Gold from blood, Kolyma to our collections...

[Kirchgoens]

I just finished Robert Conquest's "The Great Terror" (his 1990 re-release). I should have known this, but I think I can now safely assume that every bit of gold (solid or plating) most likely came from the Gulag's Kolyma gold fields, pulled by a very large number of very unhappy and almost entirely innocent victims - especially those awards from the 30's to 50's. It adds a bit of seriousness to the hobby realizing that someone most likely died in the effort to produce our favorite awards. Maybe the small justice of it all is that these awards are now in our collections and no longer active representations. Simply my ponderings...

...Brian

[jefflgarrison]

If you want to take it one step further, what about awards to officers during the war? They were under strict order to achieve their objectives no matter the cost or they would be relieved of command and face the SMERSH interrogation.

The men they commanded paid for the awards to their commanders, if the goal was achieved, with their lives and blood, many times needlessly.

What was Zhukov's comment to Eisnehower? When we come to a minefield, we attack as if there was no minefield. Heck, I don't consider myself a coward but I wouldn't want to have to make the choice between being shot for being a coward or being blown apart and being a hero.

Having recently finished "Stalingrad" (Bevor), "Fall of Berlin 1945" (Bevor) and currently halfway through "Gulag" (Applebaum) I realize that not only war is Hell! Living in Russia during communism was a close as we can come to it on earth.

[UQWozza]

Hi Jeff,

Like you I have worked my way through those books and consider myself very lucky not to have endured what those people went through.

Another book you will find interesting, if you haven't already read it, is "Ivan's War: Life and Death in the Red Army, 1939-1945" by Catherine Merridale. It is another book which compares the glorious myths of the war with the reality (cowardice, self-mutilation, mass rapes, etc). At present I am only half way through but it is a gripping read.


Simon

[Eryk]

Robert Conquest is a great author. Another interesting Conquest title is "Stalin: Breaker of Nations." Very accessable - kind of a popular reader about Stalin. Heck, even my wife read parts of it.

If you're interested in social history I recommend "Everyday Stalinism. Ordinary Life in Extraordinary Times: Soviet Russia in the 1930s" by Sheila Fitzpatrick. It's been described as too dense for the uninitiated but not scholarly enough to "contribute anything new." Intellectuals... ha! For the middling historian though, which probably includes 99% of the folks here, it's a great read.

[desantnik]

While trying to avoid a political discussion, it wasn't called the Evil Empire because people stood in bread lines and the winters sucked.

[Lapa]

Guys,

To get back to the original theme, there is an excellent book written by someone who actually served countless years in Kolyma - The Kolyma Chronicles written by Varlaam Shalamov - then later "tested in depth" the Soviet psychiatric system.

Marc

[Stephende]

Varlam Shalamov - Graphite is specifically about Kolyma. It is available in English translation.

[ELVTARS]

Just to put my two cents in - nearly every military medal awarded within the conflict zone (and even ones outside the combat zone - like the military scientists who invent new and efficient ways of killing the enemy get medals for their work too!) were paid for in blood. Either the recipients - or the blood of his enemies. Either case - parents burying their children way too soon.

[desantnik]

We all understand war is terrible and an unavoidable aspect of human nature.

What's was initially discussed is the horror of documented, slave labor death camps and its role in the production of the items we collect.

[new world]

Originally Posted by Kirchgoens

I just finished Robert Conquest's "The Great Terror" (his 1990 re-release). I should have known this, but I think I can now safely assume that every bit of gold (solid or plating) most likely came from the Gulag's Kolyma gold fields, pulled by a very large number of very unhappy and almost entirely innocent victims - especially those awards from the 30's to 50's. It adds a bit of seriousness to the hobby realizing that someone most likely died in the effort to produce our favorite awards. Maybe the small justice of it all is that these awards are now in our collections and no longer active representations. Simply my ponderings...

...Brian

Brian,

One should use caution when looking at the facts / numbers presented in Robert Conquest's works.

He wrote his books with limited or no access to Russian archives. There have been more recent studies by Russian historians who take his numbers into question.

Remember that he wrote his books in the middle of Cold War...

William