What is a "Stolypin wagon". Prison on rails

For the first time wagons appeared in 1908 during the time of the well-known minister tsarist Russia Stolypin. These were ordinary freight wagons adapted to transport immigrants from European Russia to Siberia, which, after the initiator of the mass migration Stolypin, began to be called "Stolypin". From the ends of such a car there were auxiliary compartments, where agricultural equipment was placed and livestock was transported. When the resettlement company began to decline, the "Stolypin wagons" began to be used to transport convicts.

So they are still called in the prison environment, although now it is just a modification of a standard passenger car. In appearance, it is almost indistinguishable from that - only on one side there are smaller windows - there are none in the compartment for prisoners, but on the windows of the other side, which is from the side of the aisle, there are bars on the windows. Such a wagon is divided into two halves - for convicts and for the convoy.

You can see the difference and, the next time you are at the station, wave your pen to the traveling convicts and remember the old adage about the bag and the prison. Although usually the windows at the stations are closed even in the heat and, accordingly, it will not work to see what is inside, since they are opaque.

The more official name of such a wagon is a wagon-zak, as well as a car for transporting arrested people -. Most likely, "zak" is an abbreviation for something like "closed type", but the prisoners pronounce it in their own way - like "avtozek" and "vagonzek". Very aptly, as, however, it usually happens on a hair dryer.

So - about the internal structure of "". Imagine an ordinary compartment car, a standard compartment, but with only three shelves, the finish of which is clearly simpler and the benches are wooden, which has no window, and the wall with the door is a lattice with a small cell. Of the modifications, there is also a foldable second shelf, which allows turning the second tier into a continuous bed. The second shelf is the most comfortable, so travelers with experience tend to occupy it first of all - here you can lie and sit, while below, with a crowded compartment, you can only sit. And it's hard to sit all day. On the third shelves fits only one person lying down. People come here to sleep purely in order to exchange living space.

It is difficult to guess the route of the train. Prisoners are guided by the station speakers, which announce the boarding of a particular train. For example, it sounded "The Moscow-Pavlodar train departs from the second (first, tenth) track," and the train started moving a few minutes later - there is a possibility that the convicts are really going to Kazakhstan. According to the station mouthpieces, an experienced convict will determine the station (Kazansky, Yaroslavsky, Kursky, etc.), and hence the direction of the train - east, northeast, or others.

The Stolypins do not always follow the shortest path, but in a way that is economically advantageous, which does not always coincide. Up to the point where
for example, in order to get from prison to a zone located 140 km away, one has to make a detour of 700 kilometers, having a rest in two prisons of neighboring regional centers, spending two weeks on this due to the fact that there is no money for gasoline for the auto prisoner.

Landing in the wagon takes place at the same brisk pace as in a special car. A paddy wagon drives up close to the car doors - door to door, the doors open, a guard line up in a meter gap and the procedure begins.

The stream of prisoners pours in portions into the corridor of the car, where boarding takes place in the fourth compartment, then in the third, and so on until the first. The second end of the corridor is blocked not only by a closed door, but also by an escort. Loading of convicts takes place on a remote platform, away from prying eyes. Outwardly, such cars resemble luggage or postal ones.

It is much harder to escape from the "Stolypin" car than from a paddy wagon or penitentiary real estate - a prison or a colony. The escape attempt is influenced by many factors that are typical only for the wagon. Firstly, all the compartments are visible from the corridor, and the guard watches the convict without even opening the door. Secondly, jumping at speed is very risky, and getting off or sliding down while stationary is stupid. At each stop, two soldiers get out of the car and carefully examine the walls and bottom of the car (at least they are obliged to do this). And further. On the road, no matter how long it may be, the prisoner leaves the compartment only for the mandrel. But even these few minutes, while he is pouting in the toilet, he is guarded by three people. Alexander Solzhenitsyn compared the mandrel in a wagon wagon with a responsible and even combat operation for the guard.

Stolypin took a number of measures that encouraged the resettlement of peasants from the European part of the country to the uninhabited regions of Siberia and the Far East. The mass resettlement planned by the government was part of Stolypin's agrarian reform. About three million peasants left their homes and went east to get land for use.

In 1908, the most ordinary freight cars were adapted for the transportation of numerous migrants en route to Siberia and the Far East. Since the initiator of the mass resettlement was P.A. Stolypin, these improved cars began to be called "Stolypin". Mass production carriages of the "Stolypin" type fell on 1910.

