Soviet Union. The People’s Commissar reports to Stalin that the White Sea-Baltic Canal (Belomorkanal or Stalin Canal) is completed. In July of the same year, Stalin takes a pleasant steamboat cruise on the canal with Kirov. Photos of the event exist, showing the two laughing and joking. In reality, Kirov is already sentenced to death, unknowingly. The construction of the canal using the forced labor of gulag prisoners resulted in the deaths of approximately 300,000 people.
