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REFUGEES OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR IN THE USSR IN THE MIRROR OF STATISTICS

M. Potemkina, T. Pashkovskaia, O. Starodubova, E. Buriyak

Abstract

Government regulation of migration has proved to be very important in periods of wars, military conflicts, natural disasters and technological catastrophes. In this connection, the article is not only of scientific but practical interest. It is dedicated to the historical experience of solving refugeesВ’ problems. The evacuation occurred in the USSR in 1941-1945 was unprecedented in scale and it has remained unique in the world history. The aim of the article is to determine the quantitative and qualitative structure of the refugees during the Second World War in the territory of the USSR and to ground the reasons for historiographical discussions on this question. This historical investigation is based on bibliographical research and statistics gathered from Russian federal and local archives. The work was conducted in line with historical demography and, therefore, it combines methods from history and demography. Thus, we chose the method of statistical analysis of demographic processes together with systematization and taxonomisation. The research led us to the conclusion about two reasons for numerous discussions. The first one arises from various approaches to the term В‘refugeesВ’. The second reason lies in the controversial data on the number of evacuees and in different ways of calculations. The authors concluded that the least biased and best-documented number of civilians who were bound to leave homes in order to survive in 1941-1942 is about 12 million people. Besides, it is shown that the archival data of the evacueesВ’ official registration are not accurate and do not correspond to the real situation occurring in the USSR in the years 1941-1945.

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