Why were they deported? Crimean Tatars in 1944
Deportation of Crimean Tatars in the last year of the Great Patriotic War was a mass eviction of local residents of Crimea to a number of regions of the Uzbek SSR, Kazakh SSR, Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and other republics Soviet Union. This happened immediately after the liberation of the peninsula from the Nazi invaders. The official reason for the action was the criminal assistance of many thousands of Tatars to the invaders.
Collaborators of Crimea
The eviction was carried out under the control of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs in May 1944. The order for the deportation of the Tatars, who were allegedly part of collaborationist groups during the occupation of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, was signed by Stalin shortly before, on May 11th. Beria justified the reasons:
Desertion of 20 thousand Tatars from the army during the period 1941-1944;
- unreliability of the Crimean population, especially pronounced in the border areas;
- a threat to the security of the Soviet Union due to the collaborationist actions and anti-Soviet sentiments of the Crimean Tatars;
- the abduction of 50 thousand civilians to Germany with the assistance of the Crimean Tatar committees.
In May 1944, the government of the Soviet Union did not yet have all the figures regarding the real situation in Crimea. After the defeat of Hitler and counting of losses, it became known that 85.5 thousand newly-made “slaves” of the Third Reich were actually driven to Germany from among the civilian population of Crimea alone.
Almost 72 thousand were executed with the direct participation of the so-called “Noise”. Schuma are auxiliary police, and in fact - punitive Crimean Tatar battalions subordinate to the fascists. Of these 72 thousand, 15 thousand communists were brutally tortured in the largest concentration camp in Crimea, the former collective farm "Krasny".
Main charges
After the retreat, the Nazis took some of the collaborators with them to Germany. Subsequently, a special SS regiment was formed from their number. Another part (5,381 people) were arrested by security officers after the liberation of the peninsula. During the arrests, many weapons were seized. The government feared an armed revolt of the Tatars because of their proximity to Turkey (Hitler hoped to drag the latter into a war with the communists).
According to the research of the Russian scientist, history professor Oleg Romanko, during the war, 35 thousand Crimean Tatars helped the fascists in one way or another: they served in the German police, participated in executions, betrayed communists, etc. For this, even distant relatives of traitors were entitled to exile and confiscation of property.
The main argument in favor of the rehabilitation of the Crimean Tatar population and their return to their historical homeland was that the deportation was actually carried out not on the basis of the actual actions of specific people, but on a national basis. The government wanted to eliminate the threat from the south as quickly as possible. Evictions were carried out urgently, in freight cars. Many died on the road due to overcrowding, lack of food and drinking water. In total, about 190 thousand Tatars were expelled from Crimea during the war. 191 Tatars died during transportation. Another 16 thousand died in new places of residence from mass starvation in 1946-1947.
On the eve of the war, Crimean Tatars made up less than one-fifth of the peninsula's population. Here are the 1939 census data 1:
Nevertheless, the Tatar minority was not at all infringed upon in its rights in relation to the “Russian-speaking” population. Quite the opposite. State languages The Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was Russian and Tatar. The basis administrative division autonomous republic was established national principle: in 1930, national village councils were created: Russian 207, Tatar 144, German 37, Jewish 14, Bulgarian 9, Greek 8, Ukrainian 3, Armenian and Estonian - 2 each. In addition, national districts were organized. In 1930, there were 7 such districts: 5 Tatar (Sudak, Alushta, Bakhchisaray, Yalta and Balaklava), 1 German (Biyuk-Onlarsky, later Telmansky) and 1 Jewish (Freidorf) 2 In all schools, children of national minorities studied in their own language. native language. After the start of the Great Patriotic War, many Crimean Tatars were drafted into the Red Army. However, their service was short-lived. Let us quote the memorandum of the deputy. People's Commissar of State Security of the USSR B.Z. Kobulov and deputy. People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR I.A. Serov addressed to L.P. Beria, dated April 22, 1944:
"... All those drafted into the Red Army amounted to 90 thousand people, including 20 thousand Crimean Tatars... 20 thousand Crimean Tatars deserted in 1941 from the 51st Army during its retreat from Crimea..." 3
Thus, the desertion of the Crimean Tatars from the Red Army was almost universal. This is confirmed by data for individual settlements. Thus, in the village of Koush, out of 132 people drafted into the Red Army in 1941, 120 deserted 4 .
Then began serving the German occupiers.
“From the very first days of their arrival, the Germans, relying on the Tatar nationalists, without openly robbing their property, as they did with the Russian population, tried to ensure that the local population treated them well,” 5 wrote the head of the 5th partisan region, Krasnikov. .
Already in December 1941, the German command began organizing the so-called “Muslim committees”. Under the leadership of the Germans, armed “self-defense” units began to form. Many Tatars were used as conductors of punitive detachments against partisans. Separate detachments were sent to the Kerch front and partly to the Sevastopol section of the front, where they took part in battles against the Red Army. But most of all they became famous for their massacres of civilians. Here it is appropriate to recall one of the main arguments of the defenders of “repressed peoples”:
“The accusation of treason, actually committed by individual groups of Crimean Tatars, was unreasonably extended to the entire Crimean Tatar people” 6.
They say that not all Tatars served the Germans, but only " separate groups", and others were partisans at that time. However, there was also an anti-Hitler underground in Germany, so now the Germans should be counted among our allies in World War II? Let's look at specific numbers. Let's turn to the data of N.F. Bugai himself:
“According to approximate data, the units of the German army stationed in Crimea consisted of more than 20 thousand Crimean Tatars” 7
.That is, taking into account the information given in the note by Kobulov and Serov cited above, almost the entire Crimean Tatar population is of military age. It is significant that this unseemly circumstance is actually recognized in a very characteristic publication (“The book constitutes the documentary historical basis of the ongoing Russian Federation measures for the rehabilitation of abused and punished peoples" 8).
How many Crimean Tatars were among the partisans? On June 1, 1943, there were 262 people in the Crimean partisan detachments, of which 145 were Russians, 67 Ukrainians and... 6 Tatars 9 . As of January 15, 1944, according to the party archive of the Crimean Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine, there were 3,733 partisans in Crimea, of which 1,944 were Russians, 348 were Ukrainians, and 598 were Tatars 10 . Finally, according to a certificate on the party, national and age composition of the Crimean partisans as of April 1944, among the partisans there were: Russians - 2075, Tatars - 391, Ukrainians - 356, Belarusians - 71, others - 754 11 .
