Sacred Springs in the Camps: Gulag Memory, Legend, and Place

Former Gulag sites-operating theaters of terror during the Stalinist period-are scattered across western Siberia, where memories of the purges run deep. The camps represent some of the most horrific events of the Soviet past, and yet their current role is complicated. Focusing on three former prison camps, folklorist Jeanmarie Rouhier-Willoughby untangles a surprising nexus of memory, legend, and vernacular religious practice afforded by the sacred springs located at each of these sites.

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