Dalstroy

Dalstroy (Russian: Дальстро́й, IPA: [dɐlʲˈstroj]), also known as Far North Construction Trust, was an organization set up in 1931 by the Soviet NKVD (the predecessor of the KGB) in order to manage road construction and the mining of gold in the Chukotka region of the Russian Far East, now known as Kolyma. Initially it was established as State Trust for Road and Industrial Construction in the Upper Kolyma Area. After the 1952 reorganization it was known as Main Directorate of Camps and Construction of the Far North.

Dalstroy oversaw the development and mining of the area using forced labor (slave labor). Over the years, Dalstroy created some 80 Gulag camps across the Kolyma region. As a result of a number of decisions, the total area covered by Dalstroy grew to three million square kilometers by 1951. The town of Magadan was the base for these activities.

The Dalstroy region is often referred to as "Kolyma", as it centered largely on gold-mining in the upper reaches of the Kolyma River.

Dalstroy administered basically all aspects of the region: territorial administration, economic activities, and labor camps.

The administration of Dalstroy grew increasingly complex over the years, not only as a result of various geographical centers but also with the establishment of separate units to provide geological surveying, motorized transport, management of secondary economies, road administration, steamship navigation on the River Koyma, and port and terminal management.

In his book Red Arctic, John McCannon explains how Dalstroy initially relied on Glavsevmorput or GUSMP (Russian acronym for Main Administration of the Northern Sea Route, a Soviet agency for exploiting resources across the far north) for coordination of supplies and transport. Glavsevmorput managed railway traffic to Vladivostok and shipping from there to Magadan. Over the years, however, as Dalstroy grew more powerful, its director Eduard Berzin obtained ships of his own so as to have more freedom of action. By 1938 Glavsevmorput had lost much of its political support, leaving Dalstroy firmly in control.

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