The Gulags
Gulags existed before I came to power, but it is I who developped them to their full potential. You must be aware that they were not only prisons for petty criminals; they were a series of camps where I sent all people endangering the Soviet Union. These included politicians and critics who dared to contradict me and kulaks, prosperous peasants who owned land. You may ask why I would want to send them to camps when they had done nothing to anger me - and that is precicely where you are wrong. As you know, for the good of the Soviet Union I put in place collectivisation. This meant that all kulaks had to hand over their land and livestock to the collectives. But owning land had turned them into arrogant imbeciles: many of them prefered to burn their crops and slaughter their cattle rather than allowing the State to take them. When faced with this situation, I either had them shot - or sent to the camps.
In december 1934, one of my closest supporters, Sergei Kirov, was murdered by some of my opponents. I was so terribly upset that I launched the purges: hundreds of important officials were arrested and asked to confess to their crimes, before being sent to the camps. Most of them had been plotting against me with Trotsky, or with capitalist governments, to overthrow the Soviet State. Alot of them refused to confess, which meant that they sometimes had to be tortured a little. In any case, I knew full well that they were guilty, so I organised "show trials", where they were found guilty anyway and sent to camps. I also might have sent a few people from my own party, but that is understandable: they were getting too powerful, and the Soviet Union only has enough space for one leader.
Another good reason for having developped the Gulags is the fact that they were vital for increasing productivity. Indeed, the prison labour force varied between 4 and 13 million people. All of these prisonners contributed to making the Soviet Union a mightier State, by working in factories, digging canals, building roads...
In december 1934, one of my closest supporters, Sergei Kirov, was murdered by some of my opponents. I was so terribly upset that I launched the purges: hundreds of important officials were arrested and asked to confess to their crimes, before being sent to the camps. Most of them had been plotting against me with Trotsky, or with capitalist governments, to overthrow the Soviet State. Alot of them refused to confess, which meant that they sometimes had to be tortured a little. In any case, I knew full well that they were guilty, so I organised "show trials", where they were found guilty anyway and sent to camps. I also might have sent a few people from my own party, but that is understandable: they were getting too powerful, and the Soviet Union only has enough space for one leader.
Another good reason for having developped the Gulags is the fact that they were vital for increasing productivity. Indeed, the prison labour force varied between 4 and 13 million people. All of these prisonners contributed to making the Soviet Union a mightier State, by working in factories, digging canals, building roads...
Map of the camps in USSR
Life conditions
Extract from Evgeniya Ginzburg's memoirs
"'Look,' I said to Anastas, showing him the little house I had drawn. 'What's this?'
'Barrack,' the little boy replied quite distinctly.
With a few pencil strokes I put a cat alongside the house. But no-one recognised it, not even Anastas. They had never seen this rare animal. Then I drew a traditionnal rustic fence round the house.
'And what's this?'
'Zona!' Vera cried out delightedly."
In 1934 Ginzburg was accused of participating in a counter-revolutionary Trotskyist group and sent to many different camps; it is in 1949, when sent to Magadan to work in a kindergarten, that she began to write her memoirs in secret. If I had known at the time I would have sentenced her to 50 extra years.
'Barrack,' the little boy replied quite distinctly.
With a few pencil strokes I put a cat alongside the house. But no-one recognised it, not even Anastas. They had never seen this rare animal. Then I drew a traditionnal rustic fence round the house.
'And what's this?'
'Zona!' Vera cried out delightedly."
In 1934 Ginzburg was accused of participating in a counter-revolutionary Trotskyist group and sent to many different camps; it is in 1949, when sent to Magadan to work in a kindergarten, that she began to write her memoirs in secret. If I had known at the time I would have sentenced her to 50 extra years.
I deny every single word of this nonsense.
The only reason I put that babbling idiot's memoirs in my site is to show you how unreliable and over-sentimental the prisonners are. I will now show you some real factual evidence:
"The sun shines in their Stalinist fatherland. The nation is filled with love for the leaders and our wonderful children are happy just as the whole young country is happy. Here, in wide and warm beds, sleep the new citizens of our country. Having eaten, they sleep sweetly and are certainly dreaming happy dreams"
extract from the archives of the Gulag, talking about camp nurseries
"The sun shines in their Stalinist fatherland. The nation is filled with love for the leaders and our wonderful children are happy just as the whole young country is happy. Here, in wide and warm beds, sleep the new citizens of our country. Having eaten, they sleep sweetly and are certainly dreaming happy dreams"
extract from the archives of the Gulag, talking about camp nurseries