On the issue of the amnesty for the pregnant and having young children women prisoners from the Gulag: implementation of the Decree of August 26, 1950.

Abstract

 The article examines the implementation of Decree No. 0589/183c of August 26, 1950 on the amnesty of pregnant women and women with young children from the Gulag. This amnesty is considered in the context of previous similar amnesties. A brief overview is given of the state of the Gulag system in the late 1940s and early 1950s, as well as the economic and social situation in the USSR during this period. The stages of implementation of the amnesty, the number and contingent of women released are analyzed. An overview of the interaction of the structures implementing the amnesty is given: the leadership of the camps, the prosecutor's office, and the district departments of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Based on the reviewed archival materials, conclusions were drawn about changes in the assessment of crimes, from the point of view of their danger to the state: the contingent that was not released by the amnesty were women convicted for the economic crimes, mainly convicted by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 4, 1947, while women convicted as members of the families of traitors to the Motherland were given the opportunity to be released. The tasks set by the amnesty of August 26, 1950 were not fully realized  due to the difficulties in the interaction of the structures that carried it out. About 5% of the total number of women with young children outside the camp remained in prison.