During
the time of Ivan Denisovitch, Russia was a complete mess. Gulags, or work camps
were splattered around Siberia. There, people who had committed crimes
such as theft, rape, murder, and even people who were late to work were sent to
the Gulag. Not only that, but even because of a joke about a government
official, a person could be sent to the camp for 25 years. In the case of
Ivan, he had denounced Stalin, and was sentenced to the Gulag camp. After
a person, if they survived, finished their time in the camp, they would be sent
out of the country, or they would go to another camp forced into exile.
Luckily, many people where sent back to their homes after Stalin had
died, and were not forced into exile.
The author of this book, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn,
wrote many books about Gulag camps, but his work was suppressed in Russia due
to communism. In fact, he was expelled
from the Soviet Union, but later came back after the disintegration of the
Soviets Union in 1994
Image 1-George Mason University. "Gulag: Soviet
Forced Labor Camps and the Struggle for Freedom." Gulag: Soviet Forced
Labor Camps and the Struggle for Freedom. Center for History and New Media,
4 Sept. 2006. Web. 23 Aug. 2014.
Information
Paragraph 1-George Mason University. "Gulag: Soviet Forced Labor Camps and
the Struggle for Freedom." Gulag: Soviet Forced Labor Camps and the
Struggle for Freedom. Center for History and New Media, 4 Sept. 2006. Web.
23 Aug. 2014.
Image
2-Mystic. "How American Corporations Have Made America Like the Soviet
Union - Mystic Politics." Mystic Politics. Internet Freedom, 12
July 2010. Web. 24 Aug. 2014.
Information
on author-Contributors, Wikipedia. "Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn." Wikipedia.
Wikimedia Foundation, 22 Aug. 2014. Web. 23 Aug. 2014.
you could have told us the information about if Stalin's army did something wrong, how long they would go to jail etc. Or more information about what people do at camp. I'm curious about what they have to do. Sometimes if the people there are sick seriously at camp what do they do?
ReplyDeleteHey Juho, I am not sure what you mean by Stalin's army. Ivan was not in the army when he was sent to camp. It is true he was in the army during World War, but I think he was sent to the camp for denouncing Stalin. Anyways, people in the camps dug minerals, and other supplies for Russia. They were work camps, not army camps. I am not sure what they do in the camps due to the fact that we have not read the whole book, but I am sure we will find out since the book is the story of a prisoner's daily life. Also, as to what people ate in the camps, we read that in the book. Remember, my job was to expand explantation of the book, not to repeat what we had read.
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DeleteNo as in did Stalin's army also go into the gulag camp? Because I heard they put Stalin's army into jail. Also, did many people go to gulag camps or in jail. Also because I heard there were jails and gulag camps as well.
DeleteI like it, but maybe you could make a bigger imagery of the Gulags and how the things in there were. Maybe the perspective from the prisoners eyes and feelings would with the reader a bigger idea of the environment in jail. The history in Gulags during the 1920-50 is very very strong and rough, not only the reasons the prisoners were in there but also the story of them during this ages and what happened after they leave.
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulag#History
What did the people at camp eat? Did they really eat like Ivan in the book? But I totally agree about Ivan in the camp because of Stalin. He had killed many people, he had killed the most people before Mao Zedong. He thinks they were all slaves...
ReplyDeleteHello Nico ! I totally agree that Russia was a very unfair and corrupt country during the late 1930's. Under the rule of Joseph Stalin , the Gulag was the government agency. There were several work camps were criminals and prisoners were held. This prisoners were forced to labor and work. They could work up to 14 hours ! Check this link: http://gulaghistory.org/nps/onlineexhibit/stalin/work.php.
ReplyDeleteThe prisoners could be held in the camps for many years but eventually some were released. I researched about the Gulag Camps and found out women were also held there. Unfortunately , women frequently got raped and abused by the prisoners. What's your opinion on the fact that women are also held in Gulag Camps ? Many people consider Gulag Camps as "Massive". Why do you think people think this about the camps ? Do you think Gulag Camps are fair ? Unfair ? Great Post !
- Juan Carlos Thomas
Hey Juan, I had no idea women were held in the camps with the men. I knew there were women in camps, I just never expected them to be in the same section as men. I do think the camps were massive due to the reasons why you could be sent there. Many people were there for many unfair reasons.
ReplyDeleteHey Ha, as I said to Juho, I did not want to add much detail to what you did in the camps since that was what the whole book was about. I thought I would be ruining it since the story is what the prisoner did in the camp.
ReplyDeleteI found your post very interesting. I especially liked all the relevant information you had about russia back then.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I couldn't find any opinion related writing in your post. I think it would be interesting to include some of that.
But what was the day-to-day life of these prisoners? And what were some of the disciplinary measures taken against them? Give us a better perspective on these Gulags.
But overall, great post. Nice job Nico.