World War II: Soviet Union--Refugees

 Soviet refugees
Figure 1.--Here somewhere in the Sovet Union, possibly he Ukraine, Soviet women and children turned into refugees trudge eastward to escape the advancing Gernans, we would guess about October 1941. Tragically the Soviets made few provisions for the flood of refugees. Note the trucks. It can easily be seen how American Lend Lease trucks would revolutionize the Red army.

The Soviet Union signed the NAZI-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (August 1939) and a result began the War as a NAZI ally. After invaduing Poland with the NAZIs and launching World War II (September 1939), the Soviets invaded Finland (November 1939) seized control of the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia), and annexed areas of Romania. The Soviets created large numbers of refugees in Finland and Romania. The situation was different in the Baltics and Poland. Here the refugees had few places where they could flee. The NKVD began executing peopland deforting families to Central Asia and Siberia. These people can be classified as refugees. These actions set large scale population movements in motion. Only Finland resisted the Soviets (November 1939). The NKVD arested, shot, and deported large numbers of people in these countries and moved in Russians to Russify the new areas. The refugee problem changed dramatically when NAZI Germany invaded the Soviet Union (June 1941). No longer was in the Red Army and NKVD creating refugee in neighboring countries, it was Soviet citizens turned into refugees. The War which Stalin along wih Hitler launched, turned into a catastrophe for the Soviet people. The German invasion of the Soviet Union set even larger mumbers of people in motion as Russians surged east to escape the invading Germans. Soviet citizens would become the single greatest population displaced by the War that their own government launched. This is, howeverm a poorly reported as aspect of World War II. Some of these people were aided by the Soviet Government as part of the effort to move arms plants east and set them up beyonf the Urals. Most of the population was left to fend for themselves with orders to resist the Germans. As part of the German occuption, the NAZIs seized large numbers of Soviet citizens for war work in the Reich. The murderous Generalplan Ost called for the raising of Soviet industrial cities and a live work force. The Wehrmacht did not proceed with Generalplan Ost. Rather they attempted to use the industrial and agricultural plant that the Soviets did not destroy. And to do so they needed live Soviet workers. Much of the population of the cities were turned into refugees. Unless people were working for the Germans, they did not get ration booklets and thus faced starvation. Thus much of the city populations melted away into the countrside. The NKVD in the area not occupied by the Germans were orderd to deport large numbers of people in supect groups (Germans, Chechans, Crimean Trtars, and others). After the War, large numbers of Soviet slave laborers had to get home from the Reich. Stalin was suspicious of these people as well as POWs held by the Germans. Many wound up in the Gulag. The Soviet refugee problem did not end with the NAZI surrender. Stalin was sucspious of anyone who spent time in the West, including Soviet citizens seized for slave labor and POWs.

NAZI-Soviet Alliance

The NAZI-Soviet Non-Aggression Pact (August 1939) essentially made the NAZIs and Soviets allies. The Soviets never joined the Axis, although Japanese diplomats argued that they should be allowed to join. Even so, the Soviets were a very important NAZI ally. World War II histories generally mention the Pact in terms of making possible the NAZI invasion of Poland and then generally provide littleadditional information on the Pact and the NAZI-Soviet alliance. This is in part because after the NAZI invasion of the Soviet Union, the Soviets became a key element of the Allied struggle against the Axis. And this Soviet aggressions were inconvenient in depicging the struggle with the Axis as one between good and evil. Unfortunaltely, subsequent historians have focused on NAZI campaigns and occupation policies and generally left untouched the 2 years in which the NAZIs and Soviets cooperated. There was extensive cooperation between the two powers as they proceeded to divide Europe between themselves. The relation was troubled over differences between how Eastern Europe was to be divided, espcially disagreements over Finland, Lithuania, and Romania. With the Royal Navy blockade in place, the Soviet Union became Germany's most important supplier of strategic materials. The Soviets also facilitated contacts between Germany and Japan.

Refugees and Victims of Soviet Aggression

After invaduing Poland with the NAZIs and launching World War II (September 1939), the Soviets invaded Finland (November 1939) seized control of the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia), and annexed areas of Romania. The Soviets created large numbers of refugees in Finland and Romania. The situation was different in the Baltics and Poland. Here the refugees had few places where they could flee. The NKVD began executing peopland deforting families to Central Asia and Siberia. These people can be classified as refugees. These actions set large scale population movements in motion. Only Finland resisted the Soviets (November 1939). The NKVD arested, shot, and deported large numbers of people in these countries and moved in Russians to Russify the new areas.

Soviet Refugees

The refugee problem changed dramatically when NAZI Germany invaded the Soviet Union (June 1941). No longer was in the Red Army and NKVD creating refugee in neighboring countries, it was Soviet citizens turned into refugees. The War which Stalin along wih Hitler launched, turned into a catastrophe for the Soviet people. The German invasion of the Soviet Union set even larger mumbers of people in motion as Russians surged east to escape the invading Germans. Soviet citizens would become the single greatest population displaced by the War that their own government launched. This is, howeverm a poorly reported as aspect of World War II. Some of these people were aided by the Soviet Government as part of the effort to move arms plants east and set them up beyonf the Urals.

Refugees in unoccupied areas

Most of the population was left to fend for themselves with orders to resist the Germans. The NKVD in the area not occupied by the Germans were orderd to deport large numbers of people in supect groups (Germans, Chechans, Crimean Trtars, and others).

Refugees in NAZI occupied areas

As part of the German occuption, the NAZIs seized large numbers of Soviet citizens for war work in the Reich. The murderous Generalplan Ost called for the raising of Soviet industrial cities and a live work force. The Wehrmacht did not proceed with Generalplan Ost. Rather they attempted to use the industrial and agricultural plant that the Soviets did not destroy. And to do so they needed live Soviet workers. Much of the population of the cities were turned into refugees. Unless people were working for the Germans, they did not get ration booklets and thus faced starvation. Thus much of the city populations melted away into the countrside.

NAZI Surrender

After the War, large numbers of Soviet slave laborers had to get home from the Reich. The women involved were tatgeted by Red army troops even before the end of the War assaulting and raping them along with German women. Stalin was suspicious of these people as well as POWs held by the Germans. Many wound up in the Gulag. The Soviet refugee problem did not end with the NAZI surrender. Stalin was sucspious of anyone who spent time in the West, including Soviet citizens seized for slave labor and POWs. After the War, the Western Allies transferred Soviet refugees/DPs, once identified, to special repatriation camps under direct Soviet authority. [Janco] Most of the Soviet civilins and POWs wanted to go home, not fully understanding how they were viewed by Stalin. Some did not want to go home, deciciding to leave famly and frinds behind. And it was possible to avoid repatriation as long as they could aboid being identified as Soviet nationals. Some assumed non-Soviet identities such as claimeing to be Polish, Latvian, Lithuanian, or 'stateless'. Others remained outside the UNRRA camps. They sought to live on their own. These Soviet 'non-returners' lived in the forests, rented rooms from German farmers, or otherwide survived on their own. They were thus nostly outside the control or even view of the Allied forces and UNRRA. As aesult, the fate of Soviet 'non-returners' has not been reported. The repatriation of those identified as Soviet nationals progressed fairly rapidly. Some 95 percent had been repatriated (February 1946). This occurred for two reasons. First most Soviet citizens wanted to return home. Second, force was used to compel those reluctant to do so o return. [Janco]

Sources

Janco, Andrew Paul. "Soviet 'displaced persons' in Europe, 1941–1951," PQDT Open (2012).







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Created: 5:22 PM 1/11/2017
Last updated: 5:23 PM 1/11/2017