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These victims of left-wing state-sponsored terror encountered physical, psychological, social, and political problems upon their reintegration into socialist society. A reciprocal adjustment had to be made by the Soviet system, and society as a whole, in order to reintroduce former prisoners to the 'Big Zone,' or life outside the camps although most survivors were never allowed to return home or to their previous employment under the system of internal exhile.  

These victims of left-wing state-sponsored terror encountered physical, psychological, social, and political problems upon their reintegration into socialist society. A reciprocal adjustment had to be made by the Soviet system, and society as a whole, in order to reintroduce former prisoners to the 'Big Zone,' or life outside the camps although most survivors were never allowed to return home or to their previous employment under the system of internal exhile.  

The process of rehabilitation was slowed by the victims' disorientation on release and their fear of further repression. A person needed "rehabilitation papers" to find a job or housing, although "gainful employment" was illegal because the profit motive [[subversion|subverted]] the Soviet system. A greater problem was the government's denial of its history rather than admitting to leftist ideological flaws. Even after Khrushchev's 1956 secret speech to the 20th Party Congress, the state was slow to acknowledge that many former 'enemies of the people' were in fact innocent victims.<ref>Nanci Adler, "Life in the 'Big Zone': the Fate of Returnees in the Aftermath of Stalinist Repression," ''Europe-Asia Studies'' 1999 51(1): 5-19</ref>

The process of rehabilitation was slowed by the victims' disorientation on release and their fear of further repression. A person needed "rehabilitation papers" to find a job or housing, although "gainful employment" was illegal because the profit motive [[subversion|subverted]] the Soviet system.  

 

A greater problem was the government's denial of its history rather than admitting to leftist ideological flaws. Even after Khrushchev's 1956 secret speech to the 20th Party Congress, the state was slow to acknowledge that many former 'enemies of the people' were in fact innocent victims.<ref>Nanci Adler, "Life in the 'Big Zone': the Fate of Returnees in the Aftermath of Stalinist Repression," ''Europe-Asia Studies'' 1999 51(1): 5-19</ref>

==Further reading==

==Further reading==