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Gulag Boss: A Soviet Memoir
The searing accounts of Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, Evgeniia Ginsberg and Varlam Shalamov opened the world's eyes to the terrors of the Soviet Gulag. But not until now has there been a memoir of life inside the camps written from the perspective of an actual employee of the Secret police.
In this riveting memoir, superbly translated by Deborah Kaple, Fyodor Mochulsky describes being sent to work as a boss at the forced labor camp of Pechorlag in the frozen tundra north of the Arctic Circle. Only twenty-two years old, he had but a vague idea of the true nature of the Gulag. What he discovered was a world of unimaginable suffering and death, a world where men were starved, beaten, worked to death, or simply executed. Mochulsky details the horrific conditions in the camps and the challenges facing all those involved, from prisoners to guards. He depicts the power struggles within the camps between the secret police and the communist party, between the political prisoners (most of whom had been arrested for the generic crime of "counter-revolutionary activities") and the criminal convicts. And because Mochulsky writes of what he witnessed with the detachment of the engineer that he was, readers can easily understand how a system that destroyed millions of lives could be run by ordinary Soviet citizens who believed they were advancing the cause of socialism.
Mochulsky remained a communist party member his entire life--he would later become a diplomat--but was deeply troubled by the gap between socialist theory and the Soviet reality of slave labor and mass murder. This unprecedented memoir takes readers into that reality and sheds new light on one of the most harrowing tragedies of the 20th century.
In this riveting memoir, superbly translated by Deborah Kaple, Fyodor Mochulsky describes being sent to work as a boss at the forced labor camp of Pechorlag in the frozen tundra north of the Arctic Circle. Only twenty-two years old, he had but a vague idea of the true nature of the Gulag. What he discovered was a world of unimaginable suffering and death, a world where men were starved, beaten, worked to death, or simply executed. Mochulsky details the horrific conditions in the camps and the challenges facing all those involved, from prisoners to guards. He depicts the power struggles within the camps between the secret police and the communist party, between the political prisoners (most of whom had been arrested for the generic crime of "counter-revolutionary activities") and the criminal convicts. And because Mochulsky writes of what he witnessed with the detachment of the engineer that he was, readers can easily understand how a system that destroyed millions of lives could be run by ordinary Soviet citizens who believed they were advancing the cause of socialism.
Mochulsky remained a communist party member his entire life--he would later become a diplomat--but was deeply troubled by the gap between socialist theory and the Soviet reality of slave labor and mass murder. This unprecedented memoir takes readers into that reality and sheds new light on one of the most harrowing tragedies of the 20th century.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published October 8, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
July 29, 2023
Bought this earlier today. Was later asked about Gulag Boss and I glibly said, it is like Cake Boss but with permafrost, kulaks and cannibalism.
A Soviet engineer in 1940 is offered work experience above the arctic circle. He solves problems. Almost sixty years later he notes it was abominable but all the attendant crimes occur off the page. He worked on railroad construction. He solved food shortages. The silence is often deafening.
Deborah Kaple’s afterward attempts to situate this memoir in the context of Gulag accounts. She notes how the fates of the zeks don’t warrant much attention. They are a labor force, one requiring a certain number of calories.
2.3 stars
A Soviet engineer in 1940 is offered work experience above the arctic circle. He solves problems. Almost sixty years later he notes it was abominable but all the attendant crimes occur off the page. He worked on railroad construction. He solved food shortages. The silence is often deafening.
Deborah Kaple’s afterward attempts to situate this memoir in the context of Gulag accounts. She notes how the fates of the zeks don’t warrant much attention. They are a labor force, one requiring a certain number of calories.
2.3 stars
February 26, 2013
This is the memoir of an ex-Soviet diplomat who served as a Gulag boss and Komsomol worker during World War II; he was drafted into the NKVD immediately after graduating from the railway engineering institute, and shortly after the war received diplomatic training.
