Forced labor in the Soviet Union

Wages became fixed in 1917 by the Supreme Counsel of Popular Economy, and the work day was set to be eight hours.

[1] Gulag or Glavnoye Upravleniye Lagerej was a system of forced labor camps in the Soviet Union.

While the early years of the Gulag were brutal and violent, conditions later stabilized, and the camps began to operate in a more structured manner.

In some cases, camp commandants took on roles similar to local administrators, occasionally advocating for improved conditions and supplies for those in their charge.

There is no doubt the camps were meant to house criminals and misfits who were a danger to society, but many of the prisoners were subjects of political persecution.

[11] The USSR implemented a series of “labor disciplinary measures” due to the lack of productivity of its labour force in the early 1930s.

This culminated in a March 1950 decree from the government that proclaimed a form of payment had to be universally introduced in the correctional labor camps, except those that held "especially dangerous" inmates.

[15] In July 1937, when it appeared that war was imminent, Stalin ordered the removal of Germans from Soviet soil on the grounds that they were working for the enemy.

An order by the NKVD also stated that German workers were agents of the Gestapo, sent to sabotage Soviet efforts.

Many other nationalities were swept up in similar operations, including but not exclusive to: Latvians, Estonians, Romanians, Greeks, Afghans, and Iranians.

[17] The UPV camp system, separate from the Gulag, was established in 1939 to utilize POWs and foreign civilians for labor.

[19] The Soviet Union retained POWs after other countries had released their prisoners, only beginning to do so after Stalin's death in 1953.