Gulag and List of political parties in Japan: Difference between pages

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'''Gulag''' (from the Russian ''ГУЛАГ: '''Г'''лавное '''У'''правление Исправительно— Трудовых '''Лаг'''ерей'', "'''G'''lavnoye '''U'''pravleniye Ispravitelno-trudovykh '''Lag'''erey", "The Chief Directorate of Corrective Labor Camps") was the branch of the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] internal police and security service (at various times named the [[Cheka]], [[OGPU]], [[NKVD]], [[MGB (USSR)|MGB]]/[[MVD]] or [[KGB]]) that operated [[Labor camp|forced labor]] and [[concentration camp]]s.

{{Politics of Japan}}

[[Image:Arch gulag cover.jpg|right]]

'''Political parties in Japan''' lists [[political party|political parties]] in [[politics of Japan|Japan]].

Exposed by [[Alexander Solzhenitsyn]]'s book ''[[The Gulag Archipelago]]'', the Gulag system was an example of some of the most brutal governmental crimes against its own citizens in modern history.

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== Terminology ==

==Major parties==

Some authors refer to all prisons and camps throughout Soviet history (1917&ndash;1991) as the ''Gulags''. Also, the term's modern usage is often notably unrelated to the USSR: for example, in such expressions as "[http://www.guardian.co.uk/korea/article/0,2763,1136483,00.html North Korea's gulag]", or even "[http://www.loompanics.com/Articles/America.html America's Private Gulag]". Note that the original Russian abbreviation, never in plural, described not a single camp, but the government institution in charge of the entire camp system.

*[[Liberal Democratic Party (Japan)|Liberal Democratic Party]] (LDP) ''Jiyū Minshū-tō'', or ''Jimin-tō'' 自民党([[Conservatism|conservative]], 1955-)

**The LDP is Japan's largest political party and the senior partner in the current governing coalition. Prime Minister [[Shinzo Abe]] is a member of this political party. It is a [[Conservatism|conservative]] party of the [[right-wing]] and is made up of various conservative and reformist factions. The LDP has been in power almost continuously since [[1955]], when it was formed as a merger of early postwar Japan's two conservative parties, the [[Liberal Party of Japan, Occupation]], and the [[Democrat Party of Japan, Occupation]]. The party is characterized as being very conservative on social and foreign matters.

*[[Democratic Party of Japan]] (DPJ) ''Minshūtō'' ([[social liberalism|social liberal]] 1998-)民主党

**The DPJ is Japan's second largest party and leads the opposition. It is a [[social liberalism|social liberal]] party. It is the largest opposition party, and was formed in the late 1990s as a result of the merger of several anti-LDP parties. Quite [[Liberalism|liberal]] and oppositional on key issues, as well as moderately [[social-democratic]]. It is against the Iraq war, and was led by Seiji Maehara until the end of March 2006, when he resigned due to a crisis involving a DPJ member (Hisayasu Nagata) making false allegations that the son of LDP Secretary-General ([[Tsutomu Takebe]]) illicitly received money from former [[Livedoor]] president [[Takafumi Horie]]. As of [[April 5]][[2006]], [[Naoto Kan]] and [[Ichiro Ozawa]] are running for DPJ party president.

*[[New Komeito]]* ''Komeitō'' ([[Conservatism|conservative]], [[theocratic]] [[Buddhist]], 1998-)公明党

**formerly [[Komeito (Former)]] ([[centrist]], [[theocratic]] [[Buddhist]], 1964-1998)

**formerly [[Komei Political Assembly]] ([[centrist]], [[theocratic]] [[Buddhist]], 1961-1964)

**The Shin Komeito Party (Japanese name for the New Komeito) is Japan's third largest party and the governing party's junior partner. It was formerly known as the [[Clean Government Political Assembly]] and the [[Komeito (Former)|Komeito]]. The party is a [[Conservatism|conservative]] party of the [[right-wing]], but it is also well supported by organizations like the [[Soka Gakkai]], a sect of [[Nichiren Buddhism]]. Therefore, it is also considered a [[theocratic]] Buddhist party. It has moderated its stance however. Because it is partners with the LDP, it is unopposed to the war in Iraq. It is now led by [[Takenori Kanzaki]].

