Operation Keelhaul - Revision history

𝗔𝗿𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗹 at 01:25, 8 March 2024

2024-03-08T01:25:55Z

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	'''Operation Keelhaul''' was carried out in [[Northern Italy]] by [[United Kingdom\|British]] and [[United States\|American]] forces to repatriate [[Soviet Armed Forces]] [[POW]]s of the [[National Socialist]]s to the [[Soviet Union]] between August 14, 1946 and May 9, 1947.<ref name=tolstoy>{{cite book \|author=[[Nikolai Tolstoy]]\| title=[[The Secret Betrayal]] \| publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons \| year = 1977 \| ISBN = 0-684-15635-0 \| page = 360 }}</ref> The term has been later applied - specifically after the publication of [[Julius Epstein]]'s eponymous book - to other [[Allies of World War II\|Allied]] acts of often forced repatriation of former residents of the USSR after the ending of [[World War II]] that sealed the fate of millions<ref name=Hornberger>{{cite web \|url=http://www.fff.org/freedom/0495a.asp \|title=Repatriation — The Dark Side of World War II \|first=Jacob \|last=Hornberger \|publisher=The Future of Freedom Foundation \|date=April, 1995}}</ref> of post-war refugees fleeing [[eastern Europe]].<ref name=Keelhaul>{{cite web \| url=http://www.worldaffairsbrief.com/keytopics/Keelhaul.shtml \|title=Historical Deceptions: Operation Keelhaul \|first=Joel \|last=Skousen \|authorlink=Joel Skousen \|publisher=World Affairs Brief \|accessdate=2009-01-14}}</ref>		'''Operation Keelhaul''' was carried out in [[Northern Italy]] by [[United Kingdom\|British]] and [[United States\|American]] forces to repatriate [[Soviet Armed Forces]] [[POW]]s of the [[National Socialist]]s to the [[Soviet Union]] between August 14, 1946 and May 9, 1947.<ref [[name]]=tolstoy>{{cite book \|author=[[Nikolai Tolstoy]]\| title=[[The Secret Betrayal]] \| publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons \| year = 1977 \| ISBN = 0-684-15635-0 \| page = 360 }}</ref> The term has been later applied - specifically after the publication of [[Julius Epstein]]'s eponymous book - to other [[Allies of World War II\|Allied]] acts of often forced [[repatriation]] of former residents of the USSR after the ending of [[World War II]] that sealed the fate of millions<ref name=Hornberger>{{cite web \|url=http://www.fff.org/freedom/0495a.asp \|title=Repatriation — The Dark Side of World War II \|first=Jacob \|last=Hornberger \|publisher=The Future of Freedom Foundation \|date=April, 1995}}</ref> of post-war refugees fleeing [[eastern Europe]].<ref name=Keelhaul>{{cite web \| url=http://www.worldaffairsbrief.com/keytopics/Keelhaul.shtml \|title=Historical Deceptions: Operation Keelhaul \|first=Joel \|last=Skousen \|authorlink=Joel Skousen \|publisher=World Affairs Brief \|accessdate=2009-01-14}}</ref>

