Chapter 85 Chapter 2 The ruler changed hands, and the islands are still at -1

It should be said that the special labor camp is a proud work of Stalin's late thought.After many explorations in education reform and punishment, this mature masterpiece was finally produced.This is an organization that is monotonous, dismembered by ruthless torture, and numbered prisoners; psychologically, it has long been separated from the matrix of the motherland; it has only an entrance but no exit; what it swallows is only the enemy, and what it sends out is only itself Produce wealth and corpses.We cannot even imagine how much pain the designer of the "visionary architect" would have felt if he had seen his own great system now bankrupt.In fact, the system had already started to vibrate before he was alive, sparks appeared in some places, and cracks appeared everywhere.But, it seems, he didn't know about it, because people were afraid to report it to him out of prudence.The system of the special labor camp was inert at first, it was sluggish, and tended to remain stable; however, its internal temperature was rising rapidly, reaching the state of volcanic lava within a few years.If the "big fighter" lived another year or a half, it would be impossible to hide these small explosions from him any more. Then, this would inevitably add another heavy burden to his old and exhausted mind, and he had to No new choices are made.Either abandon this proud idea and reorganize the various labor camps, or, on the contrary, systematically shoot all the tens of thousands of prisoners who are arranged in alphabetical order, so that the idea can be consummated.

However, this "big thinker" died a little earlier amidst people's crying.And, not long after his death, he seized his old partner by his stiffening hand--then ruddy, energetic, determined, and in charge of the widest, most intricate, and most difficult internal affairs. Minister Beria, and pulled him to the ground with a thud, and dragged him away. The death of the head of the Gulag Islands has catastrophically accelerated the collapse of the "special labor camp" system. (What a serious and irreparable historical error! How can you turn out the internal organs of the minister who is in charge of the most secret affairs? How can you smear asphalt on the blue epaulettes?!)

The greatest invention of twentieth-century labor camp thought - the bib was hastily torn off, thrown away and forgotten!This alone deprived the special labor camp of its strict uniformity, not to mention the removal of the iron grilles on the windows of the work sheds and the removal of the locks on the doors!In this way, the special labor camp completely loses its lovely prison characteristics that distinguish it from ordinary labor camps. (The matter of dismantling the iron grille may have been done too hastily. But according to the situation at the time, I really dare not neglect it, and I must break with the past practice!) No matter how unfortunate, the stone masonry of Ekbastus Prison-a reinforced control shed (it once withstood the siege of rioters!) has now been officially and completely dismantled...Since the people in the special labor camps have been released in an instant, what do we need it for?Yes, all of a sudden the Austrians, the Hungarians, the Poles, the Romanians were released, no matter how nasty they were, and it didn't matter if they were sentenced to fifteen or twenty-five years.This practice naturally greatly reduced the weight of the verdict in the eyes of the prisoners.Communication restrictions that used to make prisoners in special labor camps feel as if they were being buried alive are now being lifted, and family visits are even allowed.interview!Even mentioning it is scary: interview!  … (Even Camp Kenjill, where the riots took place, has now built some small audience rooms.) The unstoppable liberalism that overwhelmed the special labor camps of the recent past even allowed prisoners to grow their hair long (so much so that the kitchen aluminum plates started to go missing: prisoners stole aluminum plates to remake combs).Now prisoners do not need the internal circulation coupons in the special labor camps, do not open personal accounts, can directly hold the national currency, and can buy things with cash like free people outside.

They have thoughtlessly and thoughtlessly destroyed the institutions they have depended on for survival and have painstakingly built over decades. So, are the inmates, who will not let them go, somewhat restrained because of this magnanimous policy?No!Quite the opposite!They have fully exposed their depravity and ingratitude when they have learned to use a fundamentally inaccurate, embarrassing, meaningless term - "Beria elements".Now, as long as there is something unsatisfactory, the criminals will use this word to insult those sincere and kind guards, hard-hearted life administrators, and labor reform and education chiefs who care about them.This title not only hurt and chilled these "practical workers", but it even contained a danger shortly after Beria's downfall: someone might use it as a basis for condemning you.

Therefore, one of the directors of the Kenjill camp (by which time Kenjill had cleared the rioters and added some prisoners from Ekbastuz) was once obliged to say from the pulpit: "Boys! !" (In the short period of 1954-1956, they thought it was okay to address prisoners as "boys.") You use the term Beriars a lot.This makes managers and guards feel wronged.I would like to ask you not to call me that in the future. "Responding to his request, the little Vlasov who spoke at the time replied: "It's only been called for a few months, and you feel wronged, but for eighteen years we have removed the name of fascist from your guards. I have never heard of anything other than Fa.Are we not wronged? "The major immediately agreed: from now on, it is forbidden to call him a "fascist". This can be regarded as an equivalent exchange."

