The Unknown Gulag: The Lost World of Stalin's Special Settlements by Lynne Viola (review)

Abstract

572 SEER, 87, 3, JULY 2OO9 the claim thatall the Kareliansshareda fully nationalidentity and were consciously seeking nationalindependence. We are askedto believethatall Kareliansresisted notjust RussianBolsheviks and Tsaristimperialists, but also Finnish'Whites'and Germanimperialists, becauseeach ofthesegroups wereimpediments to theirnationalist ambitions. According to Woods, 'the Karelians'were drivenby a desireto 'exterminate the Finns' (p. 184) in particular. Supposedly, too,theylookedto GreatBritain(as represented by Woods)as theonlypowerthatcouldgrantthemtheir wishes. FromWoods'sdiaryitis clearthathe himself was convinced ofthesepropositions . He was completely takenoverbytheEastKarelianactivists' claims to 'theircountry' (p. 162)and he became theprincipal British championof suchclaims.But sayingso does notmakeit so. As Baron,too,recognizes, manyofthepeoplethatWoodsknewas Kareliannationalist leaderswerein factemigré Finnish Reds whohad opportunistically latchedon to a nationalistcause once theyhad losttheFinnishcivilwar and escaped theirnative country. By no meansweretheyrepresentative ofa wholenationality, and theiractivities wereprompted farmoreby Marxianideologythanby any nationalist ambitions. The verylimitednatureof East Karelian nationalist sentiment is shownalso in thefactthatitwas Woods himself who designed their new'national flag'(p. 187)- andwhenhedidso,hedepicted shamrocks on an orangebackground, notexactlyhistoric Karelianmotifs thoughones wellknownto an Ulsterman. Such interpretive problemsaside, thisbook servesa usefulpurposein highlighting thepowerofpreconceived ideas.It makesabundantly clearthat Col. Woodscame toidealizetheEast Karelian'beardedbrigands' (p. 157)as noblesavagesand thathe transferred hisUlsterman's and paternalist British imperialist's presuppositions about small nationalities onto a people with whosehistory and culture he was barelyfamiliar. Whatever thepurposesof thosein chargeoftheintervention, thison-the-ground perspective adds an important element to ourunderstanding ofwhattookplace in thefrozen far Northin 1918-19. Department ofHistory MarkkuRuotsila University ofTampere Viola, Lynne.TheUnknown Gulag:TheLostWorld ofStalin's Special Settlements. OxfordUniversity Press,New York and Oxford,2007.xxv + 278 pp. Map. Chronology. Glossary.Illustrations. Appendix.Notes. Research note.Bibliography. Index.£17.99. In 1930and 1931closeto twomillion peasantsweresentintointernal exile. Identified as 'kulaks'(theBolshevik termforallegedly wealthy, 'bourgeois' peasants),theywere sentto desertedareas of the Northern Territory, the Urals,Siberiaand Kazakhstanwheretheywereexpectedto buildtheirown settlements, to labourforthestate(often in forestry), and to farmsufficient reviews 573 foodfortheirownsurvival. The purposeofthiscampaignwas bothpolitical andeconomic. Itwasan attack on a groupthattheregime increasingly vilified as it crankedup classwar duringthefirst five-year plan,but it was also a meansto allowthecolonization ofunder-populated, resource-rich regions of thefarnorthand east. In lateryearsthekulakswouldbe joined by other vilified categories: socially dangerous elements from thecities, suspectethnic groups,and afterWorld War Two sociallyalien populationgroupsfrom theoccupiedBalticstates. The result ofthesepolicies,italmostgoeswithout saying,was immenseloss of lifeand monstrous suffering forthosewho survived. TheUnknovun Gulag concentrates primarily on the1930s.LynneViola shows how Stalinist despotism coupled withruralunder-government produceda deadlycombination ofcruelty and chaos,ensuring a humantragedy ofepic proportions. Viola beginsthestory withcollectivization and de-kulakization, describing thetraumaofexpulsion and thelongtransportations, inwhichthe deportees wereherdedenmasseintocramped, freezing, unsanitary railtrucks, manywithout thefoodrationstheywere due. Depositedin desolateareas wheretheregionalauthorities wereill-prepared fortheirarrival, manydid not survivethe first fewmonthsin whichstarvation and illnesswere rife. Gradually, though, thesettlements werebuilt, anda newkindofpenalinstitutioncame intobeing.like the Gulag it was a worldwhereviolenceand hunger werea constant threat; thesettlements wereruledby'commandants' withvarying degreesofbrutality; and, especially duringthefamineof 1933, foodwas so scarcethatchildren spenttheir daysbegging innearbycities. Yet theboundariesweremoreporousthanthe Gulag. Escape fromthe settlementswas an ongoingproblemfortheauthorities, who nevermanagedto clamp down fullyon the black marketforforgeddocuments. Duringthe GreatTerror, thisphenomenon, itself theproduct ofthechaoticand arbitrary natureofthesystem, fedintotheleadership's paranoidfears. Deludingthemselvesthatthekulaks represented a potential fifth column, theleadersordered renewed repression, witha waveofarrests sweeping through thespecialsettlementsduring1937 .As Viola reminds us,thelargest numberofGreatTerror victims camenotfrom theelitebutinfactfrom amongst thosetargeted during the mass operationsdirectedat national and social categories(such as kulaks). One oftheissuesdiscussed inrecent scholarship on theGulagistheextent to whichwe shouldpay attention to theregime'sprofessed commitment to re-forging and re-education. Viola notesthattheauthorities made detailed plansforschoolsand newkindsofcollective housingin thesettlements, and shedescribes how in therather morerelaxedyearsbeforetheGreatTerror thebestkulaklabourers - likeworkers elsewhere - couldbe rewarded with prizeslikegoats,pigsand cows.Rehabilitation wasmadepossiblein 1935.Yet Viola's keyargument is thatMoscow'srhetoric was so fundamentally belied bypractice thatitcanbe considered little morethana 'hollowfacade'(p. 104). Schoolingin the settlements remainedpoor, livingconditions persistently abysmal, and rehabilitation highly limited(foritdid notallowthesettler to return home).Examining thewritings and testimony ofsurvivors, she notes 574 SEER> 87> 3> JULY2OO9 thatwhilethesetextsmightbe shaped by Sovietmentalities, the authors nonetheless keenlyfelttheir'statusas outsiders' (p. 175).Viola's positionis consideredand thoughtful: withoutdismissing the importance of concepts suchas re-education and re-forging, shearguesthatotherpriorities camefar higher on theregime's agenda. This studyof Stalin'sspecial settlements exposes a little-known topic, providing an accountthatis lucidand informative. It is also a moving work. In explaining thedevelopment ofpolicy, Viola iscareful nottoforget thatthis is a story aboutpeople'slives,and sheexplores thevictims' experiences with greatempathy. She alsoexamines thepersonal stories ofsomeofthemenwho wereinvolvedin therunning ofthe specialsettlements...