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Abstract
The article is devoted to the situation of wives of “enemies of the people” during repression in the USSR between 1927 to 1953, as well as their lives in labor camps, to which they were sent only because they were family members of men accused of treason. Wives of “enemies of the people” often did not even suspect the illegal activities of their husbands, that is, they were accused of crimes against the Motherland unfoundedly. The researchers recognize the situation of this category of Soviet citizens as the most disenfranchised as no trials were held against women and they had no right to appeal. The situation was significantly aggravated by the fact that their minor children were forcibly taken away from them, placing them in orphanages with terrible conditions of detention. Women often died in labor camps, for example, in ALZhIR camp in Kazakhstan due to excessive workload, poor nutrition, epidemics and unsanitary conditions of detention, which also did not correspond to the harsh climate of the region. The author comes to conclusion that such treatment of its citizens does not meet the human rights standards accepted in the international community, and in fact, was the extermination of the Soviet population under a far-fetched pretext.