*[[Japanese Communist Party]] (JCP) ''Nihon Kyōsan-tō'' (communist, 1922-)日本共産党

**The Japanese Communist Party is Japan's fourth largest party and the middle partner of the opposition coalition. It is a [[moderate]] [[communist]] party of the [[left-wing]]. Though it is communist, it is not against religion and does not want the [[emperor]] to step down. It supports multi-party democracy and does not advocate the imposition of radical change on Japanese society. It is considered pacifist and skeptical of the [[United States]].

*[[Social Democratic Party (Japan)]] (SDP) ''Shakai Minshūtō'', or ''Shamin-tō'' (socialist, 1996-)　社民党

** formerly [[Japan Socialist Party]] (JSP) ''Nihon Shakai-tō'' (socialist, 1945-1996)日本社会党

***a breakaway group formerly known as the [[Democratic Socialist Party (Japan)]], now defunct, (social-democratic, 1960-1996)

****in 1948 split up into the [[Rightist Socialist Party of Japan]], (moderate social-democratic, 1948-1955), and [[Leftist Socialist Party of Japan]], (extreme socialist, 1948-1955), in 1955, reunified into JSP.

**The Social Democrat Party of Japan is Japan's fifth largest party and the junior partner in the opposition coalition. It is a [[moderate]] [[social-democratic]] party of the [[left-wing]]. It is seen more as a [[moderate]] social-democratic, and [[populist]] party rather than a [[revolutionary]] [[socialist]] party. It grew out of the [[Japan Socialist Party]] and the [[Democratic Socialist Party (Japan)]] It is opposed to the war in Iraq.

== Minor parties==

A colloquial name for a Soviet Gulag inmate was "zeka", "zek". In [[Russian language]], "inmate", "incarcerated" is "&#1079;&#1072;&#1082;&#1083;&#1102;&#1095;&#1105;&#1085;&#1085;&#1099;&#1081;", ''zaklyuchonny'', usually abbreviated to '&#1079;/&#1082;' in paperwork, pronounced as '&#1079;&#1101;&#1082;&#1072;' (zeh-KA), gradually transformed into '&#1079;&#1101;&#1082;' and to '&#1079;&#1077;&#1082;'. The word is still in colloquial use, irrelevant to labor camps. '&#1079;/&#1082;' initially was an acronym standing for "&#1079;&#1072;&#1082;&#1083;&#1102;&#1095;&#1077;&#1085;&#1085;&#1099;&#1081; &#1082;&#1072;&#1085;&#1072;&#1083;&#1086;&#1089;&#1090;&#1088;&#1086;&#1080;&#1090;&#1077;&#1083;&#1100;", "'''z'''aklyuchonny '''k'''analostroitel'" (incarcerated canal-builder), originating to the [[Volga-Don Canal]] slave workforce members. Later the term was [[backronym|backronymed]] to mean just "zaklyuchonny".

*[[Liberal League]] ''Jiyu Rengo'' (liberal, 1994-)

**The Liberal League is a [[right-wing]] party in Japan, which, despite its name, is actually [[Conservatism|conservative]]. The Liberal League has 1 seat in the Diet.

*Other minor parties

**Japan has other minor parties with national support, mostly with [[communist]] and [[socialist]] ideologies, as well as a few [[nationalist]], [[reformist]], and far [[right-wing]] parties.

*Dissidents from the LDP formed the following parties in 2005 :

***[[People's New Party]] (PNP) ''Kokumin Shintō'' ([[Conservatism|conservative]], 2005-)

***[[New Party Nippon]] (NPN) ''Shintō Nippon'' (2005-)

***[[New Party Daichi]] (NPD) ''Shintō Daichi'' (2005-)

===Existing national parties represented in the Diet in the past===

== Variety ==

Current political parties that used to be in the Diet but aren't currently represented:

In addition to the most common category of camps that practiced hard physical labor and prisons of various sorts, other forms also existed.

* A unique form of Gulag camps called ''[[sharashka]]'' (&#1096;&#1072;&#1088;&#1072;&#1096;&#1082;&#1072;, ''the goofing-off place'') were in fact secret research laboratories, where the arrested and convicted scientists, some of them prominent, were anonymously developing new technologies, and also conducting basic research.

