Dalstroi

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Dalstroi logo since 1934

Dalstroi ( Russian Дальстро́й , dalstrɔj ) was the name of a Soviet state company and a warehouse-industrial complex in northeast Siberia in the Kolyma region, in Yakutia , on the Chukchi Peninsula and the Kamchatka Peninsula . In terms of the number of prisoners, the Dalstroi camp complex was one of the three largest in the Soviet Union, alongside those of Norilsk and Vorkuta . In terms of the territory ruled by the Dalstroi Empire, this gulag complex was the largest in the country (see map). The acronym Dalstroy originally stood for "Bauhauptverwaltung of the Far East " (Far East), from 1938 to the Far North (Russian Главное Управление строительства Дальнего Севера. Transcribed Glawnoje Uprawlenije STROI telstwa Dal newo Sewera - abbr GUSDS.).

Dalstroi was founded as a state building trust for road and industrial construction on the upper reaches of the Kolyma with resolution No. 516 of the Council for Labor and Defense of the USSR of November 13, 1931. The main administration was responsible for the supply of workers (prisoners) for the projects in Dalstroi the camp ( GULag ) of the OGPU , later the NKVD responsible. In 1938, by decree no. 260 of March 4 of the Council of People's Commissars , Dalstroi was directly subordinated to the NKVD of the USSR and renamed "Central Construction Administration for the Far North". Because of the renaming, the two terms for the main building administration of the Far East and Far North are often used synonymously in the literature . The name for the company "Dalstroi" was retained. Its head office and the central administration of the Dalstroi camps (construction administration) were located in the port city of Magadan on the Sea of ​​Okhotsk . In 1957 the state enterprise was liquidated.

history

OGPU order No. 287 / s for the establishment of SewWostLag of April 1, 1932
Gold mine at Kolyma (1934)
Dalstroi workers building a bridge on a section of Kolyma Street (1930s)
The first Dalstroi director Eduard Bersin (right) with subordinates in Magadan (1936)

Dalstroi was an extensive Gulag camp complex with a large number of individual camps of different sizes, the largest of which was the SewWostLag (aka Northeastern ITL). The number of inmates at this main Dalstroi camp was up to 190,400. In addition, Dalstroi was one of the largest state-owned mining and construction companies in the Soviet Union on a territory of around 2,200,000 km² (since 1951 by 3,000,000 km²). It was created in 1931 and primarily aimed to mine gold in the Kolyma region, but also to build the necessary infrastructure (industrial, road, urban, etc.). Right from the start, prisoners from the so-called corrective labor camps (ITL) were used under the toughest climatic conditions and constant repression. In the early 1930s, as a result, most of the camps in the region were established and placed under Dalstroi. These penal and labor camps also formed the cornerstone for most of the cities in Magadan Oblast that still exist today . The city of Magadan in particular was used as a port and transit camp for the dispatch of the convoys (prisoner squads). The supplies of prisoners came by sea from Vladivostok because of the inaccessibility of the Kolyma region and the lack of rail links . For this purpose, Dalstoi had its own fleet. Over the years, up to 200,000 prisoners and exiles worked as forced labor for the company at the same time.

The first head of Dalstroi was Eduard Bersin (1894–1938), under whose leadership the industrialization of the region was the main focus. Gold production increased sixfold under Bersin from 5,515 kg per year in 1934 to 33,360 kg per year in 1936. According to other information, gold production increased eightfold during the Bersin era. Bersin was in August 1938 during the Great Purge in the basement of the Moscow NKVD - Headquarters Lubyanka shot. He was charged with “ counter-revolutionary sabotage and pest activity” and the formation of a “ Trotskyist espionage and diversion organization” at Kolyma.

With the time of the Great Terror of 1937/38 under Josef Stalin (1879–1953) and Nikolai Jeschow (1895–1940) the focus changed. From then on, Dalstroi was under the leadership of Karp Pavlov (1895–1957), and the punishment of political prisoners had priority. This and the incorrect filling of managerial and technical posts meant that the state planning guidelines set out by the communist leadership in the five-year plans were not adhered to. Under the third head of Dalstroi, Iwan Nikischow (1894-1958), the economic successes under Bersin were to be re-established, which however could never be achieved again.

