One such rebellion! Uprising of the Gulag prisoners

Soviet labor camps. A real hell on earth through which tens of millions of unfortunates have passed. It would seem that in the inhumane conditions that prevailed there, some rebellions should break out every now and then. None of these things! During Stalin's lifetime, the prisoners rioted

Indeed, historians know of only one case when an organized group of labor camps took up arms. In addition, it all started with a simple rumor…

It was October 1941, and the bloody war between the Soviet Union and the Third Reich had been raging for four months now. It was then that a fateful rumor appeared in the Lesoried labor camp, part of the complex of new Vorkuta camps in the Komi Republic.

Word was spreading word of mouth that due to the constant advances of the Germans, the camp authorities were decisive when necessary shoot everyone political prisoners! This was to apply even to those who had served their sentences, and now were freelance labor camp workers. And although the information was bogus , however, some of the labor camps - knowing the ease with which the NKVD was able to murder people - decided to start a revolt.

Who headed them? Was it one of the prisoners, as common sense would indicate? No way! The ringleader was ... Mark Andreyevich Rietiunin, the commander of the “Lesoried” camp. He, too, was once convicted of "counter-revolutionary" activities, and now, believing the rumor, he would rather die with a gun in his hand than be meekly slaughtered like a sheep.

Gulag prisoners at work ... No wonder they rioted. Strange just once!

Unfortunately, little is known about the preparations for the rebellion made by Rietiunin and his companions. We can only quote Anne Applebaum, who in the book "The Gulag" stated: from the events that followed […] that it was carefully prepared. What is certain, however, is that at the beginning of December 1941 there were 202 men at the "camp point", 108 of whom were political prisoners, and it was among them that the future rebels were recruited.

From rumors to rebellion

The action itself began on Saturday, January 24, 1942. The date was not chosen by chance. It was on that day that the bath of the camp guards fell . The Chinese Liu Fa, who was in charge of the bathhouse, was initiated into the whole plot. He informed his "clients" that his tabernacle would only be open until 5pm, and therefore they should hurry up. As a result, most of the guards went there simultaneously.

Ust'-Usa:in the photo and on today's map of Russia.

This was what Liu Fa was waiting for. While ignorant NKVD men were enjoying their hot bath, the Chinese barricaded the door, and the rest of the rebels set about disarming the handful of guards who were staying at their posts.

Three of them resisted, but it didn't do much. One of the labor campers killed one, the other was wounded, and the third had their weapons taken. In total, the prisoners acquired twelve rifles and four revolvers.

After that, the guards were locked in a vegetable shed while the rebels broke into the camp's warehouse, where Rietiunin had accumulated a large supply of winter clothing in advance (coats, boots, jackets, puffer jackets, trousers, hats and gloves).

Now is the time to make a difficult decision:what next? Some of the just liberated prisoners - about 60 - who did not want to take part in the rebellion, simply escaped into the woods, the rest, led by Marek Andreevich, headed for the town of Ust'-Usa, several kilometers away.

Map of the Soviet Union with marked labor camps. Their number is the best proof of the oppressiveness of the communists (author:Antonu; license CC ASA 3.0).

After reaching the destination, they divided into two groups. The first one attacked the prison, the second one at the same time hit the post office . The operation, carried out by surprise, was a complete success. The attackers captured the arrest and released 38 inmates, 12 of whom joined the ranks of the rebels. The post office building also fell into the hands of the labor camps.

Things get complicated…

These were, however, nice bad beginnings. After the first shock, the people of Ust'-Usa began to resist tough. Several people barricaded themselves at the local militia station and, using the weapons located there, began exchanging fire with the attackers. Others organized the defense of the local airport where two planes were stationed.

In addition, one of the policemen managed to reach the neighboring camppoint Pola-Koria on horseback, where he reported what was happening in Ust'-Usie. Nevertheless, his explanations were so vague that the camp commander came to the conclusion that the town had been attacked by ... the Germans. Nevertheless, he sent 15 of his men to the rescue.

Meanwhile, a fierce fight was taking place in Ust'-Usie between the rebels and the residents defending the militia station. The attackers managed to capture and disarm several defenders, but they were unable to capture the building itself.

After all-night battles, which cost them nine killed, one wounded, and as many as 40 taken prisoner, Rietiunin decided to change tactics.

The insurgents abandoned further assault attempts and set off to "conquer" the neighboring town of Kożwy. However, they did not know about a little detail . Preventive authorities of Ust'-Usa, fearing an attack by German paratroopers, hid a radio station in a nearby forest, through which they were now desperately calling for help.

Meanwhile, Mark Andreevich and his men, almost without a fight, seized a large kolkhoz located near the city. It is true that they did not convince the kolkhoz workers to join the rebellion, but at the local post office they managed to receive a message in plain text about the impending militia reinforcements to end the entire "counter-revolutionary event".

A sad end

In this situation, they had no choice but to leave the main road and seek refuge in the tundra. They found it nearby - on a reindeer farm . The pursuit, however, was not going to give up! At dawn on January 28, the entire area was surrounded and a regular all-day battle ensued. Only a little over thirty rebels survived the encirclement.

A typical barrack in a labor camp. Well, it was not an exclusive hotel (photo from the Occupation Museum in Latvia, license CC ASA 3.0; photo Marcin Szala).

They hid in a hunting lodge in the nearby mountains, some of them decided to fight to the last bullet, others decided to look for happiness in the forests. For both the former and the latter, fate was not very kind. Those who stayed on the spot were beaten to the feet, and the fugitives were ruthlessly hunted down and caught by the police. Rietiunin and several other prisoners committed suicide on January 31 after being surrounded by pursuit.

However, this is not the end of this sad story. The captured labor camps - 49 in total - were tortured and finally executed in August 1942. In turn, Rietiunin himself - as he writes in his book "Poisoned Peace" by Gregor Dallas - declared a fascist wishing to ally with Nazi Germany.

The concerned communist leaders wanted to prevent such "incidents" at all costs. Therefore, they took drastic preventive measures. In the second half of August 1942, the commanders of all labor camps received a memorandum on the intensification of counter-revolutionary activity in the NKVD correctional labor camps. Its addressees were ordered to get rid of counter-revolutionary and anti-Soviet elements within two weeks. Of course, the aftermath of the order was a veritable witch-hunt. It resulted in - as the author of the Gulag writes - the "disclosure" of a large number of alleged conspiracy organizations:from the Irkutsk "People's Liberation Committee" to the "Russian Association of Retaliation in Bolsheviks", unmasked in Omsk.

The report summarizing the entire action stated that in the years 1941-1944, 603 anti-state and terrorist-subversive groups were detected in the camps, with a total of 4,640 participants.

The repression after the suppression of the rebellion turned the rumor sucked from the finger into reality and cost the lives of hundreds of innocent people.

Needless to say, the vast majority of these 4,640 unfortunates had no contact with the activities they were accused of. Many were sentenced to death, and thus the rumor sucked from the finger turned into the truth ...