1. OMSUKCHAN LABOR CAMPS AND AREA CASTILLITE INDUSTRY 2. LABOR CAMPS IN THE POTMA AREA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80T00246A046100290001-8
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 5
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 28, 2010
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: December 29, 1958
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
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.
COUNTRY USSR (Magadan Oblast and Mordovskaya REPORT
DATE OF
INFO.
PLACE &
DATE ACQ.
7
ASSR)
1. Omsukchan Labor Camps and Area DATE DISTR. 29 December 1958
Castillite Industry (A?.., a?.?0 ~`u, ,.~A" C rp2 L t
Labor Camps in the Potma krea NO. PAGESI y4i Ed .ma c~ -? -
REFERENCES
Two reports concerning labor camps in the USSRI
At ac en is a fairly
generalize report ea ng wi e an camp and the nearby castillite
mines. An elementary memory sketch of the area is included.
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concerned primarily with the locaticns of the camps aid nearby inc>rustry
Attachment 2 is a very short report dealing with three camps in the Potma`
complex of labor camps. The report contains very little detail and is
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STATE X ARMY X NAVY X AIR
1 BI
IAEC
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FA
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C-O-N-F-I E-N-T-I-A-L
(See Xap AMB WIT 38-4
bind population of
sons the majority of
in this area were ei
^ilitary uniform f
54-02, E 42-53) and Novaya Potma (N 54-02, E 43-00).
ries N 501, the cam- 50X1-HUM
se thee towns tween 25,000 and 30,000 per-
were prison catnip adorers. Tye forced laborers
assigned to kolkhozy, lumber camps, or to a
Forced Labor Camp No. 3.
2. Forced Labor Camp No. 11 was located approximately 45 kilometers north of
etantielya Pcrbma, near the town of Door (N 54-30, E h2-1e8), on the rail-
road leading north from Stantsiya Patens. Sere approximately 8,000 in-
ternees worked in lumber coups in the area.
Forced Labor Camp No. 14
3. Approximately 4,500 forced laborers were interned in Forced Labor Camp
No. 14 which was located in the town of Otantsiya Potma.
Forced Labor Camp No. 6
4. Appacoxisately 3,500 male forced laborers and 9,000 female forced laborers
were interned at Forced Labor Camp No. 6 which was located near lblochnaya
$tantsiya (coordinates unavailable), between the towns of Btareya Potma
and araya Potma. Nast of these laborers were employed at a military
uniform factory in Staraya Potma where uniforms were produced for Soviet
Ate personnel from the rank of private to senior lieutenant. The matexdal
used, in manufacturing these uniform came from mills located in Ivanovo
(N 57-00, E 40-59).
forced laborers who were not a loved at the uniform factory were sent
to work at surrounding kolkhozy.
5.
LABQR CAMPS IN THE POTMA
Labor Cam No. 14, in Stantelya Potema (N 54-o6.. E 42-53)1.' lbrdovskaya
ASBR mere were three towns in this area with the name Patina: Stantslya
Labor Conditions
11 prisoners were guarded by KYD personnel while being
transported to and from work, at the place of work, and within the labor
cater acageouad. between 40 and 50 WD guards performed
roll call twice a day at Force or Can no. 14. When a prisoner did
not answer the roll, the entire group of prisoners was forced to reaain
stamping in place until the missing person was accounted for. In order
to complete the morning roll call before breakfast, the guards began the
attendance check at 0500 hours. Working hours at the lumber cm a and
at the kolkhozy were fl-M 0700 until 1900 hours, seven days a week
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Omsukchan Labor Camp and Area Castillite Industry
Omsukchan Labor Camp
1. The Omsukchan Labor Camp for non-political prisoners was located 20 km north of
the village of Qnsukchan (N60-05 E150-54). (See I sketch of 50X1-HUM
the area on page 4.) this camp was not known by any other
name or numerical designation. It was located in a valley surrounded by moun-
tains and extended over an area measuring 1 x 0.500 km. The camp had a popu-
lation of 2,000 plus about 150 male guards.
2. The buildings in the camp were one-story wooden huts
There were no restricted areas.
no water deposits or dams. Horses, laden with casks of water
from a nearby spring kept the camp supplied. Electricity was supplied by 50X1-HUM
generators located outside the camp;
There was no agriculture in the area; the-natives
lived miia]y from hunting and fishing.
4. The camp had a clinic with 40 or 50 beds. A disease called tsynga in which a
person lost all his teeth, was prevalent in this area during the months of
June, July, and August. The symptoms were black spots on the legs. This dis-
ease was combated with intravenous injections twice a week during one month.
Besides this the patients would drink a tea brewed from the leaves of the dwarf
pines.
5.
The labor camp had a lending library with all types of books. It also had a
movie which showed pictures on Sundays. No political meetings were held at the
camp.
6. The internees of the camp worked in castillite mines, the local castillite
processing plant, and in the neighboring coal mine.
Coal mine
7. Southeast of the labor camp was a small coal mine which employed approximately
300 prisoners. It supplied coal to the labor camp, the castillite processing
plant, and the village of Onsukehaa.
Castillite Mines and ProcessLJ& Plant
8. These nines were located approximately 800 meters northwest of the labor camp
and employed about 1,000 men who were engaged in mining a brown ore. This ore
contained a navy blue mineral called castillite (Kastelit) which shone in the
sun and was rumored to be a source of atomic energy.
9. These mines also contained a small amount of gold.
10. There were five mine levels, one above the other, which were connected internally.
11. An engineer supervised the work on each level and located the mineral with a
detector. He would then point out the place where the drills or compressed air
hamers were to be used.
12. The mine workers wore overalls and dust masks. They worked in two shifts; the
work norm for each shift was 120 750-kg cars of brown ore, but the normal yield
was 150 cars. They used regular mining machinery, mainly employing compressed
air hammers and drills. The prisoners were paid good salaries, some miners
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earning as much as 12,000 rubles a month. a Decauville operator earrij 3,000 rubles a month. In addition to his salary, each worker was paid50X1-H U M
8 rubles for every gram of navy blue mineral he found.
13. The ore extracted in the upper levels was sent to the bottom level to be loaded
in cars and shipped outside the mine where the brown ore was separated and sent
to the processing plant.
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14. The processing plant was located about two km southeast of the labor camp;
it employed from 600 to 700 prisoners. In this plant the ore was crushed,
washed, and the navy blue mineral extracted.
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15. The castillite was then packed in small bags and sent probably to Magadan 50X1-HUM
in a small bi-plane which landed in a flat area next to the plant
16. The village of Clmsukchan consisted of aimroximately 50 houses
the ar
vegetation was poor cause the climate was cold and the ground covered with
ice throughout the year. The warmer months of the midnight sun were from
June through August when it rained and snowed with temperatures varying from
15 to -5 degrees centigrade. Winter lasted from September through May, during
which time there was much snow and ice with strong winds and frequent blizzards.
During December, January, and February daylight lasted from 1030 to 1+30 hours
and temperatures varied from -65 to -15 degrees, with an average temperature
of .45 degrees-
17. The Owsukchan-Susuman hi way was under construction 50X1 -HU M
Connecting with this highway via small roads were the
(nsukehan Labor Camp, the coal mine, the castillite mines, and the castillite
processing plant.
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Sketch of the Omsukchan Area
iN
Legend
1. Castillite Mines
2. Work Camp
3. Coal Mine
4. Castillite Processing Plant
5. Unimproved Airfield
6. Settlement of Omaukohan
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