Former Gulag Mine
All along the Kolyma Highway, or Kolymskaja Trassa, as locals call this 2000 kilometer road meandering through the Russian Far East, one can spot gold and lead mines, some working, others left to the dogs. Oldest are from 1930s, and they were built using prison labor and operated by Gulag inmates until the 1960s. After that most of the mines were abandoned, but few continued to run with free labour, and later new pits were opened. The original Gulag mines have scarred the pristine scenery. Apart from the mostly wooden relics of the administration buildings and refineries, there are huge open spaces in the landscape with few stunted trees. These are the areas of the former open-pit mines, still easily visible. The emptiness of these wastelands has become special kind of monument to the Gulag camps and their hundreds of thousands of victims in the Kolyma area.
Advertisements Share this:
