The White Sea-Baltic Canal and the Moscow-Volga Canal: historiography of the construction

Zingis Kristina Aleksandrovna Postgraduate student, Department of Historical Informatics, Lomonosov Moscow State University 119192, Russia, Moscow, Lomonosovsky Prospekt str., 27k4 kristina-zingis@yandex.ru Other publications by this author

The historiography of the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal and the Moscow-Volga Canal can be divided into two vast layers - the Soviet and post-Soviet period of historians' work on the available material. Both of them differ in significant volume and pronounced emotional coloring. The authors of the Soviet period describe the activities of the channel Army exclusively in positive tones, praising the work of the builders of communism and the great leader. Their enthusiasm is so intense that the question arises whether to consider publications of a propagandistic nature as scientific literature or still a source on the topic. Researchers of the post-perestroika stage, on the contrary, actively dramatize events and focus solely on the tragedy of this historical process. A more balanced and less emotional assessment of events is characteristic of the works of the 2000s and 2010s.

This article combines the historiography of two large construction sites and allows you to study the historical background on which the camp newspaper "Perekovka" appeared and passed its way. It is no exaggeration to say that she logically connected the White Sea-Baltic Canal and the Moscow-Volga Canal. Construction sites and bosses changed rapidly, but the "Reforging" remained, covering all new branches of the camp and "reforging" a man of the old world into a new, Soviet one.

It would be wrong to consider Perekovka to be the first such newspaper ^[15]. This position rightfully belongs to the "New Solovki". The publication was published in the Solovetsky special purpose camp in the period from 1925 to 1930 and transformed from a literary and creative publication (albeit with a forced Soviet-ideological flair) into a classic Soviet newspaper calling for an increase in the pace of social competition. It was in this edition that a kind of "standard" of the camp newspaper was formed - dry, ideologically sustained, pushing laggards, branding simlods (simulators and quitters). This format was inherited from the ELEPHANT to the White Sea-Baltic camp. The continuity of the newspapers is obvious – the latest issues of Novye Solovki are already being published as Perekovka. Thus, the history of the newspaper is inextricably linked with three camp systems: the Solovetsky special purpose camp, the White Sea-Baltic camp and the Dmitrov camp. Such a long and non-trivial path of development of the newspaper obliges us, when studying it, to consider the extensive historiography of those historical events and phenomena within which it existed and transformed.

The historiography of the Solovetsky special purpose camp was considered in detail earlier ^[18], as for the White Sea-Baltic camp and Dmitlag (the camp was so named because the administration of the construction of the Moscow-Volga canal was located in the city of Dmitrov near Moscow), then, unfortunately, it should be noted that works that would try to systematize existing research on their stories, no. Thus, the study of the history of the newspaper "Perekovka" as a connecting element of the history of these camps is an urgent scientific task.

The historiography of Belbaltlag and Dmitrovlag can be divided into several categories: works devoted to the construction of canals (attention is paid to engineering features, construction progress, etc.), studies of the history of the camps themselves as systems and structural units of the GULAG, works studying cultural and everyday aspects of camp life.

Various aspects of construction, architecture, and engineering features are covered in detail in the technical literature, which is perfectly collected and structured on the Moscow-Volga resource.ru ^[37]. Of particular interest is the section "Red Books", which, in fact, are a public technical report on construction, but also contain information about cultural and educational work, printing, the activities of camps, theater, art workshop, etc. 

There are relatively few researchers of the history of the channels of the Soviet period. The most interesting is the collective monograph edited by M. Gorky ^[4]. This book is very revealing for its time. Praising the feat of the Soviet people and the leader (and, of course, without saying a word about the prisoners), 36 authors emphasize the teamwork of the work on the book, as if feeling clouds gathering over the builders and the management of the canal, and trying to protect themselves with mutual responsibility. The main idea of the book is the ability of the Soviet government to reform even the most incorrigible criminals with labor.

