There were concentration camps in Europe during WWI. Labor camps in Russia (katorga) go back to 1800's if not earlier.
CIA-Backed Medical Experiments on Danish Orphans
- Thread starter Mosinitis
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There were concentration camps in Europe during WWI. Labor camps in Russia (katorga) go back to 1800's if not earlier.
spat
.700 Nitro Express
People who seek power are seldom the ones you should trust with it.
One of the reasons that even the most benevolent government will grow into tyranny given time.
American elites supported Hitler's rise to power. Patton wanted to recycle Nazi war machine. After WWII was over many war criminals imigrated to North and South America.
spat
.700 Nitro Express
Same progressives and socialists that are destroying our country now.
Yea... right....do you not realize just how much of a hypocrite you are? Defending the murderous thugs of the Soviet union. Oh no, they had pure ideals. How is someone that historically ignorant?
spat
.700 Nitro Express
The United States of America was founded on Libertarian ideals. It has never achieved those ideals fully, but that's part of what makes them ideals.
It was always best when it was closest to them.
Those are the only ideals that really work. Every other system gets worse the closer it gets. Libertarianism gets better.
It was always best when it was closest to them.
Those are the only ideals that really work. Every other system gets worse the closer it gets. Libertarianism gets better.
There were and still are labor camps all over the world, INCLUDING U.S. There were no chains in the Soviet penal system and the number of people incarcerated was lower than in the U.S.
Chain gang - Wikipedia
holdover
.475 A&M Magnum
Can I ask why people were jumping the Berlin wall? Was it just for sport? In fact why did the Soviets even build it? to keep westerners out?
What percentage of East German population jumped the wall? What percentage of East Germans weren't happy about reunification? Take a guess which is higher.
East Germans Disappointed by Reunification – DW – 01/12/2005
East Germany in 1989 was in the midst of a peaceful revolution. Its citizens aged from 35 to 50 were also in the midst of their adult lives back then. But for the majority, hopes of a better future have been dashed.
www.dw.com
Talk about apples and oranges.
Once again, if I didn't think it was a ridiculous claim, I would say you are a disinformation agent purposely directed by the russian intelligence service to infiltrate this forum. But you are spreading this nonsense on your own. For free. LOL.
spat
.700 Nitro Express
Don't need chains when your walls include 1000km of frozen tundra.There were and still are labor camps all over the world, INCLUDING U.S. There were no chains in the Soviet penal system and the number of people incarcerated was lower than in the U.S.
Chain gang - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
spat
.700 Nitro Express
Only because walls work.
Especially when they are backed with machinegun nests.
A better comparison would be what percentage *wanted* to jump the wall. In that case, *the majority* is a good answer.
Or you could compare the number jumping it east to west vs the other direction. Pretty sure that ratio is a lot worse.
The point is that such incidents are meaningless. They are routinely used by our propaganda to create a picture which is not necessarily true. Was there ever a referendum to ask East German people? Drunken youths climbing the wall and overwhelmed guards letting them is a good optics, but it is hardly a democracy in action.
More Cubans hijacked American planes to go back to Cuba than Cuban planes to come here. I remember a wave of such incidents, few a week. What does that tell you? NOTHING.
You are the gift that keeps on giving. Drunken youths were the only people climbing the wall to escape the hell of Soviet controlled East Germany? Surely your handlers could give you better material.
They were celebrating reunification of their country. People climbed the wall from both sides. The article I posted comes from German state media, our media reported similar sentiments among East German people. Many weren't happy, it just didn't make front page news.
There were plenty of CIA operatives firing up the crowd as well. You can be sure of that.