So, even if we take the maximum of the given figures - 598, then the ratio of Tatars in the German army and in the partisans will be more than 30 to 1. It is also very interesting to read the newspaper "Azat Crimea" ("Liberated Crimea"), published in the occupied Crimea since 1942 to 1944. Here are some representative excerpts 12:
03/03/1942
After our German brothers crossed the historical ditch at the gates of Perekop, the great sun of freedom and happiness rose for the peoples of Crimea.
03/10/1942
Alushta. At a meeting organized by the Muslim Committee, Muslims expressed their gratitude to the Great Fuhrer Adolf Hitler-effendi for the gift he gave to the Muslim people free life. Then they held a service for the preservation of the life and health of Adolf Hitler Effendi for many years.
In the same issue:
To the great Hitler - liberator of all peoples and religions! 2 thousand Tatar village. Kokkozy (now the village of Sokolinoe, Bakhchisarai district) and surrounding areas gathered for a prayer service... in honor of the German soldiers. We made a prayer to the German martyrs of the war... The entire Tatar people prays every minute and asks Allah to grant the Germans victory over the whole world. Oh, great leader, we tell you with all our hearts, with all our being, believe us! We, Tatars, give our word to fight the herd of Jews and Bolsheviks together with German soldiers in the same ranks!.. May God thank you, our great Master Hitler!
03/20/1942
Together with the glorious German brothers who arrived in time to liberate the world of the East, we, the Crimean Tatars, declare to the whole world that we have not forgotten the solemn promises of Churchill in Washington, his desire to revive Jewish power in Palestine, his desire to destroy Turkey, seize Istanbul and the Dardanelles , raise an uprising in Turkey and Afghanistan, etc. etc. The East is waiting for its liberator not from lying democrats and swindlers, but from the National Socialist Party and from the liberator Adolf Hitler. We took an oath to make sacrifices for such a sacred and brilliant task.
04/10/1942
From a message to A. Hitler, received at a prayer service by more than 500 Muslims in the city of Karasubazar.
Our liberator! It is only thanks to you, your help and thanks to the courage and dedication of your troops that we were able to open our houses of worship and perform prayer services in them. Now there is not and cannot be such a force that would separate us from the German people and from you. The Tatar people swore and gave their word, having signed up as volunteers in the ranks of the German troops, hand in hand with your troops to fight against the enemy to the last drop of blood. Your victory is the victory of everything Muslim world. We pray to God for the health of your troops and ask God to give you, the great liberator of nations, for many years life. You are now a liberator, the leader of the Muslim world - gases Adolf Hitler.
In the same issue:
Liberator of oppressed peoples, son of the German people, Adolf Hitler.
We, Muslims, with the arrival of the valiant sons of Great Germany in Crimea, with your blessing and in memory of long-term friendship, stood shoulder to shoulder with the German people, took up arms and began to fight to the last drop of blood for the great universal ideas put forward by you - the destruction of the red Jewish Bolshevik plague to the end and without a trace.
Our ancestors came from the East, and we waited for liberation from there, but today we are witnesses that liberation is coming to us from the West. Perhaps for the first and only time in history it happened that the sun of freedom rose from the west. This sun is you, our great friend and leader, with your mighty German people.
Presidium of the Muslim Committee.
As we see, Gorbachev, with his notorious “universal human values,” had a worthy predecessor.
After the liberation of Crimea by Soviet troops, the hour of reckoning came.
The NKVD and NKGB bodies are carrying out work in Crimea to identify and seize enemy agents, traitors to the Motherland, accomplices of the Nazi occupiers and other anti-Soviet elements.
As of May 7 this year. 5,381 such persons were arrested.
5,995 rifles, 337 machine guns, 250 machine guns, 31 mortars and large number grenades and rifle cartridges...
By 1944, over 20 thousand Tatars had deserted from the Red Army units, betrayed their Motherland, went into the service of the Germans and fought against the Red Army with arms in hand...
Considering the treacherous actions of the Crimean Tatars against the Soviet people and based on the undesirability of further residence of the Crimean Tatars on the border outskirts of the Soviet Union, the NKVD of the USSR submits for your consideration a draft decision of the State Defense Committee on the eviction of all Tatars from the territory of Crimea.
We consider it advisable to resettle the Crimean Tatars as special settlers in the regions of the Uzbek SSR for use in work both in agriculture - collective farms, state farms, and in industry and construction.
The issue of settling the Tatars in the Uzbek SSR was agreed upon with the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (Bolsheviks) of Uzbekistan, Comrade Yusupov.
According to preliminary data, there are currently 140-160 thousand Tatar population in Crimea. The eviction operation will begin on May 20-21 and end on June 1. At the same time, I present a draft resolution of the State Defense Committee and ask for your decision.
People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR
L. Beria
Project
Resolution
State Defense Committee 14
May 1944
The State Defense Committee decides:
1. All Tatars should be evicted from the territory of Crimea and settled permanently as special settlers in the regions of the Uzbek SSR. Entrust the eviction to the NKVD of the USSR. Oblige the NKVD of the USSR (Comrade Beria) to complete the eviction of the Crimean Tatars before June 1, 1944.
2. Establish the following procedure and conditions for eviction:
a) Allow special settlers to take with them personal belongings, clothing, household equipment, dishes and food in an amount of up to 500 kg per family.
Property, buildings, outbuildings, furniture and garden lands remaining on site are accepted by local authorities; all productive and dairy cattle, as well as poultry, are accepted by the People's Commissariat of Meat and Milk Industry; all agricultural products - by the People's Commissariat of the USSR; horses and other draft animals - by the People's Commissariat of Meat of the USSR; breeding stock - by the People's Commissariat of State Farm of the USSR.
Acceptance of livestock, grain, vegetables and other types of agricultural products is carried out with the issuance of exchange receipts for each settlement and each farm.
To entrust the NKVD of the USSR, the People's Commissariat for Agriculture, the People's Commissariat of Meat and Milk Industry, the People's Commissariat for State Farm and the People's Commissariat for Transport of the USSR from July 1 of this year. submit to the Council of People's Commissars proposals on the procedure for returning livestock received from them to special settlers using exchange receipts, poultry, agricultural products.
b) To organize the reception of the property, livestock, grain and agricultural products left by special settlers in the places of eviction, send to the site a commission of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR, consisting of: the chairman of the commission, Comrade. Gritsenko (Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the RSFSR) and members of the commission - Comrade. Krestyaninov (member of the board of the People's Commissariat of Agriculture of the USSR), comrade. Nadyarnykh (member of the board of NKM and MP), comrade. Pustovalov (member of the board of the People's Commissariat of Transport of the USSR), comrade. Kabanova (Deputy People's Commissar of State Farms of the USSR), Comrade. Gusev (member of the board of the USSR Narkomfin).
