Mortality and morbidity of children in KARLAG in 1941: children of prisoner and civilian mothers

Abstract

In the article archival statistical data illustrating the mortality of children of female prisoners, as well as children of civilian workers who were in Karlag in 1941 were analyzed. For a comparative vision of the problem
of child mortality in the Gulag in 1941, indicators were presented for two other camps of the Gulag system:
Vyatlag and Bureilagu. The general trends and differences in the mortality rate of children of prisoner mothers
from the mortality rate of civilian children receiving medical care in the structures of the GULAG sanitary
service are analyzed. It was concluded that the number of children in the Karlag agricultural camp in 1941
was significantly higher than in the forestry and railway industry camps of the Gulag, while the overall mortality
rate for children of prisoner mothers was generally lower on average. It was concluded that almost two
thirds of the children who died in Karlag in 1941 were children of prisoner mothers. The morbidity rate of
children of prisoner mothers in infant homes was significantly higher than the morbidity rate of civilian children in kindergartens and kindergartens. The peak of morbidity and mortality occurred in Karlag in April
1941.