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Vorkutlag

The Vorkuta Corrective Labor Camp, more commonly known as Vorkutlag, was a major GULAG labor camp in the Soviet Union located along the Vorkuta river in the Komi Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic from 1932 to 1962. The Vorkuta Gulag was one of the largest camps in the GULAG system with nearly 70,000 prisoners at its peak, and an estimated 2 million throughout its lifetime. Vorkutlag's prisoners included prisoners of war, political dissidents, enemies of the state and common criminals, the majority of whom were used as forced labor for the production of coal and coal mines. This coal production was of great importance to the defense of Leningrad in the Second World War.

Due to the camps especially cold environment and harsh working conditions, it was the destination for prisoners deemed as especially dangerous to the Soviet Government. These prisoners were often made a part of Vorkutlag's special camp, Rechlag. During the Second World War, many of these prisoners were also subjected to a regime of intense brutality borrowed from Imperial Russia known as Katorga. Rechlag, or "River Camp," was the site of a violent armed uprising in 1942. In 1953, Vorkutlag as a whole was the site of a widespread peaceful prisoner strike. Despite the region's particularly cold climate, the large size of the camp led to the rise of a town - Vorkuta - surrounding the camp. Vorkutlag was closed in 1962 during Nikita Kruschev's process of de-Stalinization.

History

Discovery of Coal and the Establishment of Vorkutlag

Vorkutlag was established to explore and exploit the mineral resources of the Northern Komi region. The initial expedition to the area began in July 1929, eventually garnering the attention of the highest Soviet leadership, including Stalin. In 1930 the geologist Georgy Chernov (1906–2009) discovered substantial coal fields by the river Vorkuta. Georgy Chernov's father, the geologist Alexander Chernov (1877–1963), promoted the development of the Pechora coal basin, which included the Vorkuta fields. In 1931, the Politburo approved the construction of three mines in the Vorkuta area, leading to the creation of the Ukhta-Pechora Trust in 1932. Although the economic significance of the camp was negligible during the 1930s, interest from Joseph Stalin and the Politburo signaled its potential importance.

In 1940, as the Soviet Union prepared for war, Vorkutlag's role expanded, with plans to make it a major source of coal for the northwestern part of the RSFSR. Ambitious production targets were set, intending to make Vorkuta the largest coal-producing area in European Russia. To achieve these goals, existing mines were to be rebuilt and expanded, new mines and factories were to be constructed, and a coal-fired electricity generating station was planned. Despite logistical challenges in transportation and development, Vorkutlag would become a crucial part of the Soviet economy.

The Armed Lesoreid Uprising of 1942

The Armed Lesoreid Uprising began on January 24th in the Lesoreid section of Vorkutlag, a remote logging based camp. The uprising involved over 100 prisoners and non-prisoners. Led by the non-prisoner chief of Lesoreid, Mark Andreevich Retiunin, the rebels aimed to capture the nearby town of Ust'-Usa, though their ultimate goal remains unclear. Retiunin and his group disarmed and overpowered the camp guards, then invited other prisoners to join the uprising. They acquired food, equipment, and clothing from the camp storehouses before heading towards Ust'-Usa.

The rebels successfully attacked the town's communication office, State Bank, NKVD office, and jail, freeing prisoners in the process. However, they were repelled at the airfield and faced a fierce battle at the local militia office. Reinforcements, including militarized guards from the nearby Polia-Kur'ia camp section, forced the rebels to retreat from Ust'-Usa.

Soviet Military Guard after the Suppression of the Leoserid Uprising

Forty-one rebels fled on sleds, attempting to reach Kozhva, the nearest station on the Northern Pechora Mainline. Along their journey, they acquired more supplies and weapons from various sources, including an arms convoy. Despite their efforts, the rebels realized they were being pursued and changed their course to head west down the Lyzha River.

Government forces, led by Deputy Narkom and Obkom Second Secretary Vazhnov, engaged in several encounters with the rebels, with casualties on both sides. The main group of rebels, led by Retiunin, was defeated on February 2nd, and several rebels chose to take their own lives instead of being captured. The last group of rebels was captured on March 4th. In total, 48 rebels were killed, and 8 were captured.

