Soviet Union A Day in the Depths of the Gulag

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8 a.m. The working day begins. Guards push a pile of hempen fiber through the kormushka.

Work for Begun consisted of knotting the rope into cargo nets, a job chosen mainly for its monotony. "The norm was eight nets a day, and those who met the norm might get one or two rubles a month to spend on sugar or fat from the prison store." Begun says he never made more than one net a day. "To do no work at all is extremely provocative, and punishment is severe. To do a single net is another matter. I did only one a day as a matter of principle."

11 a.m. Lunch: bread, a couple of small boiled potatoes, hot water.

"In general, the guards were rather polite to political prisoners, but they punished us severely. With criminals it was the other way around. They spoke rudely to them, but they treated them gently." Because of his defiance, Begun was often sent to the punishment cells, where conditions were even worse. "There is nothing in the cell except a toilet or a bucket. There is a plank for a bed, but no pad and no blanket, and it must be folded up against the wall in the daytime. There is a half-ration of food every other day." The cells were bitterly cold in winter. Begun estimated that he spent 200 days in punishment cells. "They punished politicals very severely. Wearing a yarmulke or an unbuttoned collar could get 15 days in punishment cells. They forbid everything because they fear everything."

5 p.m. Supper: bread, more kasha, pickled cabbage.

"The daily norm for meat in prison is officially 40 grams ((1.4 oz.))," Begun said. "But if there is a shortage of meat in Moscow, you can imagine what it is like in Chistopol prison. I never saw any meat." He guffawed when asked if he ever got fruit or cheese. "I never saw an apple. I never saw an egg. I never saw cheese. They gave milk only to very sick prisoners, one glass a day." Begun occasionally got milk, following hunger strikes that he had started to support demands for better treatment. "I went on a hunger strike near the end of 1986 to get books in Hebrew. They finally gave them to me in December."

After supper Begun was able to read by the dim light, but he was allowed no more than five books at a time. "This was difficult for me because I read books in English and Hebrew, and I needed dictionaries. I also needed mathematics textbooks, but they refused. They said I was not a student."

9 p.m. Bedtime. The overhead bulb is turned off, but the night-light allows the guards to check through the judas-hole in the door. They monitor him frequently, sliding the cover aside and peering in at the sleeping prisoner.

Iosif Begun spent more than 1,300 days like that. Some were better. Many were worse.