Lille, Univ. Charles de Gaulle, Diss., 2007.

Thesis advisor: John Michalczyk / The Holocaust and the Soviet Gulag are frequently remembered for the vastness of their human cost. Rightly so, for the Holocaust claimed 6 million Jewish victims and 5 million non-Jewish victims. Estimates for the number of victims that deaths and ordered executions in the Gulag claimed range widely—from 3.5 million up to 20 million, with most estimates putting the mark in the range of 10-12 million. These numbers are absolutely staggering. It seems almost impossible to put such statistics into any concrete terms; how, separated by generations and geography, can we begin to understand the tangible meaning of a loss of life on the order of ten or twenty million people? How can we understand the far-reaching effects of that sort of terror perpetrated by humans, and of that sort of terror inflicted on humans? Moreover, what sort, exactly is the terror that we are referring to when we talk about the events of the Holocaust and the Gulag? To a certain extent, the answers to these questions are out of our grasp; only those who experienced these events firsthand can begin to comprehend them. Even survivors attest to the incomprehensible nature of their experiences. In order to at least try to shed light on some of these questions, however, this work attempts to look at the Holocaust and the Gulag through the eyes of individuals who lived through the ordeal, in the hopes that this will start to make these events more comprehensible. I have chosen to focus specifically on women, partly because the massive size of the body of Holocaust and Gulag literature necessitates some sort of narrowing of the field, and partly because women confronted a different face of terror than did men; their gender intrinsically shaped their experiences. It is an attempt to find out how some women—for the number examined is too small to make any claims to universality—lived through such extenuating circumstances. The bulk of it is based on selective findings in personal memoirs and narratives. While personal accounts may not be the most accurate source for historical data, they are an ideal location for gaining a greater understanding of the personal human cost. Numbers can attest to the staggering magnitude of the terror; personal accounts can attest to the depth and the effect of the terror on the victim. The historical events of the Holocaust and the Gulag were the reasons for the socio-psychological aspects of resistance and survival that is the main focus of this study. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2003. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: History. / Discipline: College Honors Program.

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No description available.

A BODY OUTSIDE THE KREMLIN is a historical mystery novel set in the Northern Camps of Special Significance, a Soviet Russian penal institution based in the Solovetsky Archipelago during the 1920s. The protagonist, working first with the camp authorities, then in spite of their disapproval, solves the murder of a fellow prisoner. In the process he improves his position within the camp, while also becoming hardened to the brutal necessities of camp life. Prior to the establishment of the penal camp, the Solovetsky Archipelago was the site of an important Russian Orthodox monastery, and the mystery proves to involve valuables, particularly icons, seized from the monks by the Soviet secret police. Thus the novel treats themes not only of statist repression, but also religious epiphany and the problems of true perception in a world of symbols.

Varlam Chalámov, escritor russo, nasceu em 1907 e passou dezessete anos como prisioneiro em campos de trabalho stalinistas. Em Kolimá, um dos piores campos do que ficou conhecido como Gulag, conheceu o trabalho fatal nas minas de ouro e carvão, onde quase perdeu a vida por diversas vezes. Em Contos de Kolimá, sua principal obra, transformou sua experiênciaem seis ciclos de contos de prosa concisa e poética. Para marcar sua posição literária, Chalámov cria o que chama de nova prosa, a prosa possível para os tempos depois de Auschwitz, Hiroshima, Kolimá. Em Sobre a prosa, ensaio-manifesto de 1965, e Sobre a minha prosa, de 1971, Chalámov pensa sua obra no contexto da tradição literária e da literatura de sua época. Descreve também seus objetivos e métodos artísticos. Reflete sobre o papel da literatura na cultura, sobre a relação entre verdade e ficção, sobre o significado da memória em sua prosa. O presente trabalho visa realizar uma leitura de sua obra à luz dos pressupostos do autor, no diálogo e na fricção com outros teóricos e escritores, com destaque para o papel da memória em sua produção. Traz ainda a tradução dos dois ensaios. / Russian writer, Varlam Chalámov (born 1907), spent seventeen years as a prisoner in Stalinist labor camps. Much of this time was spent in Kolimá working within the precarious gold and coal mines within Gulag, where he endured several near death experiences. He transformed these years of personal tragedy and acute observation of others into a six series of poetic short stories, which were later published as Tales of Kolimá. Within these iconic works, Chalámov creates what he referred to as new prose; the possible prose after events such as Auschwitz, Hiroshima and Kolimá. In his essays On Prose, 1965 and On my Prose, 1971, Chalámov reflects on his body of work in the context of the literary traditions of his time. He considers the role of literature in culture, the relationship of truth to fiction, and the role of memory in his prose. This paper applies the ideas in Chalámovs essays to a reading of his prose and in doing so discusses the authors opinions, with particular emphasis on his understanding of memory.

