Essay Database

Russian Prison/Labor Camps Following the Bolshevik takeover of the Russian Revolution in 1917, the Soviets dismantled the broad spy networks of the czarist secret police, the Okhrana, but the new government kept all essential functions of that organization in place, replacing the czarists with Bolsheviks and changing the name to Cheka. The official name of the organization was the Extraordinary Commission for Combating Counter-Revolution, Sabotage and Criminal Offenses by Officials. The Russian people suffered as …

…function is to terrorize and oppress led to the deaths of thousands of prisoners and laborers. After Stalin died in 1953, the GULAG population was reduced significantly, and conditions for inmates somewhat improved. Forced labor camps continued to exist, although on a smaller scale and the government even opened some camps to scrutiny by journalists and human rights activists. With the advance of democratization, political prisoners and prisoners of conscience all but disappeared from the camps.