In our ongoing collaboration with the Ukrainian Institute of National Remebrance, we are pleased to present a comprehensive debunking of another label imposed on the world by Russian and Soviet historiography.
A myth: Crimean Tatars collaborated with the Nazi regime and “betrayed the Soviet homeland,” so the decision to deport them was a justified punishment.
The truth: It is evident that even a basic understanding of logic and reason dictates that the deportation of an entire people cannot be a form of punishment for its individual representatives. Historical evidence indicates that the majority of Crimean Tatar men served on the side of the Red Army, and there was no total collaboration among the Crimean Tatar population in German-occupied Crimea. Furthermore, the Crimean Tatars were actively involved in the partisan movement. Consequently, the deportation of the entire population by the Soviet authorities cannot be justified by the alleged “punishment” of the people for treason.
The myth of the “traitorous Tatars” was a central element of Soviet discourse on deportation and the ban on the return of Crimean Tatars to their homeland. However, it did not disappear with the collapse of the USSR. Today, neo-Stalinists and Russians view the expulsion of an entire nation as a “blessing” of the Soviet government. Moreover, the myth of the unreliability of the local population in Crimea is deeply rooted in the history of another war, the Crimean War (1853-1856). At the time, the Russian authorities also asserted that the Crimean Tatars had betrayed the tsar and allied themselves with the Ottoman Empire, the United Kingdom, France, and Sardinia-Piedmont. In essence, we are dealing with a typical colonial narrative in which the indigenous people are presented as unreliable.
The State Defense Committee (SDC) of the USSR approved the resolution on the deportation of Crimean Tatars to remote areas of the USSR on May 11. This was done at the order of Stalin. The reason was stated as follows:
“During the Great Patriotic War, many Crimean Tatars betrayed their homeland, deserted the Red Army units defending Crimea, and went over to the enemy, joining the volunteer Tatar military units formed by the Germans. It is notable that Crimean Tatars were particularly involved in the brutal executions of Soviet partisans, and also assisted the German occupiers in organizing the forced deportation of Soviet citizens to German slavery and the mass extermination of Soviet people.”
The State Defense Committee was the highest governing body in the USSR during World War II, which had all the power in the USSR and consisted of Stalin and people close to him. Obviously, the orders of the State Defense Committee came from the “great leader” himself. Is there any data to support this accusation? Let us turn to the figures provided by the Ukrainian historian Serhii Hromenko:
During World War II, approximately 15,000 to 20,000 individuals, including not only Crimean Tatars but also other nationalities, served in Crimean Tatar “volunteer units.” If we consider only the Crimean Tatar population, this represents 6.5-7% of the total Crimean Tatar population.
It is important to note the specifics of “small nations” whose lands were completely occupied. Such peoples lacked the capacity to liberate themselves and often perceived collaboration with the occupying forces as the sole viable strategy for survival amidst war. The Nazis exploited this situation, particularly about Muslim populations. Finally, it is important to note that the Crimean Tatar people managed to survive the challenging years of Soviet rule in Crimea, despite facing numerous obstacles, including the Red Terror, famine, collectivization, and the destruction of the political elite and cultural intellectuals. It is to be expected that among the Crimean Tatars, there were those who, at the time of the occupation of Crimea in 1941, saw the Germans as less of a threat than the Soviet government and hoped for at least a partial restoration of their political autonomy. It is important to note that only 20 years had passed since the Bolsheviks came to Crimea.
According to historian Martin-Oleksandr Kyslyi, Crimean collaborationism, like any other, can be divided into two types:
– Forced (elders, “volunteers”). Thus, historians claim that Crimean Tatars did not join volunteer battalions of their own free will; they were usually Soviet prisoners of war. The elders who were forced to cooperate with the occupation authorities were forcibly appointed by the Germans at their own discretion.
– Conscious or ideological, caused by dissatisfaction with the Soviet government.
It should also be noted that Crimean Tatars participated in the Soviet partisan movement: in 1944, one-fifth of the partisan movement consisted of Crimean Tatars. In the end, the civilian population of the Crimean Tatar villages suffered heavily at the hands of the Germans for supporting the partisans.
We should not forget that many more Crimean Tatars fought in the Red/Soviet army. This is at least 17 thousand people at the beginning of the war, with additional mobilization later. It is difficult to establish exact figures due to the lack of access to archives in Russia. It is worth mentioning that during World War II, 21 Crimean Tatars were nominated for the title Hero of the Soviet Union, some of them more than once. For example, the title of Twice Hero of the Soviet Union was awarded to a Crimean Tatar, an outstanding pilot Amet Khan Sultan (August 1943, June 1945). 5 Crimean Tatars were awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
It is obvious that the collaborationism of the Crimean Tatars was not an anomalous phenomenon. Russians, Ukrainians and even Karaites were collaborators in Crimea. After all, collaborationism was widespread in other occupied territories of the USSR and in Europe. In the end, if anyone should be punished, it should be the guilty. But instead, the Soviet authorities deported the entire nation.
As for punishment, the identification and conviction of collaborators began even before the complete deoccupation of Crimea in April 1944. A total of 5,989 Crimean Tatars were arrested, some of whom probably belonged to the collaboration forces, as a significant amount of weapons was seized during the operation.
Most of those who collaborated with the Germans for ideological reasons did not survive until the end of the war, and the rest either disappeared or were extradited to the Soviet Union and ended up in forced labor camps.
Thus, “total collaboration with the enemy” is out of the question, since most Crimean Tatars fought in the Red Army and in partisan units. The desire to punish an entire nation is not “just retribution” but a clear crime against humanity, for which the Soviet government was generous.
Thus, Stalin’s criminal decision had nothing to do with the real state of affairs. The real reason for the deportation was the desire to exterminate the Crimean Tatar people and carry out ethnic cleansing of Crimea. The deportation of the Crimean Tatar people by the Soviet totalitarian regime was the culmination of the Russian colonial policy aimed at the detatarization and Russification of Crimea. During the hostilities, while the men were at the front, the Soviet authorities insidiously drove children, women, and the elderly from their homes and sent them into exile, a path that for many was their last.