Though all that has been preserved in this camp is one prisoners’ barracks, it is very interesting from the research perspective. The barracks is composed of individual pre-fabricated building units, which differentiates it from all other barracks in camps along the Dead Road east of Yermakovo. Such a barracks could be disassembled and rebuilt elsewhere with ease. The building units in Ketpar are located in spots where further barracks were probably due to stand. However, the camp was likely abandoned prior to their planned construction.

The camp also features a well-preserved gatehouse and a tank for fire fighting. Alongside the actual camp there is a small area surrounded by barbed wire that probably contained a store. This small fence was likely also the camp’s first settlement – prisoners initially slept there in provisional fenced-off tents and dug-outs while the large camp itself was being built nearby.

Despite the poor state of the majority of buildings we succeeded, by exploring the ruins and conducting a comparison of the buildings in other camps, in putting together a model of the original form of the camp. For the purposes of the 3D model we used a reconstruction of this camp’s prisoners’ barracks and gatehouse.

Subordinate to: Ermakovo, Gulag Construction no. 503 (Dead Road)
Mapped: September 2013