Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-rcrh6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T19:13:33.516Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Soviet Union and the Problem of Refugees and Displaced Persons 1917–1956*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 March 2017

George Ginsburgs
George Ginsburgs*
Affiliation:
University of California at Los Angeles
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Extract

The Soviet Union, since its inception in 1917, has been the world’s largest source of refugees and displaced persons. This in itself would be sufficient motive to examine the Soviet attitude towards this category of individuals, but apart from mere quantity, the question is of interest, too, for other reasons: Russian refugees were the cause and the first subjects of international legal attempts to solve the problem; Soviet policies toward them have been unusual at all times, resulting in some bold innovations in international law; and most refugees and displaced persons at present come from behind the Iron Curtain, thereby involving the Soviet Union and its satellites, whose policies are influenced by and modeled on the Soviet experience.

Type
Research Article
Information
American Journal of International Law , Volume 51 , Issue 2 , April 1957 , pp. 325 - 361
Copyright
Copyright © American Society of International Law 1957

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

This paper is a result of work done under a special study as Research Assistant in the Department of Political Science at the University of California at Los Angeles. The author is greatly indebted to Professor Robert G. Neumann for his suggestions on the original draft of this article.

References

1 For the sake of this study the definition of “Bussian refugee” used is the one adopted by the League of Nations, May, 1926: “Any person of Bussian origin who does not enjoy or no longer enjoys the protection of the Government of the USSE and who has not acquired another nationality.”

2 The recent flight of more than 150,000 persons from Hungary in the wake of the revolt, which certainly is at this time the most actual and tragic problem of refugees from Soviet oppression, has served to fix the spotlight on a process which, though never previously attaining the floodlike dimensions of the last few months, has been continuous since 1945 and has involved many thousands.

3 Akademiya Nauk SSSR, Institut Prava (Academy of Sciences of the U.S.S.R., Institute of Law), Mezhdunarodnoe Pravo (International Law) 245 (Moscow, 1951).

4 Holborn, L. W., “The Legal Status of Political Refugees, 1920–1938,” 32 A.J.I.L. 681 (1938)Google Scholar.

5 By the very nature of the problem, statistics are not very reliable and estimates vary considerably. Simpson, J. H., The Refugee Problem, Report of a Survey 62 (London, 1939)Google Scholar, estimates the number at about one million; von Bimscha, H., Der Russische Bürgerkrieg und die Russische Emigration 50–51 (Jena, 1924)Google Scholar, puts the number at close to 3 million; Dr. Nansen, Report on the Work of the High Commission for Refugees, September 4th, 1923 (League of Nations Doc. A.30.1923.XII), quotes 1½ million, as also do Kulischer, B. M., The Displacement of Population in Europe (International Labour Office, Studies and Reports, Series O, No. 8, Montreal, 1943), p. 39 Google Scholar; Thompson, D., Refugees, Anarchy or Organization 15 (New York, 1938)Google ScholarPubMed; and Bentwich, N., “The International Problem of Refugees,” Geneva Special Studies, Vol. VI, No. 5, p. 17 (1935)Google Scholar. Soviet and émigré authors put the number at 2 million. See Jurid, P. T. and Kovalevsky, N. A., Ekonomicheskaya Geografiya S.S.S.R. (Economic Geography of the U.S.S.R.) (Moscow, 1934)Google Scholar, Vol. I, pp. 73, 78; and Davatts, V. K., Russkaya Armiya na Chuzhbine (The Russian Army Abroad) 12 (Belgrade, 1923)Google Scholar. 2 million is also the number given in the American Red Cross Report for the Year Ending 30 June 1923, p. 69. The United Nations’ A Study of Statelessness 7 (New York, August, 1949), gives for 1922, 718,000–772,000 Bussian refugees in Europe and about 95,000 in the Far East.

6 L. W. Holborn, loc. cit.

7 N. Bentwich, loc. cit. 2.

8 Raestad, A., “Statut juridique des apatrides et des réfugiés,” 39 Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International 32 (I, 1936)Google Scholar; see also Mandelstam, A. N., “Les dernières phases du mouvement pour la protection internationale des droits de l’homme,” Extrait de la Revue de Droit International, 1933, No. 4, p. 4 Google Scholar. Cf. Morgenstern, F., “The Right of Asylum,” 26 Brit. Year Bk. of Int. Law 327 (1949)Google Scholar: “According to general international law as at present constituted, the so-called right of asylum is a right of States, not of the individual.” However, Art. 14 of the Universal Declaration of Human Bights reads: “Everyone has the right to seek and to enjoy in other countries asylum from persecution.”

9 Smaller movements of refugees, such as the flight of the Mennonites in 1929 and 1930, took place, but the bulk of the refugees escaped in the years 1918–1922.

10 J. H. Simpson, op. cit. 83–84; also T. Schaufuss, “The White Russian Refugees,” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science (henceforth abbr. as The Annals), May, 1939, p. 45.

11 The partly non-political nature of the emigration is evidenced, too, by the measures taken in various countries, notably Poland, against these economic refugees. See Report on the Work of the High Commission for Refugees, League of Nations Doc. A.30.1923.XII, p. 14: “The Polish Government also felt compelled to make arrangements for the expulsion of a very large number of refugees who had entered its territory since October 1920 in an illegal manner. These refugees were alleged to have left Russia not on political grounds but for economic and other reasons, and were causing the Polish Government considerable embarrassment. The Polish Government felt constrained to take measures to remedy this situation and issued a decree providing for the expulsion of all non-political refugees by April 15th, 1923, but at the same time emphasized that all refugees who could establish that they were seeking refuge in Poland for political reasons would be allowed to remain.”

