Sharashka

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In the Soviet Union, a sharashka (Russian: шара́шка, [ʂɐˈraʂkə]; sometimes sharaga, sharazhka) was a type of secret research and development laboratory operating from the 1920s to the 1950s within the Gulag labor camp system, as well as in other facilities under the supervision of the Soviet secret service. Formally various secret R&D facilities were called "special design bureaus" (особое конструкторское бюро, ОКБ) and similar terms. Etymologically, the word sharashka derives from a Russian slang expression sharashkina kontora (lit. 'Sharashka's office'), an ironic, derogatory term to denote a poorly-organized, impromptu, or bluffing organization, which in its turn comes from the criminal argot term sharaga (шарага) for a band of thieves, hoodlums, etc. The scientists and engineers at a sharashka were prisoners picked by the Soviet government from various camps and prisons and assigned to work on scientific and technological problems. Living conditions were usually much better than in...

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