The circumstances of the Soviet repatriation policy drastically illustrated how the Stalin-regime treated its own citizens, particularly those who were stigmatised as traitors to their country and collaborators – i.e. former POWs and civilian workers in the Third Recih. The Western powers, on the other hand, handed over almost all ...
(Show more)The circumstances of the Soviet repatriation policy drastically illustrated how the Stalin-regime treated its own citizens, particularly those who were stigmatised as traitors to their country and collaborators – i.e. former POWs and civilian workers in the Third Recih. The Western powers, on the other hand, handed over almost all Soviet DPs in their zones although they had already been aware of the Soviet repressive treatment of the returnees before signing the Treaty of Yalta in 1944. Nevertheless the Soviet side became increasingly dissatisfied with the way the Western powers handled the repatriation of the Soviet DPs. Those who were affected most by this ambiguous repatriation policy of the Soviet Union but also the Western powers were the former Soviet POWs and civil workers. They found themselves – also in Austria – literally between the lines.
The presentation will focus on the historical circumstances of forced labourers in the "Third Reich", their fate as "vitims of two totalitarian systems" and their biographies after the - in many cases forced - repatriation back to the Soviet Union. The analysis is based on oral history interviews with former Soviet forced labourers as well as on archival material.
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