	==Yalta Conference==		==Yalta Conference==
	One of the conclusions of the [[Yalta Conference]] was that the western [[Allies]] would return all Soviet citizens who found themselves in their zones to the [[Soviet Union]]. This immediately affected the liberated [[Soviet prisoners of war (National Socialist Germany)\|Soviet prisoners of war]],<ref>{{cite news \|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/patriots-ignore-greatest-brutality/2007/08/12/1186857342382.html?page=2 \|title=Patriots ignore greatest brutality \|publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald \|first=Paul \|last=Sheehan\|date=August 13, 2007}}</ref> but was also extended to all [[Eastern Europe]]an [[refugees]]. In exchange, the Soviet government agreed to hand over several thousand western Allied prisoners of war whom they had liberated from German prisoner of war camps.<ref name="Sanders, James D. 1992">{{cite book \|title=Soldiers Of Misfortune: Washington's Secret Betrayal of American POWs in the Soviet Union \|first1=James D \|last1=Sanders \|first2=Mark A \|last2=Sauter \|first3=R. Cort \|last3=Kirkwood \|publisher=National Press Books \|year=1992}}</ref>		One of the conclusions of the [[Yalta Conference]] was that the western [[Allies]] would return all Soviet citizens who found themselves in their zones to the [[Soviet Union]]. This immediately affected the liberated [[Soviet prisoners of war (National Socialist Germany)\|Soviet prisoners of war]],<ref>{{cite news \|url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/patriots-ignore-greatest-brutality/2007/08/12/1186857342382.html?page=2 \|title=Patriots ignore greatest brutality \|publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald \|first=Paul \|last=Sheehan\|date=August 13, 2007}}</ref> but was also extended to all [[Eastern Europe]]an [[refugees]]. In exchange, the Soviet [[government]] agreed to hand over several thousand western Allied prisoners of war whom they had liberated from [[German]] prisoner of war camps.<ref name="Sanders, James D. 1992">{{cite book \|title=Soldiers Of Misfortune: Washington's Secret Betrayal of American POWs in the Soviet Union \|first1=James D \|last1=Sanders \|first2=Mark A \|last2=Sauter \|first3=R. Cort \|last3=Kirkwood \|publisher=National Press Books \|year=1992}}</ref>

	On March 31, 1945, Soviet General Secretary [[Joseph Stalin]], British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]], and U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] concluded the final form of their plans in a secret [[codicil]] to the agreement. Outlining the plan to forcibly return the refugees to the Soviet Union, this codicil was kept secret from the US and British people for over fifty years.<ref name=Hornberger />		On March 31, 1945, Soviet General Secretary [[Joseph Stalin]], British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]], and U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] concluded the final form of their plans in a secret [[codicil]] to the agreement. Outlining the plan to forcibly return the refugees to the Soviet Union, this codicil was kept secret from the US and British [[people]] for over fifty years.<ref name=Hornberger />

	The name of the operation comes from the naval practice of corporal punishment, [[keelhauling]]. In his book ''Operation Keelhaul'', Epstein states: "That our Armed Forces should have adopted this term as its code name for deporting by brutal force to [[concentration camp]], [[firing squad]], or [[hanging\|hangman's noose]] millions who were already in the lands of freedom, shows how little the high brass thought of their longing to be free."		The name of the operation comes from the naval practice of corporal punishment, [[keelhauling]]. In his book ''Operation Keelhaul'', Epstein states: "That our Armed Forces should have adopted this term as its code name for deporting by brutal force to [[concentration camp]], [[firing squad]], or [[hanging\|hangman's noose]] millions who were already in the lands of [[freedom]], shows how little the high brass [[thought]] of their longing to be free."

	==Treatment of prisoners and refugees==		==Treatment of prisoners and refugees==
	The refugee columns fleeing the Soviet-occupied eastern Europe numbered millions of people. They included many [[anti-communist]]s of several categories, assorted [[civilian]]s, both from the Soviet Union and from [[Yugoslavia]], and [[Collaboration during World War II\|fascist collaborationists from eastern Slavic and other countries]].		The refugee columns fleeing the Soviet-occupied eastern [[Europe]] numbered millions of people. They included many [[anti-communist]]s of several categories, assorted [[civilian]]s, both from the Soviet Union and from [[Yugoslavia]], and [[Collaboration during World War II\|fascist collaborationists from eastern Slavic and other countries]].

