 Both of Gorbachev's grandfathers were arrested—his maternal in 1934 and his paternal in 1937—and both spent time in Gulag labor camps prior to being released.After his December 1938 release, Gorbachev's maternal grandfather discussed having been tortured by the secret police, an account that influenced the young boy.Following on from the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, in June 1941 the German Army invaded the Soviet Union.