In the Russian Far East, a 2,030-kilometer highway connects Yakutsk with Magadan, passing through vast forests, barren ice fields, and tranquil rivers. The road may seem unremarkable, but it contains a shocking secret: underneath the road, there are countless bones buried, and it was built by prisoners who had escaped from the Gulag prison and used their bodies to lay a solid foundation for the road in the bitter cold conditions. That is the Kolyma Highway, known as the "Road of Death".
The Kolyma Highway was built in 1932 by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in order to take advantage of the rich resources of the Far East. The Far East is one of the countries with the largest oil and gas reserves in the world, with a variety of minerals such as gold, silver, iron, copper, diamonds, etc., as well as vast forestry and aquatic products, and huge wealth reserves. However, the first thing to do to develop such a mineral is transportation, and the climate in the Far East is very harsh, with low temperatures throughout the year, and the land is covered with permafrost, making it extremely difficult to travel.
Stalin, in order to accelerate the development of the Far East, was determined to build a road between Yakutsk and Magadan for the transportation of supplies and manpower. Stalin, however, was a cruel fellow, completely ignoring the difficulties and costs of road construction, providing neither necessary supplies nor security measures, but instead using the Gulag captives as coolies, allowing them to build roads in harsh conditions.
The gulag was a special form of re-education through labor practiced in the Soviet Union, and it was a special form of labor that Stalin used to deal with people of all kinds of political dissidents. The Gulag camps were filled with prisoners of all stripes, as well as many innocent people who had no rights or freedoms, who had to work as coolies and live a miserable life of hunger, cold, disease, and even death. Between 1930 and 1953, about 14 million people were imprisoned in the Gulag camps, and during that time, at least 1.7 million people died.
The prisoners who built the Kolyma road were all escaped from the Gulags, and they were divided into construction teams, each of several thousand people, scattered throughout the Far East to carry out long and difficult road construction. They had no machines, they had to dig through the frozen soil, carry boulders, pave the roads with their own hands, they had no warm clothes, just a thin prison suit, without the slightest protection, they had to endure sickness every day, without the slightest respite, and only after a nap would they continue their never-ending work.
Under such terrible conditions, the mortality rate of prisoners was very high, and almost every day, a large number of people would die and then be discarded on both sides of the road, or thrown into the river, or discarded there, and become part of the road. Sometimes, prisoners would fight each other for food, clothing, or wanting to end their lives. Occasionally, some prisoners would rebel and try to flee and resist, only to be brutally suppressed or swallowed up by snow and ice.
The construction of the road was carried out for twenty-one years, and by the time of Stalin's death in 1953, the Kolyma road had not yet been completed. Over the past 21 years, more than 17,000 people have died as a result of construction work, and their bones have been buried in the dirt of the road and become part of the road. It was dubbed the "Road to Death" and was hailed as the most devastating project of all time.
Today, the Kolyma Highway is not only a deserted and dangerous road, but also a tourist route of great cultural and natural significance. After several years of reconstruction and maintenance, the road condition of the Kolyma Highway has been greatly improved, especially in the vicinity of Yakutsk, the road is smooth, the road is smooth, the road is smooth, there are many villages and towns along the route, and the economy and society have been well developed. Although there are still some difficulties and dangers in the part that connects Magadan, there are still many thrilling and adventurous people who want to experience this legendary road first-hand, and appreciate its scenery and long history.
Starting from the Kolyma road, a boulder made of gray and white boulders is carved with a weeping face, which is a tribute to the deceased and a memory of this period. From here you can see the whole of Magadan and the whole bay, as well as the road on the Kolyma River leading to the labor camps. Here, there are ruins and memorials, which display various honorary certificates, medals and flags of the prisoners who were imprisoned in those years, which are their glory and suffering, as well as their heroism and optimism.
The Kolyma Highway is a "road of death" paved with human life, which has both the brutality and tenacity of the Soviet era, as well as the tenacity and tenacity of human nature, blood and tears, affection and righteousness, affection and righteousness, affection and righteousness, and is very valuable. If you're interested in the Kolyma Highway, you can browse the itinerary or visit a local tour to experience its charms.