According to the archives of Norillag, 16,806 prisoners died in Norilsk under the conditions of forced labor, starvation and intense cold during the existence of the camp (1935–1956).
[11] Fatalities were especially high during the war years of 1942–1944 when food supplies were particularly scarce. Prisoners organised the nonviolent
Norilsk uprising in 1953. Unknown but significant numbers of prisoners continued to serve and die in the mines until around 1979. Norilsk-Talknakh continues to be a dangerous mine to work in: according to the mining company, there were 2.4 accidents per thousand workers in 2005.
[12] Since the early 2000s the city has been rebuilding itself and reshaping its image. Bars on the top floors of apartments are appearing and buildings are getting renovated.
There's no way out by car either, you have to take a boat or plane. The railway only goes north.
In the early 1950s,
another railway was under construction from the European coal city
Vorkuta via the
Salekhard/
Ob River, and Norilsk got a spacious railway station built in the expectation of train service to Moscow,
[9] but construction stopped after
Joseph Stalin died.