FORCED LABOR CAMPS FOR POLITICAL PRISONERS IN THE MORDOVIAN ASSR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A002701140005-1
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 27
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 28, 2004
• Sequence Number: 5
• Publication Date: December 10, 1953
• Content Type: REPORT

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CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
COUNTRY USSR (Mordovian ASSR)
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SECRET
SUBJECT Forced Labor Camps for Political
Prisoners in the Mordovian ASSR
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This Document; contains information affecting the Na-
tional Defense of the United States, within the mean-
ing of Title 18, Sections 793 and 794, of the U.S. Code, as
amended. Its transmission or revelation of its contents
to or receipt by an unauthorized person is prohibited
by law. The reproduction of this form is prohibited.
REPORT NO.
DATE DISTR.
NO. OF PAGES
REQUIREMENT NO.
REFERENCES
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT $S TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
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GENL
1 o The political prisoner forced-labor camp system described in this report was
located in. the Mordovian ASSR, near the eastbound railroad line from foi3cow
to Ruzayevka (N 54-05, E 1424..56), on a spur running northward from the rail-,
road station of Potma (approximately N 51+?03, E 4.2.55 - see sketch on page 25 )
The camps were called the Temnikov Disciplinary Camps Reghl-m-rd
La,gery. but were popularly known by the inmates as sim.p.j,yy the. Mordovian. (`smpa
Mailing address of the camps was: Mordovskaya ASS?, sta,:c,.t.r.dya Potaa, Pose:lok
Yavas, p/o 385/; the 385/ was followed by the individual camp numbers which ran,
from one to 19.
2. I;n 1.951, up to 35,000 political prisoners, sentenced for periods of 10 to 2!=~
years under Article 58 of Soviet Penal Code, were incarcerated In these camps.
The camps were in existence before this time but contained both political
prisoners and irmlates sentenced for 'ordinary cries. As a, result of instru.c.tions
received from Moscow in the fall of 1918, all non-political prisoners were
removed from these camps. This separation process was continued. through 1.914.9)
when it was completed.
3. One of the early signs of the impending change of status of the Mordovian
camps was the arrival of MGB Lt. General. Sergeyernko and other. MGB officers
,
who took, over control of the camps from the aamnr khyana , a local guard which
seemed to be recruited in, part, if not wholly, from the loxal population. With
the arrival of the Mn., changes, all of them disadvantageous to the prisoners,
gradually began to take place.
14. According to veteran prisoners., there was a certain degree of laxness and
informality in the camps before 1948. The prisoners had strict work, norms to
fulfill and lived in the same over-crowded dirty bexracks,but they had a
number of privileges which seemed significant in contrast to what followed.
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Before 1918, the prisoners were paid a little br their work and they had
canteens (iay) where they could buy candies, cigarettes, a few news.-
papers, and occasionally some bacon or dried fish.. Priscner?s occasionally
were permitted to arrange concerts and. other stage perfox:man es. They wore
their own clothing and, if there were any orders segregating prisoners by
sex, they were not strictly enforced. At the end of a month during which
the camps overfulfilled their norms, festivities of a sort would take place
and the prisoners would receive an increased food ration, possibly even with
meat. Officials would make speeches congratulating the prisoners on their
work performance and songs would be sung. However, the most significant thing
about the pre-1948 camps was the ~`za,chye1", a system of &n'.reaaing one's
sentence by consistently_ fulfilling or overfulfilliug the wank norms. This
system varied from camp to camp. In some, extra food and pay accompanied the
decrease in sentenceD while in others, only one of these tenefits would be
given. These differences probably depended on whether the pa.r?ticular o-amps
earned profit through production or, when they were agricultural camps.,
ended up with food surpluses.
5. By 1949, all the above-mentioned privileges were din continued, from the canteen
to the "zach et". Prisoner mail privileges were largely withdrawn and made
subject to overfulfillment of norms. Fencing systems were made more secure
(see sketch on pa e 26) and orders, believed to have originated in Moscow, to
construct xb r. w solitary cells described later) arrived at, the camp. Other
orders completely segregated the male prisoners f:r?om. the female prisoners At
some time in. 1950, prison uniforms with numbers on their backs and left legs
were also introduced. Prisoners did not know the destination of the criminal
prisoners who were evacuated from the Mordovian camps.
6. Political prisoners arriving at the Mord,ovian camps duping 1949-50 were usually
old prisoners brought in from other camps east of the Urals, from camps in
areas around Rybinsk (N 58-05, E 38..50), Tashkent Cr A-19, E 69-20), Minsk
(N 53.5ii, E 27-33), Leningrad, Kazan IN 55-47, E 49-08), and Kuybyshev ( 53-12,
E 50-06), and from camps located in Latvia, Lithuania, former Poland, the Ukraine,
and other localities. Nearly all of the veteran prisoners who arrived at the
Mordovian camps were those arrested i:n the 1910?:, most of them after 1945.
7. Newly arrested personswere also shipped to the MoxdovIan camps in increased
numbers. In 1951, a group of children from 14 to 18 years old arrived there.
Most of them were children of Latvian, Lithu.a,n.ian, and. Ulxainian nationalities,
who had been sentenced by military tribunals to from. 10 to 2V years of work in
these camps. One of these youngsters was a 114.-year-old. I:r.kxai.-n,ian. boy who -was
sentenced bya military tribunal to 25 years forced labor plus 5 years loss of
rights. Most of these young people were assigned to camp Nos. 7, 15, and 17,
where they worked in woodworking shops making the "Rodin," radio cabinets.
8. Convoys of incoming and outgoing prisoners usually numbered from, 100 to 200
prisoners each, In 191+9 and 1950, these convoys came and went with regularity,
at least several times per week. Occasionally, in spring or autumn, convoys
numbering up to 500 prisoners would leave or arrive at the camps. These out-
going seasonal convoys were made up of strong-bodied.priaon.ers being shipped
to K',araganda for work in ore or coal mines. Incoming convoy of this type con.-
sisted of prisoners who had completed their work elsewhere or were being brought
in in large numbers because of seasonal requirements such as harvesting or
farming.
9. By nationality, Ukrainian and Lithuanian farmers constituted the largest
single group of'prisoners arriving at the Mordovian campas. Next in number
were Poles and Russians with smaller groups of Belorussians, Latvians,
Georgians, and Germans. Other nationalities encountered in the camps in
small numbers were: Hungarians, Rumanians, Austrians, Czechoslovaks, Esto ians,
Chinese, Uzbeks, Turks, Iranians, Frenchmen , Englishmen, and others. In late
191+9 or early 1950, several small groups of. Korean girls were brought to the
ceps, and,shortly thereafter, some young men, also of Korean nationality.
The number of Koreans, when compared to the total number of prisoners was
small, but their arrival was noticed by all the other prisoners because these
were the first Koreans that they had seen.
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10. Among the prisoners at the camp were many who claimed to have been partisans.
These men were usually in their 20?s or early 30?s but some as old as 50 were
encountered. The older 'men were not active partisans who fought against the
Communists but rather supporters who acted as contacts for the fighters, and who
gave them food or lodging in their homes. Most of the pa:rtisanl:_. camp from the
Ukraine, former Polish territory, or Lithuania. There were a few partisans from Latvia:.
11. Though they were reluctant to discuss their former activities, one could see that
these partisans were strong patriots. Partisans from Lithuania and former Poland.
explained that frequently they had the choice of enlisting in the Soviet Army, being
deported or arrested, or going into the forest from where they could work against.
the Communist regime. The greatest difficulties they encourtered in the forest
were getting food during winter and escaping the aut_h.orities. Some said that they
were actually relieved at being caught because they could then sleep through the
nights peacefully. The partisans also complained that they knew too little of what
was going on in their own countries or in the outside world when they were in hiding,
and that,therefore, they had no basis on which to formulate plans. They lived from
day to day, not knowing what lay ahead. These partisans felt they needed to belong
to an organization that was bigger and politically better led than their own little
groups in the forest; that they needed weapons, food, and knowledge on how to stay
alive until the time would come when they could really do something useful.
12. Ukrainian partisans spoke similarly but were more nationalistic than the others and.
felt that their arrests were incidents that could not affect the size or sweep of
the Ukrainian partisan movement. While the Poles and the Baits felt that their
nations could not liberate themselves without outside he:Lp,, the Ukrainians felt
that their partisan ranks would always exist and that with or without outside help,
one day the Ukraine would be a free and united nation.
