The list below, enumerates the selected sites of the Soviet forced labor camps of the Gulag, known in Russian as the "corrective labor camps", abbreviation: ITL. Most of them served mining, construction, and timber works. It is estimated that for most of its existence, the Gulag system consisted of over 30,000 camps, divided into three categories according to the number of prisoners held. The largest camps consisted of more than 25,000 prisoners each, medium size camps held from 5,000 to 25,000 inmates, and the smallest, but most numerous labor camps operated with less than 5,000 people each. Even this incomplete list can give a fair idea of the scale of forced labor in the USSR.
A list of Gulag penal labor camps in the USSR was created in Poland from the personal accounts of labor camp detainees of Polish citizenship. It was compiled by the government of Poland for the purpose of regulation and future financial compensation for World War II victims, and published in a decree of the Council of Ministers of Poland.Rada Ministrów (20 September 2001). Decree of the Council of Ministers regarding places of Soviet detention of Polish nationals. Dz.U.2001.106.1154. ROZPORZĄDZENIE PREZESA RADY MINISTRÓW z dnia 20 września 2001 r. w sprawie określenia miejsc odosobnienia, w których były osadzone osoby narodowości polskiej lub obywatele polscy innych narodowości. (Dz. U. z dnia 29 września 2001 r.)
Camp system operation There were a number of particular categories of convicts that were imprisoned there including: Any person convicted to a term of imprisonment of more than three years (all those convicted to less than three years were to be sent to "corrective labor colonies"). Opponents of the Soviet rule. Initially these were dubbed "class enemies" (White Army combatants, members of opposition parties, nobility, etc.). Later, when the full victory of the Revolution was declared and there were supposedly no more "class enemies" left, a more flexible term of the enemy of the people was introduced, as well as an infamous Article 58 that covered "counter-revolutionary activities". Soviet combatants returned from captivity. As a rule they were held liable under Article 58.
The prisoners of war were generally imprisoned in special POW camps, which existed independently from the network of corrective labor camps, and were subordinated to a separate administrative apparatus within the NKVD (since 1946: MVD) called GUPVI. However, a fair number of POWs ended up in the regular camp system eventually. Unlike Gulag camps, located primarily in remote areas (mostly in Siberia), most of the POW camps after the war were located in the European part of the Soviet Union (with notable exceptions of the Japanese POW in the Soviet Union), where the prisoners worked on restoration of the country's infrastructure destroyed during the war: roads, railways, plants, etc., see POW labor in the Soviet Union. Polish citizens and members of other nationalities who were imprisoned at the Soviet forced labour camps during World War II worked also for the Soviet Army, digging trenches, employed in lumber and cement works, airport runway construction, and unloading of transport goods.
Main camp directorates with acronyms BAM: Baikalo-Amurskaya Magistral, Baikal–Amur Mainline (railway) BBK: Belomorsko-Baltiyskiy Kanal, White Sea–Baltic Canal ITL: "Ispravitelno-trudovoi lager'", corrective labor camp LO: "Lesoobyedinenie", Logging works complex CW: Construction Works CS: Construction Site GES: "Gidroelektrostantsiya", hydro-electric powerplant Dalstroy: Far East regional CW directorate SMU: "stroitelno-montazhnoe upravlenie", Administration of construction and installation works NKVD: literally, the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs MVD: literally, the Ministry of Internal Affairs UVD: literally, the Administration of Internal Affairs, subordinated to GUVD GUVD: literally, the Main Administration of Internal Affairs, renamed