For the maintenance and correction of citizens who intentionally or due to certain life circumstances have violated the law, in each state there are special institutions. A lot of them are in Russia. One of these institutions was the Krasnopresnenskaya transit prison. You will learn about the history of its creation and features in this article.
Acquaintance
Prison Krasnaya Presnya is Detention Center No. 3. Officially listed as FBU IZ-77/3 GUFSIN of Russia. People call it "Presnya". Krasnopresnenskaya forwarding functioned already in the 1920s. But until 1938 it was used as a shipping base. There were special wooden barracks for keeping prisoners in the territory. It became a transit and nutritional point, which was later transformed into the most important transit hub of the Gulag. During 1944 - 1948 The transfer post was reconstructed, supplemented by new buildings. In 1946, he became a prison, and in 1960 - pre-trial detention center No. 3 in the Khoroshevo-Mnevniki district of the North-Western administrative district of Moscow.
Today, the institution operates under the direction of Internal Affairs Lieutenant Colonel N. Makarov. Address of Krasnaya Presnya Prison: 123308, 1st Silikatny Proezd 11, building 1 in Moscow.
Start of creation
According to experts, at the time of the founding of the concentration camps, there was a need for a special transfer point from which it would be convenient to transfer prisoners to various camps of the Soviet Union. The Presny railway station in the Khoroshevo-Mnevniki district was ideally suited for this purpose. In 1937, the government of the Soviet Union planned to build a large shipping channel to connect the Moscow River and the Volga. Ultimately, Moscow would be connected by river with other regions.
The channel, according to experts, was economically a very profitable project. For its successful implementation, a large amount of work was required. However, the necessary construction equipment was not enough. Therefore, prisoners using shovels, crowbars and picks were thrown at earthworks and concrete work.
For the construction of such a grandiose technical structure as the Moscow-Volga Canal, convicts from many Soviet camps and prisons were brought. The only exceptions were the “political” convicted under article 58, and inveterate criminals who received over ten years. The prisoners were carefully monitored by the Dmitrov ITL, the camp production department responsible for the construction. Then the convicts were settled in wooden barracks in Krasnaya Presnya.
About remodeling
In 1943, repair work began on the territory. It was decided to supplement the shipment with new buildings. In 1944, prisoners set about rebuilding a brick workshop. A plant producing silicate building material was located near the prison. Later, using silicate bricks, they built a special building, namely, a building for prisoners, and then a building for the administration.
According to experts, since 1944 the place for the convicts was not wooden barracks, but a two-story brick house in which there were 24 cells. The prison is surrounded by a four-meter brick fence 298 meters long. A 60-centimeter barbed wire was pulled from above.
About the expansion of the residential building
In December 1946, 2,300 prisoners were held in prison. Even after the reconstruction, the institution remained crowded. In order to rectify the situation, it was decided to "expand" the prison. To do this, it was necessary to attach the third floor. This would give an extra 1,100 seats. The work was planned to be completed by December 1947. But the extension was delayed due to the lack of sewage in the building. As a result, it did not work out on time. Expansion continued throughout 1948. However, instead of the planned one floor, two were added to the building.
About the features of the institution
Prison “Krasnaya Presnya” is designed for 931 prisoners. Judging by the reviews of eyewitnesses, the administration is doing everything possible to break the will of prisoners. But this mainly applies to beginners and inexperienced people. The peculiarity of the pre-trial detention center is that in the institution, convicts live according to thieves' laws. In other words, this prison is called "black."
Those who happened to sit in Presnya claim that this is one of the most free investigative detention centers in Moscow. This is due to the fact that in the cell the prisoner is allowed to use his favorite and necessary things: slippers, traps for cockroaches, filters for water. Razors are also considered permissible if they contain safe blades. Prisoners have the right to read books. The administration of the institution only seizes literature that contains information about psychology.
Recently, the Krasnaya Presnya has received remand prisoners before the court pronounces the verdict. Judging by the numerous reviews, the prisoners are kept in fairly good conditions. The institution provides regular trips to the bathhouse. There is hot water. Feeding is also at a decent level. There are prisoners in cells designed for 20 people. There are also smaller cells in which up to 10 prisoners are seated. There is a grocery store on site. According to experts, there are no prisoners who received life sentences in the Krasnaya Presnya prison.
About the celebrities who were in prison No. 3
Since its founding, hundreds of thousands of prisoners have passed through the Krasnaya Presnya Prison. The singer Lidia Ruslanova, writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, general Peter Abakumov, field marshal Friedrich Paulus and film actor George Zhzhenov had to sit in this place at one time. In addition, this prison became the second home of the Chechen fighter Salman Raduyev and criminal authority Vyacheslav Ivankov, better known as "Yaponchik".
Finally
During 1937-1938, the events of which went down in history as the Great Terror, the largest number of prisoners passed through a transit prison. Perhaps that is why Presnya was unofficially called the capital of the Gulag.