12 J. H. Simpson, op. cit. 63–64.

13 The expression is used by Vernant, J., The Refugee in the Post-War World 6 (New Haven, 1953)Google Scholar, in connection with post-World War II displaced persons, but seems to be just as applicable to certain categories of persons in 1917–1921. It also fits those “peasant victims of collectivization in the U.S.S.R.” who “fled between 1929 and 1932, escaping individually to Poland, Rumania and the Baltic States.” J. H. Simpson, op. cit. 84.

14 See the definition of de facto and de jure statelessness in United Nations, A Study of Statelessness 8–9. Not all stateless persons are refugees, but to be a refugee a person has to be either stateless de facto or stateless both de facto and de jure. This was recognized, too, by the definition of refugees adopted in the Arrangement of May 12, 1926, and later taken over in the Convention of 1933, which is based not on denationalization, but on the fact that the party ceases to enjoy the protection of his state of origin. See also the “Definition of refugees accepted by the Institute of International Law at the Brussels Conference in 1936,” 39 Annuaire de l’Institut de Droit International 294 (II, 1936), and United Nations Economic and Social Council, “Text of the proposed draft Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees” (Doc. E/1618, Feb. 17, 1950), p. 12.

15 Rubinstein, J. L., “The Refugee Problem,” 15 International Affairs 721 (1936)Google Scholar.

16 Taracouzio, T. A., The Soviet Union and International Law 82 (New Tork, 1935)Google Scholar.

17 Such, for example, was the effect of Art. 1 of the Ukrainian Statute on Foreigners of 1924 and Art. 1 of the Statute on Foreigners of the White Russian S.S.R. which read: “As foreigners are to be regarded all persons in the White Russian S.S.R. who are not citizens of the White Russian S.S.R. or of any other Soviet Republic.” See Sobranie Uzakonenii i Rasporyazhenii R.K.P.U. (A collection of the laws and ordinances of the Uk.S.S.R.) par. 237 (Kharkov, 1924), and Sobranie Uzakonenii i Rasporyazhenii B.S.S.R. (A collection of laws and ordinances of the White Russian S.S.R.), par. 148 (Minsk, 1922) (hereafter the periodic issues of this series covering the legislation of the U.S.S.R. and the various Republics will be cited as Sobranie, followed by the name of the Republic and the year of issue).

18 See the decree on denaturalization of Russian citizens issued by the Council of People’s Commissars of the R.S.F.S.R. on July 2, 1918, Sobranie R.S.F.S.R., 1917–1918, p. 595. Art. 2 of the Ukrainian decree of March 11, 1919, provided only for the renunciation of citizenship by persons of non-Ukrainian origin in the Ukraine, Sobranie Uk.S.S.R., 1919, par. 351. Art. 10 of the Constitution of the Far Eastern Soviet Republic of April 27, 1920, provided the right of denaturalization to persons “residing in the Far Eastern S.S.R.,” as also did the Decree of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Georgian S.S.R. of July 11, 1922. See V. V. Egorev et al., Pravovoe Polozhenie Grazhdan i Yuridicheskikh Lits S.S.S.R. za Granitsei (Legal status of citizens and juridical persons of the U.S.S.R. abroad) 92, note 31 (Moscow, 1926). It is true that Art. 9 of the Statute on Citizenship of the R.S.F.S.R. of 1920 and Art. 11 of the Statute on Citizenship of the R.S.F.S.R. of 1931 seem to imply a possibility of voluntary denaturalization, but it would appear that this referred to rights acquired under specific treaties and agreements on option of citizenship. Sobranie S.S.S.R., 1920, and Sobranie S.S.S.R., 1931, I, p. 343.

19 Cf. De Visscher, Charles, Théories et Réalités en Droit International Public (2nd ed., Paris, 1955)Google Scholar: “Inaugurée par l’U.R.S.S. dès 1921 … cette pratique a fait de l’apatridie, autrefois considérée comme un accident et une anomalie, la condition de millions d’individus.”

20 W. Adams, “Refugees in Europe,” The Annals, May, 1939, p. 43.

21 According to the Decree of Oct. 28, 1921, passports had to be taken out by March 1, 1922; the Decree of Dec. 15, 1921, extended the deadline to June 1, 1922. See Sobranie R.S.F.S.R., 1921, pp. 710–711, and ibid., 1922, I, pp. 7–8.

22 See T. A. Taracouzio, op. cit. 119–120.

23 Art. 8 of the Decree of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Georgian S.S.R. of July 11, 1922, provided for involuntary loss of citizenship by persons who had become citizens of a foreign state, and persons who had entered the service of a foreign state without permission of the Georgian authorities. V. V. Egorev et al., op. cit. 30. A Ukrainian decree of March 28, 1922, repeated almost exactly the R.S.F.S.R. decrees of Oct. and Dec., 1921, extending the time limit for registration to Jan. 1, 1923, Sobranie Uk.S.S.R., 1922, par. 237. The laws of the White Bussian S.S.R. of 1922 and the Transcaucasian S.F.S.R. of May 21, 1923, were similar to the R.S.F.S.R. decrees. Sobranie B.S.S.R., 1922, par. 48, and V. V. Egorev et al., op. cit. 35.

