Victims of Yalta: The Secret Betrayal of the Allies: 1944-1947

557 Pages·2012·4.15 MB·English

by  Nikolai Tolstoy

Victims of Yalta
Nikolai Tolstoy
To the Memory of the Victims
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
For years I received an enormous amount of assistance in the research and
writing of this book. Many friends have continued to help me over long periods
of time, whilst people concerned in the events of which I write have, with very
few exceptions, been prepared to spend hours recapitulating their experiences. In
some cases I had to come back again and again with enquiries; never once did I
experience anything except a frank willingness to help in any way possible.
I only regret that I cannot be more specific in individual cases; space forbids
what would be an impossibly invidious task. Perhaps, however, I may be
allowed to single out two instances where special gratitude is due. Mr Robert
Temple first suggested the writing of this book, and drew my attention to the
release of the relevant British documents. Mr Rivers Scott, of Hodder and
Stoughton, spent many hours going through an exceptionally long and difficult
text with me; I hope the resultant vast improvement is sufficient compensation.
I extend grateful acknowledgments to His Serene Highness the Reigning
Prince of Liechtenstein; His Imperial Highness the Grand Duke Vladimir;
Lieut.-General Sir Terence Airey; Mr Edvard Alksnis; Herr Robert Allgäuer; Mr
John Antonevics; Mr D. L. W. Ashton; the Rt Hon. the late Earl of Avon; Mr W.
Backshall; Mr Lars Baerentzen; Mr Jack Barnett; Captain Patrick Bent; Mr
Michael H. H. Bayley; Mr J. de Berg; the late Mr August Bergman; Mr Ivan
Bilibin; the Dowager Lady Birdwood; Major-General Sir Alec Bishop; Mrs
Marie Halun Bloch; Mr Ian Bogaert; Der Bote; Colonel K. C. Boyd; Major-
General H. E. N. Bredin; Mr Vladimir Britniev; Mrs Humphrey Brooke; Mr
Patrick Bucknell; Mr J. Budzich-Bunchuk; Mr Victor Cavendish-Bentinck;
Colonel R. Campbell-Preston; the Ven. Edward Carpenter, Dean of Westminster;
Major John Charters; Mrs Anna Child; the late Mr Ian Colvin; Miss Violet
Conolly; Major-General K. C. Cooper; Major P. H. Cordle; Mr Feodor
Czernikov; Mr N. F. Chawner; the Daily Mail; The Daily Telegraph; Professor
Alexander Dallin; Colonel B. Dalton; Mrs Elma Dangerfield; Mrs Tatiana
Danilievitch; Major W. R. Davies; the Ministry of Defence; Mr D. Dixon;
Colonel Gerald Draper; Major George Druzhakin; Mr Geoffrey Dunn; Mr Peter
J. Dyck; Mrs Violet M. Dye; Dziennik Polski; Mr Frank H. Epp; Professor John
Erickson; The Evening News; the Dowager Lady Falmouth; Baron Edward von
Falz-Fein; Mrs Joy Fawcett; the late Brigadier R. C. Firebrace; Sir Gerald
Fitzmaurice; Mr David Floyd; Lieut.-Colonel L. S. Ford; Colonel J. H. Frankau;
Major J. W. French; Mr Michael Frewer; Dr Alexander Frick; Mr John Frost; Mr
and Mrs Josef Garlinski; the General Services Administration, United States of
America; Princess Nicholas Galitzine; Dr Martin Gilbert; Major-General P. B.
Gillett; Mr Anatol Goldberg; Mr Ivan Gordienko; Mr Tom Gorringe; Mr Reg
Gray; Mr Joseph N. Greene, Jr; Count S. Grocholski; Major-General Sir Colin
Gubbins; Prince Azamat Guirey; Dr John Guy; Mrs Yvonne J. Haggett; Mrs Jana
Hale; Mr H. Haley; Mr W. Haluk; Mr G. C. Hamilton; Major Claud
HanburyTracy-Domvile; the Rt Hon. Lord Hankey; Mr H. G. F. Harcombe;
Field-Marshal Lord Harding; Major George Hartman; Mr E. G. Henson; Mr
Denis Hills; Brigadier James Hills; General A. Holmston-Smyslovsky; Colonel
Sir Andrew Horsbrugh-Porter, Bart.; Lieut.-Colonel Henry Howard; Mr Peter J.
