Stalin Canal (1992)

Views of the White Sea-Baltic Canal (from above).

Newsreel: views and panoramas of the rally dedicated to the beginning of construction of the canal in 1931. Faces of the rally participants (panorama).

A brass band plays.

Prisoner canal builders head in columns to construction sites.

Canal builders ride horses.

Felling timber during the laying of the future canal bed.

A column of canal builders-canal army soldiers passes by.

Canal construction managers - Yagoda G.G., Frenkel N.A. during a speech to the builders.

Photographs of the White Sea-Baltic Canal construction managers.

A photograph of one of the rallies during canal construction.

View of one of the canal locks.

The self-propelled barge "Volgo-Balt" floats by.

Ships in dry dock between navigation seasons.

Half-open lock gates during repairs.

View of the lock and part of the canal with drained water between navigation seasons.

Snow-covered remains of a barbed wire fence.

A rusty traction engine sunk into the ground, a traction engine wheel.

Remains of a camp fence with rusted barbed wire and destroyed barracks of BelBaltLag.

Torn chains near a stump, a rusty wheel in the snow.

Karelian winter landscape.

View of a wooden Orthodox church.

Pages of an old church book.

Bars on the door of the Karelian Ministry of Internal Affairs archive.

An archive employee studies files and looks through cards of BelBaltLag prisoners, removes cards from the card index drawers.

Card for prisoner E. Lavrenev.

Fragments of the text of Lavrenev's sentence.

Pages from the personal file of prisoner K. Levchenko.

Photographs of the consequences of the famine of 1932-1933. Pages from the personal files of prisoners V. Lavrentyeva, Z. Lavrenbko.

Photograph of sentries at the camp gate.

Newsreel from 1931-1933: view of part of a rally of canal builders.

Head of construction Frenkel delivers a speech.

Banners over a column of demonstrators in Moscow during the celebration of another anniversary of the October Revolution, photograph of Gorky A.M. speaking from the rostrum under a portrait of Stalin.

Speeches by speakers at rallies.

Participants in one of the rallies applaud from their seats in the hall.

Text of Lenin's telegram to V.I. on carrying out mass terror against the kulaks in the Penza province.

Photograph of Lenin.

View of the former Solovetsky special-purpose camp.

Rusty grating on the ruins of BelBaltlag.

Newsreel from 1931-1933: a representative of the GULAG delivers a speech at a rally of canal builders.

Prisoners rafting timber.

A horse turns the drive of a ferry.

Pioneers go to a May Day demonstration in Moscow.

Views of the May Day demonstration on Red Square.

Prisoners at work.

A session of the visiting court.

Convoy guards lead prisoners.

Faces of rally participants.

Face of the head of the ITL OGPU Berman M.D. speaking at the rally, views of the rally.

Prisoners working on the construction of a canal bed, newsreel and photographs of the construction.

View of part of the Fence and buildings of the BelBaltlag.

An employee of the archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Karelia looks through the personal cards of prisoners.

Card of prisoner A.A. Dostoevsky, the writer's grandson.

Photograph of A.A. Dostoevsky among the members of the Russian Geographical Society.

Photograph of A.A. Dostoevsky.

Card of prisoner D.O. Svyatsky, astronomer, ethnographer, historian.

Photograph of Svyatsky.

Titles of Svyatsky's scientific works.

Card of prisoner N.P. Antsiferov and his portrait.

Titles of Antsiferov's works on literary local history.

Card of prisoner A.F. Losev.

Photograph of Losev.

Publications of scientific works by Losev.

Record of prisoner Goretsky G.I. Photograph of Goretsky with his daughter.

Portrait of Goretsky.

Publications of scientific works by Goretsky in the field of economic geography.

Photograph of a meeting of the State Duma.

Portrait of State Duma member Nekrasov, minister of the Provisional Government.

Collage of portraits of ministers of the first Provisional Government.

Record of prisoner Snesarev A.E., officer of the General Staff.

Portrait of Snesarev.

Publications of scientific works by Snesarev.

Portrait of Snesarev.

Newsreel of the First World War and the Civil War, short fragments.

Painting depicting Stalin during the defense of Tsaritsyn in 1918. Photograph of Stalin I.V. and Voroshilov K.E. Photographs and newsreel of the construction of the canal in winter conditions.

Photograph of representatives of national minorities at their club during the construction of the canal.

Newsreel of the construction of the canal in winter conditions.

Records of prisoners - natives of the republics of Central Asia, who died during the construction of the canal.