	At the end of World War II there were more than five million refugees from the Soviet Union in [[Western Europe]],<ref name=Keelhaul/> of whom approximately three million had been [[Forced labor in Germany during World War II\|forced laborers]] ([[OST-Arbeiter]]s).<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://summeroftruth.org/enemy/barracks.html \|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20090214105309/http://summeroftruth.org/enemy/barracks.html \|archivedate=February 14, 2009 \|title=Forced Labor at Ford Werke AG during the Second World War \|publisher=Summer of Truth}}</ref> On return to the Soviet Union, OST-Arbeiters were often treated as traitors. Many were transported to remote locations in the Soviet Union and were denied basic rights and the opportunity to further their education.<ref>[http://magazines.russ.ru/zvezda/2005/6/po8.html Павел Полян - Остарбайтеры] {{ru icon}}</ref>		At the end of World War II there were more than five million refugees from the Soviet Union in [[Western Europe]],<ref name=Keelhaul/> of whom approximately three million had been [[Forced labor in Germany during World War II\|forced laborers]] ([[OST-Arbeiter]]s).<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://summeroftruth.org/enemy/barracks.html \|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20090214105309/http://summeroftruth.org/enemy/barracks.html \|archivedate=February 14, 2009 \|title=Forced Labor at Ford Werke AG during the Second World War \|publisher=Summer of Truth}}</ref> On return to the Soviet Union, OST-Arbeiters were often treated as traitors. Many were transported to remote locations in the Soviet Union and were denied basic [[rights]] and the opportunity to further their education.<ref>[http://magazines.russ.ru/zvezda/2005/6/po8.html Павел Полян - Остарбайтеры] {{ru icon}}</ref>

	In particular, Russian [[Cossack]]s of [[XVth SS Cossack Cavalry Corps]] of [[Waffen-SS]] with their relatives and [[Ustase\|Ustaše]] from Yugoslavia, were forcibly repatriated from [[Austria]] to the Soviet occupation zones of Austria and [[Germany]] and to [[Yugoslavia]] ([[Slovenia]]) respectively.		In particular, Russian [[Cossack]]s of [[XVth SS Cossack Cavalry Corps]] of [[Waffen-SS]] with their relatives and [[Ustase\|Ustaše]] from Yugoslavia, were forcibly repatriated from [[Austria]] to the Soviet occupation zones of Austria and [[Germany]] and to [[Yugoslavia]] ([[Slovenia]]) respectively.

	Often prisoners were summarily executed by receiving Communist authorities, sometimes within earshot of the British. One of the killings at the hand of the [[Yugoslav Partisans]] is known as the [[Bleiburg massacre]]. The majority were not killed in this incident, however, but were instead sent to [[internment\|prison camp]]s.<ref name=Hornberger />		Often prisoners were summarily executed by receiving [[Communist]] authorities, sometimes within earshot of the British. One of the killings at the hand of the [[Yugoslav Partisans]] is known as the [[Bleiburg massacre]]. The majority were not killed in this incident, however, but were instead sent to [[internment\|prison camp]]s.<ref name=Hornberger />

	Among those handed over were [[White émigré]]-Russians who had never been Soviet citizens, but who had fought for National Socialist Germany against the Soviets during the war, including General [[Andrei Shkuro]] and the [[Ataman]] of the [[Don Cossack]] host [[Pyotr Krasnov]]. This was done despite the official statement of the British Foreign Office policy after the Yalta Conference that only Soviet citizens, who had been such after September 1, 1939, were to be compelled to return to the Soviet Union or handed over to Soviet officials in other locations. See [[Betrayal of the Cossacks]] for example.		Among those handed over were [[White émigré]]-Russians who had never been Soviet citizens, but who had fought for National [[Socialist]] Germany against the Soviets during the war, including General [[Andrei Shkuro]] and the [[Ataman]] of the [[Don Cossack]] host [[Pyotr Krasnov]]. This was done despite the official statement of the British Foreign Office policy after the Yalta Conference that only Soviet citizens, who had been such after September 1, 1939, were to be compelled to return to the Soviet Union or handed over to Soviet officials in other locations. See [[Betrayal of the Cossacks]] for example.