Oblige the People's Commissariat of Agriculture of the USSR (comrade Benediktova), the People's Commissariat of the USSR (comrade Subbotina), the NKP and MP (comrade Smirnova), the People's Commissariat of State Farm of the USSR (comrade Lobanova) to send livestock, grain and agricultural products from special settlers (in agreement with comrade. Gritsenko) to Crimea required quantity workers.
c) Oblige the NKPS (Comrade Kaganovich) to organize the transportation of special settlers from Crimea to the Uzbek SSR by specially formed trains according to a schedule drawn up jointly with the NKVD of the USSR. Number of trains, loading stations and destination stations at the request of the NKVD of the USSR. Payments for transportation are made according to the tariff for transportation of prisoners.
d) The People's Commissariat of Health of the USSR (Comrade Miterev) allocates one doctor and two nurses with an appropriate supply of medicines for each train with special settlers, in a timely manner in agreement with the NKVD of the USSR, and provides medical and sanitary care for special settlers en route.
e) The People's Commissariat of Trade of the USSR (Comrade Lyubimov) provide all trains with special settlers with hot meals and boiling water every day. To organize food for special settlers on the way, allocate food to the People's Commissariat of Trade...
3. Oblige the Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party (b) of Uzbekistan, Comrade. Yusupov, Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the UzSSR Comrade. Abdurakhmanov and People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the Uzbek USSR comrade. Kobulova until July 1 of this year. carry out the following activities for the reception and resettlement of special settlers:
a) Accept and resettle within the Uzbek SSR 140-160 thousand people of special Tatar settlers sent by the NKVD of the USSR from the Crimean ASSR.
The resettlement of special settlers will be carried out in state farm villages, existing collective farms, subsidiary agricultural farms of enterprises and factory villages for use in agriculture and industry.
b) In the areas of resettlement of special settlers, create commissions consisting of the chairman of the regional executive committee, the secretary of the regional committee and the head of the NKVD, entrusting these commissions with carrying out all activities related to the direct placement of arriving special settlers.
c) Prepare vehicles for transporting special settlers, mobilizing for this purpose the transport of any enterprises and institutions.
d) Ensure that arriving special settlers are provided with personal plots and assist in the construction of houses using local building materials.
e) Organize special commandant's offices of the NKVD in the areas of resettlement of special settlers, attributing their maintenance to the budget of the NKVD of the USSR.
f) Central Committee and Council of People's Commissars of the UzSSR by May 20 of this year. submit to the NKVD of the USSR comrade. Beria's project for the resettlement of special settlers in regions and districts, indicating train unloading stations.
4. Oblige the Agricultural Bank (comrade Kravtsova) to issue special settlers sent to the Uzbek SSR in the places of their resettlement a loan for the construction of houses and for economic establishment of up to 5,000 rubles per family with installments of up to 7 years.
5. Oblige the People's Commissariat of the USSR (Comrade Subbotin) to allocate flour, cereals and vegetables to the Council of People's Commissars of the Uzbek SSR for distribution to special settlers during June-August of this year. monthly in equal quantities... Distribution of flour, cereals and vegetables to special settlers during June-August of this year. produce free of charge, in exchange for agricultural products and livestock taken from them in the places of eviction.
6. Oblige the NPO (comrade Khrulev) to transfer during May-July this year. to strengthen the transport of the NKVD troops garrisoned in the areas of resettlement of special settlers in the Uzbek SSR, Kazakh SSR and Kyrgyz SSR, there were 100 Willys vehicles and 250 trucks that were out of repair.
7. Oblige Glavneftesnab (comrade Shirokova) to allocate and ship until May 20, 1944 to points at the direction of the NKVD of the USSR 400 tons of gasoline and to the disposal of the Council of People's Commissars of the Uzbek SSR - 200 tons. Deliveries of gasoline should be made by uniformly reducing supplies to all other consumers.
8. To oblige Glavsnables of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (Comrade Lopukhov), through the sale of resources, to supply NKPS with 75,000 carriage planks, 2.75 m each, with delivery before May 15 of this year; Transportation of NKPS boards must be carried out using your own means.
9. The People's Commissariat of Finance of the USSR (comrade Zverev) to release the NKVD of the USSR in May of this year. from the reserve fund of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR for special events 30 million rubles.
Chairman of the State Defense Committee
I.Stalin
On April 2 and May 11, 1944, the State Defense Committee adopted resolutions No. 5943ss and No. 5859ss on the eviction of the Crimean Tatars from the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic to the Uzbek SSR 15.
The operation was carried out quickly and decisively. The eviction began on May 18, and already on May 20, Serov and Kobulov reported:
Telegram addressed to the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR L.P. Beria 16
We hereby report that started in accordance with your instructions on May 18 of this year. The operation to evict the Crimean Tatars was completed today, May 20, at 16:00. A total of 180,014 people were evicted, loaded into 67 trains, of which 63 trains numbered 173,287 people. sent to their destinations, the remaining 4 echelons will also be sent today.
In addition, the district military commissars of Crimea mobilized 6,000 Tatars of military age, who, according to the orders of the Head of the Red Army, were sent to the cities of Guryev, Rybinsk and Kuibyshev.
Of the number of 8,000 special contingent people sent at your direction to the Moskovugol trust, 5,000 people. also constitute Tatars.
Thus, 191,044 persons of Tatar nationality were removed from the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic.
During the eviction of the Tatars, 1,137 people were arrested against anti-Soviet elements, and in total during the operation - 5,989 people.
Weapons seized during the eviction: 10 mortars, 173 machine guns, 192 machine guns, 2650 rifles, 46,603 ammunition.
In total, during the operation the following were confiscated: 49 mortars, 622 machine guns, 724 machine guns, 9888 rifles and 326,887 ammunition.
There were no incidents during the operation.
Serov
Kobulov
In addition to the Tatars, Bulgarians, Greeks, Armenians and persons of foreign citizenship were evicted from Crimea. The need for this step was justified by the following document:
I.V.Stalin 17
After the eviction of the Crimean Tatars in Crimea, work continues to identify and seize the anti-Soviet element, combing, etc. by the NKVD of the USSR. On the territory of Crimea, 12,075 Bulgarians, 14,300 Greeks, and 9,919 Armenians are counted.
The Bulgarian population lives mostly in settlements between Simferopol and Feodosia, as well as in the Dzhankoy region. There are up to 10 village councils with a population of 80 to 100 Bulgarian residents each.
During the period of the German occupation, a significant part of the Bulgarian population actively participated in the activities carried out by the Germans to procure bread and food for the German army, assisted the German military authorities in identifying and detaining Red Army soldiers and Soviet partisans, and received “safety certificates” from the German command.
