[elcid1970]

It was the slogan the NKVD originated, not which language it was in.

In my very bad Russian, the sign at Solovki could have read,

“TRUD DYELAYET ZA SVOBODAM”.

BTW, `slon’ is also the Russian word for elephant. The SLON organization adopted that logo for their HQ.

[Fiji Hill]

Or, perhaps TRUD OSVOBOZHDAET.