	The actual "Operation Keelhaul" was the last forced repatriation and involved the selection and subsequent transfer of approximately one thousand "Russians" from the camps of [[Bagnoli]], [[Aversa]], [[Pisa]], and [[Riccione]].<ref name=tolstoy/> Applying the "NcNarney-Clark Directive", subjects who had served in the German Army were selected for shipment starting August 14, 1946. It was obvious to all that prisoners were sent to a fate of execution, torture, and slave labor. The transfer was codenamed "East Wind" and took place at [[St. Valentin]] in [[Austria]] on May 8 and 9, 1947.<ref name=tolstoy/> This operation marked the end of forced repatriations of Russians after World War II, and ran parallel to ''[[Operation Fling]]'' that helped Soviet defectors to escape from the Soviet Union.<ref name=tolstoy/>		The actual "Operation Keelhaul" was the last forced repatriation and involved the selection and subsequent transfer of approximately one thousand "Russians" from the camps of [[Bagnoli]], [[Aversa]], [[Pisa]], and [[Riccione]].<ref name=tolstoy/> Applying the "NcNarney-Clark Directive", subjects who had served in the [[German Army]] were selected for shipment starting August 14, 1946. It was obvious to all that prisoners were sent to a fate of execution, torture, and slave labor. The transfer was codenamed "East Wind" and took place at [[St. Valentin]] in [[Austria]] on May 8 and 9, 1947.<ref name=tolstoy/> This operation marked the end of forced repatriations of Russians after World War II, and ran parallel to ''[[Operation Fling]]'' that helped Soviet defectors to escape from the Soviet Union.<ref name=tolstoy/>

	On the other side of the exchange, the Soviet leadership found out that despite the demands set forth by Stalin, British intelligence was retaining a number of anti-Communist prisoners with the intention of reviving "[[anti-Soviet]] operations" under orders from Churchill.<ref>{{cite book \|title=Mask of Treachery \|first=John \|last=Costello \|year=1988 \|page=437}}</ref> In response, the Soviets did not complete the repatriation of the Allied prisoners of war in their possession, leaving roughly 23,500 American and 30,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers in Soviet hands.<ref name="Sanders, James D. 1992"/>{{Dubious\|date=November 2011}} Some of these men were to be repatriated in the coming years, but others were sent to the [[GULAG]] camp system and never returned home.<ref name="Sanders, James D. 1992"/>		On the other side of the exchange, the Soviet leadership found out that despite the demands set forth by [[Stalin]], British [[intelligence]] was retaining a number of anti-Communist prisoners with the intention of reviving "[[anti-Soviet]] operations" under orders from Churchill.<ref>{{cite book \|title=Mask of Treachery \|first=John \|last=Costello \|year=1988 \|page=437}}</ref> In response, the Soviets did not complete the repatriation of the Allied prisoners of war in their possession, leaving roughly 23,500 [[American]] and 30,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers in Soviet hands.<ref name="Sanders, James D. 1992"/>{{Dubious\|date=November 2011}} Some of these men were to be repatriated in the coming years, but [[others]] were sent to the [[GULAG]] camp system and never returned home.<ref name="Sanders, James D. 1992"/>

	==Critics==		==Critics==
	[[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]] called this operation "the last secret of [[World War II]]."<ref>{{cite book \|title=The Gulag Archipelago \|first=Aleksandr I \|last=Solzhenitsyn \|volume=1 \|publisher=Harper and Row \|year=1974 \|page=85}}</ref> He contributed to a legal defence fund set up to help [[Nikolai Tolstoy]], who was charged with [[libel]] in a 1989 case brought by [[Toby Low, 1st Baron Aldington\|Lord Aldington]] over [[war crimes]] allegations made by Tolstoy related to this operation. Tolstoy lost the case in the British courts but the award against him was overturned by the European Court of Human Rights.		[[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]] called this operation "the last secret of [[World War II]]."<ref>{{cite book \|title=The Gulag Archipelago \|first=Aleksandr I \|last=Solzhenitsyn \|volume=1 \|publisher=Harper and Row \|year=1974 \|page=85}}</ref> He contributed to a legal defence fund set up to help [[Nikolai Tolstoy]], who was charged with [[libel]] in a 1989 case brought by [[Toby Low, 1st Baron Aldington\|Lord Aldington]] over [[war crimes]] allegations made by Tolstoy related to this operation. Tolstoy lost the case in the British courts but the award against him was overturned by the [[European]] Court of Human Rights.