24 Art. 1(u) of the Constitution of 1924.

25 Sobranie S.S.S.R., 1924, pp. 364–366, reproduced by T. A. Taracouzio, op. cit. 121.

26 See above. Between April–June, 1923 and 1924, the juridical status of these individuals had been identical to that of the Italian refugees affected by the Fascist Government’s decrees refusing them assistance and protection, but not denationalizing them. But whereas the Italians were never considered as refugees and given that international legal status, the Russians were so regarded and treated by the various international relief organizations. On the Italians, see G. Nitti, “Les émigrés italiens en France,” 3 Rev. Gén. de Droit Int. Public (3rd ser.) 729–759 (1929), and Colaneri, A., De la condition des “Sans-Patrie” 31 (Paris, 1932)Google Scholar.

27 See the Decree of the All-Ukrainian Executive Committee of March 28, 1922, Sobranie Uk.S.S.R., 1922, p. 238; Decree of the Council of the People’s Commissars of the White Russian S.S.R. of Aug. 4, 1922, Sobranie B.S.S.R., 1922, p. 148; Decrees of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Georgian S.S.R. of July 11, 1922, and Feb. 5, 1924, cited in V. V. Egorev et al., op. cit. 30; also Art. 1 of Decree of the Council of People’s Commissars of the Transcaucasian S.F.S.R. of April 5, 1923, Sobranie R.S.F.S.R., 1923, pp. 98–99.

28 See Sobranie S.S.S.R., 1931, I, pp. 342–344. Art. 7 of the Soviet Citizenship Act No. 198 of Aug. 19, 1938, merely provides for “forfeiture of the citizenship of the U.S.S.R.” by “decree of the court of law in instances prescribed by law,” or by “special order of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the U.S.S.R. in a special case.” See Sbornik deistvuyushchikh dogovorov, soglashenii i konventsii, zak-luchennykh SSSR s innostrannymi gosudarstvami (Collection of treaties, agreements and conventions concluded between the U.S.S.R. and foreign Governments and in force), 1955, X, p. 224 (hereafter cited as Sbornik dogovorov).

29 W. Adams, loc. cit.

30 Art. 2 of the Decree of Dec. 15, 1921, on “Forfeiture of Soviet Citizenship by Certain Categories of Persons Residing Abroad.” See Sobranie R.S.F.S.R., 1922, I, pp. 7–8.

31 Art. 132 of the Constitution of the U.S.S.R. as amended 1936. See also Chkhikvadze, V. M., Sovetskoe Voenno-Ugolovnoe Pravo (Soviet Military Criminal Law) 293 (Moscow, 1948)Google Scholar.

32 See, for example, “Amnesty Granted on the Occasion of the Third Anniversary of the Liberation of Minsk,” July 11, 1923, Sistematicheskoe Sobranie Deistvuyushchikh Zakonov S.S.S.R. (Systematic collection of the laws in force in the U.S.S.R.), I, pp. 416–418 (Moscow, 1926). This amnesty granted by the White Russian S.S.R. gave pardon to White Russians of working-class origin, members of anti-Soviet formations of 1918, 1919 and 1920; to White Russian political and cultural leaders, formerly members of anti-Soviet organizations, declaring their loyalty to the Soviet authorities; to former members of the White Russian Social Democratic and other parties who declared their loyalty to the Soviet authorities; and, finally, to White Eussian peasants formerly involved in anti-Soviet activities, including those who had fled abroad (italics supplied). Only peasant refugees seem to have been covered by the amnesty.

33 T. A. Taracouzio, op. cit. 116 (italics supplied).

34 A list of these amnesties, both special and general, may be found in T. A. Taracouzio, op. cit. 115–116, and 115, note 87, and V. V. Egorev et al., op. cit. 28. The amnesty for persons expelled from Poland, of Aug. 11, 1923, seems to apply to the persons involved in the expulsion of non-political refugees carried out by the Polish Government after 1920. See note 11 above.

35 J. H. Simpson, op. cit. 91.

36 The use of this measure was further extended by the inclusion in Art. 7 of the Soviet Citizenship Act No. 198, of Aug. 19, 1938, of the provision for the forfeiture of citizenship by “decree of a court of law in instances prescribed by law.” See “Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta SSSR, 1938, No. 11, and Shargorodsky, M., Voprosy Obshchei Chasti Ugolovnogo Prava (General questions of criminal law) 179–180 (Leningrad, 1955)Google Scholar. Somewhat similar in its effects of denaturalization is the “outlawing” envisaged in the Decree of the Central Executive Committee of the U.S.S.R., Nov. 21, 1929, titled, “On the declaration as outlaw of officials—Soviet citizens abroad, who have fled into the camp of the enemies of the working class and peasants, and who refuse to return to the U.S.S.R.” See M. Shargorodsky, op. cit., and Brainin, Ya. M., Sovetskoe Ugolovnoe Pravo (Soviet criminal law), I, p. 147 (Kiev, 1955)Google Scholar.

