The Latvian Chekist who built Dalstroy and colonised Kolyma with forced labour for gold
Berzin landed at Nagaev Bay in February 1932 and built Magadan on empty tundra. Shalamov wrote: 'Berzin tried — quite successfully — to solve the problem of colonising a harsh land while simultaneously solving the problems of reforging and isolating prisoners.'
A Latvian peasant's son who studied painting at Berlin's Royal Academy, Berzin joined the Bolsheviks through the Latvian Riflemen in the First World War. In 1918, on Cheka orders, he posed as a disaffected officer to penetrate Lockhart's anti-Soviet conspiracy, securing the plotters' arrest. From 1926 he directed OGPU prison-labour construction of the Vishera chemical complex, then in 1931 became Dalstroy's first director, tasked with extracting Kolyma's gold and building Magadan from tundra. He pioneered a camp economy combining wages, early release, and family resettlement with brutal production quotas. Arrested at the Great Purge's height in late 1937, he was shot in 1938.
Career Timeline
- 1914Graduated Berlin Royal Academy of Arts; conscripted upon return to Latvia
- 1915–17Ensign, 4th Vidzeme Latvian Rifle Regiment; awarded Cross of St. George
- 1917–18Commander, 1st Light Artillery Division; crushed Left SR revolt, exposed Lockhart conspiracy
- 1918.11Joined RKP(b)
- 1919–20Fought Denikin on Southern Front; supply chief, Latvian Rifle Division
- 1921.02Joined VChK Special Department (later OGPU)
- 1926–31Head of Vishera chemical plant construction (Vishlag) — completed in 18 months using OGPU prisoner labour
- 1931.11Appointed first director of Dalstroy
- 1932.02Landed at Nagaev Bay; began construction of Magadan and Kolyma gold mining
- 1935.03Awarded Order of Lenin for fulfilling gold production plan
- 1937.04Promoted to Division Intendant special rank
- 1937.12Travelled to Moscow on leave; arrested 19 December
Related historical events
- 1918–1922The Civil War and Foreign Interventiondefeated Denikin's White Army on the Southern Front
- 1928–1937The Five-Year Plans and the Soviet TransformationHead of Dalstroy
- 1937–1938The Great PurgeTarget of the Latvian OperationThe first director of Dalstroy, who designed the Gulag system on the Kolyma goldfields. Arrested in the Latvian Operation and executed 1 August 1938.