After Stalin's death in 1953, Dalstroi began to dissolve. The Dalstroi camp complex was also affected by the reorganization of the Gulag system at the beginning of the Khrushchev era. In 1957 Dalstroi was liquidated as a state company. Its parts of the company became the responsibility of the Soviet ministries for mining, road construction, mechanical engineering and forestry. The prison administration was incorporated into SewWostLag. The civil administration was transferred to Magadan Oblast, which was newly founded in 1953 in the Dalstroi area.

Dalstroi labor and special camps (selection)

Remnants of a camp at Kolyma (2004)

The following selection only takes into account the largest main camps in Dalstroi with an inmate population of over 5,000. Smaller sub-camps and the numerous so-called camp (er) points cannot be listed here. The latter were subject to constant change, as they existed for a limited time and were mobile. When one phase of construction was completed, they migrated to the next or were dismantled, so that remains of it can hardly be found. The term ITL stands for corrective labor camp (Russian исправительно-трудовой лагерь, I sprawitelno- T rudowoj L ager ). OssobLag is the abbreviation for special camps (Russian особлаг or особый лагерь, Oss obij Lag er ), that is, special camps of the MWD , in which a stricter system of serving prison terms prevailed compared to the “normal” labor camps .

Common aliases for the same camp are given after the equal sign of the official bearing name (in capital letters). These are mostly the usual acronyms of the GULag - bureaucracy - like the name of Dalstroi himself. The time of the existence of the individual camps is given in brackets. The list follows the sources from Memorial .

  • INDIGIRKA-ITL DES DALSTROI = IndigirLag, Indigirka-ITL of USWITL (1949–1958 (!))
  • ITL OF THE ALDAN ROAD BUILDING ADMINISTRATION OF DALSTROI = Aldan-ITL des Dalstroi, AldanStroi (1941–1943)
  • JANA-ITL DES DALSTROI = JanLag, ITL of the Jana mining administration, Jana-ITL of the USWITL, Jana warehouse department (1941–1956)
  • KRAFTFAHRZEUGVERKEHR-ITL DES DALSTROI = ITL for the management of motor vehicle traffic, TransLag, transport warehouse department, ITL for motor vehicle traffic, motor vehicle traffic ITL of the USWITL (1951–1953)
  • MAGADANER ITL DES DALSTROI = MagLag, Magadaner ITL of USWITL (1951–1956)
  • NORTHERN ITL DES DALSTROI = SewLag, Northern camp of USWITL (1949–1957)
  • NORTH-EASTLY ITL = SWITL, Northeast corrective labor camp, SewWostLag, corrective labor camp of Dalstroi (1934–1952)
  • OMSUKTSCHAN-ITL DES DALSTROI = Omsuktschan-Lagerabteilung, Omsuktschan-ITL der USWITL, OmsuktschanLag (1951–1956)
  • SOUTHWEST ITL DES DALSTROI = Southwest camp department, JusLag, Southwest camp department of USWITL (1949–1955)
  • TENKA-ITL DES DALSTROI = TenLag, Tenka-ITL des USWITL (1949–1956)
  • TRANSIT WAREHOUSE WANINO = Wanino-ITL (1952–1954)
  • TSCHAUN-ITL DES DALSTROI = TschaunLag, ITL of the administration PF 14 (1951–1953)
  • TSCHAUN-TSCHUKTSCHEN-ITL DES DALSTROI = TschaunTschukotLag, Tschaun-Tschuktschen-ITL of the USWITL (1949–1957)
  • TSCHUKTSCHEN-ITL DES DALSTROI = ITL des TschukotStroi, TschukotStroiLag, Tschuktschen-ITL der USWITL, warehouse department of the TschukotStroi (1949–1956)
  • UFERLAGER = BerLag , special camp No. 5, OssobLag No. 5, OssobLag des Dalstroi (1948–1954)
  • WANINO-ITL DES DALSTROI = WaninLag, ITL and transshipment base in Wanino Bay, Wanino des Dalstroi transit camp (1951–1953)
  • WESTERN ITL OF DALSTROI = SapLag, Western GPU and ITL, Western ITL of USWITL (1949–1956)
  • VLADIVOSTOK TRANSIT DEPARTMENT OF DALSTROI = WladPerPunkt, Vladivostok District (1940–1941)

