Butugichag
Encyclopedia
Gulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
. The camp existed during 1945-1955 in the Kolyma region of North-Eastern Russia (later Magadan Oblast
Magadan Oblast
Magadan Oblast is a federal subject of Russia in the Far Eastern Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Magadan....
). The camp is mostly known for its deadly uranium mines It is mentioned by some Russian historians such as Jores
Zhores Medvedev
Zhores Aleksandrovich Medvedev is a Russian biologist, historian and dissident. His twin brother is the historian Roy Medvedev.-Biography:Zhores Medvedev and his twin brother Roy Medvedev were born on 14 November 1925 in Tbilisi, Georgia, USSR....
and Roy Medvedev
Roy Medvedev
Roy Aleksandrovich Medvedev |Georgia]]) is a Russian historian renowned as the author of the dissident history of Stalinism, Let History Judge , first published in English in 1972...
s. It is one of a small number of camps where prisoners mined uranium, the truth of which has only recently been recovered.
Legend
In local folklore the area is known as the Death Valley. This name was given to the area by the nomadic tribes that domesticated and raised deer in the area. As they traveled along the Detrin River they stumbled upon a huge field filled with human skulls and bones. Soon after their deer became ill with a mysterious disease; the first symptom was loss of fur on their legs, followed by lack of energy and refusal to walk. Mechanically, this name was passed on to Beria's camps of the 14th department of GULAGGulag
The Gulag was the government agency that administered the main Soviet forced labor camp systems. While the camps housed a wide range of convicts, from petty criminals to political prisoners, large numbers were convicted by simplified procedures, such as NKVD troikas and other instruments of...
.
Location
The settlement has only recently come to light, and is not even listed among the abandoned camps as though it never existed. The remains of the camp can still be found about 35 miles north of Ust-OmchugUst-Omchug
Ust-Omchug is an urban locality and the administrative center of Tenkinsky District of Magadan Oblast, Russia, located at the mark of the highway to the northwest of Magadan...
near the Tenkin highway. There are two abandoned settlements in the area located near each other (6 miles): Butugichag was the camp itself where prisoners were kept, and Lower Butugichag, which housed the servicemen of the local electric substation. In 1955 when the camp was shut down, Lower Butugichag was abandoned and its population was moved to Ust-Omchug.
Located nearby (5 miles) is an abandoned chicken farm, which was left uncompleted and under construction due to the high concentration of radiation.
All the roads to the area have deteriorated, making it difficult to find the settlement and, thus, to reach it. The only practical way to get to the area is by a cross-country vehicle or by air transportation.
Activity
The camp's main activity was the mining of various types of ore, including tin, gold, and uranium. The camp also contained a top secret research-medical facility where a series of experiments were conducted on camp inmates. Witnesses of the camp state that the camp took the life of some 380,000 people in the 10 years of its existence. Most notable about the camp is the fact that uranium mining was conducted here manually without any protective gear whatsoever. The average miner's life span lasted only months here. To this day the radiation in the area is above normal. The administration of the Tenkin Raion installed warning signs around the area as a precaution for the trespassers.In literature
(original) В. Филину Мне помнится Рудник Бутугычаг И горе У товарищей в очах. Скупая радость, Щедрая беда И голубая Звонкая руда. Я помню тех, Кто навсегда зачах В долине, Где рудник Бутугычаг. И вот узнал я Нынче из газет, Что там давно Ни зон, ни вышек нет. Что по хребту До самой высоты Растут большие Белые цветы... О, самородки Незабытых дней В пустых отвалах Памяти моей! Я вас ищу, Я вновь спешу туда, Где голубая Пыльная руда. Привет тебе, Заброшенный рудник, Что к серой сопке В тишине приник! Я помню твой Густой неровный гул. Ты жизнь мою тогда Перевернул. Привет тебе, Судьбы моей рычаг, Урановый рудник Бутугычаг! Анатолий Жигулин 1964 |
(translation) to V. Filin It is remembering by me the mine of Butugichag and the grief in eyes of my comrades. The scanty joy, the generous distress, and the bluish hue of its ringing ore. I remember those, who had forever withered in that valley, where the pit of Butugichag. And then I found out Today from out of newspapers, That there are no camps, nor towers any longer. That on the ridge and to its tophill there grow big incredible white flowers... Oh, the nuggets of unforgotten days In empty tailings Tailings Tailings, also called mine dumps, slimes, tails, leach residue, or slickens, are the materials left over after the process of separating the valuable fraction from the uneconomic fraction of an ore... of my memory you remain! I'm seeking all of you, again I hurry back, where that bluish dusty ore. To you my greetings, the abandoned pit, That leaned against the sopka Sopka * Šopka, a Macedonian oro from the region of Kratovo.* Sopka, a hill or volcano in Siberia and Russian Far East.... and in total silence is set! I still remember Your dense uneven rumble. You, life of mine back then, Set upside down. Hello again, The lever of my fate, The pit of uranium mining Uranium mining Uranium mining is the process of extraction of uranium ore from the ground. The worldwide production of uranium in 2009 amounted to 50,572 tonnes, of which 27% was mined in Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan, Canada, and Australia are the top three producers and together account for 63% of world uranium... Butugychag! Anatoliy Zhygulin 1964 |