Gulag kilde: NKVD cirkulære af 27. januar 1925, om udviklingen af arbejde i arbejdslejrområder

Circular No. 47

To Krai, Gunerniia, and Oblast’ inspectorates of places of incarceration

On steps to Develop Work Programs at Places of Incarceration.

The Corrective Labor Code defines our basic mission as assigning inmates to productive employment for the purpose of imparting the benefits of corrective labor to them.
In order to develop inmate employment, inmates should be organized as self-supporting work units exempt form all national and local taxes and levies (see Article 48 and 77 of the Corrective Labor Code).

In light of this acknowledgement of the importance of corrective labor for inmates, the aforementioned tax exemptions for the development of employment at places of incarceration, and the possibility of obtaining loans for the purpose of developing inmate employment, work programs must organized without fail at all places of incarceration in the RSFSR to the extent permitted by local conditions, and in exceptional cases officials may organize work programs that do not require substantial investments of fixed of liquid capital and at the same time would be open to participation by most of the inmates.

According to our information, it is obvious that work programs for inmates have not been organized at a large number of places of incarceration, thus depriving the inmates of the benefits of corrective labor, i.e., the places of incarceration are failing to accomplish their primary mission as defined by the Corrective Labor Code.

Deeming this to be improper and unacceptable, the Main Administration of Places of Incarceration believes that the organization of work programs is directly dependent on the energy and diligence of the guberniia Inspectorates of places of incarceration and recommends that you take additional steps immediately to organize work programs at all places of incarceration entrusted to you without exception and describe the progress of your efforts in your quarterly reports,  to include the following information:

1. the names of the places of incarceration where work programs have been organized, the types of work programs organized, the number of inmates employed therein, the source and amount of funds for these programs; and
    
2. the names of the places of incarceration where work programs cannot be organized and the reasons why they cannot be organized.

In the process we should provide the following clarifications:

1. If any place of incarceration has any unencumbered and unused operating funds, these funds should be put to use be extending them as repayable loans to those places of incarceration where work programs could be instituted but have been held up solely because of a lack of funds;
    
2. Inspectors of Places of Incarceration are responsible for organizing work programs, and the progress of work program at places of incarceration shall constitute the yardstick for evaluating their performance and diligence.

Chief of the main administration of places of incarceration
(signed) Shirvindt

Head of the department of work programs and operations
(signed) Burlachenko