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| Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia |
| Residents of Kalmykia say the authorities underestimated the tragedy of deportation |
| 2023-12-31 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. [KavkazUzel] The real scale of the tragedy of the deportation of Kalmyks became known only almost half a century after it took place, since the USSR authorities forbade speaking on this topic, noted Inna Sangadzhieva, a native of Kalmykia, director for Europe and Central Asia of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee. The scale of this tragedy has not yet been properly assessed by the authorities. On the 80th anniversary of the deportation, some Kalmyk media did not even mention these repressions; benefits for their victims exist only nominally, and payments from the state are low, residents of Kalmykia noted online. As the "Caucasian Knot" reported, since 2004 in Kalmykia, December 28 is the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Deportation of the Kalmyk People. On December 28, 1943, in accordance with the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on the liquidation of the Kalmyk Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, the NKVD troops carried out Operation Ulus to evict Kalmyks to the regions of Siberia and the Far East. The Kalmyks were accused of treason, joining military detachments organized by the Germans, and organizing an anti-Soviet rebel movement. The deportation of Kalmyks was also considered as a means of resolving the national-political conflict (as defined by Joseph Stalin) that arose with the Kalmyks. The total number of deported Kalmyks, including soldiers and officers withdrawn from combat units, was about 120 thousand people, according to the Caucasian Knot reference material “ Deportation of Kalmyks.” Director for Europe and Central Asia of the Norwegian Helsinki Committee Inna Sangadzhieva was born in the village of Adyk, about 130 kilometers from Elista. She learned years later about what the generations of her parents and grandparents went through, as reported on the committee’s website in a publication dedicated to the 80th anniversary of the deportation of the Kalmyks. “In Soviet times, it was forbidden to talk about deportations, so I remember that this topic was mentioned completely without context in my childhood. About how my father grew up in Siberia, how my mother’s parents were left orphans, how my grandfather fought and my grandmother lost rumor in the taiga, and that some of the grandmother’s children died,” noted Sangadzhieva, whose words were translated by the Caucasian Knot using the Google Translate service. She learned the history of her family only in the late 90s. “It turned out that my grandmother wrapped my father in a small carpet, where he sat in a cattle truck for about a month on the way to Siberia. This is how he survived. My grandfather was a front-line paratrooper, part of the Dnieper landing, a veteran of the Airborne Forces of the 3rd Guards Army. In the hospital "he was almost sent to the Gulag. Thanks to a brave doctor who said that he was an ethnic Kazakh and not a Kalmyk, he was not arrested, but sent back to the front," said Inna Sangadzhieva. Upon arrival in Siberia, tens of thousands of Kalmyks were placed in special settlements with difficult conditions. Kalmyks worked as laborers in agriculture, mining, and forestry, performing forced labor in underdeveloped regions of Siberia. "On my mother's side, some Buddhists were either sent to camps or died in Siberia. It was only in the 1990s that Buddhism began to be practiced again in Kalmykia. I am afraid that the Kalmyk language, culture and identity were lost after Kalmyks were resettled throughout Siberia. My grandmother was sent to Kokshetau (now Kazakhstan), and her brother ended up in Kamchatka in the Russian Far East. They have not seen each other for 13 years,” the human rights activist explained. She explained that the deportation of her ancestors from Kalmykia influenced her choice to engage in human rights activities. "When glasnost and perestroika were announced, society itself began to reveal the terrible secrets of the past. The more history was revealed, the more questions arose. Why was my grandfather unable to visit Austria, which he helped liberate? Why did the victory cost so many lives? Why did they have to endure so much "Lie? Why couldn't Russia be a free country?" – said Sangadzhieva. According to her, to find answers to questions, she began to study political science. “My dream is to write the name of every victim of repression on stones and spread them throughout the Russian Federation so that we remember. But the question remains: will there be enough space?” – said the human rights activist. Other residents of the republic also spoke out that the authorities are not paying enough attention to the tragedy of the deportation of the Kalmyks. In particular, on December 29, a post about a memorial rally in Elista was published on the VKontakte social network in the “Overheard Kalmykia” public page. As of 12.25 Moscow time on December 30, this post received 140 likes with user reactions and 10 comments. “I waited on the central channels, and they didn’t say a word. Even in the “Calendar” section on OTR on the 28th. It’s a shame,” wrote Svetlana Konkina. “Still, we will coordinate more rallies. But not in large cities,” says Philip Zhilin. On December 23, the Kalmykia News telegram channel published a post stating that rehabilitated residents of Kalmykia, born before December 28, 1943, will receive a one-time payment of 10,000 rubles. As of 12.25 Moscow time on December 30, this post received about 3,500 views and 12 comments. “By such a date as 80 years from the date of deportation, all Kalmyks (of any age) from the category of repressed people deserve this one-time payment. What kind of frivolous selectivity is there, which should not be discussed at all?” – Elvira Sh asked herself. “There are still those born on the day of deportation and those who were born on the way. But birth records go back to January 1944,” noted Marina Kucherova. “And the children who were born to humiliated, hungry parents didn’t deserve this money? How much did they also have to endure? They were third-rate. And what kind of coupons do they give out in social security? If only they would think that the majority of repressed people are already over 70 years old. Who will go to by bus around the republic? There are no bus stations in the regional centers. Where should older people go, where should they wait for this bus? They have to get to Elista. And this is called payments to the repressed? We have benefits only on paper. What about benefits for medicines? The list changes every month. And expensive medicines are not included in this list. Eye medications are not included at all. And what are these benefits?" – a user with the nickname Valentаin was indignant. Related: Kalmyks: 2023-12-29 Residents of Kalmykia honor the memory of the victims of deportation Kalmyks: 2023-12-28 Memorial plaque about the deportation of Kalmyks was broken in the Volgograd region Kalmyks: 2023-10-20 Dispute over paragraph turned into a demand to withdraw the textbook throughout the country |
| Posted by:badanov |