Figure 1.-- |
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The Russian relationship with Chechnya is a bloody one. Chechnya was conquered by the Russians with considerable bloodshed in the late 19th century. The largely Muslim Chechans harbored continued resentment toward the Russians and the Communist Soviet state. Stalin concluded that the Chechens were sympahetic to the NAZIs. We are not sure just how valid this charge us. It is likely that many Chechens were anti-Communist because of their Islamic religion and Stalin's suppression of all religions. We do not know to what exten the Chechens supported the NAZIs wen the Wehrmacy moved into the Caucuses (1942). (Many Soviet citizens in the Baltics, the Ukraine, and other areas of the Soviet Union looked on the Germans as lineraors until their genocidal racial policies toward Slavs became apparent.) We do know that many Chechens served loyally in the Red Army. Stalin ordered that the entire Chechen people be exiled to Siberia. The action was coordinated by he NKVD and launched February 23, 1944. The 1 million Chenchens were brutally packed into box cars in the middle of the winter and deported east to Central Asia Siberia. Little provision was made for them either on the transports or in the camps to where they were deported. Accounts of the transports are harrowing. Chechen women in particular were mortified to being packed together in boxcars with men for the extended trasport. Some women were ashamed to relieve themselve in front of men and held their urine until their bladders burst. Anuyone who resisted was shot or executed n other ways. It is estimated that about one-third of the Chechen people were killed or died in the roundups and transport box cars, although no precise statistics are known to exist. Many more Chechens perished in the harsh conditions of their exile. The Soviet action against the Chechans was virtually unknown at the time outside the Soviet Union. Chechnya is of course well known to the world public.
The Russian relationship with Chechnya is a bloody one. Chechnya was conquered by the Russians with considerable bloodshed in the late 19th century. The largely Muslim Chechans harbored continued resentment toward the Russians and the Communist Soviet state.
Stalin concluded that the Chechens were sympahetic to the NAZIs. We are not sure just how valid this charge was. It is likely that many Chechens were anti-Communist because of their Islamic religion and Stalin's suppression of all religions. We do not know to what extent the Chechens supported the NAZIs when the Wehrmacht moved into the Caucuses (1942). (Many Soviet citizens in the Baltics, the Ukraine, and other areas of the Soviet Union looked on the Germans as liberaors until their genocidal racial policies toward Slavs became apparent.) The Wehrmact did not reach the southern Caucases and were forced to withdraw from the northern Caucauses after the Red Army launched their offensive at Stalingrad (November 1942). Nor do we know how many Chechens served loyally in the Red Army and what happened to them when the Chechans were deported..
Stalin ordered that the entire Chechen people be exiled to Siberia. The action was coordinated by he NKVD and launched February 23, 1944. The 1 million Chenchens were brutally packed into box cars in the middle of the winter and deported east to Central Asia and Siberia. Many found themselves in Kazakhstan. Little provision was made for them either on the transports or in the camps to where they were deported. Accounts of the transports are harrowing. Chechen women in particular were mortified to being packed together in boxcars with men for the extended trasport. Some women were ashamed to relieve themselve in front of men and held their urine until their bladders burst. Anuyone who resisted was shot or executed in other ways. It is estimated that about one-third of the Chechen people were killed or died in the roundups and transport box cars, although no precise statistics are known to exist.
Many more Chechens perished in the harsh conditions of their exile.
The Soviet action against the Chechans was virtually unknown at the time outside the Soviet Union. Chechnya is of course well known to the world public.
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