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Sharashka
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| Sharashkas (singular: Russian: øàðà́øêà, [ʂɐˈraʂkə];
sometimes sharaga, sharazhka)
were secret research
and development laboratories
operating from 1920s to the 1950s within the Soviet Gulag labor
camp system,
as well as in other facilities under the supervision of the Soviet
secret service.[1] Formally
various secret R&D facilities were called "special design bureau" Russian: îñîáîå êîíñòðóêòîðñêîå áþðî, ÎÊÁ and
similar terms. Etymologically, the word sharashka derives
from a Russian slang expression sharashkina
kontora,
("Sharashka's office"), an ironic, derogatory term to denote a
poorly-organized, impromptu, or bluffing organization, which in its
turn comes from the criminal argot term sharaga (øàðàãà)
for a band of thieves, hoodlums, etc.) |
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The
scientists and engineers at a sharashka were
prisoners picked by the Soviet government from various camps and
prisons and assigned to work on scientific and technological problems.
Living conditions were usually much better than in an average taiga camp,
mostly because of the absence of hard labor.
Some
of the scientists and engineers imprisoned in sharashkas were
released during and after World
War II (1939–1945) to continue independent
careers; some became world-renowned.
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| On
May 15, 1930, the Supreme
Soviet of the National Economy and OGPU issued
a secret circulaire "Îá
èñïîëüçîâàíèè íà ïðîèçâîäñòâå ñïåöèàëèñòîâ, îñóæäåííûõ çà
âðåäèòåëüñòâî" ("On the use in production of specialists convicted of wrecking").
It ordered the use of "engineers-wreckers" to "eliminate the
consequences of wrecking" and to provide them with the necessary
literature, materials and devices for this.
It also said that "the use of the wreckers
must be organized in such a way that their work was carried out on the
premises of the organs of OGPU." |
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