Gulag Town, Company Town: Forced Labor and Its Legacy in Vorkuta (The Yale-Hoover Series on Stalin, Stalinism, and the Cold War)

This insightful volume offers a radical reassessment of the infamous “Gulag Archipelago” by exploring the history of Vorkuta, an arctic coal-mining outpost originally established in the 1930s as a prison camp complex. Author Alan Barenberg’s eye-opening study reveals Vorkuta as an active urban center with a substantial nonprisoner population where the borders separating camp and city were contested and permeable, enabling prisoners to establish social connections that would eventually aid them in their transitions to civilian life. With this book, Barenberg makes an important historical contribution to our understanding of forced labor in the Soviet Union and its enduring legacy. The Notorious Soviet Gulag Gets A Radical Reinterpretation In This Remarkable Work Of Cutting-edge History. By Examining The History Of Vorkuta, An Arctic Coal-mining Outpost Established In The 1930s As A Prison Camp Complex, Alan Barenberg's Insightful Study Tests The Idea That The Gulag Was An 'archipelago' Separated From Soviet Society At Large--cover. Introduction -- From The Margins To The Home Front: Vorkuta As An Outpost -- Saving Leningrad, Defining Vorkuta: A Camp And A City At War -- In Search Of Normalcy: Vorkuta During Postwar Stalinism -- Vorkuta In Crisis: Reform And Its Consequences -- The Second Birth Of Vorkuta: Forging The Company Town -- From Prisoners To Citizens? Ex-prisoners And The Transformation Of Vorkuta -- Epilogue. Alan Barenberg. Includes Bibliographical References (pages 279-322) And Index. Text In English. Contents 7 Acknowledgments 9 List of Abbreviations and Glossary 14 Map 16 Introduction 17 1. From the Margins to the Home Front: Vorkuta as an Outpost 31 2. Saving Leningrad, Defining Vorkuta: A Camp and City at War 72 3. In Search of “Normalcy”: Vorkuta During Postwar Stalinism 104 4. Vorkuta in Crisis: Reform and Its Consequences 136 5. The “Second Birth” of Vorkuta: Forging the Company Town 177 6. From Prisoners to Citizens? Ex-Prisoners and the Transformation of Vorkuta 214 Epilogue 247 Appendix A: Prisoner Data Set 267 Appendix B: Non-Prisoner Data Set 287 Appendix C: Production Data Set 293 Notes 295 Index 339