Karaganda

8 jUNE 2012

I am very aware how little I know about Soviet history

I decided to visit the site of one of the Karlag camps at Spassk in the middle of steppe land south of Karaganda. Between 1930s and 1950s, Spassk had served as a division of the Gulag forced labour camp system, a prisoner of war camp and the post war Gulag special camp. People from the soviet border areas and suspects of anti-soviet policy were displaced to this camp to contribute to the drive to increase agricultural, coal and mineral production in the area. The camp is know for its forced labour, high death rate, oppressive atmosphere and hardship but also for the cultural activities and steady release of prisoners considered to be ready to be reintroduced into soviet society. Many people died whilst in the camp and and I visited the mass grave of some 5000 prisoners displaced from countries and border areas ranging from Italy and France, to Ukraine and Belarus, to Korea and Japan.

This is a very moving place to visit, out in the middle of the steppe and far away from the countries these people travelled from. I visited in the summer - one can only try to imagine what life must have been like in the middle of Kazakhstan's winters.