The Gulag Archipelago [Volume 1]: An Experiment in Literary Investigation

by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

ASA—Anti-Soviet Agitation KRD—Counter-Revolutionary Activity KRTD—Counter-Revolutionary Trotskyite Activity (And that “T” made the life of a zek in camp much harder.) PSh—Suspicion of Espionage (Espionage that went beyond the bounds of suspicion was handed over to a tribunal.) SVPSh—Contacts Leading (!) to Suspicion of Espionage KRM—Counter-Revolutionary Thought VAS—Dissemination of Anti-Soviet Sentiments SOE—Socially Dangerous Element SVE—Socially Harmful Element PD—Criminal Activity (a favorite accusation against former camp inmates if there was nothing else to be used against them) And then, finally, there was the very expansive category: ChS—Member of a Family (of a person convicted under one of the foregoing “letter” categories)