The book is definitely worthwhile for those interested in the banality of evil. While there is a brief section at the end where he excoriates the Soviet system, the vast majority of the memoir is striking for the shallow and dull tone in which Mochulsky recounts his stories. The contrast with works like "Zona" by Sergei Dovlatov is profound - one reads this book and can't help but think that Mochulsky is precisely the kind of person that Dovlatov would have hated the most in this world. Nonetheless, it's an easy and quick read, and precisely that superficiality is why this book is memorable, again, as a somewhat uncomfortable documentation of the banality of evil.
The translation, though, is distracting and by no means "superb," as blurbed by the Oxford University Press folks.
First, the translator has "a strange habit" of putting any idiomatic "turn of phrase" in "quotes." It's conceivable that this reflects the original, but (1) this tic appears even in her English prose, although less frequently, and (2) since the translator explicitly acknowledges having shuffled around some parts of the book for greater clarity, even if the author wrote this way in the original, it should have been edited out. It's incredibly distracting.
There are a few out-and-out mistakes in the translation, e.g. "everyone came down with 'tsingoi,' especially the prisoners. In medical language this is called scurvy..." (41). First off, the correct citation form for this word (nominative singular) is tsinga - the form 'tsingoi' is in the instrumental case, which is required by the verb 'to come down with.' Second, this gives the impression that the word tsinga is prisoner slang or something. It isn't. There is another word for scurvy in Russian - skorbut from the Latin scorbutus - but if anything, skorbut is the less usual word, and this reads like the author is trying to show off his knowledge of medical jargon rather than deploying camp slang for flavor. All of this is somewhat pedantic, but it's misleading and it hardly inspires confidence in the rest of the translation.
There are a few obscene jokes that are difficult to translate, but the translator handles them inconsistently. One involves a pun on the Russian phrase "на хуй шире" which can be read either as something like 'what the fuck do we need it to be wider for?' or 'wider by the length of a dick.' (The context, BTW, is Nikolai II's opinion on the width of railway gauges.) She translates this as "By the cock...bigger," which I don't love because it simply makes little sense in English, but I totally get that this is a really tough translation problem. She does sort of explain the joke in a footnote. The second joke involves a civilian female employee of the Gulag entering into a Komi (an indigenous people of the Russian north) house to barter for food products. She runs into a drunken Komi man who explains *in Komi* that he has neither meat nor butter, and the point of the joke is that this sounds like a very direct & obscene suggestion to a Russian speaker who didn't realize that the man was speaking Komi. There is no footnote to explain this joke, so I have to imagine that a monolingual English speaker would read this and have no earthly idea what the point of this anecdote was.
Personally I didn't find the translation to be too distracting, although it was irritating at points, but this is because I know Russian and have spent some time reading Gulag memoirs in Russian. Your mileage may vary.
The book is definitely worthwhile for those interested in the banality of evil. While there is a brief section at the end where he excoriates the Soviet system, the vast majority of the memoir is striking for the shallow and dull tone in which Mochulsky recounts his stories. The contrast with works like "Zona" by Sergei Dovlatov is profound - one reads this book and can't help but think that Mochulsky is precisely the kind of person that Dovlatov would have hated the most in this world. Nonetheless, it's an easy and quick read, and precisely that superficiality is why this book is memorable, again, as a somewhat uncomfortable documentation of the banality of evil.
The translation, though, is distracting and by no means "superb," as blurbed by the Oxford University Press folks.
First, the translator has "a strange habit" of putting any idiomatic "turn of phrase" in "quotes." It's conceivable that this reflects the original, but (1) this tic appears even in her English prose, although less frequently, and (2) since the translator explicitly acknowledges having shuffled around some parts of the book for greater clarity, even if the author wrote this way in the original, it should have been edited out. It's incredibly distracting.
There are a few out-and-out mistakes in the translation, e.g. "everyone came down with 'tsingoi,' especially the prisoners. In medical language this is called scurvy..." (41). First off, the correct citation form for this word (nominative singular) is tsinga - the form 'tsingoi' is in the instrumental case, which is required by the verb 'to come down with.' Second, this gives the impression that the word tsinga is prisoner slang or something. It isn't. There is another word for scurvy in Russian - skorbut from the Latin scorbutus - but if anything, skorbut is the less usual word, and this reads like the author is trying to show off his knowledge of medical jargon rather than deploying camp slang for flavor. All of this is somewhat pedantic, but it's misleading and it hardly inspires confidence in the rest of the translation.