* ''[[Psikhushka]]'' (&#1087;&#1089;&#1080;&#1093;&#1091;&#1096;&#1082;&#1072;, ''the nut house''), the forced medical treatment in [[psychiatric imprisonment]] was used, in lieu of camps, to isolate and break down [[political prisoner]]s. This practice became much more common after the official dismantling of the Gulag system. See [[Vladimir Bukovsky]], [[Pyotr Grigorenko]].

* Special camps or ''zones'' for children (Gulag [[jargon]]: "&#1084;&#1072;&#1083;&#1086;&#1083;&#1077;&#1090;&#1082;&#1080;", ''maloletki'', ''underaged''), for disabled (in [[Spassk]]), and for mothers ("&#1084;&#1072;&#1084;&#1082;&#1080;", ''mamki'') with babies. These categories were considered as not producing any useful outcome and often subjected to more [[abuse]].

* Camps for "wifes of traitors of Motherland" (there was a special category of repressed: "traitor of Motherland family member" (&#1063;&#1057;&#1048;&#1056;, &#1095;&#1083;&#1077;&#1085; &#1089;&#1077;&#1084;&#1100;&#1080; &#1080;&#1079;&#1084;&#1077;&#1085;&#1085;&#1080;&#1082;&#1072; &#1056;&#1086;&#1076;&#1080;&#1085;&#1099;)).

* Under the supervision of [[Lavrenty Beria]] who headed both NKVD and the Soviet [[Atom bomb]] program until his demise in 1953, thousands of ''zeks'' were used to mine [[uranium]] [[ore]] and prepare test facilities on [[Novaya Zemlya]], [[Vaygach Island]], [[Semipalatinsk Test Site|Semipalatinsk]], among other sites. Reports exist of using Gulag prisoners in early [[nuclear test]]s (the first was conducted in Semipalatinsk in 1949) in decontaminating [[radioactive]] areas and [[nuclear submarine]]s.

* [[Dainiin Club]] ''Dainiin Kurabu'' ([[centrist]], 1983-)

== History ==

* [[New Socialist Party (Japan)|New Socialist Party]] ''Shin Shakai To'' (socialist, 1996-)

* [[Sports and Peace Party]] ''Supotsu Heiwa To'' (centrist, 1989-)

* ''[[Takeru]]'' (centrist, 2001-)

===Other parties===

After the [[Bolshevik revolution]] of [[1917]] [[Lenin]] announced that any "class enemy", even in the absence of evidence of any crime against the state, could not be trusted and should not be treated better than a criminal. The Gulag began as a reformed extension of earlier [[labor camp]]s ([[katorga]]s), operated in [[Siberia]] as a part of penal system in [[Imperial Russia]], and quickly overflowed with the ''[[enemy of the people|enemies of the people]]'', a designation used by the [[Bolshevik]] government for officials accused of corruption, sabotage and embezzlement, various political enemies and dissidents, as well as former aristocrats, businessmen and large land owners.

* [[Rainbow and Greens]] ''Niji to Midori'' (green)

* ''[[Ishin Seito Shimpu]]'' (far-right, 1995-)

* [[Women's Party]] ''Josei To'' (Feminist, 1993-)

* [[Internet Breakthrough Party of Japan]] (Led by Iron Chef Comentator and Judge and former LDP member Shinichiro Kurimoto)

===Regional parties===

[[Image:GPU.jpg|GPU poster|left|thumb|Soviet poster of the 1920s: The GPU strikes on the head the couter-revolutionary saboteur]]

Some of the main regional parties represented in regional assemblies:

* [[Kanagawa Network Movement]] ''Kanagawa Nettowaku Undo'' (Yokohama, socialist)

As an all-[[Soviet Union|Union]] institution, the Gulag was officially established on [[April 25]], [[1930]] as the "Ulag" by the [[OGPU]] order 130/63 in accordance with the [[Sovnarkom]] order 22 p. 248 dated [[April 7]], 1930, and was renamed into Gulag in November. The Gulag boomed during [[Joseph Stalin]]'s regime. Failed projects, bad harvests, accidents, poor production, and poor planning were routinely attributed to corruption and sabotage, and accused thieves and saboteurs on whom to put the blame were found ''en masse''. At the same time the rapidly increasing need for natural resources and a booming [[industrialization]] program fueled a demand for cheap labor. Denunciations, quotas for arrest, summary executions, and secret police activity became widespread. The widest opportunities for an easy, in most cases automatic, conviction of any person of a crime were provided by the [[Article 58]] of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR, which gave the state virtually unlimited power over its citizens.