The Germans organized police detachments from Bulgarians, and also carried out recruitment among the Bulgarian population to send them to work in Germany.
The Greek population lives in most areas of Crimea. A significant part of the Greeks, especially in coastal cities, took up trade and small industry with the arrival of the invaders. The German authorities assisted the Greeks in trade, transportation of goods, etc.
The Armenian population lives in most regions of Crimea. Large settlements with the Armenian population no. The Armenian Committee, organized by the Germans, actively collaborated with the Germans and carried out a lot of anti-Soviet work.
In the mountains Simferopol there was a German intelligence organization "Dromedar", headed by the former Dashnak general Dro, who led intelligence work against the Red Army and for these purposes created several Armenian committees for espionage and subversive work in the rear of the Red Army and to facilitate the organization of volunteer Armenian legions.
Armenian national committees, with the active participation of emigrants arriving from Berlin and Istanbul, carried out work to promote “independent Armenia.”
There were so-called “Armenian religious communities”, which, in addition to religious and political issues, were involved in organizing trade and small industry among the Armenians. These organizations provided assistance to the Germans, especially “by collecting funds” for Germany’s military needs.
Armenian organizations formed the so-called “Armenian Legion”, which was maintained at the expense of the Armenian communities.
The NKVD considers it expedient to evict all Bulgarians, Greeks, and Armenians from the territory of Crimea.
L. Beria
Summing up the results of the eviction operations from Crimea, Beria reported to Stalin:
State Defense Committee
Comrade Stalin I.V. 18
July 5, 1944
In pursuance of your instructions, the NKVD-NKGB of the USSR, from April to July 1944, cleared the territory of Crimea from the anti-Soviet spy element, and Crimean Tatars, Bulgarians, Greeks, Armenians and persons of foreign nationality were evicted to the eastern regions of the Soviet Union. As a result of the measures, 7,883 anti-Soviet elements were confiscated, 998 spies were seized, 225,009 people were evicted from special forces, 15,990 weapons were confiscated from the population illegally, including 716 machine guns, and 5 million pieces of ammunition.
23,000 soldiers and officers of the NKVD troops and up to 9,000 operational personnel of the NKVD-NKGB took part in the operations in Crimea.
L. Beria
According to generally accepted opinion, all Crimean Tatars, without exception, were subject to eviction, including those who honestly fought in the Red Army or in partisan detachments. Actually this is not the case:
“Members of the Crimean underground who operated behind enemy lines and members of their families were also exempted from the status of “special settler.” Thus, the family of S.S. Useinov, who was in Simferopol during the occupation of Crimea, was released from December 1942 to March 1943 a member of an underground patriotic group, then was arrested by the Nazis and shot. Family members were allowed to live in Simferopol." 19 .
"... Crimean Tatar front-line soldiers immediately applied for the release of their relatives from special settlements. Such appeals were sent by the deputy commander of the 2nd aviation squadron of the 1st fighter aviation regiment of the Higher Officer School air combat captain E.U. Chalbash, major of the armored forces Kh. Chalbash and many others... Often requests of this nature were satisfied, in particular, the family of E. Chalbash was allowed to live in the Kherson region" 20 .
Women who married Russians were also exempt from eviction:
Report addressed to the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR L.P. Beria 21
During the resettlement from Crimea, there were cases of eviction of women of Tatar, Armenian, Greek and Bulgarian nationality, whose husbands were Russian by nationality and were left to live in Crimea or were in the Red Army.
We consider it advisable to release such women from the special settlement if there is no incriminating information on them.
We ask for your guidance.
V. Chernyshov
M.M.Kuznetsov
Let us conclude with one more quote:
“The Black Sea Greeks were evicted, but the Azov Greeks were left behind. The Armenians were deported from Crimea, but the Republic of Armenia was not liquidated. Actually, there was no anti-Tatar, anti-Armenian, anti-Greek propaganda, as the fascists did with their racial theory and their ethnocratic accomplices. The Stalinist regime proceeded from own ideas on national security and geostrategic interests of the country" 22 .
Let us add that based on these ideas, the “Stalinist regime” was able to win the war against the strongest enemy and defend the independence and territorial integrity of our country.
__________
Notes
1. Crimea is multinational. Questions and answers. Vol. 1. / Comp. N.G. Stepanova. Simferopol: Tavria, 1988. P.72.
2. Ibid. P.66.
3. Joseph Stalin to Lavrentiy Beria: “They must be deported...”: Documents, facts, comments / Comp. N.F.Bugai. M.: Friendship of Peoples, 1992. P.131.
4. Archive of the Institute Russian history RAS (IRIRAN). F.2. Section VI. Op.13. D.26. L.5. Quote by: Bugai N.F. L. Beria - I. Stalin: According to your instructions... M.: "AIRO-XX", 1995. P.148.
5. IRIRAN Archive. F.2. Section VI. Op.13. D.31. L.6. Quote by: Bugai N.F. L. Beria to I. Stalin: According to your instructions... P.145.
6. "Loaded into trains and sent to places of settlement...". L. Beria - I. Stalin. Compiled by Bugai N.F. // History of the USSR. 1991, no. 1. P.160.
7. Bugai N.F. L. Beria - I. Stalin: According to your instructions... P.146.
8. Ibid. C.2.
9. Crimea is multinational. Questions and answers. Vol. 1. P.80.
10. Ibid.
11. IRIRAN Archive. F.2. Section 2. Op.10. D.51b. L.3, 13. Quote by: Bugai N.F. L. Beria - I. Stalin: According to your instructions... P.146.
12. National politics Russia: history and modernity. M.: Russian World. 1997. pp. 318-320.
13. Deportation. Beria reports to Stalin... // Communist. 1991, no. 3. P.107.
14. Joseph Stalin to Lavrentiy Beria: “They must be deported...”: Documents, facts, comments. P.134-137.
15. Bugai N.F. L. Beria - I. Stalin: According to your instructions... P. 150-151.
16. Joseph Stalin to Lavrentiy Beria: “They must be deported...”: Documents, facts, comments. P.138-139.
17. GARF. F.R-9401. Op.2. D.65. L.162-163. Quote from: Joseph Stalin to Lavrentiy Beria: “They must be deported...”: Documents, facts, comments. P.140-142.
18. GARF. F.R.-9401. Op.2. D.65. L.271-272. Quote from: Joseph Stalin to Lavrentiy Beria: “They must be deported...”: Documents, facts, comments. P.144.
