Goldsmiths student group mounts defends Communist gulags

Goldsmiths student group mounts extraordinary defence of GULAG camps

‘The Soviet Union was committed to rehabilitation’: Fury as hard-left student group at London university mounts extraordinary defence of notorious GULAG worker camps

  • Over 1 million people were murdered in the gulag camps in just 20 years 
  • The LGBTQ+Goldsmiths tweeted astonishing defence of the Communist camps
  • Relatives of those murdered in gulags said the claims were utterly shameful 

A student union group has been roundly condemned after mounting an extraordinary defence of Stalin’s notorious gulags.

Over one million people died in the infamous worker camps in the Communist Soviet Union, while other critics of the regime were imprisoned there for years and forced to work to the edge of exhaustion.

But hard-left activists at Goldsmiths university tweeted a defence of the gulags – claiming they helped rehabilitate workers and were nicer than Western prisons.

They claimed that inmates were actually treated well and allowed to join theatre groups and write for prison newspapers. 

Historians voiced their astonishment at the ludicrous defence, while relatives of those killed in gulags accused the student group of trying to rewrite history. 

The group, tweeting under the name LGBTQ+Goldsmiths, said they wanted to ‘clarify what a gulag is’ and why sending people there ‘is actually a compassionate, non-violent course of action’.

The student account mounted an extraordinary defence of Stalin’s gulags – where more than 1 million people were killed 

The account lectured its followers on the forced labour camps – which they insisted were a force for good 

The student union group claimed the prisoners were not forced to work until they died in the gulag – flouting the testimonies of survivors which say the opposite

In an astonishing defence, they claimed the gulags helped rehabilitate prison rather than just ruthlessly punish them 

They also claimed that those imprisoned and ordered to work in the camps were paid fair wages 

And they said that inmates were able to join theatre groups and do a range of recreational activities 

The thread accused most people of not wanting to learn about gulags – which became one of the darkest legacies of Stalin’s tyrannical  reign


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They said: ‘So, gulags. First myth to debunk – you work until you die in gulags.

‘The Soviets did away with life sentences and the longest punishment was 10 years.

‘Capital punishment was reserved for the most heinous, serious crimes.

Why? The penal system was a rehabilitatary one and self-supporting, a far cry from the Western, capitalist notion of prison.

‘The aim was to correct and change the ways of criminals. If it couldn’t be done in 10 years, it couldn’t be done at all.

‘Much like wider Soviet society, everyone who was able to work did so at a wage proportionate to those who weren’t incarcerated and, as they gained skills, were able to move up the ranks and work under less supervision.

‘Educational work was also a prominent feature of the Soviet penal system.

‘There were regular classes, book clubs, newspaper editorial teams, sports and theatre groups.’

But the astonishing thread was immediately met with a wave of criticism from experts who pointed out that the worker camps were a way to imprison and kill anyone who dared to speak out against Stalin’s Russia.

A study of Soviet data found that 1,053,829 people died in the worker camps from 1934 until 1953.

Those who lived under Stalin’s murderous regime have told how the secret police would swoop into homes unannounced and seize critics.

They would then be hauled to prisons and never heard from by their families again – destined to die in one of the many gulags across the sprawling country.

Relatives of those murdered in Stalin’s purges tore into the thread and accused the students behind it of shamelessly lying.

Relatives of those murdered in the gulags shamed the students on Twitter – pointing out that their loved ones had perished in the institution they were defending

Another relative of someone murdered in the gulag told the students they need to be educated in the realities of Stalin’s Russia

Another pointed out that the gulags were in fact forced labour camps where many died 

The student group is based at Goldsmiths university – whose student unions have garnered a reputation of pursuing wacky and controversial left-wing policies

Kora Persefona wrote on Twitter: ‘My grandmother was sentenced to 15 years in GULAG for being a daughter of “enemies of the people” and a christian, was freed after 10 due to pregnancy. 

‘I can’t believe, what I’ve just read. They shamelessly lie about my culture and my history.’

And another Twitter user going under the handle Earlsfield Girl, wrote: ‘You disgust me. My great grandfather was sent to Siberia to die in a gulag in the Soviet era. 

‘You either have 0 education in history (a very poor reflection on your institution) or you know you are lying and are therefore quite evil. 

‘Apologise or choose which you are.’

The Goldsmiths account later deleted the tweets after being met with the fierce backlash.         

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