Grossman's EVERYTHING FLOWS: camps for women?

[Anna Reid]

Anne Applebaum's 'Gulag' has a good chapter on women and children in camps.
She says that 'in principle men and women were not supposed to be held
together in camps at all', and that 'there are prisoners who speak of not
having laid eyes on a member of the opposite sex for years and years.'
'Marriages' were conducted between men and women who had never seen each
other but only talked over a wall, and lesbianism was widespread and
accepted.

For anyone out there who hasn't got round to it yet, the whole book is
revelatory - Anna Reid.

-----Original Message-----
From: SEELANGS: Slavic & East European Languages and Literatures list
[mailto:SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu] On Behalf Of Marina Brodskaya
Sent: 21 May 2009 15:50
To: SEELANGS at bama.ua.edu
Subject: Re: [SEELANGS] Grossman's EVERYTHING FLOWS: camps for women?

Thanks all. I'll call to see if the Oaxacan Kitchen can let us in 15  
min early on the 31.

Please forgive the misspellings. Sent from my iPhone.

May 20, 2009, в 10:36 PM, Robert Chandler <kcf19 at DIAL.PIPEX.COM>  
написал(а):

> Dear all,
>
> Grossman is, for the main part uncommonly level-headed.  But there  
> is one
> part of his chapter about women in the GULAG where his tone seems
> hysterical:
>
> " Between the camps for male and female common criminals there alway 
> s lay a
> strip of bare earth, known as the 'shooting zone'.  [...]
>  In some strict-regime camps the women had not seen a man's face or  
> heard a
> man's voice for many years.  There were occasions when carpenters,
> metalworkers and drivers were sent into these sinister places - and  
> torn
> apart, tortured to death.  Even the male criminals were terrified of  
> these
> camps - camps where it was considered a joy merely to touch the shou 
> lder of
> a dead man with one hand.  The criminals were scared to go there  
> even under
> armed guard."
>
>  " ...Между  уголовным  женским  и  уголовным  мужским лагерем лежала
> полоса
> пустынной  земли  -  ее называли огнестрельной зоной, [...]
>   Когда  в зловещие, режимные лагеря к женщинам, долгими годами не в 
> идевшим
> лица  мужчин,  не слышавшим  мужского  голоса,  попадали по наряду с 
> лесаря,
> плотники,  их  терзали,  умучивали,  убивали  до  смерти. Мужчины-уг 
> оловники
> боялись  этих лагерей, где счастьем считалось коснуться рукой плеча  
> мертвого
> мужика, боялись идти туда и под охраной огнестрельного оружия.
>   Угрюмая, темная беда коверкала каторжных людей, превращала их в не 
> людей."
>
> WERE THERE REALLY STRICT-REGIME CAMPS WHERE MEN NEVER SET FOOT?  I  
> HAVE NOT
> SEEN THEM MENTIONED ELSEWHERE.
>
> Best Wishes,
>
> Robert
>
> --- 
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