After all these destructive reforms with poor results, it can be said that the "chronological history" of special labor camps came to an end in 1954, and thereafter it was no different from ordinary labor camps. , "During the period from 1954 to 1956, there was a period of preferential treatment throughout the chaotic Gulag Islands, which was an unprecedented period of leniency; if the ordinary detention centers in the mid-twenties were not included, Perhaps this was the freest period in the history of the Gulag Archipelago. In order for liberalism to develop unrestrictedly in the labor camps, order after order and inspectors competed with each other with great effort.Women are no longer forced to do wood labor.It is now recognized that logging labor is too heavy for women (although the experience of the last thirty years has shown that it is not at all heavy).Early parole has been restored for those who have served two-thirds of their sentences.Money is now found in all the labor camps, so prisoners flock to the commissary.These canteens don't have any reasonable restrictions.In fact, the general custody system has been relaxed, so what is the use of restricting shopping, the prisoners can use the cash to buy things in the town shop.Radios were installed in all the sheds, newspapers were ordered, wall newspapers were set up, and each labor brigade appointed propaganda and agitators.In addition, comrade preachers (colons!) are often called to the labor camps to give various reports to the prisoners (even about how Alexey Tolstoy distorted history), but the officers have to call It is not so simple for everyone to go to the auditorium to listen to the report: now you can't use sticks to drive people away, you must use persuasion or other indirect methods of exerting influence.Moreover, the prisoners who were reluctantly summoned did not listen carefully to the words on the stage, but buzzed about their own affairs below.Prisoners are now allowed to subscribe to public bonds, but no one is interested except the Legitimists.Therefore, the educators had to drag everyone's hand to the subscription form in order to squeeze even ten rubles out of them (this was the ruble in Khrushchev's time).Every Sunday, it also organizes cultural and entertainment joint performances in the men's and women's camps.People are so happy to watch this kind of show, some people even buy ties and wear them.

At the same time, much of the essence of the Gulag archipelago was revived, with a renewed emphasis on the selflessness and initiative on which the construction of the Grand Canal rested.The "Activist Conference" was organized. There are no groups such as education, production, recreational activities, and life management under it. It is very similar to the grassroots trade union committee in a factory; struggle.The "Comrade Judgment Council" was rebuilt, and its functions and powers were: to criticize and punish those who made mistakes, and to ask the leaders to strengthen their control, until it suggested that the authorities should not apply the "two-thirds of the sentence" regulations to the offender.

These measures have all been effective tools in the hands of the camp authorities in the past, but only in "slaughter" camps that have not seen special camps and labor camps that have not been trained in riots.It's different here now.Simple: the first "Congress of Activists" president was "slaughtered" (in ex-Gill), the second was beaten.As a result, no one dared to go to activist meetings anymore. (The former Navy Lieutenant Colonel Burkovsky was in the activist meeting at this time. He was very conscious and principled in his work, but he was often threatened by knives and was very cautious. meetings to hear criticism of their behavior.)

The relentless crackdown on liberalism made the camp system increasingly impotent.The so-called "Light Control Labor Camp" was established, (such a point was also established in Kengil!) The isolation area here is actually just a place to sleep, because no one will escort you when you go to work, and the walking route and departure time are determined by Take control by yourself (everyone try to leave early and come back later), every Sunday, one-third of the people can leave the camp for a walk in the city in the morning and afternoon, and only one-third of the people can’t enjoy this the right to walk.

Not everywhere is so loose.There are still some punitive labor camps.For example, the "All-Soviet Punishment Battalion" in Anddjoba on the outskirts of Bratsk is one of them, and Captain Mishin, who was originally in Ozerlag with blood on his hands, was here.In the summer of 1955 about 400 disciplined prisoners (including Tenno) were held here.Even here, however, the masters of the ghetto were no longer guards but prisoners. Readers are invited to think about it for the rulers of the labor camps: Is it possible to work under such conditions?What else can be expected to achieve? In 1962, when I went to Siberia, I met a traveling companion who was an officer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.He described the situation in the labor camps in the period before 1954 as follows: "Total indulgence! Anyone who doesn't want to work doesn't go. The prisoners even paid for the TV set themselves!" He briefly commented on this one. The impression of the period was extremely unpleasant.