There are a few obscene jokes that are difficult to translate, but the translator handles them inconsistently. One involves a pun on the Russian phrase "на хуй шире" which can be read either as something like 'what the fuck do we need it to be wider for?' or 'wider by the length of a dick.' (The context, BTW, is Nikolai II's opinion on the width of railway gauges.) She translates this as "By the cock...bigger," which I don't love because it simply makes little sense in English, but I totally get that this is a really tough translation problem. She does sort of explain the joke in a footnote. The second joke involves a civilian female employee of the Gulag entering into a Komi (an indigenous people of the Russian north) house to barter for food products. She runs into a drunken Komi man who explains *in Komi* that he has neither meat nor butter, and the point of the joke is that this sounds like a very direct & obscene suggestion to a Russian speaker who didn't realize that the man was speaking Komi. There is no footnote to explain this joke, so I have to imagine that a monolingual English speaker would read this and have no earthly idea what the point of this anecdote was.
Personally I didn't find the translation to be too distracting, although it was irritating at points, but this is because I know Russian and have spent some time reading Gulag memoirs in Russian. Your mileage may vary.
September 19, 2018
The oxymorons of "socialism" and "communism".... that were anything but social and commune promoting.
Very interesting book.
Very interesting book.
August 31, 2021
This book sucks. All he does is talk about what a great Gulag Boss he is.
February 11, 2023
he sure was a gulag boss
August 9, 2016
Anne Applebaum spune ca trebuie citita aceasta carte.
Eu o recomand doar daca aveti o pasiune exagerata pentru acest subiect.
Pe mine cartea m-a scos din sarite pentru ca individul Feodor Mociulski prin memoriile sale, pe care Deborah Kaple s-a decis sa le publice intr-un final ca sa faca un ban frumos (cred cu tarie asta si am sa-mi sustin punctul de vedere, no matter what) nu face altceva decat sa prezinta un sistem abject de incarcerare cu o fata mai mult decat umana.
Nimeni nu moare la el in lagar, toata lumea isi face treaba fericita, toti prizonierii sunt tratati cu respect, mai ca se bucura ca au ajuns in GULAG si au sansa de a fi reeducati de un aparatcik dedicat precum Mociulski.
Faptul ca la sfarsit Mociulski scrie cateva propozitii despre faptul ca sistemul l-a dezamagit, atentie, modul de aplicare a comunismului, nu ideea de comunism, nu face altceva decat sa sublinieze ca acest volum de memorii este o farsa si o jignire la adresa milioanelor de oameni care si-au pierdut viata in GULAG si sub mustata tovarasului Stalin.
Sef in Gulag poate fi categorisita, linistit, drept un volum de propaganda sovietica, comunista, de cea mai joasa speta. Nu inteleg cum cineva ar putea rezona cu aceste memorii fanteziste demne de Alice in Tara Min(ci)unilor.
Care este urmatorul pas? Memoriile unui conducator de lagar nazist care sa povesteasca cum ca la el in lagar evreii picau pe scari si mureau sau ca mureau de batranete? Ca, de fapt, viata era foarte ok in lagarele naziste si ca toti oamenii morti sunt niste minciuni scornite de evrei?
Daca da, atunci suntem pe drumul cel bun...
P.S. - din punctul meu de vedere aceasta carte ar trebui interzisa sau Feodor Mociulski sa dea niscai explicatii in fata victimelor din GULAG sau sa revina asupra memoriilor sale si sa spuna adevarul, nu adevarul partidului, ci adevarul istoric.
Eu o recomand doar daca aveti o pasiune exagerata pentru acest subiect.
