Kolyma - Birthplace of Our Fear

For all my life my parents have been telling me: be careful, don’t talk too much - this is dangerous; we are regular people - we can’t change anything.
My parents are great people and I love them a lot. However, they have been saying this for decades - even in absurd, unfair circumstances, when we were definitely in the right.
I would think: where did their generation get this fear from? Where did they learn to become grey? Why are they scared of being punished for trying to be brave? Here is my guess: this fear was planted a century ago and was passed down through the generations. One of the places where this fear emerged was Kolyma.
We drove the whole Kolyma driveway for a true experience. 2000 km of a heavy road. 9 days on the road. And severe, implausible frost.
What was life here like during the Stalin’s terror? What was it like after the terror? What is is like nowadays?
We were curious to find this out. We’re sharing with you everything we’ve found out.
/ yurydud