Following the death of Stalin, a set of reforms were made in “de-stalinizing” the Soviet Union. Among these key reforms was the release of prisoners from camps administered by the GULAG. Lavrentii Beria was named minister of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and State Security (MVD) in 1953 and on March 26, Beria sent the […]
Tag: Gulag
Freedom from the Gulags
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After Stalin’s death on March 5, 1953, a lot of changes would soon be occurring in the Soviet Union; one of them being the De-Stalination of the Gulags. On March 27, 1953, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR issued an amnesty to release prisoners that fall under the following: “persons sentenced for … Continue reading Freedom from the Gulags
Prisoners of War and “de-Stalinization”
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Last week, I discussed the return of soldiers back into the normalcy of everyday life in Russia. More specifically, the troubles they had to regain that normalcy that they lost by going into war. This week I was interested in exploring another avenue of people returning to society. That being prisoners of the Soviet Union … Continue reading “Prisoners of War and “de-Stalinization””
The Not So Great Terror
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The red in the Soviet flag is supposed to symbolize the blood spilled by the peasants and workers in the 1917 revolution. Ironically, these same people continued to spill their blood through out the entire lifetime of the USSR through various purges, wars, and famines. The first of these numerous purges (and there will […]
The Divine Penitentiary
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First post for 20th Century Russia
