Северокавказцы – жертвы трагедии на Драве [North Caucasians as Victims of the Tragedy on the Drava River

Abstract

This article discusses the tragedy that stroke North Caucasian refugees in late May-early June of 1945 on the Drava / Drau river valley near the Austrian city of Lienz. In line with the Yalta Agreement between President Roosevelt, Prime Minister Churchill and Generalissimo Stalin, the refugees, along with a large number of Cossacks, were extradited by the British authorities to the Soviet military command. However, in Russian historiography, there is barely any information on the presence of the highlanders in the Lientsev tragedy of the Cossacks. The article attempts to reconstruct the composition, living conditions of refugees in the national communities and provide details of the dramatic events that took place in the camp on May 28 - June 1, 1945. In doing so, the paper discusses some historical documents and testimonies of eyewitnesses, including representatives of the North Caucasus, who managed to avoid deportation. During the extradition, a number of highlanders, including many civilians, resisted the authorities, committing suicide and fleeing, but many were shot. The North Caucasian colony was led by a white emigrant, Major General Sultan Klych-Girei (1880-1947), who shared the fate of the officers of the Cossack Camp. Representatives of the North Caucasian diaspora in Turkey annually meet to remember “the tragedy on the Drava”, which marks 75th anniversary this year