The Gulag

• The Gulags were labour camps run by the NKVD.
• The following people could be found in the Gulags:

  • Common criminals
  • Workers and factory managers who had been convicted of wrecking
  • Communist party members and government officials found guilty of plotting against the government
  • Foreign communists who had gone to live in the Soviet Union, but were accused of spying.
  • Artists, writers and university lecturers who's loyalty to Stalin was doubted
  • Leaders of ethnic groups who were seen as too independent by Stalin
  • Members of ethnic minority groups such as Poles or Koreans with links to bordering countries
  • Red army officers
• Wreckers were political opponents who deliberately tried to ruin the economy.