Ekibastuz: Shukhov's Gulag in Real Life
Ekibastuz is a small, remote town in northeastern Kazakhstan. It is the largest open-air coal mine in the world. Kazakhstan was a part of the Soviet Union until 1991 and now is an independent country. It was the site of a Gulag named Ekibastuz which was an "MVD special camp," exclusively for political prisoners who were convicted of crimes such as treason, espionage and terrorism. It was one of many special camps created to punish various real political opponents and sham groups. The camp is notable for its horrible conditions (such as buildings with no heating and temperatures that dropped below 0 degrees Celsius regularly) and hard labor. This camp is said to have influenced Alexander Solzhenitsyn in a number of ways and shaped him into the literary giant he is today. To understand Solzhenitsyn and his literature, one must first understand Ekibastuz.
A prisoner's jacket, as often referenced in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/fifty-years-after-denisovich-solzhenitsyn-visit-kazakhstan-former-site-of-gulag-camp-ekibastuz/24779476.html
Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/fifty-years-after-denisovich-solzhenitsyn-visit-kazakhstan-former-site-of-gulag-camp-ekibastuz/24779476.html
The prison was infamous for its horrendous conditions. When Dariga Tokayeva, guide at the Ekibastuz city museum, was asked about what the camp was like she replied, "What was it like? There were barracks with no heating. It was very cold. People were brought there in the clothes they were wearing when they were detained. It was so cold here that the people were dying like flies." Tens of thousands of prisoners passed through Ekibastuz's walls and were subjected to its horrible conditions.
Prisoners working at Ozerlag, an MVD camp like Ekibastuz.
The most notable prisoner was Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, who was arrested during World War II and put into Ekibastuz for writing letters that were negative about Stalin (considered anti-Soviet propaganda). Solzhenitsyn underwent the most taxing part of his incarceration at Ekibastuz. He also wrote One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich while in prison based on his experiences in the camp. There many parallels between Solzhenitsyn's real life experiences in Ekibastuz and Shukhov's experiences in the novel. First of all, both camps were extremely cold. Both camps would force the prisoners to do heavy labor unless the temperature was below -40 degrees celsius, as described in the book on page 10. Many of the protagonists and players of his stories came from his time in prison. It is obvious that Solzhenitsyn drew on his experiences and the environment of Ekibastuz itself when writing his book. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich would have been very different, or may not have been written at all, if Solzhenitsyn had been sent to a different camp.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, prisoner 282, during his time at Ekibastuz
Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/fifty-years-after-denisovich-solzhenitsyn-visit-kazakhstan-former-site-of-gulag-camp-ekibastuz/24779476.html
Source: http://www.rferl.org/content/fifty-years-after-denisovich-solzhenitsyn-visit-kazakhstan-former-site-of-gulag-camp-ekibastuz/24779476.html
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich was the first book to acknowledge the suffering of the millions of prisoners put into Gulags like Ekibastuz, and make it personal with an appealing and relatable character like Shukhov. “The character was fictional,” the BBC’s Steve Rosenberg writes in a retrospective from Moscow. “But there were millions like him -- innocent citizens who, like Solzhenitsyn himself, had been sent to the Gulag in Joseph Stalin's wave of terror." Ekibastuz's influence on Solzhenitsyn allowed the book to be a completely accurate description of the horrors of the Gulag. This accuracy made the book revolutionary.
A hospital in a Gulag, the setting of one of the first scenes in One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.
Ekibastuz had a significant influence on the style of Solzhenitsyn's writing. He had an incredible ability to memorize his stories in rhyme, which he utilized in the camps as there were not always the resources necessary to write his ideas down. Solzhenitsyn memorized his stories through poetry because of his circumstances. Solzhenitsyn was also exposed to the language of common prisoners in Ekibastuz which influenced his writing. The poetic influence he was forced to implement to remember his stories coupled with camp dialect gives his stories a unique style and authentic voice. %2Bforcedlabor%2Bcamp.jpg)
Minlag, an MVD special camp like Ekibastuz
Source:http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/pic%5CI%5CN%5CIntaAbez%20(Minlag)%20forcedlabor%20camp.jpg One would think that Solzhenitsyn would be honored in the town of Ekibastuz and that the camp would still remain there. Neither is true, though. The prison has been made into a stadium. A former inmate came to the town expecting to see barbed wire and remains of the camp, but he said that it was a "young and prospering town." Solzhenitsyn is a controversial icon because he argued that the northern parts of Kazakhstan, where Ekibastuz is located, should be a part of Russia. This infuriated the Kazakhs and even led to "interethnic violence."
Here is the movie version of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich. Because the book was based on Solzhenitsyn's experiences in Ekibastuz, this video also gives a good visual perspective on what it would be like to be a prisoner in a gulag, specifically Ekibastuz.