holdover
.475 A&M Magnum
Heres a few of the Well known defectors,
List of defections[edit]
Defections violating emigration restrictions of the Eastern Bloc countries| Defector | Profession/ Prominence | Birthplace | Year | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Choreographer | Russia | 1924 | Defected during tour of Germany to the Weimar Republic | |
| Politburo Secretary | Russia | 1928 | Defected to France via Iran and India | |
| OGPU | Turkmenistan | 1930 | Defected in France; led the manhunt for Bazhanov before defecting | |
| Author | Georgia | 1930 | Defected to Germany; primarily known for his exotic prose and anti-Soviet émigré activities | |
| Writer | Russia | 1932 | Fled from USSR with her husband Vladimir Tchernavin (physicist, writer) and her son Andrei through Karelia to Finland and then to the United Kingdom. (She and her son visited her husband in a gulag prison, then fled together). She wrote a book about their experience: 'Escape from the Soviets' and her husband wrote another: 'I Speak For the Silent Prisoners of the Soviets' | |
| Physicist | Ukraine | 1933 | First tried to kayak across the Black Sea; defected in Brussels, Belgium; later discovered alpha decay via quantum tunneling | |
| NKVD | Russia | 1937 | Former head of Soviet intelligence services; assassinated by NKVD | |
| NKVD | Russia | 1937 | Defected in Paris, France, after assassination of Reiss; apparent 1941 suicide in the United States may have been an NKVD assassination | |
| NKVD | Belarus | 1938 | Fled while stationed in Spain to avoid execution in the Great Purge | |
| NKVD | Russia | 1938 | Crossed the border into Manchukuo with secret documents; family arrested and sent to the gulag, where several died | |
| Author | Russia | 1942 | Sent to infiltrate anti-Soviet Chechens, he joined them instead | |
| Architect/engineer | Russia | 1944 | Fled to evade religious persecution. Defected in Berlin, Germany; then to Pakistan in 1950 where he was given refuge and citizenship. In honour of his new home, Pakistan; he designed and constructed the Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore, Punjab which stands as a national symbol of the country to this day. He also constructed the Gaddafi Stadium, Lahore and Nishtar Medical University in Multan. | |
| Engineer | Ukraine | 1944 | Soviet engineer who witnessed horrors of the Holodomor; defected while serving in the Soviet Purchasing Agency in Washington, D.C. in the United States | |
| Politician | Bulgaria | 1945 | Saved from execution by U.S. ambassador; later founded anti-Communist organizations | |
| Chess player, medical doctor | USSR | 1945 | Former Soviet chess champion eventually immigrated to Canada, where he became a professor of medicine, and resumed his competitive chess | |
| Chess player | Hungary | 1945 | Defected through East Berlin with friend Pal Benko who was caught and jailed for three years | |
| GRU | Russia | 1945 | Defected in Ottawa, Canada; helped uncover Communist spy rings | |
| NKVD | Russia | 1945 | Deputy head of the NKVD in Istanbul, Turkey; contacted the British Istanbul consulate about defection, was arrested by the Soviets and disappeared forever (possibly executed) | |
Valeri Tihonovitch Minakov | Russia | 1945 | Escaped from Siberia across the Bering Sea in a small boat with his 6-year-old son Oleg. He was assisted by Eskimos of Savoonga and Gambell on St. Lawrence Island. Shortly afterward, 14 Siberians arrived for "a visit" and questioned inhabitants whether they had seen a "white Russian".[11] |
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.475 A&M Magnum
Grigori Tokaty | Scientist and politician | Ossetia | 1947 | Secretly worked with an underground opposition group in the USSR. Afraid that his ties to the underground would be discovered, he defected to the British Sector of Occupied Berlin, and arrived in the United Kingdom in 1947. He later worked in the Information Research Department, helping disseminate anti-communist propaganda.[12] |
| Writer | Czechoslovakia | 1948 | Defected to France; poet friend who stayed behind was jailed for 13 years for "anti-socialist thinking" | |
Nesti Josifi Kopali | Chief of Sigurimi Albanian security service in Rome | Albania | 1949 | Offered himself to the U.S. Embassy in Rome in late 1949, but was rejected, so he turned to Italian Intelligence. After a couple of months of interrogation, he was turned over to the CIA, which flew him to Washington, D.C. for debriefing. Kopali had, among his other anti-western assignments in 1946-47, tried and failed to set up a liaison with the editor of an ethnic newspaper in Boston. In 1950, Kopali provided some valuable information about Albanian security and military matters, but not enough for the U.S. government to offer him political asylum and resettlement in the United States. He was ultimately flown back to Germany.[13] |
