For the first time in world and domestic literature, the monograph analyzes the infrastructure of the special settlement system in the Soviet Union of the 1930-1950s. - a unique phenomenon in world history and penitentiary practice. The political and legal foundations of the emergence and development of the Soviet system of special settlements in the 1930-1940s, the "kulak exile," ethnic deportations, features of the management and supervision structure in special settlements, the economy of the system of special settlements, the prerequisites for the elimination of this system are considered. Intended for both historians and a wide range of readers interested in Soviet history.