Review: Gulag: Many Days, Many Lives

When I was in high school, I learned a lot about Russian history.  I couldn’t tell you much about South American or African history, but I remember spending countless hours learning about the rise of Stalin, WWII and trying to decipher Marx and Engels Communist Manifesto.  I cannot begin to fathom how scary the Cold War was, but my father tells me that “nuclear bomb drills” were common during the 1960’s, and when the “drill” would go off in the schools, the kids would get out of their chairs and hide under their desks.  I don’t think sitting under a desk is going to save anyone from a nuclear weapon, but you get the point…up until the fall of the Communism, tensions between the United States and the Russians were turbulent.  I have a pretty good understanding of how Americans felt about Communism and the Russians, but how did many of the people living in Russia feel?  Were they scared?  Did they find Communism oppressive?

Gulag: Many Days, Many Lives, is an online exhibit that features the varied experiences of those who lived in the Soviet Union and the Gulag, the Soviet prison camp system, between 1917 and 1988.  Many Days, Many Lives is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to truly understand what life was like in Communist Russia.  The site includes prisoner biographies, audio and video clips, a primary source archive, and even a recreation of the Gulag prison camp.  In addition, the site also included a changing online forum, as well as a featured exhibit.  I was particularly interested in the online forum: Episodes in Gulag History, which featured a question and answer session with Lynne Viola, author of The Unknown Gulag: The Lost World’s of Stalin’s Special Settlements.  The book looks at the lives of millions of Russian peasants who were exiled to Siberia in 1930, and the Russian government’s attempt to eliminate the peasants, or “kulaks” as a class.  The site also included a teaching resources with a downloadable curriculum, and a bibliography that is useful for looking up additional sources.  Unfortunately, the question and answer session with the author was postponed to the fall.  I think the discussions with the author will certainly enhance this aspect of the site.

I also particularly enjoyed the featured online exhibit, Days and Lives.  Days and Livesprovdes a first hand account of the experiences of prisoner Alexander Dolgun, a U.S. citizen who was working at the embassy in Moscow.  He was arrested in 948 because the Russian government considered his “dangerous” and he remained in prison for over 10 years.  The exhibit contains videos, pictures, brief but in-depth descriptions of how Soviet police treated citizens, the arrest and interrogation process, interviews with prisoners, and more.  Days and Livesis an excellent online exhibit that highlights the plight and hardships of those who passed through the Gulag. 

Gulag: Many Days, Many Lives, is an excellent resource for anyone who wants to understand Communist Russia and the Soviet Prison system.  Over 18 million people passed through the Gulag, all with different experiences.  This exhibit finally gives those people a voice.

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