In 1923, the Soviet state decided to create a prison camp on the Solovki archipelago, the site of a former monastery.
With the connivance of part of the administration, Solovki became a unique cultural citadel.
Yet the camp\'s activities in cultural re-education were surprisingly extensive.
Prisoners died by the hundreds both within the walls of the monastery and in the frozen forests beyond.
It became the laboratory of the Gulag, where the techniques of labour-camp exploitation were developed.
In 1923, the Soviet state decided to create a prison camp on the Solovki archipelago, the site of a former monastery