Soviet Crimes against Minority during World War II

[Benoit Douville]

Soviets targeted the following groups:

-Polish minority in Soviet Union
-Crimean Tatars
-Cossacks
-Chechens
-Volga Germans
-Kalmyks
-Meskhetians
-Lithuanians
-Latvians
-Estonians
-Orthodox Priests

Resistance to Soviet rule, separatism, and widespread collaboration with the German occupation forces were among the official reasons for the deportation of these Non-Russian peoples. The deportees were rounded up and transported to Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kirgizia, and Siberia. Most estimates indicate that close to two-fifths of the affected populations perished. The plight of the Crimean Tatars was exceptionally harsh, nearly half died the first eighteen months after being banished from their homeland, Astonishing!

Those crimes commited by the Soviet Union during World War II are almost unknown in the general public and this is really sad and it is very hard to find any info about those crimes against humanity. We can find every detail about the holocaust perpetred by the Nazi against the Jews but when it cames to crimes commited by the Soviet Union it is really tough to get any info.

[Krasnoarmieyet]

Mabe cause none of its ture and mabe its all western or nazi propaganda, to bad mouth the Soviet Union ? You alwese hear that the Soviet commited crimes against so and so but have you ever since any documents or anything that proves it ?

[Jure]

Mabe cause none of its ture and mabe its all western or nazi propaganda, to bad mouth the Soviet Union ?

Oh really...what makes you think that?

[Askold]

Soviets also persecuted various religious groups:

- Ukrainian Catholics (Uniates)
- Menonites
- Baptists

[Sergey Romanov]

Benoit's post is well-meaning but slightly misleading. Most of these people were Soviets too, so if we say that "Soviets" (as a group) persecuted someone, then Soviets persecuted Soviets. It is more correct to talk about Stalinist persecution.

BTW, during the war the persecution against the Church weakened since Stalin wanted to use religion for his purposes.

[Vadim]

I dont think this thread serves any useful purpose, it is way too broad. As David Thompson usually says in these cases, if you want to discuss Soviet crimes against any specific groups, pick a specific example and back up your opinion with sources. Better yet, do a search in archives here, I am sure most of these have been discussed previously.

For example, you said:

Resistance to Soviet rule, separatism, and widespread collaboration with the German occupation forces were among the official reasons for the deportation of these Non-Russian peoples

Do you have any evidence to show that the collaboration was widespread? Without any sources, this is no more than your opinion.

You further said:

Those crimes commited by the Soviet Union during World War II are almost unknown in the general public and this is really sad and it is very hard to find any info about those crimes against humanity. We can find every detail about the holocaust perpetred by the Nazi against the Jews but when it cames to crimes commited by the Soviet Union it is really tough to get any info

Did you even try? Or is this like the latest Joachim Chan's blunder when he said that there is no memorials to victims of certain genocides and then was proved wrong on every single count? Information about Stalin's persecution of these groups is available, try doing a basic net search.

By the way, the fact that "it is very hard to find any info" does not seem to prevent you from posting some very specific things like reasons and destinations of these groups' deportation and percentage of those who died, so you obviously did find some info.

I am not going to give you any websites as I believe you are quite capable of doing a cursory Google search, but here are a few good books if you really are interested in the subject:
- J. Otto Plath "Ethnic Cleansing in the USSR, 1937-1949"
- Aleksandr Nekrich "The Punished Peoples: The Deportation and Fate of Soviet Minorities at the End of the Second World War"
- Robert Conquest "The Nation Killers: The Soviet Deportation of Nationalities"
- Gerhard Simon "Nationalism and Policy toward the Nationalities in the Soviet Union: From Totalitarian Dictatorship to Post-Stalinist Society"
- Edwin Bacon "The Gulag at War: Stalin's Forced Labour System in the Light of the Archives" (gives you demographics of Gulag)
- Dmitry Volkogonov "Stalin: Triumph and Tragedy" (a more general reference but covers deportations as well)
There are a lot more books I can recommend, and I am sure Sergey has some too. Real tough to find info, huh? :roll:

[Sergey Romanov]

> Do you have any evidence to show that the collaboration was widespread? Without any sources, this is no more than your opinion.

Vadim, I believe Benoit cited the _official_ reasons, not his own opinion.

