The prodigals’ return: Voluntary repatriation from displaced persons’ camps in Europe to the Soviet Union, 1949-1950

Abstract

After the end of mass (often forced) repatriation of Soviet “displaced persons” (DPs) from Europe after World War II, the Soviet Union continued to press its citizens to return, and some thousands did so each year up until the early 1950s. While the numbers involved were small, the process is of great interest to the historian because, after successfully passing through filtration, the repatriates were interviewed and spoke remarkably freely of the circumstances that took them to the West during the war, their experience after it, and why, after the passing of several years, they had decided to return. The untrained interviewers had no clear agenda, other than to find out what they could about the DP camps and get names of other potential repatriates, so the interviews ranged widely and included much autobiographical detail. As in any interview source, there is bias – but it is a different bias, and hence a different angle of vision on DP life and choices, than any other source provides.