in'tlie .prisons". `These words were spoken one month.
after the promulgation of the law on penal responsibility far crimes against
the state which Specified, among other crimes; high treason, terrori-ern,.
sabotage, agitation and anti-Soviet propaganda, .participation in an anti.-Soviet
organization,. mass disorders, illegal departure. far foreign countries, and
which laid down for the majority of these political misdereds penalties running
from 10 years confinement to death. Khrushchev's statements were rep-sated
at the same Congress by the chief of the secret police, A, Shelyapin, who
however immediately-contradicted them by shouting: "W'e will continue to
punish pitilessly all the enemies of our people . "
Moreover it has been known for a long time" that there were in the
Soviet Union nc""detainees officially described as polticf~l; there were only
enemies of the people, traitors, saboteurs, counter-revolutionaries, etc.
A stxong light was thrown on this question by the out;came of the Pasternak
affair. .Less than three months after the death of the writer,. the woman ulna
had provided the inspiration for the her-Dine of Doctor Zlxivago, U1ga Ivinskaya,
was arrested. The facts which provided the pre e'er"-x~"for`~iis are known thanks
to the story of Sergio d'Angelo, who had served as intermediary, between
Boris Pasternak, and his foreign editor. Expe"lied from-'the Soviet Writers'
Union, and.depri.ved of his source of livelihood, Pasternak -had requested the
transfer of a part of his author's royalties. Once the Hope of arranging the
transfer officially had vanished, he aske3 to have the money sent, secretly,
and instructed Olga`Ivinskaya to ,accept delivery of it. T'he sums received by
her?: were transferred intact /t o Pasterna~f After "the death of the writer,.
she received, iri conformity with the desires of the- deceased, a .certain. sum,
far herself. In order to justify her arrest and her condemnation, several
defamatory versions of the story were put successively in circulation: .she
was charged with having persuaded Pasternak not to havE- the -money .sent
through official channels; an another occasion, with having injured the writer
himself, as well as his legitimate" heirs, by an improper appropriation of
funds; or again, of having speculated on the poetic works of certain students.
Olga Ivinskaya was- not to be judged fox political crirne. Following a
secret trial, she was condemned in December 1960 to eight years confinement,
and her daughter to three years, in accordance with Article 15 of thelaw of-
25 December 1958 on penal responsibility for crimes against the state, de
scribed as faliows:
..Contraband, that is to say the illegal transport cif merchandise
or other values across the state frontier of the L1SSR, conducted
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by means of the concealment of 'the objects in cia i ang
.places, or with the aid of fraudulent use of customs certificates
or otherwise, or on a grand scale, ~r by a group of persons ?
who are organized for purposes of c?ntraband, or by an official
using his officio}. position, as well as the contraband of explosive
materials, narcntic s, caustics, pc~isoi~:s, of arrna and of military-
equipment, .is. punished by deprivation of freedom for a period
running from three to 10 years, with? confiscation of property.
officially, then,. Olga Ivinskaya is not a political prisoner.-
Boris Pasternak foresaw this contemptible vengeance: He had predicted it
in the fate of I:,a;ra after the death of Yuxi Zhivago: "One day, Larissa
~''edor?vna left and did not return. No-doubt she was arrested in the .street.
:ahe was tp die or disappear no one knows 'where, forgotten under the anonymous
~~urnber of a 1?st Iist, in one of the countless concentxation:camps of the North,"
B3'' transforming the foresight of the poet into reality, the men in power made
:these lines a real message: the act which they have just perpetrated took
place, in the novel, under Stalinist terr'o~, -which they claim tv have relegated
forever t~~ the past.
Penal Adrn.inistration
Cafficial reports an the penal administration vary considerably. In May
1957 the-two high officials questioned by Professor Harold J. Berman stated
that the famous Gina, the administration of camps under the Ministry ?f
Interior, had been dissolved bya decision of the Council of Ministers dated
25 October 195b and replaced by' Guitk, the administration of colonies of
carrectiv,e labor. Now no decree? o~t~Tiis type had been published, and no one
spoke of it thereafter. In a report presented in May 1957 to a conference on
the law. of COrrect].ve Labor,' the Minister of Interior described at length, the
reforms of the penal adxriinistration .without breathing a word of that which
had been described to Professor Berman (Soviet Justice, 1957, no. $, and
The Soviet State and the Law, 1957, no. l2 a ormation provided by
pis .su or ~.nates tote merican visitor was evidently false.
