FORCED LABOR CAMP AT VORKUTA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-00810A003600220003-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 14, 2016
• Document Release Date: June 24, 2002
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: February 16, 1954
• Content Type: REPORT

Approved For Release 2002/07/23 : CIA-RDP80-0081OA003600220003-5
CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
INFORMATION REPORT
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SECRET/CONTROL - US OFFICIALS ONLY
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COUNTRY USSR (Komi ASSR)
SUBJECT Forced Labor Camp at Vorkuta
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The entire
Vorkuta area, contained about 30,000 prisoners. Eight thousand guards were
used to guard these prisoners. the
prisoners were composed of the following nationalities: 20-25 percent
were Russians, a slightly greater number were Ukrainians, and about ten
percent were Germans. In addition, there were Latvians, Caucasians, Ru-
manians, and. Koreans. The national groups were all mixed together, and
informant did not notice any national antagonisms within the camp. Several
Ukrainians, called Banderovitsi, mentioned that there was a partisan move-
ment in the Western Ukraine. About three percent of the prisoners were Old
B,mlievers. , as a sign of which they wore beards. They did not go to work
on Sundays.
THE SOURCE EVALUATIONS IN THIS REPORT ARE DEFINITIVE.
THE APPRAISAL OF CONTENT IS TENTATIVE.
(FOR KEY SEE REVERSE)
SOURCE:
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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.
16 February 1954
NO. OF PAGES 2
REQUIREMENT NO. RD
REFERENCES
About a year before Stalin?s death,
life in the Vorkuta camps began to be easier. The prisoners began to earn
money for their labor, with which they could buy things in a well-stocked
canteen, though at very high prices. The barracks were always open and
the prisoners had the right to enter and leave them at will. The guards
no longer had. the right to shoot without warning. The attitude of the
guards and administrative personnel toward the prisoners became much more
polite; the prisoners were addressed as "you" instead of "thou": There
were fewer beatings and solitary confinments. Each prisoner had a sheet
and a blanket. There were fewer bedbugs and no more lice. On the day of
Stalin?s death everybody was pleased, including the guards. In general,
prisoners now converse much more freely among themselves, Informant was
of the opinion that the life of the prisoners was better than that of many
collective farm workers.
SECRET/CONTROL - US OFFICIALS ONLY
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3. There were three or four doctors in the camp. One of them,
(fnu), was an extremely unpleasant man and a poor doctor. All of the
other medical personnel, including the medical assistants and nurses,
were extremely. kind to the prisoners. A Jewish doctor was nice to the
German prisoners in spite of the fact that the Nazis had liquidated his
family.
4. There was a revolt in Vorkuta in 1948. All of the ringleaders were shot
except one, who was a former Hero of the Soviet Union. He enjoyed great
respect among the prisoners.
5.
some anti-regime leaflets which appeared in the camp,
but does not know who wrote or distributed them.
6.
about 20 percent of the prisoners I were
active foes of the regime, and that about 60 percent of them would join an
uprising if one started. At present, the prisoners are particularly tough
on informers, and some have been killed.
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Approved For Release 2002/07/23 : CIA-RDP80-0081OA003600220003-5