Myth
37
The Deportation Meant Salvation for the Crimean Tatars
Sergii Gromenko
Sergey Kara-Murza, Soviet Civilization, vol. 1
“This type of punishment, it is difficult for everyone, it was a salvation from death for the majority of the male population, and thus, for the ethnic group. If the Chechens were judged individually according to the laws of war, then this would turn into an ethnocide. The loss of such a large part of young males would undermine the demographic potential of the people…So, the German exiled and the parents were asked if they preferred if their sons were judged under ‘civilized’ laws and shot as traitors who fought on the side of the enemy or the whole family was to be evicted to Kazakhstan? One can guess the answer that 100 percent of those who could really imagine themselves in a position to respond, chose to be happily deported. Another thing, I don’t care for those detractors who blame the USSR for the fate of the Chechens or Crimean Tatar men, and even for all the other nations.”
■ The Essence of the Myth
The crimes of the Crimean Tatars were so massive and caused so much hatred from the other inhabitants of Crimea, that deportation was the only real salvation for them. If Stalin had decided to pursue the charges of collaboration based on Soviet law, all the adult men would have been shot and a whole nation would have died out. Another danger was the Soviet fighters, returning from the front, could enact mass revenge against the Crimean Tatars for their betrayal.
■ Fast Facts
All the collaborators either died or suffered punishment individually and therefore there was no threat. The compulsory execution for the cooperation with the Germans is a fictional story spread by the amateur historian/academic Kara-Murza. Instead, their new living conditions inflicted the real, if not obvious, loss of the Crimean Tatars.
■ Detailed Facts
If the more common version of the myth of the Crimean Tatars’ crimes (deportation is a fair punishment for them) could be called patriotic chauvinism, than this case (deportation gave them salvation) is a liberal-chauvinist myth. After all, the central tenet of this version, the total mass collaboration of the Crimean Tatars with the enemy remained unchanged. This is owed to a book by Sergey Kara-Murza entitled Soviet Civilization, in which this approach is demonstrated in his openly cynical form.
The facts remain the same: that out of the 15–16,000 armed collaborators, the majority of Crimean Tatars were either killed in battle or arrested and sent to the GULAGs (see Myth 36). Therefore, every possible attempt to prove that Stalin could legally kill every male for collaborating with the enemy but chose deportation has no grounds.
Similarly, there is nothing to confirm the belief that Soviet soldiers would have resorted to mass lynching of Crimean Tatars. The reliability of this version is reminiscent of the horror stories about Ukraine’s modern day right-wing paramilitary group, the Right Sector, that are expounded by Russian television.
“Train of Death”. Painting by Rustem Eminov
Moreover, a year and half after their deportation to Central Asia, official reports found that only 25 percent of the Crimean Tatar population was left. These were mostly the weakest: women, children and the elderly. Their life became the real price of the Soviet “salvation” of the Crimean Tatar people.
Deported Crimean Tatars in Central Asia collecting cotton