Because if the educator has no whip behind his back, no barracks, no starvation hierarchy, but stands in front of the prisoner as a supplicant, nothing good will come of it. But all this seems not enough!The Gulag Islands have also been hit by the siege phase of so-called "internment outside the camps."According to this method, prisoners can live completely outside the camp area, buy their own houses, or settle down, and their wages are paid to themselves like free workers (no camp fees, guard fees, labor camp fees, administrative management fees, etc. will be deducted. ).The relationship between these prisoners and the labor camp is limited to reporting every two weeks. This is the end! ... the end of the world, or the end of the Gulag Islands, or both!Yet the judiciary actually praised this "detention outside the camp" as the most humane and latest invention of the communist system. It seems that after these blows, the only way out is to disband the labor camps.That would mean destroying the great Gulag Archipelago; destroying hundreds of thousands of "practical workers" and their wives, children, and livestock, rendering their years of service, titles, and hard, irreproachable work all worthless. Not worth a penny! Even this process seems to have begun: a number of people called the "Supreme Council of Soviets", or simply "Unloading Committees", came to the camps.As soon as these people came, they "kicked off" the leaders of the labor camp, held a meeting directly in the shed of the camp headquarters, and issued release certificates, and issued them so casually and irresponsibly, just like issuing arrest warrants back then. All classes of "practice workers" are threatened with doom.Something must be done to cope with this situation!There should be a struggle! In the Soviet Union, any major social event could have only two fates: either it was silenced, or it was fabricated and distorted.I do not know of a single major domestic event that has escaped either of these fates. The same is true for the entire existence of the Gulag Archipelago.Most of the time it is never mentioned, and if it is mentioned sometimes, it is a lie.The same is true with regard to the construction of the Grand Canal and the "burden unloading committee" in 1956. With regard to these "committees", we ourselves have exaggerated it out of emotion, despite the lack of press noise and objective need.Yes, how can you not be moved?You know, for many years we have been used to even defense lawyers attacking us, and now it is the attorney general who is defending us!How we longed for a life of freedom, we felt that we had begun some kind of new life outside the prison, and we saw this in the changes in the labor camps.At this moment, a miraculous pseudo-committee with full powers was sent, which called people one by one, and within ten minutes of talking, immediately handed him a train ticket and an identity card (some people even got it in Moscow. Proof of settlement)!In the face of such a situation, what other sound could arise from the breasts of our terribly weak prisoners, from our hoarse throats, which are often caught by the cold, but praise? but.If we can restrain our heart that was beating violently in order to stuff the rags into the travel bag in a hurry, and stand a little higher, we will naturally think: Is this how the atrocities of Stalin should end?Shouldn't the representatives of this committee stand at the front of the line, take off their hats, and say something like this to everyone? "Brothers! The Supreme Soviet sent us to apologize to you. Please forgive me. You have committed no crimes, and you have been tortured here for years, decades, while we hang crystal chandeliers. We met in a luxurious hall without thinking of you once. We tamely approved every inhuman order of the fire-eating demon king, and we are complicit in his murder. Please accept our belatedness if you can. Now, the door is open. You are free! We have sent a plane, and it is parked there, with medicines, food, and winter clothes for your use. There is also a doctor on board." Although these two situations are the same as release.But the method of release is different, and its meaning is completely different.What the current "burden unloading committee" is doing is nothing more than the work of a careful cleaner. It is carefully cleaning up the dirty things that Stalin vomited out, that's all.Here the moral basis of a new social life is not established. Now, let me quote A? Skripnikova's insights on this issue.I totally agree with her opinion.One by one (again, isolated from each other!) the prisoners were called to the committee office.Several questions were asked about his case.These questions are politely and well-intentioned, but the general tendency is to make the prisoner (not the Supreme Soviet, but the unfortunate prisoner!) obliged to admit his guilt.He should be silent, he should bow his head, he should be in the place of the forgiven, not the forgiver!That is to say: people are now trying to use freedom as a bait to get from prisoners what they could not get out of torture in the past.why?This is important: care must be taken when returning prisoners to the outside world; at the same time, the record of the Commission can be submitted to history to show that those who go to prison are basically guilty, and the brutality that some people strive to portray The lawless and lawless things never happened.In addition, there may be a small financial calculation-since it is not to restore the reputation, there is no need to issue rehabilitative compensation.Interpreting the release of prisoners in this way neither destroys the camp system itself nor hinders the replenishment of the camps with new prisoners (this replenishment was never interrupted even in 1956 and 1957) ), without any obligation to release them. What about those who, out of some inexplicable pride, refuse to admit before the committee that they have made a mistake?These people were then detained in labor camps.The number of such people is not small. (Women who refused to confess and repent were gathered in the Dubrov special labor camp in 1956 and transferred to the labor camp in Kemerovo region.) Skripnikova also talked about such a thing: a western Ukrainian woman was sentenced to ten years of hard labor just because her husband was a Bandera.Now the committee is asking her to admit that she is in jail because her husband is a bandit. "No, I can't say that." "You say that, and we'll release you!" "No, I can't say that. He's definitely not a bandit, he's from a Ukrainian nationalist organization." "Well, since you don't want to , you just stay here!" (Solovyov was the chairman of that committee at the time.) A few days later, her husband came to visit her from the north.Her husband had been sentenced to twenty-five years in prison and was sent to a labor camp in the north. This time he easily admitted that he was a bandit, so he was pardoned.When we met, instead of praising his wife for her firmness, he blamed her angrily: "You should call me a devil! Say that I have a tail and have seen my hooves! What do you want me to do now? The family and the kids?!" Let me also point out: Skripnikova refused to admit her guilt, so she spent another three years in a labor camp. Thus, even the Free Age came to the Gulag Archipelago in the vestments of a prosecutor. However, the panic of the "practical workers" was not unfounded: the arrangement of stars in the sky of the Gulag Archipelago in 1955-1956 was indeed very different from before, which portended the archipelago ominously The advent of the era may be the last era of its existence! Those who hold the highest power and fully understand the domestic situation, can they look back, wake up, and cry in the past few years?You must know that they are still carrying a bloody burden, which is dripping blood, and the whole back is stained with blood.The political prisoners were released, but who created the millions of ordinary criminals?Isn't it caused by production relations?Is it not caused by the social environment?Didn't we make it ourselves? ...Didn't you make it? ... Or feed your plans to develop the universe to the dogs 1 Stop worrying about Sukarno's navy fleet and Nkrumah's guards!It's better to sit down quietly, scratch the back of your head and think about it: what should your own country do?Why should our country, the best law in the world, be opposed by millions of our own citizens?What makes these people go into the shackles that mean death?And why the more unbearable the shackles are, the more people will get into it?How can this stream be dried up?Isn't our law supposed to be like this? (It is inevitable to think of demoralizing schools, deserted countryside, and many other things that have no class meaning but can only be regarded as injustice.) And those who have already suffered, how can we make Are they reborn?It is not possible to wave it away with a cheap "Voroshilov amnesty", but to conduct an investigation and analysis of each case and specific circumstances in good faith. So, should this Gulag Islands end?Shouldn't it last forever?For