Ekibastuz and Solzhenitsyn are not forgotten, though. Both live on through One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich and people's memories. When a resident was asked about Ekibastuz he replied, "They oppressed Kazakhs there; they destroyed them there." Solzhenitsyn's books are proof that protest can persist even in the cold and death ridden conditions of the Gulag. The horrible conditions of Ekibastuz and other Gulags and Solzhenitsyn's everlasting spirit of protest will be known as long as One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is read.
Links:
http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/archives/d2presid.html Letter to Bolshevik: This letter describes the conditions faced in gulags like Ekibastuz further.
http://www.rferl.org/content/fifty-years-after-denisovich-solzhenitsyn-visit-kazakhstan-former-site-of-gulag-camp-ekibastuz/24779476.html I have referenced this article many times and it has numerous pictures of different gulags that paint a picture of life was like in Ekibastuz
http://gulaghistory.org/exhibits/days-and-lives/prisoners/21 This website has a lot of good information on gulags in general, including first hand accounts from different prisoners. The specific prisoner this link is to actually stayed at Ekibastuz.
http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/26/entertainment/la-et-jc-one-day-in-the-life-of-ivan-denisovich-50-years-later-20121126 This article relates Ekibastuz to the 50th anniversary of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1371768/Testimony-Gulags-forgotten-victims-Steal-mans-bread-die-.html This article describes the conditions at gulags like Ekibastuz.
Works Cited:
Kroll, Alex. Personal Interview. December 10, 2014
“Ekibastuz.” Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ekibastuz>.
“Fifty Years After ‘Denisovich,’ Traveling Back To Solzhenitsyn’s Gulag.” Radio Free Europe Radio Library. Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. <http://www.rferl.org/content/fifty-years-after-denisovich-solzhenitsyn-visit-kazakhstan-former-site-of-gulag-camp-ekibastuz/24779476.html>.
“MVD special camp.” Wikipedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MVD_special_camp>.
“Solzhenitsyn’s ‘Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich’ 50 years on.” Los Angeles Times. 2014 Los Angeles Times, n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. <http://articles.latimes.com/2012/nov/26/entertainment/la-et-jc-one-day-in-the-life-of-ivan-denisovich-50-years-later-20121126>.
“We prisoners had an unwritten rule, steal another man’s clothes and you’d get a hiding, steal a man’s bread and you’d die: The chilling testimony from the Gulags’ forgotten victims.” Mail Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1371768/Testimony-Gulags-forgotten-victims-Steal-mans-bread-die-.html>.
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Detailed and organized. Nice connection with the book and it was interesting to find out that he had to remember all his stories.
ReplyDeleteYou were one of few people who started the blog of with some sort of a hook ( yours being a fun fact) which just proves that this blog was well-done. Furthermore, I loved the sentence at the end of the first paragraph "To understand Solzhenitsyn and his literature, one must first understand Ekibastuz." I loved this quote because you then went on to describe the gulag in a way that directly connected to Solzhenitsyn's life. It was riveting that he remembered many stories by putting them into poems. Lastly it is compelling that he used some language that he heard around the camp in his book, this now makes it seem more realistic.
ReplyDeleteYour blog was very detailed and I like how you started out right away with a description of what Ekibastuz is now and what it was during Stalin's rule. It was interesting how there were so many aspects of Ekibastuz and this particular camp that influenced the writing of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich such as the language of the common prisoner and that fact that he could not write things down influenced the poetic characteristics of the book. After reading this blog and learning more about Ekibastuz many aspects of the book make a lot more sense and seem more realistic.
ReplyDeleteI was very impressed by your blog especially because I know there was not a lot of information on Ekibastuz. It is sad to think that the camp in the book is real and people really went through those experiences. I found it very impressive that Solzhenitsyn was able to memorize his stories. This shows how intelligent of a man he was. It is interesting that Solzhenitsyn is a "controversial icon" as you would think he is a hero and symbol of pride for the town. Your ending was very strong as it summed up the topic well and connected it to One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich.
ReplyDeleteAs just seeing the movie Unbroken, the gulag at Ekibastuz is no different and maybe even worse than the more current Japanese detention camps. It was shocking to hear about the frigid temperatures and the buildings that the prisoners had to endure every day for years. When you mentioned that Stalin's government had already intercepted Solzhenitsyn's negative latter, writing the novel may have been life threatening for him. It reminded me of the beginning of the book when people would hide sacred and forbidden items in their mattress to hide from the leaders, maybe Solzhenitsyn hid his story in his mattress as well? It was interesting to learn that there were different types of detention camps during Stalin's rule, but sad to learn that Solzhenitsyn was probably in the worst one of them all. It's cool to know that were reading his story directly, and that the character of Ivan was fictional but there were millions like him.
ReplyDeleteThis was probably the most helpful for me in terms of really understanding what it was like for "Shukhov". While it makes me sad for the most part, it makes me happy that someone took the time to write a book like this about their time in the gulags. If not for a book written like this, there is a chance that I would not have heard of the gulags.
ReplyDelete