Relatives of prisoner Dulatov at the monument on his grave.

Portrait of Dulatov, a Kazakh poet and prose writer.

Article about Dulatov in the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.

Photographs of Dulatov.

Newsreel of canal construction in 1931-1933. Prisoner with a wheelbarrow.

Face of one of the builders.

View of one of the rallies of canal builders.

Faces of rally participants, photograph of OGPU employees near a car.

Yagoda G.G. among the leaders of canal construction.

Yagoda's questionnaire.

Portrait and questionnaire of Berman M.D. Deputy head of BelBaltLag Uspensky speaks at a rally (newsreel).

Questionnaire of Uspensky.

Portrait of department head Afanasyev G.D. and his questionnaire.

OGPU employees during one of the rallies (newsreel, panorama).

Interior view of the storage facility of the archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Karelia (panorama).

Files of prisoners stored in the archive.

Group and individual photographs of BelBaltLag prisoners.

Newsreel of canal construction in winter, manual excavation work.

Photographs of rallies during canal construction alternate with newsreel.

Portrait of construction manager N.A. Frenkel.

Documents from prisoner Frenkel's file.

Photographs of Solovetsky camp, where Frenkel served his sentence.

Newsreel from 1931-1933: views of canal construction.

Management oversees construction.

Manual excavation work.

Photographs of OGPU leaders and canal construction.

Alternating newsreel and photographs of canal construction and ceremonial meetings in honor of plan overfulfillment.

Photographs of prisoners at various jobs and during rest.

Former prisoner M.S. Fedirko lights a cigarette.

Fedirko talks about his work on the canal construction, preparation for blasting operations, and prisoners' meals (synchronously and off-screen).

Newsreel of canal construction alternates with photographs.

Prisoners working in a quarry.

Blasting operations during canal construction.

Holes and iron stakes in rocks.

Preparing rock for blasting.

Manually laying stone for the canal bed walls.

Photographs of prisoner teams during rest and lunch.

Panorama of wooden residential houses near the railroad, a train passes.

Wooden building of the station at the Medvezhya Gora station, where the construction headquarters were located.

Panorama of the ruins of the theater building.

Personal card of prisoner V. Ya.

Dvorzhetsky, theater and film actor. V. Ya.

Dvorzhetsky talks about his work at the theater in Medvezhya Gora, the theater repertoire, the actors who worked at the theater, and the living conditions of the imprisoned actors (synchronously and behind the scenes).

Photograph of the theater building.

Photograph of the stage of one of the performances.

Photographs of female prisoners working on the canal construction.

Photographs of the canal construction.

Fragments of the list of theater actors.

Photograph of OGPU employees at the festively decorated entrance to the theater.

Photograph of the stage of one of the performances.

The staffing schedule of the theater.

Photograph of the building of the Medvezhyegorsk Theater.

Photograph of director L. Kurbas in the newspaper.

Portrait of Kurbas sent to Solovki.

Ruins of the theater.

Photographs of prisoners in a barracks.

Panorama of a wasteland in Medvezhyegorsk with the ruins of the theater.

Photograph of actors in theatrical costumes.

Panorama of a part of the outskirts of Medvezhyegorsk.

Panorama and views of destroyed wooden bridge structures.

Photo portraits of Russian engineers, representatives of the technical intelligentsia - prisoners of the BelBaltLag.

Newsreel from the 1930s: Stalin I.V. speaks from the rostrum.

The White Sea-Baltic Canal on the map (animation).

Scheme of the construction of canal locks to overcome the inclines of the terrain (animation).

Newsreel from 1932-1933: Kirov S.M. at the construction of the canal among the leaders of the construction and OGPU employees.

Manual excavation work during the construction of the canal, carried out with wheelbarrows, shovels and carts, alternates with photographs.

Builders chip away at the rock with crowbars.

Opening of wooden sluice gates, alternates with photographs.

Panorama and views of part of the surviving five-kilometer wooden chute for timber rafting.

Newsreel: construction of a wooden dam from inclined logs according to the design of engineer Zubarev.

Views of the dam under construction.

Views of the operating dam in 1992. Photographs of imprisoned engineers who worked in closed design and project bureaus.

Photographs of geodetic work during the construction of the canal.

Panorama of part of the village of Vygostrov on the bank of the canal.

Panorama of part of the territory where the Old Believer cemetery was located.

Photographs of loading sand taken from the cemetery for construction into trucks.

Human bones on the site of the former ruined cemetery.