The same leitmotif is in the work of I. L. Averbakh ^[1]. As in all Soviet publications of this kind, there were ideological curtsies and angry attacks against capitalist penitentiary systems, the horrors of the tsarist system, torture, punishment, violence, which, of course, is impossible in the Soviet state, since this contradicts its very essence, are also described. I. L. Averbakh studied the process of "socialist re-education" precisely on the example of the Dmitrov ITL. Labor is shown as a matter of honor, glory, valor and heroism, a harsh and harsh path of re-education. An entire chapter is devoted to the case of the camp press. The newspaper "Perekovka" is shown as a tool for identifying specific perpetrators, telling about achievements, stimulating whistleblowing, issued through the press, which, according to M. Gorky, is a tool for educating the truth.  V. Pleskov's text sounds even more enthusiastic, his work is not very rich in factual material, but it interestingly shows the continuity of cultural work as a forge of revolutionary cadres in penal servitude in tsarist Russia and cultural work in Soviet camps and prisons to create a new, transformed, Soviet man. At the same time, the author clearly has no questions about the fact that political prisoners in the tsarist penal servitude had the opportunity and physical strength to receive a systematic education, thanks to which they were later able to become fighters of the ideological front, and the Soviet QUO (cultural and educational departments in ITL) barely cope with the elimination of illiteracy among those exhausted by overwork and poor the working conditions of prisoners ^[43]. The work of E. Kerber, who was invited to Soviet Russia with the support of N. Krupskaya to get acquainted with the experience of A. S. Makarenko, the work of new penitentiary institutions and their coverage in Europe, is also distinguished by enthusiastic tones ^[23]. The thoughts of B. Glubokovsky, who was a prisoner of the Solovetsky special purpose camp and an employee of the New Solovki, are interesting ^[12]. The author reflects on the psychology of criminals, presents their "culture", entertainment, and addictions. The title of the book is given by the number of the article of the Criminal Code on domestic crimes.

There are many more authors of the post-Soviet period. There are also publications of an engineering and technical nature ^[10], for example, the works of D. K. Kopeikina ^[27], A.V. Kukushkin ^[31], V. I. Maslov ^{[35, 36]}, E. A. Tretyak ^[47], there are publications of photo archives ^[3]. The general message of these works is a call for the timely modernization of the working facilities of the canal system and the preservation of unique hydraulic structures that are far ahead of their time despite limited funds and tight deadlines. In addition, regret is expressed about the insufficient use of the White Sea-Baltic Waterway and its small importance in the economic life of the region.

A significant layer of work has a general historical character. Generalizing studies on the history of the GULAG (including Belbaltlag and Dmitlag as its constituent parts), the organization and economics of forced labor by V. A. Berdinsky ^[5], L. I. Borodkin ^[9], G. M. Ivanova ^[20], A. I. Kokurina ^[25], S. I. Kuzmina ^[29], encyclopedia "The history of the Stalinist Gulag" ^[21], the Atlas of the Gulag ^[2], are of great importance for understanding the mechanism of organization in general, the key moments of the country's history during this period in general and the penitentiary system in particular. These authors have done a lot of work on the study, introduction into scientific circulation of archival data and their understanding. Of course, we have not touched upon all the works on the history of the GULAG, but those that take into account the existence and transformation of the Belbaltlag into the Dmitlag and the construction of canals as an important stage in the development of the entire system of correctional institutions and the political and economic course of the state.

Of the greatest importance for our work, of course, were studies directly related to the history of the great construction sites, their cultural framing, and the fate of their participants. They have a completely different emotional message compared to the enthusiastic works of the Soviet period. The works of M. Borovitskaya, V. V. Gabrusenko, Yu. A. Dmitriev, S. I. Kuzmin, V. G. Makurov, V. I. Maslov, A. S. Salutsky make it possible to form an idea of the structure, personnel, organization of work in camps, nuances of construction, engineering innovations, propaganda work, as well as the number of victims, features of leadership styles, internal repression. The authors have significant differences on a number of issues. This concerns, first of all, the scale of repression and the number of victims, as well as the degree of tragedy that the author sees in the studied plot.

