1952 Opening of the Volga-Don Canal

65 years ago, on May 31, 1952, the Volga-Don Canal, 101 km long, went into operation. The construction of the canal began in 1948. It was attended by 700 thousand civilian workers, 100 thousand German prisoners of war and 100 thousand Soviet prisoners. Since one day of work on the canal was counted as 2-3 days of imprisonment, more than 26,000 prisoners were released ahead of schedule.