The poster measures approx. 32 ½" x 25 ½". Printed on thin paper. The poster presents a detailed schematic map of the Moskva-Volga Canal, one of the most publicized of the Soviet 1930's industrial projects, both in USSR and abroad, and also one of the deadliest, comparable perhaps only to the Belomor (White Sea - Baltic) Canal project which completed in 1932 by a workforce of 160,000 prisoner laborers of whom about 25,000 died during its construction. The workforce on the Moskva-Volga Canal project counted about 200,000 Gulag prisoners. As the Nazis were approaching Moscow in 1941, all the NKVD records pertaining to the prisoners were evacuated to Ulyanovsk (Lenin's birthplace) but were ordered to be burned right on the wharf there. Local historians estimate the death toll to be between 700,000 to about 1,500,000. To provide a frame of reference, the construction began in 1932 and finished in 1937. For a detailed literary account see Solzhenitsyn's Gulag Archipelago.

The poster is in good condition. It was stored folded in eight, and there are a few minor separations along the folds, the longest of which have been repaired with archival tape applied to the verso. The crease at bottom right does not reach the image and is not detracting. The top left corner shows some darkening of the paper. The top, right and bottom edges show very minor rips, barely noticeable on the large area of the poster.