Lev Razgon True Stories

Thesis: Lev Razgon's stories of Stalin's camps are a brutal and up-close view of the horrors associated with the "Red Terror". The focuses are of the horror of execution, the underlying issues of the courts, and the general lack of justice in the skewed system on a personal scale. I. The Routine of Execution

• Horrifying brutality of execution


• Terrifying standardization of violence (the warden drinks vodka in the morning and then goes to execute men for his job).


• Moral issues (warden likely had to hide the suffering deep inside so as not to appear soft in a strict regime)

II. Collective Guilt

• Yefim Shatalov, a high ranking manager, is wrongly accused, as often happened in the days of Stalin's "Red Terror."


• Acquaintances, Ulrich and Shatalov, are turned against one another by this system.


• There is no fairness in the courts, and once one is accused, their being condemned is almost certain

III. the Heartless Bureaucracy

• Auntie Pasha is reported, arrested, tried and sentenced to seven years of prison for 72 pairs of stockings, despite being an obviously kind and well-intentioned person.


• While in jail, a son of hers is killed in battle


• Her eldest son was severely wounded and put in the hospital while she was in prison


• Pasha's request for early release to see her son was denied because it had "no grounds".