In'his` report, the ?Minister declared that the penal institutions had been
subject to the direct supervision of the Minister of Interior, that henceforth
they would be the responsibility of the regional, municipal, and district
presidiums of Scv iets, and that the local Soviets and the Councils of Ministers
of the- Republics. were respvnsibie for directing their work. He did not
specify the date df this change, of which- one .cannot.find a trace in the legal
texts.
If one is to believe the 1960 haridboak, the control of all establishments
for corrective labor was g;iveri in I457 to the Ministers of Interior of the
federated republics, and to the administrations. of internal affairs: connected
with the presidiums of the regional and district Soviets .(The Soviet Law of
Corrective Labor, p. 4$}; Not to the Presidiums'of the Soviets, ut to the
organs o ,tie po ice.- In any case, more than a. year after the reform described
in the manual, the government issued the "Regula.tion for colonies of corrective
labor and prisons of the Ministry of Interior','' the p~,nal establishments came
then, after the reform. as before, under the Ministry of Interior. The
statements to the contrary were intended, tQ all appearance, to conceal the
existence of-the central adm'inistratien, in order to :create the impression
that fo~Ilowin.g the ~ha~n.ges carried out, forced labor had.beaaxne an..~anim:p~rtaz~t
matter. ..
The fate of this administration after the liquidation of the Ministry of
Interior, decided in January 196Q, is not known. Cane must suppose, until
more fully informed, that it was- kept in Moscow, close to the Council of
Ministers. .
The supposed transfer of duties probably only introduced the i~ermediary
of the appropriate regional services between the central administration and
the prisons, colonies, and camps. Until than, the concentration installations
were directly dependent on Moscow, thus creating, especially in the most
remote regions, states within the state. Thus the Minister of Interior stated
in his May 1957 report that the reorganization was designed to further "a real
control of the distant establishments. " In the same spirit, the rule. according
to which the public ministry should control all penal institutions was reaffirmed
in 1955 (cf. V.S. Tadevossian, The Gontfic~l Exercised b~'~he Prosec~a*or in
the USSR, Moscow, 1956, pp. 2 an t e coxirro cammassxrns a~sac%ated
wit`~h the local Soviets were reestablished in the coL~rse of 1957 (The Soviet
Law of Corrective Labor, ppJ.23-128}. All these changes form an in graT
part o t e meahas~uirbes to en by Sta],in's successors to regain control of the
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Profes~ior'"C3utsv~ky'~~;' handbc~alc~ expi?`esses the Isarzxe concern, but giving
a character which it does not`pc~ssessr
In connectinrt;with the observation of soicialxst~ legality in the
work of the ?corr'ective"labor establishments; it should be
noted" ~atiove all that tliere'is' no` legi~;Tity pecu"liaf~~ to their work:
Socialist legality is a single nalt~le (p. ,12~_?
.A.ctually, the principle of legality scarcely manifest ,itself in the Soviet
penal' systerri TheoreticaTly'the functioning of the latteY?,is 'ruled by the
Corrective `Labgr ;C`ode of 19~~, "bu't tk~at i,s a dead`letter~,'''a.ncl has not been
a"pplie'd for a, long ~t~rne. In, February 195? and in L7ecemti~r 195$; several '
representatives spoke in the 5upre'me'"Soviet c+f the necei9tstity`to establish n,ew"
leggy elation in thi~'fiel.cte ;their ~peec~hes hacl. ~no effect.:
t'~n the other`'hand, the ~"Reguiatic~n ~fo5 ``colonies'of c~arrective labor and.
priso~.s~~of the Ministry ~f'Interior; " a`dopted'in 195$, ?is"'a secret document,
The only reason why we know of its existence is that the Prosecutor general,
R. .~. Rudenko, mentioned it during his remarks at the ,supreme Soviet fn
I3ecernber 1958. The authors of the handbook do not seem: themselves to be ..
