Nazi tragedyIn the spring of 1933, 3000 Gulag prisoners(some of whom died en route)were landed on Nazinsky Island in Siberia, a narrow, flooded strip of land in the middle of the Ob River. They had no tools or tents, only a few handfuls of rye flour every four or five days. The prisoners did not have the strength or the capacity to set up a life and to carry out the task of building a settlement from scratch.Some were so exhausted that when they went to bed too close to the fire they were burnt to death.Those who tried to escape were shot on the spot by the guards
Soon cannibalism began on the island. Women were the first to suffer:many of them were tied to trees to make it easier to cut the meat off their breasts,thighs and other body parts
Many of these"settlers"were sent to the island because they could not produce documents during the inspection.By the summer only 2200 of the 6700 remained alive-with only 300 of them fit for work
The island was soon evacuated,but the reports were declassified in 1993
