The paper based on the archival collections of the State Security Directorates of Serbia and Belgrade discusses the issue of the fate of the Russian emigration in Serbia in the first months after the country's liberation from the German occupiers. The procedure of the initial filtration by «Death to spies» and the subsequent work of Yugoslav counterintelligence are analyzed thoroughly. The author comes to the conclusion that the Soviet structures in the liberated Yugoslavia did not resort to mass repressions and worked both quickly and professionally. Moreover, Soviet officers and diplomats spoke out in defense of the Russian emigrants, believing that consistent collaborators left with the Germans before the fall of 1944, and the general populice remaining in the country were supporters of leftist ideas and a silent majority, in whose ranks there were illegals and sympathizers of Tito's partisans and the USSR. The first year after the liberation of Serbia was difficult, but most emigrants were able to survive it and adapt to the new government in Yugoslavia.
|
