In addition to food shortages , the Gulag suffered from labor scarcity at the beginning of the war . The Great Terror of 1936 – 1938 had provided a large supply of free labor , but by the start of World War II the purges had slowed down . In order to complete all of their projects , camp administrators moved prisoners from project to project . To improve the situation , laws were implemented in mid-1940 that allowed giving short camp sentences ( 4 months or a year ) to those convicted of petty theft , hooliganism , or labor-discipline infractions . By January 1941 the Gulag workforce had increased by approximately 300,000 prisoners . But in 1942 serious food shortages began , and camp populations dropped again . The camps lost still more prisoners to the war effort . ( The Soviet Union went into total war footing in June 1941 . ) Many laborers received early releases so that they could be drafted and sent to the front
Great Terror
Great Purge
Gulag