37 V. I. Lenin, Socheneniya (Collected Works), Vol. 32, p. 256, quoted in Akademiya Nauk SSSR, op. cit. 239.

38 W. Adams, loc. cit.

39 For the text of the Peace Treaty with Estonia, see Sbornik dogovorov, 1922, I, pp. 100–116 (English text in L. Schapiro (ed.), Soviet Treaty Series, I, pp. 34–38 (Washington, D. C., 1950)); for the texts of treaties with Georgia, see Sbornik dogovorov, 1921, I, pp. 27–33, 135–138; also L. Schapiro, op. cit. 44–46, 82–83.

40 For texts of treaties, see Sbornik dogovorov, I–II, pp. 37–48 (2nd rev. ed., 1928); ibid., 1924, I, pp. 177; 1921, I, p. 153; for English texts see L. Schapiro, op. cit. 48–49, 54–58, 123–124, 138–141.

41 The first number is an estimate given in 1930 by a Sub-Committee of the Consultative Committee of Private Organizations attached to the High Commission’s Geneva Office; the second represents figures given by the High Commission, Doc. A.23.1929.VII.

42 The Treaty of Peace with the R.S.F.S.R., July 12, 1920; the Agreement with the R.S.F.S.R. on the Manner of Option for Lithuanian Citizenship, June 28, 1921; a similar agreement with the Uk.S.S.R., Jan. 28, 1921; and an Agreement with the Uk.S.S.R. on Provisional Rules Regulating the Transportation of the Property of Persons who Have Opted for Lithuanian Citizenship, April 5, 1922. For texts, see Sbornik dogovorov, I–II, pp. 59–68 (2nd rev. ed., 1928); ibid., 1924, I, p. 178; also see Recueil des Traités Conclus par la Lithuanie avec les Pays Etrangers, I, 1919–1929, pp. 30–45, 98–105, 67–72, 24–29 (Kaunas, 1930).

43 See note 41 above.

44 Ibid.

45 Extracts of the text of the Agreement may be found in Degras, J. (ed.), Soviet Documents on Foreign Policy, I: 1917–1924, Addendum, pp. 483–484 (London, 1951)Google Scholar.

46 The Treaty with Finland provided only for option of the population of the Pechenga area; the Treaty between the R.S.F.S.R. and Turkey, March 16, 1921, and the Treaty of Friendship between the S.S.R. of Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia on the one side, and Turkey on the other, with the participation of the R.S.F.S.R., signed at Kars, Oct. 13, 1921, provided for options in ceded territory only and for return of “prisoners of war and civilian prisoners.” See J. Degras, op. cit. 237–242, 263–267, and Sbornik dogovorov 134, 114, 120 (2nd rev. ed., 1928).

47 J. H. Simpson, op. cit. 75.

48 Nansen International Office for Refugees, Report by M. Michael Hansson, Former President of the Governing Body of the Nansen International Office for Refugees, on the Activities of the Office from July 1st to December 31st, 1938, p. 1.

49 Reports by the High Commissioner for Refugees, March 10, 1924, Extract No. 25, from the Official Journal, p. 2.

50 See Rabinovich, I. M., Russkie v Germanii, Yuridicheskii Spravochnik (Russians in Germany, Legal Reference) 68–69 (Berlin, 1921)Google Scholar.

51 Conventions with Great Britain, Feb. 12, 1920; France, April 20, 1920; Italy, April 27, 1920; Belgium, April 20, 1920; and Denmark, Dec. 18, 1919. For texts, see Sbornik dogovorov, 1921, I, pp. 120–123, 156–162, 141–142, 119 and 139–140.

52 See A. N. Makarov, “Règies Générates du Droit de la Nationalité,” 74 Recueil des Cours de l’Académie de Droit International de La Haye 323 (1949).

53 Carmen Ennesch, Émigrations politiques d’hier et d’aujourd’hui 123–124 (Paris, no date). He also states that the number of Russian émigrés who returned home in 1935 was greater than the total for 1933 and 1934.

54 United Nations, A Study of Statelessness 165.

55 See “Letter from the Soviet Government to the High Commission in Reply,” Report on the Work of the High Commission for Refugees, Sept. 4, 1923 (Doc. A.30. 1923.XII), pp. 16–18.

56 Ibid. 2.

57 Ibid. 18.

58 Reports of the High Commissioner for Refugees, March 10, 1924, Extract No. 25, p. 12.

59 Quoted by J. H. Simpson, op. cit. 107.

60 D. Thompson, op. cit. 25.

61 N. Bentwich, loc. cit. 17–18.

62 O. E. Polents, Akademiya Nauk SSSR, op. cit. 349.

63 See J. Degras, op. cit., II, p. 124: “Protest from Chicherin to the Bulgarian Foreign Minister against Forcible Repatriation into Soviet Territory, 13 July 1926.”

64 Pervaya Sessiya Verkhovnogo Soveta, Stenograficheskii otchet (First Session of the Supreme Soviet, stenographic report) 153 (Moscow, 1938).

65 Note of June 10, 1921, from Chicherin to the League of Nations, cited in Tsimmerman, M. A., Ocherki Novogo Mezhdunarodnogo Prava (Outlines of the New International Law) 177, note (Prague, 1924)Google Scholar.

66 Quoted in Izvestiya, Oct. 19, 1923.

67 W. Adams, loc. cit. 43.

68 See Special Report Submitted to the Seventeenth Assembly of the League of Nations by M. Michael Hansson, Acting President of the Governing Body, Sept. 17th, 1936 (Doc. A.27.1936.XII), p. 4: “… among Russians, who form the vast majority of the refugees, the death rate has played an important role in decreasing the number of refugees.”