Head of Dalstroi

  • 1932–1937: Eduard Petrowitsch Bersin
  • 1937–1939: Karp Alexandrowitsch Pavlov
  • 1939–1948: Iwan Fjodorowitsch Nikischow
  • 1948–1950: Ivan Grigoryevich Petrenko
  • 1951–1956: Iwan Lukitsch Mitrakow
  • 1956–1957: Yuri Weniaminowitsch Tschugujew

  • The chekist and first director Eduard Bersin (1935)

Prominent inmates in Dalstroi camps

literature

  • Varlam Shalamov : Through the Snow - Tales from Kolyma. Volume 1, Matthes & Seitz, Berlin 2011, ISBN 978-3-88221-600-4 .
  • Anne Applebaum : The Gulag. Siedler Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-88680-642-1 .
  • Ivan Panikarov: Kolyma. Facts and figures. In: Eastern Europe . 57th vol., No. 6, 2007, pp. 267-283.
  • Mirjam Sprau: Gold and Forced Labor. The Dal'stroy camp complex. In: Eastern Europe. 58th vol., No. 2, 2008, pp. 65-79.

Web links

Commons : Dalstroj  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Anne Applebaum: The Gulag. Siedler Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-88680-642-1 , p. 537.
  2. ^ Anne Applebaum: The Gulag. Siedler Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-88680-642-1 , p. 122.
  3. ↑ BUILDING MANAGEMENT FOR THE FAR NORTH on the website of Memorial / Germany . Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  4. ↑ BUILDING MANAGEMENT FOR THE FAR NORTH on the website of Memorial / Germany . Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  5. ↑ BUILDING MANAGEMENT FOR THE FAR NORTH on the website of Memorial / Germany . Retrieved March 10, 2014.
  6. ^ Anne Applebaum: The Gulag. Siedler Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-88680-642-1 , p. 151.
  7. ↑ Overview map of the camps of the Far East of the RSFSR on the website of Memorial / Germany . Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  8. ^ Anne Applebaum: The Gulag. Siedler Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-88680-642-1 , p. 196 ff.
  9. ^ David Nordlander: Magadan and the Economic History of Dalstroi in the 1930s. Page 6. Accessed February 1, 2014.
  10. ^ Anne Applebaum: The Gulag. Siedler Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-88680-642-1 , p. 125.
  11. ^ Anne Applebaum: The Gulag. Siedler Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-88680-642-1 , p. 136.
  12. ^ Anne Applebaum: The Gulag. Siedler Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-88680-642-1 , p. 537.
  13. ^ Structure and structure of the camp entries on the Memorial / Germany website . Retrieved March 26, 2014.
  14. ^ Anne Applebaum: The Gulag. Siedler Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-88680-642-1 , pp. 122–126, 135 f., 254
  15. ^ Pavlov, Karp Aleksandrovich. Biography on Generals.dk. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  16. ↑ Nikishov, Ivan Fedorovich. Biography on Generals.dk. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  17. ^ Anne Applebaum: The Gulag. Siedler Verlag, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-88680-642-1 , p. 295 ff., 466 ff.
  18. ↑ Petrenko, Ivan Grigorevich. Biography on Generals.dk. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
  19. ^ Peter Demant , biography on the website of Memorial / Germany . Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  20. ^ Josef Eisenberger , biography on the website of Memorial / Germany . Retrieved November 9, 2016.
  21. ↑ Jewgenija Semjonowna Ginsburg , biography on the website of Memorial / Germany . Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  22. ^ Trude Richter , biography on the website of Memorial / Germany . Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  23. ^ Warlam Tichonowitsch Schalamow , biography on the website of Memorial / Germany . Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  24. ↑ Thomas Sgovio , biography on the website of Memorial / Germany . Retrieved March 22, 2014.
  25. ^ Semjon Samuilowitsch Wilenski , biography on the website of Memorial / Germany . Retrieved November 8, 2016.