.aware of its provisions; at least they ,say, nothing abqut them.
Finally, .the 'concept of sources" of law" is so.:defiried as to include prac-
tically any adrnxxiistrative act: " T~.e 'Soviet La,vrr of Corre~.tive Labor attributes.
this characteristic nc~t."only,ta laws Sri access, ut'_a sc o ru"fe.s; decisions
and explanatory; notss`frorri the."Niinistra,e~s of Interior" and their cir.ganas, as
well as-~o orders, ~ingtructions, "and decisions ~of the lo`cail administrations
(pp. 55'-'S6~: ~At tie meeting, convened"in Moscow :n May 1957 to study t1~e
problems of. th~.s legal field,of study, ciiie of `the spe'alcers'was even heard to
say that'it"was not aclvisabTe to limit to,o greatly the police power, as" exec- "
cised h'~he camps; stxic,.t1}.le.gal. texts should riot deterncaine in a precise way
their i:nterna'l orgs,nization arid'furi~tionng, ~u.t only the !'fundafnental problems"
of their activity,' leaving all the rest to administrative dF~cisians (The Soviet
State.and,the Law, I-957, no, 12.) In ,its turn? -the handbook speci a.ef s tom. ~iat
e ac' lvi' y o e` institutions of".corrective lakior shou~.d not be weakened in
any way" 'gip; 5~)~
~'"rorri Carnp~' to Colonies
"~ ~'or tha~ ls:st few years, `the"spokesmen 'of Soviet power havebeen pro-
claiming from the roof-tops that corrective labor camps no Ionger exist,
that they have been replaced by corrective Labor co"JCon es.. This reform, if
it Were `reaf, 'would involve asignificant .iniprovemi~n" n the situation of ,the
prisoners. Colonies, in the pa'st'r~eser.vecl for those serving.sentenc.es of,
less than. thz?ee yeas, 'differed considerab~.y frofn the ca~.rips,. ,They were not
indeed a. hurizanita?rian instituti~oz~, but t'he rules there "werre less striet, the-
nzaterxs.l' conditions leis's painful, anti in general, these e'stabliehnzent~s were
note located n~distant areas. But if `one searches the" official de~laxa~.ons
for s?me' information on this t'ra~isfprrna.tion; one only finds. inc?nsistencies,
evasions, i~r st.~;texnents which are obviously false.. -
Ire ivlay`19"57; in the c~iurse' of their talk with Professor Ber~ari, the '
two h~.~li'off'icials stated fist the decsi:ou "to suppress..the camps ,had been .
taken by "the Council of'1Vlin,isters on '25 0"ctober 195b. ~T:lie handbook by
Gutevski also mentions that decision, but lets it be understood that the camps
continued nevertheless tc+ exist,; In.an axanbiguous passage.(pp., 80-81}, it --
fists first this' various -types "tif ihsta'llations in tli.e penal :sy,stem prior,to, the
promulgation ;af'th~'"P'rinciples "of penal legislation ;n~ :they 'USSR, ancl; the ~.
Federated Republics" a~cl of the ~"Regulation fo'r correct se labor colonies
and prisons, " The camps are included in this list. Bu.t the "Principles"
and the "Regulation" were. promulgated in December 195~~,. thus more than
two years after the c~ec'Sion of 25 C7ctober 1956. A. new list of penal estab-
lishments follows; introduced by a tortuous sentence which betrays great
embarrassment:
After it haci~ been- judged not useful in 1956 to maintain
corrective labor camps in the system of; places- for
deprivation of freedom, and also-after the.. promulgation
in 1958 of the Principles.of.penal legislation in t:h~ USSR
e.nd the federated Republics,. and the I2eguls.tion ~Eor
corrective labor colonies and prisons pf the Min:~~txy of
the Interior of the U$S~2. ,/"the following establislzrnents~
were to be included in the system of places for depri-"'
vation of freedom.
