The Oryol Prison has been a prison in

Oryol Oryol ( rus, Орёл, , ɐˈrʲɵl, a=ru-Орёл.ogg, links=y, ), also transliterated as Orel or Oriol, is a Classification of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, situated on the Oka Rive ...

since the 19th century. It was a notable place of incarceration for political prisoners and war prisoners of the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The building of prison, built in 1840, is one of the oldest buildings in the city of

. In 1941, the Oryol isolation prison contained some five thousand political prisoners. On 11 September 1941, just weeks before the occupation by German troops, by personal order of

Joseph Stalin Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...

, 157 political prisoners incarcerated here were executed just outside Oryol, in the

Medvedev Forest massacre The Medvedev Forest massacre () or Orel massacre (Орловский расстрел) was a mass execution in the Soviet Union carried out by the Soviet secret police NKVD on 11 September 1941. Less than three months after the German invasion ...

. During the occupation by

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

(from 7 October 1941 to 5 August 1943), Oryol Prison became a slave labour

concentration camp A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploitati ...

. After the Second World War, the Soviet authorities used it as a concentration camp for prisoners of war, among them being

Dietrich von Saucken Friedrich Wilhelm Eduard Kasimir Dietrich von Saucken (16 May 1892 – 27 September 1980) was a German general during World War II who commanded the 2nd Army and the Army East Prussia. Turning down an offer to escape by air, he surrendered t ...

. Prisoners of war (from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

) were exterminated by starvation, shooting, exposure, and poisoning. A former prisoner, Latkovska-Wojtuskiewicz, described the scene at

Easter Easter, also called Pascha ( Aramaic: פַּסְחָא , ''paskha''; Greek: πάσχα, ''páskha'') or Resurrection Sunday, is a Christian festival and cultural holiday commemorating the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in t ...

in 1951 as "a veritable hell: the room was full of people, half-naked women languished and we, the new arrivals, wallowed on filthy straw, from which rose a stinking dust which choked one's breath. We were so hoarse we could neither breathe nor speak." At present, in the buildings of the former prison there is an investigatory isolation ward No. 1 () of the Penitentiary Service under the Ministry of Justice of the Russian Federation and a prison hospital for

tuberculosis Tuberculosis (TB), also known colloquially as the "white death", or historically as consumption, is a contagious disease usually caused by ''Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can al ...

patients.

Notable inmates

Aleksander Prystor Aleksander Błażej Prystor (; 2 January 1874 – 1941) was a Polish politician, activist, soldier and freemason, who served as 23rd Prime Minister of Poland from 1931 to 1933. He was a member of the Combat Organization of the Polish Socialist ...

, politician *

Felix Dzerzhinsky Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinsky (; ; – 20 July 1926), nicknamed Iron Felix (), was a Soviet revolutionary and politician of Polish origin. From 1917 until his death in 1926, he led the first two Soviet secret police organizations, the Cheka a ...

, revolutionary and politician *

Olga Kameneva Olga Davidovna Kameneva (, ; – 11 September 1941) (née Bronstein — Бронште́йн) was a Russian Bolshevik revolutionary and a Soviet politician. She was the sister of Leon Trotsky and the wife of Lev Kamenev. Childhood and revolutio ...

, revolutionary and politician * Michael Kitzelmann, lieutenant *

Grigory Kotovsky Grigory Ivanovich Kotovsky (, ; – August 6, 1925) was a Soviet military officer and political activist, and participant in the Russian Civil War. He made a career from being a gangster and bank robber to eventually becoming a Red Army command ...

, military officer * Jan Kwapiński, activist and politician * Anatoly Nagiyev, serial killer, mass murderer and rapist * Dmitry Pletnyov, doctor, medical scientist, publicist *

Christian Rakovsky Christian Georgiyevich Rakovsky ( – September 11, 1941), Bulgarian name Krastyo Georgiev Rakovski, born Krastyo Georgiev Stanchov, was a Bulgarian-born socialist Professional revolutionaries, revolutionary, a Bolshevik politician and Soviet Un ...

, revolutionary, politician, diplomat and statesman *

Maria Spiridonova Maria Alexandrovna Spiridonova (; 16 October 1884 – 11 September 1941) was a Narodnik-inspired Russian revolutionary. In 1906, as a novice member of a local combat group of the Tambov Socialists-Revolutionaries (SRs), she assassinated a securi ...

, revolutionary *

, Nazi general *

Varvara Yakovleva Varvara Alexeyevna Yakovleva (; c. 1880 – July 18, 1918), called Nun Barbara (), was a Russian Orthodox nun in the convent of Grand Duchess Elizabeth Fyodorovna. She was killed by the Bolsheviks along with the grand duchess and Prince Ioann ...

, revolutionary and politician *

Aron Baron Aron Davydovych Baron (; 1891–1937) was a Ukrainian Jewish anarchist revolutionary. Following the suppression of the 1905 Russian Revolution, 1905 Revolution, he fled to the United States, where he met his wife Fanya Baron and participated in ...

, revolutionary * Dennis Christensen 2017–present

References

Bibliography

{{Commons cat, Oryol Prison * Гернет М. Н., История царской тюрьмы, 3 изд., т. 15, М., 1960-63 г. * Дворянов В. Н., В сибирской дальней стороне (Очерки истории царской каторги и ссылки, 60-е годы XVIII в. — 1917 г.), Минск, 1971 г. * Максимов С. В., Сибирь и каторга, 2 изд., ч. 1-3, СПБ, 1891 г. Prisons in the Soviet Union Camps of the Gulag Nazi concentration camps History of Oryol Prisons in Russia Tourist attractions in Oryol Oblast Government buildings completed in 1840 Buildings and structures in Oryol Oblast Objects of cultural heritage of Russia of regional significance Cultural heritage monuments in Oryol Oblast