Pe mine cartea m-a scos din sarite pentru ca individul Feodor Mociulski prin memoriile sale, pe care Deborah Kaple s-a decis sa le publice intr-un final ca sa faca un ban frumos (cred cu tarie asta si am sa-mi sustin punctul de vedere, no matter what) nu face altceva decat sa prezinta un sistem abject de incarcerare cu o fata mai mult decat umana.
Nimeni nu moare la el in lagar, toata lumea isi face treaba fericita, toti prizonierii sunt tratati cu respect, mai ca se bucura ca au ajuns in GULAG si au sansa de a fi reeducati de un aparatcik dedicat precum Mociulski.
Faptul ca la sfarsit Mociulski scrie cateva propozitii despre faptul ca sistemul l-a dezamagit, atentie, modul de aplicare a comunismului, nu ideea de comunism, nu face altceva decat sa sublinieze ca acest volum de memorii este o farsa si o jignire la adresa milioanelor de oameni care si-au pierdut viata in GULAG si sub mustata tovarasului Stalin.
Sef in Gulag poate fi categorisita, linistit, drept un volum de propaganda sovietica, comunista, de cea mai joasa speta. Nu inteleg cum cineva ar putea rezona cu aceste memorii fanteziste demne de Alice in Tara Min(ci)unilor.
Care este urmatorul pas? Memoriile unui conducator de lagar nazist care sa povesteasca cum ca la el in lagar evreii picau pe scari si mureau sau ca mureau de batranete? Ca, de fapt, viata era foarte ok in lagarele naziste si ca toti oamenii morti sunt niste minciuni scornite de evrei?
Daca da, atunci suntem pe drumul cel bun...
P.S. - din punctul meu de vedere aceasta carte ar trebui interzisa sau Feodor Mociulski sa dea niscai explicatii in fata victimelor din GULAG sau sa revina asupra memoriilor sale si sa spuna adevarul, nu adevarul partidului, ci adevarul istoric.
July 7, 2019
Le pongo en realidad un 4,5, pero es una memoria muy buena. Una de las mejores cosas de estas memorias, es que en la actualidad hay muy pocas memorias que sean de jefes del gulag y está memoria nos aporta muchas novedades sobre este tema. A través de estas memorias, podemos ver otra perspectiva del gulag y es un cambio sobre la visión que tenemos de los gulags, ya que estamos acostumbrados siempre a ver la perspectiva de los prisioneros.
Pero una de las cosas que no me ha gustado y que coincido mucho con la traductora de las memorias (Deborah Kaple), es la poca autocrítica de Fyodor Vasilevich Mochulsky en su trabajo en los campos de concentración soviéticos. A lo largo de las memorias nos cuenta lo duro que era el trabajo y todas las buenas acciones que hizo durante su trabajo, con el fin de mejorar la situación de los campos y de los prisioneros. Pero aquellas cosas malas que tuvo que hacer no las explica y las oculta, es decir, que a lo largo de toda la memoria se nos presenta como un héroe. Esto nos demuestra que en realidad, este jefe no nos está transmitiendo toda la verdad sobre este asunto.
Pero tenemos que pensar en muchas de las cosas positivas que nos aporta esta memoria. Lo primero de todo y que ya lo he señalado antes, es la otra perspectiva que nos aportan sobre los gulags. Lo segundo de todo y una de las cosas que más me han gustado es conocer un poco mejor como era la organización de los jefes y de la NKVD en los campos de concentración soviéticos. Además, una de las cosas que más me han sorprendido, son los constantes cambios de trabajo que tiene que hacer este jefe y en todos los campos de concentración soviéticos que tuvo que trabajar, durante su estancia como jefe del gulag. Nunca permanecían en un mismo puesto de trabajo durante un largo periodo de tiempo.
La tercera cosa que tengo que destacar, es que conozcamos mejor como eran las relaciones entre los jefes y los prisioneros. Además, una de las cosas que aparecen mucho en estas memorias, es el tema de las huelgas de prisioneros y como tenían que actuar los jefes. Además, tenemos que destacar que la visión de este jefe, también nos ayuda a ver como eran las condiciones de vida de los prisioneros, a través de la descripción que hace. Este jefe nos aporta una cosa muy positiva y es que refuerza muchas de las condiciones de vida que los prisioneros que han escrito supervivientes del gulag con sus propias memorias y nos las reflejan en ellas.
