MVD special camps of the

Gulag The Gulag, an acronym for , , "chief administration of the camps". The original name given to the system of camps controlled by the State Political Directorate, GPU was the Main Administration of Corrective Labor Camps (, )., name=, group= ...

(russian: Особые лагеря МВД, особлаги, ''osobye lagerya'', osoblags) was a system of special

labor camp A labor camp (or labour camp, see spelling differences) or work camp is a detention facility where inmates are forced to engage in penal labor as a form of punishment. Labor camps have many common aspects with slavery and with prisons (espec ...

s established addressing the February 21, 1948 decree 416—159сс of the

USSR Council of Ministers The Council of Ministers of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics ( rus, Совет министров СССР, r=Sovet Ministrov SSSR, p=sɐˈvʲet mʲɪˈnʲistrəf ɛsɛsɛˈsɛr; sometimes abbreviated to ''Sovmin'' or referred to as the '' ...

of February 28 decree 00219 of the Soviet Ministry of Internal Affairs exclusively for a "special contingent" of

political prisoner A political prisoner is someone imprisoned for their political activity. The political offense is not always the official reason for the prisoner's detention. There is no internationally recognized legal definition of the concept, although nu ...

s, convicted according to the more severe sub-articles of Article 58 (Enemies of people): treason, espionage, terrorism, etc., for various real political opponents, such as Trotskyites, "nationalists" (

Ukrainian nationalism Ukrainian nationalism refers to the promotion of the unity of Ukrainians as a people and it also refers to the promotion of the identity of Ukraine as a nation state. The nation building that arose as nationalism grew following the French ...

white émigré White Russian émigrés were Russians who emigrated from the territory of the former Russian Empire in the wake of the Russian Revolution (1917) and Russian Civil War (1917–1923), and who were in opposition to the revolutionary Bolshevik commun ...

, as well as for fabricated ones.

History

In 1954, after the death of

Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Ioseb Besarionis dze Jughashvili; – 5 March 1953) was a Georgian revolutionary and Soviet political leader who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until his death in 1953. He held power as General Secretar ...

, most of them were reorganized into regular corrective labor camps.Reference book ''Система исправительно-трудовых лагерей в СССР''
("The System of Corrective Labor Camps in the USSR") Initially, in February 1948 5 ''osoblag''s were established, nameless, numbered from 1 to 5. Later they were given codenames, accordingly, Mineralny Минеральный (

Minlag 200px, Political prisoners in Gulag eating lunch (on the left Lithuanian Pranas Ivanauskas) Minlag or Mineralny Camp Directorate (Минлаг, Минеральный лагерь, Особый лагерь № 1 (Special Camp no. 1), Особла ...

), Gorny Горный (

Gorlag Gorlag or Gorny Camp Directorate, Special Camp No. 2 (Горлаг — Горный лагерь, Особый лагерь No. 2, Особлаг No. 2) ) was an MVD special camp for political prisoners within the Gulag system of the Soviet Union. ...

), Dubravny Дубравный (

Dubravlag The Dubravny Camp, Special Camp No.3 (), commonly known as the Dubravlag (russian: Дубравлаг), was a Gulag labor camp of the Soviet Union located in Yavas, Mordovia from 1948 to 2005. The Dubravlag was founded as one of several Gulag s ...

), Stepnoy Степной ( Steplag) and Beregovoy Береговой ( Berlag). Russian political prisoner and writer Georgy Demidov notices that this naming was arbitrary, unlike regular Gulag camps, which were commonly named after geographical features or major occupation.Georgy Demidov, "Без бирки" ("Without Tag"") in: "Чудная планета" ("Fancy Planet"), Moscow, Возвращение, 2008, , p. 132. Later the following ''osoblags'' were created: Rechnoy Речной ( Rechlag, August 1948), Ozyorny Озерный ( Ozyorlag/

Ozerlag Ozerlag (Озерлаг) was an MVD special camp (''osoblag No. 7'', ''osoby lager No. 7'') in the Soviet GULAG labor camp system for political prisoners. It was established in 1948 near Taishet and included a chain of camp sites (''lagernye punkt ...

, December 1948, Песчаный ( Peschanlag), Луговой ( Luglag), Камышовый ( Kamyshlag), Дальний ( Dallag, Ekibastuz, distinguish from Dallag, Far East), and Водораздельный ( Vodorazdellag).

References

Camps of the Gulag 1940s in the Soviet Union {{USSR-stub

History

See also

References