OVEREXPLOITATION SPECIAL CONTINGENT LABOR CAMP “BAKALMETALLURGSTROY - CHELYABMETALLURGSTROY” (1942-1946)

Abstract

The relevance of the article is due to the insufficient study of the problem of the economy of forced labor in the USSR. The publication presents the results of studying the labor organization system of the special contingent corrective labor camps (ITL). The main sources of research are materials from the archival fund of ITL “Bakalmetallurgstroy — Chelyabmetallurgstroy” (BMK — ChMK). Research methodology: the concept © Кириллов В. М., 2023 72 Кириллов В. М. Сверхэксплуатация спецконтингента of a repressive-regime economy, methods of economic, social history, analytical. The author came to the conclusion that the winter of 1942—1943 was the hardest time for the physical condition of the ITL prisoners. This was the time of the peak of the superexploitation of the prisoners of the camp. The leadership of the ITL concealed the real physical condition of the special contingent, overestimating the size of the labor fund. It was impossible to preserve the health of the special contingent, since its physical costs exceeded its capabilities. Only in 1944 did systematic preventive measures begin to improve the physical condition of prisoners