Glossary of Russian Words:

Bendera: general in the Soviet army who betrayed his country during WWII

CED: Culture and Education Department

Chetezes: galoshes made of scraps of motor tires, after the Cheliabinsk
tractor works

GULAG: Central Camp Administration, used also to mean camps in general

Kolkhoz: Communal farm

Kulak: a landed peasant in Czarist Russia

Lett: Latvian

Magara: Chinese oatmeal, basically cooked yellow grasses

Old Whiskers: Stalin

PPD: Production Planning Department

"Special" camps: camps for political crimes

Taiga: the frozen Siberian woods

Valenki: knee length felt boots for winter wear

Vechorka: Slang for Vecheruyaya Moskva, an evening newspaper

Volk: wolf, the root of Volkovoi's name

Zek: abbreviation of Russian for prisoner