Industrial building in the system of gulag in the European North of Russia in the 1930 - early 1940's: scope, trends and challenges

The article discusses the activities of the GULAG in the field of industrial building in the European North of the country. The study is based on the source database, which includes materials from both Central and regional archives, such as engineering documentation of corrective labor camps and colonies, and the materials from the Chief administration of camps for industrial building. The chronological framework of the issue encompasses 1930s - the beginning of the 1940s. Particular attention is paid to the pre-war development stage of the mobilization economy, during which comes the final formation of the contours of construction production in this region. The article reveals multi-sectoral direction of the activities of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs in the field of industrial building, covering the objects of mining-metallurgical, fuel, timber industries. The article gives an analysis of the complex problems of the industry based on the analysis of reporting documentation and accounting and control materials of Central directorate of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs. Almost all of the problems were permanent, despite of the reorganization processes in the GULAG system of forced labor. This approach to the topic gives a deeper and comprehensive assessment of Stalin's special colonization of the periphery of the USSR. The analysis of the processes taking place in the industrial building sector of People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, illustrates the serious difficulties faced by the GULAG, departing from solving problems of extensive development and intensifying their production activities.