Paul
Goble
Staunton, April 15 – In the final
decades of Soviet power, Russian prison camps in Mordvinia were known as the
worst places any prisoner political or not could be sent, a reputation they
acquired largely on the strength of Valentyn Moroz’s samizdat classic, Report from the Beria Reserve (1974).
Tragically, a new report by Radio
Liberty’s Vadim Meshcheryakov suggests, they deserve that reputation to this
day. He even entitles his long, detailed and depressing article about the
situation there “The Mordvinian Colonies – Welcome to Hell” (idelreal.org/a/29880370.html).
The journalist spoke with Lena Fyodorova,
a former prisoner who knew many of the more famous “politicals” who continue to
be confined in Mordvinian camps. She
recalled that when she was led into the camps, more senior prisoners shouted
out at her “Welcome to Hell.” That
proved to be an understatement.
Prisoners were forced to work far
more hours than the norm, often until the middle of the night, when
temperatures were far below zero. They
were not fed well and allowed to wash themselves only once a week. Some were
beaten, and all were subjected to enormous psychological pressure, which was
often worse than physical abuse, Fyodorova said.
Indeed, things got so bad even for
her, the Radio Liberty interlocutor said, that at one point, “I looked to the
sky and asked God for death.”
She added that her experiences with
human rights activists who came to the camps was anything but happy. They
listened to her stories but then went and laughed with the prison guards and
commandeers. “They laughed over us –
these aren’t helpers or defenders” however much they claim otherwise.
“Thank God,” Fyodorova says, she only
had to spend 30 months in the Mordvinian camp. She would not wish such misery
on anyone. And she is certain that those who inflicted injuries and even deaths
on prisoners will have to “answer before God” even if they never have to answer
before a judge serving the same system they do.
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