The passions become unbearable under conditions of forced confinement
One problem that cost many lives was smoking. A ‘cigarette butt’ – in smokers’ parlance – deliberately thrown by a guard and picked up by an inmate often led to fatal reprisals. The rules stipulated that when a prisoner was taken for a walk in the specially arranged yards, he had to walk with his hands behind his back and his eyes to the ground. Any deviation from this discipline was severely punished with strict confinement, from which it was rare to be released in winter. Only the poor smokers know how much they suffered from this disease. For them, […]