Max

The total number of prisoners in the Soviet gulag system in the 25 years under Stalin (the era of highest imprisonment rates in Soviet history), is less than the number the USA incarcerates in 3 years. But that is not 100% accurate, and the real comparison is likely even more in favour of the USSR. Because this comparison is between the number which *passed through* Soviet prisons in 25 years (with a giant portion staying a very short time such as 6 months or 1 year) and the number of incarcerated inmates at the same time in US prisons in 1 year. Historian Anne Applebaum cites an estimate of approximately 18 million people passing through Soviet camps and colonies between 1929 and 1953. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics recorded 7.6 million local jail population in one year, 2023. In the appendix, “How Many?”, of her book Gulag: A History, she explains that the estimate is derived from Soviet administrative statistics made available after the opening of the archives, particularly NKVD records of annual prisoner populations and prisoner turnover. ___________ More to come, concerning conditions, policies, residivism rates; and a lot more to be said about the Soviet criminal justice system and its revolutionary philosophy which inspired the progressive prison policies in neighbouring Scandenavian countries. For now, just one more small figure from a declassified CIA internal Cold War document: "...a Soviet official's 1957 estimate of 800,000–900,000 prisoners, with 1–2% classified as political prisoners. The report also gives a much higher estimate for the Stalin period." So, the vast majority of Soviet gulag population were common criminals, murderers and rapists, etc., with very low percentage of political prisoners.