A Picture Of The Gulag Labor Camps - 916 Words

â€Å"In keeping silent about evil, in burying it so deep within us that no sign of it appears on the surface, we are implanting it, and it will rise up a thousand fold in the future. When we neither punish nor reproach evildoers, we are not simply protecting their trivial old age, we are thereby ripping the foundations of justice from beneath new generations.† Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn said in his impactful narrative that paints a picture of the Gulag labor camps in Soviet Russia through personal experience, eyewitness testimony and interviews, and primary research material. Solzhenitsyn is describing the silence that survivors of the Gulag were forced to exhibit after staring terror and fear directly in the face during their time in the Gulag. The silence Solzhenitsyn is describing, is claimed to be one of the reason the Gulag is often not given the attention in history books and in the forefront of our minds that the Gulag deserves. The Gulag is believed to be one of the most horrible and inhuman acts of the 20th century, yet western society tends to shy away from mentioning the Gulag when discussing tragedy. This paper will examine historians’ views on the Gulag and why it has been overlooked in history as the horrible tragedy it was and the impact that this silence has had, not only on the survivors, but also the impact it has had on Russia and its society as a whole. II. Topic The Gulag translates from Russian to mean â€Å"main camp administration.† The Gulag was a governmentShow MoreRelatedJoseph Stalin Genocide1421 Words   |  6 PagesJoseph Stalin’s Genocide: 50 Million Deaths From 1919 to 1953 when Stalin died about 50 million lives were taken in the Gulags of Russia (â€Å"Videofact†). In total there were 53 Gulags and 423 labor camps (â€Å"Gulag†).   Stalin was considered one of the most feared dictators because of his secret police and the Gulags. 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