La cuarta y última cosa que quiero destacar, es la manera en que está escrita está memoria, ya que se lee fácilmente y está muy bien redactada. La estructura de la memoria es muy buena y en cada capítulo vemos los cambios y los avances por los que va pasando el autor. Otra cosa que me ha gustado mucho, es el material fotográfico que nos aporta, ya que nos ayuda a entender y a visualizar muchas de las situaciones que el autor nos presenta a lo largo de las memorias. Además, otra cosa que quiero destacar es a la traductora, ya que hace una gran trabajo y el primer y último capítulo de estas memorias, son muy interesantes para que podamos entender más cosas sobre este jefe y sobre las memorias.
Para concluir, quiero señalar que estas memorias se las recomiendo a todas aquellas personas que les guste el tema del gulag. Además, creo que son unas memorias que no van a decepcionar a nadie, porque conocer la otra perspectiva nos permite a entender mejor, más cosas sobre este tema.
Pero una de las cosas que no me ha gustado y que coincido mucho con la traductora de las memorias (Deborah Kaple), es la poca autocrítica de Fyodor Vasilevich Mochulsky en su trabajo en los campos de concentración soviéticos. A lo largo de las memorias nos cuenta lo duro que era el trabajo y todas las buenas acciones que hizo durante su trabajo, con el fin de mejorar la situación de los campos y de los prisioneros. Pero aquellas cosas malas que tuvo que hacer no las explica y las oculta, es decir, que a lo largo de toda la memoria se nos presenta como un héroe. Esto nos demuestra que en realidad, este jefe no nos está transmitiendo toda la verdad sobre este asunto.
Pero tenemos que pensar en muchas de las cosas positivas que nos aporta esta memoria. Lo primero de todo y que ya lo he señalado antes, es la otra perspectiva que nos aportan sobre los gulags. Lo segundo de todo y una de las cosas que más me han gustado es conocer un poco mejor como era la organización de los jefes y de la NKVD en los campos de concentración soviéticos. Además, una de las cosas que más me han sorprendido, son los constantes cambios de trabajo que tiene que hacer este jefe y en todos los campos de concentración soviéticos que tuvo que trabajar, durante su estancia como jefe del gulag. Nunca permanecían en un mismo puesto de trabajo durante un largo periodo de tiempo.
La tercera cosa que tengo que destacar, es que conozcamos mejor como eran las relaciones entre los jefes y los prisioneros. Además, una de las cosas que aparecen mucho en estas memorias, es el tema de las huelgas de prisioneros y como tenían que actuar los jefes. Además, tenemos que destacar que la visión de este jefe, también nos ayuda a ver como eran las condiciones de vida de los prisioneros, a través de la descripción que hace. Este jefe nos aporta una cosa muy positiva y es que refuerza muchas de las condiciones de vida que los prisioneros que han escrito supervivientes del gulag con sus propias memorias y nos las reflejan en ellas.
La cuarta y última cosa que quiero destacar, es la manera en que está escrita está memoria, ya que se lee fácilmente y está muy bien redactada. La estructura de la memoria es muy buena y en cada capítulo vemos los cambios y los avances por los que va pasando el autor. Otra cosa que me ha gustado mucho, es el material fotográfico que nos aporta, ya que nos ayuda a entender y a visualizar muchas de las situaciones que el autor nos presenta a lo largo de las memorias. Además, otra cosa que quiero destacar es a la traductora, ya que hace una gran trabajo y el primer y último capítulo de estas memorias, son muy interesantes para que podamos entender más cosas sobre este jefe y sobre las memorias.
Para concluir, quiero señalar que estas memorias se las recomiendo a todas aquellas personas que les guste el tema del gulag. Además, creo que son unas memorias que no van a decepcionar a nadie, porque conocer la otra perspectiva nos permite a entender mejor, más cosas sobre este tema.
