The legacy of the Soviet Gulag with 'Varlam' author Michael Prazan

The Gulag is synonymous with some of the worst mass human rights abuses of the 20th century, and also some of the lesser known. As many as 24 million people were imprisoned and some 1.6 million killed in the Soviet prison system. But no one was ever held accountable for the crimes, begging the question of how the legacy of the Gulag has impacted modern-day Russia. Michaël Prazan's book "Varlam" retraces the story of Russian writer and Gulag survivor Varlam Shalamov. The author joined us for Perspective.

"Varlam" has just been published in French by Rivages.


Read more on FRANCE 24 English

Read also:
The fall of the Soviet Union, 30 years on
Russia's Supreme Court orders closure of top human rights group Memorial
In Russia, the battle for the memory of Soviet repressions