Ivan Solonevich, "Russia in a concentration camp" - this book is often cited as evidence of how badly people lived in the Soviet Union. And was it really so? And if so, how were things in other countries? Was everything really good there, were the rights and freedoms of people respected, were there no concentration camps or prisons? Was there paradise and abundance? How true is the text of the book, and was it not another "song" of another defector?
Where did the expression come from?
The book by Ivan Solonevich "Russia in a concentration camp" was written by him in the first half of the last century. In it, the author describes his life in Soviet Russia. How he wanted to escape, how he was prevented, and then sent to a concentration camp. He reveals all the events and all the characters, the life of prisoners in great detail. He also names the reasons why people got into these institutions. All the characters of the characters and their actions are so vividly described that doubt involuntarily arises: did he not invent, if not the whole story from beginning to end, then at least some part?
One fact should be clarified right away -there were concentration camps on the territory of Soviet Russia. But they were built not only by the Bolsheviks. The British and Americans made a special contribution to the construction of concentration camps in Russia. So, during the interventions on the island of Mudyug, an American concentration camp was built in Russia for captured Red Army soldiers and partisans. The atrocities committed by the interventionists are evidenced by archival documents and oral stories told by the descendants of the surviving prisoners.
Who is Ivan Solonevich?
Ivan Lukyanovich Solonevich was born in the Russian Empire in 1891 in the town of Tsekhanovets, Grodno region. He studied at the gymnasium, after graduating from which he worked as a journalist, first in tsarist Russia, and then in Soviet Russia. Published in sports newspapers and magazines. Despite his work in the Soviet press, he always adhered to monarchist views, which, according to him, he hid all the time. While trying to escape from the country in 1932, he was captured and sent to Solovki.
It is interesting that with such views, he calmly worked "for the good" of Soviet journalism, traveled throughout the Soviet Union for more than 10 years. Was in Kyrgyzstan, Dagestan, Abkhazia, North Karelia, in the Urals. They even wanted to send him to work in England in 1927, but since relations between the USSR and Great Britain deteriorated at that time, the trip did not take place.
The first escape attempt was made in 1932. It ended unsuccessfully, and Solonevich ended up in the Solovki concentration camp. On July 28, 1934, he managed to escape from the country. Hecrossed the Russian-Finnish border with his son and brother and ended up in the coveted Europe. There they worked as port loaders. At the same time, he is writing a book.
Book publication
The book by Ivan Solonevich "Russia in a concentration camp" was published in 1937. She is becoming famous and popular not only in emigre circles, but also among representatives of the Western European intelligentsia, especially in Germany.
In May 1936 he moved to Bulgaria, and in March 1938 to Germany. There he lived and published until the arrival of the Soviet troops, and then hid in the territory occupied by the Allied forces, the British and the Americans. During the war, he actively supported the Russian Fascist Union and other similar organizations. He met with famous Soviet traitors, including General A. A. Vlasov. In 1939, at the invitation of the Finnish side, he participated in the preparation of anti-Soviet propaganda.
In 1948, he and his family moved to Argentina with Nazi criminals, and then moved to Uruguay, where he died. Buried at the British Cemetery in Montevideo.
And why were whites better than reds?
Hitler and Goebbels especially appreciated his work "Russia in a concentration camp". But not everything written in the book turned out to be true. There was no mass betrayal. Physically and morally weak Soviet soldiers on the battlefield, as Hitler dreamed, were also not.
In fact, this work only gives the impression of the author. Comparing what came beforerevolution and became after it. And it turned out what is described in the work of Ivan Solonevich "Russia in a concentration camp." The book reflects the experiences and thoughts of a person who has ended up in places of deprivation of liberty. It is somewhat reminiscent of "Notes from the House of the Dead" by F. M. Dostoevsky. The same heartbreaking details of prison life, the same characters and the assessment of their actions from the point of view of universal morality. Only Fyodor Mikhailovich drew a completely different conclusion from the misfortune that happened to him.
In fact, there was no difference between pre-revolutionary hard labor and the first concentration camps in Russia. And they got into it for almost the same crimes as before the revolution. Only the executioners have changed.