April 12, 2021
Cei mai mulţi cetăţeni sovietici erau la curent cu existenţa „unei ţări separate în spatele gardurilor de sârmă ghimpată” din fosta URSS. Oamenii vorbeau despre malenkaia zona sau „zona restrânsă” (referindu-se la lagărele de muncă silnică din Gulag) şi respectiv despre bolşaia zona sau „zona extinsă” (URSS văzută ca un imens lagăr de muncă din Gulag). Scriitorul şi supravieţuitorul Gulagului Varlam Şalamov făcea observaţia că „în URSS absolut toată lumea era conştientă de fălcile căscate ale Gulagului, care ameninţau să ne înghită pe toţi”. Întinderea nesfârşită a Gulagului şi frica de teroare au impus însă o tăcere generalizată în rândul cetăţenilor sovietici. Iar ceea ce constată cercetătorii astăzi este că răul a fost departe de a se fi limitat la milioanele de oameni care au muncit în lagăre sau la familiile lor, atingând însuşi esenţa spiritului rus. Gulagul ca instituţie şi-a pus puternic amprenta asupra relaţiilor sociale din întreaga URSS, prin perpetuarea măsurilor violente dictate de guvern, prin răspândirea terorii, încurajarea suspiciunii reciproce şi a paranoiei, chiar şi între prieteni apropiaţi sau între membri ai aceleiaşi familii.
March 25, 2025
O nouă carte despre Gulag, dar de data asta scrisă, poate în premieră, de cineva care făcea parte din administrația lagărului, nu dintre deținuți.
Perspectiva unui inginer care lucrează acolo, fără emoții, lamentări, ipocrizie. Mociulski povestește ce-a trăit. Inginer, nu literat, om din vreme de război nazist de invazie.
Pănă în 1946, autorul lucrează în două lagare: "Primul a fost PeciorLag, un lagăr destinat construirii unei căi ferate până la Cercul Arctic, iar cel de-al doilea a fost Lagărul Nr.3 (...) oamenii de aici aveau misiunea să refacă şoseaua care pornea de la Moscova până la Harkov, distrusă în timpul celui de-al Doilea Război Mondial".
Din punctul meu de vedere Mociulski a scris o carte onestă. Una în care s-ar fi lamentat despre soarta întemnițaților ar fi fost doar o dovadă de ipocrizie și duplicitate pentru om care și-a continuat cariera în Ministerul de Externe până la pensie și care a murit crezand în ideologia comunistă.
Perspectiva unui inginer care lucrează acolo, fără emoții, lamentări, ipocrizie. Mociulski povestește ce-a trăit. Inginer, nu literat, om din vreme de război nazist de invazie.
Pănă în 1946, autorul lucrează în două lagare: "Primul a fost PeciorLag, un lagăr destinat construirii unei căi ferate până la Cercul Arctic, iar cel de-al doilea a fost Lagărul Nr.3 (...) oamenii de aici aveau misiunea să refacă şoseaua care pornea de la Moscova până la Harkov, distrusă în timpul celui de-al Doilea Război Mondial".
Din punctul meu de vedere Mociulski a scris o carte onestă. Una în care s-ar fi lamentat despre soarta întemnițaților ar fi fost doar o dovadă de ipocrizie și duplicitate pentru om care și-a continuat cariera în Ministerul de Externe până la pensie și care a murit crezand în ideologia comunistă.
November 14, 2020
Gulag Boss was certainly an interesting read.
Having read this so quickly for a school assignment, I was expecting something similar to Eli Wiesel’s Night in terms of how bad things would be. I was surprised that the narrator Fyodor Mochulvsky seemed to describe so little of the evils of the Gulag, or rather they seemed very muted in most respects.
All in all, this is great look inside a brutal historical system of oppression, and a really interesting and engaging novel. Movhulvsky’s memoirs are definitely a must-read if you’re interested in Soviet Russia.
Having read this so quickly for a school assignment, I was expecting something similar to Eli Wiesel’s Night in terms of how bad things would be. I was surprised that the narrator Fyodor Mochulvsky seemed to describe so little of the evils of the Gulag, or rather they seemed very muted in most respects.
