Repatriation of Soviet citizens after World War II

Common card · No. 468505

Repatriation of Soviet citizens after World War II was an inter-governmental population transfer program undertaken by Soviet, British, American, and other Allied forces to resettle citizens of the USSR who were located in territories under Allied control. Amounting to 4.2 million people, these included Ostarbeiters, collaborationists, prisoners of war, and refugees. The Allies of World War II agreed to mandatory repatriation at the Yalta Conference in February 1945. The bulk of handovers occurred from May to October 1945. Official repatriation activities lasted until 1951. About 80 percent of displaced persons from pre-1939 Soviet borders returned voluntarily. Western Allies initially used force to transfer those who resisted repatriation, primarily collaborators, but later shifted toward a voluntary policy. Notable instances of forced repatriation were the British handover of Cossack collaborators in May and June of 1945 and the Operation Keelhaul of 1946 and 1947, a targeted Allied dragnet...

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