Repatriation of Cossacks after World War II
Repatriation of anti-Soviet Cossack collaborators to the Soviet Union
Repatriation of Cossacks after World War II
The repatriation of Cossacks after World War II was the forced transfer of approximately 45,000 to 50,000 Cossack collaborators, including military personnel and civilian dependents, from Allied occupation zones to the Soviet Union between May 1945 and May 1947. The operations focused on members of the Kazachi Stan mobile encampment and the XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps who had surrendered to British forces in Carinthia, Austria. These formations had aligned with Nazi Germany, operating within the Axis counter-insurgency framework across Belarus, Poland, Yugoslavia, and northern Italy. The transfers executed bilateral repatriation protocols signed at the February 1945 Yalta Conference to repatriate Soviet nationals at the conclusion of the war. The agreements mandated the reciprocal return of individuals who held Soviet citizenship as of 1 September 1939. Facing a logistical crisis in southern Austria and a border dispute with Yugoslav forces, British commanders prioritized clearing the sector...
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