The Vorkuta Uprising of 1953

The Vorkutlag Uprising of 1953 was a significant event in the history of the Soviet Union's forced labor camps. The uprising took place between July 19th and August 1st, 1953, in the Vorkuta Gulag, specifically at Rechlag, a forced labor camp where prisoners were made to work in the region's coal mines. Following the death of Stalin, the Ministry of Coal took over administration of the camp. This resulted in a transitioning of a prisoner to non-prisoner labor force, which allowed for the Vorkutlag workers to make demands in this new less dangerous political environment.

The unrest began in late June and early July, with increasing incidents of violence and work refusals. On June 17th, a shift of miners refused to work, and by July 19th, the strike had begun, fueled by the arrival of 1,015 prisoners from Peschanlag, a coal mining camp.

The strike quickly spread through Rechlag, with prisoners from various camp sections joining in. By the end of July, 15,604 prisoners across six of seventeen camp sections were participating in the strike, representing 40% of the Rechlag population. The strike affected mines 7, 12, 14, 16, and the construction of TETs-2. The total number of inmates on strike reached 18,000.

The inmates initially demanded access to a state attorney and due justice, but their demands quickly became more political. They sought lower production targets, wages, and the right to write more than two letters a year. The camp administration initially took no forceful action against the inmates, only increasing perimeter guards. However, on July 26th, prisoners from camp section 3 stormed the maximum security punitive compound, freeing 77 inmates and prompting guards to fire on them, resulting in casualties.

State Attorney of the USSR, Roman Rudenko, Internal Troops Commander, Ivan Maslennikov, and other top officials from Moscow visited the mines to assess the situation. Concessions were made, including allowing inmates to write more letters and receive one visitor a year, but the inmates demanded more. On July 31st, camp chief Derevyanko began mass arrests of "saboteurs," prompting inmates to respond with barricades. On August 1st, Derevyanko ordered direct fire at the mob, resulting in the deaths of at least 53 workers and injuring 135. Many of the injured later died due to the lack of medical help. According to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, 66 prisoners were killed, including Latvian Catholic priest Jānis Mendriks.

The swift spread of the strike suggested a well-organized, yet secretive leadership made up of representatives from different nationalities. Orders and information were relayed through messengers, and the true leaders remained hidden. The administration's slow response and the lack of immediate instructions from higher authorities contributed to the strike's escalation.

Closing of Vorkutlag, 1962

The Vorkuta camp was liquidated by order of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs and eventually closed in 1962, the closure of GULAGS started when Nikita Khrushchev came into power, Khrushchev started a series of reforms known as De-Stalinization which caused the closure of most GULAGS. About 2 Million Prisoners had gone to Vorkutlag from 1932 until the closure in 1962, the amount of deaths in the camp were estimated to be 200,000. Most prisoners were released after the closure of Vorkuta but Large numbers of Soviet citizens who were former prisoners remained living in Vorkuta, either due to the restrictions on their settlement or their poor financial situation, or having nowhere to go. Memorial, a Russian human rights organization that focuses on recording and publicizing the human rights violations of the Soviet Union's totalitarianism, estimates that of the 40,000 people collecting state pensions in the Vorkuta area, 32,000 are former gulag inmates or their descendants. (This is unedited completely copied from the other Vorkutlag article)

Rechlag

Rechlag, the section of Vorkutlag reserved for prisoners regarded as particularly dangerous to the Soviet State, was intended to further dehumanize and punish these groups of prisoners. Rechlag prisoners were used exclusively for hard labor under armed guard, worked longer hours, and were forbidden from having sentences reduced. Despite the emphasis to keep separate common prisoners and those of Rechlag, Rechlag prisoners were often able to keep in contact with common prisoners, and for those assigned with city construction, with members of the town. Rechlag was so integrated with the common prisoners that by 1950, it is estimated that 70% of Rechlag prisoners were once prisoners of the greater Vorkutlag gulag. Prisoners of Rechlag were far less likely to be released than those of Vorkutlag, for example in 1953, 33.23% of prisoners were released from Vorkutlag. Alternatively, Rechlag prisoners were released at a rate of 2.8%.

