Nazinsky: Stalin’s Cannibal Island

The video script begins by describing an unnamed island in the Ob River, Siberia, known as Cannibal Island due to the horrific events that transpired there. It was chosen as the site for a new type of Gulag in 1933, where political prisoners were sent to work the land. Instead, they faced extreme starvation, leading to cannibalism. The narrative then shifts to the story of Feofila, a young girl who encountered a prisoner from the island, whose legs had been cut off and cooked. The paragraph sets the stage for the exploration of Joseph Stalin's cruelest Gulag and the atrocities committed under his regime.

This paragraph details the Soviet Union's plan to punish so-called Kulaks by forcing them to work on collective farms in Siberia. Genrikh Yagoda's plan led to the rapid and chaotic deportation of people, including those without internal passports, to Siberia. The authorities in Tomsk were unprepared for the influx of prisoners, leading to the decision to send 5,000 exiles and 50 guards to an island near the village of Nazino. The harsh conditions, lack of tools, and brutal treatment by the guards resulted in a high death toll and the beginning of a grim struggle for survival.

The prisoners on Cannibal Island quickly deteriorated into a state of desperation and inhumanity. With insufficient food and rampant dysentery, the guards' decision to distribute flour through self-organized brigades led to the rise of criminal leaders and further suffering. As the situation worsened, prisoners rioted, leading to a temporary resumption of flour rations. However, the brutal treatment by the guards, who shot prisoners for sport and traded food for sexual favors, turned the island into a site of active sadism and suffering. Cannibalism emerged as a desperate act for survival, with the camp doctor reporting on the horrifying discovery of settlers resorting to eating their peers.

The text recounts the gruesome reality of Cannibal Island, where prisoners turned to cannibalism out of sheer necessity. The narrative includes a first-hand account of a prisoner describing the process of preparing human flesh for consumption. The island became a place not just for survival cannibalism but also for sadistic pleasure derived from torturing others. The situation was so dire that even the Soviet authorities could no longer ignore it. In mid-June, the settlement was dissolved, and the survivors were evacuated. The aftermath included an investigation by Vasily Velichko, a Communist instructor, who compiled a report that led to a moratorium on the resettlement program and the imprisonment of the guards involved. However, the full extent of the horrors was not revealed until the collapse of the Soviet Union.

The final paragraph emphasizes the importance of remembering Cannibal Island as a stark reminder of the capacity for human cruelty. It is described as a monument to human inhumanity that should not be forgotten. The text also places the events on Cannibal Island within the broader context of Stalin's reign of terror, which included the famine in Ukraine and Kazakhstan, the Great Purge, and the expansion of the Gulag system. The paragraph serves as a call to acknowledge and learn from this dark chapter in history, which is still not fully addressed.