Gulag

spetslagerya: concentration camps set up by the Soviet Military Administration in occupied Germany after 1945

sploshnye nary: a long, unseparated wooden plank bed—a sleeping shelf—on which many prisoners slept at once

Stakhanovite: a worker or peasant who has overfulfilled the required work norm. Named after Aleksei Stakhanov, a miner who cut 102 tons of coal instead of the norm of seven in a single shift in August 1935

starosta: literally “elder.” In prison cells, camp barracks, and train cars, the starosta was responsible for keeping order

Stolypin wagon or Stolypinka: nickname for a railway car used for prisoner transport, in fact a modified passenger car. Named, unfairly, in honor of Pyotr Stolypin, Prime Minister of Czarist Russia from 1906 until his assassination in 1911

suki: literally “bitches.” Camp slang for criminal prisoners who collaborated with the authorities

taiga: northern Russian landscape, characterized by pine forests, wide rivers, open fields

Thaw: brief period of reform following Stalin’s death. Launched by Nikita Khrushchev’s speech to the Twentieth Party Congress in 1956, and effectively halted by his successor, Leonid Brezhnev, in 1964

tovarishch: “comrade.” A term of respect in the USSR

troika: three Soviet officials who sentenced prisoners in lieu of courts during periods of mass arrest, starting in 1937

trudosposobnost: work capability

tufta: in a camp, a method of cheating on work norms in order to receive a larger food ration

tundra: Arctic landscape, where the earth is permanently frozen. Only the surface melts briefly in summer, creating a swamp, a few shrubs and grasses, but no trees

udarnik: a worker or peasant who has overfulfilled the required work norm. After 1935, the term “Stakhanovite” was more common

urka: a professional criminal; also known as blatnoi or vor

vagonki: double-decker bunks in camp barracks, for four people

vakhta: the headquarters of the camp armed guard, stationed at the entrance into the camp compound

valenki: felt boots

Vlasovites: followers of General Vlasov, who fought with the Nazis against the Red Army during the Second World War

VOKhR: from voenizirovannaya okhrana, armed guard. The armed guards in a camp

vor: a professional criminal; also known as urka or blatnoi

Wehrmacht: Hitler’s military forces

zek: from z/k, an abbreviation for zaklyuchennyi, or prisoner

zemlyanka: a house or barracks built in a hole in the ground; an earth dugout

zona: a concentration camp. Literally, the area within the barbed wire

TEXT AND ILLUSTRATlON PERMISSIONS

Text

Unless otherwise indicated, all translations are the author’s own. Every effort has been made to find copyright holders. The author and publishers welcome any additions or corrections.

W.W. Norton: from “The Son Does Not Answer for the Father,” by Alexander Tvardovsky, translated by Vera Dunham; from “Children of the Cult,” by Andrei Voznesensky, tranlated by Vera Dunham; from “The Lower Camp,” by Elana Vladimirovca, translated by Vera Dunham; from “Stalin is Not Dead,” by Boris Chichibabin, translated by Vera Dunham; from An End to Silence: Uncensored Opinion in the Soviet Union from Roy Medvedev’s Underground Magazine Political Diary, edited by Stephen F. Cohen, translated by George Saunders. Copyright © 1982 by W.W. Norton and Company, Inc. Used by permission of W.W. Norton and Company, Inc.

Leonid Sitko: “I was a soldier, now I’m a convict” and “There were four roads,” from Tiazhest Sveta. Copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Leonid Sitko.

Polska Fundacja Kulturalna: “Willow Trees in Alma-Ata,” from Gułag Polskich Poetów, Copyright © 2001 by Polska Fundacja Kulturalna. Used by permission of Polska Fundacja Kulturalna. “Good-bye to the Camp,” from Gułag Polskich Poetów, Copyright © 2001 by Polska Fundacja Kulturalna. Used by permission of Polska Fundacja Kulturalna.

Vozvraschenie: “What Does It Mean—Exhaustion?” from Memoria by Nina Gagen-Torn, Copyright © 1994, Vozvraschenie. Used by permission of Vozvraschenie and Galina Gagen-Torn. “Even our wives didn’t feel sorry for us,” by Yuri Dombrovsky, from Menya Khoteli Ubit, Eti Suki, Copyright © 1997, Vozvraschenie. Used by permission of Vozvraschenie and Klara Dombrovskaya. “In the Prison-Camp Barracks,” by Anna Barkova, from Dodnes Tiagoteet, Copyright © Sovetskii Pisatel. Used by permission of Vozvraschenie.

Simeon Vilensky: “The Sound of a Distant Bell,” 1948. Used by permission of Simeon Vilensky.