Photographs of the construction of the canal.

Photographs of the builders of the canal.

Newsreel from 1931-1933: the OGPU brass band plays.

Stone harvesting work.

The red challenge banner flutters.

Photographs of ceremonial meetings and ceremonies of presenting challenge banners to distinguished brigades.

Photograph of the Honor Board with portraits of shock workers in the construction.

Newsreel: leading builders eating bonus pies.

Photograph of part of the camp grounds.

Photographs of leading workers washing in a summer shower and sunbathing.

Panorama of one of the islands of Vygozero.

Newsreel from 1932-1933: prisoners working on the construction of a canal, a photo of one of the leading brigades.

Panorama of one of the rallies of canal builders (above).

Procession of a festive column of builders of the first five-year plans.

Earthworks at the construction of one of the industrial enterprises in the USSR, a photo of a wall newspaper with the word "Bullshit".

View of the construction of a dam from logs, newsreel alternates with photographs of the construction.

Carpentry work at the construction of a canal.

Views of construction, newsreel alternates with photographs.

Fedirko talks about the deaths of prisoners from malnutrition, the number of dead prisoners (synchronously and off-screen).

Newsreel: views of the construction of a section of the canal bed.

The shadow of a locomotive.

A train passes, roofs of carriages.

Another stage of prisoners descends from a ship to the shore.

Panorama of a section of the canal (from above).

Remains of the camp fence.

Ruins of the camp barracks, covered with snow (panorama).

Rotten sleds under the snow.

Panorama and view of one of the locks.

Monument in honor of the builders of the canal.

Karelian spring landscapes.

Views of the spring forest in Karelia.

Panorama of a section of the cut down forest.

Newsreel: felling of a pine forest.

Forest fire.

Houses on the Sunsky tract, flooded as a result of the construction of the canal.

Photographs of flooded settlements.

Stumps sticking out of the water.

View of the flooded area.

Newsreel from 1933: view of one of the built locks.

Prisoners working on the construction of a lock before its commissioning.

A ship passes through a lock.

View of one of the canal dams.

A meeting of the construction management.

Photograph of the deputy head of the camp, Firin.

Photographs of Soviet writers during meetings before the trip to the canal, including Gorky A.M. Newsreel from 1933: a steamship funnel.

A passing steamship, a photograph of OGPU employees sitting in the presidium of one of the meetings dedicated to the launch of the White Sea-Baltic Canal.

A steamship sailing along the canal.

Cameramen on the bank of the canal.

Ships in one of the canal locks.

Canal builders in the reading room.

One of the builders washing in a hospital bath.

Builders dancing during the holiday.

The face of an accordion player.

Cover of the book "The Stalin Canal", pages of the book.

Part of the list of the names of the book's authors.

View of one of the locks of the White Sea-Baltic Canal in the Povenets area (top).

Former canal builder N.I. Artyukhov talks about the construction of the road for Stalin’s possible passage along it (synchronously and off-screen).

View of a section of the road.

Newsreel from 1933: Stalin and his entourage riding in a car.

View of the forest from a passing car.

Photographs of armed sentries at posts near the canal locks.

Newsreel from 1933: Stalin, Kirov and Voroshilov K.E. on the deck of a steamship during a trip along the White Sea-Baltic Canal.

Stalin’s face.

Stalin on the deck of a steamship.

The steamship passes through one of the locks.

The crew members use poles to push the steamship away from the walls of the lock.

The ships travel along the canal.

Voroshilov and Kirov on the deck of a steamship during a trip along the canal.

The faces of Voroshilov and Kirov.

Stalin, Kirov and Voroshilov on the deck of a steamship, Voroshilov fires a rifle towards the shore.

Kirov and Stalin on the deck of a steamship.

A view of a section of the canal.

Local resident E. I. Taricheva talks about the floating corpses of prisoners who were blocking the passage of ships and a steamship with Stalin on board (synchronously and off-screen).

Newsreel from 1933: Stalin and Kirov on the deck of a steamship.

Views of the canal banks, slogans laid out in stones.

Karelian landscapes, views of the canal.

Ships sail along the canal.

Wreaths with burning candles on the surface of the water.

View of part of the Vyg River, remains of a copper-silver mine on the opposite bank.

Entrance to the mine.

Views of the waterfall next to the mine.

Panorama of the rocky bank of the river.

View of one of the locks.

Views of the aluminum plant.

River landscapes.

Views of the White Sea-Baltic Canal (from above).