Lost souls : Soviet displaced persons and the birth of the Cold War / Sheila Fitzpatrick.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fitzpatrick, Sheila, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration.

International Refugee Organization.

World War, 1939-1945--Refugees--Soviet Union.

World War, 1939-1945.

World War, 1939-1945--Forced repatriation.

Cold War.

Communism and international relations.

United States--Foreign relations--Soviet Union.

United States.

Soviet Union--Foreign relations--United States.

Soviet Union.

Physical Description:

x, 341 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton, New Jersey : Princeton University Press, [2024]

Summary:

"A vivid history of how Cold War politics helped solve one of the twentieth century's biggest refugee crises. When World War II ended, about one million people whom the Soviet Union claimed as their citizens were outside the borders of the USSR, mostly in the Western-occupied zones of Germany and Austria. These "displaced persons," or DPs-Russians, prewar Soviet citizens, and people from West Ukraine and the Baltic states forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1939-refused to repatriate to the Soviet Union despite its demands. Thus began one of the first big conflicts of the Cold War. In Lost Souls, Sheila Fitzpatrick draws on new archival research, including Soviet interviews with hundreds of DPs, to offer a vivid account of this crisis, from the competitive maneuverings of politicians and diplomats to the everyday lives of DPs. American enthusiasm for funding the refugee organizations taking care of DPs quickly waned after the war. It was only after DPs were redefined-from "victims of war and Nazism" to "victims of Communism"-in 1947 that a solution was found: the United States would pay for the mass resettlement of DPs in America, Australia, and other countries outside Europe. The Soviet Union protested this "theft" of its citizens. But it was a coup for the United States. The choice of DPs to live a free life in the West, and the West's welcome of them, became an important theme in America's Cold War propaganda battle with the Soviet Union. A compelling story of the early Cold War, Lost Souls is also a rare chronicle of a refugee crisis that was solved"-- Provided by publisher.

"A history of the roughly half a million Soviet "displaced persons" post-WWII that looks at how ordinary people caught up in the deepening Cold War sought resettlement"-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

UNRRA and its mandate

Repatriation to the Soviet Union and Allied conflict

Organization of DP life

DP occupations

Other DP activities and entertainments

IRO and its mandate

Resettlement as policy

DPs weigh the options

Unfinished business.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Other Format:

Online version: Fitzpatrick, Sheila. Lost souls

ISBN:

9780691230023

0691230021

OCLC:

1427942063