Reddit reviews Gulag: A History of the Soviet Camps

I have in front of me, a copy of Anne Applebaum's book on the Gulag. In it, she states:

"From 1929, when the Gulag began its major expansion, until 1953, when Stalin died, the best estimates indicate that some 18 million people passed through this massive system. About another 6 million were sent into exile, deported to the Kazakh deserts or the Siberian forests. Legally obliged to remain in their exile villages, they too were forced labourers, even though they did not live behind barbed wire."

Included in that number were Soviet aristocrats, political opponents, civilians who protested against the system of government, and among others, members of the Axis powers. The reason I say this is that without much knowledge about her: who she was, what her role was (was she a civilian or employed by the Wehrmacht?), where she was captured and when she was taken prisoner, there isn't much we can actually find out.

I am not an expert on Soviet history by any means so there may be someone out there who can give you more information. But for now, my advice would be to try and get some more information about her, study Soviet history yourself if you are as interested as you seem to be and piece some things together. This may take many months or even years and so you need to ask yourself whether it's a topic you care about or you are only interested because your grandmother was involved. That sounds a little callous, but I thought I'd mention it because I have myself, like many others, in the past spent time studying for a subject that I no longer found interesting.

All the best to you.

Gulag by Anne Applebaum

Highly recommended if you want to learn more on this topic

>Actual gulags disappeared some time after Stalin's death.

Like I said, you're right in a sense. What endured until the end was more than an ordinary prison but less than the gulag at its peak. If you're really interested, I recommend this.

>do people got in gulags for exercising they right to live, to work or to have a healthcare or vacation?

I mean, for example, the freedom of speech, thought, assembly, etc. Things we today recognise as rights enshrined in law. They were enshrined in the USSR and while they existed, they were often severely limited. For example, you had the right to let words tumble out of your mouth but only up until they resembled anything that could be construed as critical of the state.