19. Bugai N.F. L. Beria - I. Stalin: According to your instructions... P.156.
20. Ibid. P.156-157.
21. Joseph Stalin to Lavrentiy Beria: “They must be deported...”: Documents, facts, comments. P.145.
22. National policy of Russia: history and modernity. P.320.
Speculation on history is the most scary looking speculation. Because the result of such actions is the growth of hatred. And the result of hatred can be a new war or a new conflict. Therefore, the rule is this: if you want peace and friendship, don’t let us speculate on history; if you want to sow a future war, immediately start pushing the topic, distorting the facts and whipping up emotions.
I don’t want to talk about the Eurovision contest at all. Instead of the competition of national identity of the peoples of Europe, which it was once intended to be, it has turned into a bright manifestation of vice, singing for some reason almost always on English. To make it clear? But it doesn’t need to be clear. Write the name of the song, tell us what it's about, and we'll be happy to enjoy Greek, Polish, Bulgarian and German languages. But since the meaning of the competition has been lost and it has completely degenerated, then participation in this competition is not at all important for our country; we must approach it without aspiration. Understanding full well that this is a politically biased show, working according to the liberal principle “it doesn’t matter how people vote, what matters is what the jury thinks, which no one knows!” This means sending nationally colorful performers to Eurovision who sing in Russian (and certainly not in English). Buranovsky grandmothers are just right. In 2017, I would send Sergei Shnurov there. Let him show. He'll talk. He will sing. Looking at it, we will definitely enjoy it. As for who votes and counts – we don’t care about that! A frivolous competition, where talent does not decide anything, must be treated with humor and not seriously.
But enough about this truly wretched glossy competition, inflated with advertising to incredible proportions. The current results of Eurovision, on which the enemies of our country are speculating, require only one thing from us: an honest story about what happened in Crimea in May 1944. Why did the leadership of the USSR decide to evict the Crimean Tatars and how was this carried out? It’s important to tell the truth – there is a lot of speculation on this topic. So what? ultimate goal speculation on this topic by Kyiv and Washington and Brussels is the organization of bloodshed in Crimea - this is visible to the naked eye.
So let's begin.
The Great Patriotic War, which began on June 22, 1941, quickly reached Crimea. Already on September 24, 1941, seven German divisions, together with the Romanian corps as part of the 11th German Army of Army Group South under the command of General Erich von Manstein, began an attack on Crimea from the occupied territory Soviet Ukraine through the Perekop Isthmus. Without going into details of the course of hostilities, we note that in 1941 the Germans failed to take Crimea and Sevastopol. May 7, 1942 Commander of the 11th Wehrmacht Army General Manstein launched Operation Bustard Hunt. The result was defeat our Crimean Front and a sharp increase in the Nazi onslaught on Sevastopol. The heroic defense of Sevastopol, the main base of the Black Sea Fleet, lasted 250 days and nights. On July 1, 1942, the resistance of the defenders of Sevastopol was broken, and only isolated groups Soviet soldiers and sailors fought over the next couple of weeks.
In the occupied territory of Crimea, the Nazis deployed their instruments of terror. In this sense, Crimea was no different from Belarus, Ukraine or Latvia, where immediately after the arrival of the “German liberators,” mass executions began and concentration camps were built. During their stay in Crimea, the Nazis shot 72 thousand Crimeans and tortured more than 18 thousand in prisons and camps. In addition to the civilian population, 45 thousand Soviet military personnel who were captured were destroyed. The local “Dachau” was the state farm near Simferopol “Red”, which was converted into a death camp. It held both Soviet prisoners of war and residents of Crimea. During the occupation, daily executions alone took the lives of more than 8 thousand people.
In Crimea, the Germans were not original. Just like everywhere else , local “elements” were used to guard the concentration camps. It is no secret that many Nazi death camps (in particular Sobibor) were guarded Ukrainian nationalists. According to evidence, the camp at the Krasny state farm, according to the same German “scheme,” was guarded by Tatar volunteers from the 152nd Shuma auxiliary police battalion. The Nazis began their favorite tactic of pitting peoples against each other, which we saw in full after the coup in Ukraine, during the unfolding Donbass tragedy. Where the population was not multinational, other methods of division were used. That is why we see such strange things when in one Bryansk region, populated in rural areas mainly by Russians, there was the Lokotsky district and the Dyatkovo district. In the first, self-government and a brigade under the command of Kaminsky functioned, fighting against the partisans, and in the second, full-fledged Soviet power operated and the Germans did not interfere there at all. And this is within one Russian region! Some helped the Germans fight partisans and civilians, others destroyed the invaders.
So if you tell the truth, then tell it all...
This is what the head wrote to Stalin on August 18, 1942 partisan movement USSR P.K. Ponomarenko: “The Germans are using all means to attract to the fight against partisans... contingents from our population of the occupied regions, creating from them military units, punitive and police detachments. By this they want to ensure that the partisans get stuck in a fight not with the Germans, but with formations from the local population... There is frenzied nationalist propaganda around the formations... This is accompanied by incitement of national hatred and anti-Semitism. Crimean Tatars, for example, received gardens, vineyards and tobacco plantations taken from Russians, Greeks, etc.”
When it comes to collaboration during the Nazi occupation of Crimea, many remember only the Crimean Tatars. For the most part, this myth was a consequence of a national tragedy - the deportation of the Crimean Tatar people. However, it is worth noting that, firstly, not all Crimean Tatars chose the path of collaboration. Secondly, not only the Crimean Tatars collaborated with the occupation administration. For positions of chiefs local government people were appointed who were active accomplices of the occupiers. By the way, V. Maltsev was appointed to the post of Yalta burgomaster. The same one who on the night of 1 On August 1946, together with General Vlasov and other senior officers of the so-called “Russian Liberation Army” (ROA), he was hanged in the courtyard of Butyrka prison. Collaborationist military formations played a major role, helping the Wehrmacht in the fight against the Crimean partisans. Their number for the entire period of occupation was as follows: in Russian and Cossack units - about 5 thousand people, in Ukrainian units - about 3 thousand people, in parts of the eastern legions - about 7 thousand people and in Crimean Tatar formations - from 15 to 20 thousand people. Since June 1943, a recruitment point for the Vlasov “Russian Liberation Army” appeared on the peninsula. It should be said that he was not popular. If among the Crimean Tatars the Germans easily played on national contradictions, then of the Russians over the entire time they hardly managed to recruit only a few thousand people into the ranks of the ROA (including those languishing in concentration camps). And then, closer to the beginning of 1944, at least a third of them went over to the side of the partisans.