69 J. P. C. Carey, The Role of Uprooted People in European Recovery 22–23, estimates 150,000 and 90,000, respectively, for Europe and the Far East in 1946. In 1937, the last figures available gave 356,000 in Europe and 94,000 in the Far East, for a total of 450,000. See J. Vernant, op. cit. 54.

70 J. H. Simpson, op. cit. 108.

71 Ibid. 34.

72 Report by Dr. F. Nansen, July 28, 1925, p. 3.

73 League of Nations, ILO, Report on the Work for the Refugees 9 (1925).

74 Nansen International Office for Refugees, Report of the Governing Body for the Year Ending June 30, 1935, p. 5.

75 Ibid. for the Year Ending June 30, 1936, p. 9.

76 League of Nations Doc.A.27.1936.XII, Sept. 7, 1936, p. 6.

77 J. H. Simpson, op. cit. 38, Table VI.

78 J. Degras, op. cit., I, pp. 263–267.

79 Though the project failed and had to be abandoned in 1929, it must have been an additional incentive to the Soviet Government.

80 On influence of economic conditions on repatriation, see above, p. 339.

81 For list of treaties, see T. A. Taracouzio, op. cit. 112, note 80. Texts of treaties may be found in Sbornik dogovorov, 1921, I–II, and in 2nd rev. ed., 1928, I–II.

82 In the agreements with Hungary, May 21, 1920; with Turkey, March 16, 1921; with Estonia, Aug. 19, 1920.

83 The first and best exponent of this thesis is the Soviet jurist, Korovin, E. A., Mezhdunarodnoe Pravo Perekhodnogo Vremeni (International Law of the Period of Transition) (2nd ed., Moscow, 1924)Google Scholar.

84 In 1930 it was estimated that there were 11,210–16,422 Russian refugees in Estonia; 9,808–30,000 in Latvia; 5,000–8,000 in Lithuania; 50,000–100,000 in Poland. Since their status had been stabilized for a number of years, it may be presumed that no great decline occurred during the next nine years.

85 Ginesy, Robert, La Seconde Guerre Mondiale et les Déplacements de Populations 40 (Paris, 1948)Google Scholar.

86 Cardwell, Ann Su, Poland and Russia 132 (New York, 1944)Google Scholar.

87 For text of the Agreement, see B. Montanus, Polish-Soviet Relations in the Light of International Law, Appendix, Doc. No. 4, p. 54 (New York, 1944).

88 For text of note, see A. S. Cardwell, op. cit. 132.

89 On the legal status of former Russians residing as stateless persons in the Baltic states, see decree of Sept. 7, 1940, concerning the acquisition of Soviet citizenship by nationals of the Lithuanian, Latvian and Estonian S.S.R.s, Sbornik dogovorov, 1955, X, pp. 232–233. For the somewhat ambiguous provisions relating to the status of stateless former Russians in Bessarabia and N. Bukovina, see decree of March 8, 1941, ibid. 234.

90 J. Vernant, op. cit. 55.

91 For the text of the decree of Nov. 10, 1945, see Vneshnyaya Politika Sovetskogo Soyuza, 1945, Dokumenty i Materialy (Foreign Policy of the Soviet Union, 1945, Documents and Materials) (hereafter cited as VPSS) 139–140 (Moscow, 1949); also Sbornik dogovorov, 1956, XII, p. 193.

92 United Nations, A Study of Statelessness 164. For texts see Sbornik dogovorov, 1956, XII, pp. 194–197.

93 For text see Sbornik dogovorov, 1956, XII, p. 198; Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta SSSR, 1946, No. 39.

94 J. Vernant, op. cit. 57. He gives the following breakdown: 10,000–20,000 from the Lebanon; 10,000 from Syria; 15,000–20,000 from Greece; 5,000 from Egypt; 3,000–3,500 from France, and a few thousand others from Bulgaria, Rumania and Iran. Some of these repatriates were refugees; others were nationals of the countries from which they came.

95 The same policy has been adopted by Poland in its latest drive on Polish refugees; see “Emigré Go Home,” News Prom Behind the Iron Curtain, Oct., 1955, No. 10, pp. 7–8.

96 R. Ginesy, op. cit. 131; see also E. Estorick, “The Evian Conference and the Intergovernmental Committee,” The Annals, May, 1939, pp. 136–142.

97 Akademiya Nauk SSSR, op. cit. 249.

98 See Naumenko, Y., Sbornik Materialov o Vydache Kazakov v Lientse i Drugikh Mestakh 1945 (Collection of Documents on the Surrender of Cossacks in Linz and Other Places in 1945), Vols. 7, 8 and 9 (Orangeburg, N. Y., 1954–1955)Google Scholar.

99 The Displaced Persons Problem. A Collection of Eecent Official Statements (U. S. Dept. of State Pub. 2899, Aug., 1947), “Legislation Advocated for Entrance of Displaced Persons to the United States–Message of the President to the Congress, July 7, 1947,” p. 1.

100 Major General Golikov, “O khode repatriatsii sovetskikh grazhdan” (On the process of repatriation of Soviet citizens), VPSS 1945, p. 15; Occupation of Germany, Policy and Progress, 1945–1946 (U. S. Dept. of State Pub. 2783, Washington, 1947), p. 26, states that by October, 1945, 5½ million persons had been repatriated from the three Western zones.