* [[Seikatsusha Network]] ''Seikatsusha Nettowaku'' (Tokyo, socialist)

* [[Okinawa Social Mass Party]] ''Okinawa Shakai Taishu To'' (Okinawa, socialist)

*[[Green Niigata]], ''Midori Niigata'' (Niigata, communist)

**formerly [[Niigata New Party for People]], ''Shimin Shin-to Niigata'' (Niigata, communist)

==Defunct parties==

During the early and middle 1930s the Gulag began a "hardening" process. Meanwhile Stalin's power tightened and secret police activity expanded. Now under the harshest phase of [[totalitarianism]] the Soviet Union had ever known, the slightest sign of ''[[bourgeoisie]]'' trappings or dissent resulted in incarceration. The contemporary expression commonly attributed to Stalin was: "When the wood is chopped, splinters fly" ("&#1051;&#1077;&#1089; &#1088;&#1091;&#1073;&#1103;&#1090; &mdash; &#1097;&#1077;&#1087;&#1082;&#1080; &#1083;&#1077;&#1090;&#1103;&#1090;"). The Gulag population boomed: in 1931&ndash;32, Gulag had approximately 200,000 prisoners in the camps; in 1935 &mdash; approximately 1 million (including colonies), and after the [[Great Purge]] of 1937, nearly 2 million people. By contrast, the US prisoner laborer population (on chain gangs and in prisons) remained around a few hundred thousand prisoners.

* [[Association of Independents]] ''Mushozoku no Kai'' (centrist, 1999-2004)

During [[World War II]], Gulag populations declined sharply, owing to mass "releases" of hundreds of thousands of prisoners who were conscripted and sent directly to the front lines, but mainly due to a steep rise in mortality in [[1942]]&ndash;43. After WWII the number of inmates in prison camps and colonies rose again sharply and reached the number of approximately 2.5 million people by the early [[1950s]]. While some of these were deserters and war criminals, there were also countless repatriated Russian prisoners of war who had served with honor, but were universally suspected of fraternizing with and aiding the enemy. Large numbers of civilians were also sent there after WWII, especially the ones from the Russian territories which came under foreign occupation, for any suspicion of assisting Germans.

** formerly [[House of Representatives Club]] ''Sangiin Kurabu'' (centrist, 1998-1999)

*[[New Conservative Party]], (conservative, 2002-2003)

For years after WWII, a significant minority of the inmates were [[Germans]], [[Finn]]s, [[Pole]]s, [[Romanian]]s and other [[POW]]s and persons from the foreign countries "liberated" by the [[Red Army]]. It was not uncommon for the survivors of [[Nazi]] camps to be transported directly to the Soviet labor camps.

**formerly [[Conservative Party of Japan (2000)]], (conservative, 2000-2002)

*[[Liberal Party (1998)]], (liberal, 1998-2003)

*[[Democratic Party of Japan (1996)]], (liberal, 1996-1998)

*[[Good Governance Party]], (liberal, 1998)

*[[New Fraternity Party]], (liberal reformist, 1998)

*[[Sun Party]], (liberal reformist, 1996-1998)

*[[Democratic Reform Party]] (liberal reformist, 1993-1998)

* [[Midori no Kaigi]] ''Environmental Green Political Assembly'' ([[ecologist]] [[Conservatism|conservative]] [[reformist]], 2002-2004)

**formerly[[The Sakigake Party]], (conservative reformist-ecologist, 1998-2002)

**formerly [[New Party Sakigake]], (conservative reformist-ecologist, 1993-1998)

*[[New Peace Party]], (conservative, 1997-1998)

*[[Japan New Party]], (liberal, 1993-1996)

*[[Japan Renewal Party]], (liberal, 1993-1994)

*[[New Frontier Party]], (socialist/liberal, 1994-1997)

