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.

Camp system operation

There were a number of particular categories of convicts that were imprisoned there including:

  1. 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").
  2. 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 (RSFSR Penal Code) that covered "counter-revolutionary activities".
  3. 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 directorate

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 SVITL (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)
  • 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. and the Polish Dziennik Ustaw listing of camps.

  • Sakhalinsky ITL (САХАЛИНСКИЕ ИТЛ; Sakhalinlag, Sakhalinstroy)
  • Transit LO Dalstroy (Transit-transfer OLP)
  • Tsimlyansky ITL (Construction and ITL of the Tsimlyansk hydroelectric complex, ITL at the SU of the Tsimlyansk hydroelectric complex; merged with Martynovsky ITL into ITL and construction of irrigation and hydraulic structures in 1952)
  • Tugachinsky ITL (Tugachlag; absorbed into Krasnoyarsky ITL in 1953)
  • Tuimsky Mining Authority and ITL of Yeniseystroy (reorganized into Tsymskoe LO and subordinated to UITL "DS" of Yeniseistroy in 1951)
  • Tuymazinsky ITL (Tuymazinlag; transferred to the UITLK of the MVD of the Bashkir ASSR in 1949)
  • Tyrnov-Auzsky plant and ITL (Tyrnyauzstroy)

U

  • Ukhtinsko–Pechorsky ITL (UPITLag, Ukhtpechlag)
  • Ukhta expedition OGPU (reorganized into Ukhtinsko-Pechorsky ITL in 1931)
  • Ukhto–Izhemsky ITL (Ukhtoizhemsky ITL, Ukhtizhemlag, Ukhtoizhemlag; subdivisions transferred to Pechorsky ITL in 1955)
  • Ulenskoe Mining Authority and ITL
  • Ulminsky ITL (Ulminlag)
  • Umaltinsky ITL (Umaltlag, Umaltynskoe Mining Administration of the NKVD)
  • Unzhensky ITL (Unzhlag)
  • Upper Izhma ITL
  • Uralsky ITL (Urallag)
  • Urgalsky ITL and construction GULZhDS (Urgallag)
  • Usolsky ITL (Usollag)
  • Usolsky ITL SGU (Uslag)
  • Ust-Borovsky ITL
  • Ust-Kutsky ITL and Dalstoy transshipment base (camp subdivision and production transferred to Angarsky ITL in 1953)
  • Ust-Kutskoe LO
  • Ust-Vymsky ITL OGPU
  • Ustvymsky ITL (Ust-Vymsky ITL, Ustvymlag)

V

  • Vaninsky ITL of Dalstroy (Vaninlag, ITL and transshipment base in Vanino Bay, Vanino transit-forwarding camp of Dalstroy)
  • Vaninsky transit camp (Vaninsky ITL)
  • Varnavinsky ITL
  • Vaygach expedition OGPU (Vaygachsky OLP)
  • Verkne-Izhemsky ITL (Verkhizhemlag, Verkhneizhemlag)
  • Verkne-Saldinsky ITL
  • Vershina–Darasun ITL
  • Vetluzhsky ITL (Vetlag)
  • Vishersky ITL (Vislag, Viserlag)
  • Vladivostoksky ITL (Directorate of Vladivostok ITL and colonies of Primorsky Krai, Vladlag)
  • Vladivostok Transit Site of Dalstroy (:ru:Владперпункт (Vladperpunkt, Владивосто́кский пересы́льный пу́нкт Дальстро́я), Vladivostok)
  • ("Watershed Camp", MVD Special Camp No. 12)
  • Volga ITL of hydrosystem construction (Volgolag, Volgostroy)
  • Volga ITL MVD (Volgolag, Volgostroy)
  • Volga railway ITL (Volgolag)
  • Volga-Baltic ITL (see Volga–Baltic Waterway)
  • Vorkutlag (Vorkuto-Pechora ITL, Vorkutpechlag, Vorkutinsky ITL, Vorkutstroy)
  • Voroninsky ITL (Voroninlag, Voroninskoe LO), Tomsk Oblast
  • Vyazemsky ITL (Vyazemlag, Directorate of construction and Vyazemlaga GUShOSDOR)
  • Vytegorsky ITL (Vytegorstroy, Vytegorlag; merged with Shekshinsky ITL into Volgo-Baltysky ITL in 1952)
  • Vytegorsky ITL NKVD (Vytegorstroy, Vytegorlag)
  • Vyartsilsky ITL (Vyartsillag, Vyartsilsky ITL and metallurgical plant)
  • Vyatsky ITL (Vyatlag)

W

  • White Sea-Baltic ITL (Belomorsko-Baltiysky ITL, Belbaltlag, BBL), White Sea–Baltic Canal ITLs

Y

  • Yagrinsky ITL and construction 203 (Yagrinlag)
  • Yansky Construction ITL (Yanstroylag)
  • Yansky ITL of Dalstroy (Yanlag, ITL of the Yansky mining department, Yansky ITL USVITL, Yanskoe LO)
  • Yansky Mining Directorate and ITL of Dalstroy
  • Yeniseysky ITL SGU (Yeniseylag)
  • Yeniseysky ITL (Directorate of Yenisei labor camp and colonies, Yeniseylag)
  • Yeniseysky ITL and construction 503 (Yeniseyzheldorlag)
  • Yenskoe construction and ITL (Yenlag, ЕНСКОЕ СТРОИТЕЛЬСТВО И ИТЛ; Енлаг)
  • Yermakovskoye LO (Ермаковское, Krasnoyarsk Krai; Yermakovlag)
  • Yugorsky ITL and construction 300 (Khanty–Mansia; Yugorlag, Construction 300)

Z

Continued from the Polish complete listing of NKVD camps with Poles.