A lagpunkt (russian: Отдельный лагерный пункт, лагерный пункт, лагпункт), literally "camp point", may be translated as "subcamp" or "camp site" was a separate settlement subordinated to a major
Gulag forced labor camp. Lagpunkts were convenient to decrease the time and hassle of transport of inmates to remote job sites.
Jacques Rossi
Jacques Rossi (10 October 1909, Wrocław – 30 June 2004, Paris) was a Polish-French writer and polyglot. Rossi was best known for his books on the Gulag.
Early life
He was born as Franz Xaver Heyman and was the son of architect Martin (Marcin ...
, ''The Gulag Handbook'' At the same time this remoteness created difficulties for the delivery of food supplies, especially in winter.
[
]Anne Appelbaum
Anne Elizabeth Applebaum (born July 25, 1964) is an American journalist and historian. She has written extensively about the history of Communism and the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe.
She has worked at ''The Econ ...
in her '' Gulag: A History'' occasionally translates the term as "base camp", along with using the Russian term.Anne Appelbaum
Anne Elizabeth Applebaum (born July 25, 1964) is an American journalist and historian. She has written extensively about the history of Communism and the development of civil society in Central and Eastern Europe.
She has worked at ''The Econ ...
, '' Gulag: A History''
/ref>[Konstantin Bakharev]
''Rossiyskaya Gazeta
' (russian: Российская газета, lit. Russian Gazette) is a Russian newspaper published by the Government of Russia. The daily newspaper serves as the official government gazette of the Government of the Russian Federation, publishi ...
'', February 5, 2013 In general, lagpunkts were of varying sizes: from several dozen to several thousand inmates. Their lifetime also varied greatly: some existed from 1920s into 1980s (when were converted into prisons or colonies), while others lasted for a summer season only or, keeping the number, moved to another location.[
Anne Appelbaum remarks that most descriptions of Gulag geography report about 500 locations, but in fact there was much more than that: many major camps had from dozens to hundreds smaller sub-units, which are close to impossible to count.][
There were other terms for temporary job locations of labor camp: ''kolonna'' ("column", in reference of "worker columns' of a ]labor army
The notion of the Labor army (трудовая армия, трудармия) was introduced in Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Russia during the Russian Civil War in 1920. Initially the term was applied to regiments of Red ...
) a lagpunkt for road construction; ''komandirovka'' (work trip; modern translation of the term: business trip
Business travel is travel undertaken for work or business purposes, as opposed to other types of travel, such as for leisure purposes or regularly commuting between one's home and workplace. According to a survey, 88% small business owners e ...
); ''distantsiya'' ("distance"), for railroad construction camp detachments.[
]
References
{{reflist
Geography of Gulag