Testimony On a Brick Wall (Book)

One of the many men imprisoned in Pekhit after the great general strike of 1829 was Pyotr Porlikoff, author, political theorist and former conservative party politician. Originally given a 7-year sentence for marching with the striking syndicalist and socialist unions, he was released after 3 as he had contracted consumption. Within a year of his release he would die, leaving his final works to be published posthumously. Testimony On a Brick Wall is an account of his time in prison in the aftermath of the general strike. Prison conditions would worsen further one year after Porlikoff's arrest when the Dovernian rebellion was put down in 1830. The book contains a personal diary by Porlikoff himself, as well as interviews with his fellow prisoners. The book derives its title from its original format. Denied pen and paper, Porlikoff wrote on the walls of his prison cell in Erimic, the ancient language spoken by the prophet Rajul Hakim. He would spend his final days transferring the book onto paper from his memory of these carvings

The book is heavily critical of the prison system. According to Porlikoff:

"Even the meagre dignity afforded to prisoners of war three decades earlier is now withheld within the walls of Clementsburg. One could say the guards treated men like dogs, were it not for the fact that the dogs never had to spend a night deprived of heat, light or sustinance. We are not here to be rehabilitated, as the law states, nor as an act of justice, as the holy books declare, but rather to be broken without ever being racked, entombed living in a mausoleum of brick and darkness"

No major publishing house would release the book in full, and so the manuscript was instead turned into a series of pamphlets by the syndicalists. Officially these pamphlets are considered propaganda, and banned for libel and vulgar content. Formerly accused of homosexuality, Porlikoff speaks in his diary of being subjected to sexual harassment by prison guards as a result. Accounts from men imprisoned on charges of homosexuality are also included, and all of these, including Porlikoff's own account speak of collective punishment in a cruel and unusual manner used against prisoners in this demographic