Such a wagon, of course, did not provide the possibility of a comfortable journey, but it could accommodate immigrants with their simple property. In the back of the freight cars, special compartments were equipped where livestock and agricultural implements could be transported. There were few amenities, but the peasants, who were accustomed to living in harsh conditions, did not consider moving in the “Stolypin carriage” something terrible. Moreover, the passage to the new place of residence was free.

When the wave of migrants began to fade away, the "Stolypin wagons" began to be widely used to transport prisoners - those on remand and prisoners.

Further history of the "Stolypin carriage"

After the establishment of the power of the Soviets, the name " Stolypin carriage" has become a household word. Repressed persons were transported en masse in wagons of a similar design. The features of such wagons and all the “charms” of transporting prisoners in paints were described by Alexander Solzhenitsyn in one of his novels The Gulag Archipelago.

The "Stolypin wagon" in its later version resembled an ordinary wagon in size. Only inside it was divided into compartments-chambers by special partitions, one part of which was closed with bars.

The cells were located on one side of the car, the other part was occupied by a corridor where a convoy walked from time to time, watching the behavior of the prisoners.

Modern "carriages" - cars for transporting prisoners - outwardly almost do not differ from mail or baggage cars. The only difference is that the internal structure of the premises is adapted for specific purposes. The design of a vehicle designed to transport prisoners ensures minimal comfort for prisoners and the staff accompanying them, as well as reliable protection against escapes.

As the prisoners say, if you didn’t go in the Stolypin, you didn’t see life, but if you went, you have nothing to be afraid of in this life. By design, the car itself differs little from the usual one, the same compartments, only without windows and with barred doors with locks, there are windows only from the side of the corridor, in the car itself from the “amenities” there are only shelves, of course, without mattresses, one toilet for the whole car, which is very problematic to get into, so it is better to limit yourself to food and drink during the whole journey. Going to the stage, the convicts stock up on empty plastic bottles in order to relieve themselves right in the cell - you can’t interrogate them in the toilet at the convoy.

According to papers, no more than 7 prisoners should go in one “compartment”, but, as a rule, they stuff 12 people each, there is only one car, and there are a lot of prisoners for the stage, so they “understaff” the cells, despite the tightness and inconvenience, and they go several hundred people, they sleep in turns, they go to the toilet from time to time, they will not feed on the way, only boiling water, when they go to the stage they are given dry rations, plus what the inmates collect in the cell, they go on the road with this. It should be taken into account that the road takes much more time than a regular, “civilian” train, since the car is trailed, it is constantly put in sedimentation tanks so that it does not an eyesore to ordinary passengers during the day, it moves mainly at night, the car does not cling to branded and fast trains , can stand on the tracks and wait for a passing train for several days. And the path that in ordinary life is overcome in a day or two, in "Stolypin" can take up to two weeks or more.

In addition to all these inconveniences that accompany the convicts along the stage to the place of serving the sentence, there is one more “appendage” to the punishment - this is the unknown end point of the route throughout the entire stage. That is, the convict was told with things to go to the stage - and where they will be taken, to which colony - he will find out only upon arrival, all that remains is to navigate along the way, listening to radio announcements at train stations and stations, trying to build a route using the names of cities and towns and calculate in the direction of the approximate final address. The escorts throughout the entire route, when asked about the end point, are silent like partisans. Only in a rare case, as an exception, someone from the escort can say where the “Stolypin” is going, but it’s not a fact that the escort will tell the truth, he can simply dismiss it so that they don’t bother with questions.

Previously, the entire stage was accompanied by constant beatings of prisoners, the Vologda convoy, well-known throughout Russia, was especially fierce, but now video cameras are being installed in the Stolypins, and the convoy behaves more calmly, until you “beg”, they will not beat as before, just for warning so that life does not seem like honey.

One of the most interesting exhibits seemed to me a wagon for transporting prisoners. In my life staging by railway I watched more than once, but I never had to be in such a carriage. It's good that in the capital Western Siberia a free man has the opportunity to peep into the prison world with one eye.

