NKVD Industrial Engineering in the Kola North in the Late 1930s – Early 1940s
Authors: Kustyshev Andrey N. 
Published: July 2022

Introduction. On the territory of the Kola North, the prisoners carried out hydraulic construction, and mining enterprises were built. An analysis of the NKVD industrial construction sector’s functioning in the designated time and regional dimension allows a deeper understanding of the role of the GULAG in the industrialization of a particular region, the country as a whole, contributes to the further development of scientific ideas about the NKVD’s mobilization potential in the prewar period. The purpose of this study is to analyze the construction activities of the GULAG camps in the Kola North in the context of the mobilization practice of the NKVD in the prewar years.

Materials and Methods. The source foundation of the study was a set of materials from both central and regional archives. Analyzing the processes took place in the regional sector of the industrial construction of the NKVD at the turn of the 1930s – 1940s, the author used dialectical, systemic approaches, comparative and statistical research methods.

Results. At the turn of the 1930s – 1940s, in the territory of the Kola North, the construction activities of the NKVD were of a large-scale nature and were of military-strategic importance for the country. There was a goal given to the department to speed up the completion of important construction objects. At the same time, a whole range of problems characterizing the GULAG economy characterized the construction sector of the NKVD: a poor supply of machines and mechanisms, materials, and a lack of project documentation. These circumstances systematically led to the disruption of planned targets. In addition, construction labor camps, despite the growth in the number of special contingents, experienced a permanent shortage of labor, the cause of which was a large proportion of disabled prisoners and chronically ill, unfit for work, as well as disabled, sick prisoners. Significant losses of labor force in forced labor camps were the result of serious problems associated with the organization of labor processes. Construction management delayed the conclusion of contracts with ITL forced labor camps on the provision of labor. A significant part of the prisoners was not taken to work due to the failure to provide an escort, the lack of clothes and shoes, downtime at work due to the lack of building materials.

Discussion and Conclusion. An analysis of the construction activities of the NKVD in the Kola North, the economy of the GULAG, as a whole, helps to identify and specify the problem of the safety of resources at the disposal of labor camps, the inability of the latter to ensure the economic use of thousands of prisoners. This circumstance significantly limited the mobilization capabilities of the NKVD, including in the process of implementing large industrial projects of military strategic importance for the country. The economic consequences of resource losses (an increase of production cost, work in general, a decrease in the balance of working time, etc.) largely determine the place of the GULAG in the economic history of the country.