STATUS OF WHITE RUSSIANS IN YUGOSLAVIA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP82-00457R005700720002-5
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: S
• Document Page Count: 3
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 25, 2012
• Sequence Number: 2
• Publication Date: September 15, 1950
• Content Type: REPORT

A "IMF C' l4 ?P2~-rr .~0 iT
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/25: CIA-RDP82-00457R005700720002-5
COUNTRY Yugoslavia
SUBJECT Status of White Russians in Yugoslavia
ACQUIRED
DATE OF
INFO.
DATE DIJ I H, 15 SEP 50 50X1-HUM
NO. OF PAGES 3
NO. OF ENCLS,
fUSTED BELOW
SUPPLEMENT TO
REPORT NO.
THIS IS UNEVALUATED INFORMATION
1. in 1941, there were about 30,000 White Russians in Yugoslavia who had
been given ref?u b?r the Roy Yurr,slav Government and who had, in
turn, participated fully In Yugoslav national life?
2:, The German invasion of the Betlkans and the subsequent partici ation of
the Soviet Union in World War II placed Russian em3 tents in Yugoslavia
in a difficult position and they divided into three main groups:
INFORMATION REPORT CD ND.
Conscious and active collaborators with the Germ.ns, either. as
volunteers or as members of the German military administration,
who were motivated by extreme et ."-i_Commua.ist feelings;
hm Those who wished to remain noutral;
o The fewest in number, those who supported the Soviet Union and fought
against the German invaders.
-ibeequently, a fourth group also evolved comprisinr, those who were forced
by the Germans to participate in "Organization Todt" work or who were
deported as factory workers to Germany.
3. After the apitulation of Germany, there remained in Yugoslav territory about
10,000 Russians who, despite the advent to power of Yugoslav Coo=mists,
atayed or either because they were deeply influenced by Communist propaganda
.or because they believed they had done nothinc' to antagonize the Communist
authorities, This number included those Fur.aians who were forced to return
to Yuc oslavia fror Sxxviet.Aocclpied zone of Germany to which they had been
departed by the Germans.
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Al]. those who were compromised in the eyes of the Yugoslav Communist
authorities, as well as those who did not believe Communist propag.nda, left
Yugoslavia when it was possible for them to do so. Russians who had been
.deported from Yugpslavfia to the Western Zones of Germany were not made to
return.
Toward the end of October 1944, the Yugoslav Cozmrr,unist regime began its
'First terroristic carmj:e.i~n aF int the White Russians who had remained in
the country. A great number of these were arrested an--l sent to concentration
camj;s, while about 1,OOC dis.ppeared corn letely. Few Russian families in
Director of Central Intelligence to the
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CONFIDENTIAL In accordance with the
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Yugoslavia remained intact after this first wave of persecution during which
the Soviet NXVD aided the Yugoslav police authorities. The method utilized,
similar to the one em,-Toyed in the Soviet-occu-ied zone of Germany, was to
invite the persons concerned to re.-?ister at designated offices from which
they vanished. They were not permitted to return to their families in any
c' se, but were sent directly to the concentration camp in Novi Sad, About
2,000 Russians remained in prisons and concentration carne. s for more than
tt .*o years.
The identity cards Issued to I assians in Yugoslavia, which made no distinction
as to whether they were Yugoslav citizens or stateless persons, bore the
notation "of Russian nationality." The only people free from fear of arrest
were t4l.ose who had fou -lit actively against the Nazis.
74, At a later date, the "evict Governnent issued a decree whereby al Russians,
excepting those who had com fitted serious crimies, could obtain Soviet
citizenship. In rune 1946, the Yugoslav Government invited those Russians
who had becom ~ Yu.Yosl.av citizens as well as a12 other Russians to aply for
new Yugoslav citizenship. On this occasion, the Russians once again divided
into three r ?rour. s
a. Those who requested ^oviet citizenship;
b. Those who reiuecte I Yugoslav citizenship;
c. Those who wished to remain without citizenship;,
The first --roam was the largest and included almost all those whc were in
prison or corncent7?-ation camps. They hoped that Soviet cit' zenshi.,. would
N-. sufficient guarantee a.:-ainst .further molestation by the Yu oslav police.
