In my previous journal I forgot to mention about Gulag.

As we crossed Siberia, I cannot help but remembering Gulag. Gulag means Main Camp Administration. Simply put concentration camps but also the system of Soviet slave labor itself, in all forms and varieties: labor camps, punishment camps, criminal and political camps, women's camps, children camps. Even more broadly 'Gulag' has come to mean the Soviet repressive system itself, the set of procedures that prisoners called the 'meat-grinder'. Which started in 1918. Lenin, the revolution's leader, locked up a string of aristocrats, merchants, and other people defined as political enemies. The camps were in every town and they spread mostly in Siberia. When Stalin took over from Lenin there were almost 27 million people passed through these camps. Only as recently as Gorbachev finally dismantled these camps. It is also said that more people died in these camps than Nazi's atrocities. But this was never publicized as during second world war west needed Stalin - an evil genius- to defeat other evil -Hitler. It was also not publicized due to communist sympathizers in west. Recently as 2002 articles started appearing about Gulag. There are more than enough movies and documentaries about Nazi's concentration camps and atrocities but nothing about Gulag. It is also said that Stalin killed more people than Hitler and Sadam Hussein combined. By race, by ethnicity, by political agendas, and any others who did not agree with his agenda. Soviet propaganda promoted greatly the picture of Stalin, Churchill and Roosevelt all smiling as if they are all chums. Prisoners in camps attributed 3^rd of Soviet's economy power as they worked by hand on roads, railways,, mines and anything else. Stalin thought this is the only way USSR can be industrialized and expand economy power.

I encourage you to read 'Gulag' by Anne Applebaum. In fact the areas we passed during our drives from Vladivostok to Chita - the drive from hell- most villages were established by these people who were lucky enough to finish their time and decided to stay.