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Perm-36 Gulag Camp: A Step Into a Dark Chapter of Soviet History

April 5th, 2013 kaolse14

At the end of February, it suddenly hit me that I only had a few months left in Russia. Even though I had seen 14 Russian cities by that point, I knew that there was still so much more to see in this vast country. I knew, and still realize, that it is impossible to see every corner of the largest country on earth in one year. Nevertheless, I thought I would make the most of my time here by visiting more Russian cities/sites. The luck of having classes three days out of the week gave me the time, and the opportunity, to travel. Therefore, I ventured outside of Moscow every weekend for the past five weeks, allowing me to visit Novgorod; Vladimir; Nizhny Novgorod; Yaroslavl; and Perm. One of the most memorable sites from these trips, and the subject of this blog post, is Perm-36.

The Soviet labor camp turned museum, called Perm-36, is a unique piece of political history. The USSR built “Perm-36, called ITK-6 camp, in 1946 as a logging camp in the forested region of the Ural Mountains near the Siberian border. Here, prisoners cut down trees throughout the year and sent the lumber down river during the spring thaw to help to help rebuild Soviet cities damaged in the war” (gulaghistory.org). People whose crimes ranged from murder to “political incorrectness” spent years in the camp. The camp officially closed down in 1988. Now a museum dedicated to the history of political repression, Perm-36 educates people today about this dark chapter of Soviet rule. To repeat what my tour guide said to me, the museum serves as one of many hopeful defenses against a duplication of this part of history.

As you may be able to guess, visiting the camp was a moving, depressing, and eerie experience all at the same time. I anticipated this before I arrived at the camp. But considering my interest in politics and Russian history, I knew that it was something that I had to see. Ironically, I departed from the camp with a weird sense of optimism. It was strangely comforting to know that this place exists, and that it will continue to teach others – especially the younger generation – about the history of political repression during the Soviet era. I know that some may argue that this physical representation of Soviet history should be destroyed, allowing the evil associated with its buildings to be left in the history books rather than the walls of a museum. “Tear it down,” some may say. “It’s all bad, and I don’t want to see it anymore. Let’s just get rid of it.” But that’s just it – you can’t “get rid of it,” because to me and to others, this is more than a museum. It is a reminder of how political rule can be manipulated, and how political power can then manifest into repression. This reminder, and the threat of repression, is indeed timeless. And to me, the museum and what it represents are also timeless. It is our hope that with this museum, and with a population that is well-informed about political manipulation, this part of history will indeed remain in the history books, never to be repeated.

Museum’s website: http://www.perm36.ru/

One Response to “Perm-36 Gulag Camp: A Step Into a Dark Chapter of Soviet History”

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