Vorkutlag During the Second World War

Working Conditions

Working conditions during the second world war were especially brutal. Working hours were increased from eight to ten hours for non-prisoners, and from ten to twelve hours for prisoners. A nationwide lack of food because of compromised farmland and the mass diversion of food to the Red Army meant that feeding Gulag prisoners was not a high priority. Additionally, the Gulag system as a whole experienced a massive influx of Gulag prisoners throughout the war due to POWs and other dissidents being captured and sent to the Gulags. In 1943 and 1944, the majority of Vorkutlag prisoners lived on the cusp of starvation. The death rate of the Gulag system as a whole rose as well. In 1939 and 1940, the death rates were 38.3 per thousand prisoners, and 34.7 per thousand prisoners respectively. In 1941, this rose to 67.3/thousand, in 1942 to 175.8/thousand, and in 1943, 169.7/thousand.

Coal Production

Major-General Mikhail Mitrofanovich Mal'tsev

As a significant producer of coal, Vorkutlag played a major role in the Soviet Union's war economy, supplying the factories of the war machine. Because of Germany's initial strides in the war, the Soviet Union's major coal supplier, Ukraine. By the end of 1941, the Nazi army had occupied virtually all of the Ukraine, cutting Soviet coal production in half. From 1943, Vorkutlag's prisoner population exploded, as did the rate of coal extraction. On March 17th, 1943, the importance of Vorkutlag coal was underscored with the replacement of camp director Leonid Aleksandrovich Tarkhanov with Engineer-Colonel (and later Major-General) Mikhail Mitrofanovich Mal’tsev. Mal'tsev was personally selected by NKVD director Beria to oversee the camp’s production.

Mal'tsev utilized his military experience to drastically increase production. He increased working hours of both prisoners and non-prisoners, and to improve discipline, rewarded hard-working prisoners and punished their opposites. Typically, a reward for hard work would come in the form of an early release, while punishments were usually execution.

The growth of coal production in Vorkuta during Mal'tsev's tenure from 1943-47 was tremendous. Over this five-year period yearly coal output more than doubled. From 1940 to 1948, the year after Mal'tsev left Vorkuta, yearly coal production increased eighteen-fold. This is due not only to Mal'tsev's administration, but also to the large investment by the Soviet government into the camp.

Notable Inmates

Aleksei Iakovlevich Kapler

Alexey Kapler and a young Svetlana Alliluyeva

Aleksei, who was Vorkutlag's most well-known prisoner at the time was a well known screen-writer, writing the films "Lenin in October" and "Lenin in 1918." Aleksei was sent to Vorkutlag not as a political dissident or criminal, but because of his love affair with dictator Joeseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana, which concluded in 1943 when Kapler was sentenced to five years on account of anti-Soviet agitation.

Mal'tsev, impressed with Kapler, allowed him to work as the city photographer and live in relatively comfortable conditions, much better than those in the rest of Vorkutlag. Kapler lived and worked outside of the camp zone, and was allowed a flat from which he could come and go as he pleased.

Homer Harold Cox

Homer Harold Cox after being returned to American custody

Vorkutlag was not only the site of imprisonment for Soviets, but also American servicemen. American servicemen detained in Vorkuta were likely to be placed in facilities subordinate to Rechlag. One such prisoner was U.S. Army Private Homer Harold Cox. Cox, an American military Policeman in Berlin, was drugged and arrested in the Soviet Sector of East Berlin on September 6th, 1949. The Soviet Government returned Cox to U.S. custody in Berlin on December 29th, 1953 alongside U.S. Merchant Marine Leland Towers.

Six years after his release, in 1954 Cox died of pneumonia. Shortly after his death, Cox's fiancee made a statement to the press that “murder is the only explanation” for his death, which led to rumors of a KGB plot.