The Solovetsky Islands were the site of the first Soviet concentration camps, the SLON (Solovetsky special purpose camp), which held mostly political prisoners. The camp functioned from 1923 to 1939. One of the best documentaries of the glasnost period, Solovetsky Power, reveals the history of the camp. Many prisoners were sent there for trivial reasons and sentenced to 10 to 20 years. The film contrasts 1928 Soviet propaganda film on Solovki with interviews of the survivors, who reveal the brutality and cynicism of the regime.