The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Ex... A source page for quotes linked to Varlam Shalamov. 0 quotes
“If bones could freeze, then the brain could also be dulled and the soul could freeze over. And the soul shuddered and froze- perhaps to remain frozen forever.” HumanitySiberiaGulag Book:Kolyma Tales Source: Kolyma Tales
“I'm dressed appropriate for the season mama, I'm dressed appropriately for the season.” SadHistoricalKolyma Tales Book:Kolyma Tales Source: Kolyma Tales
“For many months there day and night, at the morning and the evening checks, innumerable execution orders were read out. In a temperature of fifty below zero [Fahrenheit] the musicians from among the non-political offenders played a flourish before and after each order was read. The smoking gasoline torches ripped apart the darkness…. The thin sheet on which the order was written was covered with hoarfrost, and some chief or other who was reading the order would brush the snowflakes from it with his sleeve so as to decipher and shout out the name of the next man on the list of those shot.” Soviet RussiaGulag19731938Kolyma Book:The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, Books III-IV Source: The Gulag Archipelago, 1918-1956: An Experiment in Literary Investigation, Books III-IV
“Only one group of people kept their humanity in the camps, the believers, whether Orthodox or sectarians.” Faith StrengthLabor Camp Book:Kolyma Stories Source: Kolyma Stories
“The agnosticism I had upheld throughout my conscious life had not made me a Christian. But in the camps I had not seen better people than the believers. Depravity affected everyone's souls; only the believers held out.” ChristianityFaith StrengthLabor Camp Book:Kolyma Stories Source: Kolyma Stories
“There is a much that a man should not see, should not know, and if he should see it, it is better for him to die.” IfsKnowsMenShouldDies Author:Varlam Shalamov
“A human being survives by his ability to forget. Memory is always ready to blot out the bad and retain only the good.” HumansMemoriesHuman BeingsAbilityForgetReadyForget Me Author:Varlam Shalamov