Many important periods of time have been forgotten throughout history; some are lost through irrelevance, while others are hidden by brute force.

The Gulag Archipelago is an immense three volume literary masterpiece describing a intensely dark period of Russian and Eastern European history in early part of the 20th century.

It’s almost inconceivable that between 10-40 million people, mostly Russian citizens, perished through a state organized and brutal gulag system.  Volume 1 focuses on the background of imprisonment and arrests, through the accounts of victims and Solzhenitsyn (the author) himself.  Exceptionally detailed, each account portrays a system designed to create total loyalty to a single leader, instill fear in those with thoughts and intentions contrary to the objectives and plans of the state, and maybe most importantly, create a massive workforce of slave labor.

Intense?  Definitely.  But relevant? Consider the implications:

  • Population.  The population of Russia is just 140M people.  Had conservative estimation of 10M not perished in early 19th century, by how many multiples could the current population of Russia actually increased… 300M… 500M?
  • Family and friends.  The massive arrests of people considered suspicious to the state created vacuum of fathers, mothers and children in such a way that it disrupted normal family life while the arrested waited for a trial or were finishing off a sentence.  As a result, dysfunctional and broken homes were not uncommon for generations to come in the former Soviet Unions.
  • Leadership and creative thinking. After serving 10 years (average sentence) in a prison or hard labor camp, what could once expect to contribute and even achieve from himself after being released into a so called ‘normal’ society?

What’s most amazing is that most of us in Western countries have no clue of the reality that played out in the former Soviet Union during these times, especially the shear scale of causalities and bureaucracy used to keep it hidden.

Not ready for the first volume!?  Read a quick overview from the Online Gulag Museum here.

Looking for the real thing? Check it out here.