Huxley-Blythe; the staff of the Imperial War Museum; Mrs Helene Janzen; Mr
Czeslaw Jesman; Mr Josef Josten; Mr Arnis Keksis; Mr George Kennan; Kleine
Zeitung; Mr George Knupffer; Mr Alfred Lolatov; Herr Julian Kollnitz; Mr
Boris Komaroff; Mr V Kozhevnikov; Dr Erhard Kroeger; Mr N. Lambert; the
Lambeth Palace Librarian, Mr E. G. W. Bill; Herr Hermann Langbein; Mrs
George Lawrence; Colonel Semeon Levchenko; Monsieur Claude Levy; Mr
Harry B. Lewis; Prince Alexander Lieven; Lieut.-Colonel Leonid Lieven; Mrs
Austra Liepins; Angela Countess of Limerick; Mr Christopher Ling; Mr Gerhard
Lohrenz; the staff of the London Library; Lieut.-Colonel R. B. Longe; Mr A. C.
Lord; Professor George S. N. Luckyj; Major-General J. D. Lunt; Mr Marvin
Lyons; Mr Neil Macdonald; Mr Geoffrey Macdermott; Sir Robert Mackworth-,
Young; Major David Macnab; Lieut.-Colonel A. D. Malcolm; Mr L. H.
Manderstam; Mr Andreas Mayor; Mr Bruce Marshall; Mr Duncan Macmillan;
Mr Patrick Martin-Smith; Mr Garry Maufe; Herr Sieghart Mertlitz; Sir Iain
Moncreiffe of that Ilk; General Sir William Morgan; Mr and Mrs Max Morgan-
Witts; Mr David Morrissey; General Sir Horatius Murray; General Sir Geoffrey
Musson; Mr I. A. Nicholls; Professor Theodor Oberländer; The Observer; Mr
Brian Pearce; Mr Jeremy Pemberton; Mr J. Pereira; Dr John Pinching; Mr Jan
Pirozynski; Captain K. K. Pekhovsky; the staff of the Public Record Office;
Major H. A. F. Radley; Mr Fred Ralph; the late Mr Edward Renton; the Rev.
Malcolm H. Richards; Sir Walter Roberts; Lieut.-Colonel David B. Rooke;
Lieut.-Colonel Robin Rose Price; the Rt Hon. Lord St Oswald; Monsieur Pierre
de Saint-Prix; Mr Walter Sawatsky; Herr Norbert Schluga; Major James Scott-
Hopkins, MP; the Rt Hon. the Earl of Selborne; Lieut.-Colonel Laurence
Shadwell; Colonel Sir Geoffrey Shakerley; Mr Anthony Shorland Ball; Mrs B.
Skalska; the Rev. Janis Sapiets; Major-General Eric Sixsmith; Mr Tom A. H.
Slack; Mr C. C. Smellie; Mr Anthony Smith; Lieut.-Colonel J. R. G. Stanton; Mr
Edward Stewart; Mr Henryk Szmuniewski; Mr A. R. Tainsh; Lieut.-Colonel C.
H. Tamplin; Mr W. Thompson; The Times; Mr Jack H. Taylor, Jr; Mr A. Tomas;
Brigadier C. E. Tryon-Wilson; the Rev. Kenneth H. Tyson; Mr K. Trebicki; Mr
V. Ugrechelidze; Mr James Urry; Brigadier Clive Usher; Mr Robert Vas; Major
Peter Verney; Monsieur P. Vibert (Comité International de la Croix-Rouge); Sir
Charles Villiers; Monsieur Alban Vistel; Mr Igor Vinogradoff; Mr Sergei
Voitsekhovsky; Colonel Constantin Wagner; Professor Alexander Wainman;
Lady Warner; Mr John Waterfield; Mr and Mrs Julian Wathen; Herr Edgar M.
Wenzel; Colonel Alex C. Wilkinson; Sir Geoffrey Wilson; Major-General Sir
John Winterton; Major Jack Wolfe; Mr Mykola Wolynskyj; Lieut.-Colonel
Denys Worrall; Mr John Yeowell; Mr G. K. Young; the late Lieut.-Colonel
Count Stepan Zamoyski; Frau Albertine Zeiner; Mr Constantine Zelenko; Dr
Nikolai Zernov; Mr Sergei Zezine; Mr Eriks Zilinksis.
