To be fair, there was excess repression during the late 1930s in the USSR, but people massively inflate the numbers and won’t ever tell that only about 1/4 of prisoners in the prison system (whose acronym was GULAG) were actually politically motivated. People also don’t understand that the harsh conditions in Soviet prisons were due to a Soviet-wide famine caused by the Nazi aggression:
The etymology of GULAG is: “the acronym of Гла́вное управле́ние исправи́тельно-трудовы́х лагере́й (Glávnoje upravlénije ispravítelʹno-trudovýx lageréj, “Chief Administration of Corrective-Labor Camps”)” emphasis mine, as it corresponds directly to the above, specifically the camps under the O.G.P.U. These are where those with harsher sentences were sent, as seen in the chart (3-10 years)
I know, I know you from hexbear (this is my alt), I just try to engage with the highest level of intellectual honesty possible when I’m in lib instances because people have the idea that there’s no honest analysis of the repressions within ML circles when it’s exactly the opposite way.
fair enough do you have that graph comparing gulag mortalities in the 50s to amount of DOJ prisoner deaths by any chance? It might be an even better illustration.
To be fair, there was excess repression during the late 1930s in the USSR, but people massively inflate the numbers and won’t ever tell that only about 1/4 of prisoners in the prison system (whose acronym was GULAG) were actually politically motivated. People also don’t understand that the harsh conditions in Soviet prisons were due to a Soviet-wide famine caused by the Nazi aggression:
Afaik not true. The average westerner may think so, but GULAG is an acronym for a specific part of the system.
copypasted my earlier comment
if you would consult the chart from chapter 10:
The etymology of GULAG is: “the acronym of Гла́вное управле́ние исправи́тельно-трудовы́х лагере́й (Glávnoje upravlénije ispravítelʹno-trudovýx lageréj, “Chief Administration of Corrective-Labor Camps”)” emphasis mine, as it corresponds directly to the above, specifically the camps under the O.G.P.U. These are where those with harsher sentences were sent, as seen in the chart (3-10 years)
Nice chart, thanks for the correction
right but this person isnt really the nuanced type, they’re cherrypicking and so am I
I know, I know you from hexbear (this is my alt), I just try to engage with the highest level of intellectual honesty possible when I’m in lib instances because people have the idea that there’s no honest analysis of the repressions within ML circles when it’s exactly the opposite way.
fair enough do you have that graph comparing gulag mortalities in the 50s to amount of DOJ prisoner deaths by any chance? It might be an even better illustration.
No idea to be honest, never seen that one