Thus, talking about collaboration among only Crimean Tatars is fundamentally wrong. It is also important to note that, according to the 1939 census, the Crimean Tatars were the second largest nationality of the peninsula - 19.4% (218,179 people) of the total population (Russians - 49.6%, 558,481 people). Therefore, based on the national policy pursued by the Nazis, they were a priority even in comparison with the Ukrainians, of whom at that time there were only 13.7% on the territory of the peninsula. And the Germans directed their main efforts towards pitting Russians and Crimean Tatars against each other. However, not all representatives of the Crimean Tatar people chose this path. For example, the head of the Southern headquarters of the partisan movement, Comrade Seleznev, closer to the spring campaign of 1944 for the liberation of Crimea, said in a radiogram: “The atrocities, robberies, violence of the Germans are aggravating and embittering the population of the occupied territories. Dissatisfaction with the occupiers is growing daily. The population awaits the arrival of the Red Army. It is characteristic that Crimean Tatars en masse become partisans». So, the commissar of the 4th partisan brigade was Mustafa Selimov. There were 501 Crimean Tatars in the brigade itself, which was approximately a quarter of its strength. In general, with the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, many Crimean Tatars stood up to defend our country along with its other peoples. In particular, Abdraim Reshidov served as commander of a bomber aviation regiment. During the entire war, he flew 222 combat missions and was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Fighter pilot AkhmetKhan Sultan personally shot down 30 German planes, for which he was twice awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. 15 fascist tanks were knocked out by guns under the command of Seitnafe Seitveliev during the defense of Odessa, in the battles of Kerch and Sevastopol, in the Battle of Kursk and during Operation Bagration.
During the 26 months of the fight against the occupiers, 80 partisan detachments with a total number of over 12.5 thousand people, as well as 220 underground groups and organizations. During this time, more than 29 thousand German soldiers and police were killed, more than 250 battles and 1,600 operations were carried out. In response to the actions of the partisans, the Nazis began to commit atrocities. For example, in the mountainous Crimea, 127 settlements were burned and destroyed. In the Greek village of Laki, on March 24, 1942, the Germans burned 38 people alive. In the village of UluSala (now Sinapnoye), which is located 18 kilometers southeast of Bakhchisaray, in the upper reaches of the Kacha River, the Nazis burned 34 people alive - old people, women and children. Moreover, all of them, with the exception of one person, were Crimean Tatars.
In May 1944, Crimea was liberated by our army. And almost immediately a decision was made to deport the Crimean Tatars. In addition to the Tatars, Bulgarians, Greeks, and Armenians were evicted from the peninsula. The Crimean Tatars suffered the most, of course. However, when assessing these events, you need to understand the conditions under which decisions were made, what cruelty was committed around by the Nazis and their accomplices, and what a terrible war our country took part in.
On May 10, 1944, a note from L.P. Beria with a draft decision on the eviction of the Crimean Tatars was placed on Stalin’s desk. After which a resolution of the State Defense Committee (GKO) was adopted, which included the following points:
- All Tatars should be evicted from the territory of Crimea and settled permanently as special settlers in the regions of the Uzbek SSR. Entrust the eviction to the NKVD of the USSR.
- Establish the following procedure and conditions for eviction: a) Allow special settlers to take with them personal belongings, clothing, household equipment, dishes and food up to 500 kg per family. Property, buildings, outbuildings, furniture and household lands remaining in place are accepted by local authorities... Acceptance of livestock, grain, vegetables and other types of agricultural products is carried out with the issuance of exchange receipts for each settlement and each farm. To entrust the NKVD of the USSR, the People's Commissariat for Agriculture, the People's Commissariat for Milk Industry, the People's Commissariat for State Farm and the People's Commissariat for Transport of the USSR from July 1 this year. g. submit to the Council of People's Commissars proposals on the procedure for returning livestock, poultry, and agricultural products received from them to special settlers using exchange receipts.
- ...Allocate one doctor and two nurses with an appropriate supply of medicines for each train with special settlers, in a timely manner in agreement with the NKVD of the USSR, and provide medical and sanitary care for special settlers on the way... provide all trains with special settlers with hot meals and boiling water every day.
- ...Issuing special settlers sent to the Uzbek SSR in the places of their resettlement a loan for the construction of houses and for economic establishment of up to 5,000 rubles per family with an installment plan of up to 7 years.
The operation to deport the Crimean Tatars began on May 18, 1944, that is, almost a week after the liberation of the peninsula. And already On May 20, 1944, a telegram was sent to the People's Commissar of Internal Affairs of the USSR L.P. Beria.
“We hereby report that the operation to evict the Crimean Tatars, which began in accordance with your instructions on May 18, was completed today, May 20, at 16:00. A total of 180,014 people were evicted, loaded into 67 trains, of which 63 trains, numbering 173,287 people, were sent to destinations, the remaining 4 trains will also be sent today.
In addition, the regional military registration and enlistment offices of Crimea mobilized 6,000 Tatars of military age, who, according to the orders of the Head of the Red Army, were sent to the cities of Guryev, Rybinsk and Kuibyshev. Of the 8,000 special contingent sent at your direction to the Moskovugol Trust, 5,000 are also Tatars.
Thus, 191,044 people of Tatar nationality were removed from the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. During the eviction of the Tatars, 1,137 people were arrested against anti-Soviet elements, and in total during the operation - 5,989 people. Weapons were seized during the eviction: mortars - 10, machine guns - 173, machine guns - 192, rifles - 2650, ammunition - 46,603 pieces. In total, during the operation the following were seized: mortars - 49, machine guns - 622, machine guns - 724, rifles - 9888, ammunition - 326,887 pieces
“No incidents occurred during the operation, Kobulov, Serov, Simferopol.”
One of the common myths says that all Crimean Tatars were evicted. This is not true. Members of the Crimean underground and members of their families, front-line soldiers and their relatives were exempt from eviction. Women who married representatives of other nationalities were left behind or even returned back to Crimea. In 1967, a decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council was adopted, which absolved the Crimean Tatars of charges of collaboration and recognized them as full Soviet citizens. But the Crimean Tatar people were able to return to their small homeland only in 1989, after the post-war deportation was declared illegal. Today, when Russia regained Crimea, the Crimean Tatar language has become one of the three state “Crimean Tatars returned to their land. I believe that all necessary political decisions must be made that will complete the process of rehabilitation of the Crimean Tatar people, decisions that will restore their rights and good name in full,” President Putin noted in his address on March 18, 2014.
Today, only enemies can try to incite hatred between Russians and Tatars. Enemies of the people - in full, because suffering and blood in new conflicts always fall to the lot of the people. And who can wish war and suffering for his people? Only enemy...
