Forced labor camp artifacts from Soviet era on display at NWTC
Exhibit open to the public – now through May 30

NWTC Student Life is currently hosting a traveling exhibit of artifacts from the last surviving forced labor camp of the Soviet era (1917-1992).

Now through May 30, the exhibit, “Gulag – History of a Camp,” is being held in the Student Center on the NWTC Green Bay campus. Located in the open lounge area adjacent to the cafeteria, the display is open to students, staff and the general public - admission is free. Viewing hours are Monday through Thursday, 8 a.m.-7 p.m.; Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.

The exhibit features photos, documents, and artifacts - such as an original prison shirt –that detail the history of the Gulag camp built under Joseph Stalin in 1946 near the city of Perm, Russia. A ten-minute documentary film is also included in the display.

“This is a powerful example of the forced labor camps of the former Soviet Union and the totalitarianism and political repression these caused,” said Megan Popkey, NWTC Student Life coordinator.

Known as Perm-36, the camp served initially as a regular timber production labor camp. Later the camp became a particularly isolated and severe facility for high government officials. In 1972, Perm-36 became the primary facility in the country for persons charged with political crimes. Many of the Soviet Union’s prominent dissidents, including Vladimir Bukovsky, Sergei Kovalev and Anatoly Marchenko, served their sentences there. Perm-36 was the last of over 12,000 camps in the country’s forced labor camp system to be closed down in 1987 under President of Mikhail Gorbachev’s policies of Glasnost.

The exhibition is sponsored by NWTC Student Life in conjunction with the Midwest Institute for International-Intercultural Education and the Gulag Museum at Perm-36.

For more information about the exhibit, contact Megan Popkey,
NWTC Student Life coordinator, (920) 498-7186.

For News Information or Updates, Contact:
Casey Fryda, PR/Communications Specialist at 920-498-6288 or
Ann Malvitz, PR/Communications Specialist at 920-498-5593