Today, May 18, Ukraine commemorates the victims of the forced deportation of Crimean Tatars in 1944, which the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine recognized as genocide, writes UNN.
Details
In November 2015, the Verkhovna Rada recognized the deportation of Crimean Tatars from Crimea in 1944 as genocide of the Crimean Tatar people. At the same time, the parliament established May 18 as the Day of Remembrance of the Victims of the Genocide of the Crimean Tatar People.
The mass deportation of the indigenous population of Crimea from the peninsula in freight cars took place during May 18-21, 1944 by personal order of Joseph Stalin. The arrival of trains to remote corners of the then USSR ended on June 4.
The Crimean Tatars were accused of allegedly mass cooperation with Nazi Germany.
At the moment, there is no absolutely accurate data on how many Crimean Tatars were forcibly taken from the peninsula, and how many of them died during or in the first years after the deportation.
According to various estimates, from 190 to 425 thousand Crimean Tatars were deported. Of these, from 27% to 42% died on the way or in the first years after the forced transportation.
Crimean Tatars did not want to accept the forced resettlement, and staged audacious escapes. One of the largest occurred in 1948. Then more than eight thousand Crimean Tatars left their special settlements without permission. However, almost all the fugitives were detained and punished.