Grecheskaya Operatsiya

The Grecheskaya Operatsiya ( _ru. Греческая Операция) or Greek OperationCref|a was a pogrom against the 450 000 Greeks of the Soviet Union that was ordered by Joseph Stalin. [http://news.kathimerini.gr/4dcgi/_w_articles_ell_100073_09/12/2007_252017] ] It begun in December 1937 and went on for 13 years.

History

Under Stalinism, USSR considered some nations to be "progressive" and some others to be "reactionary". Reactionary nations included the Greeks, the Koreans, the Germans of Volga, the Tatars of Crimea, the Chechens, and others. Stalin considered that everyone who was born in a "capitalist" nation was an enemy of his regime, no matter their personal political beliefs.

The prosecution of Greeks in USSR was gradual: at first the authorities shut down the Greek schools, cultural centres, and publishing houses. Then, the secret police arrested all Greek men 16 years old or older. All Greeks who were wealthy or self-employed professionals were sought for prosecution first.

In many occasions the authorities sent telegrams to police forces with orders to arrest a certain number of Greeks, without giving any individual names, and the police officers were expected to arrest at random any person of Greek origin until they reached the requested total number of arrests, until the process was repeated at a later date.

urvivors

Pavlos Kerdemelidis from Pontus was a survivor of the 1922 events at Smyrna who went to live in Crimea and arrested there in 1937 during Stalin's "Greek Operation". He spent 13 years imprisoned in Siberia, but he survived, making him one of the few survivors of the 50 000 Greeks who were affected by the "Greek Operation".

ee also

*Collective punishment
*Anti-Hellenism
*Greek diaspora

Notes

*Cnote|a|In Greece, "Grecheskaya Operatsiya" is also known with the transliteration "Gretseskayia Operatsia" as that is how it was printed in various publications. [http://www.voiceofgreece.gr/index.php?option=com_content&id=777&task=view&month=6&year=2008 Day of rememberance for the Greeks of Pontus] , an article by Voice of Greece] In Greek, it is known as "Ελληνική Επιχείρηση" (Greeklish: Elliniki Epihirisi), which means "Greek Operation".

References

Bibliography

*"Ethnic Cleansing in the USSR, 1937-1949", a book by J. Otto Pohl, ISBN 0-313-30921-3, ISBN 978-0-313-30921-2, DOI [http://dx.doi.org/10.1336/0313309213 10.1336/0313309213] : [http://books.google.com/books?id=SnLANpCfDn4C Google Books]