The term Soviet Labor Camp is often referred to as a GULAG, which is an acronym for the Russian phrase 'Glavnoe Upravlenie Lagerei, ' meaning 'Main Camp Administration.' GULAGs were labor camps established in the Soviet Union from the 1920s to the 1950s, where prisoners were forced to work in harsh conditions. The prisoners were often political dissidents or criminals, and the labor camps were used as a form of punishment.