" ~ (Continued)
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The camps .did not .appear in this secand list. It does not by any means
follow that they disappeared after December 195&. The phrase employed,
"were.to be included" (stab; vlchQdi.t) i.s deliberately ambiguous.. ,.
This. is not the only place where 'Fhe Soviet Laws of Corrective Labor
tries to give t$e mpres.si.on that,the carnpe a een e' mina e w e
avoiding making.an explc.i.t statemenx:to that effect:. C>ther..evasive formulas
are used later.on: _ ..
The Princ~.ples,of penal legis.lati,gtt'in.the~US$R andthe federated
Republics, .;like,the R,egulati,on for .corrective labor colonies and
prisons, no longer mention the carri-ps of c.arrective labor.: That
is quite comprehensible. !~s is known, 'among the a:ctions
intended to lighten. the warl? ,~f the..organ,s of the Ministry. of .
": Int~riar,, ;it wa~.s judged not useful to prolong. the existence of the
camps of corrective labor, aired it was decided on :that occasion
-trS reorgani~ze~ thei-n in~ta colonies of .corrective .labor.. (pp. 82-83) ,
. Jnce again, "it was. jud,ge.d, " ''it vva~ decided, "etc.. were. used. to avoid
saying yes, the reorganization, of, the~.csm,ps.into colonies -had effectively
taken ;place, .or. no, i-t had not. Further, -the authors: ~do not think of .condemning
the institution itself.,.. At ,the most,,.-they admit that .there were .ip.fractions of
le gality''!a.s,s, resu.lt,.of the enexny.,activity 'of B.eria and. his accoxx~plices"
(p. 45). Their attempts gat justification extend to calling the camps "a sharp,
but humane arm of the Soviet State" (p. 83), which does riot at all suggest
that the. camps belong to.tl~e past... Perhap,s...the authr~rs the.mselvesdo not
know what to say; after. all; they are'dn~ly lawyers. .
There contradictions and. .ev~sians .a.r;e not.witho,.ut precedent, The hand-
book compares the supposed rre:~rganzaticin:of. the. ,camps into colonies to the
liquidation of 'the "insulators fir special employment, " set up.'in. 1g2,4.for
particularly dangerous;, political .prisoners,,,which. ceased.to, exist after. the
creation in. 1930 of,.the, cax:nps of~ corrective labor (g. 45). Now,: when :Soviet
sou-rtes speak of tlse..liquidation. of these insulators, it. should thereby be
understood that their inapartanco...greatly di.minished,. but.not that they
entirely disappeared.. ,I. -P. Serbet,' for instance, reports that the famous
prison of ,Vladimir.: has .a; sp~cis;l,, section w:h,ere the. detainees are submitted
to complete i~?lation: they ar,e put ,in; sol}tary confinement, never go out
into the,yaa~l, he,_ve practica'lly.no ,~ontac.twith the .guaxds,.,wha are .forbidden
to talk to them. '
Man here becomes,a seris.l;rium}ae~r. Tie does not have the right to ,
pronounce his ovvn name; when xi~eces.~s.ary, he sh.ows.the guard .a piece, of
cardboard with hie ;number on it., T"wo prisoners--a ?orm,er Gestapo official
and a h3`ungarian who hacl .formed-.?during the.war, in .his. country, part .of an
agent net running frorn..Lonclon--were transferred in Marc1: 1954 to an
ordinary cell a?tex having passed faur and six years respectively in this
special section; during the last,,year,, ~as a,specal favor, they.sh>~red the '
same. cell.. Serbet, who?met. them .sh.oxtly :after their .transfer; relates that
a.ccord.ing tei their account the isolation cells.were occupied at the begirzning_
of 19.53 by a dozen dcsctors implicated `in the "Doctors' Plot,." a.s_well as,a
,. ,,.
number of political or .religious personalities and certain high officials- (op:
cat, ph. 372-3i3d~).
