KUCHINO, Russia — Secrets were forbidden in camp Perm-36. Guards searched everywhere for them, even in prisoners’ eyes, ears and teeth. Ukrainian poet Vasyl Stus, imprisoned in the Soviet Gulag system for almost half his life, managed to keep his scribbled on pieces of paper and hidden in the crevices of his cell.
They were later smuggled out of Perm-36 by his released cellmates to spread the word about political repression in the Soviet Union and the poet’s emotional anguish while kept in solitary confinement.
“The police regime has reached its peak,” said one note, written with a pencil sharpened against the …read more
Source: European Voice
