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Cult of the 'Urka': Criminal Subculture in the Gulag, 1924-1953

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Cult of the 'Urka': Criminal Subculture in the Gulag, 1924-1953 Cult of the ‘Urka’: Criminal Subculture in the Gulag, 1924-1953 Mark Vincent A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy University of East Anglia School of History September 2015 © ‘‘This copy of the thesis has been supplied on condition that anyone who consults it is understood to recognise that its copyright rests with the author and that use of any formation derived there from must be in accordance with current UK copyright law. In addition, any quotation or extract must include full attribution.’’ Abstract Although a large body of work has been amassed on the Gulag a number of voices remain excluded. Criminal subculture had a profound influence on daily life in the camps yet academic study has lagged behind other groups, such as political prisoners. Without gaining a better understanding of the inner workings of the world of the criminals, our knowledge and understanding of Gulag society remains incomplete. This thesis contributes primarily to answering two broad questions within the current scholarship on the Gulag: (1) How were approaches and perceptions of criminality shaped during the period in question? And (2) What can we learn from the reconstruction of criminal subculture from the large literary corpus regarding life in the camps? These issues are not easily separated, with the second often self-consciously playing into the first. The first question is explored in the first section of the thesis, which examines a number of well-known images of criminal subculture across the revolutionary divide of 1917 and discussions of criminality found in the early prison press (1918-1930). The second section will reconstruct criminal life in the camps from the mid- 1930s onwards, and address a number of principle questions such as: How did groups of criminal prisoners adapt to the process of ‘prisonization’ (adaption in the penal environment)? What methods of communication were used to transmit criminal norms? How important were methods of enactment, such as card playing, in the construction of penal hierarchies? What form did punishment rituals amongst criminals prisoners take? And, finally: How was conflict between criminal prisoners resolved and what effect did this have on Gulag society as a whole? The thesis will look to test two principal arguments. Firstly, the resilience of criminal subculture, not only across the revolutionary divide of 1917 but throughout the entirety of the Stalinist Gulag. The creation of illicit hierarchies and development a number of ‘informal’ practices undermined attempts by Gulag authorities to fully control their inmate population, suggesting that the camps were as much a product of neo-traditionalism as an emblem of modernity. Secondly, the rendering of criminal subculture through various ‘cult products’ such as tattoo drawings, song collections, books, plays and films has resulted in a conflation of folklore and historical fact. Using a strong interdisciplinary approach with influences from social and cultural anthropology, ethnography, literature studies, criminology and penology, the reconstruction of these practices will demonstrate that perceptions of criminal subculture have often prevented a comprehensive study of its effect on daily life for all prisoners. 2 Acknowledgements No words on this page can fully express the gratitude which I owe the following people: Firstly, my supervisor, Matthias Neumann, for his consistent support, patience and dedication to this project. His guidance has been indispensable and I am extremely proud to be the first of many PhD students under his tutelage. Fellow Gulag historians: Steven Barnes, Alan Barenburg, Wilson Bell, Jeff Hardy, Miriam Dobson, Julie Draskoczy, Asif Siddiqi, and, in particular, Daniel Healey. I am incredibly grateful to them for not only providing me with invaluable contacts, feedback and sources, but also for their kindness in dedicating considerable time to my personal development. It is impossible to express how important their insights have been solely through the citations in this thesis. A number of academics have helped me in various ways, from agreeing to present on panels, to meeting for coffee at the British Library in order to discuss various aspects of this thesis. I have regularly been humbled by the enthusiasm and support which they have granted me. Thanks especially to Sarah Badcock, Sarah Young, Svetlana Stephenson, Elena Katz, Gavin Slade, Felicitas Fischer von Weikerstahl and Andrea Gullotta. Several other friends and colleagues have regularly shown an interest in this project and provided thoughtful comments and suggestions over the last four years. The support of Jon Waterlow