Merekov sketch of prisoners trudging single file through the cold under guard. "V zaboi pod konvoem" Made in Kolyma camps, ca. 1937-1946.

Black and white photograph of small group of prisoners escorted by female guards. Caption reads "Convoy of Prisoners to Work"

Sketch by an unknown artist depicting a column of prisoners marching through winter conditions to their work sites. Armed guards with attack dogs watch over the prisoners.

Drawing by Beniamin Shavarshovich Mkrtchan depicting a prisoner leaving a camp with his belongings.

Black and white photograph of a variety of recently unearthed human skulls and bones.

Color sketch from Evfrosiniia Kersnovskaia self-illustrated memoir of a dead body tossed onto a horse-drawn wagon already full of corpses. In the accompanying text, Kersnovskaia recalls that before the war prisoners were usually buried in wooden coffins. However, during the war the number of casualties increased significantly. [These were the deadliest years in Gulag labor camps. ed.] Thus, another method was used which became known as the "Katafalk." She notes that when the inventor of the new method died, he was also buried in the "Katafalk." Unclothed corpses were collected and placed on a wooden vehicle. In 1947, the traditional burial methods reappeared.

Mkrtchan sketch of prisoners forced to extend their work day to dig a grave under the watchful eye of a guard.

Alla Andreeva's color sketch depicts a number of crosses in a cemetery against a backdrop of mountains.

Sveshnikov sketch of "goners" digging through the trash heap for scraps. Some prisoners became so overwhelmed by continual hunger that they were driven to eating anything they could find, including trash. They were known as "goners" in camp slang, as they had only a slim chance of surviving the camps.

Color sketch from Evfrosiniia Kersnovskaia's self-illustrated memoir of goners waiting for camp cooks to dump out food trash. In the accompanying text, Kersnovskaia descibes an episode when "dokhodiagi" (or "goners" in camp slang) were waiting for leftovers from the camp's hospital. They ran to the trash bin and took bits of food including fish scales causing one former professor to regurgitate his meal.