INFORMATION ON KRASLAG

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A006800270008-3
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 6
• Document Creation Date: December 21, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 29, 2008
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: May 26, 1955
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
NO. OF PAGES
This material contains information affecting the National Defense of the United States within the meaning of the Espionage Laws, Title
18, U.S.C. Secs. 793 and 794, the transmission or revelation of which in any manner to an unauthorized person is prohibited by law.
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COUNT USSR(Krasnoyarsk Kray)
SUBJECT Information on Krasls,g
DATE OF INFO.
PLACE ACQUIRED
DATE ACQUIRED
REPORTI
DATE DISTR. 17'
s
REQUIREME
QElOOQ7
REFERENCE? 25X1
DEFINITIVE. APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
Organization and Location
1. 'Kraslag was the name of the directorate (upravleniye) which administered a
complex of approximately 70 forced labor camps east o!' Krasnoyarsk. Most
of the camps were located near the main railroad line from Moscow to
Vladivostok, between Kansk (N 56-13, E 95-40) and Ilanskiy (N 56=14, E 96-03).
The camps in the Krasnoyarsk region were started in'1934. Kraslag administe 'ed
all the camps in the region, but not those in the Tayshet (N 55-57, E 98-02)
area,, which belonged to a different. complex. Kraslag was subordinate to GULAG
in Moscow. The headquarters of the directorate was in Reshety (N56-10, E97-13),.
which was on the main railroad line about 60 miles east of Kansk. In 1952,
the chief of Kraslag was Lt. Col. Pavlovskiy (fnu). Kraslag was subdivided
into 27 sections called OLP (otdeleniye lagernogo punkta--camp section). Each
OLP consisted of about three or four sub-camps (lagpunkt), which were some-
times referred to as LO (lagernoye otdeleniye).. Some of these sub-camps did
specialized work, e.g., loading lumber or cutting railroad ties. Until 1950,
the address had been: Kraslag, MVD, USSR. After that date, the address was
changed to P.Ya. (pochtovyy..y-ashchik) 235/-. All camps in the region had
the same postal box number but a different number after the slash..
MFORA&UPON REPO
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X FOO QMAU OBI R POO_Qir-
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2. All the camps were organized along similar lines. The officers of the camp
were free- workers. They included the chief of the lagpunkt; a man in charge
of discipline (nachalnik rezhima); a chief of the cultural-education section
(nachalnik KVCh); a chief of the technical section, who planned and supervised
the work; and a chief of the medical section, who was head of the camp hospital.
In addition, there were a chief mechanic and a man in charge of the horses.
All the others were prisoners. Some of the prisoners alI `had regular functions.
For example, there was a man in charge of the rosters (naryadshchik), who
organized the work brigades and called the prisoners to work, and there were
some assistants to the doctor and some men in charge of supplies.
3. Most nationalities were represented among the prisoners in.Kraslag, although
there was a heavier contingent of Ukrainians,. Baits, and Hungarians.
4. Following are some details on ten OLPs under Kraslag:
a. OLP No. 1: The address was P. Ya. 235/1. One of"the sub-camps contained
only woman, who were employed in agricultural work. In 1950, there were
f.ive sub-camps in this OLP. The Fifth Lagpunkt had 700 inmates, 400 of
w1am were political prisoners condemned under Paragraph No.:58 gf the
Soviet Criminal Code. The remainder were criminals ('bitavik.Lsig7). A
%' lieutenant was in charge of this camp. This camp, like most of the others
in the region, was engaged in the lumber industry. In spring 1950, this
camp was closed, because it was 20 km from the main railroad line, and
the only means of-transport were sleds pulled on ice roads by tractors,
When the ice melted, the operations had to stop. In 1952, OLP No. 1
had only four separate sub-camps. The Fourth Lagpunkt had 800 prisoners,
all of whom were political prisoners, who were employed in felling trees
and operating a sawmill (leso-zavod). The camp specialized in making
railroad ties. The head of the camp was Captain Roaanov (fnu). In spring
1952, the inmates were transferred, since all the wood in the neighboring
area had been felled. They were replaced by criminal prisoners. At the
time of their transfer, the political prisoners were divided into two
groups; one group was sent to OLP No. 5, and the other was sent to the
Fourth Lagpunkt of OLP No. 11.
b. OLP No. 2: This OLP was engaged in railroad work until, 1951, when its
functions were changed. Many Lithuanians were then sent there, and they
started to work in the woods; The nickname for this OLP was Revu.shchiy
(roaring). Its address was P.Ya. 235/2.
c. OLP No. l+: Only women were employed at OLP No. 4.
It was nicknamed Sosnovka (Pine Rest .
d. OLP No. 5: This was the central administrative OLP of Kraslag. It was
lgcat6d near the main railroad line. The central repair depot of Kraslag
was near this camp. A very large transit camp (peresylka) was attached
to it. This OLP also had two other sub-sections. One of the sub-camps
was engaged in agricultural work. The wo*ers were engaged in building
a new camp, with a capacity for 2,000 prisoners, for agricultural workers
who were employed in various surrounding farms. Some of these farms had
up to 1,000 cows.
e. OLP No. 9: This was a penal camp (shtrafnoy OLP), it had three sub-camps
and two large sawmills,
f. OLP No. 10: This 012 specialized in loading lumber on railroad cars.