*[[Democratic Socialist Party (Japan)]], (social-democratic, 1960-1994 - broke off from JSP)

*[[Democratic Party of Japan, Occupation]], (agrarian conservative, 1945-1955)

*[[Liberal Party of Japan, Occupation]], (conservative, 1945-1955)

*[[Great Achievement Association]], (conservative nationalist, 1889-1909)

**formerly [[Conservative Party of Japan (1880)]]

*[[Constitutional Liberal Party (Japan)]], (liberal, 1882-1931)

*[[Constitutional Progressive Party]], (moderate liberal, 1882-1934)

*[[Liberal Party of Japan (1881)]], (liberal, 1881)

**formerly [[Aikoku Koto|Aikokusha]], (liberal, 1872-1881)

*[[Liberalism in Japan]]

The [[Communist]] leadership continued to sponsor Gulag for a while after Stalin's death in March of [[1953]]. Large numbers of those convicted of common crimes were then freed in an [[amnesty]] program. The releases of [[political prisoners]] started in [[1954]] and became widespread, and also coupled with mass [[rehabilitation]]s, after [[Nikita Khrushchev]]'s denunciation of [[Stalinism]] in his [[Secret Speech]] at the 20th Congress of the [[CPSU]] in February, [[1956]].

Japan has other minor parties not represented in Parliament (which have never been represented before), mostly [[reformist]], [[liberal]], [[nationalist]], [[socialist]], and [[communist]] parties.

Officially Gulag was terminated by the [[MVD]] order 20 of [[January 25]], [[1960]], as the MVD itself was officially eliminated by the order 44-16 of Presidium of Supreme Council of the USSR, to reemerge as the [[KGB]].

:''Ways to browse Wikipedia for political parties are by [[Index of political parties|name of the party]], [[List of political parties|country]], [[List of political parties by ideology|ideology]] or by [[List of political parties by ideology#Trans-national world groupings and parties|membership of internationals]] and through the category system: especially by [[:Category:Political parties by country|country]] and [[:category:political parties by ideology|ideology]].''

According to the [[Encyclopædia Britannica]] 2004 edition, "Western scholarly estimates of the total number of deaths in the Gulag in the period from 1918 to 1956 range from 15 to 30 million."

[[Category:Japan-related lists|Political parties]]

== Conditions ==

[[Category:Lists of political parties|Japan]]

[[Category:Political parties in Japan| ]]

[[es:Partidos políticos de Japón]]

[[Image:Belomorkanal.png|left|thumb|250px|Prisoner labor at the construction of [[Belomorkanal]], 1931&mdash;1933]]

[[ja:日本の政党一覧]]

Extreme production [[quota]]s, brutality, hunger and harsh elements were major reasons for Gulag's high fatality rate, which was as high as 80% during the first months in many camps.

[[vi:Đảng phái Nhật Bản]]

Logging and mining were among the most common of activities, as well as the harshest. In a Gulag mine, one person's production quota might be as high as 29,000 pounds of ore per day. Failure to meet a quota resulted in a loss of vital rations, a cycle that usually had fatal consequences through a condition of being emaciated and devitalized, dubbed "dohodyaga" (&#1076;&#1086;&#1093;&#1086;&#1076;&#1103;&#1075;&#1072;).

Inmates were often forced to work in inhuman conditions. In spite of the brutal climate, they were almost never adequately clothed, fed, or given medical treatment, nor were they given any means to combat the lack of [[vitamin]]s that led to nutritional diseases such as [[scurvy]]. The nutritional value of basic daily food ration varied around 1200 [[calorie]]s, mainly from low-quality bread (distributed by weight and called "&#1087;&#1072;&#1081;&#1082;&#1072;", ''paika''). According to the [[World Health Organization]], the minimum requirement for a heavy laborer is in the range of 3100&ndash;3900 calories daily.

Administrators routinely stole from the camp stockpiles for personal gain, as well as to curry favor with superiors. As a result, inmates were forced to work even harder to make up the difference. Administrators and ''trusties'' (inmates assigned to perform the duties servicing the camp itself, such as cooks, bakers or stockmen, dubbed "pridurki") skimmed off the medicines, clothing and the most nutritious foodstuffs.