Th's precedent may indicate 'the :path followed in the. evolution of the .
eanips of corrective labor. under the secret, dec'isi.on of, the Council ~of
Minister;;, of 25 October 1956... h;cre and now these camps lost a part of
their inmates by releases and th:e transfer-into the prisons of_those prisoners
considered most dangerous. If one completed these measures by the.. dis-
patching of the least dangerous to colonies of corrective la'oor, it might be
that the camps would one day come to lose their "official existence. " In the
USSR, there axe not a few things which have no official existence. One such
has been. mentioned already: political prisoners.
The Soviet Law of Corrective Labor provides valuable information,
althoug .very incorrrnp.ete, on a con itio'~ls under which the prisoners live.
Through this data, there can be discerned another way- of making the camps
disappear: by changing their name.
Detention Regimen
The generic term of "colony" is applied- to three types of penal estab-
lishments, which are distinguished from each ether by the regimen of detention
as well.as by the material situation of the detainees. There is a "general
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regimen, " a "mild regimen, " and a "severe`regimen, " ~.;nd the men under
these regimens cannot be mixed, each establishment bein;? devoted exclusively
to one o? them (op:. cit. , pp. 100, iO1, 179 -and 182). Fo:r each convict; the
regimen he will undergo is prescribed immediately after his conviction
{p, 181). The- degree. of "social .danger" which he presents, the "character
of the crime committed by hi.m, "age; sentence, previou:3 convictions, etc. ,
are taken into considerat;.on (p., 182)... ~'~fter serving a specified part of his
sentence, the prisoner may be transferred to a milder regimen .if his conduct
and work are considered satisfactory; a stricter regimen may be inflicted on
him as punishment (pp. 179 and .180).
The general regimen of the colonies (pp. 179-180 and 183-185) follows
the same rules that in the past were followed by the general regimen of the
camps of corrective labor (cf._ Paul Barton;- L'Institution concentxationnaire
en l~ussi.e. 1930-1957, Paris 1959, pp. 152-
The mild regimen, particularly :stresse-d by the handbook (pp: I80-18~),
is relatively recent. It was put in effect beginning in the Spring of 1954, as
a result of the strikes and. uprisings of the preceding year; on the decision of
the camp admi.nis.trati.on,. those prisoners who had completed a thiird of their
sentence and who were.. giving evidence of a satisfactory "reformation" were
eligible to-enjoy it..
On the subject of the severe regimen, The Soviet Law of Corrective
1.:abor, speaks very briefly:
The severe regimen is distinguished-from the general regimen
by an increase in the regvirernents which the detainees must
satisfy, and by. the. rigor of the. system of their detention. The
detainees. submitted to the severe .regimen are placed v.nder
the strictest conditions of isolation, which absolutely exclude
the-..possibility of living outside the- zone jarea of the colony f,
or of work a~zd movement without escort. _
The right to receive packages, letters, and visits is more limited
(p. 18.5). The, difference between the ..general regimen and the severe regimen
also affects the methods of surveillance and .the number of guards, -the quality
of quarters, commissaries, and dispensaries, the food, acid the nature of
work assigned (.pp. 181, 185, 224, .:21.6, 218, and l90). .A.ccording to~the
statements of a lawyer attending the meeting devoted to the law of corrective
labor in May 1957, the severe regimen entails "rigorous isolation, assign-
ment preferably to hard manual labor, along working da~yr, the reckoning of
working days. accord'ng to less favorable rules" {The Soviet State and the
Law, 1957, no. 12).
All this corresponds. vexy closely to the severe regimen long since
applied in the corrective labor camps to certain categories of forced labor,
especially to those convicted far "crimes .against the stat+~, "for "acts of
l~ar_+li.try, " ctr for such as "relatives of traitors to the fatT.zerland, " "socially
+~~.-~^ngerous elements, " or "these suspected of-espions.ge. " To realize trv.s,
ore has only. to compare .:the present rules for the severe regimen u-ith those
~f the severe regimen i.Yi the camps of .the- past, as d.escri.bed by a former
inspector: heavier guard and stricter internal control, movements under
f;ua.r3, even within the camp, limitations on the use of detainees in thei-r
;~recis.lty .and for technical and administrative tasks, assignment to non--
~~pw~vi~.li?od manual labor, special restriction-of or even +.csmplete depri-
v~Wtion of the rights to mail, visits, and packages, as well a.s to have money,
ma.nute supervision by the special section (secret police), outfit of inferior
e~~aality, more rigorous repression of violations of the xu~les cdrmrnitted in .
the camp (cf. L'Instt~~tion cc~ncentrati.onnaire en Russie, .1930-195?,
pp. 158-159).