| Figure skater | Czechoslovakia | 1950 | Defected during 1950 World Championships in London | |
| Tank commander | Czechoslovakia | 1950 | Escaped from prison to West Germany and later the United Kingdom. After the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968, Buršík returned his Hero of the Soviet Union medal to the Soviet embassy in London. | |
| Author | Poland | 1951 | Defected to France after serving as a Polish diplomat and later settled in the United States | |
Istvan Rabovsky | Ballet dancer | Hungary | 1953 | Escaped with wife Nora Kovach to West Berlin on an East Berlin tour |
| Pilot | Poland | 1953 | Flew a MiG-15 from Słupsk, Poland to Rønne Airport on the Danish island of Bornholm | |
| UB agent | Poland | 1953 | Defected on a mission in East Berlin; he went on to reveal in Radio Free Europe broadcasts the internal struggle in the Polish United Workers' Party (PZPR) and the true face of the Security Office (UB). One result of his escape was the liquidation of the Ministry of Security (MBP). | |
| KGB | Russia | 1953 | Refused to assassinate George Okolovich; defected in West Germany and survived a KGB assassination attempt in 1957 | |
| Ballet dancer | Hungary | 1953 | Escaped with husband Istvan Rabovsky to West Berlin on an East Berlin tour | |
| Composer | Poland | 1954 | Escaped Polish secret police in nighttime taxi chase in Zürich, Switzerland, then defected to the United Kingdom while in London | |
| KGB major | Russia | 1954 | KGB major and personnel officer who contacted U.S. intelligence in Vienna and was exfiltrated through the "Mozart Express" military train; worked with CIA for years afterwards | |
| Diplomat | Russia | 1954 | Husband of undercover KGB agent Evdokia Petrova; defected on a mission in Australia; started the Petrov Affair | |
| KGB agent | Russia | 1954 | Undercover KGB agent who was the wife of Vladimir Petrov; defected in Australia during the Petrov Affair | |
| Chess player | Hungary | 1956 | Defected during Hungarian Revolution of 1956 to Australia | |
| Football player | Hungary | 1956 | Defected during the 1956–57 European Cup in Madrid, Spain | |
| Philosopher of science | Hungary | 1956 | Fled to Vienna, Austria, and later to the United Kingdom after the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 | |
| Football player | Hungary | 1956 | Defected during the 1956–57 European Cup in Madrid, Spain, then went to Switzerland | |
| Cardinal | Hungary | 1956 | Fled to U.S. Embassy in Budapest during the Hungarian Revolution of 1956; later moved to Austria | |
| Football player | Hungary | 1956 | Defected during the 1956–57 European Cup in Madrid, Spain, then went to Switzerland | |
| Football player | Hungary | 1956 | Fled to Spain during Hungarian Revolution of 1956 | |
| Artistic gymnast | Hungary | 1956 | Defected in Melbourne, Australia, during 1956 Summer Olympics | |
| Environmental artist | Bulgaria | 1957 | Escaped from Czechoslovakia to Austria | |
| KGB agent | Russia | 1957 | Defected in Paris after spending several years spying undercover in the west | |
| Naval officer | Russia | 1959 | Defected in Sweden; later allegedly killed by the KGB | |
| Photographer | Russia | 1960 | Defected through Iran and India; settled in Tampa, United State |
Funny how people can't sop bitching about what is going on in this country, but so fucking sure American self-glorification propaganda is beyond reproach.
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.475 A&M Magnum
| Motorcycle racer | East Germany | 1961 | Defected once he knew that his wife and two children had already escaped to West Germany in a car trunk. Degner, who was familiar with MZ Motorcycles' loop scavenging technique secrets, drove his car from the Swedish Grand Prix to Denmark, then on to West Germany.[14] | |
| SB MSW | Poland | 1961 | Defected in West Germany; sentenced to death after defection. Subsequently worked for the CIA. Before he defected, he had spied for the CIA under the cover name Sniper, but the CIA did not know his identity until his escape. | |
| KGB agent | Ukraine | 1961 | Defected to the United States via Helsinki, Finland and Haparanda, Sweden, with his wife and daughter when he was stationed in Helsinki; made sensational claims after his defection | |
| Ballet dancer | Russia | 1961 | Defected on tour in Paris | |
| Submarine tender captain | Lithuania | 1961 | Sailed vessel to Sweden; was sentenced to death and the CIA hid him from the USSR. | |
| Mathematician | Romania | 1961 | Defected at conference in Stockholm, Sweden; known for low-dimensional topology | |
| Fooball player | East Germany | 1961 | Football player of SC Dynamo Berlin. Defected after a friendly match against Boldklubben af 1893 in Copenhagen. | |
