Soviet refugees in Romania in 1930 Cover Image

Soviet refugees in Romania in 1930
Soviet refugees in Romania in 1930

Author(s): Stoica Cristinel Popa
Subject(s): Diplomatic history, Social history, Interwar Period (1920 - 1939)
Published by: Universitatea »Dunarea de Jos« din Galati -Facultatea de Istorie, Teologie și Filosofie
Keywords: Union of Soviet Socialist Republics; Romania; refugee; Black Sea;naval history;

Summary/Abstract: From the onset of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution in the Russian Empire and the beginning of the Russian Civil War (1917-1922) between the Reds and the Whites, massive numbers of people left Russia and moved to other countries seeking to begin new lives. The Bolsheviks not only came to power through the use of force, but later implemented a regime of terror that led to the direct and indirect killing of many millions of people. Over the coming decades, all throughout the Interwar Period, either for political, economic or social reasons, many Soviet citizens did their best to escape the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics and obtain refugee status in other states. Being a direct neighbour of the Soviet Union and having a rather lengthy border with it, Romania was one of the primary destinations for Soviet refugees. This article focuses on the experiences, trials and tribulations of a particular group of Soviet refugees that escaped to Romania by taking the ship “Osiris”, the property of one of them, to Sulina, a port on the Romanian coast. Given the intensity of Soviet espionage and sabotage activities throughout Romanian territory, but particularly in Bessarabia, the Romanian Government offered these refugees political asylum, but considerably restricted their movements and their economic activities within Romania, suspecting they could be Soviet agents in disguise.

  • Issue Year: 2018
  • Issue No: 11
  • Page Range: 103-110
  • Page Count: 8
  • Language: English