Some camps practiced culling: when prisoners lined up for work shift, the last one to show up would be shot as an example for others, or his or her food ration would be withdrawn for the day.

== Geography ==

[[Image:Vorkuta entrance Labor in the USSR is a matter of honor, glory, pride and heroism.jpg|right|thumb|280px|Vorkuta entrance circa early 1950s. The sign reads: "Labor in the USSR is a matter of honor, glory, pride and heroism". Compare with [[Arbeit macht frei]].]]

In the early days of Gulag the locations for the camps were chosen primarily for the ease of isolation of prisoners. Remote monasteries in particular were frequently reused as sites for new camps. The site on the [[Solovetsky Islands]] in the [[White Sea]] is one of the earliest and also most noteworthy, taking root soon after the Revoluton in [[1918]]. The [[colloquial]] name for the islands, "[[Solovki]]", entered the [[vernacular]] as a [[synonym]] for the labor camp in general. It was being presented to the world as an example of the new Soviet way of "re-education of [[class enemy|class enemies]]" and reintegration them through labor into the Soviet society. Initially the inmates, the significant part being Russian [[intelligentsia]], enjoyed relative freedom (within the natural confinment of the islands). Local newspapers and magazines were edited and even some scientific research was carried out (e.g., a local botanical garden was maintained, unfortunately lost completely). Eventually it turned into a regular Gulag camp; in fact some historians maintain that Solovki was a pilot camp of this type. See [[Solovki]] for more detail.

With the new emphasis on Gulag as the means of concentrating cheap labor, new camps were then constructed throughout the Soviet sphere of influence, wherever the economic task at hand dictated their existence (or was designed specifically to avail itself of them, such as [[White Sea-Baltic Canal|Belomorkanal]] or [[Baikal Amur Mainline]]), including facilities in big cities &mdash; parts of the famous [[Moscow Metro]] and the [[Moscow State University]] new campus were built by forced labor. Many more projects during the rapid industrialization of the [[1930s]], [[World War II|war-time]] and post-war periods were fulfilled on the backs of convicts, and the activity of Gulag camps spanned a wide cross-section of Soviet industry.

The majority of Gulag camps were positioned in extremely remote areas of north-eastern Siberia (the best known clusters are ''Sevvostlag'' (''The North-East Camps'') along [[Kolyma]] river and ''Norillag'' near [[Norilsk]]) and in the south-eastern parts of the Soviet Union, mainly in the [[steppe]]s of [[Kazakhstan]] (''Luglag'', ''Steplag'', ''Peschanlag''). These were vast and uninhabited regions with no roads (in fact, the construction of the roads themselves was assigned to the inmates of specialized railroad camps) or sources of food, but rich in minerals and other natural resources (such as timber). However, camps were generally spread throughout the entire [[Soviet Union]], including the European parts of [[Russia]], [[Belarus]], and the [[Ukraine]]. There were also several camps located outside of the Soviet Union, in [[Czechoslovakia]], [[Hungary]], [[Poland]] and [[Mongolia (country)|Mongolia]], which were under the direct control of the Gulag.

Not all camps were fortified; in fact some in Siberia were marked only by posts. Escape was deterred by the harsh elements, as well as tracking dogs that were assigned to each camp. While during the 1920s and 1930s native tribes often aided escapees, many of the tribes were victimized by escaped thieves. Tantalized by large rewards as well, they began aiding authorities in the capture of Gulag inmates. Camp guards were also given stern incentive to keep their inmates in line at all costs; if a prisoner escaped under a guard's watch, the guard would often be stripped of his uniform and become a Gulag inmate himself.

In some cases, teams of inmates were dropped to a new territory with a limited supply of resources and left to initiate a new camp or die. Sometimes it took a few attempts before the next wave of colonists could survive the elements.

The area along the [[Indigirka river]] was known as ''the Gulag inside the Gulag''. The [[Oymyakon]] (&#1054;&#1081;&#1084;&#1103;&#1082;&#1086;&#1085;) village there registered the record low temperature of &minus;71.2°C (&minus;96°F).

== Influence ==

=== Culture ===

The Gulag, by building upon a form of [[slavery|slave labor]], was a manifestation of the rise to power of an [[totalitarianism|totalitarian]] form of rule in the presence of war and economic depression. As it spanned nearly four decades of Soviet culture and affected millions of individuals, the impact of Gulag has been enormous.

