Use of Correctional and Labour Measures on the Inmates of The Solovetsky Camp in the 1920s and 1930s

• Author: Tolokontseva Daria
• Pages: 38-51

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Use of Correctional and Labour

Measures on the Inmates

of The Solovetsky Camp in the

1920s and 1930s

Tolokontseva Daria

Senior spec ialist, Directorate of the M inistry of J ustice of t he Russian F ederation

on Arkhange lsk Region and Nenets Autonomous District, postgraduate student of

Northern (Arctic) Federal Universit y, e-mail: tolodaria@yandex .ru.

Received January 2012, accepted March 2012

Abstract: e main aim of the research behind this article is to analyze changes

in essence of Soviet labour policy in the 20s and 30s of the 20

th

century and show

the weakness of democratic law under a tota litarian regime. Solovetsky Camp

of Special Destination and its inmates are the subjects of investigation in this

article. Ana lysis of legal acts and literature of the 1920s shows the correctional

focus of the rst labour camps. is fact is conrmed by the number of correc-

tional institutions and by cultural a nd educational work. Solovetsky camp was

the rst “corrective labor” institution in the USSR, founded in 1923. However,

further reform of the penal system radica lly reorganized penitentiar y institu-

tions and aimed them at solving economic problems. e result was countrywide

dissemination of forced labour camps li ke the Solovki.

For many years the Solovki was the largest camp in the Soviet Union, where

the methods of using forced labor on large masses of prisoners were worked out.

Solovki became the main structure in the penal system of the state along with

the other concentration camps. But price of economic achievements were not

commensurate with the number of lost humans lives. e history of Solovetsky

camp reects main events in the country, while the period of Solovetsky camp

is separate stage of the development of the penitentiary system in Russia.

Arctic Revie w on Law and Politics, vol. 3 , 2/2012 pp. 186–199. ISSN 1891-6252