101 Akademiya Nauk SSSR, op. cit. 246.

102 A. Y. Vishinsky, “O mezhdunarodnoi organizatsii po delam bezhentsev” (On the subject of an international organization on refugees), Speech at the Session of the 3rd Committee of the General Assembly, Nov. 6, 1946, Voprosy Mezhdunarodnogo Prava i Mezhdunarodnoi Politiki (Questions of International Law and International Politics) 117 (Moscow, 1949).

103 The Displaced Persons Problem, op. cit., “Concern Expressed on Resettlement of Displaced Persons—Statement by the Secretary of State, July 16, 1947,” p. 4.

104 Akademiya Nauk SSSR, op. cit. 249, note 2.

105 “O repatriatsii sovetskikh grazhdan iz Shveitsarii” (On the repatriation of Soviet citizens from Switzerland), VPSS 1945, p. 73.

106 For text of treaty, see Herremans, M. P., Personnes Déplacée 8, Annex 11, pp. 304–307 (Brussels, 1948)Google Scholar.

107 “Zayavlenie Sovetskogo Posla v Belgii o repatriatsii Belgiiskikh grazhdan iz SSSB i Sovetskikh grazhdan iz Belgii” (Declaration of the Soviet Envoy to Belgium on the repatriation of Belgian citizens from the USSR and Soviet citizens from Belgium), VPSS 1946, pp. 94–98 (Moscow, 1952).

108 de Gadolin, Axel, The Solution of the Karelian Refugee Problem in Finland 13 (The Hague, 1952)CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

109 A similar agreement was signed between the Byelorussian S.S.R. and Poland on the same day for exchanges of their respective nationals. See Lisovsky, V. I., Mezhdunarodonoe Pravo (International Law) 102 (Kiev, 1955)Google Scholar.

110 “Kommunike Pravitelstva Ukrainskoi SSR i Pravitelstva Polskoi Respubliki” (Communiqué of the Governments of the UkSSB and the Polish Republic), VPSS 1947, I, pp. 383–384 (Moscow, 1952).

111 See note 88 above.

112 “Podpisanie Soglasheniya mezhdu Pravitelstvom SSSB i Pravitelstvom Chekho-slovakii ob optatsii i pereselenii” (Signature of the Agreement between the Governments of the USSB and Czechoslovakia on Option and Resettlement), VPSS 1946, p. 149. For text of treaty and protocol, see Sbornik dogovorov, 1955, XI, pp. 31–34. A decree of Oct. 31, 1946, automatically extended Soviet citizenship to the repatriates to the U.S.S.B. See Sbornik dogovorov, 1956, XII, p. 198.

113 “Proekt rezolutsii po voprosu o bezhentsakh, predlozhennyi Delegatsiei SSSR v 3m Komitete” (Draft resolution on the question of refugees proposed by the Soviet Delegation in the 3rd Committee), Feb. 4, 1946, VPSS 1946, pp. 227–232.

114 See Charter and Annexes to the Charter of the International Refugee Organization in “IRO,” 24 Brit. Year Bk. of Int. Law 480–493 (1947)Google ScholarPubMed.

115 Ibid. 489.

116 “Vystupleniya A. Y. Vyshinskogo na plenarnykh zasedaniyakh Generalnoi Assemblei pri obsuzhdenii rezolutsii po voprosu o bezhentsakh” (A. T. Vishinsky’s speeches at the plenary sessions of the General Assembly during the debate on the resolution on the question of refugees), Feb. 12, 1946, VPSS 1946, pp. 227–232.

117 Cf. The Displaced Persons Problem, “Statement by the Secretary of State, July 16, 1947,” pp. 3–4: “For the most part, they [the repatriates] were western Europeans—French, Belgian, Dutch—and citizens of prewar Russia.” (Italics supplied.)

118 “K voprosu o presledovanii sovetskikh grazhdan i repatriantov vo Frantsii” and “Nota sovetskogo pravitelstva frantsuskomu pravitelstvu” (On the question of the persecution of Soviet citizens and repatriates in France, and Note of the Soviet Government to the French Government), Dec. 8 and 9, 1947, VPSS 1947, II, pp. 95–101.

119 “O nevypolnenii soglashenii o repatriatsii sovetskikh grazhdan” (On the nonfulfillment of agreements on the repatriation of Soviet citizens), Feb. 24, 1949, VFSS 1949, pp. 80–84.

120 “Vystupleniya A. T. Vyshinskogo” (Speech of A. T. Vishinsky), Feb. 12, 1946, VPSS 1946, p. 227.

121 “Zayavlennie A. Y. Vyshinskogo na Moskovskoi sessii Soveta Ministrov Inostrannykh Del pri obsuzhdenii voprosa o peremeshchennykh litsakh” (Declaration of A. Y. Vishinsky at the Moscow Session of the Council of Foreign Ministers at the debate on the question of displaced persons), March 15, 1947, VPSS 1947, I, p. 407.

122 “Vystuplenie V. A. Zorina na zasedanii tretiego komiteta Generalnoi Assemblei” (Speech of V. A. Zorin at the session of the 3rd Committee of the General Assembly), Nov. 4, 1947, Delegatsii SSSR, USSR and BSSR na Vtoroi Sessii Generalnoi Assemblei Organizatsii Obiedinennykh Natsii (Delegations of the USSR, UkSSR and BSSR at the 2nd session of the General Assembly of the United Nations Organization) 539–540 (Moscow, 1948).

