By Eileen F. Toplansky, AM THINKER
In the mid-1970s I and others worldwide were active in a letter writing campaign to Soviet Jewish refuseniks. Anatoly Sharansky is probably the most well-known of these dissidents. While most of the letters were heavily censored, some did get through and it gave hope to those prisoners of conscience that the world was hearing them despite the malevolence of the communists.
One of my treasured documents is a letter from the wife of Hillel Butman, who was falsely accused of being a spy. She wrote to me that she “wished [me] much power for I knew what to do with it.” It was a truly incredible and profound statement that I have never forgotten.
It reminds one of the unfortunate truth as stated by John A. Stormer in his Death of a Nation (1968) wherein he wrote,
Our founding fathers were men who — from their study of history… learned that down through history whenever man got power he used it to oppress other humans beings.
Thus, the idea that Americans known as the January 6th protestors are now languishing in prison because they exercised their G-d-given rights to protest is shocking and beyond belief. It hearkens back to those refuseniks who were denied any justice and mercy.
The American Gulag Chronicles: Letters from Prison (2022) authored by Tim Rivers contains the letters and artwork by the latest victims of despotic rule under Joe Biden and his allies. The editor-in-chief of this work is Marie Goodwyn, the mother of J6 defendant and video journalist Daniel Goodwyn. Moreover, an international volunteer team of professional typesetters and proofreaders were instrumental in getting the book done.
The idea that Americans — who being assured of their Constitutional rights — unflinchingly rose in concert to demand redress of their grievances from their Representatives, must now rot in a horrific Gulag of a jail – where they are denied the most basic human rights, due process and justice because they dared to be brave and patriotic Americans — should be appalling and of grave concern to each of us.
In the early days of 2021, Americans were “arrested and often hauled away from their families to the District of Columbia, where they were held without bond hearings or due process, while they waited trial. The detained were held in an abandoned jail pod with deteriorating infrastructure facilities.
The Patriot Mail Project created a website that provided lists of the prisoners and their addresses and encouraged supporters to write letters of encouragement and support to them and thus the book The American Gulag Chronicles was born.
Anguish and anger permeate these letters. Abuse and mistreatments by the DoJ and the D.C. Department of Corrections are revealed. The “claustrophobia of solitary confinement” is a horror that I never imagined could happen to my fellow Americans.
Joseph Padilla (September 18, 2021) who at the time had been detained seven months without bond, writes:
Despite what you may have heard on the mainstream media, the Capitol riot was instigated by the Capitol Police and other Law Enforcement agencies.
Jeff McKellop writes:
I am a political prisoner. In 2019 I joined the Army. 101st Airborne, 2nd Ranger Battalion, 3rd Group Special Forces, ODA 394 & 396.
We’re being held in a Communist, Leftist, CRT, Land of Oz.
The Cells? Black mold comes from the air vents! Human fecal matter smashed under and around the beds and in the corners. I ask for bleach…none!
This is my punishment for serving my country for almost 30 years!
The government’s message to these people was “we can do what we want to you and you will pay the price if you dare to resist us! We don’t have to obey the Constitution, Laws, Rules, or Polities… we will make the Process become the Punishment!”
Guards and faculty administration “announced their desire to punish all MAGA and Trump supporters to the fullest extent they could get away with, even as far as injury or death at the hands of other inmates. Medical care is nonexistent. Guards went out of their way to be cruel and taunt the prisoners.
Jessica Watkins, October 19, 2021 writes:
Oh, My beloved sweet America, from what a lofty place you have fallen! God once shed his grace on thee, but now, no longer. You have abandoned all you believe in [.]
Since our Abduction, we have had our civil liberties violated, been beaten, maced, malnourished, held in appalling conditions, been medically neglected, mentally abused, and held in solitary confinement. Our food is often inedible, the water tainted with rust, the air contaminated with black mold from improper maintenance. We suffer these conditions indefinitely while Murderers [sic], rapists and school shooters are set free on bond.
As this miscarriage of justice continues, the corrupt liars that perpetuated this tragedy from the purloined dais of democracy, persist in eroding the foundation of our Nation. They have violated our nation’s sovereignty, bankrupted America and your children’s future, surrendered to our terrorist enemies and equipped them, left our citizens and allies behind as hostages, bombed children, forced you to endure unwanted injections in order to work, closed down your businesses, locked you down in your homes, brainwashed your children, and encouraged violent mobs to burn your country to the ground. When will YOU Stand Up AMERICA? How Far is too Far? This farce will not end itself.
Tyranny never surrenders the power it takes.
You must Act or surrender in servitude for all Time. The Choice is YOURS, and you must choose NOW.
Signed: The Political Prisoners of January 6th.
From Guy Reffitt, (Political Prisoner 376782) May 24, 2022:
We cannot bend the knee. We stay the course and we fight on. There’s no turning back, lest we give in, and never again know freedom. They give to other countries, our money, our futures. So others may fight against tyranny, while they bind us in chains, head down, eyes closed.
I do this time in chains for my family, and for yours. All of us are doing this for political reasons and we are interconnected. The founding father’s [sic] knew this day would come. So did we… so did you…
From Zach Rehl, J6 Political Prisoner, May 25, 2022:
The Founding Fathers… would be rolling in their graves if they knew people were being denied bail for exercising their 1st amendment right to protest while the government searches for crimes that did not occur, or their right to a speedy trial was being ignored for the same reason. These amendments were not written so criminals can escape justice, they were written so all can have a fair shot at freedom and to prevent political persecution by overzealous, powerful and corrupt individuals or government looking to silence ones [sic] 1st Amendment rights to free speech because it goes against the status quo.
The families of many of these brave souls are struggling in ways unimaginable.
Help in the fight for freedom and constitutional rights, donate at defendzach.com
In the chapter titled “Endurance July to September 2022,” readers learn that despite the cruelty, the J6 men and women persevered. Help began to pour in. A growing host of patriot sponsors filled their monthly food packages, deposited commissary funds, and paid their communications costs so they could reach out to their families and sponsors. Streams of letters voicing support continuously arrived.
Yet, they were continually taunted and abused. Their religious services were denied in addition to being denied haircuts and shaves. They could not use the law library or video conferencing services. They simply prayed together.
In fact, inside the Gulags, J6 prisoners were proving the quotation.
“The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress.”
Each person represented in the American Gulag Chronicles has suffered for years, either incarcerated or in home detention. Many other political prisoners are spread across the United States in at least 26 jails. More are added to the Patriot Mail Project @patriotmailproject.com. Support is needed from all of us to fight the intimidation and cruel and unusual punishments our fellow Americans continue to endure.
Eileen can be reached at middlemarch18@gmail.com
My G_d, look what America has come to. And still the people sit quietly and do nothing. Are they stirring yet?
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me.
—Martin Niemöller