13. Altogether, about 1,000 MGB troops were used to control the Mordovian camps. Out..,
siders were rigidly forbidden to enter the territory under their control: and: any
free citizens or free MGB employees living in the area were forbidden to leave the
area or to see outsiders without MGB permission. For any unofficial contact with,
the prisoners, or for any unauthorized absence from their barra,cks, the MiwB mere:
or employees could be sentenced to prison in these camps or to death. Investigations
of the camps could be carried out only through the Ministry in Moscow, and usually
in. the presence of the minister and General Se ^gey'enko or his deputy.
14. The number of prisoners in each camp, and the type of work in which they were
engaged between late 1948 and the spring of 1951 are shown below:
Camp
Number
Sex of
Prisoners
Occupation of Prisoners
No. of
Prisons ras
1
Female
Sewing
2,000
2
Male
Lumber - and clearing of land
for farming
1,500
3
Male
Carpentry
2,500
4
Male
Farming
10 00C)
5
Male
Carpentry, brick making
2,500
6
Female
Sewing
1,500
7
Male
Carpentry
30000
8
Male
Farming
1,500
9
Male & Female.
Farming and hospital
1,000
10
Female
Farming
1,000
11
Male
Central machine shops
2,000
12
Male
.Milling and f arming
1,000
13
Male
Farming
1,500
14
Dole
Sewing
2,500
15
Male
Lumbering and f arming
1,000
16
Male
Lumbering and f arming
11500
17
Male
Lumbering and farming
1,000
18
Male
Carpentry and locomotive
19
Male
Lumbering and t arming
1,500
Total (approximate)
31 500
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Central Offices ,and Personnel
15 a Prisoners of the Mordovian Camps believed that they were centrally administered
under the direction of Lt. General Sergeyenko (fnu) (see personalities an page 21),
an NUB officer who received his orders from Moseow. Sergeyenko had two other
25X1 generals as assistants. One of them was a coarse who had dark
hair and cruel eyes and face. There was a rumor among the prisoners that
he was to replace Sergeyenko. An MGB colonel was chief of discipline at the
camps. All administrative notices or instructions pertairi.ng to prisoners
posted at camp barrack buildings and camp factories irvariably bore the initials
or full name of the M. The lowest-ranking officers encountered in the camps
were captains, who appeared to direct the various offinan at the individual
camps. The MGB appeared to run. all the s ?ioua fun ption? 1 offices at the
individual camps with the exception of those corce:rned directly with ma iufactu??ing .
The central administration headquarterk was located in camp No. lla
16. General Sergeyenko wore a greenish uniform with two red stripes down the sides
25X1 of his trousers. hi.s shoulder boards
25X1 I Iwere red or gold. Be always wore: Moots, and in winter, a
brown fur coat s uba) . The prevailing uniform among carp o "fi.cials and.
25X1 guards at the camps was of greenish color, usually with geld. shoulder boards,
and blue visor hats with red bands. Also observed were come dark brown uniforsu.e
with white or silver shoulder boards. One official who wore such a, uniform,
was a visiting officer who was said to have been a State prosecutor. This
particular officer had rows of small stars on his shoulder boards.
17. Whereas the MGB administered and operated the camps tbanselves, the menu-
facturing plants at the camps, namely the sewing and. woodworking establish-
ments, were operated by the Ministry of Light Industry, ??,'SST:. Prison labor
was supplied to the plants by the I~PB camp administration. Administrative
and other free civilian personnel of a camp lived outride: of the camp in.
individual one-story houses built of logs and grouped, near the, camp. 'These
people also had a clubhouse and a store located in their area.
Individual Camps
18. Each individual camp was administered _independently of the ethers but was 'subordinate
to the central administration. The most important offices mod officials in
charge of the individual ,camps, from the prisoners standpoint were:
a. Camp C:h4.ef (Na, .ha.1 ni k T a.rmunk+a.) _ this officer generally looked after 'the
efficient productive operation of the camp and was responsible for the
camp and what took place within it. He saw to it that the camp offices
performed satisfactorily in order that the camp might meet its produ?tiori
quotas, that order and discipline was maintained., that raw materials
And other supplies were ordered and arrived on time and, in general,
that the camp functioned smoothly.
b. Deputy'Chief of Camp (Zamesttel) - in addition to being deputy to the
,catp chief, this officer was also in charge of the Camp Construction
and Repair Section ( ??n9 .vattrt~nnatre Crag:). The function of this
section was to maintain and erect camp buildings, maintain and build
camp roads, operate camp farms, and procure supplies for its building
and maintenance activities. In general, it was the direct function of
this section to see to it that the camp itself was in good operating
order. A Supply Office (Otdsl 9nabzhen.iva) was thought by the inmates
to be .a part of the Camp Construction and Repair. Section. It was concerned
with supplying the camp with food, clothing, tools, ar.d other supplies for
feeding,, clothing, and equipping the prisoners and camp administrative
personnel. Also related to the Camp Construction and Repair Section was
the Technical Section (Tekhnicheskiv Otdel) which, operated the camp power
ple.nt end. water supply tower and maintained and repaired camp
factory equipment, such as, tools, machines, and vehicles.
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As a rule, the Camp Construction and Repair S tior ar.d. all other cffiees
at a camp, except those charged with disciple ac and guarding of prisoners,
had a chief who was an NGP officer while the memhersr o;:L; his staff Who,
did the actual work were prisoners. Fxc:ept;i.nn.s to this rule:
were found in several of the technical officee; . For example, the r h.i.ef
electrician of the camp power plant, various chief r:2echani.cs, some depart-
anent heads at camp plants, and a few other c:ra;ft;amen we r.,,: non ..pri.sonerr
civilians.
c. Camp Commandant (Komeadant) this officer head d. the
rip Koraae.n.Iatura
He was not the head official of a camp but rather the c-?;:Ei.eer? it ?-
of domestic camp activities. The Commandant disciplining had. ~.dath.ira.. to do with gu~r..d-
prisoners. He was charged, rather, with enfox? .r...g
curfew hours, getting the prisoners fed and off to work on time,
that the camp grounds were kept in good order, that n.oti.oes were posted,
that all buildings were supplied with water and firewood and. that the: camp
rules were adhered to by all prisoners. One suc?ch rule forbid the pri.3nr;:ers
to start fires in barrack stoves- another forbid them. to sleep ou:tdr_a:x?s
to visit neighboring barracks.
d. Under the Commandant were the barrack starostas (elders) and the r .i.mal.n.iye.
(attendants), who are prisoner officials appointed by the 6ommandarJ,. " The
.tar +qsta maintained a log of all. prisoners under h.:t.- r.-ire and kept it
posted on the barrack wall,together with any other rules or r?egcal.ra.tir,:.ns that
came down from the camp administration. The log shoved the true ":,am-s of
the prisoners, the articles of the Penal. Code under whicthh they had been
sentenced, and the length of their terms starry sta; was the., i_r? .4;f-.,r .edi.axy
between the prisoners and the camp administration. Re wag respon:si.ble? fo?
the day-today conditions of a barracks building and the cor`dnu!t of the
prisoners quartered there. He mustered them out for x-1.1 calls, for work,
and had to account for absent prisoners.
e. Vn e (attendants) m there were two vniaa.al. arr. each barracks.
They were in constant attendance at the barracks, bringing in, water, fir?e-
wood, starting fires, bringing in the' k.ipya;t;o:k' (hot water flavored with
some grasses to represent tea), and presumably erat-,,.bins over prisone:n
belongJ.ngs. They were laughingly called the !servan:ts of 't;he prison.e:rs".
The vnima]?niy, ' had the advantages of having light; work. to do and of being in
a position to steal from the other prisoners. HF: was able to live bet,t,sr on
the prisoner food norm since he did not have to e-exert himself as di.d the
other prisoners assigned to actual labor,,
f. Chief of Discipline (Nachalnik Rezhima) - this officer was responsible for
guarding prisoners. and enforcing discipline within the, oo:tfine.s of a camp.