MVD NKV: literally, the People's Commissariat of Arms OITK: "Otdel ispravitelno-trudovykh koloniy", corrective labor colonies department OLP: "Otdel'ny lagerny punkt", separate camp point OGPU: "Ob'yedinennoe glavnoe politicheskoe upravlenie", United Main Political Administration PL: to mark sites that also detained Polish nationals SGU: "Spetsialʹnoye glavnoye upravleniye Glavspetstsvetmeta", Special Chief Directorate of Glavspetstsvetmet TMFM: Traitor of Motherland Family Member (Russian: ЧСИР: член семьи изменника Родины), a category of repressed designated for the family members of the person who was recognized as the Traitor of Motherland; some camps were specifically designated to this category. Yeniseystroy: Yenisei River basin regional CW directorateЛагеря ГУЛАГа в Красноярском крае (включая Хакасию)
GULAG GULAG: "Glavnoe Upravlenie Ispravitelno-trudovykh Lagerey", or The Chief Directorate of Corrective Labor Camps BAMLag: Directorate of BAM camps Belbaltlag: Directorate of White Sea–Baltic Canal camps, refer to previously mentioned BBK GUAS: "Glavnoe Upravleniye Aerodromnogo stroitelstva", Chief Directorate of airport construction GULGMP: "Glavnoe Upravleniye Lagerey (GUL) Gorno-Metallurgicheskoy Predpriyatiy", Chief Directorate of Camps in Mining and Metallurgical Enterprises GULLP: "GUL Lesnoy Promyshlennosti", Chief Directorate of Camps in Forest Industry GULTP: "GUL Tyazholoy Promyshlennosti", Chief Directorate of Camps in Heavy Industry GULGTS: "GUL Gidrotekhnicheskogo stroitelstva", Chief Directorate of Hydroelectric CW GULPS: "GUL Upraveleniye Promyshlennogo stroitel'stva", Chief Directorate of Industrial CW GULZhDS: "GUL Zheleznodorozhnogo stroitelstva", Chief Directorate of Railway CW GUSHOSDOR, GULShosDor, GULShDOR: "GUL Shosseynykh dorog", Chief Directorate of Camps in Highway CW Sevvostlag or SVITLInformation about Dalstroy and SVITL (para #5) (severo-vostochnye lagerya): Directorate of North-Eastern Camps, until 1939 was an independent system of labor camps outside of the main administration of camps, GULAG. USLON: "Upravlenie Severnykh Lagerey Osobogo Naznacheniya", Directorate of Northern Special Purpose Camps USKMITL: "Upravlenie Solovetskogo and Karelo-Murmanskikh ITL", Directorate of Solovki and Karelia–Murmansk Camps SLON: "Solovetski Lager Osobogo Naznachenia", Solovki Special Purpose Camp KhOZU: "Khozyaystvennoe upravlenie MVD", Economic Directorate of the MVD UITLK: "Upravleniye Ispravitelno-trudovykh Lagerey i Koloniy", Directorate of Corrective Labor Camps and Colonies USVITL: "Upravleniye Severo-Vostochnykh Ispravitelʹno-trudovykh Lagerey", Directorate of Northeast Corrective Labor Camps
Construction works Administration of corrective labor camps of "Apatit" industrial complex General Administration of Petroleum Refinery and Synthetic Fuels Construction of MVD (PL) ITLs servicing CSs ## 6, 16, 18, 90, 100, 105, 106, 108, 141, 159, 211, 213, 247, 258, 263, 304, 313, 442, 447, 462, 496, 505, 506, 507, 508, 509, 510, 511, 513, 514, 514, 560, 565, 585, 600, 601, 620, 665, 770, 790, 791, 833, 855, 859, 865, 880, 882, 883, 885, 896, 907, 915, 940, 994 (PL) (PL) ITLs servicing GUShosDor CSs ## 1–8, 19 (PL) (PL) ITLs servicing SMU ## 41—53 (PL) Krasnoyarsk CS and ITL of Yeniseystroy (PL) ITL of Special CSs for Cellulose-Paper enterprises of Karelo-Finnish SSR (PL) ITL of CS for Arkhangelsk Cellulose-Paper Complex (PL) ITL of CSs for hydroelectric power plants on the Biya River (PL) ITL of CSs for Vladimir hydroelectric power plant (PL)ИТЛ И СТРОИТЕЛЬСТВО ВЛАДИМИРСКОЙ ГЭС (ИТЛ и Строительство Верхне-Клязьминской ГЭС) ITL for CSs ##1, 2, 3 of Bashkirian Petroleum Plants Special CW (Bashspecneftestroy) (PL) ITL for CSs ##1, 2, 3 of Tatarstan Petroleum Plants Special CW (Tatspecneftestroy) (PL) ITL for CS of the Kazan petroleum refinery ITL for CSs of hydroelectric power plants on the upper Oka River (PL) ITL for CSs of Transcaucasian metallurgical enterprises (PL) ITL for CSs of Znamienitaya (плотина «Знаменитая») dam and sluice (PL) on the Northern Dvina Canal ITL for CSs of Volga–Don Canal (PL) ITL for CSs of Krasnoyarsk–Yeniseysk railway (PL) ITL for CSs of Karaganda basin open-cast coal mines (PL) Taishet Construction Works
