History 22/03/20 “Operation Silhol”: how the Allies conducted a “sweep” of Europe from the Russians after world war
the End of the great Patriotic war in may 1945 did not mean the cessation of the horrors inherent in war. To defeat the enemy – was only half the battle, then it was necessary to find the guilty, punish the traitors and parallel to think about how to restore the economy. And not always these actions were coupled with humanity.
In the public journalism there is a popular belief that one of the most shameful pages in the military history occurred after the surrender of Nazi Germany. Such unflattering assessments was awarded the event of the allied troops in the transfer of the Soviet side of the Russian-speaking people in the territory under their control, in periodicals called “operation Silhol”.
When the benefit took
Also at the conference in Yalta in February 1945 the British and Americans undertook after the war to give the Soviet side of all displaced persons, former citizens of the Soviet Union in 1939. In this category there were first internees and prisoners of war, Ostarbeiters, and fought on the side of the Third Reich collaborators.
the position of the Soviet leader Joseph Stalin on this issue was purely utilitarian. To return to the Union of displaced persons had several objectives: it was intended to separate the captured patriots from the traitors, the latter is to punish, grouping them into labour teams and directing work on the “building of communism”. There were other motives among the repatriated were a lot of emigres who left the country after the revolution. Their return was important both from the point of view of punishment of opponents of the regime, and from the point of view of his glory: those who came voluntarily, were like living proof of the benefits of the Communist system over the capitalist West.
the Leaders of Britain and the United States Anthony Eden and Franklin Delano Roosevelt, by contrast, were not big supporters of repatriation. However they had their motives to carry out the reached at the Yalta conference agreement. One and the other, despite already begun the cooling of relations with the Soviet Union, did not want unnecessary confrontation with Stalin.
besides, the content of Soviet refugees has cost them dearly. There is a legend according to which the commander of the allied forces, General Dwight Eisenhower, initially cold refers to the need to transfer to the Union of immigrants, changed his attitude after he showed the statistics of daily expenditure on prisoners.
From camp to camp
Allies, of course, went to repatriation selectively. Displaced persons expressed a desire to cooperate with the us-British administration, or represents to her a certain interest, an exception was made. Involuntary resettlement avoided some of the professional military, academics, writers and journalists, many of whom have engaged in anti-Soviet activities in Europe. The rest waited quite a difficult homecoming.
Soviet troops themselves got involved in the “withdrawal” of the non-indigenous population from the territory of Yugoslavia and Eastern Europe. For the allies fixed the responsibility for the return of refugees from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, France and other countries – in each region carried out its own campaign with a different code name, which then in literature and received the General name “operation Silhol”.
the name “Kyhol” refers to the old English punishment in the era of sailing ships – the careening, when the guilty were dragged from side to side at the bottom of the ship. This alone suggests that immigrants waited not a pleasure trip but an ordeal.
part of the way immigrants had to overcome on foot, which imposes certain restrictions: to take out only whatabout fit in carry-on baggage, the transportation of the rest of good appeared impossible.
To ensure the transit of the British and the Americans organized a system of transit camps and collective centres. The conditions were largely similar to the conditions of the concentration camps: to get out were forbidden to move only allowed the convoy and the gathering place was fenced with barbed wire.
Later the Soviet authorities recognize that the hard mode affected the efficiency of repatriation. Among civilians, those who returned home voluntarily, were only half. The rest were forcibly relocated, and often, when the settlers learned that they will give to the Soviet authorities, they started a hunger strike and strike, tried to escape and even came to life.
Bayonets against unarmed
Often their own collection methods were far from humanity. The most indicative in this respect was the issue of the Cossacks. In may in the Austrian district of the cities of Judenburg and Lienz was organized a special camp, where to place surrendered to the English part of the Cossack camp and the 15th Cossack cavalry corps, which fought on the German side. There he had followed them to refugee women, children and the elderly, who left with the Germans from the don, Kuban and Terek.
the Cossacks were convinced that the allies will not cause them any harm and might even grant them freedom – because throughout the war they were fighting exclusively against the Soviets. But it turned out otherwise. First, the British deception isolated from the main forces and handed over to the NKVD about 1,500 officers and generals. Then, on June 1, 1945, during the funeral worship British soldiers the power driven into the machine the rest. However, the military did not hesitate to use the bayonets, the rifle butts and batons, mostly indiscriminately not only against the unarmed Cossacks, but also women and children.
During the operation killed at least a thousand people. In General, however, the allies returned to the Soviet side about 60 thousand Cossacks and soldiers beganant.
the Whole of the USSR was passed about 4.3 million people. The bulk of the immigrants — about 97.5 percent — have moved in the first postwar year. However, the “supply” did not cease until 1951, and isolated cases occurred until 1954. Although the special office for repatriation under the Council of Ministers of the USSR was abolished in 1953.
Ivan Resepi
Source:
© Russian Seven
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