Posted on 05/22/2021 1:03:27 PM PDT by Fzob
TOMSK, Russia – Every year, a small group of locals travels the 550 kilometers northwest from this Siberian city to Nazinsky Island, in the middle of the Ob River, to place a wreath at the foot of a wooden cross. It is a gesture of remembrance for the victims of the horrific events that unfolded there in the summer of 1933.
"Every year in June, we place a wreath at the cross that was placed on the island in 1993," Valeria Shtatolkin told RFE/RL. "But this year, we couldn't go. The water was too high, and the island is almost entirely flooded."
Their dedication to the pilgrimage is part of an effort to remind fellow Russians of an experiment in social engineering and self-sufficiency that went tragically wrong for many of the "settlers" lured by Soviet authorities under Josef Stalin -- whose brutal excesses have frequently been downplayed under Russia's current leadership in favor of a more forgiving historical interpretation of Stalin's three-decade rule.
Eighty-five years ago in May, a small flotilla of lumber barges pulled up to Nazinsky Island and off-loaded about 3,000 "settlers" with orders to construct a "special settlement," as their little corner of Stalin's GULAG – the network of labor camps that spread across the Soviet Union where millions of people were repressed and killed -- was euphemistically called. At least 23 of the prisoners were already dead.
Without tools or shelter or food and surrounded by armed guards who shot anyone who tried to brave the icy river, the prisoners quickly fell victim to starvation, disease, violence, and the brutal elements. And still, additional barges continued to pull up at the island.
Numerous gruesome incidents of cannibalism were reported. So many, in fact, that locals came to call it Cannibal Island or the Island of Death.
By August, at least 4,000 people were dead or missing.
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I went to a book launch for an old high school classmate at her aunt’s house in DC. The artwork was Stalin, Lenin and Mao. Just like in that photo of Carney’s family, but more, including a bust of Lenin.
My wife and I looked at each other in wonder and disgust. When we asked another classmate, who was a Wash comPost “journalist,” what she thought about the artwork, she looked at us like we were the weird ones. We walked out.
How many other people had been through that house and through the Carney’s and either complimented them on the décor or thought it was normal?
“Their Town” is a sick town.
Looks like a picture of the inside of Jay Carney and Claire Shipman’s dwelling.
Don’t have a clue who they are.
I didn’t know if it was an ad for something or not.
Pol Pot was equally that level of monstrosity
Heyyyyy maaaannnn, ya wanna make an omelet, ya gotta break some eeeeeeeeeggs!
Heeeeyyyy maaaannnn, it was fer the good of the revolutionnnnnnnnn!!!!
All is good! The old bod is hangin’ in there and the Summer is almost here. The Bears are back and around after their winter ‘nap’ but as long as they leave me alone, I’ll leave them alone! I wonder if our old punching bag, Alex W. (and his ‘washing machine’!!), are still kicking over in the Philippines? He was fun for The Dawg Pound to chew on!
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