forty years it has been rotting and stinking on our bodies, enough! No, it didn't work!not enough!You have to use your brain, but you are too lazy.And there is no reaction in the soul to these.Then let the archipelago exist for another forty years!What about us?We have to deal with the construction of the Aswan High Dam, and we have to deal with the reunification of the Arabs! During Nikita Khrushchev's decade-long reign, the laws of physics we've grown accustomed to suddenly broke down, and objects moved strangely in the opposite direction to which fields and gravity indicated.When historians study this period of history.What they couldn't help but be astonished was that in a short period of time, so many possibilities and opportunities were concentrated in the hands of Khrushchev, and he actually treated these possibilities and opportunities as toys, and when he used them Like joking, like playing a game, and then casually discarded it all.In the history of our country, Khrushchev was the first to be given supreme power after Stalin (although the supreme power had been weakened at this time, it was still very powerful), and when he exercised this power, he was exactly like Khrushchev. The little bear Mishka in Rylov's fable only knows to play with rolling logs aimlessly and for no good in the forest clearing.Khrushchev could have planned how to liberate the country with three times or even five times more firmness, but he gave up the matter like a game.Unaware of the enormity of the task before him, he abandoned it and turned to conquest of space, planting corn, planting missiles in Cuba, launching an ultimatum over Berlin, persecuting the Church, dividing the state party committee into The industrial and agricultural state committees even went to fight abstract art. He was a man who had never seen anything through to the end, especially in the cause of liberty!Need to instigate him to persecute intellectuals?Nothing could be easier.Need to use his two hands that had demolished Stalin's labor camp to strengthen the labor camp again?This is also extremely easy to do!And, when did that happen? In 1956, the year of the Twentieth Congress of the Party, the first restrictive regulations on the labor camps were promulgated!These restrictions were further developed in 1957 when Khrushchev further monopolized all power. Despite this, the "practice worker" class was not satisfied.As soon as they smelled that they had gained the upper hand, they began to counterattack.They declare: Can't live like this!The labor camp system is the pillar of the Soviet regime, but this pillar is falling! Of course, the main influence is exerted behind the scenes -- at a banquet table somewhere, in the cabin of an airplane, or while rowing at a country house.However, these activities sometimes manifest themselves in the open.Sometimes, for example, it took the form of a statement by Delegate Samsonov at a session of the Supreme Soviet (December 1958).According to him, the life of the prisoners is great, they are very happy with their food (!) (they should often be dissatisfied! . . . ) The attitude towards the prisoners is too kind. (And of course it is impossible for someone in this Congress, which has never confessed its past crimes, to teach Samsonov a lesson.) Sometimes it appears in the form of newspaper articles such as "The Man Behind Bars" (1960 year). Khrushchev bowed to this pressure.He did not have a deep understanding of anything, did not reflect on the fact that the crime rate had not increased in the past five years (and even if it did, the reasons should be found in the state system), did not connect his new measures with his victory over communism. The belief in marching was connected to see, without meticulously studying the details of the situation, and without seeing it with my own eyes.The tsar who "spent all his life on the road" easily and hurriedly signed the receipt for the nails, and the nails were used to fasten the guillotine again in its original shape and firmly. And all this happened in that 1961.It was in this year that Nikita made his last effort, trying to pull the car of freedom into the sky at once.It was in 1961, when the 22nd Congress was held, that the decree on the imposition of the death penalty in labor camps was promulgated; it stipulated; Whoever hurts the guards (which never happened)" is punishable by death.Moreover, the plenary session of the Supreme Court (June 1961) approved four forms of the labor camp system—this is no longer Stalin's labor camp, but Khrushchev's labor camp. When Nikita Khrushchev