However, when prisoners left a. camp, for any reason whatever, they cane
25X1 ..' under the jurisdiction of another official for purposes of guarding and
disci line. this office.:r title
25X1 Chief of the Guard Nachalnik Ckhrbm ) , The Chief of Discipline
25X1 penalized prisoners for insubordination, operated. the ka,xtsex ` (solitaryconfinement cell), and maintained security within`, the cas
25X1 him a small number of He had under
guards called #na d.zi..ra;t;e~l a (super-visor soy of p:r?isan son *r?s),
who were usually MGB non-.commissioned officers. 'There, were approximately
12 of these guards in each camp. they carried out head courts before work
parties left and upon their returns ? afte:r the bt;atgj had lined. up
the men for this purpose; they made bed checks and sea;rches; periodically
inspected camp fences and earth strips for traces of 'tampering., during
both daylight and night hours; guarded the :k U and mazined 'the guard.-
2touse at the main gates where their main fun.ctio.a was to check prisoners
in and out of the camp. The ' na .i ra.tel i ' were o:ri. duty 214 hoursi, taking
turns for duty during night hours. Because the nadzir a e, 7?j worked. within
camp ground limits only, they were sometimes also called ' zorshchils.J Tzone
guards), This term also applied. to any prisoner t;rusti..F.x whom the ss, zjrpteli
used to perform menial tasks,.such as repairing fences, raking the
plowed strips, or assisting them in inspection work,
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Chief 'of Operations Section. (Operativnyy Upolnomcche:raa ) - this office r?
was usually an MGB captain who had two or more M B officers as assistants,
The Operations Section (Ooerativnaya.Chast) had in its possession invest-
igative files on the prisoners at the eanp~and It carried out investigations
dealing with alleged sabotage, rumors and other matters. Ordinary
stealing by prisoners, machinery breakdowns, or imperfect w>rft was sometimes,
gonsidered sabotage. One of the members of an Ope:rati oii.fs Section
was also the camp censor who censored all outgoing letters and, incoming letters and
Marc:els. To procure information, the Operations Sec!bore, operated net-
works of informers among prisoners and non-prisoners within each camp.
The prisoners assumed that all "starostas?"e vnirrialniv ' . camp firemen,
or any prisoners with preferred status were MGB informers acting for the
Operations Section. The MGB informers were called. se.ksot..s (se:1 etryy
sotradn.ik-Secret Collaborator),,which was a common term for informers,
but more commonly the prisoners refered to them as -stuk.F.t;c:h.' (a person -rho
knocks another down) or ' predazhnaya skura (betrayer -57.- It was difficult
for the MGB to recruit informers among the prisoners because the informers
were easily spotted when they received.favors for their u)operation with the
MGB. Also, the prisoners dealt harshly with any informer-! ur.d in their
midst.
he Special Section (Sretsehast), also called - this office sometimes had
no personnel other than a chief. It maintai.:da.r,, administrative file
on each prisoner, i.e., prisoner personnel files as distinguished from
prisoner investigation files,which were maintained by the Operations Se- ,,tion .
It probably also maintairredpersonnel reports, oniers,, production data,
statistics etc.
i . Cultural and Education Section (~Ch- Kulturall,:r,.r m' "'r>s~~vtatAe ln,ava Cheat)
this was the camp propaganda office. It s run by a chief who wras the. main
propaganda officer. Under the chief at each camp, factor;y, or maajor work
detail within a camp, v*s a.. morale officer whose :fauacctidn, it was to urge the
prisoners to constantly exert themselves aud9thu:s,,t,o "expiate" their sins
to the state. This morale officer was usually a freeman supervisor, a mech-
ani,c or other specialist who was assigned to a factory g.rqup or work detail.
As morale officer1he made his exhortations to prisoners during their
breaks 'for rest during working hours,- during meals, or. at other tipkee when
the prisoners were free from work.
J. Medical Section (Sanitarna Chast) - this section had a: free civilian
a.s chief 'and had one its staff pb rsie.ians and medical assistants picked
from among the prisoners. It was charged with providing first aid to
prisoners, treating light illnesses and looking after hygienic conditions
in the camp. A medical commission from the MGB central a,dmiinistration, for
the camps conducted general inspections and classified the prisoners according
t9 health.
It. Fire Department (P e. a khra a) - this department was rum by an MCB
officer wio had a crew of firemen consisting of prisoners and free men.
The department was equipped with a tuck, an hydraulic pumps and a hand
pump. Firemen made frequent inspections of camp buildings and constantly
observed barrack chimneya ' for signs of smoke during unauthorized hours.
If prisoners lit a fire during such hours, the firemen immediately put, it
out. Each barrack and factory building was required to have at hand a.
barrel filled with water and some sand to put, out small blazes.
I. Production Chief this official was found only at camps where manufacturing
establishments were located and was the manager of those establishments.
Other productive activities.auch as farming, lumberingor? construction
workrwere supervised and carried out by the camp Construction and Repair
Section. In such work, the Section sometimes had the assistance of a
Construction superintendent (Proreb), described below'. ,"'hose Mordovia,n
camps which was engaged in manufacturing, generally had only one industry
per camp. An exception to this was Camp No. 5,whi.ch was engaged in carpentry
25X1 and brickmaking. both of these establishments
came under the same production chief.
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m. Deputy Production Chief- this official managed the camp industries through
several department heads called shop chiefs or base chiefs. A woman
sometimes held down this position in the sewing establishments. In
sewing establishments, shop chiefs were in charge of the cutting
and sewing shops; the base chiefs were in charge of the raw material
receiving departments, the packing, shipping, and warehousing departments,
and a laboratory for inspecting raw materials for quality. The base
chiefs were also responsible for the production of designs and patterns.
Shop and base chiefs were : either prisoners or free men.
n. Chief of Technical Control Section (OTK-Otdel Tekhnichesko o Kontrola)
- this official was charged with.inspecting the.manu..actured products.
He was a free civilian but his crews who did the inspectii4g.we?e either
free civilians or prisoners. Where.both types of personnel were used,
prisoners did the preliminary inspecting and the free civilian made the
final one.
o. Construction Superintendent (P rorab) one of these officials was found
in each camp. His 'primary function was to advise on and supervise con-
struction activities at a camp, to approve plans and blueprints locally
and forward them to higher authorities for approval, And to oversee
the carrying out of construction orders from higher authorities. He
suggested progressive work methods and also acted as a camp efficiency
expert. In actual, practigp, the camp could not carry out any construction
activity, such as the erecting 'of new barracks buildings, on its own i.nit-
iative,and the approval of the rQra " was not sufficient authority. Any
plans or proposals had to be submitted to the main camp administration.
From there, the plans and proposals were probably sent on. tb Moscow, and
only if approved, usually after much correspondence over changes and various
construction materials to be used, could the work be done.
p. Chief Foreman (VooleNar' dchik) - as the word voin (free) in.diccates,
the chief foreman was a f e'r a man, usually an MCB officer Under the hie:
foreman were foremen (nar dchiki) who were prisoners. The function of
the chief foreman was to receive orders for work to be done from the
various camp administrative offices and to supervise the execution of these
orders by prisoner-foremen to whom he passed on the orders. Prisoner-
foremen were presumably, and occasionally iii fact, qualified in their
various specific work.
Prisoners were organized for work in brigades and crews. The brigade
consisted of 15-20 men headed by a brigade chief (briaadir). One or
several brigades were sent out to fulfill a given task. If several
brigades were sent out to do a job, they were headed by a crew foreman
(de=). Technical instructions on what was to be done and how were
given to the prismers by the job foreman (nar addchiik). Factory brigades
consisted of as many as 75 workers,as an assembly line ( nv r) was worked
by a single brigade. Such a brigade was run by a permanent master (master),
a technical foreman selected from among the prisoners because of his technical
qualifications. Except in factories, the brigade chief worked physically
along with the members of his brigade,in addition to maintaining a record,
of the percentage of normrfulfillment by the brigade members.. For this
additional work, the brigade chief was given an extra allotment of food.
In factories, the brigade chiefs tried to assure a supply of raw materials,
helped out during machinery breakdowns, brought the prisoners their bread
ration, and helped prisoners who were slow and,thus,brought down the production
rate for the entire brigade because he could only keep his position as long
as his brigade met the established work norms. The'"desvatniks, masters,
and other crew or job foremen did not perform physical labor,but,never-
theless,received extra food rations for the responsibility they carried.