	Tolstoy described the scene of Americans returning to the [[internment camp]] after having delivered a shipment of people to the Russians. "The Americans returned to [[Plattling]] visibly shamefaced. Before their departure from the rendezvous in the forest, many had seen rows of bodies already hanging from the branches of nearby trees."<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://www.bu.edu/jeremymb/papers/paper-y1.htm \|title=A footnote to Yalta \|first=Jeremy \|last=Murray-Brown \|publisher=Boston University}}</ref>		Tolstoy described the scene of Americans returning to the [[internment camp]] after having delivered a shipment of people to the Russians. "The Americans returned to [[Plattling]] visibly shamefaced. Before their departure from the rendezvous in the forest, many had seen rows of bodies already hanging from the branches of nearby trees."<ref>{{cite web \|url=http://www.bu.edu/jeremymb/papers/paper-y1.htm \|title=A footnote to Yalta \|first=Jeremy \|last=Murray-Brown \|publisher=Boston University}}</ref>
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	==Further reading==		==Further reading==
	*Tolstoy, Nikolai. ''Victims of Yalta'', originally published in London, 1977. Revised edition 1979. ISBN 0-552-11030-2		*Tolstoy, Nikolai. ''Victims of Yalta'', originally published in [[London]], 1977. Revised edition 1979. ISBN 0-552-11030-2
	*Epstein, Julius. ''Operation Keelhaul'', Devin-Adair, 1973. ISBN 978-0815964070		*Epstein, Julius. ''Operation Keelhaul'', Devin-Adair, 1973. ISBN 978-0815964070

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	*[http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050630/NEWS/506300449/1014 Return to the scene of the crime] Rutland Herald Online		*[http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050630/NEWS/506300449/1014 Return to the scene of the crime] Rutland Herald Online

			[[Category:Events]]
			[[Category:History]]
	~~[[Category:Soviet Union–United Kingdom relations]]~~
	[[Category:~~Soviet Union–United States relations~~]]
	[[Category:~~Allied atrocities~~]]

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	*[http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050630/NEWS/506300449/1014 Return to the scene of the crime] Rutland Herald Online		*[http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050630/NEWS/506300449/1014 Return to the scene of the crime] Rutland Herald Online

	~~[[Category:Aftermath of World War II]]~~
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	==References==		==References==
	{{Reflist}}		{{Reflist\|2}}

	==Further reading==		==Further reading==

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'''Operation Keelhaul''' was carried out in [[Northern Italy]] by [[United Kingdom|British]] and [[United States|American]] forces to repatriate [[Soviet Armed Forces]] [[POW]]s of the [[National Socialist]]s to the [[Soviet Union]] between August 14, 1946 and May 9, 1947.<ref name=tolstoy>{{cite book |author=[[Nikolai Tolstoy]]| title=[[The Secret Betrayal]] | publisher=Charles Scribner's Sons | year = 1977 | ISBN = 0-684-15635-0 | page = 360 }}</ref> The term has been later applied - specifically after the publication of [[Julius Epstein]]'s eponymous book - to other [[Allies of World War II|Allied]] acts of often forced repatriation of former residents of the USSR after the ending of [[World War II]] that sealed the fate of millions<ref name=Hornberger>{{cite web |url=http://www.fff.org/freedom/0495a.asp |title=Repatriation — The Dark Side of World War II |first=Jacob |last=Hornberger |publisher=The Future of Freedom Foundation |date=April, 1995}}</ref> of post-war refugees fleeing [[eastern Europe]].<ref name=Keelhaul>{{cite web | url=http://www.worldaffairsbrief.com/keytopics/Keelhaul.shtml |title=Historical Deceptions: Operation Keelhaul |first=Joel |last=Skousen |authorlink=Joel Skousen |publisher=World Affairs Brief |accessdate=2009-01-14}}</ref>

