Ethnic Deportation Process: Caucasus Region

1. Ethnic Deportation Process: Caucasus Region Chechen, Ingush, Karachay, and Balkar Deportation

2. General Information on Ethnic Deportations • Seven nationalities of the Crimea North Caucasus were deported by Soviet troops in 1944 ·Chechens ·        Ingush ·        Karachay ·        Balkars ·        Tartars ·        Crimean ·        Kamyks ·        Meskhetian Turks • A total of 1.5 million people, mostly Muslim, were deported during WWII • The deportation process is now viewed, by Russian human rights experts, as one of Stalin’s most detrimental acts of genocide

4. Chechen Identity • Chechens call themselves Nokhchii – considered to be a native ethnicity to the Caucasus region • Chechen language belongs to Nakh group of Caucuses languages, closely related to Ingush • Converted to Sunni Islam in the 18th century • Islam has served as both the cornerstone of Chechen identity and passive resistance against Russian rule

5. Chechen History 1800’s - 1920 • After the fall of tsarist Russia, Chechnya formed economic ties but continued to resist Russian political domination • Resistance movement formed in Chechnya and Dagestani under Imam Shamil • Shamil held off Russians until 1859 when resistance movement collapsed, and Chechnya were annexed • Annexation occurred only after 400 years of independent resistance • To establish Russian authority, Moscow encouraged Chechens to join other Caucasian peoples: establishment of Republic of Mountain Peoples in November 1920 • In attempts to assimilate Caucasus identities, the written Arabic script of the Chechen language was replaced by Latin in 1920

6. Chechen History 1922-1930 • Division of North Caucasus along ethnic lines in September 1922 • Separation of the Chechen Autonomous Oblast from the Republic of Mountain Peoples • Republic then abolished in 1924 • 1930: collectivization of farms and the restriction of religion in Chechen region lead to resistance • Chechens wanted to preserve traditional way of life

7. Chechen History 1934-1944 • 1934: Chechen/ Ingush unification in the Chechen- Ingush Autonomous Oblast within Soviet Russia • 1936: Oblast raised to status of autonomous republic

8. WWII: German Invasion of Chechen – Ingush Autonomous Oblast • WWII: by 1942, German forces had pushed toward the valuable Groznyy oil fields but had been stopped outside of Chechnya at Vladikavkaz • 1944 defeat of Nazi occupation celebrated in the Chechen-Ingush Autonomous Republic as “Red Army Day” Feb 23, 1944

9. Deportation Day: February23, 1944 • Celebration of Red Army day • Deported by US leased convoys, with hand luggage only; no food supplies • Deportees were then loaded onto trains and transported to settlements in Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kigizia and Serbia • An estimated 30% of deported Chechens died on their way to resettlement or in their first year of exile

10. Soviet Policy Toward Deportees • Chechen-Ingush republic abolished and not restored until January 1957 • History of deported peoples removed from all encyclopedias, school books and scientific works

11. Justification for Deportation • Continual resistance of Soviet rule • Anti-Collectivization revolts • Separatist movements within Chechnya threatened Soviet stability • Accusation of mass collaboration with invading Nazis 

12. The Ingush

13. Ingush: Relation to Chechens • Ingush and neighbor Chechen are distinct ethnic groups, with own languages, histories, etc., yet are very closely related • There are four ethnic identities in the Chechen-Ingush category: • Ingush: no internal dialects • Chechen: several dialects • Kist: Georgian-influenced • Mielxxi: transitional between Chechen and Ingush

14. Ingush History • In Middle Ages, Ingush lived in the high mountains and were subdivided into clans with distinct territories and dialects. • Clan distinctions still exist in modern day. • In the 17th and 19th centuries, the Ingush migrated to the lowlands as a result of global cooling

15. Ingush Resistance to Russia • Mid 19th century, Ingush joined Imam Shamil’s war of resistance to Russia • After Russian Revolution, USSR manipulated the Ingush nationality and decimated Ingush leaders and intelligentsia. • Russification began in the 1920’s.

