Conditions of detention of prisoners in the prison of the Akmola (Omsk) region during the Civil War (1918-1919)
The article analyzes the material and technical condition of civilian places of detention in the Akmola (Omsk) region under anti-Bolshevik governments during the Civil War. Almost the entire infrastructure of prisons was created in pre-revolutionary times. The level of its development, as well as the possibility of manufacturing items of industrial and agricultural production in prisons, was determined by the geographical and economic conditions in the region. It is in the Akmola region, with its rather favorable climate, that the practice of growing vegetable crops and raising livestock in prisons has become widespread in order to improve the nutrition of prisoners. At the same time, due to the financial situation, the resources of the “white” authorities in solving the material and technical problems of the local penitentiary institutions were very limited. The situation was aggravated by the need for detention to significantly increase the number of prisoners, which was typical not only for prisons in the Akmola region, but also for the vast majority of places of detention throughout Siberia. Among those who were in local penitentiary institutions, about half were supporters of the Soviet regime or those whom anti-Bolshevik government representatives considered to be potentially dangerous political opponents. After the establishment of the regime A.V. Kolchak in the “White” Siberia officially it was proclaimed the need to comply with the principle of legality by all state bodies, including the prison department. At the same time, measures are being taken to tighten the regime of detention of prisoners, which was based on the norms of pre-revolutionary legislation. These trends are clearly manifested in the work of prisons in the Akmola region. But, despite the desire to streamline the functioning of prisons, the uncontrolled intervention of army structures led to a disorganization of the activities of places of detention, and in some cases to unlawful actions against prisoners for political reasons. The most striking example of such lawlessness was the extrajudicial killings of prisoners in Omsk and Tyukalinsk before being evacuated to the east in November 1919.