Varlam Chalámov, escritor russo, nasceu em 1907 e passou dezessete anos como prisioneiro em campos de trabalho stalinistas. Em Kolimá, um dos piores campos do que ficou conhecido como Gulag, conheceu o trabalho fatal nas minas de ouro e carvão, onde quase perdeu a vida por diversas vezes. Em Contos de Kolimá, sua principal obra, transformou sua experiênciaem seis ciclos de contos de prosa concisa e poética. Para marcar sua posição literária, Chalámov cria o que chama de nova prosa, a prosa possível para os tempos depois de Auschwitz, Hiroshima, Kolimá. Em Sobre a prosa, ensaio-manifesto de 1965, e Sobre a minha prosa, de 1971, Chalámov pensa sua obra no contexto da tradição literária e da literatura de sua época. Descreve também seus objetivos e métodos artísticos. Reflete sobre o papel da literatura na cultura, sobre a relação entre verdade e ficção, sobre o significado da memória em sua prosa. O presente trabalho visa realizar uma leitura de sua obra à luz dos pressupostos do autor, no diálogo e na fricção com outros teóricos e escritores, com destaque para o papel da memória em sua produção. Traz ainda a tradução dos dois ensaios. / Russian writer, Varlam Chalámov (born 1907), spent seventeen years as a prisoner in Stalinist labor camps. Much of this time was spent in Kolimá working within the precarious gold and coal mines within Gulag, where he endured several near death experiences. He transformed these years of personal tragedy and acute observation of others into a six series of poetic short stories, which were later published as Tales of Kolimá. Within these iconic works, Chalámov creates what he referred to as new prose; the possible prose after events such as Auschwitz, Hiroshima and Kolimá. In his essays On Prose, 1965 and On my Prose, 1971, Chalámov reflects on his body of work in the context of the literary traditions of his time. He considers the role of literature in culture, the relationship of truth to fiction, and the role of memory in his prose. This paper applies the ideas in Chalámovs essays to a reading of his prose and in doing so discusses the authors opinions, with particular emphasis on his understanding of memory.

The Abstract The main focus of the diploma thesis named "GULAG as a life experience" is on the Soviet repressive system in the era of 30's to 50's of the 20th century. There are two approaches in this thesis: the first one is concerning the narrating and memory, the other point of view is the topics reflecting in the narrations. Both, oral and written stories are used, the written ones are prevailing. In the third chapter, I deal with the topic of human memory and its relation to history and telling about past. I am posing the question concerning the relation between memory and society, memory and history, how do the people conceive their narrations, what sort of language tools and schemes of telling do they use and what the differences between oral and written narrations are. This empirically focused part of the thesis is forgone by a theoretical part dealing with the mentioned topics. All is illustrated by using examples from the life stories of survivors. The other main topic is discussed in the eighth chapter, dealing with topics often appearing in the memories of the survived people. As well as in the other part I am using here the examples of the life stories for better illustration of the explained topic. The subtopics are divided into five groups: "time and space", "death and suicide", "strategies...

“The Gulag and Soviet Society in Western Siberia, 1929-1953” examines the history of forced labour during the Stalin era in Western Siberia, or present-day Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Kemerovo Provinces. The region was a key site of Stalin-era repression, as it was home to numerous Gulag camps including Siblag, one of the longest lasting and most economically diversified of the many prison-labour camps scattered throughout the former Soviet Union. Western Siberia was also one of the main areas of exile for peasants and, later, displaced ethnic groups. The dissertation traces the seeming contradictions in the development of the Gulag by juxtaposing the very modern, bureaucratic “Gulag” as it appeared on paper, with the “Gulag” on the ground that relied heavily on informal practices, data falsification, and personal connections. The Gulag is thus emblematic of the “neo-traditional” modernization of the Soviet Union under Stalin. The dissertation also examines points of illicit and condoned interaction between the Gulag and surrounding population centres, thus challenging Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s seminal and enduring depiction of the Gulag as an isolated archipelago of concentration camps. Illicit interaction included widespread black-market activity, the smuggling of correspondence, sexual affairs, and, surprisingly, even instances of locals sneaking into the camps to use camp facilities. Condoned interaction took place at the level of local economic planning (the transfer of prisoners for help with specific projects), a striking overlap in cultural and propaganda campaigns, the contracting out of prisoners to local enterprises, and the granting of unescorted status to large numbers of prisoners, who thus had the right to move outside of the camp zones without guard. Because many of Western Siberia’s camps were located in and around major urban centres, including Novosibirsk and Tomsk, the region is important for examining issues of interaction. The dissertation draws extensively on sources from four archives in Moscow and four archives in Siberia, as well as Gulag newspapers, published and unpublished memoirs, document collections, and archival collections available in the United States. Many of these sources are under-utilized, including Communist Party documents from the local camp administrations, personal files of prisoners, and NKVD operational orders.

“The Gulag and Soviet Society in Western Siberia, 1929-1953” examines the history of forced labour during the Stalin era in Western Siberia, or present-day Novosibirsk, Tomsk and Kemerovo Provinces. The region was a key site of Stalin-era repression, as it was home to numerous Gulag camps including Siblag, one of the longest lasting and most economically diversified of the many prison-labour camps scattered throughout the former Soviet Union. Western Siberia was also one of the main areas of exile for peasants and, later, displaced ethnic groups. The dissertation traces the seeming contradictions in the development of the Gulag by juxtaposing the very modern, bureaucratic “Gulag” as it appeared on paper, with the “Gulag” on the ground that relied heavily on informal practices, data falsification, and personal connections. The Gulag is thus emblematic of the “neo-traditional” modernization of the Soviet Union under Stalin. The dissertation also examines points of illicit and condoned interaction between the Gulag and surrounding population centres, thus challenging Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn’s seminal and enduring depiction of the Gulag as an isolated archipelago of concentration camps. Illicit interaction included widespread black-market activity, the smuggling of correspondence, sexual affairs, and, surprisingly, even instances of locals sneaking into the camps to use camp facilities. Condoned interaction took place at the level of local economic planning (the transfer of prisoners for help with specific projects), a striking overlap in cultural and propaganda campaigns, the contracting out of prisoners to local enterprises, and the granting of unescorted status to large numbers of prisoners, who thus had the right to move outside of the camp zones without guard. Because many of Western Siberia’s camps were located in and around major urban centres, including Novosibirsk and Tomsk, the region is important for examining issues of interaction. The dissertation draws extensively on sources from four archives in Moscow and four archives in Siberia, as well as Gulag newspapers, published and unpublished memoirs, document collections, and archival collections available in the United States. Many of these sources are under-utilized, including Communist Party documents from the local camp administrations, personal files of prisoners, and NKVD operational orders.