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Katorga

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System of penal labor in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union For the concept in the Soviet Union, see Katorga labor (Soviet Union).
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Removing of shackles: painting by Aleksander Sochaczewski (1843–1923)

Katorga (Russian: ка́торга, romanized: kátorga, IPA: [ˈkatərɡə] ; from medieval and modern Greek: κάτεργον, romanized: kátergon, lit. 'galley'; and Ottoman Turkish: کادیرغا, kadırga) was a system of penal labor in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union (see Katorga labor in the Soviet Union).

Prisoners were sent to remote penal colonies in vast uninhabited areas of Siberia and the Russian Far East where voluntary settlers and workers were never available in sufficient numbers. The prisoners had to perform forced labor under harsh conditions.

Etymology

See also: Slavery in the Ottoman Empire, Black Sea slave trade § Crimean slave trade (15th–18th centuries), and Crimean–Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe

The term "katorga" (Russian: ка́торга) originated from the Ottoman Turkish word "kadırga," which means "galley" (a type of ship). This transition reflects the historical practice where, among others, Ukrainian and Russian slaves, were subjected to severe penal labor on galleys or in similar harsh conditions. In the Crimean Khanate and the Ottoman Empire, the practice of forcing slaves to work on galleys was common, and the suffering endured by these individuals was often depicted in Ukrainian dumas (songs).

In the Russian language, "katorga" evolved to denote a form of penal labor or a harsh prison system, transcending its initial maritime connotation. This semantic shift underscores the extreme nature of the punishment associated with "katorga," which became synonymous with "prison" in Russian parlance, reflecting the severe conditions faced by those condemned to such labor.

History

Prisoners at an Amur Cart Road camp, between 1908 and 1913
Bashkirs conducting convicts to Siberia, painted by William Allan, 1814

Katorga, a category of punishment within the judicial system of the Russian Empire, had many of the features associated with labor-camp imprisonment: confinement, simplified facilities (as opposed to prisons), and forced labor, usually involving hard, unskilled or semi-skilled work.

Katorga camps were established in the 17th century by Tsar Alexis of Russia in newly conquered, underpopulated areas of Siberia and the Russian Far East—regions that had few towns or food sources. Despite the isolated conditions, a few prisoners successfully escaped to populated areas. From these times, Siberia gained its fearful connotation of punishment, which was further enhanced by the Soviet gulag system.

After the change in Russian penal law in 1847, exile and katorga became common punishments for participants in national uprisings within the Russian Empire. This led to increasing numbers of Poles sent to Siberia for katorga. These people have become known in Poland as Sybiraks ("Siberians"). Some of them remained there, forming a Polish minority in Siberia.

The most common occupations in katorga camps were mining and timber work. Another example involved the successful construction of the Amur Cart Road (Аму́рская колёсная доро́га, Amúrskaya kolyósnaya doróga).

In 1891 Anton Chekhov, the Russian writer and playwright, visited the katorga settlements on Sakhalin island in the Russian Far East and wrote about the conditions there in his book Sakhalin Island. He criticized the short-sightedness and incompetence of the officials in charge that led to poor living standards, waste of government funds, and decreased productivity.

Peter Kropotkin, while aide de camp to the governor of Transbaikalia in the 1860s, was appointed to inspect the state of the prison system in the area; he later described his findings in his book In Russian and French Prisons (1887).

Notable katorgas

Famous katorga convicts

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (August 2008)

Georgian

Russian

Polish

Farewell to Europe, by Aleksander Sochaczewski
Main article: Sybirak

Ukrainian

Soviet times

Further information: Forced labor in the Soviet Union

After the Russian Revolution of 1917 the Russian penal system was taken over by the Bolsheviks, who eventually transformed the katorga into the Gulag labor camps.

In 1943 the "katorga labor" (ка́торжные рабо́ты, kátorzhnyye rabóty) as a special, severe type of punishment was reintroduced. It was initially intended for Nazi collaborators, but other categories of political prisoners (for example, members of deported peoples who fled from exile) were also sentenced to "katorga labor". Prisoners sentenced to "katorga labor" were sent to gulag prison camps with the most harsh regime, and many of them died.

See also

References

  1. "Russian History Resources". Bucknell University – Russian Studies. Lewisberg, PA. n.d. Archived from the original on February 28, 2007.
  2. Kizilov, Mikhail (2007). "Slave Trade in the Early Modern Crimea: From the Perspective of Christian, Muslim, and Jewish Sources". Journal of Early Modern History. Retrieved 2024-09-10.
  3. "ГУЛАГ: общие сведения | Репрессии и пенитенциарная система в СССР" [Gulag: general information | Repression and the prison system in the USSR]. Archived from the original on 2009-04-19.
  • P.Kropotkin, In Russian and French Prisons, London: Ward and Downey; 1887.

Further reading

  • Daly, Jonathan W. Autocracy under Siege: Security Police and Opposition in Russia, 1866–1905 (1998).

External links

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