Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-01-04

In centuries gone by the monastery, or rather
two of its towers, also was used as a prison.
The example set by Ivan the Terrible, who
in 1854 sent some 'heretics" there. Since then
the Cars imprisoned their most dangerous
enemies there. 1t became political prison of
especial Importance. Thus the Solovietzky
towers had the privilege of seeing many a
picturesque historical personality; many dra-
matte collisions of ambitions ended there. 1t
was here for instance, that the famous Count
Peter Tolstoy, of Leo Tolstoys ancestors,
ended his stormy life The cruel and talented
count (foregn diplomats knew him well, feared
him and described him as "Phomme le plus
eloquent lie plus fourbe ct lie moins scrupuleux
de toute la Russie'O was one of Peter the
Greats favorite statesmen, but a few years
after the Emperors death he, in spite of his 81
years tried, unsuccessfully, to prevent Peter II,
the Emperors grandson from occupying the
throne. He landed here.
Yet under the Cars the number of prisoners
at Solovki seldom exceeded a hundred. More
over, in the sos of the last century the Solovi-
etzky prison was entirely suppressed. Thus, in
1922, by sending its first batch of convcts there
the Socialist rulers of Moscow boldly resusci-
tated Ivan the Terribles abandoned tradition.
Now the monastery is the administrative
center of the Solovietzky prison world In its
solid buildings are the headquarters of o. G..
p. u. and there the Red army units guarding
the convicts and the "Uslon' Cor U. S. L. o. Ny
that is to say the administration of Solovietzky
camps-are quartered The monasterys seven
churches, stripped of their splendor and of their
valuable ancient ikons, have been converted into
prison barracks, Clubs" storage houses, etc.
For of course soon as the Soviets took pos
session of Solovk the monks were partly ar
rested and shot and partly chased out.
Only a small per cent of convictS live, how
ever in the islands themselves. Thus even in
the main island, where within the monastery'S
walls the Soviets inherited from the hard-work-
tail CHI
electric power station and other such enter
prises, there are only about 10000 men. A great
majority of the convicts are quartered on the
continent. 1t is there that convict labor is
needed most
Solovietzky convicts are literally outlaws, 1.-THE
slaves of the state" They have no legal pro-
lection of any kind. The prison administra-
tons authority over them is unlimited. A COM
mander of camp, or even mere o. c. p. u.
agent, can inf1ict any punishment upon them,
or even shoot them, for the slightest offense.
THEY live in large, unheated wooden barracks
without any sanitary accommodations. They
are so herded that at night the seven or eight
rows of hunks and the earth floor of the bar
racks look like one solid mass of filthy welter-
ing, groaning and swearing bodies. The air is
fetid. Those in the upper hunks nearly suffo-
cate In Winter the cold is terrific. "Often," ~
Mr.. CRUDE says Tin "Novoye Russkoye Slovo'C,
sin the morning bodies OF convicts frozen to
death would be found along The barracks outer
walls"
At daybreak they are driven to work. They
fell trees In snow-covered forests In Summer
they load them for expectation or cut them
for various purposes. This is their main work.
ifo fv, Ertce
trade and the Soviet government has assigned
extensive forest areas for exploitation by con-
victs. But they also do other things. Thus
an of the Murmansky Railroad is repaired and
taken care of by them
The Soviet governments slogan is ito squeeze
out of the 'Solovietzky enterprise as much
profit as possible" Accordingly, the harshness
with which these state slaves are forced to
labor deies all description. They work from IA
to 20 hours day. But If they fail to do their
quota" even in 20 hours, their insufficient
food ration of Shiny black bread and rotten fish
soup is cut. Those who, exhausted or i'll, fall
and are unable to rise are struck by the butt
of the guards rifle, beaten up. or else, in their
underclothes, they are held in the frost for
hour (all Soovietzky fugtives assert that this is
one of the most frequent punishments).
Still sadder, however, is the fate Of convict
who becomes incapacitated, for the principle
that "he who does not work shall not eat" is
applied at Solovd in its literal ruthlessneSs.
According to Mr.. Svyeshnikov, disabled old men
are sent to Anzery, an island especially reserved
for them, and allowed to starve.
Mr.. CRUDE quotes the following case: A tree
trunk smashed the chest of a young peasant
convict. Learning that the man was disabled
for life, Byelovzorov, commander of the COM
pany ordered him shot.
What an amount of food we would have to
waste on him IN the 10 years of imprisonment"
he exclaimed. "A bullet certainly costs less"
Yet the work which the convicts abhor most
is the building of the KEN Ukhtinsky and Kem-
Parandensky highroads. There is literally
not a square inch of ground on these roads,"