==Yalta Conference==
One of the conclusions of the [[Yalta Conference]] was that the western [[Allies]] would return all Soviet citizens who found themselves in their zones to the [[Soviet Union]]. This immediately affected the liberated [[Soviet prisoners of war (National Socialist Germany)|Soviet prisoners of war]],<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/news/opinion/patriots-ignore-greatest-brutality/2007/08/12/1186857342382.html?page=2 |title=Patriots ignore greatest brutality |publisher=The Sydney Morning Herald |first=Paul |last=Sheehan|date=August 13, 2007}}</ref> but was also extended to all [[Eastern Europe]]an [[refugees]]. In exchange, the Soviet government agreed to hand over several thousand western Allied prisoners of war whom they had liberated from German prisoner of war camps.<ref name="Sanders, James D. 1992">{{cite book |title=Soldiers Of Misfortune: Washington's Secret Betrayal of American POWs in the Soviet Union |first1=James D |last1=Sanders |first2=Mark A |last2=Sauter |first3=R. Cort |last3=Kirkwood |publisher=National Press Books |year=1992}}</ref>

On March 31, 1945, Soviet General Secretary [[Joseph Stalin]], British Prime Minister [[Winston Churchill]], and U.S. President [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] concluded the final form of their plans in a secret [[codicil]] to the agreement. Outlining the plan to forcibly return the refugees to the Soviet Union, this codicil was kept secret from the US and British people for over fifty years.<ref name=Hornberger />

The name of the operation comes from the naval practice of corporal punishment, [[keelhauling]]. In his book ''Operation Keelhaul'', Epstein states: "That our Armed Forces should have adopted this term as its code name for deporting by brutal force to [[concentration camp]], [[firing squad]], or [[hanging|hangman's noose]] millions who were already in the lands of freedom, shows how little the high brass thought of their longing to be free."

==Treatment of prisoners and refugees==
The refugee columns fleeing the Soviet-occupied eastern Europe numbered millions of people. They included many [[anti-communist]]s of several categories, assorted [[civilian]]s, both from the Soviet Union and from [[Yugoslavia]], and [[Collaboration during World War II|fascist collaborationists from eastern Slavic and other countries]].

At the end of World War II there were more than five million refugees from the Soviet Union in [[Western Europe]],<ref name=Keelhaul/> of whom approximately three million had been [[Forced labor in Germany during World War II|forced laborers]] ([[OST-Arbeiter]]s).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://summeroftruth.org/enemy/barracks.html |archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20090214105309/http://summeroftruth.org/enemy/barracks.html |archivedate=February 14, 2009 |title=Forced Labor at Ford Werke AG during the Second World War |publisher=Summer of Truth}}</ref> On return to the Soviet Union, OST-Arbeiters were often treated as traitors. Many were transported to remote locations in the Soviet Union and were denied basic rights and the opportunity to further their education.<ref>[http://magazines.russ.ru/zvezda/2005/6/po8.html Павел Полян - Остарбайтеры] {{ru icon}}</ref>

In particular, Russian [[Cossack]]s of [[XVth SS Cossack Cavalry Corps]] of [[Waffen-SS]] with their relatives and [[Ustase|Ustaše]] from Yugoslavia, were forcibly repatriated from [[Austria]] to the Soviet occupation zones of Austria and [[Germany]] and to [[Yugoslavia]] ([[Slovenia]]) respectively.

Often prisoners were summarily executed by receiving Communist authorities, sometimes within earshot of the British. One of the killings at the hand of the [[Yugoslav Partisans]] is known as the [[Bleiburg massacre]]. The majority were not killed in this incident, however, but were instead sent to [[internment|prison camp]]s.<ref name=Hornberger />

Among those handed over were [[White émigré]]-Russians who had never been Soviet citizens, but who had fought for National Socialist Germany against the Soviets during the war, including General [[Andrei Shkuro]] and the [[Ataman]] of the [[Don Cossack]] host [[Pyotr Krasnov]]. This was done despite the official statement of the British Foreign Office policy after the Yalta Conference that only Soviet citizens, who had been such after September 1, 1939, were to be compelled to return to the Soviet Union or handed over to Soviet officials in other locations. See [[Betrayal of the Cossacks]] for example.

