The term Soviet Labour 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 a system of forced labor camps established in the Soviet Union from the 1930s to the 1950s. They were used to incarcerate political prisoners, criminals, and other people deemed undesirable by the Soviet government. The conditions in the camps were harsh, with prisoners subjected to hard labor, malnutrition, and disease.