proudly ascended the Congress podium to launch a new attack on Stalin's prison tyranny, he had only just allowed people to strengthen his own no-nonsense labor camp system.However, he sincerely believes that the two can not only go hand in hand, but also be in harmony! ... Today's labor camps are the labor camps consolidated before the 22nd Party Congress.Since then, it has been like this for six years. What distinguishes these labor camps from Stalin's labor camps is not their system, but the composition of prisoners inside: there are no millions of people who violated Article 58 of the Criminal Law.But there are still millions of people imprisoned here, and many remain helpless victims of an unjust administration of justice, who are swept into labor camps simply because it is necessary to enable the system to exist and sustain itself. The rulers have changed, but the Gulag Islands remain. It still exists because the state system cannot exist without it.Eliminate the Gulag Archipelago and the country itself would cease to exist. No history is without end.Any history has to break somewhere.Based on our meager strength and very insufficient materials, we investigated the history of the Gulag Archipelago—from the blood-red volley of guns when it was born, to the pink smoke of restoring its reputation.Now, let's end this history with the magnanimous, lax glory days before Khrushchev made the camps harsher and promulgated a new penal code.There will surely be other histories in the future whose authors, unfortunately, will know more about the Khrushchev and post-Khrushchev labor camps than we do. And this kind of book has already appeared, this is the work of C? Karavansky and Anatoly Marchenko.More writings of this kind will surely emerge in the future, because Russia will soon enter an age of openness! For example, Marchenko's book, it even makes a weather-beaten old prisoner shocking and full of terror.It describes prison life today and gives us a picture of a more "new" prison than we, the witnesses of the past, could have imagined.We see that the prison's second horn (see Part I, Chapter 12) grows taller and penetrates deeper into the prisoner's throat.Marchenko compared the two buildings of the Vladimir Central Prison - the one built in the Tsarist era and the one built in the Soviet era - to show us why it is incomparable with the Tsarist period in Russian history: Tsarist Russia The prisons in the Soviet Union were dry and warm, while the prisons in the Soviet Union were damp and cold (the ears were frozen in the cells, and the woolen jackets could never be taken off).The windows of Tsarist Russia were blocked by Soviet bricks to only a quarter of their original size -- don't forget that there are still "cage mouths" outside the windows. Marchenko, however, describes only one Dubrov labor camp.It was for political prisoners from all over the country.But I have received a lot of materials from various places about the situation of ordinary criminal labor camps.These letters made me feel that I owed them a debt, and I could not be silent.And, generally speaking, I am indebted to common criminals, because they are mentioned so little in such a long book. Therefore, as far as I know, I will briefly introduce the current situation of the labor camp. What "reform through labor camp" are you introducing?We have no labor camps here at all - this is the main innovation of the Khrushchev years!We have long since renounced the extremely terrible legacy of the Stalinist period!The little pig has been renamed crucian carp!Now we don't have labor camps here, but... immigrant areas (Zong China vs. immigrant areas).Isn't it a matter of course that the people of the islands should live in the colony?Therefore, there is no such thing as a "Gulag" now, but only a "Guitke". (However, readers with a good memory may remember that it was called that in the past. It is "ancient!"). If we also consider that there is no Ministry of the Interior in our government agencies, but only the Ministry of Social Security, we must Acknowledge that a solid foundation for the rule of law has now been laid, let alone chatter about it. Thus, since the summer of 1961, four types of reform-through-labor immigration area systems have been implemented: ordinary, strengthened, strictly controlled, and special. (Since 1922 we can't live without "specials"...) Which of these systems is used for a prisoner is left to the court hearing the case "depending on the nature and seriousness of the crime and (it seems there are) The individual performance of