Page 287 - The Chief Culprit

Soviet troops of the Second Strategic Echelon, drafted from Gulag prisoners, surrender without a
fight. Stalin said that if the fire is good even wet logs can burn in the blaze, but if the fire is weak a
wet log will not help. If the Soviet first strike had succeeded, the poorly trained and equipped Gulag-
drafted soldiers would have fought well. But when the Germans struck first the skeletons from the
Gulag were useless.