Camp Security S stem
19. Camp guards- prisoners were guarded by a detachment of guards who were housed
outside the camp and who carried out all their guarding functions outside
the camp. They were commanded by an MOB officer called. the Chief of the
Guard (Nach.alnik Okhrany),who had about 50 MGB guards under him. The
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gua1were usually .referred to as convoy troops (etrelkl komy o a,3, sip ^e one of'
their main functions was to escort and guard prisoners to and from work, from.
camp to camp, or during movements of any kind. These guards also m n ed -they
guard towers and patrolled along the camp fence at a ight. Like the internal
guards, the adzixateli", the convoy guards wore, greeaiM1h. uniforms with red
shoulder boards and blue hats with visors and red..headb.a..rds. Individually
the convoy guards were referred to as citizen _riflem?ur ( dani n strel.^k).
They were armed with pistols ,grenades, automatic rifles, or submachine gyra,9
while the nadziratel2 and other internal camp officials were never ,rand while
on duty inside the camps. To control prisoner movements in and out of r.,,rq;itp,
there were two guard-rooms at the camp gate One of these gu.ardxoo a.s was inside
the camp and was manned by the na zi r .tte i the other was outside the gate and
was manned by the convoy guards; When prisoners left or entered the camp fcr
any purposes they were counted by both the convoy guards and the nad.a +_x ate .li .
Then the guards receiving the prisoners.si ned a rece.i_pt acknowledging .r?espon-
sibi.lity for them. when. either guar'iroem. failed
to account for all prisoners..
20. For escorting prisoners to and from work and guarding them, at work, convoy
guards were usually ,assigned at a ratio of three or four guards per 20 pri , oneere,
and one dog per each unit of three or four guards. When they reached the place
of work, the guards established limits beyond .which than prisoners buld not
move and indicated these limIts by posting "Forbidden lone" (Z2Lretnaya, Lnn9 )
signs. Prisoners were told that any one who violated these limits would, be
shot on the spot, and the prisoners knew that the guardi wou..ld.si.r.fr-c:teca,rry
out this threat, not because they were particularly cruel a individuals but
because,in the event of an escape, the guards were held responsible percona.ll.y
and collectively.
21. A contingent of guards doing .convoy duty was headed by a guard in charge called.
the convoy officer (xiacha.lnik konvova),who was responsible. for the en time, convoy
operation until the prisoners were returned to camp. In order to drive hoa-,
the point that escape was futile and could only end in death,, the convoy offi.c er
forewarned the prisoners in taking them over, that so much. as one step out of
ranks would. be regarded as an attempt to .escapee . The prisoners were vn r.?::.eGd, 'too
that their obedience to all guard :commands had. to be ecap..ete and instantaneous.
The prisoners soon learned what this last caution meant. While they were on
the march, a.command would suddenly ring .out for the prisoners to fal..l to the
ground, and almost immediately a machine gun or several started firing, spraying
bullets over the bodies of the prone men.. At a command, the prisoners fell where
they were, whether in mud or a pool of water, and there they remained until the
command to get.up ,was given.. This exercise and consequent live machi.vEgum fire
came without forewarning. On a typical mare>h to work of from. , to 5 M.:l.ome?te:rsA
the exercise was sometimes repeated two or three times, irrespective of the
weather. In fact, in bad weather these prone shooting drills .were likely to
occur more frequently than in good weather. The exercise was also repeated
during working hours. Convoy guards resorted to this dri.l.l, even more frequent.iy,
when new prisoners arrived in .camps, to show .the new arrivals what "discipline"
meant. Needless to say, the prisoners hugged the ground closely. Some new-
prisoners tried to show bravado by raising their heads prematurely but they soon
abandoned this practice after experiencing bullets flying about their ears. The
instinct for life among the prisoners was so strong, in spite of the privations
and humiliations they experienced,that no case was knowa at the camps of a
.prisoner rising from the ground to commit suicide by exposure to the machine gun fire,,
22. At least a few of the guards, as well as other officials at a camp, sympa.t:,.bi,ed
with the prisoners. An unmistakable look of sympathy could frequently be detected
in the eyes of the guards when they witnessed the an..i_mal.li.ke degradation ex-
perienced by the prisoners. The prisoners readily sensed where gruffness in an
official was real,or simply a cover for their real feelings. Some of the officials
or guards would.have liked to help the prisoners and tried. to do so by not being
unnecessarily harsh with them, and if they did not actually help the prisoners in,
direct ways, it was out of sheer self-protection and concern for the prisoners
themselves. Competition for better positions or for more food was so severe.,
that a ,"soft" official would quickly be denounced by an informer who wanted to
ingratiate himself, or by a subordinate who coveted the post for-himself. Thus,
an official who showed sympathy for the prisoners would only be replaced by a
new man. who would be deliberately cruel, largely for self-protection and to
demonstrate his fitness for the job.
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reward for this, they had access to any leavings. These volunteers
washed floors, bowls, tables, the huge looking pots, and. di.d. moil other kitchen
chores except the actual cooking of food, which was done by non-prisoner civilians
or permanent trusties. Ledvings were few .because potatoes were not peeled esd.,
when fish was cooked, everything went into the pot including the heats,. tails,
and viscera. Consequently, as reward for their additional work., the kitchen.
volunteers had to scrape the pots and even the bowls left by the other prisoners..
Pam e primers even resorted to drinking the water which had been used to.
wash the cooking pots,, In such cases, the prisoners' face- became red and
bloated,and they soon died. Kitchen volunteers were usually, iur.garians and
.Rumanians, w'hp were considered by the other priso:aers t-.,, be suffering far: hurrager? so
much as to be totally devoid of self control, will. power, or pride. Su.E'?h,
prisoners ,were also considered dangerous because offers of food might have
pere d. them to be one-time or permanent informers.
Prisoner C lothi.ng
36. In summer, the male prisoner were a dark gr ?ey cotton ,packet and trousers.
Black numbers on a white background were sewed on the left leg and shoulder
of the uniform, These numbers could not be removed without mutilating the
uniform as the cloth under the numbers was cut away before the numbers were put on.
Shoes were made of either leather or rubber soles and heels with uppers of an
oilcloth..like material. The shoes were laced and uniform. buttons were of wood.,
though it is usual in Soviet prisons for shoe laces, buttons, and belts to be
taken away from prisoners to thwart any suicide attempts. There was no Deed
to do this at the Mordovian Camps because the prisoners handled axes arid other
tools which would.have given themample opportunity to kill themselves.
37 . Winter uniform. of female. prisoners consisted of a dark grey, blue, or black
cotton quilt jacket (teloarevka) and a skirt of similia,r color. Either a cap
or scarf was issued for headgear. Their shoes were sirniliar to these i.s ued
to-tie men.and stockings were not issued. Women who worked in factories were,
issued skirts, while those who worked in forests were given trousers P el,t boots
were issued to male and female prisoners as were glovez,if they worked in forests
or had other outdoor tasks. Long jackets called ',O were available at
the camp but 'er?e not issued to the pri sore s .
38 Women were not issued garments for intimate needs, but tried. to improvise from.
scraps of cloth. they picked up in the sewing establishments. Since this was
forbidden, the authorities carried.out occasional sea:reher. . At such times, the
floors of barracks or workshops became littered with all sorts of forbidden
underwear as the women began discarding it in an effort to avoid being caught
red handed.
39. A prisoners's clothe had to last him from season to season. Both new and.
repaired uniforms were issued, new ones going first to the Stakh.anovitea, who
exceeded their work norms. There was always a scramble for the better clothes
when they were returned after the regular periodic disinfection.. Each
prisoner jealously protected and fought for his own,wh.ich he usually had. marked
with his awn name or could easily recognize by the design of patches on them.
Clothes were seldom stolen outright because prisoners usually slept in them,or
on them,by spreading them out on themattresses or rolling them into i pillow.
The prisoners were not likely to retain for long any bits of cloth they may have
saved for clothes repair as these were readily stolen or confiscated by camp
authorities. Prisoners were not allowed to possess pieces of cloth of any kind.
