The Unknown Gulag is the story of the liquidation of the Kulaks - the stripping of an entire class from their homes, live and possessions – and the new ‘special settlements’ they were forced to build from scratch while working as forced labour. The liquidation occurred in 1930s Russia when a group of peasant farmers and their families, totalling nearly two million, were deemed to be 'rural capitalists' and enemies of the state, often simply for having the trappings of success, no matter how limited.
Viola’s introduction puts the special settlements in context within the development of the gulag system, showing how they were the first of Stalin’s new forced labour camps. She also tackles the vagaries of what constituted a kulak, explaining that even your clothing could doom you if it reflected the crude stereotype of the ‘enemy’ kulak.
The first chapter deals with the policy of liquidation, revealing that the assaults the kulaks suffered and their subsequent resettlement wasn’t even the result of a coherent plan. Instead they were targeted for expulsion from their communities during the drive to collectivization and the question of what to do with them after developed ‘on the fly’. Viola then takes us through the process of banishment itself. Chaos, overzealousness, short sightedness and inhumanity characterised it all. Throughout there is detail on what was officially supposed to happen and then what in reality did occur. Many kulaks found themselves living in cramped, sparse barracks, but any empty building, even old churches, would do. Hunger was rife as food supplies were short. Many died and illness followed.
It was only at this point, with over half a million having been forcibly moved, did the idea of ‘special settlements’ evolve, carved out of virgin territory on land humans had refused to settle for centuries. They were to be neither guarded camps nor free villages, but a limbo inbetween overseen by a single commandant. The settlements often had to be hacked by hand out of forest by workers already drained through the manual labour they had been sent to provide. Many kulaks went into the logging industry in Russia’s empty north and east. They even had to pay tax for the privilege.
While part one is a detailed look at the policies and actions of the liquidation and the origins of the special settlements, part two (of two) is an examination of what forms they took, how they developed through bureaucratic power struggles and further purges, the life of commandants and children, the takeover by the secret police and the famines. The content is grim reading, but not exceedingly so and while Viola does enough to convey the horror she neither revels or drowns you in it. Finally, there is an examination of the settlements during the Second World War and beyond, when hundreds of thousands were given back their rights for having been 'reforged' by war into good citizens, but not until half a million – a quarter of those liquidised - had died.
The tone is academic and erudite throughout and, although there is repetition from chapter to chapter, it’s just enough to reinforce pertinent points rather than being padding. The text is also easy to read, with each chapter broken down into headed, almost bite-sized sections, perfect for students. In contrast, the author assumes that the reader has some knowledge of the period and, while The Unknown Gulag can be read ‘first’, it is best studied once someone has a basic understanding of Stalinist Russia. Support is well provided via a glossary, appendices, a guide to the changing regional structure and organs of government and voluminous notes. Viola makes good use of primary testimony throughout, frequently bringing a process which dealt with millions of people down to a personal level, although I would have preferred more of these valuable contributions and there is a tendency to focus on the actions of those in charge over the experiences of those 'on the ground'.
Overall this is a well researched and finely written work on a little known subject, bringing light onto a story of gross inhumanity where the worst excesses of bureaucratic fantasy clashed with lethal reality.
