Law-abiding gangs these groups including thieves gangsters robbers and assassins were mostly engaged in having fun with their work armed groups profiting from the confusion During the Revolution grew significantly and became known as as the criminal world or the world of Thieves from this world of Thieves emerged the elite group of law-abiding
Thieves known as vori V zakan gag during Stalin’s rule although there were undoubtedly crimes the dictator’s Iron Fist made it impossible for organized crime to develop in Soviet Society in the 1930s with the return of order to the country they began sending thieves to labor camps this established a large prison
System called gag across the country these prisons were not only Built for Street criminals but mainly housed political prisoners most prisoners were political opponents intellectuals party members workers and ordinary citizens who opposed Stalin’s industrialization policies and forced sharing by the end of the 1930s the prison population in the Soviet Union reached
15 million people the vast Empire in this prison became the main breeding ground for the VOR V zacan or secret brotherhoods a group that was similar to the Sicilian Mafia and the Japanese Yakuza Elite criminals VOR V Zac one which can also be translated as loyal criminals or
Criminals Bound by law were the elite class and the core circle of the larger criminal Community the criminals of this tier known as vori differed from common thieves they were members of a powerful Mafia likee Network within the criminal world not all thieves were admitted into this Brotherhood to be accepted into
This organization another Vore had to nom at a new member and the vores had to vote for that new member skills such as leadership personal strength toughness intelligence and adaptability were considered important factors for acceptance for professional criminals who aspired to join the VOR Brotherhood being accepted was the highest possible
Honor vori follow their special laws a VOR must abandon their father ‘s family and have no family of their own only the Brotherhood aore is not allowed to work and must spend their lives only in criminal activities a Vore must recruit young people into the Brotherhood and teach
Them the tricks of theft in new schemes aore must limit their alcohol consumption and gambling they should not get so drunk that they owe others money for gambling AO must support other criminals morally and materially aore must accept and enforce the punishments outlined in the thieves
Laws a Vore has no right to have any relations including social activities joining social organizations fighting for them serving in the army or working in prisons vs also have special privileges of membership a complex hierarchy system a special ized language and symbols related to their titles voices and gestures
Roots in this unique subculture criminals did not consider prison a significant matter they saw prison as their primary home and considered the time they spent there as a source of a sign of pride Long imprisonment provided an excellent environment for the growth of these associations and the spread of the the mafia
Subculture many political prisoners who encountered vori in prisons have described vori Behavior codes hierarchy and language they also mentioned that facing vori was the most unpleasant experience they had in prison the Brotherhood when accepting a new member into the Brotherhood they held a ceremony called crowning in this ceremony a Vore would
Swear an oath to the Brotherhood the Elders of the new Vore would warn them about the consequences of breaking their oath during the initiation ceremony they would also give the new VOR a nickname vori had customs and symbols regarding nicknames giving receiving nicknames was not just a ceremonial matter they
Signified a new life stage that the VOR went through upon entering the Brotherhood receiving a nickname symbolized a complete commitment to the laws of the petty criminal lifestyle aore respected the laws of Thieves and always avoided activities in prisons refusal to work was a punishable offense under Soviet law vori preferred
To endure this punishment which consisted of being beaten and starved or imprisoned in extremely cold cells rather than than working in prison established Connections in prison helped vori maintain ties with well-known groups of Thieves called Coda these groups consisted of no more than 20 to 30 members primarily experienced thieves with diverse
Specialties such as pocket picking theft and car theft inside and outside the Prison Walls professional killers were not allowed to join the Brotherhood they claimed that vori had strict laws against murder thieves were expected to steal without causing Bloodshed thieves were only allowed to kill someone who threatened their
Lives the Brotherhood advised not to resort to violence for economic gain apart from theft thieves were allowed to make money through small scams winning a card game was lucky for thieves and might convinced the thief to commit a dangerous robbery but losing was bad luck and might dissuade the
Thief from carrying out the planned robbery the thieves law on women thieves law regarding women was such that they considered women as second class sex women could never become full members of this esteemed group in the thieves Community A brotherhood likee lifestyle held great respect and VOR did
Not consider anyone else worthy of it as a result a wife or constant family was not allowed however the thieves law did not impose any restrictions on marriage vori could get married however they were not allowed to have a genuine emotional relationship with their spouse a woman’s role was not much
Different from that of a prostitute as she lived to satisfy the needs of others the only difference was that wives of Thieves or any other women who had relationships with the Brotherhood were not allowed to have sexual relationships with men who were not part of the thief’s
Family if a woman who tried to have a relationship with such a man was caught she would be killed respecting the mother in the criminal subculture despite the prohibition of Family Ties in the thieves code of conduct respecting mothers was emphasized conspicuously mother was the subject of many songs of
Thieves however it is possible that the mother they revered in their Tales was not a real thief’s mother the respect for mothers was vastly different from the behavior of Thieves towards their mothers this virtue likely emerged due to the influence of Russian traditions Additionally the mother they
Admired in their stories might have been nothing more than a form of glorification for the thieves Brotherhood the thieves might have Sanctified their rebirth within the thief’s family tattoo the Russian mafia style has a complex tattoo system that forms a secret language that can only be understood by members of The Secret fraternity
Symbols VOR tries to maintain its Monopoly on the use of certain symbols and designs in tattoos failure to use a VOR tattoo is a crime punishable by death the punishment for fake tattoos is also death within vori the complex system of symbols transfers specific information about the owner of a thief’s family
There rank position and connections tattoos may be voluntary to indicate one’s Rank and status or compulsorily to Mark delinquents whom the VOR despised if a VOR fails to pay off his gambling debts or otherwise disobeys the thieves code of conduct he may experience forc tattooing punishment tattoos are usually
Done on the forehead to humiliate or warn others away from him the these tattoos sometimes included sexually explicit images to humiliate their owners power in prisons before the Great Patriotic War of 1941 to 1945 the prison authorities began to think about how to use the existence of
VOR V zakan against the enemies of the regime in prisons prison guards empowered thieves against political and ordinary inmates horrifying stories about life in prisons instilled fear in people about prison life and hindered political enemies from operating within the regime vori enjoyed a distinguished position in prisons military
Prisoners with the start of World War II conditions became unfavorable for vori political figures who needed human resources in the Frontline proposed freeing prisoners on the condition they joined the army about a million prisoners were released and sent to the front but fighting for the government was against the law of
Thieves at the end of the war many thieves were sent back to prisons to face the angry and vengeful hordes of Thieves who were loyal to the thieves Creed and refused to serve the government those who had collaborated with political authorities were called poor or Suki meaning they were justified
In being expelled from the Brotherhood due to their betrayal but the [ __ ] did not remain silent in front of this action of secret societies in prison they created a group with a reformed Creed in this Charter some cooperation with political authorities was allowed the conflict between the two
Groups which became known as The War of the [ __ ] became very intense prison wardens supported the hores against vori the prison Warden supported the hores in various ways against vori with the hope of using them to suppress vori the [ __ ] who had served in the Army and were familiar with weapons had
No fear of being involved in violent acts the prison authorities helped the Waring groups place soldiers in a building and only allowed the [ __ ] to carry weapons during confrontations they also identified any Vore who wanted to hide their identity by showing off the brutality of the Prisoners the horse easily gained
Superiority over vori during the war
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