The Soviet War against `Fifth Columnists': The Case of Chechnya, 1942—4

Abstract

In this article, the author traces the main contours of the emergence of the concept of 'enemy nationalities' in the Stalin era, 1937-45. By 1938, 'fifth columnists' - suspected agents of foreign governments - dominated Soviet arrests of internal enemies. This xenophobic wave corresponded with the emergence by the eve of the Second World War of a Soviet policy that targeted ethnic minorities living in strategic borderland zones. Stalinist deportation policies in 1944-5 represented a continuation of these pre-war initiatives. The article focuses on the Soviet struggle against Chechen mountain guerrilla forces during the Second World War. By 1939, the Caucasus had become a vitally important Soviet strategic zone that supplied more than 90 percent of Soviet gas and fuel reserves. Hostile mountain conditions and tremendous popular sympathy facilitated tactical manoeuvring of guerrilla forces, who by and large eluded or successfully ambushed Soviet units. The Soviet secret police therefore relied heavily on dezorganizatsiia: disorganization of the Chechen national movement from within. Stymied on the battlefield, Soviet police won the war in Chechnya during 1942-4 by playing Chechen leaders off against one another; by sowing dissension in their ranks; by leaking false rumours about Chechen leaders; by pressuring family members and religious leaders; and by isolating Chechen guerrillas from their base with the mass deportation of the indigenous peoples of the North Caucasus in 1944.

Chechen Frontier in the Socio-Cultural Space of East Kazakhstan in Conditions of Deportation

“…Special settlers from the Caucasus got into unusual climatic conditions, did heavy physical work, lived in unsuitable premises. Lack of food rations, warm clothing, and high mortality contributed to the appearance of embitterment, hostility (Burds, 2007). There were cases of open speeches.…”

“…Modern foreign historiography considers deportation as a war of the Soviet state against the 'fifth column' (Burds, 2007), as 'ethnic cleansing' (Gelb, 2000), as an 'ethnic conflict' (Martin, 1999), an attempt to analyse the assimilation of deported peoples (Scarborough, 2017), the use of anthropological approach (Lackwood, 2017), etc. Foreign experts of the Soviets consider the problems of repression and deportation in the focus of the term 'Stalinism' analysing the content of fragmentary memory, where the memory of Stalinism is regarded as a memory of state terror (Roginskij, 2017).…”

“…J. Burds believe, that the indirect cause of the deportation of the Chechen people during the war of the Soviet state with Germany was the Caucasus, which became a stumbling block during the Second World War because of its strategic position and, as he writes "... that supplied more than 90 percent of Soviet gas and fuel reserves" (Burds, 2007:293). He also believes that the Chechen people led a guerrilla war in the Caucasus Mountains with the NKVD (Burds, 2007).…”

A liminalitás terei és idői az európai posztszovjet térben az orosz és szovjet expanziós törekvések tükrében

“…Ennek oka főként a gazdasági struktúrák erőszakos megváltoztatási kísérleteiben, a szovjetizálásban keresendő, melynek során a földtulajdon megszüntetésével és a kolhozosítással a szovjet hatalom a hagyományos életmódjuk ellen indított támadást. A második világháború alatt a Kaukázus környéki kőolajlelőhelyek növelték a térség stratégiai jelentőségét (Burds 2007), ami a korabeli szovjet vezetést (azaz Sztálint) az évtizedek óta húzódó konfliktus hatékony és gyors megoldására sarkallta. Annak ellenére, hogy a szovjet erőkkel együtt harcoltak, a csecsen félkatonai alakulatokat mégis kollaborálással vádolták, majd a kollektív bűnösség elvét alkalmazva elhatározták a teljes csecsen közösség deportálását: ennek eredményeként 1944 elején 500 ezer embert 6 vittek el Kazahsztán és Kirgizisztán területére (Werth 2006).…”

“…Becslések (Burds 2007) alapján a terület népességének létszáma kb. 500 000 fő lehetett (amelyből a csecsenek létszáma 400 000 fő feletti), tehát a szovjet hatóságok beszámolóiból részletesen ismert deportálási folyamat valóban a teljes népességet érintette.…”