User:Ariannemix/sandbox

My group has chosen "Forced Labor in the Soviet Union" as our article and I will be writing under the subheading "Foreign Forced Labor." I have found the following sources
 * Belov, Yuri. New York Times (1923-Current file); Sep 1, 1982; ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times
 * World Peace Foundation. (2017, August 7). Soviet Union: German Prisoners of War following World War II. Retrieved March 30, 2018, from https://sites.tufts.edu/atrocityendings/2015/08/07/german-pows-deaths-under-allied-control/
 * Stark,Tamás. "“Malenki Robot” - Hungarian Forced Labourers in the Soviet Union (1944–1955)." Minorities Research: a collection of studies by Hungarian authors (2005): 155-167.

I've now completed a rough draft of my section of the article. I still haven't inserted correct citation, but I have made notes and will do so soon.

Foreign Forced Labor

In July 1937, when it appeared that war was imminent, Stalin ordered the removal of Germans from Soviet soil whom he claimed were working for the enemy. An order by the NKVD also stated that German workers were agents of the Gestapo, sent to sabotage soviet efforts. Of the 68,000 arrests and 42,000 deaths that resulted, only a third were actually German; the remainder were of other nationalities. Just a month later, the liquidation of Pols was also approved by the Politburo. 11,000 people were arrested in Mongolia, most of them lamas. Many other nationalities were swept up in similar operations, including but not exclusive to: Latvians, Estonians, Romanians, Greeks, Afghans, and Iranians. Those that were arrested were either shot or placed in the forced labor system (61, 62 Stalinism). Between 1936 and 1938, mass deportations of Germans, Poles, Koreans, Chinese, Kurds, and Iranians from various areas ensued (62, Stalinism). Americans that had come to the Soviet Union seeking work during the Great Depression found themselves pleading the American embassy for passports years later, so that they could return to their home country. The embassy refused to issue new passports and the emigrants were arrested and sent to prison, Gulag camps, or executed (BBC).

The UPV camp system, separate from the Gulag, was established in 1939 to utilize POWs and foreign civilians for labor. It eventually included several hundred camps and thousands of auxiliary camps which held millions of foreign prisoners during their years of operation (156, minorities). The camps weren’t uniform in the ways they treated and provided for prisoners but, in general, conditions were harsh and could be deadly. Work days were usually 10-14 hours long and camps were often marked by unsafe work conditions, insufficient food or clothing, and limited access to medical care (164, 165, minorities).

The Soviet Union did not sign the Geneva Accords and so were not obligated to adhere to its stipulations concerning prisoners of war. The Soviet Union retained POWs after other countries had released their prisoners, only beginning to do so after Stalin’s death in 1953. The remainder of prisoners were released in 1956 to build diplomatic relations with West Germany (Prisoners of war article).

Forced labor was used extensively in the Soviet Union as a means of controlling Soviet citizens and foreigners. Forced labor also provided manpower for government projects and for reconstruction after the war. It began before the Gulag and Kolkhoz systems were established although these institutions fostered its expansion and increased its severity. The conditions that accompanied forced labor were harsh and could be deadly.