This was intended to discourage stealing from camp supply depots and camp sewing
establishments, and also to prevent prisoners from stealing each other's uniforms
and then tearing them up.into small pieces for the purpose of rt;pairing their
own. In addition, camp authorities interpreted the possession of cloth by
prisoners as an intent to mutilate or change the appearance of a uniform for
purposes of escape.
40 . Prisoners' clothes were quickly worn out and consequently most of them walked
around in little more than rags. When his clothes were so torn that they would
no longer stay on him, the prisoner stitched them with pieces of wire or attempted
to sew them together with a match or a sliver of wood for a needle. He obtained
the thread by pulling it out of his mattress bag or blanket, or out of a
healthier part of his clothes. Enterprising prisoners found suitable pieces
of wire, which they secretly fashioned into needles by rubbing them. down. to a
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point and then, with excruciating patience, scratching through a.needle hole
with a sharp piece of glass, stone, or other object. When desperately in need
of cloth for a patch, a.prisoner would simply tear off a piece of his blanket.
In such cases, it was very amusing for the other prisoners to see how a blanket
of one of their colleagues would grow shorter and shorter until it looked like
little more than a patch itself, and then to see bow the prisoner moved this
remnant of a blanket about himself in his sleeps rolling himself U to a little
knot in a vain effort to keep warm. In addition to clothing, /he prisoners
received an.issue of bedding consisting of one mattress and pi.llow,rctuffed
with shavingwor grass, and one blanket. Workers who axceedid their work norms
also received a bedsheet and a pillow case.
Prisoners' Quarters
41. Prisoners were quartered in two different types of log buts,which were chinked
with earth and moss a3 d:']iad roofs of clay tile or metal sheets ( see sketches on
page 26 ). The older_ type barracks. were more crowded ac.d had only two stoves,
while the new type was divided into four compartments, each with a .sapurate stove
and, in addition, had an ante room, a room for belongings and Norespend a
room for the " rrnf ma-ly ,y. and ' starosta,. The stoves were usually one and. one-half
to two meters square and were built of clay,but were sometixr ;s simply old. oil
drums converted into stoves. In either case, the stoves were fired during winter 11 by the `'vnim i" and were kept in use from about 0900 1200 hcu a, and from
1500 ? 1900 hours. A few ,cif the buildings had tables.
42.. The number of prisoners per barrack building varied from, 200 in the new type
huts to nearly 500 in the old. Each prisoner was alloted about two to three
cubic meters of space, but frequently less than that.. The prisoners normally
slept on double-deck beds with only 40-5o cm. between beds (see sketches on
page 26 ). The beds were easily broken down for piece:-metal is rrersior. into
hot water as a sanitary measure and, as a matter of fact 9 frequently fell apart
while the prisoners were sleeping in them. In such cases, the prisoners in the
lower berths were showered .with boards and bodies. Becaus the beds rocked so
easily they were called ' ab i T(ships) by the prisoners.
43 ? There were about 44 prisoners assigned to each conpe,rtme,r;it of the new type barracks
but this number was expanded.when necessary. When this took place, the spaces
between beds was utilized and prisoners were packed in so tight; that their
bodies resi?& on those of their neighbors. Prisoners had, individual grass-filled
mattresses but usually there was not enough room to spread them cut fully. At
times, there were so many prisoners in the barracks that the sleeping platforms
were overbrowded and many prisoners slept on the floors of building attics e
44 The old-type barracks had four or more windows while the new types had two or
three for each compartment,but none of these windows was ever opened. The
glass panes were held in place by tin strips instead of putty so some fresh
air would get into the. interior of the barracks on windy days. This was a boon
during warm.weather but a torture in winter.
45. Though not permitted to do so, the prisoners tried to sleep in their clothes
and to stack their shoes.by their beds. For this reason, and because of the
infrequent bathing opportunities, the air in the buildings was oppressively
heavy. Even if the barrack windows were opened and there were ventilating
facilities, conditions would improve little because the double-deck sleeping
platforms constitutelsuch formidable barriers to any free circulation of air.
To find relief, some prisoners tried to sleep outside in summer but they were
promptly chased back inside. The oppressiveness of the air in the buildings
was further complicated by the fact that: the prisoners usually had all their
earthly possessions with them in their beds or in their clothes, including their
bread rations. The result was that lice, bedbugs, and other vermin abounded.
To make matters worse, some prisoners because of sheer exhaustion, others
because of overcrowding, did not get away in time to use the outdoor toilets.
For washing purposes the ?`ynimalni:v", himself aprisoner, brought water in
from a common well. The sinks were primitive wooden troughs,to which only
about 10 to 15 prisoners could crowd at one time. Since the prisoners had no
soap, they could only rinse their faces and hands. Only 20 to 30 prisoners
in a barracks were able to take advantage of thi facilities, because the
11aimaliiy" rarely brought enough water in any case.
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50. There was only one central hospital (Tsentr ,fir Lazaryst) in. Temnikov (N 51...38,
E 43-13) to service all the camps of the Mordovian camp system, All seriously
ill prisoners were talon to it as :well as the bodies of deceased prisoners.
Autopsies were made of the bodies for scientific research. After dissection.,
the bodies were buxt in common graves, and wooden markers bearing the prisoners'
numbers were placed above them.
.51 .. Once or twice a year, prisoners at the Mordovian cars were inoculated. Prisoners
were not sure whether these were tetanus shots or whether they were for typhus.
Following the inoculations, some prisoners would become feverish and collapsed
while on their way to work in forests or at work benh:e..
52 .
53 .
Drinking water for the prisoners was usually boiled. The chief of the Saritery
Section made YOU checks to see that this was done. :e'er_onrel from this
section also made cursory inspections of camp kitchens. The kitchen,: and. mess,
halls were kept clean, but potatoes were thrown into pots kTwashed and with
dirt on.them,nor was other food ever washed..
Every ten days the prisoners had their clothes disinfected and could also bathe
in hot water, A.,single cake of poor quality soap was issued to each prisonero During
this sanitary processing, prisoner barbers removed hair fro: all parts of the
prisoners' bodies with clippers. Their faces were shaven with razors but this
was a .very painful process because no soap was used to soften the 1O-days growth
of beard.
54 . Although, at one time, an order was received requiring.the women to cut their
hair, the order was withdrawn after many and loud protests. Blame for the
order was thrust on two camp officials who were locked. up in isolation for a
few days for "sabotaging" the camp administration.
55 . Occasionally, some prisoners, more often women than men, became insane. This
was most likely to occur to a prisoner whose term of imprisonment was coming
to an end. There was a saying among the prisoners that "one survives ten years
and then can't survive the final ten days" .. With the end of his sentence in
sight, hope began to revive.in ,a prisoner, The longing for freedom became
a torture because the prisoner did riot know if his hopes would be frustrated
by orders from Moscow when his release was considerel there for ;pproval..
Frequently, terms were prolonged arbitrarily and. a, prisoner often did not know
until his last day of imprisonment whether he n3 to be released or not.
56 . When a, prisoner had completed his sentence and an extension to the sentence
had not arrived from Moscow, he was usually moved out of the camp.to the
Krasnoyarsk area, prisons by the a.dmixiistration in charge of so-called "transit
prisons", 4 nere he was kept indefinitely. Those who lo6tt their sanity were
immediately removed from the camp, presumably to the hospital, and,thereafter,
no one heaxcl what happen. to them. Among prisoners who lost their minde was
a 25-year old. Spaniard known as Alberto. Though he could speak no Russian,
prisoners gathered that Alberto lived in Spain until 1948, then either willingly
or by force, came to Leningrad or some other port on a Soviet ship, and was then
sent off to the Mordovian amps. He lost his mind because he cou,?. stand
the constant hunger,and was taken away to the hospital not to be heard from again.
Prisoner Mail
In theory, prisoners were permitted to receive letters without distinction.
gowever,,relatives of prisoners were not notified of a :prisoners' whereabouts,
so only Itmkhanovite prisoners who had correspondence privleges were in a
position to supply a mailing address for the relatives to use and were,t^Iaerefore,in
a position to receive letters and packages. Even so there was no guarantee
that a letter arriving in a camp would be delivered to the prisoner addressee.
