ARRIVAL AT THE CAMP

After the long and grueling journey of the etap, prisoners faced a new reality—life behind barbed wire.

Ida Varpakhovskaya recalled that when their convoy arrived in Tomsk, they had no idea where they were. They were forced out of the train cars into the freezing cold and led under armed escort with guard dogs to the camp. The first thing prisoners saw were the camp gates adorned with propaganda slogans:
«Through labor—to freedom», «Labor in the USSR is a matter of honor, glory, and heroism», «Hard work will melt away our sentence».

LIFE IN THE BARRACKS

More than two thousand women lived in ten overcrowded barracks. Among them were the wives of repressed party officials and the relatives of Tukhachevsky, Bukharin, Yakir, and Uborevich. In these brutal conditions, women had to learn how to survive, finding support in one another. Some even turned to embroidery and crafts—a small connection to their past lives.

But the reality of camp life was merciless. Prisoners slept pressed together, lying on their sides and turning all at once on command. In the freezing winter nights, frost formed inside the barracks, and their hair froze to the wooden planks of the bunks. «Near the gates, there was a special barrack for women who had given birth in prison. When their babies were weaned, a bus arrived and took them away… No one knew where,» Ida Varpakhovskaya recalled.

THE CAMP HIERARCHY

The authorities enforced a strict caste system among prisoners. «Bytoviki»—common criminals—held a privileged status, while political prisoners endured the harshest conditions. The lowest position was given to those convicted of «counter-revolutionary Trotskyist activity,» who were assigned the most brutal labor.

However, the most humiliating moment of arrival was the camp bathhouse. «Naked women were forced to walk past rows of guards who watched their humiliation. Young men shaved their heads, armpits, and pubic hair… This cannot be forgotten,» recalled Ioanna Mureikene.

A RARE MIRACLE

Amid the inhumanity of the camps, rare moments of hope emerged. Ida Varpakhovskaya’s father searched for her across multiple camps before finally finding her. He achieved the impossible—he was granted a meeting with his daughter, something that was almost unheard of. They spoke through a double layer of wire mesh, as he tried to reassure her and passed her some food. «He promised to return with warm clothes… But when he arrived, I was gone. Our convoy had already been sent further…»

Arriving at the camp was not the end of suffering—it was just the beginning. Prisoners slowly realized that their lives were now controlled by the merciless rules of the GULAG system. Yet, even in this hell, people clung to memories, to hope, to the faintest possibility of survival.