All in all, this is great look inside a brutal historical system of oppression, and a really interesting and engaging novel. Movhulvsky’s memoirs are definitely a must-read if you’re interested in Soviet Russia.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 30, 2022
Interesting as a first person historical account from someone working in the Gulag, as opposed to being a prisoner. But there are too many tedious sections describing the building of railroad tracks and not enough of the hierarchy that formed in the prisoner barracks or the political machinations of the government that saw someone be a guard one day and a prisoner in their own camp the next. That’s the really compelling stuff.
June 5, 2021
From Perspective of a Young Gulag Boss
I learned a lot in this read. This young man had just graduated and was an engineer. In order to pay back the Soviet Union for their education, each person must work 2-3 years for the state.
This was like an insider's view of running a gulag. It captured and kept my attention starting on the first page.
I learned a lot in this read. This young man had just graduated and was an engineer. In order to pay back the Soviet Union for their education, each person must work 2-3 years for the state.
This was like an insider's view of running a gulag. It captured and kept my attention starting on the first page.
June 6, 2018
Unique, very good story we don’t often read about the GULAG
I’ve read many first-person prisoner GULAG stories, so reading this man’s story was of great interest and gave new insights into the horrors there.
I’ve read many first-person prisoner GULAG stories, so reading this man’s story was of great interest and gave new insights into the horrors there.
September 16, 2022
It's great that Deborah Kaple acknowledges the shortfalls of Mochulsky's biography in that a lot of claims can't be verified easily and that he may have told his story in a way to make himself look better. Books like these are important yet need to be taken with a grain of salt.
September 25, 2017
A very different view of the Gulag system from a Communist party member and NKVD employee.
November 18, 2018
Engaging account of the other side of the gulag
November 15, 2020
Read for class
September 11, 2022
It’s fortunate that we have the overseer’s perspective on the brutal Soviet forced labor system.
Read
March 2, 2023deborah kaple versus an ounce of nuance... who would win?
December 25, 2023
Amaze possible gulag white washing conspiracy theory
April 23, 2018
Of memoirist Fyodor Vasilevich Mochulsky, Deborah Kaple says in some introductory material here: "Not until nearly the end of my year in Moscow did he tell me about his Gulag memoir. He had written the memoir after he had retired from the USSR Foreign Ministry in 1988. His family says that he often spoke about the Gulag and his work there because the experience deeply troubled him all his life." Thus during Glasnost and Gorbachev, Mochulsky looked back over the decades and described his experiences as one of the low-level Gulag functionaries. Is it self-serving and selective? Maybe, probably, yet still fascinating and a rarity among Gulag memoirs. Kaple reports in afterword on the research she did including comparison to prisoner memoirs that failed to find any material contradiction to the recollections here. The recollections point to running the camp had much of the same restrictions and privations suffered by those imprisoned. Sidelined from a promising mining career out of university, Mochulsky was dropped off north Arctic Circle with little supplies and many people to build a railway undersupplied and under threat. His ways to enable that with POWs, political prisoners, and common criminals is fascinating about the day-to-day operations while Mochulsky does not go very far into the lack of justice, as if that needed underscoring.
July 9, 2015
O perspectiva interesanta si diferita asupra ororii istorice reprezentate de GULAG. Desi autorul oculteaza multe aspecte ale vietii (si mortii) detinutilor din lagarele de munca silnica si pune accent pe munca angajatilor civili din acestea (care traiau si ei sub permanenta amenintare de a trece in randul detinutilor pentru felurite greseli marunte sau inventate), concluzia acestui, de altfel, devotat comunist este elocventa: "Incet-incet ajunsesem sa vad cu ochii mei cat de inumane si criminale erau politicile practicate de conducerea sovietica in Gulag".
November 3, 2011
The other side of the Gulag: memoir of a Gulag official, and his survival through World War II and Stalin through charisma and smarts, is a must for anyone with an interest in Russian/Soviet history.
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