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Promoting New Awareness of the Gulag: Combining the Printed Page with the Web Page

Steven Barnes, Assistant Professor, Department of History, George Mason University, and Title VIII-Supported Research Scholar, Kennan Institute; Stephanie Hurter, Project Manager, Gulag: Many Days, Many Lives, and Creative Lead, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University

Date & Time

Thursday
Dec. 1, 2005
1:30pm – 3:30pm ET

Overview

At a recent Kennan Institute talk, Steven Barnes, Assistant Professor, Department of History, George Mason University, and Title VIII-Supported Research Scholar, Kennan Institute; and Stephanie Hurter, Project Manager, Gulag: Many Days, Many Lives, and Creative Lead, Center for History and New Media, George Mason University, discussed web-based projects for promoting awareness of Gulag history. According to Barnes, the story of the Gulag and the role that it played in Soviet society is extremely complex and difficult to understand, but it is a very important part of Soviet history that people inside and outside of Russia should be aware of.

Barnes outlined his own conclusions about the Gulag from the 1930s through the 1950s, based on archival research in Moscow and in Karaganda, Kazakhstan—the site of one of the larger Gulag camps. He argued that the Gulag was a paradox. A total of 17 million people were imprisoned in Gulag camps, with as many as 5 million imprisoned at one time. While the camps were places of mass deaths (at least 1.6 million), even larger numbers of prisoners were released into society. Forced labor, starvation, and torture coexisted with welcoming ceremonies, orchestras, and folk dance troupes. Prisoners ranged from thieves and murderers, to political dissidents, to people who showed up late to work too many times.

There are many different interpretations of the Gulag, Barnes noted. Some have argued that the Gulag was developed to ensure a labor supply for Stalin's industrialization programs, or that it was a system of death camps designed to kill off enemies of the state, or that it was simply an expression of human evil thinly covered by Bolshevik ideology. According to Barnes, these conclusions are not supported by archival evidence. He argued that early Soviet leaders were ambivalent on the issue of whether or not individuals who engaged in anti-social and anti-state behaviors could ever be rehabilitated. The Gulag was designed to be a last attempt at re-educating offenders—prisoners deemed successes were released, and those deemed failures were killed. To this end, he explained, there were complex systems in place for rating the progress of each prisoner. In cases of doubt, Barnes added, the Gulag officers were expected to choose execution.

Barnes is working with the Center for History and New Media at George Mason University to develop a website on the history of the Gulag entitled "Gulag: Many Days, Many Lives." To be located at www.gulaghistory.org, the website is being designed as a companion to a traveling exhibit on the Gulag, sponsored by the U.S. National Park Service and the Gulag Museum in Perm-36, Russia, which will come to the U.S. in 2006. According to Hurter, the Internet is a useful tool for presenting historical topics because it can reach a wide audience, can store a wide array of materials and make them easily searchable, and can make use of a variety of audio and visual materials as well as text. The "Gulag: Many Days, Many Lives" exhibit will guide visitors through the stories of individuals who were imprisoned in the Gulag.

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Kennan Institute

The Kennan Institute is the premier US center for advanced research on Russia and Eurasia and the oldest and largest regional program at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. The Kennan Institute is committed to improving American understanding of Russia, Ukraine, Central Asia, the Caucasus, and the surrounding region though research and exchange.  Read more

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