and George Gilbert, in particular, has been extremely valuable. A number of other historians have taken the time to discuss various aspects of my research, as well as providing stimulating conversation about the wider field of Russian history. I am grateful for the insights of Alistair Dickins, Andy Willimott, James Ryan, Elizabeth White, Jeremy Hicks, Joan Neuberger, Frank Wolff and Gleb Albert. Special thanks also go to Jon Sicotte and Tom Rowley for their friendship and support during my research trips to Moscow. Thank you to my friends and colleagues at the University of East Anglia, in particular: Samuel Foster, Chris Jones, Kate Ferguson, Olena Palko, Graham Harris, Charlie Beacroft, Jamie Freeman, Jennifer Davey, Richard Deswarte, Peter Waldron, Jan Vermerien and Richard Mills. In particular, my Russian teacher, Veronika Bowker, is deserving of special thanks. She has dedicated not only a considerable amount of time and patience to the development of my language skills but has also demonstrated a remarkable knowledge and understanding of blatnye pesni. Thank you to my friends Richard Etteridge and Matt Clarke for being understanding of my long absences and providing me with heavy metal-related distractions. I am grateful to Anne, Trevor, Clara, Katy, Andrew, Emma, and Neil, for welcoming me into their family with love and kindness. Thank you to my sister Vicki, her husband, Adam, and, in particular, my nephew, Tommy, who has provided me with endless fun and laughter. My parents, Barry and Julie, have demonstrated their love and support in endless ways. I will never be able to thank them enough. This thesis is dedicated to Lucy and Henry, who have taught me more than I could have ever imagined about love, happiness and family. Without them none of this would have been possible and I can’t wait to begin the next chapter of our lives together. 3 Contents Abstract 2 Acknowledgements 3 Contents 4 Glossary 6 Note on Translation and Transliteration 8 Introduction 9 A (brief) historiography of the Gulag 15 Sources and Methods 23 Gulag and Memory 28 ‘Cult of the Urka’: Criminal Subculture in the Gulag, 1924-1953 34 Chapter 1- From Van’ka to Vospitatel’: Approaches and Perceptions of Criminality in Late Imperial and Early Soviet Russia 36 Van’ka Kain 37 Son’ka Zolotoya Ruchka 42 Pedagogicheskaia Poema 51 Aristokraty 57 Chapter 2 - Criminality in the Tyuremnaya Pressa 73 Tyuremnyye Byt’ (Prison Life) 74 Prezhde i Teper’ (Then and Now) 78 Solovetskoe ‘Dno’ (Solovetsky ‘Lower Depths’) 87 ‘Frayera’ i ‘Svoi’ (‘Outsiders’ and ‘One’s Own People’) 92 4 Chapter 3 - Etap, Socialisation and the Prisoner Code 101 Etap 103 Arrival 108 Initiation 114 Socialisation 119 The Prisoner Code (Thieves’ Law) 123 Chapter 4 - Visual and Verbal Communication 128 Visual Communication 130 Verbal Communication 145 Chapter 5 - Card Playing and the Structuring of Penal Hierarchies 158 Kartzhnaya Igra (‘The Card Game’) 160 Kartezhnye igry ugolovnikov (‘Card Games of the Criminals’) 165 Card Playing and the Gulag’s Sexual Order 176 Interpersonal Relations: Urki and Camp Staff 183 Chapter 6 - Punishment and Conflict in Gulag Society 189 Ritual 192 Punishment 196 Conflict 201 Conclusion 216 Reflections 220 Bibliography 229 5 Glossary Asmodey - Prisoner merchants (C19th) Ataman - Leader of criminal gang (C18th) Besprizornyie - Orphaned or otherwise homeless or abandoned children Blatnyie - Criminal Dukhovoi - ‘Brass’, important thief Yesaul - Lieutenant in criminal gang (C18th) Farmazonshiki - Forgers/Counterfeiters Frayera - ‘Outsider’ Khipesnitsi - Criminals who had perfected the art of seduction Klichka - Nickname Koty - Category of informant found within lygash Kruchiie - ‘Twisters’, prisoners noted for their cunning and treachery (C19th) Legavyi - Figure of institutional ‘authority’/informer Lyagash - ‘Informants’ Malina - Gambling den or brothel, used by criminals to hide their loot Moshennnik - Swindler Muzhiki - Peasants/workers arrested for ‘everyday’ crimes (byt’) Nalyoty - Bank-robbers Opushchennyie - ‘Untouchables’, low ranked prisoner caste Pakhan - Leader of criminal gang Podduvala - Performs menial tasks for other prisoners (C19th) Schuler - Hustler/Gambler Shestyorki - Deputy in criminal gang Shtreybrekhera - ‘Scab’, strike breaker Shirmanshik - Pickpockets 6 Shishki - Informants Shobla yobla - ‘Rabble’, mass of criminal prisoners Shpana - Native inhabitant of prison/streetwise, experienced gang member Shtos/s - Popular card game Such’ya Voina - ‘Bitches’ War’, internal prisoner conflict (1948-52) Sukharnik - ‘Husk’, performs work duties for other prisoners (C19th) Suki - ‘Bitches’ Svodniki - Pimps Vor-v-Zakone - Thief-in-law Vor - Thief Vshi - ‘Lice’, low-level criminal prisoners Yama - Late nineteenth/early twentieth century urban slum Zhigan - Low positon in hierarchy (C19th)/prisoner authority (C 20th)
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