But is it necessary to remember history? Certainly. But we just need to talk about what brings us together, makes us strong and fills us with pride. What about the scary pages? Were. But they passed. Closed. Mistakes are acknowledged, crimes are condemned. Dot.
This is what we need to talk about. You can even sing. And that is very unifying, and it will sound beautiful. Song about the Yalta Conference of the Three Allied Powers! She walked alongalmost a year after the liberation of Crimea - from February 4 to February 11, 1945, and in her The work was attended by I.V. Stalin, F. Roosevelt and W. Churchill, foreign ministers, representatives of the general staffs of the USSR, USA and Great Britain. This is where it would be Agreement was reached on a United Nations conference, which began on April 25, 1945 in San Francisco. In fact, on February 11, 1945, the leaders of the USSR, USA and Great Britain publicly declared their determination to establish the UN.
This is how Crimea once again became the center of world politics. This is what we need to remember, talk about and sing about.
(The article uses materials from my joint book with Dmitry Belyaev, which, and now also.
P.S. This is how they speculate on history, a clear example.
Painting by Rustem Eminov.
By decision of the State Defense Committee of the USSR No. GOKO-5859 dated May 11, 1944 on the eviction of all Crimean Tatars from the territory of Crimea, which he personally signed Joseph Stalin, from the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic to Uzbekistan and neighboring regions of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan was resettled over 180 thousand Crimean Tatars. Small groups were also sent to the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic and a number of other regions of the RSFSR.
The draft decision of the State Defense Committee was prepared by its member, people's commissar internal affairs Lavrenty Beria. Deputies were assigned to lead the deportation operation people's commissars state security and internal affairs Bogdan Kobulov And Ivan Serov.
Officially, the deportation of the Crimean Tatars was justified by the facts of their participation in collaborationist formations that acted on the side of Nazi Germany during the Great Patriotic War.
The decision of the GKO accused “many Crimean Tatars” of treason, desertion from the Red Army units defending Crimea, going over to the enemy’s side, joining “volunteer Tatar military units” formed by the Germans, participating in German punitive detachments, “brutal reprisals against Soviet partisans”, assistance to the German occupiers “in organizing the forcible abduction of Soviet citizens into German slavery”, cooperation with the German occupation forces, the creation of “Tatar national committees”, the use by the Germans “for the purpose of sending spies and saboteurs to the rear of the Red Army.”
The Crimean Tatars, who were evacuated from Crimea before it was occupied by the Germans and managed to return from evacuation in April-May 1944, were also subject to deportation. They did not live under occupation and could not participate in collaborationist formations.
Deportation operation began early in the morning of May 18 and ended at 16:00 on May 20, 1944. To carry it out, they involved NKVD troops in quantity more 32 thousand people.
The deportees were given anywhere from a few minutes to half an hour to get ready, after which they were transported by truck to the railway stations. From there, trains under escort were sent to places of exile. According to eyewitnesses, those who resisted or could not go were sometimes shot on the spot.
The transfer to the settlement sites lasted about a month and was accompanied by mass deaths of the deportees. The dead were hastily buried next to the railroad tracks or not buried at all.
According to official data 191 people died along the way. More from 25% to 46.2% of Crimean Tatars died in 1944-1945 from hunger and disease due to lack normal conditions accommodation.
In the Uzbek SSR only for 6 months of 1944, that is, from the moment of arrival until the end of the year, died 16,052 Crimean Tatars (10,6 %).
In 1945-1946, more were exiled to places of deportation 8,995 Crimean Tatars are war veterans.
In 1944-1948, thousands of settlements (with the exception of Bakhchisarai, Dzhankoy, Ishuni, Sak and Sudak), mountains and rivers of the peninsula, the names of which were of Crimean Tatar origin, were.
For 12 years, until 1956, the Crimean Tatars had the status of special settlers, which meant various restrictions in rights. All special settlers were registered and were required to register with the commandant's offices.
Formally, the special settlers retained their civil rights: they had the right to participate in elections.
Unlike many other deported peoples of the USSR, who returned to their homeland in the late 1950s, the Crimean Tatars were formally deprived of this right until 1974, and in fact - until 1989.
IN November 1989 The Supreme Soviet of the USSR condemned the deportation of the Crimean Tatars and declared it illegal and criminal.
The mass return of people to Crimea began only at the end of Gorbachev’s “perestroika”.
Illustration copyright Getty Image caption Every May, Tatars celebrate the anniversary of the deportation. This year, Russian authorities banned the rally in Simferopol
On May 18-20, 1944, NKVD soldiers, on orders from Moscow, rounded up almost the entire Tatar population of Crimea to railway cars and sent them towards Uzbekistan in 70 trains.
This forced removal of the Tatars, whom the Soviet government accused of collaborating with the Nazis, was one of the fastest deportations carried out in world history.
How did the Tatars live in Crimea before the deportation?
After the creation of the USSR in 1922, Moscow recognized the Crimean Tatars as the indigenous population of the Crimean Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic as part of the indigenization policy.
In the 1920s, the Tatars were allowed to develop their culture. Crimean Tatar newspapers, magazines were published in Crimea, educational institutions, museums, libraries and theaters.
The Crimean Tatar language, together with Russian, was official language autonomy. It was used by more than 140 village councils.
In the 1920-1930s, Tatars made up 25-30% of the total population of Crimea.
However, in the 1930s, Soviet policy towards the Tatars, as well as other nationalities of the USSR, became repressive.
Illustration copyright hatira.ru Image caption Crimean Tatar State Ensemble "Haitarma". Moscow, 1935First, the dispossession and eviction of the Tatars to the north of Russia and beyond the Urals began. Then came forced collectivization, the Holodomor of 1932-33, and the purges of the intelligentsia in 1937-38.
This turned many Crimean Tatars against Soviet rule.
When did the deportation take place?
The main phase of the forced relocation occurred over the course of less than three days, starting at dawn on May 18, 1944 and ending at 16:00 on May 20.
In total, 238.5 thousand people were deported from Crimea - almost the entire Crimean Tatar population.
For this, the NKVD recruited more than 32 thousand fighters.
What caused the deportation?
The official reason for the forced relocation was the accusation of the entire Crimean Tatar people of high treason, “mass extermination of Soviet people” and collaboration - collaboration with the Nazi occupiers.
Such arguments were contained in the decision of the State Defense Committee on deportation, which appeared a week before the start of the evictions.
However, historians name other, unofficial reasons for the relocation. Among them is the fact that the Crimean Tatars historically had close ties with Turkey, which the USSR at that time considered as a potential rival.
