Stáhnout PDF - Ostravská univerzita v Ostravě

SummaryTHE EFFORTS OF SO CALLED RUSSIAN OPTANTS TO RETURN FROM UKRAINE IN THE 1960‘SJaroslav VaculíkThe re-emigration of Czechs from the former Russian Volhynia governorship to the Czechoslovak Republic tookplace in 1947 based on of the Czechoslovak-Soviet agreement of 1946. Czechoslovak citizens of Ukrainian, Russianand Belarusian nationality were allowed to emigrate from the Czechoslovak Republic to the USSR on a reciprocalbasis. 8 556 persons, mostly communists, partisans and soldiers from the 1 st Czechoslovak Army Corpsin the USSR, with their entire families, opted for Soviet citizenship and immigrated to the USSR. Most of thesepeople were from underprivileged sections of society, who believed that emigration and settlement on the formerfarms of the Volhynia Czechs would improve their social standing.However, they were confronted with the harsh reality as soon as they crossed the border. Some of theirproperty was stolen on the journey, they were placed in unsatisfactory accommodation, and the local Ukrainiansgave them an unfriendly welcome as competitors in the division of the property of the Volhynia Czechs. Attemptsat a return to the Czechoslovak Republic met with resistance from the Soviet authorities. 1949 they were forcedto join collective farms. They were unable to subscribe to Ukrainian newspapers and magazines publishedin the Czechoslovak Republic. They were subjected to night attacks from Ukrainian nationalists, who confiscatedtheir food and money. The standard of living of those opting for emigration was even lower than that in easternSlovakia.In the first half of the nineteen sixties, they collected signatures on petitions and money for spokesmenwho were to communicate their requests for departure to Czechoslovakia to the pertinent authorities in Kiev andMoscow. Only a number of individuals managed to obtain authorisation to leave to visit their closest relations.Some tried to obtain Czechoslovak citizenship by marriage and thereby enable other members of their families toreturn. Their mass return from the Ukraine, of a rather disorganised nature, began in 1966 because of invitationsfrom relatives.338