The actual "Operation Keelhaul" was the last forced repatriation and involved the selection and subsequent transfer of approximately one thousand "Russians" from the camps of [[Bagnoli]], [[Aversa]], [[Pisa]], and [[Riccione]].<ref name=tolstoy/> Applying the "NcNarney-Clark Directive", subjects who had served in the German Army were selected for shipment starting August 14, 1946. It was obvious to all that prisoners were sent to a fate of execution, torture, and slave labor. The transfer was codenamed "East Wind" and took place at [[St. Valentin]] in [[Austria]] on May 8 and 9, 1947.<ref name=tolstoy/> This operation marked the end of forced repatriations of Russians after World War II, and ran parallel to ''[[Operation Fling]]'' that helped Soviet defectors to escape from the Soviet Union.<ref name=tolstoy/>

On the other side of the exchange, the Soviet leadership found out that despite the demands set forth by Stalin, British intelligence was retaining a number of anti-Communist prisoners with the intention of reviving "[[anti-Soviet]] operations" under orders from Churchill.<ref>{{cite book |title=Mask of Treachery |first=John |last=Costello |year=1988 |page=437}}</ref> In response, the Soviets did not complete the repatriation of the Allied prisoners of war in their possession, leaving roughly 23,500 American and 30,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers in Soviet hands.<ref name="Sanders, James D. 1992"/>{{Dubious|date=November 2011}} Some of these men were to be repatriated in the coming years, but others were sent to the [[GULAG]] camp system and never returned home.<ref name="Sanders, James D. 1992"/>

==Critics==
[[Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn]] called this operation "the last secret of [[World War II]]."<ref>{{cite book |title=The Gulag Archipelago |first=Aleksandr I |last=Solzhenitsyn |volume=1 |publisher=Harper and Row |year=1974 |page=85}}</ref> He contributed to a legal defence fund set up to help [[Nikolai Tolstoy]], who was charged with [[libel]] in a 1989 case brought by [[Toby Low, 1st Baron Aldington|Lord Aldington]] over [[war crimes]] allegations made by Tolstoy related to this operation. Tolstoy lost the case in the British courts but the award against him was overturned by the European Court of Human Rights.

Tolstoy described the scene of Americans returning to the [[internment camp]] after having delivered a shipment of people to the Russians. "The Americans returned to [[Plattling]] visibly shamefaced. Before their departure from the rendezvous in the forest, many had seen rows of bodies already hanging from the branches of nearby trees."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bu.edu/jeremymb/papers/paper-y1.htm |title=A footnote to Yalta |first=Jeremy |last=Murray-Brown |publisher=Boston University}}</ref>

In 1957 a [[Poland|Polish]] anti-communist writer [[Józef Mackiewicz]] published ''Kontra'', a narrative account of this event.

== See also ==

* [[Western Betrayal]]
* [[Anti-communism]]
* [[The Betrayal of Cossacks]]
* [[Bleiburg massacre]]
* [[Collaboration during World War II]]
* [[Extradition]]
* [[Forced labor in Germany during World War II]]
* [[Helmuth von Pannwitz]]
* [[Russian Liberation Army]]
* [[Extermination of Soviet prisoners of war by National Socialist Germany#Soviet reprisals against former POWs|Soviet reprisals against former POWs]]
* [[Andrey Vlasov]]
* [[XVth SS Cossack Cavalry Corps]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*Tolstoy, Nikolai. ''Victims of Yalta'', originally published in London, 1977. Revised edition 1979. ISBN 0-552-11030-2
*Epstein, Julius. ''Operation Keelhaul'', Devin-Adair, 1973. ISBN 978-0815964070

==External links==
*[http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050630/NEWS/506300449/1014 Return to the scene of the crime] Rutland Herald Online

[[Category:Aftermath of World War II]]
[[Category:Forced migration]]
[[Category:Soviet Union–United Kingdom relations]]
[[Category:Soviet Union–United States relations]]
[[Category:Allied atrocities]]