From letters sent by Arsenii Formakov to his family, in Riga. Formakov was a Latvian poet, novelist, and journalist. In 1940, he was arrested for anti-Soviet activities and sentenced to eight years at Krasnoiarskii Labor Camp. Two years after his release, he was sentenced to another ten years. Gulag Letters will be published next month by Yale University Press. Translated from the Russian by Emily D. Johnson.

august 10, 1944

My sweet, unforgettable, one and only Niushenka! My dear children, Dimochka and Zhenichka!

We have the day off today. The sun is out, but it does…