It had two large sawmills, one of which made railroad ties,
g. OLP No. 11. In thin camp there were mostly political prisoners. The
camp had a large sawmill and a railroad-tie factory' (shpalo-zavod), and
it had several sub-camps, which were employed in felling timber. The
Fourth Lagpunkt had 900 inmates and was commanded by Captain Ivanov (fnu).
The prisoners were damployed in building a road from their camp to OLP ho. 11.
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h. OLP No. 12: This was a penal camp.
factory, and timber-cutting sections.
It had a sawmill, a railroad-tie
i.
J.
OLP No. 15: This OLP had a railroad-
were engaged in felling timber near T
One OLP, located about 10 miles east
(military. construction). It d no a
d no foreigners.
tie factory. Its several sub-camps
abagashet (N 56-28, E 97-05).
of Reshety, was called Voyenstroy
ddress and em to ed only criminal
Drisoners an
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people employed in that camp wer
e never released.
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Work
5. All prisoners in Kraslag were employed in the lumber industry, cutting trees,
and processing wood. The distance from the camps to the lumbering areas was
usually 5 to 12 km. Generally, a section of woodland, about two by three
kilometers, was selected along the main railroad. The first operation'
consisted in clearing a strip about 25 a wide all around the logging area.
Guard tourers, connected by barbed wire, were erected on the outside of this
strip. The towers were manned in summer only. The area was further connected
by a second barbed wire fence. Next, a large section, about 50 x 20Q m,
was cleared near the railroad. This area was used for sorting, cutting, and
stacking the lumber. Near the sided of the enclosure, an electri The lower
station, a sawmill, and a barn for horses and oxen were erected. main
area of exploitation was cut in two by a road, and smaller trails to drag
the'logs were cut on each side. About four electric saws, operated by mo'ile
power units or connected through transformers with the power station, were
set up in the wooded area. The cutting of timber was started at the farther
end, and then the sections closer to the railroad were worked on. Such an
enclosure produced 900 to 1,000 cubic meters of lumber. (See attachment:
Typical Logging Area..)
6. There were a variety of trees, e. g., cedar (kedr), pines., asp (osi.na), and
birch. The logs,.after being trimmed, were draggedby horses or use.
to the sorting area and were piled up according rifle
better grades were reserved for aircraft construction, shipbuilding, or
stocks. Kraslag paid great attention to the selection of good wood for aviation
purposes. Trees chosen for that purpose were pines that had grown in high,
sandy ground. The parts selected for aviation had to be without knots, cracks,
or swellings; they could not be warped, and they had to be free of any other
defects. Only the outer part of the trunk was used for aviation wood. Some
round wood was used for bridge construction or for mine props; other pieces
were sawed up to be used as construction lumber or simply for fire wood.
7. The lumber was transported in various ways, depending on the season and the
distance to be covered. Inside the logging area, the trees were dragged by
horses and, occasionally, by oxen over roads made of logs, or they were
transported by the use of small mining railroads. In winter, ice slides were
used extensively. Wherever possible, the logging roads were built on a slope
to permit a single horse to do more work. Sometimes, tractors were used to
bring the logs to the sorting area. Camps that were farther from the
main railroad lipe used sleds. One sled could carry 17 or 18 cubic meters;
often 10 to 15 such sleds were tied together and pulled by a tractor. From
the depots, the lumber was moved only by railroad or by floatage down the
Yenisey''RiTer.1
Equipment
8. Until 1949, the timber was cut by hand. Two kinds of saws were used, cross-
cut (poperechnaya eila) and rip (luchkovaya eila) saws. Toward the end of
1949, two kinds of electrical saws appeared. The first type was called.Vakop
and weighed 22.5 kg. The blades came in two lengths, 50 and 75 cm. Two men
were needed to operate this saw. The second'type was called K-5. It weighed
9.2 kg and had a three-phase, high-frequency motor. This saw was more power-
ful than the Vakop and was used more in construction work. The current for
the Vakop saws came from the power station by means of high-voltage lines arLLd
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cars. Tractors were used to drag and Transport the lumber. The KT-12 01-RC or
nn,?rated on arae6churka (charcoal), and the GTZ tractor burned d iesel oil:
transformers. The K-5 saws were usually supplied with power from mobile
electric power stations. Most of the power stations were of foreign make,
either German or Finnish. There were frequent interruptions in the work,
usually because of power shortage.