If he was being punished in `karteer," or was in disfavor for any other reason,
such as consistently not fulfilling his norms, he did not receive the letter.
in addition, the letter could be stopped by the camp censorship office if the
content was objectionable or if the letter contained leads about the prisoner,
the writer, or anyone else in whom the MGR investigators at the camp might
have been interested,` Letters sent by the prisoners were not enclosed in
envelopes but, as is customary in the USSR, the letter itself was folded into
T o
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a triangular-like envelope, the top unused surface of which was used for
addressing purposes.
58. Prisoners with correspondence privileges could. write two letters as . wally.
A sample letter, which was available in the co_xtdant; office, permitted the
prisoner to say "I am alive and doing well" but little more. The mail
was strictly censored and letters could be entered into the prisoners file
as further- evidence against him which could. result in an ir.c?rease in his
sentence or in immediate punishment for the offence. Prisoners were also
conscious of the fact that what they wrote could paid *heir family or rrlativse
in difficulties with the authorities.
59. Correspondence privileges also allowed the prisoner to receive packages, to
acknowledge their receipts and to request additional packages0 Stamps were put
on, any receipt postcards or letters the prisoners sent out by camp authorities)
as the prisoners had no money with which to buy s zps. When a package a -r?ived
at the camp, the prisoner concerned was told to come to-o t_ e commandants office
where the package was opened and examined in. the pri_sor0e:x?s preserce for messages
or other contraband. Packages usually coratainF i ba nor, dried fruit, candy,
sugar, cereals, and some fats. They also cont-ainbd. larg?: quantities of tobacco,
cigar.ettes,or matches because of their high barter value. All of these items
were examined minutely. Bacon and other solids wee cut up into small pieces,
sugar and cez eal's Were sifted, and match boxes and. similar objects were torn
apart. Prisoners were not permitted ,to receive playing cards nor to play
cards o They could receive paper or package ac }sa.ao 1,edSane-;x:.:, cards, but these
writing needs were withheld by the Con?mardazt?s Office:, to which the prisoner
had to apply when he wanted to write a letter or send, en ackc vled.gewant ca -,d.
60. Most packages came to the camps from parts of Poland now under the 7SS. control,
from the Ukraine, Lithuania, or Latviaaand from suc;h.:a.ain cities of the USSR
as Moscow and Leningrad. Very few packages came from other areas, ,particularly
from the provincial parts of the USSR.
Life Among Prisoners
61. Since the prisoners received no tobacco from the camp authorities, tobacco
and cigarettes were at a great premium. Lacking other, pleasures, smoking
was one of the greatest joys of a prisoner. Russian "mB,kj=gk,'A" , the only
genuine tobacco available to them, came exclusively :from, prisoners who
were entitled to receive packages. Prisoners with no td,ba,cco smoked virtually
anything. Very frequently they rolled cigarettes out of cotton from their,
own clothing,,or they smoked, leaves, dried moss,. straw, or gran a A heavy
smoker with no tobacco would sometimes roll himself a. cotton, cigarette when
awake during the night, and would throw a blanket over his head to hide the
fact from his colleagues. Other prisoners resented au,ch smoking, first
because burning cotton permeated with perspiration gives off a foul odor,
and second, because they felt that the offender was cheating on them by
consuming an entire cigarette by himself . As smoking was virtually the
single dominating luxury in a prisoners life, it was subject to an elaborate
process of cooperative sharing and was the cause of frequent angry wrangles.
This sharing usually took place during the smoking rest periods (ves;"a),
during working hours. A prisoner who had cigs,,rettee lit one, took s? puff and
quickly passed it on to his neighbor, who, after a, quick puff, passed it on
to his neighbor. Usually the smokers formed themselves into circles by
crews, and the cigarette travelled around the circle from mouth to mouth until
there was nothing left but a finger sin*irg tip. Each prisoner in a group
of smokers attentively watched his colleagues to prevent them from taking
unfairly long puffs. There were frequently as many as l5 prisoners thus,
sharing a single cigarette. To extract the last drop of benefit from a
cigarette, smokers frequently blew their smoke into the mouth of the next man
in line. It was amusing and painful to see this procedure of round-robin smoking,
especially the disappointment of those who failed to get as many puffs as others did.
62. Prisoners procured matches for smoking through bartering portions of their bread
rations for matches with prisoners who received packa,ges,or with thos4 who had access
to the kitchen or other camp establishments where matches were used, In some
cases they stole them. Matches were a great luxury and. were used very sparingly,
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Often., when. matches were not available at all, prisoners obtained fire by ig-
niting, cotton pulled out of their cotton quilted clothing. A. small quantity
of this.material was rolled into a match.-like tube which was rotated at
great speed between two stones. Anothe- method. was to roll the cotton back
and. forth over a atone with one ? s shoe until the cotton began- to smoulder.
It was than easy to blow into an open flame. Some prisoners had pieces of
flint for striking fire.
63. Smokers obtained paper for rolling cigarettes -from the: packing cases of supplies
that came into camp workshops. They also pickea up and j &:alously guarded
every scrap of paper they could find anywhere, iindoors or dent: o Occasionally
some prisoner would get a.real haul of paper by sealing -.he newspaper that
was displayed daily on the barracks wall. Camp lavatorie were., never kiown.
to be equipped with toilet paper. presumably because prisoners would store
away supplies of it for smoking and other uses. Prisoners were not per-
mitted to possess paper in any form,and it was confiscated if found. Camp
authorities assumed that possession of paper showed. thtexnt on the part of
the prisoner to communicate illegally with the outside world. In addition,
paper seemed to be generally scarce in camps and. ever:- many of the officials
maintained their records on tablets of wood. on. which they wrote with. pencils.
After use, the tablets were shaved off with a piece of glass and re.-used.
6+f. Some prisoners found mental refuge in writing at night. As this was illegal,
the prisoner had to do his writing under a blanket o hidfi this activity.
As in. the case of the smokers, the paper they used yam; largely from packing
cases or the wall newspaper. Some of these prisoners embarked ambitiously,
though, hopl.essly, on writing books, memoirs, or political tre:atises,etc..
Most, however, wrote nostalgic poems or simple jxea>atic ditties directed at
camp :officialdom, Stalin, or Q)mmunists and. Communism in general. These
writing attempts were invariably short lived as the Jnec.uscripts, when found,
were always confiscated, but the writing went on. As in the .rase of paper,
the prisoners were not permitted to possess pe nci.l.s,, e specially indelible
ones, or ink. Pencils were exceedingly rare and w ~re very eai.ous.ly guarded r1o
possessions. A favorite hiding place for such items as pe_.ncilswas in the
prisonerlA` bread ration.
65. A few prisoners occasionally amused themselves by ma.ufacturing ink. It was
not very good so was seldom used for writing,but it served as Ink fort .ttooingy
which was another favorite past-time of some prisoners, The ink was like
black India-ink in substance and it was produced by mixing together burnt
rubber, sugar, and crumbs .of bread soaked In 'water to ex,t.raet the stanch from
it. Occasionally a prisoner was fortunate enough to f:i.ni 5, piece of rubber,
but more frequently he was likely to cut a piece off a: conveyor belt, some
other piece of camp equipment, or off his shoes. The t,ttooing was accomplished
by puncturing the skin with home-made needles and then inse r?tirg the ink into
the wound. Some prisoners, usually criminals, had dozens of tattooing designs
on themselves. The designs were usually of nude woman, female faces., or hearts
pierced with arrows.
66. More enterprising prisoners engaged in other forms of "manufacture" or
"procurement'". Toothpaste or powder was not issued:, but some prisoners
procured their own by powdering pieces of charcoal or scraping dust off cement
objects or masonry. Some few prisoners occasionally tried to shave themselves
and for this purpose used a sliver of a blade inserted into a piece of wood.
This was either a part of a genuine blade et ) or a lsiAe manufactured
in the camp repair shop. Prisoners were expressly, forbidden to have in their
possession any sharp objects made of metal, but a 'blade every now and then
somehow found its way into their midst. Mechanics and othex prisoners who were
handy with tools used remnants of metals from the repair shops to manufacture
combs and hair clips for women prisoners, to prevent their hair from falling
,over their eyes and, thus impeding.their work. In some cases, women prisoners
were injured when their hair got caught in the rapidly-running sewing machines
.at which they worked.
