Berezniki and Solikamsk
February 2, 2010
One of the many merits of the Perm region is that it’s rich in correctional facilities.
Forbidden zone. Access forbidden
I set out on a tour of three correctional labor colonies, armed with a whole set of stereotypes. By the end of the tour the thought of spending more than a day in “the zone”, as it’s called in Russia, ceased to be quite so terrifying.
Stop—dangerous dog. Don’t go behind fence. Bathroom →
Berezniki
Map
The first item on the agenda was Women’s Correctional Colony No. 28.
CC-28, Weaving Shop 1998, Sewing Factory 1961, Textile Shop 1997, Ceramics Shop 2000
The administrative building somehow reminded me of a school with no students, but full of teachers. This is probably what district boards of education look like.
Attention! FBO CC 28 has “survival kit” backpacks available for sale at the product warehouse for 236 rubles, for employees only. Call 4-14, 3-27 for more information.
Windowsill in the warden’s office.
The first stereotype to go out the window was about the size of the zones. I always thought that a zone was an endlessly vast space, with barracks occupying immeasurable hectares of land. It turned out that a zone can consist of just two buildings. The territory and buildings of a correctional labor colony usually resemble some kind of factory with workers’ housing. In other words, everything is very compact.
There’s a room here with product samples. This colony, the best in the Perm region, even enters its designs in fashion competitions every year.
The labor part consists of the following: everyone who is not violent or serving a life sentence works.
Ladies’ delight
It turns out that the word “convict” isn’t used. Everyone says and writes “inmate.” Thus my second stereotype was dispelled.
Looks like a normal garment factory.
But the plot thickens. Upon seeing a bearded guy with a camera (a relatively rare sight in a women’s colony), one of the seamstresses climbed up onto the work table to show off her legs. The eye on the back of my head noticed the warden, who was standing behind me, show her a fist the size of my camera.
All the guards at a women’s colony are female.
Service bus schedule
Half the women are in for murder, the other half—for drugs.
In Soviet times, women didn’t kill with such ease.
Top: “Best workers,” “Success, persistence, professionalism, quality, plan, goal, growth, ambition, knowledge, discipline, respect, attentiveness.” Bottom: product shipment schedule
Peace and quiet in the colony.
Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation
The gypsies weave baskets.
A young woman embroiders on an embroidery hoop.
A graphic artist draws new evacuation plans.
A wall newsletter called Crocodile (named after a satirical magazine that was popular in the Soviet Union) is published here, marked “Approved” in the top right corner.
Crocodile. Brigade 15—Inmate Tavlibaeva: sewed on a document pocket with defective stitching. Brigade 6—Inmate Maslennikova: incorrectly stitched an epaulette, leading to rounded corners, the reason for which was inattentiveness and lack of self-control
I was convinced (another stereotype) that the guards carry billy clubs, guns, etc. Well, it turns out they don’t have any weapons so as not to tempt the inmates. Only the tower guards have weapons. The ones inside the colony walk around empty-handed.
Do not toss batting trimmings
The style of outer garments has never changed. Women wear felt boots, quilted jackets, hats with ear flaps and headscarves. This could easily be 1950 as much as today.
Solikamsk
Map
A city with a legitimized mistake in the connecting vowel.
The area is rich in minerals and correctional colonies.
The next stop in our program is the men’s correctional labor colony White Swan (FSI ACC-2 NAFPS of Russia, Perm Region). Many famous criminals, including Salman Raduyev, have served time here. The warden’s window looks out onto the exercise yard, and the rooftop of the building across is crowned with the symbol of the colony—a white swan.
Newspaper headline: MY POLICE!
Years of going through security checkpoints at airports around the world, as well as a great number of movies about jails, have created a firmly established stereotype: the height of ingenuity is smuggling a spoon into the prison inside a loaf of bread, then using it to dig a tunnel to freedom. It turns out that inmates have access to every kind of tool at the shops, from power saws to lathes.
Of course, every tool has an inventory number and has to be returned to the supervisor at the end of the day, but you could probably assemble a whole helicopter during the day if you put your mind to it.
Rich is he who spends less, not he who earns more
All the inmates work. Only those serving a life sentence are exempt. This is because inmates serving a life sentence have nothing to lose—you can’t execute them. So, just to be on the safe side, they’re not even trusted to hold a screwdriver.
Produce that which can be sold. Sector #2, industrial zone. List of personnel
In any case, those who have demonstrated a tendency to attempt escape are kept in the basement. The shops with equipment are staffed by calm inmates.
And the foreman of the calm ones even has digs fit for a king. It never crosses anyone’s mind to pull a nail out from the wall and stick it in somebody’s eye.
Unlike the women’s colony, the atmosphere in the men’s feels fairly tense. Identical black pea coats add to the gloomy impression. And the furniture made here is a) low quality and b) more expensive than at Ikea.
The last colony for today—No. 9 (“For Tuberculosis Patients”).
We congratulate employees on the anniversary of the founding of the marketing division of the PES
A tractor working outdoors has a painted-on Mercedes star and the inscription “Beamer.”
Here, the shops are also equipped with a variety of tools and machines.
Photo 1: Beware! Check equipment before running machines. Defects will be paid for out of your salary. Photo 2: Immediately report any accidents to the administration.
Here, they also make bad furniture and souvenirs of dubious aesthetic value.
The premises are decorated with plaques bearing poems of the same quality as the furniture.
We will hardly ever
End up in this world again. Our fri-
ends we never shall find anew.
So seize the moment! For it
Will not repeat itself, as you
Will not repeat yourself
In it.
We cannot change what the days have for us in store !
Don’t invite trouble, do not tarnish
The gleaming end of sky-blue days.
Your time is short !
Luxuriate and cherish !
The artists aren’t sitting around idly.
USSR, Liberate Europe
And the sculptors have something to do.
Obey fire safety rules
At the carpentry shop.
Medvedev has been hidden off to the side, there are other role models here.
The last stereotype about zones had apparently formed under the influence of news reports from prison cells: there are ten people to a three-meter room and they will never see the light of day for the rest of their lives. It turns out that a zone is located under the same open sky as any other place.
OK, so there’s a fence. And guards with machine guns somewhere around the perimeter. But it’s not as scary as it once seemed.
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