The increase in the number of prisons and the introduction of forced
labor into them are the only significant changes which have been made to the
concentration system since -the reforms of 1954. It is trop that these reforms.,
decided on after the strikes in the camps, did not i.mrne-dia;~ely have their full
effect. After all, the reduction of the number of detainees was extended over
several years. The progressive gunning-out of manpower why ch resulted
probably brought to the forced laborers certain mat+erial'.improvements.
In this sense, one can speak of reforms after 1954. But at the same time,
in the course of the last few year: the authorities have- rescinded, at least
partially, certain earlier reforms. 'F~hzrs, the prisoner'sc pay, or rather the
portion of it remaining after var'ous deductions, is no ior-ger paid in cash; to
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enable the administration to control better the use of their funds by the
detainees, a system of depositu ~~-as introduced (The Soviet Law of Corrective
Labor, p. 186). Similarly, thn regulation accor~"in`~~"~`~w~i~ac txe ay o wore
CG'll:";?;^. f''4:?r Y710~?e t'.''.r.n a day n the muscular strength
of the prisoners. On arriving at the camp, the convicts pass before a medical
commission which classes them in four groups: ready for "work under
general conditions, "for Tight labor, for invalid labor, and finally, incapable
of work (ibid. , pp. 176 and 189). The only difference in comparison with the
past is that in the recent past there were five categories in place of four.
The organization of work, fox its part, is apparently quite as simple as
before the reforms. The evaluation of work accomplished continues to be
made solely in terms of "productive norms" (ibid. , p, 220). There is no
trace, in the official sources, of any consideration being given to the quality
of the pror~'U.Ct, Besides, the detainees continue to be divided into brigades whose
members remain a unit not only for work, but alaso at :meals in the quarters.
The brigadier, a prisoner. chosen by the administration, continues to exert
.over his men the same excessive power, a constant source of injustice
for as long as the camps of corrective Tabor have existed (ibid. , pp. 192 and
217 ).
The measures taken in the course of the years 1951 to 195 to stimulate
forced labor production were not developed thereafter, Some of them even
underwent serious limitation. In this regard, mention has already been made of
the limitations made on the reduction of sentences, as well as of the ending of
the payment of wages in cash.
8 (Continued)
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The transferral a~ the enterprises connected with the camps to .the con-
trol of the responsible economic ael.ministrations, begun in 1953, -has not
been widespread (cf, ibid. , pp'. 137-IE8). Now, .among all the actions taken in
tlie,last dozen years to increase ~".~:; efficiency of the exploitation of manpower
in the camps, .the decision to a~.~ign the economic enterprises to the control
of organizations independent of tz~e police might have. be~s:~ perhaps the must
fraitful. No doubt experience will Shaw that it is impassible to reconcile
economic efficiency and terror.
The reduction of the numbers d'eta'ined makes it difficult to exploit distant
regions, populated xnainl~'by convicts and former convicts. Much reliance
was placed, for assuring a continuity of effort, on the elimination of wastage.
Any check suffered in this field is all the mom serious since the campaigns
iz~;cn,deel to fill out the manpower of these concentration areas by an influx of
neon-convict worker ,have not achieved the desired results, in spite of the
a~~avantagPs pr;in~ised and the pressures bro~~ght to-bear (cf, L'Inatitution
concen*rationna.ire cn .Rusie. 19:0-1957, pp. 367-373). Hence t e necessity
to reac~va'~~`f~ie' ~SO7i~.y o -?"epo~3.u~ons which has been evidenced by the return
to administrative condemnation.