16. Deportations of the Ingush • In 1944, USSR abolished nationalities • USSR deports Ingush to Kazakhstan and Siberia to clear Muslims from Turkish invasion routes • ¼ of Ingush die in transport alone.

17. After the Deportations • Russia allowed the Ingush to return in 1957 • Results to the Ingush: • Lost land • Economic resources • Civil rights

18. Karachay

19. Karachay ethnic group • Karachay–Cherkessia has a population of about 436,000. Russians represent about 40 percent of the republic’s population; Karachay represent about 30 percent • The Karachay speak Karachay – Balkar, a Kipchak, or Western Turkic language • The Karachay ethnic group developed from the fusion of local Caucasians with the Bulgars and Kipchak Turks during the 9th century. • closely related to the Balkars, and also to Nogay and Kumyk • Sunni Muslims, converted in the 17th and 18th century • In contrast to the other smaller Caucasian groups, the Karachai are more outgoing, a trait which has contributed to the secularization among Islamic people.

20. History of the Karachays • 13th century, driven into the highlands of the North Caucasus by Mongol tribes • 1828 territory was annexed by the Russian Empire, but they continued to resist Russian rule throughout the 19th century. • 1860-70s  Karachay emigrated to the Ottoman Empire • 1920 the Mountain Autonomous Soviet Republic was settled up in the north Caucasus, which included the lands of the Cherkess (Circassians) and Karachay, • 1922 a separate Karachay-Cherkess region was established. • 1926, this was further subdivided, and the two peoples had their own regions. • 1936, they were merged yet again • 1944 deported to Kazahstan/Kirgizija like chechens, balkars and others... • 1957 Local autonomy was not restored

21. Deportations of the Karachays • Joseph Stalin accused the Karachays and many others of collaborating with the Germans in WWII • November 2nd 1944 sent to Siberia and Kazakhstan • Soviet Union carried out the deportation in secrecy, public read about it in a little article in the “Izvetsia” two years later • People were allowed to take 20 kilos of luggage with them, belongings and properties, land, houses and such were confiscated • Those who resisted were killed, houses were set on fire • Biggest disaster took place on the way to their destination 20% died because of weather conditions and starvation • New settlements were just as bad, hard work and poor life conditions

22. Balkars: a Background • Caucasian people, closely related to the Karachai. • Consitute a 10 percent minority in today’s Karbardino-Balkaria. • Known until this century as Mountain Tatars or Mountain Kabards. • Spread throughout Kazakh and Kirgiz republics during deportation. • Converted to Islam in the 18th century due to Nogai and Tatar influence.

23. Regional Stresses • The Balkars, like their Karachai relatives, often conflicted with their non-mountain-dwelling neighbors. These neighbors include the Kabardins. • In 1922, the Karbadino-Balkarian Autonoumous Region was created, and then transformed into an autonomous republic in 1936. • During the German occupation of Nalchik, the republic’s capital, the Representative Agency of Kabardino-Balkar Interests was created. Plans were drawn up to separate Balkaria from Kabarda and unite it with Karachai under the protectorate of Turkey.

24. 1944 Deportations • Unfortunately, after being liberated from Nazi control, the Balkars were deported to the areas in present-day Kazakhstan and Kirgizstan, and the republic was renamed the Kabardinian A.S.S.R • Soviet sources support the Chechens' claim to a high mortality rate and state that between 1944 and 1948 approximately 24% of the Chechen, Ingush, Karachai and Balkar deportees in Kazakhstan died.

25. Deportation Process • The NKVD Troops working on the deportation tended towards efficiency: they packed rail cars with deportees: • “From cold and the dirt they began to fall ill. The people were mowed down by typhus, they were not able to bury those who died. On the rare stops on the empty steppes, soldiers walked through the wagon taking off bodies.” • “The train again halted at a half station on the steppe, the door was opened. From the neighboring car a shout reached us. Who had died? It turned out to be a pregnant woman, but the baby died.” • NKVD: Soviet police force, a precursor to the KGB.