A foreigner seeking hope for a better life in the Soviet Union, she became a victim of political repression and in her new country she found the cruelty and sinhumanity of the Gulag. She survived the hell of the Soviet camps. But she couldn't have done it alone. In the inhospitable wilderness thousands of miles from home, she encountered surprising allies. The selfless help of strangers saved her life at a crucial moment and restored her will to live.
Published as part of educational program Gulag XR
NKVD photo from the prison file of Gertrud Platais (www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de)
Museum of the Algiers camp in Akmolinsk (Gulag.cz archive)
Exposition in the Algiers camp museum in Akmolinsk (Gulag.cz archive)
Lake Žalanaš, where female prisoners of Algiers collected reeds for heating (Gulag.cz archive)
Barrack of the women's washroom on the shore of Lake Žalanáš (Gulag.cz archive)
Gertrud Platais in exile in Karaganda (www.bundesstiftung-aufarbeitung.de)
Related articles
Related people
