Precursors of Operation "West": Deportations in 1944–1946
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.15407/uhj2020.03.040Keywords:
deportations, Western Ukraine, counterinsurgency, OUN, UIA (UPA), state security agencies, OperationAbstract
The resumption of deportation practices by the Soviet special services in Western Ukraine began in late March 1944, almost immediately after the front line had penetrated the territories where the UIA operated and the OUN had an extensive network. Over the course of three years, 14 729 families (36 609 people), whose members were in underground, had anti-Soviet views, or had already been arrested, were forcibly evicted.
The purpose of the article is to analyze the features, dynamics and main goals of the deportation practices of the Soviet special services during 1944–1946. The research tasks are focused on the analysis of the newly discovered normative acts of the state security agencies, which regulated the conduct of deportations of the population of Western Ukraine, and also comparison of this documents with the statistical data of the results of chekistmilitary measures.
The research methodology is based on a general historical comparative approach involving elements of historical and legal analysis.
The scientific novelty lies in the introduction into scientific circulation of the newly-discovered normative acts of the state security agencies of both the All-Union and Republican levels, which were issued for the resumption and continuation deportation of the local population in Western Ukraine. The article also provides a detailed analysis of the peculiarities of repression against the local population through deportation of relatives of participants of the Ukrainian anti-Soviet resistance movement. A comparative analysis of 29 orders, directives and other instructions of the chekist’s headquarters with the consequences of their implementation shows the importance of using the forced eviction method as one of the methods of counterinsurgency.
Conclusions. The resumption of control of the Soviet Union over the territory of Western Ukraine also meant the resumption of deportation practices for the local population. The three-year forced eviction campaign in 1944–1946 was one of the elements of the fight against the Ukrainian liberation movement. Despite a number of disadvantage, the effectiveness and efficiency of deportation was recognized by the leadership of the Communist Party and Soviet state security agencies as an effective way of counterinsurgency, and became one of the prerequisites for the massive deportation Operation "West" ("Zapad") in October 1947.
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