Part 2, Chapter 9: Transport, Arrival, Selection—Summary

After their arrests, interrogations, and sentences, prisoners were transported across Russia to Gulag camps. The relocation often took place in stages; first, to the trains by way of trucks; then, by train to transit camps; and finally, for some, by boat or barge to their Gulag camps. The camp system used trucks and trains that appeared normal, rather than standing out as a part of the prison system. Trucks used for transport were often disguised to look like regular heavy-goods trucks or bread trucks. Only closer inspection of the trains would show cars wrapped in strands of barbed wire, wood platforms for guards, and iron bars on all of the small windows.

The journey to the camps was full of hunger and torment, and always took place in crowded transports with little to no...