Chief Directorate of Railroad Construction Camps

The Chief Directorate of Railroad Construction Camps (GULZhDS) was a directorate of NKVD (later MVD) in charge of Gulag labor camps which manned railroad construction during 1940–1953. It was created on January 4, 1940, under the title Chief Directorate of Railroad Construction (GULZhD). From 1941 it become known as GULZhDS. Its main task was railroad construction, with other occasional projects, such as construction of highways in Ukraine and Volga Region, some plants, airfields, mines, and housing. Its best known project was the construction of the Baikal–Amur Mainline.

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