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The Unnoticed Victims of World War II. ‘Encircled-People’ of the Red Army: Punitive Practices and Rehabilitation

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Vrons'ka T., Pastushenko T.
Institute of National Remembrance Review
|
2023
|
vol. 5
339-357
EN
This article raises the problems the so-called ‘encircled people’ (in Ukrainian оточенці – otochentsi, in Russian окруженцы – okruzhentsy), i.e. soldiers and officers of the Red Army who, due to the fortunes of war, were surrounded by the enemy, yet managed to rejoin the Soviet military units. Deadly danger of the march out of the enemy rear, fear of captivity or death were just a part of these people's stories. Distrust, unfounded charges of treason, often cruel penalties followed upon their return to their units. Soviet authorities suspected that they had been recruited by the enemy and sent to the Soviet rear for intelligence or sabotage purposes. It has been rarely acknowledged that the ‘encircled people’ and prisoners of war were mentioned after the comma in repressive directives. This punctuation mark became a fatal conjunction during the war, as it was meant to de facto identify servicemen in their social and legal statuse, and stigmatize them as traitors/deserters along with war prisoners. This article focuses on the evolution of the Stalinist regime and the attitude of the punitive-repressive bodies towards this group of war veterans. Conceptual approaches and security check procedures, punitive practices, social and legal effects of the ‘encircled people’ discrimination are at the core of this paper. Based on the analysis of legislative acts, reports, archival investigations, and a wide range of other sources, the article analyses the evolution of the attitude of the Stalinist regime and its punitive and repressive bodies to this category of war veterans. The focus of the study is on the principles and features of the vetting procedure, punitive practices and the social and legal consequences of discrimination against the “encircled people” extending over several post-war decades.
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