Assignment 34 - The Gulags

Head of the NKVD from 1934-1936. He was arrested in 1937. In 1938 he was one of the defendants in the third show trial. He was executed for various trumped up crimes against the state. The real reason for his execution seems to have been that he was not ruthless enough about arresting Stalin's targets. For instance, he released evidence from interrogations that suggested some of the accused might be innocent and he expressed sympathy for Bukharin.

• Yagoda

• Yezhov

• Beria

• None of the above.

A Soviet Field Marshall and "Hero of the Civil War" who had had serious disagreements with Stalin during the Civil War. In 1937 he and seven other generals were executed. This marked the beginning of the Purge of the Armed Forces.

• Yagoda

• Yezhov

• Beria

• None of the above.

What proportion of the Soviet workforce was imprisoned in gulags?

• 1/10

• 1/20

• 1/30

• 1/40

• 1/50

Which cauldron had the most food, but required such hard work that workers burned more calories qualifying for it than the cauldron provided?

• First Cauldron

• Second Cauldron

• Third Cauldron

• Fourth Cauldron

What term goes with this definition?

A clause added to the USSR's penal code in 1928 that allowed for the arrest of people accused of counter-revolutionary or anti-Soviet activity. The phrasing of the clause was so vague that almost anyone could be arrested for violating it. Many political prisoners during the purges were convicted of crimes under this clause.

• Order Number 1

• Article 48

• Article 231

• None of the above.

Why was there a prisoner amnesty in 1953?

• Because they needed prisoners to join the armed forces

• Because they needed more labour for the fourth Five-Year Plan

• Because Stalin died

• Because World War II ended that year

• Because of the Cold War

What happened to children of prisoners? Check all that apply.

• They were abandoned.

• They were sent to orphanages.

• They were taken in by relatives.

• They were ostracized.

• Some were imprisoned with their parents.

Why does the author argue that the camps were not as economically successful as they could have been?

• They were situated in remote locations.

• The prisoners were weak from lack of food and medical care and also didn't have proper tools.

• The cost of feeding and housing the prisoners was more than their labour was worth.

• Many prisoners refused to work.

In what year did the gulag population reach its peak with more than 2.5 million people in the camps?

• 1934

• 1938

• 1941

• 1953

• None of the above.

Which prisoners had the highest status in the camps.

• Political prisoners

• Petty criminals

• Criminals guilty of serious crimes