The work of V. G. Makurov ^[34] provides information of a reference nature about construction, its pace, the approximate number of employed workers, as well as the specifics of the canal itself in different periods of the country's life. Special attention is paid to the operation of the canal during the war and restoration work after the liberation of the Karelian USSR from the invaders.

Speaking about the construction of canals designed to glorify the young Soviet state and its leadership, M. Borovitskaya ^[8] seeks to explain the motivation of the organizers of the construction, to assess the scale of human resources that were required to implement the plan "quickly and cheaply" and comes to the conclusion that the concepts of "BelBaltLag" and BBK are equal, because only the existence of the camp with its the cruel system of organization of labor and life of prisoners made possible the appearance of this waterway of the USSR.

All researchers in this field, without exception, refer to the works of Yu. A. Dmitriev. He highlights all past projects for the construction of such systems, introduces the most interesting old maps into scientific circulation, introduces us to engineers and architects of the past ^[16]. In addition, he managed to collect and publish the texts of archival documents on the organization of the construction of the canal, orders for the White Sea Construction, reports of the Management of the White Sea-Baltic camp, minutes of meetings, etc. The section "Belomorsko-Baltiysky Combine 1933-1941" contains documents on the establishment and activities of an organization designed to develop and use the lands adjacent to the BBK, to establish work and economic activities on the canal itself. In addition, documents have been collected on the Bolshoy Belomorstroy project, some information about the mysteriously missing first engineer of Belomorstroy A. S. Aksamitnom, the search for which is presented as a real detective story, stretching over several years. He managed to untangle this tangle and trace the entire life path of a unique engineer and his family ^[17].

V. I. Maslov examines the history of the Moscow-Volga canal from the perspective of local history of the Mytishchi region, its significance for this region ^[36]. He seeks not only to tell about the unique structures, but also to emphasize the role of ordinary prisoners-workers, channel soldiers, whom fate threw into the struggle for the goals of Bolshevism, technical workers – their labor, martyrdom and unfair oblivion. The book is replete with the most valuable photographs and facts.

The work of A. S. Salutsky stands out significantly ^[45]. The author insists that he does not want to fit into the agenda of denigration and excessive thickening of colors, but strives for objectivity. In his opinion, many things were very different in the camp near Moscow compared to other, more remote, islands of the GULAG archipelago. He presented a very positive story about the success of construction, technical workers, and incredible achievements. There is not the slightest mention of the hard labor conditions of prisoners, which casts doubt on the reliability of the entire work.

Statistical data, information on the number and distribution of prisoners are in the focus of S. I. Kuzmin's attention ^[29]. The obvious disadvantage of the work is an extremely small list of literature, reliance only on official sources of that period and a complete lack of objective data on the situation of prisoners, in fact, we see a retelling of official documents without any critical reflection. V. V. Gabrusenko in his work is limited to a brief description of the camp leaders and engineers, without interesting details, at the level of concise encyclopedic references ^[11]. M. E. Korganova's work is interesting for understanding the continuity of the ELEPHANT and the BBL, it covers in detail the change in the number of units, the transfer of prisoners, the change of tasks and the structure of subordination ^[28].

Of course, we find the richest factual material about cultural work, people and destinies at great construction sites in works of a cultural and historical nature. They are replete with details about personalities, daily life in the camp, creativity and just human relationships that helped to survive. We find all this in the research of K. V. Gnetnev, A. Y. Gorcheva, E. Makhotina, I. G. Ovchinnikova, O. A. Olicheva, A. A. Pavlovsky, V. P. Troitsky, I. V. Udovenko, N. A. Fedorov. It is in these works that there is a place to assess the role of "Reforging" in the lives of prisoners. Despite its ideologization, the newspaper was still an object of creativity and a little rest from hard work.

