Vorkuta uprising
67°30′51″N 64°05′02″E / 67.51417°N 64.08389°E / 67.51417; 64.08389
Prison Guards
The Vorkuta Uprising was a major uprising of forced labor camp inmates at the Rechlag Gulag special labor camp in Vorkuta, Russian SFSR, USSR from 19 July (or 22 July) to 1 August 1953, shortly after the arrest of Lavrentiy Beria. The uprising was violently stopped by the camp administration after two weeks of bloodless standoff.[1]
Background
Vorkuta Rechlag (River Camp) or Special Camp No. 6 consisted of 17 separate "departments" engaged in construction of coal mines, coal mining and forestry. In 1946 it housed 62,700 inmates, 56,000 in July 1953. A substantial portion of the camp guards were former convicts. According to Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, the uprising was provoked by two unconnected events of June 1953: the arrest of Lavrentiy Beria in Moscow and the arrival of Ukrainian prisoners who, unlike long-term Russian inmates, were still missing their freedom (similar dissent existed between Baltic, the second largest group, and Polish inmates).[2][3] Another major factor was the application of the March 1953 general amnesty, issued after the death of Joseph Stalin, to only convicts with criminal sentences and small prison terms, of which there were few in Vorkuta, as a large part of the inmates were political prisoners.
Uprising
The uprising, initially in the form of a passive walkout, began on or before July 19, 1953, at a single "department" and quickly spread to five others. The initial demands were to give inmates access to a state attorney and due justice, and they quickly changed to political demands. According to the inmate Leonid Markizov, Voice of America and the BBC broadcast regular news about the events in the Rechlag, with correct names, ranks and numbers. Even without foreign assistance, strikes at nearby sites were clearly visible as the wheels of the mine headframes stopped rotating, and the word was spread by trains, which had slogans painted by prisoners on the sides, and whose crews spread news. The total number of inmates on strike reached 18,000. The inmates remained static within the barbed wire perimeters.
For a week following the initial strike the camp administration apparently did nothing; they increased perimeter guards but took no forceful action against inmates. The mines were visited by State Attorney of the USSR, Roman Rudenko, Internal Troops Commander, Ivan Maslennikov, and other top brass from Moscow. The generals spoke to the inmates who sat idle in camp courtyards, so far peacefully. However, on July 26 the mob stormed the maximum security punitive compound, releasing 77 of its inmates. The commissars from Moscow remained in Vorkuta, planning their response.
On July 31 camp chief Derevyanko started mass arrests of "saboteurs"; inmates responded with barricades. The next day, August 1, after further bloodless clashes between inmates and guards, Derevyanko ordered direct fire at the mob. According to Leonid Markizov, 42 were killed on the spot, 135 wounded (many of them, deprived of medical help, died later). According to Solzhenitsyn, there were 66 killed. Among those shot was the Latvian Catholic priest Jānis Mendriks.[4]
After submission of the mob, many "saboteurs" were arrested and placed in maximum security cells, but without further punitive executions. Conditions were marginally improved (especially for "political" inmates).
In popular culture
A similar fictional uprising at Vorkuta, however in 1963 when the camp had already been shut down, was depicted in the story mode of the 2010 video game Call of Duty: Black Ops.
Literature
- Rislakki, Jukka. Vorkuta! Gulag Uprising (Vorkuta! Vankileirin kapina ja sen suomalainen johtohahmo), WSOY, 2013.
See also
References
- ^ Bondaruk, Lesia (29 October 2015). "Finnish journalist's book on Vorkuta prison camp uprising". The Day (Den'). Retrieved 6 September 2019.
- ^ Latkovskis, Leonards. "I. Baltic Prisoners of the Gulag Revolts of 1953 - L. Latkovskis". Lituanus - Lithuanian quarterly journal of arts and sciences. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
- ^ Latkovskis, Leonards. "II. Baltic Prisoners of the Gulag Revolts of 1953 - L. Latkovskis". Lituanus - Lithuanian quarterly journal of arts and sciences. Retrieved 6 September 2019.
- ^ Servant of God Fr. Janis Mendriks MIC 1907–1953
Sources
- Markizov, L. P. Uprising, not sabotage (Маркизов Л.П., Не "волынка" - восстание - "Дым Отечества", 1993)
- Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, The Gulag Archipelago, v.3 ch. 11
- v
- t
- e
- 1943 Featherston prisoner of war camp riot
- 1943 Sobibor extermination camp uprising
- 1943 Janowska concentration camp riot
- 1944 Cowra breakout
- 1946 Battle of Alcatraz
- 1953 Norilsk uprising
- 1953 Vorkuta uprising
- 1954 Kengir uprising
- 1959 Montana State Prison riot
- 1963 Pulau Senang prison riots
- 1971 Kingston Penitentiary riot
- 1971 Attica Prison riot
- 1974 Huntsville Prison siege
- 1976 HM Prison Hull riot
- 1980 New Mexico State Penitentiary riot
- 1985 Badaber Uprising
- 1985 Oklahoma State Penitentiary riot
- 1986 West Virginia State Penitentiary riot
- 1986 Peruvian prison massacres
- 1987 Atlanta prison riots
- 1988 Fremantle Prison riot
- 1989 SCI Camp Hill Pennsylvania riots
- 1989 Polish prison riots
- 1990 Leopoldov prison uprising
- 1990 Strangeways Prison riot
- 1990 Southport Correctional Facility riot
- 1991 Federal Correctional Institution, Talladega riot
- 1992 Carandiru massacre
- 1993 Southern Ohio Correctional Facility riot
- 1997 Khujand prison riot
- 2000 F-type prisons strike and riots
- 2001 Battle of Qala-i-Jangi
- 2003 Eagle Mountain riot
- 2004 Arizona State Prison Complex – Lewis riot
- 2006 North County Correctional Facility riot
- 2007 New Castle Correctional Facility riot
- 2008 United States Penitentiary, Florence riot
- 2008 La Mesa Prison riot
- 2009 Mexico prison riot
- 2011 HM Prison Ford riot
- 2012 Altamira prison brawl
- 2012 Apodaca prison riot
- 2012 Yare prison riot
- 2012 Welikada prison riot
- 2013 Uribana prison riot
- 2013 Palmasola prison riot
- 2015 Kaohsiung Prison riot
- 2016 Topo Chico prison riot
- 2016 Agricultural Penitentiary of Monte Cristo riot
- 2017 Kidapawan jail siege
- 2017 Brazil prison riots
- 2018 Valencia, Venezuela fire
- 2019 Acarigua prison riot
- 2019 Amazonas prison riots
- 2019 Altamira prison riot
- 2019 Cameroon prison riots
- 2020 Guanare prison riot
- 2020 Mahara prison riot
- 2021 February 2021 Ecuadorian prison riots
- 2021 September 2021 Guayaquil prison riot
- 2021 November 2021 Guayaquil prison riot
- 2021 Tula prison break
- 2022 Battle of al-Hasakah
- 2023 Támara prison riot