Russian museum discovers secret order to destroy Gulag data
(The Guardian Russia)

Papers reveal that ministers ordered erasure of prisoner files in 2014, say archivists A museum studying Soviet prison camps has discovered a secret Russian order in 2014 instructing officials to destroy data on prisoners - a move it said `could have catastrophic consequences for studying the history of the camps`. Up to 17 million people were sent to the Gulag, the notorious Soviet prison camp system, in the 1930s and 1940s At least 5 million of them were convicted on false testimony. The prison population in the labour camps peaked at two million people. Related: Gulag grave hunter unearths uncomfortable truths in Russia Related: Russia`s Gulag camps cast in forgiving light of Putin nationalism Continue reading...