I think my Mom first mentioned “The Gulag Archipelago” as a definitive account of life in the Soviet police state back when I was in High School.  Ironically the copy I finally read came from her parent’s house. At 600 pages it took me a while to work up the strength to start reading what I knew to be a dark work.  With Trump on course to grab the Republican nomination, the story seemed relevant when I started back in April.

I have read a lot of books about the Soviet security apparatus.  For a while I was caught up in ordering discount history books from the Barnes and Noble catalog.  Around the same time a friend of mine was living in Russia, which made the history more interesting.  (She learned the language at DLI so stop your conspiracy theories).  Turns out I’ve pretty much had my fill of people torturing, starving, and killing others.  I found this book hard to read and it became a test of will.

The Gulag Archipelago is divided into three topic areas: arrest and interrogation, famous trials, and transport to the prisons.  The author talks of other peoples experiences as well as his own as a prisoner.  The text jumps around a lot since its just a collection of details about what happened to real people.  He doesn’t dwell on physical torture, but on the living conditions in a cell before trial.  And the mental tricks the authorities would play on people to get them to confess.  Very important that they confess.  There was definitely a 1984 vibe to the stories.  [Not surprising as the Soviets helped inspire Orwell.]

The one surprising thing I learned was the number of army officers imprisoned after WWII.  If you ever lost ground you were conspiring with the enemy.  If you didn’t advance fast enough you were colluding with the enemy, regardless of the circumstances.  They were also hard on engineers, which strikes close to home.  

I had the impression that some of the Trials described would mean more if I recognized the names of the accused and the accusers.  Kind of like an author in the US talking about John Poindexter to someone born after 1988.  [He was involved in the Iran Contra scandal along with the rest of the Reagan administration.]  Trials were not started unless the outcome was certain and if anything went wrong, they stopped inviting the public.

The train rides out to prison camps had the same vibe as the Nazis.  Guards stealing warmer clothing items.  Guards working with thieves to confiscate food items.  (Extra food items would come from taking the rations of a dead, but not yet discovered by the guards as dead prisoner).

If you know little about the Soviet system of justice under Stalin, this book will set you straight.  Otherwise you’ll just stop thinking humanity should survive.