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Later, I understood that, besides the lack of freedom, besides the forced labor, there was one more torment in prison life that was almost worse than all the others. This was forced communal cohabitation.

For example, could I ever have imagined how terrible and tormenting it would be that, and all the 10 years of my term, not once, not for a single minute, would I be alone? At work always under guard, at home with my 200 comrades, and never once, never once alone!

…noise, din, guffawing, swearing, the clanking of chains, fumes and soot, shaven heads, branded faces, ragged clothes, everything abused, besmeared . . . yes, man survives it all! Man is a creature who gets used to everything…