‘Factory of invalids’: Mortality, disability and early release on medical grounds in GULAG, 1930-1955

Thesis

This thesis forms the first detailed, scholarly account of the so-called ‘aktirovka’, or medical release practices in the GULAG in 1930-1955. It explores two interlinked lines of inquiry. The first concentrates on medical release as mendacity: an informal tool of the GULAG administration to reduce mortality rates. Terminally ill invalids, discharged early on medical grounds, died soon after release, but camp doctors deliberately excluded these fatalities from medical registries.

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Authors: Nakonechnyi, M

• Type of award: DPhil
• Level of award: Doctoral
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: GULAG; concentration camps; Stalinism; history of medicine; mortality statistics; history of disability and palliative care; history of statistics
• Subjects: history of medical statistics; the GULAG; prison studies; history of medicine