123 A. Y. Vishinsky, op. cit. (note 102) 119.

124 “Vystupleniya A. Y. Vyshinskogo” (Speech of A. Y. Vishinsky), March 15, 1947, VPSS 1947, I, p. 408.

125 “IRO,” loc. cit.

126 Shargorodsky, M. D., “Nekotorye voprosy mezhdunarodnogo ugolovnogo prava” (Some questions of international criminal law), Sovetskoe Gosudarstvo i Pravo (hereafter cited as SGP), 1948, No. 3, p. 30 Google Scholar.

127 “Vystuplenie A. A. Gromyko na plenarnom zasedanii Generalnoi Assemblei Organizatsii Obedinennykh Natsii pri obsuzhdenii voprosa o bezhentsakh i peremeshchennykh litsakh” (Declarations of A. A. Gromyko at the plenary session of the General Assembly of the United Nations at the discussion of the question of refugees and displaced persons), Dec. 15, 1946, VPSS 1946, p. 536.

128 “O vydache voennykh prestupnikov. Vystuplenie A. T. Vyshinskogo na plenarnom zasedanii Generalnoi Assemblei” (On the surrender of War Criminals. A. Y. Vishinsky’s speech at the plenary session of the General Assembly), Oct. 31, 1947, VPSS 1947, II, p. 166.

129 A. Y. Vishinsky, op. cit. (note 102 above) 113.

130 M. P. Herremans, op. cit. 231.

131 A. Y. Vishinsky, op. cit. 118–119.

132 “Vystuplenie A. A. Gromyko” (A. A. Gromyko’s Speech), Dec. 15, 1946, VPSS 1946, p. 531.

133 Akademiya Nauk SSSR, op. cit. 248 and note 3 ibid.

134 A. Y. Vishinsky, op. cit. 117.

135 “Vystuplenie A. A. Gromyko” (A. A. Gromyko’s Speech), Dee. 15, 1946, VPSS 1946, p. 535.

136 “O vydache voennykh prestupnikov” (On the surrender of war criminals), Oct. 31, 1947, VPSS 1947, II, p. 166.

137 “Zayavlenie A. Y. Vyshinskogo” (A. Y. Vishinsky’s Declaration), March 15, 1947, VPSS 1947, I, p. 408.

138 Cf. Calvez, J.-Y., Droit International et Souveraineteé et U.R.S.S. 175 (Paris, 1953)Google Scholar; “C’est sans doute par cette conception qu’il faut expliquer l’insistence dont a fait preuve l’Union Soviétique pour exiger le rapatriement des exilés volontaires après la deuxième guerre mondiale: le lien rattachant les personnes à l’Etat serait uniquement un lien de droit public et objectif, ne dépendant que de la volonté de l’Etat.”

139 Akademiya Nauk SSSR, op. cit. 218.

140 Ibid. 249.

141 Poliansky, N. N., Mezhdunarodnoe Pravosudie i Prestupniki Voiny (International Justice and War Criminals) 73 (Moscow, 1945)Google Scholar.

142 V. M. Chkhikvadze, op. cit. 133.

143 Volodin, S., “Konventsia o preduprezhdenii prestupleniya genotsida i nakazanii za ego” (Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of Genocide), SGP, 1954, No. 7, pp. 125–129 Google Scholar. For example, see Zakon o zashchite mira (Law for the Defense of Peace), March 12, 1951, Vedomosti Verkhovnogo Soveta SSSR, No. 5, 1951. Genocide and racial discrimination have long been subjects of Soviet legislation, the first measure appearing as a Decree of the Council of People’s Commissars of the R.S.F.S.R., July 27, 1918; see Akademiya Nauk SSSR, Institut Prava, Sovetskoe Gosudarstvennoe Pravo (Soviet Public Law) 168 and note 1 ibid. (Moscow, 1948).

144 Cf. J. S. Roucek, “Minorities—A Basis of the Refugee Problem,” The Annals, May, 1939, p. 15, where he considers the Soviet minority problem to be “political and religious.”

145 J. Vernant, op. cit. 84.

146 The Displaced Persons Problem, p. 1.

147 Occupation of Germany (Dept. of State Pub. 2783) p. 27.

148 The Displaced Persons Problem, “Position on Resettlement of Displaced Persons—Statement by Assistant Secretary Hilldring, June 4, 1947,” p. 8.

149 According to George Fischer, Soviet Opposition to Stalin 45 (Cambridge, Mass., 1952): “Before the end of the war, ex-Soviet citizens serving in the Wehnnacht totaled at least half a million.” German sources estimated the number at a million. At the end of the war there was an estimated 5–5½ million Soviet refugees and DP’s.

150 See G. Fischer, op. cit. 48 and 51, for names of units created from Soviet minorities.

151 Though Fischer, op. cit. 160, does suggest that “approximately 50 percent each of Great Russians and various categories of non-Russians” formed the “national composition of Vlasov’s small KONR Army,” that army itself did not include all Soviet refugees and DP’s. Most of the minorities were organized into separate units, independent of the Vlasov movement.

152 J. Vernant, op. cit. 84; G. Fischer, op. cit. 44; and Dvinov, B., Vlasovskoe Dvizhenie v svete Dokumentov (The Vlasov Movement in the Light of Documents) 34 (New York, 1950)Google Scholar.

