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Katorga labour introduced in Sakhalin
On April 18 (30), 1869 Alexander II approved the “Committee’s Provision on the Introduction of Katorga Labor” (a hard form of penal labour). From that moment Sakhalin officially became the place of katorga labour and exile.
From the late 1850s the tsarist government had been looking for ways to secure Russia’s possession of Sakhalin island. Initially, it was planned to send there about 25 peasant families to settle the island. However, soon it was decided to send both free peasants and convicts to the island. The island of Sakhalin was a perfect place to ensure isolation for the latter. In 1869, 10 peasant families from Tobolsk Governorate and 11 families from Irkutsk Governorate (over 120 people) arrived in Sakhalin. They founded three villages in Takoe valley: Voskresenskoye, Stantsionnoye (Takoe) and Novoaleksandrovskoye. Peasants were granted benefits - loans, family funds, agricultural tools, and cattle. However, it turned out that the inhospitable, harsh climate of Sakhalin ended hopes of a good harvest. At the earliest opportunity, peasants gave up their endevours and returned home. Gradually, the government formed the opinion that in view of its particular geographical position and harsh climate forced colonization was more suitable for the development of Sakhalin.
The legal basis for introduction of the national katorga labour in Sakhalin was “The Committee’s Provision on the Introduction of Katorga Labour”, which was approved on April 18 (30), 1869 by the decree of Emperor Alexander II. It read in part that the Governor-General of Eastern Siberia was to send up to 800 convicts to Sakhalin. 120,000 roubles were allocated for these purposes from the Irkutsk Governorate treasury. The reasons for the establishment of penal labor and exile in Sakhalin were both political and economic. At that time, especially after serfdom abolishment there was an increase in the number of serious criminal offenses, in different parts of the empire civil disobedience to the authorities and peasant riots often occurred. There was a need to build new prisons and search for special places for keeping criminals. The main reasons for the choice were remoteness and harsh climate of the island. What is more, escaping was difficult and the cost was reduced for the convicts were concentrated in one place.
Katorga and exile to Sakhalin also met the geostrategic objective - consolidation of Russian positions in the border regions, the settlement of this region by Russian people, taking into account the tense relations with Japan during that period of time. The government intended to use convict labour to start developing the rich resources of the island, supply coal to the Russian fleet and export it to the nearest countries. The exile to Sakhalin was seen as not only a repressive measure of suppressing criminal offenses and disobedience to the authorities, but also as a form of development of this distant territory of the Russian Empire.
The first batch of convicts - 250 people – arrived at Korsakovsky and Duisky posts. After that small groups of prisoners arrived at the island. A whole network of prisons existed in Sakhalin: Duiskaya (was opened in 1876), Voevodskaya (the 1870s), Aleksandrovskaya (1880), Tymovskaya (1880), Korsakovskaya (1880), Onorskaya (1894), Derbinskaya (1894) and Malo-Tymovskaya workhouse. It was planned to open Tarayskaya prison in 1894, but it was not built. The direct control of the Sakhalin penal colony belonged to the commanders of military units stationed on the island. Later the governor-general of Eastern Siberia began to appoint individuals to perform the duty. Administratively, the governor of Primorsky Region was in charge of the island. The Main Prison Administration was established in 1879. It administered the penal labour system and the Sakhalin colonization expenses. In the 1880s Sakhalin became a place of exile for political prisoners.
After the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–1905 and abolishment of penal labor Sergey Witte, the chairman of the council of ministers, came up with a proposal to make the Ministry of Internal Affairs responsible for “the part of the island which remained under the control of Russia”. On April 10 (23), 1906 the katorga in Sakhalin was officially abolished (in fact it was closed in 1904) and the Ministry of Internal Affairs took control of the island.
Life on Sakhalin island during the period of katorga and exile had no prospects. Katorga led to sad consequences, it was a great impediment to the economic and cultural development of the island. Large amount of money - up to 30 million roubles - was spent on the colonization of Sakhalin, however the results were extremely unenviable. During the years of katorga labour, over 30,000 criminals and political prisoners served their sentences in Sakhalin. The exile and hard labour colony left its mark on all sides of the island’s life. Despite the fact that in cultural respect Sakhalin was noticeably less developed than other regions of the Russian Empire, the beginnings of cultural life were noted there as well: schools, libraries, people’s houses were opened, public readings took place, a museum was set up in Aleksandrovsky post, collected works under the title Sakhalin Calendars (Sakhalinskiye Kalendari) were published there. Political prisoners made a great contribution to the accumulation of knowledge about the island and to the development of education, culture and health care.
Lit.: Гридяева М. От составителей // Сахалинская каторга (вторая половина XIX –начало XX в.). Т. 1. Южно-Сахалинск., 2015. С. 19–21; Остров каторжников и надзирателей // Сахалин и Курилы в прошлом и настоящем. Кн. 2: Начало освоения острова Сахалин. М., 2015. С. 108–119.
Based on the Presidential Library’s materials:
Sakhalin Region: pages of history: [digital collection];
B. Ellinsky. Sakhalin : The Black Gem of the Far East. Moscow; Leningrad, 1928;
Katorga and Exile : Historical and Revolutionary Messenger. Moscow, 1926. No. 6 (27).
The material has been provided by the Sakhalin Regional Universal Research Library