It has become a major influence on contemporary Russian thinking, and an important part of modern Russian [[folklore]]. Many songs by the authors-performers (known as the [[Bard_(Soviet Union)|''bards'']]), most notably by [[Alexander Galich]] and [[Vladimir Vysotsky]], none of whom ever served time in the camps, describe life inside the Gulag.

The memoirs of [[Alexander Solzhenitsyn]], [[Varlam Shalamov]], [[Eugenia Ginzburg]], among others, became a symbol of defiance in Soviet society. The writings, particularly those of Solzhenitsyn, harshly chastised the Soviet people for their tolerance and apathy regarding Gulag, but at the same time provided a testament to the courage and resolve of those who were imprisoned.

See also [[samizdat]], [[dissident]], [[human rights]], [[Helsinki Accords]].

=== Life after term served ===

Persons who served a term in a camp or in a prison were restricted from taking a wide range of jobs. A concealment of a previous imprisonment was a triable offense. Persons served as "politicals" were of nuisance for "[[First Department]]s ("Pervyj Otdel", outlets of the [[secret police]] at all enterprises and institutions), because former "politicals" had to be monitored.

Many released from camps were restricted from [[101 km|settling in larger cities]].

When the most part of the term was served a well-behaved person could be released for "free settlement" ("volnoye poseleniye") outside the confinement of the camp. They were known as "free settlers" ("volnoposelentsy"). After serving long terms, many people had lost their former job skills and social contacts. Therefore upon final release many of them voluntarily decided to become (or stay) "free settlers" as well. This decision was also influenced by the knowledge about the restrictions for them everywhere else. When a lot of the formerly released prisoners were re-seized during the wave of arrests that began in [[1947]], this happened much more often to those who had chosen to move back to their home town proximity rather than those who remained around the camps as the free settlers.

== People ==

[[Naftaly Frenkel]], a ''Chekist'' arrested in [[1927]] and sent to [[Solovki]], proposed to tie inmates' hot food ration to their rate of production. His ruthless ideas on efficient exploitation of prisoner labor advanced him in the hierarchy and after personal meeting with Stalin he was appointed the Chief of the construction of Belomorkanal, later headed the Baikal Amur Mainline railway construction, was promoted to the rank of the NKVD General and awarded the honorary title of [[Hero of Socialist Labor]].

== Latest developments ==

Anne Applebaum's monograph (see below) describes the releases of political prisoners from the camps as late as 1987. In November 1991 the new Russian parliament, the [[Duma]], passed the "Declaration of Rights and Freedoms of the Individual" which guaranteed, among other liberties, the freedom to disagree with the government.

== References ==

*ISBN 0767900561 [[Anne Applebaum]], <cite>Gulag: A History</cite>, Broadway Books, 2003, hardcover, 720 pages

*ISBN 0060803320 [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn|Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn]], <cite>The Gulag Archipelago</cite>, Harper & Row, 660 pp.

*ISBN 0060803452 [[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn|Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitsyn]], <cite>The Gulag Archipelago</cite>: Two, Harper & Row, 712 pp.

*[http://lib.ru/PROZA/SOLZHENICYN/ Solzhenitsyn's], [http://lib.ru/PROZA/SHALAMOW/ Shalamov's], [http://lib.ru/PROZA/GINZBURG_E/ Ginzburg's] works at Lib.ru (in original Russian)

*Martin Amis, <cite>Koba the Dread</cite>

== Related articles ==

*[[Memorial (society)|Memorial]]

*[[Concentration camp]]

*[[History of the Soviet Union]]

*[[List of Gulag camps]]

*[[Troika (triumvirate)]]

*[[Article 58 (RSFSR Penal Code)]]

*[[101 km]]

*[[Evil empire]]

*[[Social parasitism]]

*[[Vassily Grossman]]

== External links ==

* [http://www.memo.ru/history/NKVD/GULAG/maps/ussri.htm Map of Gulag]

* [http://www.nytimes.com/2003/06/11/books/11MCFA.html?th New York Times article of June 11, 2003, "Camps of Terror, Often Overlooked", by Michael Mcfaul]

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