In the spring of 1953, half of the inmates of the GULAG were released. Despite the fact that the most dangerous prisoners continued to serve their sentences, this event was a great shock for the country. At the beginning of 1953, there were a record number of prisoners in the camps and prisons of the Soviet Union - over two million people. And this is in a country with a population of 180 million! Practically every eightieth citizen of the USSR sat there. For comparison, today there are about 650 thousand prisoners in Russian prisons.
After Stalin's death, the Minister of Internal Affairs Lavrenty Beria expressed the opinion that the time had come to revise the criminal legislation by mitigating punishment for some domestic, economic and official crimes. He noted that out of almost 1.5 million people who are annually convicted in the country, less than half of the convicts commit really serious crimes. If this continues, then in a couple of years there will already be 3 million people in the USSR, the minister warned. The members of the government agreed with Beria's arguments and on March 28, a draft amnesty came into force, according to which the following categories of prisoners were released: convicted of minor crimes, pregnant women, as well as those who had dependents, terminally ill, minors, women over 55 and men over 60 ... Those who had already served half of their sentences were also subject to release. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, by November 16, 1953, more than 1 million 200 thousand people left the places of imprisonment. Also, the criminal cases of about 400 thousand suspects who were threatened by the camps were terminated.
Those convicted of political offenses, espionage, terrorism, banditry and premeditated murder were not granted amnesty. Nevertheless, as historians note, dangerous criminals, including recidivist thieves, who were convicted under milder articles, were still released. This most often happened not due to imperfect criminal legislation or errors of the investigating authorities, but due to the lack of evidence.
The Gulag system stretched across the country, with many camps located in remote, remote areas. This reduced the possibility of successful escapes, however, it caused a lot of inconvenience when transporting the amnestied to their destination - a large number of vehicles were required, including those with good maneuverability, given the spring thaw. Those released from prison were taken to major railway junctions, where they awaited the arrival of the train. However, due to logistical and transportation problems, recent prisoners could spend weeks at the station, waiting to be sent home. Idleness or lack of food forced some to return to a half-forgotten craft. Unsurprisingly, immediately after the amnesty, the level of delinquency at hub stations rose sharply.
Before being sent home, each amnestied was given a passport, a certificate of release, a train ticket, and a small amount of money for food on the road. The authorities hoped that immediately after arriving home, the amnestied would join the labor rhythm of the country and feel like full-fledged members of society. But this did not happen. Due to bureaucratic delays or other reasons, even six months later, a third of those released were not employed. If in rural areas it was not so difficult to find a job: in collective and state farms workers were always required, in the cities many amnestied were left to their own devices. In the spring and summer of 1953, a wave of crimes swept through some large cities. So, in Penza, with a population of 1.5 million, almost simultaneously there were about a thousand former convicts, many of whom, not finding a normal use for themselves, again embarked on the path of theft and violence. Although serious crimes were rare, the city's population was plagued by hooligans and pickpockets.
Not everything was going well at that time in the camps themselves. The remaining prisoners did not understand why they were not affected by the amnesty and considered this fact unjust. Cases of escapes have become more frequent. In one of the camps, prisoners were able to disassemble the brick wall of the barrack and break through the fence. At least a thousand people were at large. Many were caught, but the overwhelming majority died in the taiga from cold and hunger. In a colony near Norilsk, prisoners went on strike as a sign of disagreement with the rules of the amnesty, and in the end the authorities were forced to release some dissidents.
In a few months after the start of the amnesty, many cities of the USSR were seized by a real panic, largely fueled by rumors. It was said around that a million of the most real bandits were released, who would soon begin to terrorize Soviet cities.
a source:
russian7.ru/post/amnistiya-be...
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