POPOFF ISLAND CAMP
_Cold, Damp and Darkness — The Camp: its Geography and Amenities —
Recent Improvements — Light Work for a High Bribe._
Nature herself is against the exiles. The Northern Camps for Special
Purposes lie in the farthest north. The climate is severe and damp.
Summer lasts only two months, or two months and a half. It is very late
before the snows melt and spring comes. There are frequent gales,
snowstorms, biting northerly and north-easterly winds. For
three-quarters of the year the Solovetsky Monastery is completely cut
off from the outside world. The long, dark winter is most oppressive,
especially as the lighting in the huts is so poor. The damp from the
Solovetsky marshes has an injurious effect on the health of the
prisoners, worn out by hard labour.
The Kremlin of the monastery, surrounded by a high stone wall, reminds
one of a fortress. In it the "K.R.'s" and _shpana_ live in what once
were the monks' cells, which they themselves have to provide with
board-beds and tables, and to heat, and in the churches. The latter were
plundered not long ago, and many of them have broken windows. Besides
the principal ones (the Preobrajensky, Troitsky-Zosimo-Sabbatievsky, and
Uspensky cathedrals, and the churches of St. Nicholas, St. Philip, and
the Annunciation of the Holy Virgin) there are some ten other churches
and chapels and numerous separate hermits' dwellings, in which the
"politicals and party men" live. The Tchekists occupy the house of the
Archimandrite and the best cells.
Popoff Island is about three miles long and two miles broad. The strait,
a quarter of a mile wide, between it and the mainland is very shallow,
so that it has been found possible to build a bridge over it, on wooden
piles, for the narrow-gauge railway which connects the island with the
town of Kem — a local branch of the Petrozavodsk-Kem-Murmansk line. The
distance from Popoff Island station to Kem station — which is two miles
from the town — is about eight miles; there is a halt on the way, nearer
Kem. A wooden track, made of duck-boards laid down across the marshes,
leads from the concentration camp to the island station, and similar
tracks connect the various buildings.
On the eastern shore of Popoff Island are two wharves, the northern and
southern. Only the latter is in use. It is about forty miles from Popoff
Island to Solovetsky Island — twelve miles from Popoff Island to
Rymbaki, and twenty-eight more on to Solovetsky Island. Between Popoff
Island and Rymbaki the sea does not freeze in winter, but between
Rymbaki and Solovetsky Island it does. There are a lighthouse and stores
on Rymbaki.
The factory of the "Severoles" (Northern Timber Company) is close to the
southern wharf. Prisoner labour is employed in it. The Red soldiers of
the 95th Division occupy two large buildings near the camp, close to the
wood store.
[Illustration: Popoff Island and its Surroundings]
On the northern shore is the wireless station, in winter the sole means
of communication with Solovetsky Island. The wireless station of the
monastery is in the Kremlin. In clear weather the notorious Sekirova
hill, on Solovetsky Island, can be plainly seen from the Popoff Island
wharf.
The concentration camp is a rectangular enclosure some two hundred yards
long and one hundred and fifty yards wide. It stands on a marsh at the
south-eastern corner of the island, with heaps of stones scattered about
it. The marsh promotes the spread of malaria, scurvy and lung
complaints. The prisoners are fearfully tormented by the peculiarly
poisonous mosquitoes of the Solovetsky Islands, which breed in swarms on
the marsh and give one no peace either by day or by night.
The camp is surrounded by a high wire fence; along this, at intervals,
stand huts for the sentries, each containing eight men. The Red soldiers
in the guardroom outside the camp, generally thirty-eight in number,
form a reserve force, to assist or replace the guards outside if needed.
The Tchekists on duty are quartered in the commandant's office inside
the camp.
All entrance to and exit from the camp is through the main gate, which
is guarded by special sentries. The second gate (marked 11 on the plan)
is kept permanently shut and is regarded as a reserve entrance.
Most of the huts in the camp were erected by the British troops which
co-operated with the Russian Northern Army under General Miller. A few
were constructed by prisoner labour under the Soviet regime. Until 1925
the camp possessed no latrine, hospital, electric power station, or
workshops. There were no tracks, either of boards or of earth. Until
quite lately the prisoners used to sink into the sticky slime of the
marsh, and the huts were flooded with liquid mud.
The wooden tracks consist of boards and planks, supported by small piles
sunk in the marsh. There are in all five of these roads or paths. The
principal road runs from the main gate to the eastern side of the wire
fence, and is called the Nevsky Prospekt. Others run from the reserve
entrance to the Nevsky Prospekt, from the Nevsky Prospekt to the
latrine, from the Nevsky Prospekt to hut No. 1 (marked 29 on the plan),
where the politicals live, and from the last store hut to the hospital
hut (marked 36 on the plan).
[Illustration: The Camp on Popoff Island]
Earth tracks run from the Nevsky Prospekt along the line of store huts
(30 to 33 on the plan), from the Nevsky Prospekt past the kitchen,
workshops, and electric power station to the hospital, and from the
commandant's office past the huts where the _shpana_ and "K.R.'s" are
quartered. Besides these there are a few narrow, rough tracks through
the marsh — from the politicals' hut to the kitchen, and elsewhere.
The commandant's office is in hut No. 2 (marked 19 on the plan). This
hut is divided off into several compartments for the use of the various
branches of camp government — administrative, economic, etc. The
"specialist company," which is quartered in hut No. 4 (marked 20 on the
plan), consists of tailors, bootmakers, joiners, and so on, who satisfy
the requirements of the administration and the Red soldiers.
The electric power station is in charge of an engineer named Krassin. He
was previously in the Customs service, but was dismissed for peculation
and sent to the Solovky. The workshops are under an "adherent of
Savinkoff," the kitchen is in charge of an ex-colonel named Rashevsky,
and the stables of another "K.R." named Larin.
The business manager of the camp is one Pavloff (Nikolai Nikolaevitch),
a corrupt rascal. He takes bribes on the auction principle; he who
offers most carries the day. I give one example. There is no water on
Popoff Island; it has to be brought from Kem, and two carts with
cisterns are kept for this purpose. As fetching water is easier work
than digging up tree-stumps, there is great competition for this job.
Pavloff asked openly who would give most for it. There were three
prisoners who had managed to bring a good deal of money with them; they
offered more than anyone else — 150 roubles between them — and they were
still fetching water to the camp when I got away.
The higher camp authorities live in a small fishing settlement of about
seventy cottages, a short distance outside the wire fence. The senior
official on duty is quartered in the camp.