All the camps in Kraslag had various kinds of portable engines (lokomobilnyye
dvigateli). There were special dt?irices to load logs on trucks or on railroad
t
who were serving short terms (malenkiy erok) and who were not considered
dangerous.
tractors were in poor condition, partly because they were also used to drive
the saws Sometimes the care of the engines was entrusted to foreigners,
Production
Production norms depended on the type of work done and. on the kind of wood
that was involved. These norms were approximately as follows:
a. The ordinary norm for sawing wood with an electrical saw was three cubic
meters per man per day. If a man worked with a horse, his norm was ten
cubic meters.
b. For trimming ranches, the norm for pine trees was 25 FM and for deciduous
trees, 22 FM. For asp the norm was about 30 FM, and for birch it was
20 FM. Branches were collected in piles and burned.
c. The norm for loaders (navalshchik) was 12.5 FM. This work included loading
and sorting lumber, and the norm applied when the distance to be covered
was 50 a. A loader, his helper, and the man who cleared the snow together
had to move about 120 FM. The moving of logs depended on the particular
kind of log and on its thickness. For example, for logs used for aircraft
construction (avio-kryazh), the norm was 30 FM, but for fire wood, it was
80 FM.
d. The norm for transporting wood to the depots depended on the distance in-
volved, but generally it was not less than 10 FM.
e. The average norm per man for stacking wood was 15 FM. This norm also
depended on the kind of wood.
11. The camps wherepolitical prisoners worked almost always fulfilled their norms;
those where criminals worked seldom did, In general, Kraslag camps did not
..fulfill their norms. The norms for cutting and for stacking lumber were not
13.
fulfilled; and, therefore, the deliveries were not complete.
the yearly plan was not fulfilled, in the
lumber industry, the Five Year Plan would never be completely .
On the average, the Kraslag complex of camps shipped 300 carloads of lumber
products every 24 hours. The cars were standard Soviet freight cars (MPS-kiye
vagony). These shipments included round wood for bridge and electric power
station construction, wood for aircraft construction and shipbuilding, mine
props, rough-hewn logs, hoops made of birchwood, and ordinary firewood. In
almost every camp- t'hprp was a h which produced at least 500 railroad ties
every 24 hours. Camps
continuously received special orders for rifle stocks or aviation wo .
Timber Markings
its quality, thickness, and length. For example:
In the entire USSF?, the same system for marking ti*ber is used,. One mark is
put on the top cross-section of the trunk, and another is put at the lower
end. The mark at the top indicates the purpose for which the woods intended.,
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5.5
Meaning
Log intended for railroad ties (shpalnyy kryazh).
Thickness: 34 cm (the first digit is omitted),
Length of trunk: 5.5 M.
The mark put at the lower end indicates which unit prepared the lumber, the
number of the OLP, and the number of the sorter of wood (braker). The marker
Sorter No. 15.
used looks like a hammer. For example:
Mark Meaning
K Kraslag.
1 OLP No. 1
15
11. The various marks
Mark
Meaning '
were as follows
Wood intended 'for aircraft construction (avio-les),
first class.
PS 2 Wood intended for aircraft construction, second class.
PL - 1 Wood selected for ship deck building (palubnyy les),
first class.
PK - 1 Wood selected for railroad ties (shpalnik).
i,3 Selected duality for sawing wood.
P - 1 Sawing wood., first class.
K Mine prop wood (krelMzh),
SS Telephone pole (stoib svyazi).
Labor and Wages
15. Approximately 600 to 700 workers and 60 to 90 horses were employed in an
enclosure, depending on its size-and the amount of work to be done. The
working day lasted about 12 hours. There were seldom any days for rest, and
work went; on for 20 to 30 days without interruption. This was particularly
true in spring, when there were orders to make maximum use of the ice roads
before they melted. In summer, short-term contract workers were often hired
to help out in making railroad ties.
16. Until 11.150, prisoners received no pay, After that date, workers received
some alley, but mostly for overfulfilling their norms. The maximust possible r_a t
pay per month was 200 rubles, but only about 20 prisoners out of 1,000
ordinarily received that amount. Most prisoners received about 30 to 50
rubles per month.
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Every month, 240-
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250 rubles were withheld by the camp authorities for clothing, food, tax, and
a few other items. Fifteen percent went to the "freedom fund" to be given
to the particular prisoner when he was released. Once a year, the prisoners
were forced to contribute to the State Loan.
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Working and Living Conditions
17. Everywhere the same working conditions prevailed for both
Soviet citizens and foreigners, All were called fascists and enemies of
the people. Working conditions did not change after Stalin's death.
18. The food was always poor and insufficient. Foreigners received the same
amount of food as Soviet prisoners. Daily, the prisoners were fed a soup
consisting mostly of cabbage and water, a few potatoes, and no meat. Each
prisoner received about 500 grams of black bread daily. The camp baker
usually added about 70 percent of water to the flour, instead of the normal
50 percent. This made the bread very soggy at first, and then very hard
when it was stale. The baker sold the flour saved by this process for his
personal profit.
19.
Health conditions were generally bad,.
Miscellaneous Infor ation
20. Early in 1953, a lumber combine was being built under the direction of
Kraslag. It employed only free labor.
ilL
p nyy (saved),
Comment. Possibly th letter "P" represents the Russian word
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JComment.~ probable
Kan River, an eastern affluent of the Yen sey.
referring to the
2.I Comment. FM may be a measure of length, or it may be identical
to?a cubic meter.
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