67. Except where food and their own little personal comforts were concerned, prisoners
showed a feeling of solidarity toward each other;, awed if they could, they did
help each other out in various ways. Prisoner repair crews were particularly
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helpful. Their work could not be regulated in norms, and factory chiefs had
to rely heavily on them to meet their own production norms. As a result, repair
crews 'got above corm food rations and had some freedom of action. Partly
to protect this privileged status and partly to help their colleagues fulfill
their norms, they strove to maintain sewing machines and other equipment in
good working order. This was a very difficult task because the tempo of work,
the inexperience of the prisoners, and the severe climatic conditions in winter
caused frequent machinery breakdowns. Failure to fulfill norms because of
machinery breakdown was credited against the prisoners. First-aid workers
also strove to help their colleagues maintain their health although they
were hampered by shortages of drugs and bandages. In yin=; er, oddly enough,
camps frequently ran out of firewood. At such tires, in order to keep
factory quarters warm and machines from breaking down becau.sa of congealed
lubrication, repair crews stole lumber and wood from barrack roofs and walls
to keep fires going. When nothing,more was available, the.,, burned up work
benches and other furniture that could be spared for the morent.
68. At work,and in their spare time, prisoners tended to group together by
nationality. There was a great deal of give-and-take, tea..inggand serious
political debating among the various nationals represented there o When
friendships were formed, they, seemed to be based on a,n. intellectual level,
rather than on nationality. Poles at the camp were invariably called by the
nicknames Pan or Proeze Dana (Sir or Please Sir). Russian prisoners teased them
by saying: "Well, you're getting it in the neck naw too", refering to the fact
that PolarF,d. now too had, a Communist regime. The r onron_ nickname for the Lithuanians
was Labas fRytas (good morning in Lithuanian). Ukrainians were referred to,
usually by the Poles, as enezocha(Sock). There waL a strong latent feeling
.of anti-8emitism among many of the prisoners of all nation.ali.ties&and to call
a prisoner !eyrey (Jew) was a strong form of denurcia,ti.on. Jews among the
prisoners were few and were usually left to themselves.
69. Prisoners of all types were invariably very open and frank in expresasing
.their views, although It was an unwritten rule not to ask questions, or for
the prisoners to talk about themselves, their families, or acquaintances
beyond that which was believed to be already known by, the flat: 3 authorities.
Except for this reservation, the prisoners felt that they had nothing to lose,
and.made, no secret of their own feelings and views abort the Soviet regime or
their captors. Stalin was usually referred to as the 'Kremlin Krokodil''
(Kremlin Crocodile), and the MGB as "bandits". Prisoners enjoyed reading
Soviet press attacks on Truman and the U.S. because it indicated to them that
the Y.S. was doing something against the Communists. ':':ope.. lly, they discussed
what this meant for them and what were the prospects for wax. Some prisoners
who considered themselves military authorities reasoned. that when wax beginH,
the U.S. must deliver a few strokes at main Soviet centers to disrupt their
communications and transportation, and must use very large numbers '.'of parachute
troops, especially in areas where large numbers of prisoners are concentrated.
They felt that after a few sharp strokes "everything in the Soviet Union would
fall apart", because the power of the .regime was based on oppression and
coercion through hunger.
70? One of the favorite pastimes of the prisoners, was the making up of anti-Soviet
anecdotes. Several of these anecdotes which circulated around the Mordovian
camps follow:
a. During a propaganda talk exhorting workers to overtake America, a man
in the audience felt the seat.of his trousers. It was worn thin, and torn.
Raising his hand for the floor, the worker explained that perhaps the
Soviet workers can and should patch up.with the Americans. However, having
done that, they should keep an equal pace with thee. It would hot do to
pass them because the view that the American would then get would be a
pretty funny one.
b. After a post-war dinner with Stalin, Truman thanked him solemnly for the
tea. Asked by Stalin, "thy` only for the tea", Truman replied, "Wasn't
everything else mine?"
c. In another popular anecdote, Soviet people are divided into those persons
who have been in prison, those who are, and those who will be.
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d. In prisoner humor, the letters NKVD stand for Q~ z~aaya ko la vernus domoy)
(I don't know when I411 be returning hom.ej
e. A kolkhoz jingle goes: Khorosho v kolkhoze zhit-
Odin rabotavet, pvatt krich?
(It's good to live in a kolkhoz
One man works and five shout!)
71. The fact that one had to be selfish and look after one's self in order to
survive was an accepted fact among prisoners of the Mordovian camps. There
were sayings among,them that "if one is not selfish and- brazen, one is a fool''i
and "brazenness is a second lease on life". Before the criminal elements were
removed from the Mordovian camps, this characteristic was especially predominant
among prisoners. Certain prisoners were so brazen and. bullied their fellow
prisoners about so much that they were known as "jackals" (shakal). These
bullies were found mostly among the criminals and when the latter group were
removed from the Mordovian camps, the "jackalsod.isappe;esed with them. Thereafter,
the stronger and more aggressive of the political p=iscners asserted themselves
at the expense of their colleagues in ways already described but never approached
the terrorism of which the "jackals" were guilty.
72. The ",jackal" was a prisoner who was completely dovoid of arty principles other
than extreme selfishness.. He avoided work, and lived "by browbeating other
prisoners, sometimes snatching their food away from them in full view of other
prisoners. The "jackals" were physically stronger than other prisoners and
often went unpunished by the guards or camp authorities, i..r;..part because the
guards feared them,. and in part because they we..re valuable informers. Out of
vengeance, or to secure an advantage, the "jackals" never hesitated. to inform
on other prisoners, especially the political prisoners.. They took what they
wanted from other prisoners whenever they chose. Pew prisoners dared to do
anything to these bullies, especially since the camp authorities seemed to
wink at their conduct.
73 ? "Jackals"' were seldom independent but rather a eat;agory of prisoners called
" lea, n,o (thieves), who seemed to have a semblance of an organization. When,
several or more "blatn~v" were in a camp, they banded together and had a chief.
They conjointly defied orders to go to work, rallied to the, defense of another
"'b atno ", or otherwise acted in common f'or the benefit, of their group. These
`blatno were feared by prisoners and guards alike. Some prisoners sarcastically
called the bullies "Stalin's Eagles" because when ordered to go to work or be
moved. to a camp that displeased them, or when denied food, they would always
put up a loud clamor about .their devotion to Stalin and the good they were
doing for the regime. In some camps, where the 'bl.,at,Qj' were especially
numerous,' their chiefs actually had young `bla?tnov` prisoners acting as servants
and stealing food for them. These aides were called 'fie t e:r .
t?
74 . When the 'blatnov" were at the Mordovian camps, they used a jargon of their
own which was understood. only by them. For example, s' rok (fortry) meant to
have a smoke. If a . 'hi a .nnv'? member came up to a group of prisoners who were
smoking and said "so'rok", he was in effect demanding a puff, and got it. The
Iggll (sack), which-was a small pack for carrying per.sonal belongings of the
prisoners, was called the "s?' in the language of the 'yyatnoyP.
Work Norms and Prisoner Discipline
75 . Working hours at the camp were generally from 0700 . 1700 h u.T?a. However,
factory workers worked from 0700 1900 hours on the day shift, 1900 - 0700. hours
on the night shift,and in winter when it got dark early, prisoners working
in the forest-or other outside jobs, sometimes finished before 1700 hoote. Prisoners
were given an hour off for lunch and two 15-minute breaks called er
(smoke periods) each day. The factories worked around the clock. According
to MGB regulations, prisoners had the right to one day of rest for every ten
days of work. However because of failure to fulfill p:rodu.ction schedules or
some other reason, prisoners often worked a month without a rest.
76. Prisoners arose at 1700, ham, and, after aquick meal and head count, marched off
to.work. Traveling to and from work wad done on. the prisoners'own time. Evening
meal came .round 1900 hours, curfew at 2100 hours. The prisoners lined up in
front of their barracks for any announcements and evening roll call, which was
a simple count of heads, but which sometimes lasted for hours. Additional
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counts were sometimes made at any time of night, when the. prisoners.were roused
and made to line up for the count. Also, the . nadzi.r?&eli' made nightly bed
checks,, rousing prisoners.whom they detected sleeping in their clothes and.
ordering them to get undressed.