[Vadim]

> Do you have any evidence to show that the collaboration was widespread? Without any sources, this is no more than your opinion.

Vadim, I believe Benoit cited the _official_ reasons, not his own opinion.

Sergey, I agree, but that was exactly my point: if he is citing "official" reasons, there should be a source to back it up. In his format, it is impossible to tell if it is his opinion or he is quoting something.

In any case, my main beef was with his statement that it is very hard to find any info on these deportations (with an obligatory mention of Jewish Holocaust, of course). Feel free to add to a short list of books I posted above.

[David Thompson]

While I think that there are too many subjects and topics here for productive discussions on a single thread, the fact that information may be hard to find or access gave me an idea. I would like to use this thread as a collection point for information on the subject of Soviet treatment of minority populations during WWII. I ask the readers who are aware of sources of information to please post them here, to help others who are interested in this area of study.

If readers would like an in-depth discussion on the treatment of one or another minority, we can start a separate thread on the subject. There are already pre-existing threads on the Soviet treatment (I'm almost tempted to say "special treatment") of the Baltic countries, and I will try to prepare a thread index for them. Certainly, the treatment of other national minorities deserves attention as well.

[DrG]

- Italians of Crimea (they were deported in Siberia and Central Asia during WW2).
http://www.gulag-italia.it/gulag/frameset_ita.html (a really good site, made after extensive research, but in Italian only; there is an alfabetic list of the names of 1024 Italians, not only of Crimea, persecuted by communists and with details about them).
I have read a book that is also about them: prof. Giulio Vignoli, "Gli Italiani dimenticati. Minoranze italiane in Europa", Milano, Giuffrè, 2000.

[David Thompson]

Thanks, DrG.

[Benoit Douville]

Vadim,

My sources is from one of the Historian that you mention Robert Conquest... I have been trying to get info for a long time about Soviet Crimes against minority in the former Soviet Union, I did find some info but not all the info that I want if you compared to the info that you can find about the Nazi Crimes. I believe that in about 20 years from now, we will have more info and Soviet crimes will be well known like the Nazi crimes, well I hope so because they are no excuse for ignoring those crimes.

Regards

[Tapani K.]

There are already pre-existing threads on the Soviet treatment (I'm almost tempted to say "special treatment") of the Baltic countries, and I will try to prepare a thread index for them. Certainly, the treatment of other national minorities deserves attention as well.

In spite of the above, below are links on Estonian and Latvian victims of Soviet (and German) occupation. Although they have been posted earlier, I thought it might be convenient to have these in this thread, too.
http://www.okupatsioon.ee/english/index.html
http://vip.latnet.lv/LPRA/angliski.htm

regards,
Tapani K.

[Robert Rojas]

Greetings to both cousin Krasnoarmieyet and the community as a whole. Well comrade, in reference to your rhetorical inquiries as noted on Friday - July 23, 2004 - 12:37pm, old Uncle Bob would like to recommend the following two works of literature gravitating on the repressive escapades often associated with the regime of Koba The Terrible. The first work of literature is entitled as STALIN'S SECRET WAR: A Startling Expose of His Crimes Against The Russian People. The author is Nikolai Tolstoy and the publisher is Holt, Rinehart and Winston of New York. The publishing year is 1981. The second work of literature is entitled as THE TIME OF STALIN: Portrait of a Tyranny. The author is Anton Antonov-Oveseyenko and the publisher is Harper and Row (Harper Colophon Books) in New York. The publishing year is 1980. I believe you find a virtual cornucopia of well documented research examing the sordid activities of Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili and his minions. ENJOY! On an incidental note, if it is your intention to become the neighborhood's self-appointed apologist for the now defunct Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, then I would strongly urge you to engage your brain BEFORE you engage your computer keyboard. There is no need for you to make a complete ass of yourself unless you are a glutton for punishment. This little blurb was for your edification. As always, I would like to bid you a copacetic day no matter where you might find yourself on the junk heap of history.

Best Regards,
Uncle Bob :roll:

[Oleg Grigoryev]

Conquest??????????? You've got to be kidding. Anyway there is a scientist out there by the name of Pavel Polian who wrote extensevly on the subject. http://demoscope.ru/weekly/knigi/polian/polian.html


http://www.ceupress.com/books/html/Agai ... rWill.html