37:One day in the life of Ivan Denisovich (and countless thousands like him)

It is impossible to imagine what life was like in the hundreds and hundreds of Gulags* that were scattered all over Russia and other countries of the old Soviet Union. Many completely innocent people were sent to these places for long stretches of time (10 or 25 year terms of imprisonment were not uncommon). Some for having had the audacity to have been captured as Prisoners of War and when they were released or escaped back to their own lines they were accused of treason against the State. Some for having the wrong "friends" who "informed" on them to the "Authorities". Some just had the misfortune to be names on a list of somebody who had a quota to fill.
I've just finished (re-)reading Aleksander Solzhenitsyn's famous book. In theory a work of fiction but largely autobiographical it describes the conditions in one of the Gulags. Solzhenitsyn himself was sentenced to 8 years imprisonment in 1945 for making derogatory remarks about Stalin. He was released after Stalin's death in 1953 but had to remain in exile for the next three years.
I took this photo yesterday as I was passing the State Gulag museum. It's a very thought-provoking place. I've visited a few times and will continue to visit occasionally just to remind myself how lucky I am not to have lived in Russia in such times. There is also a hyperlink to the museum if anybody wants to explore further.

http://www.gulagmuseum.org/start.do

*Gulag = Гулаг = Государственный лагерь = State Labour Camp