1. Outside, such a car is somewhat similar to a baggage car. It also has few windows, and they are with bars.

3. One half of the car inside is not much different from a regular compartment.

4. A convoy was driving here.

5. Under the table - a safe for "personal files" and other documents.

6. Conductor equipment.

7. Ordinary wagon samovar.

8. The oven on which food was prepared for the convoy. The prisoners were given dry rations and boiling water.

9. The second half of the car is intended for prisoners. Here I decided to quote Butyrka-blog. The words of the blogger, who was in prison and traveled in such cars many times, I highlighted in italics.

Now convicts are being transported in Stolypin's wagons according to the regimes of detention - in different compartments. Since I was the only one in the car with the “colony-settlement” regime, I was traveling alone in the compartment. "Stolypin" is an ordinary compartment car, converted to transport prisoners. It has 9 compartments, separated from the corridor by a metal grill. The door to the compartment, also latticed, is closed with a brand new lock from the outside. The window opening in the compartment is tightly sealed with metal panels. So the light enters the compartment only from the corridor through small frosted windows.

Of the nine compartments, 6 are large - that is, ordinary, with three sleeping shelves along each wall, and one more shelf, laid out between the second level - it forms a ceiling for those sitting on the first level. And three more compartments - tees, that is, ordinary compartments truncated in half with three shelves. There is another compartment, which, unlike ours, is separated from the corridor not by bars, but by the same metal panels as the window in the compartment. Thus, darkness always reigns in this one compartment. This compartment is used exclusively for the transport of those sentenced to life imprisonment.

Two pieces of paper are pasted on the walls of the compartment: one is called "Forbidden", the second - "Obligations during escort". The last document, in my opinion, should be called "Rights and Duties", but no one explains the rights of the escorted - only duties. In this document, by the way, there is one interesting point: “Convicts and persons in custody are taken to the toilet one at a time. When moving along the corridor, keep your hands behind your back.

Conclusion to the toilet, of course, is carried out only while the train is moving, and the car is by no means a luxury class, so it shakes it decently. If you follow this rule unquestioningly, then it is not possible to bring all the escorted to the place they need healthy. Therefore, of course, everything depends on the convoy: as a rule, this norm is not required to be strictly enforced. Question: why is it needed then?

... I opened the dry ration given to me. In its content for a little over a year there have been significant changes for the better. Firstly, the porridge that they began to put in it can really be eaten. Secondly, cookies also became edible; in the previous rations, one could easily break teeth about it. Thirdly, they began to put normal tea.

What else could be put there is wet wipes. The fact is that in none of the Stolypins I rode - and I saw a lot of them - there was no water in the sink in the toilet. Accordingly, it is impossible to wash your hands. And sometimes you have to spend two or three days in the car. It turns out complete unsanitary conditions.

Here, either water should appear in the washbasin, or wet wipes in dry rations. Moreover, the second is preferable, since it is with a guarantee that everyone will get it. In the meantime, to everyone who is going or is going to go by stage, advice: take wet wipes with you.

Stolypin took a number of measures that encouraged the resettlement of peasants from the European part of the country to the uninhabited regions of Siberia and the Far East. The mass resettlement, conceived by the government, was part of the agrarian reform carried out by Stolypin. About three million peasants left their homes and went east to get land for use.

This, of course, did not provide the opportunity for a comfortable journey, but it could accommodate immigrants with their simple property. In the back of the freight cars, special compartments were equipped where livestock and equipment could be transported. There were few amenities, but the peasants, who were accustomed to living in harsh conditions, did not consider moving in the “Stolypin carriage” something terrible. Moreover, the passage to the new place of residence was free.

When the wave of migrants began to fade away, the "Stolypin wagons" began to be widely used to transport prisoners - those on remand and prisoners.

Further history of the "Stolypin carriage"

After the establishment of the power of the Soviets, the name "Stolypin carriage" became a household name. Repressed persons were transported en masse in wagons of a similar design. The features of such wagons and all the “charms” of transporting prisoners in paints were described by Alexander Solzhenitsyn in one of his novels The Gulag Archipelago.

The "Stolypin wagon" in its later version resembled an ordinary wagon in size. Only inside it was divided into compartments-chambers by special partitions, one part of which was closed with bars.

The cells were located on one side of the car, the other part was occupied by a corridor where a convoy walked from time to time, watching the behavior of the prisoners.

Modern "carriages" - cars for transporting prisoners - outwardly almost do not differ from mail or baggage cars. The only difference is that the internal structure of the premises is adapted for specific purposes. The device of a vehicle intended for the transport of prisoners provides a minimum