Artist and Russian labor-camp survivor Nikolai Getman passed away August 29 in Orel, Russia. The global announcement of his death was made by Getman’s long-time friends at the Washington, DC-based Jamestown Foundation, where Getman’s collected works are housed.

Getman spent much of his time and talent painting scenes from the labor camps in Siberia where he spent eight years as a prisoner for displaying “anti-Soviet behavior.” Today, survivors of oppression affirm Getman’s approach of using art to tell the story to the world, such as the current anti-torture exhibits in several U.S. cities that re-enact the torture methods used in Chinese labor camps and prisons against Falun Gong practitioners, drawing upon the actors’ first-hand experience of torture.

This painting shows the labor camp location in Kolyma, Magadan. The seabirds often reminded the inmates of freedom. (Jamestown Foundation)

In 1946 Getman was present in a café with several fellow artists when one of them drew a caricature of Stalin on a piece of paper. Someone in the café saw this, reported it to the authorities, and as a result Getman was sent to the Kolyma labor camps in Siberia.

Although Getman physically survived the labor camps, they left a strong impression on him as he had witnessed some of the most horrific scenes in Soviet history-- this was the period of time when Stalin was in power, so severe torture was commonplace in the labor camps.

After he was released in 1954 he dared not publicly paint anything that was not “politically correct.” However, secretly, he vividly depicted numerous terrifying and horrendous scenes of the difficult life in the Gulag. Millions of innocent people experienced what is shown in these paintings, many not living to tell it to others.

As quoted on the Jamestown Foundation website, Getman explained, “Some may say that the Gulag is a forgotten part of history and that we do not need to be reminded. But I have witnessed monstrous crimes. It is not too late to talk about them and reveal them. It is essential to do so. Some have expressed fear on seeing some of my paintings that I might end up in Kolyma again--this time for good. But the people must be reminded, as part of their education, and as a tribute to the memory of the more than 50 million who died as a result of one of the harshest acts of political repression in the Soviet Union. My paintings may help achieve this.”

“Prisoners built the 1,200 kilometers of road from Magadan to Indigirka, using only shovels, pick-axes, crowbars and wheelbarrows. Many of the malnourished prisoners died on this project,” says the Jamestown Foundation on their website.

As part of its mission, the Jamestown Foundation collects and publishes information about societies that frequently restrict access to key information. In 1997, Getman asked Jamestown to help him to safely move and preserve his paintings in the West as a historical depiction and record of events.

“I, like everyone else, wanted to draw a specific conclusion based on my experience. And it was this. There is a human virtue called strength of will. I realized what a great, unbending force that is, if even the terrible Gulag machine could not extinguish it. This is why I am absolutely convinced of the victory of good over evil.”

To view some of Getman's works and additional biographical information, see www.jamestown.org/getman.php.