This procedure had been abandoned on 1 September 1953, faze date of the
dissolution of the famous "Special Board" of the Mirxistry of Interior (P_a_r~
Life, 1957, no. 4). Already in the course of the year 1957, the Federate
~blics one after the other adapted a new law authorizing groups of citizens,
district committees, and village soviets to banish to cornpu.lsory labor, for
periods from two to five years, "adult and physically fit adults" who have "a
parasitical and, antisocial mode of life.'" This procedure had in view, among
atliers, the peasants on the collective farms who do more work on their
allotments than on the kolkhoz ?i-?lds (cf. L'Institution concentrationnaire
en Russie. 1~3G-1957, pp. 379-381). A decree `'r.~ a ~r;reng~~~ening o he--
s r'-' g ~e a~g iais ris .~~iose-"who avoid socially useful work and who follow an anti-
social and parasitic way of life" was promulgated by-the Supreme Soviet of
the RSPSR on ~ May 1961. The persons referred to -- as well as those who
earn a living by means of their personal automobiles, or by exploiting the
land around their house or thei-~ allotment of land, or yet the workers who
'"u.ndermine labor discipline" -- may be sent far two to five years to specially
designated localities, and may be forced to work there. 'The sentence may
be levied by the district or City court, or against wage earners or collective
farmers, by the employees of an enterprise, of a factory, of an institution,
of an organization, of a collective farm, or of a collective farm brigade
(Official Journal of the Supreme Soviet of the 1tSFS~, 1961, no. 18).
On the other hand, numerous signs indicate that they have not succeeded--
to date in achieving the necessary condition far the perpetuation of the concen-
tration system: the destruction of that solidarity among the convicts and that
spirit of resistance which were .the source of the uprisings of 1953-195.
The creation of the councils of detainees, of the comrades' courts, and
the sections or brigades for the maintenance of public order does not by any
means indicate that rte hwavy los yes su.fere~l by tl~.e networks of stool-
p':geons at the handy-, of tlae secret orgar.izati~.~ns have been fill?d; one would,
on the cc~ntra;~y, be inclin.r.:d to see in t-~s att~.z~tion given py the ~:nal
administration to such organizations f`~i,s the councils, courts, etc.7` a sign
of their cheek.
Mrareover, the decree of 5 May 1961 on the extension of the application
of capital punishment indicates that terrorist acts sgainst the tools of the
administration recruited among the prisoners have not ended. By virtue of
this decree, ts~e szaYareme pena?ty henceforth threa.t~:ns, among others,
"multiple offwnders who are particularly dan~~arousa, and. ether persons
convicted of sP:ri.oa~s crimes who, in the places of penal d-,tention, terrorize
the prisoners .olio ~~ave taken the path of reform"; the same threat has been
made to those "who organize to this end criminal groups or who participate
actively in such groups'" that is, the founders and active members of the
secret organizations.
By analogy with the past, it is possible to deduce that the activity of the
convicts against the '"sheep" has not decreased: in the Spring of 1953, when
the activity of clandestine groups hit its stride and the great uprisings were
about to break out, the police attempted to protect their informants by circu-
lating in all the camps an order that each convict was supposed to sign and
which stated i:laat the murder of a prisoner by his fellow prisoners would be
punished by death (Joseph Schalmer: La Greve de Vorkauta, Paris 1954,
p. 157),
9 (Continued)
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Tt even appears, in the light of the decree of 5 A/iay 19;61,., that terroxist
actiaxi directed 'a gainst the stool`-~iigeoxis is not the only elaxiger the
autlioritie~ are cancerried about. . The ~texx prescribes, the application of
the death penalty tv "multple'``offez7ders... w1io... cornr~~it attacks against
the administration or who organize crixninal groups for this .purpose.... "
Tt:is impossible to be mistaken abc;ut i~: the decree.whicih amends recent
laws, ..promulgated in ~'ecer-nber 195$; is inteiided to re~~rese uprisings, in
the carx~ps and the prsoris.`~ `NO ci?ubt the pos'sibility.of such events must
have considerably increased since December 195$ for such amendments
to be judged necessary.
The ferocity of 'such-rules shows at the -earns tfine thedetermination
. of the .,oviet~ power to maintain: tY~e concent~atiom system, ,cost what it
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