“In a Manner Befitting Soviet Citizens” An Uprising in the Post-Stalin Gulag

Abstract

In May-June 1954, prisoners in the Kengir division of the Steplag special camp staged one of the longest and largest uprisings in gulag history. Steven A. Barnes considers the role played by the west Ukrainian and Baltic nationalists and Red Army veterans who comprised the Kengir pris oner population in an uprising strangely marked by moderate, even pro- Soviet, demands. Through a careful study of the propaganda war between prisoners and authorities and a consideration of the uprising's nominal leader, Red Army veteran Kapiton Kuznetsov, Barnes explores the possibilities and limits of resistance under Soviet rule and examines the gulag in its twilight as seen by both leadership and inmates.