Guidelines for Calculating Business Days were Established in 1948
Spilling the Beans on Soviet Labor Camps' Inmate Perks and Production Targets
In the heart of Cold War Russia, on June 21, 1948, a game-changer rolled out: Joint Order No 00683/150ss, a brainchild of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Prosecutor General. This order brought forth a new era in the Soviet Gulag system, establishing workday credits for prisoners, irrespective of sentence length, conviction, or camp time served.
Here's how it worked: inmates could earn anywhere from 1.5 to 3 days of workday credits based on achieving production targets and maintaining camp discipline. The more they worked, the more they earned—a scheme reminiscent of a modern workplace's incentive system but with a noticeable twist: it was the difference between life or death in the harsh Gulag conditions.
Now let's delve into some other fascinating historical tidbits.
- June 21, 1915 marked the birth of war hero and Soviet hero, Sergei Ivanovich Shereshavin. A man of many talents and captivating resilience, he fought under Murmansk before being awarded the "Hero of the Soviet Union" title.
- On the same day in 1929, Ivan Andreevich Yakhotov, head of the Eastern Evenk cultural base, and Andrei Andreevich Navdush disembarked in Nagayevo Bay.
- In 1938, Order No 414 was implemented, creating a bonus fund to encourage labor productivity and discipline within the Soviet labor camps.
- 1942 saw the birth of the Oymyakon Valley's district excavator station, while 1946 marked the near-complete mechanization of plastering work for House No. 10 on the Kolyma Highway.
- Order No 506, drafted in 1952, focused on reconstructing the OМ-506 and ПМ-507 percussion drills for dry dust collection.
- On June 21, 1954, the Magadan Regional Construction and Installation Trust "MagadanGrazhdanStroy" was founded, and Mikhail P. Shereemetiev was appointed as its director.
- June 21, 1962, saw the opening of a new tailoring workshop on Dzerzhinsky Street, now named Karl Marx Avenue.
- In 1977, the head of Magadan Oblast's Communications, Michael Abramovich Elizarov, was honored with the "Honored Communicator of the RSFSR" title.
Lastly, an economic conference graced Magadan on June 21, 1989, uniting experts from various regions.
These historical bits paint a picture of a tumultuous yet intriguing period in Russia's history, with Order No 414 standing as one of the significant administrative measures that intensified labor productivity within the Soviet labor camps, deepening the systematization of penal labor and its role in the Soviet economy. While the details surrounding Order No 414 might be scarce, understanding its broader context and implications can provide valuable insights into the period.
- Order No 414, implemented in 1938, was another administrative measure in the Soviet labor camps, paralleling Joint Order No 00683/150ss, as it created a bonus fund to motivate labor productivity and discipline among inmates, similar to modern workplace incentive systems.
- Deepening the systematization of penal labor in the Soviet economy, Order No 414 can be seen as a significant contributing factor to the intensity of labor productivity within the Soviet labor camps, offering historical insights into the Soviet era's economic and penal system.