Others in this first n_rou; were motivated by patriotism and believed they
would be permitted to return to the Soviet Union. It is said that the
number of new Soviet citizens in Yugoslavia reached 6,500?
Those who requested Yugoslav citizenship did so for practical, fauai%r reasons,
or to preserve and i:rotect their belongings, pensions, emplo;:atent, at cetera.
They attained the figure of 2,500; however, only a small number of these
actually were granted citizenship.
10, The fewest of all in number were those who desired neither Soviet nor Yugoslav
citizenship, but hoped instead for an irmi.nent change in the situation.
1-1. Thus, in mid-1947, the position of the Russians in Yugoslavia was to a certain
degree stabilized, and many were released from camps and prisons a-ce, were
given work. This was not true, however, of those who, having chosen to
remain stateless, were imprisoned for being; "under the influence of ::pie.;
of the Anglo-American imperialists."
12. This situation lasted until the publication of the Cominform Resolution on
28 June 1948. With the Yugoslav-Cominform rift, the position of White
Russians resident in Yugoslavia underwent still another change. The first
effect was the arrest of Soviet citizens who had actually compromised them-
selves, either -r.ol itically or militarily, with Soviet authorities in.
Yugoslavia,* Later, however, the Yugoslav police arrested all Soviet
citizens and, subsequently, Russians who were either Yugoslav citizens or
had requested Yugoslav citizenship without receiving it.
13. Soviet notes to Yugoslavia, intended to insure the protection of new Soviet
citizens in Yu ?nslavia., did not meet with any favor but, on the contrary,
rendered their position even less enviable. Following the Cominform.
Resolution, they were forbidden to travel more than 15 kilometers from the
place of their established residence without a special permit issued by
the polices
The Yugoslav authorities invited them to make a declaration, statins-e whether
they favored or opposed the ?cominforan Resolution. The majority abstained
from voicing an .opinion, but' a ma.1l goup condemned` the action of the
Bolshevik Party and supported 'the stand of the Yugoslav Communists. These
persons were e-:emptod from any further persecution.
C FIDEN'1" IAL
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CONFIDENTIAL
C0NTROL_U. S. OFFICIALS ONLY
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15. The Yu ;os:lav Government then ordered the expulsion of all Russians except
those who had arrayed themselves clearly on the side, of the new Yugoslav
policy vis-a-vis the Soviet Union. It was first planned to expel th?m
from the Republics of Serbia, Macedonia and Vojvodina, and actual expulsions
were begun toward the end of 1949. The police assembled groups of from
15 to 20 persons and allowed them a minimum of time, usually 24 hours, to
prepare themselves. The majority were taken to the Bulgarian border and
sent across into Cominform territory. Many were taken to the frontier
directly from prison, as their relatives later learned from letters.. The
"gar among- White Russians at the prospect of deportation to the Cominform
ceuntrios was very great.
16, For reasons unknown, toward the end of February l?50, the Yugoslav Govern-
ment granted the remaining Russians the privilege of opting for the East
or the West. At first, there were only single cases of persons being given
permission to proceed to Trieste but later, when all were asked where they
preferred to go, the majority chose Trieste, causing a great exodus. In
recent months, only two or three cases have been reported in which the
Yz oslav authorities forced a White Russian to cross into Hungary,,
17, At the outset, the Yugoslav Government did not permit departing Russians
econnanied by their wives if they were of Yugoslav or ig:.in., This
measure has since been abrogated and the wives have joined their husbands
and children in Trieste,
There have been only a few cases of Russian expellees who had received
Y x Yo Slav citizenship
19,, Up to the present time, between 3,500 and 4,000 Russians have been expelled
.from Yugoslavia, Of these, more than MOO were sent to Bulgaria and
ix-=ar, ar?y, and a small number to Albania. The ap, roxi,. ate number of White
V-as :inns who have arrived in Trieste from Yugoslavia is 1,500,
Comnenta The arrests and expulsions apply only to White Russians 50X1-HUM
the Rer;ublics of Serbia and 91heedonia,. Russians residing in other
ct.ions of Yugoslavia, fewer In number, have not been affected by these
TIM.
Declassified in Part - Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2012/01/25: CIA-RDP82-00457R005700720002-5