The work of A. Y. Gorcheva "The Gulag Press (1918-1955)" is of great importance to us. It examines the closed periodicals issued by the General Directorate of the camps for distribution to prisoners. The history of the camp press is presented in the context of the general trends in the development of Soviet journalism during this period. The author has restored 420 titles of newspapers and magazines published specifically for prisoners in GULAG camps. The influence of the GUMZ decree "On the procedure for publishing printed newspapers and magazines in correctional labor institutions of the RSFSR" (August 1927) on the development of the press was especially noted, which, in particular, influenced the "New Solovki". Special attention is paid to the "Reforging" as the successor of the "New Solovki" ^[15].

The focus of K. V. Gnetnev's attention is on the people who conceived the creation of the channel, created the projects that carried them out, as well as amazing prisoners – one of the first jazz musicians of the USSR, composer Leopold Teplitsky and world-renowned philosopher Alexei Losev, a nobleman and engineer Mikhail Grigorovich, who did not study through the fault of the OGPU, with his stepfather, an officer of the tsarist army Sergei Shvarsalon and an associate the notorious Mishka Yaponchik, the devilishly gifted organizer Naftali Frenkel, the hereditary engineer-traveler from the ancient noble family Orest Vyazemsky and the dispossessed peasant Vasily Moskvin and many others. He showed their fates in the history of the channels. Without them, of course, it would be incomplete ^{[13, 14]}.

The work of E. Makhotina is devoted to the preservation of evidence about the construction of the BBK and its victims, data on museums, memorials, burials, memories of the remaining local residents about prisoners and the attitude of the Soviet government to the tragic history of the construction of the BBK ^[53] are collected.

I. G. Ovchinnikova's book was written very personally. She was inspired to work by the fate of three relatives who passed through Stalin's repressions from 1925 to 1933. The monograph is based on the materials of family and state archives. An extremely interesting moment for us was the author's study of the history of the camps – from Solovki through the White Sea-Baltic Canal to the Moscow-Volga canal. The author notes the gradual process of "flowing" from one construction site to another and the leasing of Solovetsky prisoners to work on the preparation of the construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal. The features of construction, engineering innovations, personnel changes, organization of the cultural and household side of the life of campers, statistics are highlighted in detail ^{[38, 39]}.

O. A. Olicheva drew attention to the activities of cultural and educational units in Soviet camps, she studied the structure of the cultural and educational department and its divisions, the organization of the entire cultural life of the camp: the film and photography department, the museum, the central workshop of artists, the theater, the symphony orchestra, the general camp radio station, the library, propaganda teams, sports stations, the camp press network ^[40].

I. V. Udovenko's analysis of the historical phenomenon of "kanaloarmeets" as a social phenomenon of the era of forced labor is extremely important in the context of studying canal construction. In addition, on the basis of archival documents, the industrial and camp daily life of prisoners of the Dmitrov ITL was studied ^[49].

N. A. Fedorov writes about the tragedy and polarity of interpretations of the history of the construction of the Moscow-Volga canal ^[51]. Record time, the creation of new technologies, the discovery of talents, unprecedented development of transport and urban infrastructure and at the same time arrests, repression, fear and thousands of ruined lives as the price. Brief sketches give lively sketches of the construction and builders of the canal. The result of many years of searching and thinking by the author, an attempt to lift the veil of secrecy that surrounded Dmitry first, and then the archives. The book is filled with the most entertaining details about the fate of the participants in the events – L. Kogan, S. Firin, director of the Museum of the History of the Dmitrov Region K. A. Solovyov, the authors of the final Dmitrov version of the canal (instead of the Staritsky and Shoshinsky paths, which were rejected) A. F. Yakushova and I. S. Semenov, the amazing doctor Dmitlag P. N. Triodin and many others. In addition, he collected valuable information about the personalities of the most famous lagcors and leaders of the QUO.

Based on the results of research on the history of the construction of the White Sea-Baltic and the Moscow-Volga Canal and the camps whose prisoners worked on these construction sites, one can note the significant elaboration of the topic and the diversity of its coverage. However, the volume of unexplored materials is still so large that this scientific field contains many more tasks for historians, and the prepared literature review will help future researchers.