Illustration copyright hatira.ru Image caption Spouses in the Urals, 1953In the USSR's plans, Crimea was a strategic springboard in the event of a possible conflict with Turkey, and Stalin wanted to be safe from possible “saboteurs and traitors,” whom he considered the Tatars.
This theory is supported by the fact that other Muslim ethnic groups were resettled from the Caucasian regions adjacent to Turkey: Chechens, Ingush, Karachais and Balkars.
Did the Tatars support the Nazis?
Between nine and 20 thousand Crimean Tatars served in the anti-Soviet combat units formed by the German authorities, writes historian Jonathan Otto Pohl.
Some of them sought to protect their villages from Soviet partisans, who, according to the Tatars themselves, often persecuted them on ethnic grounds.
Other Tatars joined the German forces because they had been captured by the Nazis and wanted to alleviate the harsh conditions in the prison camps in Simferopol and Nikolaev.
At the same time, 15% of the adult male Crimean Tatar population fought on the side of the Red Army. During the deportation, they were demobilized and sent to labor camps in Siberia and the Urals.
In May 1944, most of those who served in German units retreated to Germany. Mostly wives and children who remained on the peninsula were deported.
How did the forced relocation take place?
NKVD employees entered Tatar homes and announced to the owners that they were being evicted from Crimea due to treason to their homeland.
They gave us 15-20 minutes to pack our things. Officially, each family had the right to take up to 500 kg of luggage with them, but in reality they were allowed to take much less, and sometimes nothing at all.
Illustration copyright memory.gov.ua Image caption Mari ASSR. Crew at the logging site. 1950People were transported by trucks to railway stations. From there, almost 70 trains with tightly closed freight cars, crowded with people, were sent east.
About eight thousand people died during the move, most of whom were children and elderly people. The most common causes of death are thirst and typhus.
Some people, unable to bear the suffering, went crazy. All the property left in Crimea after the Tatars was appropriated by the state.
Where were the Tatars deported?
Most of the Tatars were sent to Uzbekistan and neighboring regions of Kazakhstan and Tajikistan. Small groups of people ended up in the Mari Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the Urals and the Kostroma region of Russia.
What were the consequences of deportation for the Tatars?
In the first three years after the resettlement, according to various estimates, from 20 to 46% of all deportees died from hunger, exhaustion and disease.
Almost half of those who died in the first year were children under 16 years of age.
Due to lack of clean water, poor hygiene and lack of medical care Malaria, yellow fever, dysentery and other diseases spread among the deportees.
Illustration copyright hatira.ru Image caption Alime Ilyasova (right) with a friend whose name is unknown. Early 1940sThe new arrivals had no natural immunity against many local diseases.
What status did they have in Uzbekistan?
The vast majority of Crimean Tatars were transported to so-called special settlements - areas surrounded by armed guards, checkpoints and barbed wire that were more reminiscent of labor camps than civilian settlements.
The newcomers were cheap labor; they were used to work on collective farms, state farms and industrial enterprises.
In Uzbekistan, they cultivated cotton fields, worked in mines, construction sites, plants and factories. Among the hard work was the construction of the Farhad hydroelectric power station.
In 1948, Moscow recognized the Crimean Tatars as lifelong migrants. Those who left their special settlement without permission from the NKVD, for example to visit relatives, were in danger of 20 years in prison. There were such cases.
Even before the deportation, propaganda incited hatred of the Crimean Tatars among local residents, branding them as traitors and enemies of the people.
As historian Greta Lynn Ugling writes, the Uzbeks were told that “cyclops” and “cannibals” were coming to them, and were advised to stay away from the aliens.
After the deportation, some local residents felt the heads of visitors to check that they were not growing horns.
Later, upon learning that the Crimean Tatars were of the same faith as them, the Uzbeks were surprised.
Children of immigrants could receive education in Russian or Uzbek, but not in Crimean Tatar.
By 1957, any publications in Crimean Tatar were prohibited. An article about the Crimean Tatars was removed from the Great Soviet Encyclopedia.
This nationality was also prohibited from being included in the passport.
What has changed in Crimea without the Tatars?
After the eviction of the Tatars, as well as Greeks, Bulgarians and Germans from the peninsula, in June 1945, Crimea ceased to be an autonomous republic and became a region within the RSFSR.
The southern regions of Crimea, where previously predominantly Crimean Tatars lived, are deserted.
For example, according to official data, only 2,600 residents remained in the Alushta region, and 2,200 in the Balaklava region. Subsequently, people from Ukraine and Russia began to resettle here.
“Toponymic repressions” were carried out on the peninsula - most cities, villages, mountains and rivers that had Crimean Tatar, Greek or German names received new Russian names. Among the exceptions are Bakhchisaray, Dzhankoy, Ishun, Saki and Sudak.
The Soviet government destroyed Tatar monuments, burned manuscripts and books, including volumes of Lenin and Marx translated into Crimean Tatar.
Cinemas and shops were opened in mosques.
When were the Tatars allowed to return to Crimea?
The regime of special settlements for Tatars lasted until the era of Khrushchev's de-Stalinization - the second half of the 1950s. Then soviet government softened their living conditions, but did not drop charges of treason.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Tatars fought for their right to return to their historical homeland, including through demonstrations in Uzbek cities.
Illustration copyright hatira.ru Image caption Osman Ibrish with his wife Alime. Settlement of Kibray, Uzbekistan, 1971In 1968, the occasion of one of these actions was Lenin’s birthday. The authorities dispersed the meeting.
Gradually, the Crimean Tatars managed to achieve expansion of their rights, however, an informal, but no less strict ban on their return to Crimea was in effect until 1989.
For four subsequent years Half of all Crimean Tatars then living in the USSR returned to the peninsula - 250 thousand people.
The return of the indigenous population to Crimea was difficult and was accompanied by land conflicts with local residents who had managed to settle in the new land. Major confrontations were nevertheless avoided.
A new challenge for the Crimean Tatars was the annexation of Crimea by Russia in March 2014. Some of them left the peninsula due to persecution.
The Russian authorities themselves banned others from entering Crimea, including Crimean Tatar leaders Mustafa Dzhemilev and Refat Chubarov.
Does deportation have signs of genocide?
Some researchers and dissidents believe that the deportation of the Tatars meets the UN definition of genocide.
They argue that the Soviet government intended to destroy the Crimean Tatars as an ethnic group and deliberately pursued this goal.
In 2006, the kurultai of the Crimean Tatar people addressed Verkhovna Rada with a request to recognize the deportation as genocide.
Despite this, in the majority historical works and diplomatic documents, the forced resettlement of the Crimean Tatars is now called deportation, not genocide.
In the Soviet Union they used the term "resettlement".
