Special (labor) settlements as populated areas in the 1930s (based on materials of the Komi Republic)

In 1930-1931 in the Komi Autonomous Region, special settlements were organized for special settlers - “former kulaks” who were forcibly expelled from their places of permanent residence from areas of complete collectivization. Able-bodied forced migrants and members of their families were transferred to the Komiles Trust to work in logging. In the logging areas of the region, more than 40 special settlements were organized in hard-to-reach places, isolated from local settlements. Problems associated with the lack of roads, remoteness from regional centers, insufficient supplies, and the organization of settlements in swampy areas led to the liquidation of individual special (labor) settlements and a reduction in their total number by the end of the 1930s. Despite the low level of residential premises construction, forced migrants also built buildings for socio-cultural institutions, schools, hospitals, clubs and others, which made it possible to create the internal infrastructure of the settlements.