the offender" decides.However, in order to simplify the procedure, the supreme courts of the union republics have compiled a list of criminal code provisions, specifying which one should be sent to which place.This is for the later new inmates.So, what about the original "natives" of the archipelago?What about the prisoners who were "detained outside the camps", released from custody and in "reform-through-labour centers" during the "Khrushchev perestroika" period before the Congress?These people will be sent to the reform-through-labor areas of the corresponding system by the local court according to the list of the Supreme Court (perhaps with reference to the opinions of local activists) and according to the specific circumstances. Steer ninety degrees right!Steer ninety degrees left! --This rocking from side to side may be pleasant to a man on deck, but how does it feel to the chest of a man in the silence and darkness of the hold?Just three or four years ago, I said to people: You settle down and start a business!Let's have children!Live well!The sun of the coming communism warms you now!Since then, you have done nothing wrong in the past few years, but suddenly, you heard the dog barking, saw the escort soldiers with gloomy faces surround you, and announced your "case", so your family members You have to stay in your unbuilt home while you are herded into a newly fenced barbed wire area somewhere. "Citizen Chief! I... have always been law-abiding?... Chief, I have been actively working?..." What law-abiding, active labor, all fuck you! ... Is there any administration on earth, any responsible administration, capable of such sharp turns and such leaps?Maybe that's the case with African nations in the making? ... What was the purpose of reform in 1961?What did you think?Is it sincere?Or play tricks? (Spokenly said: "This can achieve better reform.") In my opinion, the idea at the time was to deprive prisoners of their independence in terms of material life and personal freedom, because this independence is "practical workers". "Unbearable; they want to do it: just move their little fingers to make the prisoner's belly feel directly, that is to say, put the prisoner in a completely controlled and subordinate position.To do this, it was necessary to eliminate the large numbers of unguarded people (which is natural for people in the reclamation zone), to drive people all into the barbed wire of the camp, to make the basic food supply insufficient, and to cut off the prisoner's life. As an auxiliary source of income, it is not allowed to engage in temporary work to earn money, and it is not allowed to accept postal parcels from the outside world. In the eyes of the prisoners in the reform-through-labor camp, postal parcels not only mean the delivery of food, it can also set off some kind of spiritual waves, which makes him feel happy.When you take the mail package with your trembling hands, you feel that you have not been forgotten, you are not alone, people are still thinking about you!There was no limit to the number of parcels we could accept while we were in the special labor camp (except that the weight of each parcel must not exceed eight kilograms, which is the general limit set by the post office).Although far from being received by everyone, and not always on time, it would inevitably improve the general standard of living in the camps, without the kind of desperate struggle that would ensue.Today, there are further restrictions on the weight of postal parcels - no more than five kilograms each.Moreover, strict quotas are set-according to the four reform-through-labor district systems, the number of times allowed to receive postal parcels per year is limited to six, four, three and two respectively!That is to say, people in the most superior general system reform-through-labor areas can only receive a five-kilogram postal package once every two months at most, and this weight includes the packaging.It may also be clothing and the like.That is to say, they can get no more than two kilograms of food from outside every month!And those locked up in special system labor camps are given no more than 600 grams per month... Even with this little thing, it would be great if I could really give it to you! ……实际上这一点可怜的邮包也只是允许那些已服满一半以上刑期的人接受，而且还得在这期间没有犯过任何错误（行动人员、教导人员、看守和看守喂养的小猪都得喜欢你才行）！还要经常百分之百地完成劳动定额I还必须经常参加移民区的"社会文化活动"（也就是参加马尔琴科所描写的那种枯燥无味的音乐晚会，参加强人所难的竞赛--在这些"竞赛"中人们往往由于虚弱而晕倒。或者，更糟的，还要去帮助看守人员干活）。 这邮包也够你呛的了！为了拿到这个由你的亲人包装的小小木箱，人们要求你付出自己的灵魂呀！ 我的读者，请您清醒一下！历史我们早已讲完了，我们已经结束历史部分了。这里讲的是现在，是今天，是在我们的食品商店里（就算是只在首都吧）塞满食品的时候，是在你真心实意地回答外国人说"我国人民现在吃得很饱"的时候。