Campi di Lavoro Forzato nella Russia Sovietica. Carta documentata, preparata per conto del Comitato Sindacati Liberi delle Nazioni Unite. [Forced Labor Camps in Soviet Russia. Documented map, prepared on behalf of the United Nations Committee on Free Trade Unions.]
- Title:
- Campi di Lavoro Forzato nella Russia Sovietica. Carta documentata, preparata per conto del Comitato Sindacati Liberi delle Nazioni Unite. [Forced Labor Camps in Soviet Russia. Documented map, prepared on behalf of the United Nations Committee on Free Trade Unions.]
- Alternate Title:
- Forced Labor Camps in Soviet Russia
- Collection:
- Persuasive Maps: PJ Mode Collection
- Creator:
- American Federation of Labor
- Other Creators:
- Arti Grafiche Panetto & Petrelli, publishers
- Date:
- 1952
- Date 2:
- 2024-04-25
- ID Number:
- 2359.01
- File Name:
- PJM_2359_01.jpg
- Style/Period:
- 1940 - 1959
- Subject:
- Communism & Cold War
Pictorial
Politics & Government - Measurement:
- 30 x 53 on sheet 50 x 70 (centimeters, height x width)
- Notes:
- Maps of the Soviet forced labor camps, the “Gulag,” are dramatic and well-known Western propaganda images of the Cold War, among “the most widely-circulated pieces of anti-Communist literature.” Barney 2015, 120; see generally ibid. 117-133. The collection includes a number of these, from 1945 to 1982; see Subjects > Communism & Cold War.
This map, in Italian, is an example of the broad international reach of the Gulag map. It is based on two earlier versions. One (ID #1337) was published in 1947 by the anti-Communist publication “Plain Talk.” The other (ID #1345) was produced in 1951 by the American Federation of Labor’s “Free Trade Union Committee” - an entity covertly funded by the CIA and headed by a CIA operative. Barney 2015, 124. It includes a number of images asserted to provide supporting evidence. There is a picture of three “Gulag children” (one wearing a crucifix), along with text giving their names and ages (2, 12 and 14). There are also photos of ten prisoner identity cards with seemingly-official camp administrative notations and stamps. The text emphasizes the point that “This documented evidence was presented at the United Nations.” And the map repeats the reward originally offered by Plain Talks in 1947: “A thousand dollar prize will be paid to anyone who can prove the falsity of this document.”
“The domestic response” to the Gulag maps “wildly exceeded expectations,” including “requests for reprints from a wide diversity of institutions - particularly labor unions, high schools, universities, and churches, but also government and military institutions.” Barney 2015, 130. As this map demonstrates, the impact of the map was not only domestic. The map was used to embarrass Soviet Deputy Foreign Minister Gromyko publicly at a conference in San Francisco, and thousands of copies were distributed in Latin America (in Spanish) and in Europe (in German, French and other languages). Ibid 117, 129-30. The Gulag map “would later be used as a training case in psychological warfare for army personnel.” Ibid. 120.
The collection includes three anti-communist Italian political poster maps, ID #2277, "Prima Di Dare Il Voto, Ricorda Berlino!" (1968); ID #2359, "Campi di Lavoro Forzato nella Russia Sovietica" (1952), and ID #2426, "Giornale di Praga" (1948).
For further information on the Collector’s Notes and a Feedback/Contact Link, see https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/about-collection-personal-statement and https://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/content/feedback-and-contact - Source:
- Schiavismo Rosso. Il lavoro forzato in Russia documentato dall’O.N.U. dalla Federazione Americana del Lavoro [Red Slavery. Forced labor in Russia documented for the UN by the American Federation of Labor]. Firenze: Salani, 1952.
- Format:
- Image
- Rights:
- For important information about copyright and use, see http://persuasivemaps.library.cornell.edu/copyright.