The romanticization of the white movement and the demonization of the red lies in the fact that in the early 90s of the last century in Russia there were tremendous changes in political, economic and cultural development. The USSR collapsed and a new state was born - the Russian Federation. And began to re-evaluate the past. Although concentration camps on the territory of the Russian Empire were erected not only by the Reds, but also by the Whites. Thus, the US concentration camps in Russia were built on the territory of the Murmansk region and the Northern Dvina with the support of the Whites. The Americans were just allies and helped the White Army in pacifying the recalcitrant population - peasants and workers.
Why was Soviet Russia not a concentration camp country?
The book "Russia in a concentration camp" makes you think carefully about what kind of psychology people who fled their country had. Not in vainGoebbels, Hitler and Goering liked Solonevich's books so much. If not for this book, perhaps the German leadership did not dare to go to war against the Soviet Union.
According to the work, it turns out that Russia is a criminal state ruled by bandits, and the entire population of the country has turned into slaves leading a half-starved existence. The slaves are so angry and frightened that as soon as someone from outside comes, they will immediately betray the Soviet government and surrender to the mercy of the winners.
None of the historians denies the mass famine in 1930-1931. But is it really the fault of the Soviet government? In 1929, the world economic crisis broke out. This led to problems in the US - the Great Depression, massive unemployment and starvation among farmers and factory workers. The most interesting thing is that during the Great Depression, the US government did not conduct a census.
The same consequences of the economic crisis felt the countries of Europe, especially Germany. Here, out of desperation, people committed suicide with their families. As you can see, in those days, not only Soviet citizens suffered from hunger. What can I say - starving everywhere. Although this does not detract from the tragic event in the history of Russia, it is unreasonable to blame only the Soviet government for the famine.
Where were they located?
Solovki is considered the most famous Soviet concentration camp. According to the generally accepted version, this concentration camp was built by the communists. But in fact, this is not entirely true. They did not build "Solovki", but used the buildings already built before them. In the work of Ivan Solonevich "Russia inconcentration camp" is mentioned very often, although it is not written about who built it and who lived there before the buildings were converted into a Soviet prison.
Until 1923, the Solovki had a slightly different name. It was the Solovetsky Monastery. According to the generally accepted version, only monks lived there before the revolution. However, documents testify that long before the advent of Soviet power, political criminals were exiled there to the settlement. In 1937, the concentration camp was renamed into a prison. Since 1939, the prison was disbanded, and a jung school was opened in its place.
Solovki were part of the network of concentration camps in Russia GULAG. Concentration camps were located almost throughout the country, and most of them were in the European part of Russia (up to the Urals). It wasn't just adults who were in the camps. There were also concentration camps for children. The analysis of the south of Russia was carried out by many historians, who confirmed the fact that they also existed. But what was the main reason for their occurrence?
Concentration camps where children were kept
After two revolutions and the Civil War, children without parents appeared in the country - homeless children. The Soviet government was confronted with the fact that crowds of juvenile delinquents were walking the streets. In total there were about 7 million. The fact that they were homeless children, for what offenses they got there and how they lived in correctional colonies, can be read in Makarenko's Pedagogical Poem.
In addition to criminal elements, the camps contained children of dispossessed kulaks, White Guards, politicalcriminals. Teenagers could be imprisoned for petty offenses, even for marriage at a factory. Although it was painful for children to stay in such places, but in comparison with the fascist camps that they built in the occupied part of the Soviet Union during the Great Patriotic War, the conditions in Russian concentration camps were much better. In the children's concentration camps in the south of Russia, built by the Germans, simply unimaginable experiments were performed on children, they took blood for their soldiers and at the same time forced them to work. Those who could not work were finished off.
How do they help former prisoners of concentration camps nowadays?
Today there are several support measures. These are compensation payments and benefits to juvenile prisoners of concentration camps in Russia. They have the right to free travel on public transport, treatment in medical institutions free of charge and without a queue, and vouchers to places of sanatorium treatment.
To receive benefits and compensation, you only need to submit documents confirming that they were prisoners of fascist concentration camps, as well as documents indicating the presence of a disability. It doesn't matter if it was received during the detention in the camps or after.
