Administrative-Legal Regime and Everyday Life of Exiled Kalmyk Settlers in 1944–1945: Official Documents and Eyewitness Accounts Analyzed

Abstract

Introduction. The deportation during the Great Patriotic War is a most tragic page in Kalmyk history. Despite numerous publications, the history of the Kalmyk exile continues to arouse research interest. Goals. The article aims to analyze the administrative-legal regime and everyday life of exiled Kalmyk settlers in 1944-1945. Materials and methods. The study explores two sets of historical sources: 1) official documents from the State Archive of the Russian Federation (collections of the USSR Ministry of Internal Affairs and its Fourth Special Department ), 2) private sources — memoires of former exiled settlers. The work employs systematic and interdisciplinary approaches, uses the historical legal and historical anthropological research methods. Results. Many documents attest to the harsh conditions experienced by Kalmyks in special settlement areas, adaptation difficulties, lack of necessary housing conditions, food and clothing, and other problems. At the same time, the documents narrate the desire of authorities (including NKVD bodies) to improve the situation faced by exiled settlers, solve problems of their supply and employment. The historical memory of Kalmyks contains imprints of the endured pecuniary burdens and psychological traumas, starvation and poverty, illnesses and deaths of beloved ones. However, the people retain hearty attitudes towards local residents who rendered them real help and support.

Keywords

• ethnic deportation
• deportation
• kalmyks
• everyday life
• historical memory
• oral history
• special settlement
• forced settlements
• great patriotic war