是今天人们还在这样用饥饿改造我们那些不慎落水的同胞们（其实他们大部分是没有任何过错的，您现在总算相信我国司法机关的强大威力了吧！）。这些同胞们做梦也还只是梦见面包！ （我还要指出：劳改营统治者的胡作非为没有止境，肆无忌惮！天真的亲属们有时用印刷品邮件或医药用品邮件寄一些书、报或药品来。这些也被当作食品包裹看待！据各地来信反映，这种情况很多！劳改营头头的作法活像装有"电眼"的机器人，他只看到：又寄来一件东西！既然它算"一件"，那么随后寄来的邮包就只能"退还原寄"了。） 亲属探望时监视十分严密，严防利用探视机会交给囚犯任何食物。看守们以发现这类情况为荣，互相炫耀自己在这方面的经验。为此，在探视前竟然对于远道来探视的自由人妇女进行侮辱性的周身搜查！（是呀，宪法并没有禁止这样做嘛！你不喜欢？那你就不必会面。回去好了！） 对干现款的来路更是堵得严而又严，绝不许寄现款到移民区来：不管亲属们汇来多少钱，全部替囚犯"存"起来，"直到刑满释放"的日子为止（也就是说，国家无息地向囚犯借用十年或二十年）。而且不管囚犯自己劳动挣到多少钱，他也看不到这些钱。 "经济核算"的做法是：给囚犯的劳动报酬相当于同样劳动的自由人工资的百分之七十（为什么呢？难道囚犯生产的产品有特殊味道？如果这种情况发生在西方，这就该叫做剥削和歧视了）。这工资的一半要由移民区当局扣除（用来维修营区铁丝网，养活"实际工作者"们和狼狗）。再由剩余部分中扣除伙食和服装费（可以想象一下鱼头烂菜汤在劳改营里会值多少钱）。如果还有余，这才记入囚犯的个人帐户，要一直存到"刑满之日"。按照四种不同的制度，囚犯可以在劳改营小卖部里花费自己这部分钱的最多限额分别定为：十卢布、七卢布、五卢布和三卢布（但是梁赞州的卡里卡托克的囚犯却来信抱怨说，东扣西扣之后连五卢布也剩不下，不能去小卖部买什么）。政府机关报《消息报》上也说：一个叫伊琳娜?帕皮娜的列宁格勒姑娘什么都干--挖树根、运石头、卸火车、上山砍柴，落得满手血泡，但她每月才可以挣到……十卢布！（要知道，那还是一九六0年三月，是"优待"时期，而且当时还在使用斯大林时期通货膨胀时的卢布呢。） 其次是劳改营小卖部本身实行的"管理制度"。这个制度把当局的限制和商人的冷酷盘剥二者聚于一身了。由于实行这殖民地制度（"移民区"也就是"殖民地"的意思。语言学家们，这可怎么办呢？既然现在群岛的正式名称不叫劳改营，而叫--也就是殖民地，那我也就只好叫它殖民地了），由于这殖民地的制度本身就是颠倒黑白的，所以，本来是为照顾人而设的小卖部也变成了惩戒人的机构，变成了给囚犯以打击的地方。我从西伯利亚和阿尔汉格尔斯克的各移民区收到的所有信件，几乎无不谈到利用小卖部处罚人的情况！稍有差错就罚人不许去小卖部买东西。早晨起床晚了三分钟？罚你三个月不许进小卖部！（囚犯们把这叫做"打击肚皮"）晚点名之前没有及时把信写完？罚你一个月不许去买东西！有时则只因为"说话不当"就罚你。乌斯特维姆斯克的严管制劳改区的人们写信说："每天总有几个人受到不许进小卖部的处罚，罚一个月，两个月，甚至三个月。平均每四人中就有一人犯纪律。如果会计处这个月忘记把你算进名单，你也就一个月别想去买东西。"（没有立即关进禁闭室就不错。这样，过去的劳动总算不会白费。） 在老囚犯看来，这些大都不足为奇。对处于无权地位的人来说，这是家常便饭。 还有人写信说："如果劳动有成绩，每个月可以多得两个卢布。但是，要想得到这两个卢布，你必须在生产上作出真正的英雄业绩。" 请读者看看，我国多么珍视劳动：由于在生产上有突出成绩，每月奖赏竟达两个卢布之多！ 人们来信中还谈起诺里尔斯克的一件往事。不错，是一九五七年，那也是舒适的喘息时期。事情是这样的：不知道哪些囚犯把经费支配人沃罗宁养的狗宰掉吃了。为了这件事全体囚犯被罚"取消工资"七个月！ 非常真切，非常像群岛上发生的事情。 或许，马克思主义历史学家又会反驳我：这不过是一个笑话，怎么能以它为例呢？你自己说的，四个人中间才有一个违反纪律的，那就是说，只要能模范地遵守纪律，哪怕在严管制劳改区里也还能保证每月给你三个卢布嘛，这差不多够买一公斤黄油啦！ 说得倒好！大概这位历史学家"吉星高照"（再加上他写过几篇观点"正确"的文章），所以他才没有进劳改营呆呆吧。小卖部里要有面包、廉价糖果和人造黄油就算好事了。实际上，面包每月只来两、三次，糖果的价钱很贵。根本看不到什么黄油、砂糖！就算售货员积极肯干，愿意进货（他是不会的），"领导"也会向他示意嘛！所以，小卖部的货单上只有：牙粉、牙膏、牙刷、肥皂、信封（信封还不是到处都有。至于信纸，则哪里也没有，因为囚犯们可以用信纸写申诉书呀！）和高价香烟。亲爱的读者，请不要忘记，这里不像狱外的小卖部那样每天清早开门，你可以今天买二十戈比的东西，明天再买二十戈比的。这里不同！这里的小卖部每月只营业两天。你要在门外先排三小时队。一进去（早在走廊里就有人催促你了）你就得赶紧把你所有的卢布全都买上东西，因为这些卢布并不在你自己手里，所以，帐上存有你多少卢布，你就得全买上东西：买十包香烟吧，买四筒牙膏吧！ 可怜的囚犯剩下的就只有那份口粮了，即移民区给每个人规定的供应定额（要知道，这移民区位于北极圈内呀！）：面包七百克，糖十三克，油路十九克，肉五十克，鱼八十五克（而且这只是数字而已，领到的肉和鱼质量极差，一般都要立即扔掉一半）。这是数字，在囚犯的饭碗里不可能有，也从来没有过。乌斯特聂拉移民区的囚犯提到他们的菜场时说："那是泔水，恐怕集体农庄的牲口都不一定要吃它。"诺里尔斯克的犯人来信说："直到现在我们这里还主要是吃糠和碎麦子。"另外还有一种所谓惩戒伙食：每日四百克面包，只许吃一次热菜汤。 不错，在北方对于那些"从事特别艰苦的劳动"的人还另外给一点伙食补助。但是，我们既然已对群岛有所了解，就不难想象列入这个清单的是什么样的劳动了（并非所有艰苦劳动都能列为"特别艰苦的劳动"），我们也知道这"补助伙食"多么糟踏人……以囚犯皮丘金为例，他"还能干活的时候，每个季度可以淘出四十公斤沙金，每天可以扛运七八百根枕木。可是，在劳改的第十三个年头他成了残废，于是给他的伙食标准就改为压缩标准了"。写信人问道：难道他因伤致残之后胃便立即缩小了吗？ 我们也要问问：仅仅一个皮丘金就用他掏得的每月四十公斤沙金供养了多少名外交官呀？ !大概我们的驻尼泊尔大使馆是完全靠他养活的吧，苏联驻尼泊尔使馆的伙食标准也随之压缩了吗？ 各地来信都说。普遍饥饿，吃不饱。伊尔库茨克州来信说："许多人患胃溃疡，患肺结核。"梁赞州来信说："年轻人患胃溃疡，患肺结核。""患肺病的人很多。" 原先，特种劳改营里有时还准许煮点或煎点自己的东西吃，这里则一律禁止。何况囚犯也没有什么可煮的东西。 为了便于控制这些人而采用的正是这种古老的手段--饥饿。 此外，囚犯们还得劳动。劳动定额提高了：据说，这是因为经过改革后（人体肌肉的）劳动生产率就提高了。不错，是八小时劳动日。还是原先那些班组，还是由囚犯驱赶囚犯去劳动。在卡里卡托克说服一些二等残废人去参加劳动，条件是答应对他们适用关于"三分之二刑期"的规定。于是那些缺胳臂少腿的人也都争着去干三等残废干的活，三等残废则去干一般劳动。 但是如果活计不够他们全体干呢，但是如果劳动日太短呢，但是如果星期天可惜还没占用呢，如果"劳动魔术师"不肯给我们改造这些渣滓呢？--那我们手里还有一个魔术师--制度！ 奥伊米亚康和诺里尔斯克两处的特种的和严管制的"移民区"的囚犯来信说：所有私人衣物，如绒绒衫、棉背心、棉帽，更不必说皮大衣了，统统被拿走（这是在一九六三年啊！是十月时代的第四十六个年头啊！），而且"不发给任何锦内衣，也不允许穿任何暖和衣服。违反了就会关禁闭"（列绍蒂，克拉斯特种劳改营）。"除贴身衬衣外全部衣物都被拿走。每人发布制服、棉上衣、呢衣各一件和一顶斯大林式无毛棉帽。这是在奥伊米亚康地区的邱迪吉尔卡，那里最低气温达摄氏零下五十一度！" 的确，怎么能忘掉呢？除了饥饿之外，还有什么东西能有效地控制人？当然是寒冷。寒冷。 教育效果特别好的是所谓特别制度，又称"独院"。用劳改营的新词说，这是"特危累和少校们"呆的地方（"特危累"即"特别危险的累犯"，这顶帽子由地方法院给戴）。首先这里实行的是穿条纹粗布衣服。囚犯们戴"房式帽"，上衣和裤子都是用印着白蓝两色宽条纹的、做床垫用的粗布做的。这是我国的监狱思想家和新社会"的法学家苦思冥想出来的绝招，是他们在二十世纪已经过去三分之二、"十月"胜利四十多年之后、在即将跨入共产主义大门的时候想出来的！他们认为应该让自己的罪犯们披上小丑般的外衣才对。（从各地的来信中可以看出，这种条纹布衣服给今天的二十五年刑期的劳改犯带来的痛苦和伤害甚至比其它办法更大。） 属于特别制度的还有：工棚的窗户全有铁格子，工棚全部上锁。老工棚的木头开始朽了，新建了能容纳很多人的砖石结构的加强管制棚（尽管现在劳改营里除了喝"契菲尔"之外几乎没有别的违章事件，没有胡闹、斗殴，甚至打牌的也没有了）。出入营区必须排队，而且上身要笔挺，否则既不让出去，也不让进来。如果吃得脑病肠肥的看守发现队伍里有人吸烟，就会立即冲过来，一脚把人踢翻在地，夺下香烟，拖进禁闭室。如果今天没有带出去劳动，那你也休想躺在床上休息一会儿：你应该像看展览品一样看着你的床，直到晚上睡觉前不能靠近它一步。一九六三年六月，下达了一道技革命令，要求把营区周围的草全拔光，免得囚犯躺在地上休息。个别还留下草的地方，则树起小木牌："不许躺卧！"（伊尔库茨克州） what!这一切都多么熟悉！我们在什么地方读到过这些？我们不久前还听到有人谈论这类劳改营？这不就是贝利亚时期的特种劳改营吗？特种。特别…… 再看看京利卡姆斯克的特别制度吧。人们写道："只要稍微有点闹声，冲锋枪简会立即从送饭口伸进来。" 当然，到处都是为了一点小错误就会关进惩戒隔离室的。例如，派一个人去单独往汽车上装水泥板（每块一百二十八公斤），他搬不动，拒绝了。为此关他七天惩戒隔离室！ 一九六四年，莫尔多维亚的一个年轻囚犯得知。似乎早在一九五五年就在日内瓦签署过一项国际协议。禁止在监禁地点强迫囚犯劳动。于是他不再去劳动了。这一心血来潮的举动使他蹲了六个月的惩戒隔离室。 "这一切全都是种族灭绝罪。"--卡拉万斯基这样写道。 可是，要是英国工党的左派分子对此有另外的叫法呢？（哎呀！不要老跟工党左派过不去嘛！要知道，如果连他们也对我们不满意的话，我们的威信不就全完了吗！……） 但是，怎么总是说这些沉闷不快的事情呢？为了做得公道，我们让一位年轻的"实际工作者"来评论一下这个制度吧。这个人是一九六二年从塔夫达的内务部干部学校毕业的。他说："从前（一九六一年以前），召开报告会时要派十名看守去维持秩序，还管不好。现在呢，连苍蝇飞的声音都能听见。囚犯们互相监督。他们都怕被转为另一种更严的制度。现在工作好做多了，尤其是颁布了那项（关于枪决的）命令之后。已经对几个人适用过了。可不像从前那样：囚犯拿着刀子跑到岗楼来对你说把我抓起来吧，我把那个坏蛋给宰了！……那时候真是没法做工作。"