Soviet soldiers in France in 1945-46.

[MathieuB]

Hello, I work in a newspaper in southern France, and while spellchecking a not-so-interesting article about an association of old-soccer player, I found something quite interesting.

The oldest of the soccer veterants states in the article that, in 1945, his team and him played a few times against soviet soldiers stationned in L'Ardoise, not far from Avignon (and very close to where I work : Bagnols-sur-Cèze).
Up to this day, I had no idea soviet soldiers were present in France, so I started looking for informations about them, and found out that former former pro-german soviet POWs actually may have played a significant role within the Résistance.

Problem is, I can't find much about them, except for a couple sentences on the feldgrau website, and a short essay in French. How could I find more about those people? I've set up an appointement with the old soccer player, but given that he was barely 17 back then, I doubt he'll be able to tell me much more than what he already said.

[Carl Schwamberger]

I found mention of some "Russians" in a history of the US Rangers. They seem to have been either prisoners used as laborers and liberated by the Allies, or were "Ossies" who had volunteered to fight with the Germans & then deserted to the Allies. I'm inclined to think former prisoners/laborers. In any case the US Rangers refer to these "Russians" fighting with or near them against the Germans during the siege of Brest. Perhaps these are the same as the soccer player encountered?

[Orlov]

... soviet soldiers stationned in L'Ardoise, not far from Avignon (and very close to where I work : Bagnols-sur-Cèze) ...

Hello Mathieu!

Is this situation wasn't connected to Soviet Camp Beauregard? - I know distance between those place - but Soviet soldiers in Camp Beauregard can prepare small "holidays jump" to southern France. More information
[...] In France, the Soviet Union had perhaps its most pliant Western government. Moscow's prerogatives clearly included flagrant examples of disregard for the assigned tasks of repatriation. A large, effectively autonomous compound at Camp Beauregard, outside Paris, served as the major processing point for persons returning to Russia. The provisions of the Yalta repatriation accords and the French one, which permitted Soviet internal administration of refugee centres, greatly facilitated clandestine activities. In effect, Moscow was able to establish extraterritorial islands throughout Europe. Yet Camp Beauregard represented but a fraction of Soviet repatriation activities in France. Witnesses even attested to abductions undertaken without interference from the French police. The meddling of the Kremlin's officials on French soil became so commonplace that Parisian wags declared that German occupation had been replaced by Russian. Nevertheless, the Red Army's repeated delays in repatriating hundreds of thousands of French POWs in the East most decidedly helped to insure that General De Gaulle would tolerate the excesses of the Soviet repatriation mission.[...]
Dr. Mark R. Elliott (Director, The Global Center) The Soviet Repatriation Campaign
http://www.dpcamps.org/repatriation.html
bestreg
Orlov

[Bokkop]

Is it possible that his memory is out by a year? In 1944 there would have been Ostbataillonen in France.

[Semenov]

Hello, I work in a newspaper in southern France, and while spellchecking a not-so-interesting article about an association of old-soccer player, I found something quite interesting.

The oldest of the soccer veterants states in the article that, in 1945, his team and him played a few times against soviet soldiers stationned in L'Ardoise, not far from Avignon (and very close to where I work : Bagnols-sur-Cèze).
Up to this day, I had no idea soviet soldiers were present in France, so I started looking for informations about them, and found out that former former pro-german soviet POWs actually may have played a significant role within the Résistance.

Problem is, I can't find much about them, except for a couple sentences on the feldgrau website, and a short essay in French. How could I find more about those people? I've set up an appointement with the old soccer player, but given that he was barely 17 back then, I doubt he'll be able to tell me much more than what he already said.

Hi,
http://www.amazon.fr/LES-CAMPS-SOVIETIQ ... 2226089365

[Igorilla]

Hallo! It’s very difficult task get information about soviet people which fight in France resistant. Almost all of them in Soviet Union were to condemning like war crimes, and under sentencing for contacts with foreign people. In Russian’s archive databases doesn’t tell you anything about them, except little group.
My grandfather was taken prisoner near Voronezh in 1942. He goes away from camp for war prisoners from Germany in to the France and starts to fight in resistance in Paris. In 1944 he was meeting Americans and going with them to the east. In soviet occupation zone he was condemning and deportation in concentration camp in Kemerovo region. There collaborators from France resistant found him. They decorated him with a cross and presented him cognac and soap. Cross confiscated in NKVD. After this my grandfather was discharging from the camp. This story my grandmother told me.
My grandfather nothing says about war for me. One time he told me about Eiffel tower and restaurant in it, where he shot with some collaborators in German solders.

In runet I find some facts about soviet peoples which fights in France like this.
https://my.mail.ru/mail/boba.55/photo/18/19.html
http://www.mk.ru/politics/russia/2011/0 ... dvoih.html

Give me a hint about archives in France where I can get some information about soviet people who fight in France. Thank you.

[steve248]

There were also in France a number of "Ost Bataillon", units recruited from captured Soviet soldiers who did labouring work. A good number were captured and surrendered in Normandy after D-Day, 6 June 1944. No doubt many hundreds of the various Bataillons remained in France until the authorities decided what to do with them. Under the Yalta Agreement the "Big Three" agreed to send these soldiers back to the USSR. But France being France, and not a signatory they may well allowed them to remain. The latter point is speculation on my part, not evidence of fact.

[Sheldrake]

I have been wondering about the status of soviet PW since discovering a few WW2 soviet graves in Bayeux War Cemetery.

There was a distinction between the Ost-truppen who wore German uniforms and carried arms, the uniformed but unarmed "Hlfswilinger" and the tens of thousands of soviet PW employed as forced labour on the ostwall.

The USSR treated anyone taken prisoner as contravening Order 270 http://forum.axishistory.com/viewtopic. ... 4&t=199851

Perhaps those who had not served the Germans but merely passed from PW to slave labour might have been treated, at least with respect to the Western Allies, as if they were returning PW?