Lastly, I wish to recall the fond memory of my beloved great aunts, Maroussia
and Lily Pavlovna Tolstoy-Miloslavsky. Their inspiration and generosity
prepared me over the years for my task; indeed, but for them, it would never
have been accomplished.
CONTENTS
CHRONOLOGY
Preface to Corgi edition
INTRODUCTION
1 Russians in the Third Reich
2 Russian Prisoners in British Captivity: The Controversy Opens
3 The ‘Tolstoy’ Conference: Eden in Moscow
4 British and American Agreement at Yalta
5 The Allied Forces Act: The Foreign Office versus The Law
6 From Paradise to Purgatory
7 The Cossacks and the Conference
8 From Lienz to the Lubianka: The Cossack Officers Return
Home
9 The End of the Cossack Nation
10 The Fifteenth Cossack Cavalry Corps
11 Interlude: An Unsolved Mystery
12 The End of General Vlasov
13 Mass Repatriations in Italy, Germany and Norway
14 The Soldiers Resist
15 The Final Operations
16 National Contrasts: Repatriation Pressures in France, Sweden
and Liechtenstein
17 Soviet Moves and Motives
18 Legal Factors and Reasons of State
APPENDIX
EPILOGUE
NOTES
INDEX
CHRONOLOGY
1941
22 June Operation ‘Barbarossa’—Germany invades Russia.
22 August Kononov’s 436th Infantry Regiment volunteers to join
the Germans.
1942
Von Pannwitz appointed commander of Cossack
8 November formations.
1943
German army surrenders at Stalingrad.
2 February
21 April 1st Cossack Division raised at Mlawa.
September Refugee Cossack settlement established at Novogrudok.
Cossack Corps transferred from Eastern Front to
Yugoslavia.
10 October Hitler orders all Russians in German service to be
transferred to Western Europe.
1944
Allied landings in Normandy.
6 June
21 July Lord Selborne protests at proposed forcible repatriation
of captured Russians.
British Cabinet decides on forcible repatriation.
4 September
16 September Himmler meets Vlasov.
16 October Eden in Moscow assures Molotov that Russians will be
repatriated regardless of their wishes.
31 October First shipload of Russians leaves Britain for Murmansk.
Stettinius agrees that ‘claimants’ to Soviet nationality
8 November will be repatriated.
14 November Prague Manifesto on human rights for Russians issued
by Vlasov and KONR (‘Russian Liberation
Movement’).
29 December First shipload of returning Russians leaves United
States.
1945
28 January German Government recognises ‘Independence’ of
KONR.
11 February Agreement at Yalta on repatriation of prisoners of war.
22 February Allied Forces Act in Britain extended to cover Russian
prisoners.
22 March First shipload of Turcomans despatched from Italy to
Odessa.
18 April Massacre of prisoners from Almanzora at Odessa.
Germany surrenders.
8 May
Kazachi Stan and 15th Cossack Cavalry Corps surrender
9 May to British in Austria.
12 May Soviets capture General Vlasov in Bohemia.
22 May Halle agreement on East-West exchange of nationals in
Germany.
29 May Krasnov, Shkuro and other Cossack officers surrendered
to Soviets in Austria.
Beginning of deportation of Cossack people at Peggetz
1 June to Soviets at Judenburg.
29 June Franco-Soviet agreement on return of respective
citizens.
12 July Americans experience first serious Russian opposition to
return when suicides occur at Kempten.
23 July Churchill raises abortive opposition to forced
repatriation at Potsdam Conference.
29 October Montgomery, following Eisenhower’s example in the
US zone, forbids further forcible repatriation in British
zone of Germany.
21 December US issues McNarney-Clark Directive, defining restricted
classes of Russians still liable to forcible repatriation.
1946
19 January US forced repatriation at Dachau.
25 January Sweden surrenders Baltic refugees to Soviets.
24 February US forced repatriation at Plattling.
British Cabinet agrees to accept US McNarney-Clark
6 June definition.
29 June Russian suicides at Fort Dix in face of US attempt to
enforce repatriation.
12 August Soviets announce execution of Vlasov and colleagues.
14 August Operation ‘Keelhaul’ begins in Italy: screening of
Russians liable to be returned under McNarney-Clark
Directive.