AN ISLAND HELL:
A SOVIET PRISON
IN THE FAR NORTH
An Island Hell:
A Soviet Prison in the Far North
By S. A. MALSAGOFF Translated by F. H. LYON
LONDON: A. M. PHILPOT LTD.
69, GREAT RUSSELL STREET, W.C.1
1926
PRINTED IN GREAT BRITAIN.
CONTENTS
| Part I. (Introductory). — FROM BATOUM TO THE SOLOVETSKY ISLANDS. | ||
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | A White Guard in the Caucasus | [13] |
| II. | A Famous "Amnesty" | [19] |
| III. | Horrors of Tiflis Prison | [27] |
| IV. | Bound for the "Solovky" | [33] |
| Part II. — THE SOLOVETSKY ISLANDS. | ||
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | The Forerunners of the "Solovky" | [43] |
| II. | From Monastery to Prison Camp | [52] |
| III. | A Gallery of Tchekists | [61] |
| IV. | Popoff Island Camp | [74] |
| V. | The Tyranny of the Criminals | [83] |
| VI. | "Counter-Revolutionaries" | [94] |
| VII. | Victims of the Tcheka: Some Strange Cases | [102] |
| VIII. | "Politicals": A Favoured Class | [117] |
| IX. | The Women's Fate | [132] |
| X. | Foreign Prisoners | [139] |
| XI. | A "Change of Cabinet" | [146] |
| XII. | Daily Life, Work, and Food | [151] |
| XIII. | Hospital Horrors | [162] |
| XIV. | How "Useful Citizens" are Made | [169] |
| XV. | How the Tchekists Live | [176] |
| Part III. — OUR ESCAPE. | ||
| CHAPTER | PAGE | |
| I. | The Only Way Out | [183] |
| II. | Laying our Plans | [188] |
| III. | Our Flight: The First Stage | [195] |
| IV. | A Terrible March | [204] |
| V. | Freedom | [213] |
AUTHOR'S NOTE
I and my four companions left the Solovetsky Islands (called in this narrative the "Solovky," the name by which they are commonly known) on May 18th, 1925, and crossed the frontier between Russia and Finland on June 15th. But it was not until eight days later that we reached Kuusamo and ascertained positively that we were in Finland, so that our journey lasted thirty-six days.
As I had supposed, I found that outside Soviet Russia the whole circumstances in which those transported to the Solovetsky Islands are compelled to live (or, it would be more correct to say, to die) — the whole life, regime, conditions of labour, food, and the other internal and external characteristics of the Solovky, were absolutely unknown.
The secrecy which enwraps the Solovky is quite comprehensible. The Soviet papers, concealing the grim truth from Russian readers, pass the Solovky by in complete silence. Foreign newspaper correspondents are not allowed to go there. There had not been, till we got away, a single case in which a prisoner had succeeded in escaping across the frontier, whereby the public opinion of Europe could have learnt the truth about the Solovky.