Sakhalin. Penal Servitude. Criminals

Vlas Mikhailovich Doroshevich (1865–1922) was one of the most famous Russian publicists and critics at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, dubbed the "king of the feuilleton." Doroshevich traveled to Sakhalin on a steamer with a group of convicts. The journalist did not obtain official permission for the trip and faced numerous obstacles, but did not give up his goal: "If I see the penal servitude, I will see it as it is, and not as it will be convenient for someone to show me." In his essays about Sakhalin, the "king of feuilletonists" spoke about the fates of criminals and stories of crimes, described punishments and daily life on the "penal" island, remaining true to his creed — to rely only on his own eyes.