Soviet Union: After ten years of Gulag prison sentences for millions of Soviet citizens, their prison terms finally expire and they enjoy freedom. They had all been convicted under Article 58 of the Criminal Code, which authorizes the arrest of anyone who dissents, or even merely tolerates dissent. Stalin, however, suddenly realizes that these people, and their families, might harbor resentment after ten years (Stalin’s decade) of unjust conviction. He therefore considers re-sentencing them and their families: thus was born Stalin’s quarter, another 25 years in the Gulag. To these were added other applications of Article 58, including intellectuals who were labeled ETA (Exaltation of American Technology), EDA (Exaltation of American Democracy), and SAO (Supine Admiration of the West).