77? Barracks usually were not locked. except during heavy, fogs, snow, or rain storms,
when it would be difficult for the guards to thwart a.n escape attempt. Prisoners
were not beaten or torturedat the Mordovian .camps. The only form of punishment
was to lock up a prisoner in a `ka,r" for 3 ,to 15 days on reduced food rations.
The ks.rtser was us"iaally located in a camp building called. a u which is a
small prison within the camp. In.camps which did not as yet have a "bu?" the
kr?" was sometimes located in a small guardFed. shad: or a series of them.,
too small to lie down in and not adequately protected from the weather.
78.. The ,burs` were being built in the Mordovian camps during 1949-19,51, Prisoners
believed that orders for their construction came from Mto cow ai'd that they
were to be used to incarcerate the more important prisoners and, ring leaders
in the event mass disturbances occur.ed in the camps. From the outside., these
`burs" looked like any other camp building except that, thf-!y were sepere,t'ad
from the rest of the camp by a simple fence of barbed wire,, twc..or more om.eters
high. On the inside, the "a" was subdivided into small and. large cells. It
had a triple layer log and plank floor, a triple layer wood ceiling covered,
with earth, and dividing walls,made of logs with small grated windows, A minimum
of nails or other metal objects -was used in constructing the 31=" and these
were placed in such positions that prisoners could not get at them easily.
Cell doors were hinged on leather straps. As of early 191., only the small
cells which were 2 by 3 meters in size were used as >?oli.tary cells.
79. Hunger replaced beating and torturing as the instrum-,mt of coercion to get
obedience and work from the prisoners, The prisoners , e c kept perpetually
hungry and the food they received was, subject 'to first, perfor a,ncee at work,
ao.d second., behavior at camp. Whether the average food narm that the prisoners
received was arrived at by design and scientific ca:L,cu:.L.ta.t,Ion or 'by accident.,
the net effect was that the prisoners were barely a'hl-! to keep -their st:r^ength,
Within a month or so after he arrived at,a' camp, a pxrisore.r? became thin and
emaciated looking 'regardless of how well he looked upon arrival. If for any
reason, because of illness or punishment, a prisoner went, without food or 'V**
given a reduced ration,b oould barely get up from his bed and had to supprrt
himself against the wall or bedstead. Prisoners dasadedgoirg without food or
living on penal diets because they knew that once their strength began to
fail, they aou]dn't hope to recover. A prisoner who was sentenced to the Maximum
penalty of 15 days in the 'kar .star"j therefore, could. be, regarded as having
received the death penalty. The combination of the small 'bead ration of
300 grams daily, the exposure to the weather, and the inability to rest
comfortably, so exausted the prisoner that he could. hardly stir, and work after
such an ordeal was impossible, Prisoners ,therefore.avoi.ded doing anything that
would take away or reduce their food, Failure to fulfill a work norm resulted
in a 50 percent cut in the normal food ration (a, ek; on the same day of the
failure, irrespective of what the percentage of failure was. Overfulf"illment
of norms were figured in 10's and.25's of perce:nts,i..e:., 12.00 120, 125 percent
etc., a,n.d were reflected in increases of 50's of grams of either bread or porridge.
The highest ration possible (reko~ paye ) at the camps was given for ful-
filling the norm 200 percent or higher. It consisted cf 8,0 grams of bread,
x+50 grams of porridge) and three normal portions of soup daily.
80. Any prisoner who wanted to increase his food. norm first had. to exceed his
work norm. However, once he began to exceed the work norm.for several days,
he had to continue to do so consistently because the higher norm became his
regular norm. If he failed to meet this new norm, the failure was interpreted
as a deliberate refusal on the part of the prisoner to contribute his full share
of work to the State and he was charged with sabotage. To e. ,ceed. the norm for
a short time was,therefore,dangerous for the individual and, for that matter, the
group, because if too any prisoners exceeded their work norms, the basic norm
was increased across,' the board, without a corresponding increase in food rations.
Perhaps fortunately,most of the prisoners could barely fulfill even the basic work
norms and that success was possible only because of their desperate drive for food.
81. Though hunger was clearly the basic weapon of coercion, the camp authorities also
used the prospect of a few privileges to induce prisoners to produce above norm.
These privileges were minor., but they loomed large in the, eyes of the prisoners.
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In the non-political camps, Stakhanovite.workers had their sentences reduced
for their efforts. However) "political" prisoners were rewarded for above-
norm work only by being issued new uniforms instead of repaired ones, by being
moved to the new-type barracks, by being permitted to attend an occasional
visiting movie..or stage performance, or by receiving the supreme privilege of
writing,two letters annually and receiving packages from the outside. This
last privilege was doled out rarely and the prisoner who had it had to continue
exceeding his.norm at a high level in order to retain it. Camp officials would
not permit a prisoner to go unpunished if he exceeded his norm until he began
receiving packages and then slowed down his. pro.ductjoa rate,
82. Each prisoner's production record was.carefully maintained. The prisoner himself
knew what he was entitled to receive and loudly demanded his just due if he didn't
receive it on time. Records of work performance were kept individually for
each prisoner,so prisoners could not assist each other by dividing up norms among
.themselves. Nor as a rule were they willing to do so. Only rarely did. cases
occur when a prisoner exceeding his norms would.help a less fortunate colleague
by alternating with him in eating each others food ration,
83. The prisoners detested the:14GB and most.of the MSB officials as symbols and
authors o3' their misery. However, they did not condemn the civiltem camp
officials for the pressure they applied to make the prisoners meet norms and
keep production at a high level. It was understood that the "system" was the
cause of the pressure, and that the officials themselves were victims of this
same pressure. However, the prisoners deeply resented. unnecessary cruelty and
harshness. This was usually found in officials who were outright opportunists,
in guards who browbeat the prisoners out of ignorance or out of fear for them-
selves, and in young Communists who took themselves and their politics so serious-
ly as to believe that "political" prisoners, as enemies of the State, were some
sort of evil breed of men that should be wrung dry of all useful work and then
left to die, Fortunately very.. far officials of this type were encountered in
the camps.
81i. Because the Russians and other USSR nationals were better able to survive hunger,
they did not exert themselves as much as the prisoners from the Baltic States,
former Poland,and other non-Russian areas. Also, the latter prisoners seemed
to be more intelligent workers. than their Soviet counterparts. As a result, the
non-Soviet prisoners, especially the Balts, were preferred as prisoner-workers
by the camp authorities and were frequently appointed as crew chiefs.and prisoner-
foremen..
85. The most fortunate type of prisoner at the camp was one who had some technical
skill. The administration officials were usually without special skills and,
thus,frequently had to rely on the judgement of prisoners o especial problems.
Prisoners. ,, thus, relied upon were given posts.of responsibility and received
special benefits.
Prisoner Production
86. Prisoners at the Mordovian camps did the following types of work: sewing,woodworktg,
lumbering, farming, camp maintenance, peat wiruiing,,and locomotive-repair work.
The locomotive-repair shops were in part a maintenance activity for locomotives
used around the camps but locomotives were also brought in from elsewhere for
repair on occasion.. The shops..consisted of a group of log barrack-like sheds.,
around which were peen six or seven small steam locomotives. There were about
eight locomotives servicing the camps and most of the freight was moved into
and out of the camps by rail, Local trucking was usually carried out by horse-
drawn wagons as the camps were not equipped with trucks.
87. Peat and wood was used exclusively to operate camp power plants and to fire the
locomotives. Peat was gathered by prisoners in.nearby matsheswhile the wood
was also obtained locally. Except where two camps were grouped together, each
camp had its own power plant:, which was located in a. small log building.
88.. The sewing,establishments.were equipped with sturdy electrically-operated sew-
ing machines produced by the Podolskiy Machinery Plant. They were commercial-
type machines modeled after some American-sewing machine which prisoners
believed were produced by a Cword.missingj Wilson Company. A row of eight
or. more machines was powered by a single motor and each one was controlled by a
foot pedal. They made 50 stiches per second. There were approximately 300
of these machines in Camp Nor 1, 200 in Camp No. 6, and approximately 500 in Camp
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;ta+in' -cif cloth at once.. Up to earl T 195 , the camp
zxhax t Of n .e .:z1 ; Sa.hs.d to .be manufactured. wi :,' crude tr,ol_s and
;,,,or metal a.t?t
-nhe sewing establishments produced Soviet Army uniforms. informs for rail-
=?