153 For an analysis of the provisions of the convention, see Weis, P., “Legal Aspects of the Convention of 28 July 1951 Relating to the Status of Refugees,” 30 Brit. Year Bk. of Int. Law 479 (1953)Google Scholar; see also idem, “The International Protection of Refugees,” 48 A.J.I.L. 193 (1954)Google Scholar.

154 Langrod, Georges, “La Charte du Réfugié Politique,” Revue Politique et Parlementaire, March, 1955, No. 646, pp. 276–286 Google Scholar.

155 Akademiya Nauk SSSR, op. cit. 246.

156 Ibid. 247.

157 A. Y. Vishinsky, op. cit. 118.

158 “Vystuplenie A. A. Gromyko” (A. A. Gromyko’s Speech), Dec. 15, 1946, VPSS 1946, p. 534.

159 Molodtsov, S. V., “Pravilo edinoglasiya postoyannykh chlenov Soveta Bezopasnosti—nezyblemaya osnova OON” (The Rule of Unanimity of the Permanent Members of the Security Council is the Unshakeable Basis of the UNO), SGP, 1953, No. 7, p. 48 Google Scholar.

160 Ibid.

161 See Korovin, E. A., Mezhdunarodnoe Pravo na Sovremennom Etape (International Law at the Contemporary Stage) 12–13 (Moscow, 1946)Google Scholar.

162 “Emigré Go Home,” News Prom Behind the Iron Curtain, Oct., 1955, No. 10, p. 5; also Gaev, A., “Return to the Motherland,” 2 Bulletin of the Institute for the Study of the History and Culture of the USSR 20–24 (1955, No. 8)Google Scholar.

163 “Soviet Appeals to Estonians Here,” New York Times, Feb. 9, 1956.

164 “Emigré Go Home,” loc. cit. 9.

165 Ibid.

166 “Russian Combats Refugee Flights by Intensive ‘Come Home’ Drive,” New York Times, March 28, 1956, estimates the number of returnees in the 13 months that ended Jan. 31, 1956, at 1,158; see also “812 Leave Argentina for Soviet in Growing Repatriation Exodus,” ibid., June 2, 1956, in which it is stated that, besides the 812, 780 had sailed already, 800 more were scheduled to sail within a month, and before the end of the year 30,000 persons from Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina were expected to return behind the Iron Curtain.

167 Ministerstvo Yustitsii RSFSR, Ugolovnyi Kodeks RSFSR (Ministry of Justice of the RSFSR, Criminal Code of the RSFSR) 17–18 (Moscow, 1953)Google Scholar.

168 V. M. Chkhikvadze, op. cit. 199.

169 The position of the subordinate is made even more difficult by the fact that in Soviet military law he has no right to question the validity or utility of his superior’s orders. See V. M. Chkhikvadze, op. cit. 198.

170 Petrov, E., “Amerikanskie imperialisty—zlostnye narushiteli rezhima voennogo plena” (American Imperialists are Flagrant Violators of the Regime for P.O.W.’s), SGP, 1952, No. 12, p. 56 Google Scholar; see also Brandweiner, H., “Amerikanskoe tolkovanie mezhdnnarodnogo prava” (American Interpretation of International Law), SGP, 1954, No. 6, p. 46 Google Scholar: “This Convention [the Hague Convention of 1907] acts at present universally as an expression of customary law of war binding on all nations.”

171 A. Y. Vishinsky, Speech at the General Assembly of the United Nations, quoted in Pravda, Nov. 12, 1952.

172 A. Y. Vishinsky, “Koreiskii Vopros” (The Korean Question), Oct. 29, 1952, Voprosy Mezhdunarodnogo Prava i Mezhdunarodnoi Politiki (Questions of International Law and International Politics), Seventh Session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, 1952, p. 72 (Moscow, 1953).

173 See Kudriavtsev, P. I. et al., Yuridicheskii Slovar (Legal Dictionary), II, “Repatriatsiya” (Repatriation), pp. 334–335 (Moscow, 1956)Google Scholar.

174 Cf. Baxter, R. R., “Asylum to Prisoners of War,” 30 Brit. Year Bk. of Int. Law 489 (1953)Google Scholar: “The principle that a Detaining Power may, if it desires, grant asylum to prisoners of war who do not wish to be repatriated now appears to be generally accepted.” See also Ch. De Yisscher, op. cit. 235.

175 Witness, for example, the sequence of actions taken by the Hungarian Government on the subject of the post-revolt refugees: Under Art. 17(2) of Nationality Act LX of Dec. 24, 1948, the Government, on a proposal made by the Minister of the Interior, may deprive of his Hungarian nationality a person who “on going abroad contravenes or evades the statutory provisions relating to departure from the country.” On Nov. 29, 1956, an amnesty for Hungarian citizens who left the country illegally was made public. A few weeks later it was announced that a census of the population was planned soon, presumably to determine the presence or absence of registered residents, prior to the taking of measures against the illegal absentees. Under the provisions of the same Nationality Act, Art. 17(3), the property of the persons deprived of Hungarian citizenship for illegal exit is subject to confiscation. Diplomatic pressure was exerted on Austria to help return Hungarian youngsters “tricked by Fascist propaganda” into leaving their motherland, and 141 refugees were returned to Hungary from Yugoslavia, presumably voluntarily. See New York Times, Dec. 10, 1956, and East Europe, Jan., 1957, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 21–22, 43.