We are passing Tayshet, administrative center for gulag labor camps Oserlag and Angarstroy, with Paulo Coelho in Aleph. From Wikipedia: According to some survivor accounts, between Tayshet and Bratsk there is “a dead man under every sleeper.” Along with Japanese prisoners from the Kwantung Army, German prisoners of war formed a large proportion of the forced labor contingent, generally under a 25-year sentence.
Prisoners work at Belbaltlag, a Gulag camp for building the White Sea-Baltic Sea Canal .
From the 1932 documentary film, Baltic to White Sea Water Way. Courtesy of the Central Russian Film and Photo Archive.