In addition to benefits, former juvenile prisoners of fascist concentration camps in Russia and Eastern Europe are en titled to compensation payments. The Russian state provides material support to former juvenile prisoners. Monthly cash payments are 4500 rubles. Besides,the state guarantees a monthly allowance of 1,000 rubles.
The German government also pays compensation payments, but these amounts are not fixed. That is, someone will be given more, someone less. It all depends on where, when and under what conditions the juvenile prisoner was kept.
In order to receive benefits and compensation payments, citizens should apply with a prepared package of documents to the local social security authorities. The most important documents are those that confirm the fact that underage prisoners were in concentration camps. They can be obtained from the State Archives of the Russian Federation or Germany, or from the archives of the International Tracing Service in Arolsen.
What happened to the concentration camps?
Officially concentration camps in Russia ceased to exist in 1956. But to assert that such a phenomenon has disappeared only due to the decision of individual politicians would be extremely reckless. If we consider concentration camps as a place where soldiers of the enemy army temporarily stayed, then in the USSR the camps disappeared much later than this date. In fact, these institutions continued to exist for some time, as Stalin's repressions were replaced by Khrushchev's.
And although the prisoners were released, the prisons soon filled up again. There were no fewer people who wanted to escape from the "socialist paradise". And for dissent, or as it began to be called, dissidence, they continued to punish, that is, to plant. And most of those released into the wild had initially criminal inclinations. The proportion of political prisoners, as intimes of Stalinist repressions, according to archival data, amounted to no more than 5%. That is, the vast majority served their sentences deservedly, and after being released, they nevertheless returned to prison.
Today there are no more concentration camps, but there are still prisons. And although the conditions in them are not as harsh as described in Solonevich's book "Russia in a concentration camp", they are nevertheless similar. And not only Russian, but also those countries that declare their adherence to the principles of humanism. Centuries-old prison life and practices are not so easy to change.
Everything is known in comparison
To determine the extent to which Ivan Solonevich's book "Russia in a concentration camp" presents objective information, it is necessary to determine whether only the Soviet regime was cruel or similar regimes existed in other, more democratic countries? In fact, concentration camps at that time existed in almost all of Europe and even in the United States. With the light hand of Franklin Roosevelt, more than a dozen concentration camp barracks were put together.
Nazi Germany was the absolute leader in the number of camps in Europe. They built them not only in Germany and Austria, but also in other countries: Poland, the former Yugoslavia and Czechoslovakia. They contained not only Jews and local residents. The first "residents" of the concentration camps were representatives of the opposition, dissidents and other people who were objectionable to the authorities. Although Solonevich's "Russia in a concentration camp" was released, a reasonable question arises: "Andwhy didn’t he write about Europe being in a concentration camp?” Given that he arrived in Europe just at the time when Hitler began his fight against opposition and dissent. When thousands of people were sent to concentration camps or shot in basements. And not only Hitler. Concentration camps operated throughout Europe.
Nothing justifies cruelty, but let's compare what conditions were in the USSR at that time. The country was not just split in two. Anarchy reigned in the country. The provinces declared secession and independence. The empire was on the verge of collapse. And the Chekists were by no means to blame for this. The first, February revolution was made not by the Bolsheviks, but by the liberals. Unable to cope with the situation, they simply fled. Gangs recruited from yesterday's criminals, soldiers, Cossacks walked around the country. In other countries, there was no such rampant banditry.
Communists not only saved the country from complete collapse, there were territorial losses - Finland left, but also put things in order, carried out industrialization, albeit using the slave labor of prisoners. It would not have been possible to force the “diverging” people and direct destructive energy to creation in a different way. The Bolsheviks used the experience of pacifying and restoring order in the country, which the tsarist government had used for several centuries before them.
Disappointing conclusion
Although in our time there are no concentration camps in Russia and abroad, at least officially, however, analogues of these institutions have not disappeared and will not disappear.
Book"Russia in a concentration camp" was released more than half a century ago. During this time, a lot has changed. The Soviet Union disappeared from the map of the world, new states appeared. But even in our time cruelty has not disappeared. Wars continue. Millions of people are in prison. Although the world has changed during this time, man has remained the same. And perhaps someone will write a sequel and publish a book called "Russia in the concentration camp-2". Alas, the problem is relevant both for Russia and for any other country.
