In a remarkable, recent paper, two researchers can show that in and around the camps where there were more “enemies of the people” – highly educated academics and artists – growth today is higher and creativity is flourishing. It is both a testament to the resilience of human beings and how creative people bring value and a grim reminder of the echoes of the Gulag that we can still hear in local economies.
And the Gulag was vast. Lest we forget, the authors show a map of the different camps:
Since many stayed in the areas to which they had been relocated, the research argues, we can see how those groups affected the local economies and cultures – how they boosted their development.
Read more here.