Continued from the Polish Dziennik Ustaw complete listing of NKVD camps with Poles. Alluvaysky CS and ITL (PL) Yensky CS and ITL (PL) Matkozensky CS and ITL (PL) Yanstroy ITL of Dalstroy (PL) ITL of the Administration of Paved Roads of Dalstroy
A
Akhtuba ITL (Akhtublag) Akhunsky ITL (Akhunlag) ALZhIR, camp for wives of "traitors of the Motherland" (АЛЖИР, Акмолинский лагерь жён изменников Родины), an example of a morose Gulag wordplay: Алжир is Algeria (in Siberia...) Aktyubinsky ITL (Aktyubinlag) Aldan ITL of Dalstroy Aldansky ITL (Aldanlag) Alluayvskoe CS and ITL (PL) Altaysky ITL (Altaylag) Amgunsky ITL (Amgunlag) Amursky ITL (Amurlag) Amur Railway ITL (Amurlag) Lower Amur ITL Angarsky ITL (Angarlag) Angrensky ITL (Angrenlag) Aralichevsky ITL (Aralichevlag) Arkhangelsky ITL (Arkhbumlag; renamed ITL and construction of Arkhangelsk TsBK in 1940) Arkhangelsky transit point OGPU (Arkhperpunkt) Astrakhansky ITL (Astrakhanlag) Avrotransportny ITL of Dalstroy (Translag) Azovsky ITL (Azovlag) Azovskoe LO (Azovlag)
Continued from the Polish Dziennik Ustaw complete listing of NKVD camps with Poles. Archpierpunkt Atbasarski ITL
B Baikal-Amur ITL (Bamlag), Baikal–Amur Mainline ITLs Bakalsky ITL (Bakalstroy, Bakallag) Bakovsky ITL (Bakovlag) Balaganskoe LO Balakhninsky ITL (Balakhlag) Baleysky ITL (Baleylag) Barashevsky ITL and GULAG industrial complex (Barashevlag) Baydarsky ITL (Baydarlag) Belogorsky ITL (Belogorlag) Belomorstroy and ITL (ITL of Belomorstroy, ITL at Belomorstroy, Belbaltlag, ITL and the Construction of the White Sea-Baltic Canal) Belorechensky ITL (Belrechlag) Beregovoy Camp (Berlag, MVD Special Camp No. 5) Bereznikovsky ITL (Bereznyaklag, Berezlag) Beskudnikovskoe Special LO Bezymyansky ITL (Bezymyanlag) Birsky ITL (Birlag) Bodaybinsky ITL (Bodaybinlag) Bogoslovsky ITL and construction of aluminum plant (Bogoslovag) Borsky ITL (Borlag) () Bratsky ITL and Taishet construction (Directorate of Taishet Construction and Bratsky ITL, Bratsky ITL) Buchenwald called Special camp No 2 of the NKVD. Part of the GULAG from 1948 to 1950; transferred to GDR control by Kruglov. Bukachachinsky ITL (Bukachachlag) Bureinsky ITL (), concentrating on BAM construction; merged into Nizhne-Amursky ITL in 1942 Butugychag, Uranium mine and Special ITL (Magadan Oblast), headed by Dalstroy, later, at closing, Sevvostlag. Coordinates: 61 18'05.65" N 149 02'53.34" E
Continued from the Polish Dziennik Ustaw complete listing of NKVD camps, and the Russian Карта ГУЛАГа – Мемориал Bakalsky ITL (Bakalstroy, Bakallag) Bakovsky ITL (Bakovlag) Baleysky ITL Balachlag Barashevsky ITL and Industrial Complex of GULAG (Barashevlag; transferred to Dubravnogo Camp in 1954) Baydarsky ITL (Baydarlag) Bazhenovsky ITL (Bazhenovlag) Belokorovichsky camp of the OITK NKVD of BSSR Beregovoy Camp (MVD Special Camp No. 5, Berlag) Berezovsky ITL (1947–1948, Berezovlag) Berezovsky ITL (1954–1956, Berezovlag) Berezovsky ITL of Northern directorate of GULZhDS (Berezovlag) Bezymyansky ITL (Bezymyanlag) Bobrovskoe LO (Bobrovlag) Borsky ITL (Borlag) () Burepolomsky ITL (Burepolomlag, reorganized into LO No. 4 UITLK UMVD for Gorky Oblast in 1953)
C Central Asian ITL (Sazlag, Sazulon, Central Asian camps, Directorate of Central Asian labor camp and colonies of the NKVD of the Uzbek SSR, UITLK of the NKVD of the Uzbek SSR) Chapayevsky ITL (Chapayevskoe construction, Chapayevstroy, ITL Directorate of Restoration Works; subordinated to Chelyabmetallurgstroy) Chaunsky ITL of Dalstroy (Chaunlag, ITL Administration P.O. Box 14) Chaun-Chukotsky ITL of Dalstroy (Chaunchukotlag, Chaun-Chukotsky ITL USVITL) Cheboksarsky ITL (Cheboksarlag; became an independent LO as part of Tagilsky ITL in 1943)