| Border Guard | East Germany | 1961 | Photographed jumping the Berlin Wall during construction | |
| KGB agent | Ukraine | 1961 | Defected in West Berlin; assassinated Lev Rebet and Stepan Bandera before defection | |
| Fooball player | East Germany | 1961 | Football player of SC Dynamo Berlin. Defected together with Emil Poklitar after a friendly match against Boldklubben af 1893 in Copenhagen. | |
| Physicist | Czechoslovakia | 1963 | Defected as visiting professor to University of Colorado in the United States; became a proponent of libertarianism and nuclear energy | |
| KGB agent | Georgia | 1963 | Defected while an undercover agent in London; later became a novelist | |
| Gabor Balla | Marksman | Hungary | 1964 | Defected in Tokyo, Japan, during the 1964 Summer Olympics |
| Flatwater canoe athlete | Hungary | 1964 | Defected in Tokyo, Japan, during the 1964 Summer Olympics | |
| Film director | Romania | 1964 | Defected in Tours, France | |
| KGB agent | Ukraine | 1964 | Defected in Washington, D.C., United States; for years, the CIA thought he might be a double agent | |
| Football player | East Germany | 1966 | Fled after a match in Sweden; traveled to West Germany | |
| Poet | Czechoslovakia | 1967 | Fled after Prague Spring to West Germany and worked for Radio Free Europe | |
| Joseph Stalin's daughter | Russia | 1967 | Defected to the United States via New Delhi, India; denounced the former regime of her late father Joseph Stalin, but softened her criticism of him in the 1980s[15] | |
| Author | Ukraine | 1968 | Defected after the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia while doing research in London to the United Kingdom | |
| General | Czechoslovakia | 1968 | Fled after Prague Spring to the United States. | |
| Film director and actor | Czechoslovakia | 1968 | Defected to the United States when the USSR and its Warsaw Pact allies invaded the country to end the Prague Spring; known for directing One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest | |
| Writer | Czechoslovakia | 1968 | Fled after Prague Spring to Sweden | |
| Journalist | Romania | 1969 | Defected to Austria with fake invitation | |
| Playwright | Bulgaria | 1969 | Fled to Italy after ban on plays; assassinated in London in 1978 | |
| Chess player | Poland | 1969 | Defected during tournament in Athens, Greece; traveled to Sweden | |
| Czech state security, disinformation | Czechoslovakia | 1969 | Became a professor at Boston University, lecturing on disinformation and propaganda. | |
| Czech state security | Czechoslovakia | 1969 | Defected from Bulgaria to Turkey on a boat, moved by the CIA to the United States | |
| Soviet seaman | Lithuania | 1970 | Leaped from a Soviet ship to a United States Coast Guard ship | |
| Ballet dancer | Russia | 1970 | Defected on ballet tour in London; later won a Tony Award[16] | |
| KGB propaganda agent | Russia | 1970 | Left his KGB station in India disguised as a hippie, traveled to Greece, was debriefed in the United States, but refused to stay in the country because of KGB infiltration of the CIA, and was granted asylum in Canada |
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| KGB agent | Russia | 1971 | Defected in London, after being arrested there; exposed dozens of KGB agents in the city | |
| Figure Skater/Artist | Czechoslovakia | 1972 | ||
| Philosopher | Romania | 1972 | Defected during lectures in Italy. He was murdered in the United States in 1991, and speculation arose that it was at the hands of former Securitate personnel. | |
| Author | Russia | 1974 | Jumped from a Soviet ship, on which he was working as a doctor, while it was off the Ivory Coast; he later traveled to the United States | |
| Ballet dancer | Latvia | 1974 | Defected during a tour in Toronto, Canada | |
| Mathematician | Hungary | 1974 | Defected in Paris; emigrated to the United States in 1976 | |
| Oceanographer | USSR | 1974 | While on a "cruise to nowhere" in the open ocean, jumped into the sea and swam to the Philippine coast, many kilometers away | |
| Hockey player | Czechoslovakia | 1974 | Defected during a vacation in Switzerland | |
| Tennis player | Czechoslovakia | 1975 | Defected at the 1975 US Open in the United States | |
| Football player | East Germany | 1976 | Fled with Norbert Nachtweih after an under-21 match in Turkey; traveled to West Germany | |
| Football player | East Germany | 1976 | Fled with Jürgen Pahl after an under-21 match in Turkey; traveled to West Germany | |
| Pilot | Russia | 1976 | Flew a MiG-25 from Chuguyevka, Russia to Hakodate, Japan | |
| Chess player | Russia | 1976 | First Soviet Grandmaster to defect; fled following a tournament in Amsterdam, Netherlands[17] | |
| Pianist | Russia | 1976 | Fled during a tour in Rome, Italy | |
Vladimir Rezun (Viktor Suvorov) | GRU / Author | Russia | 1978 | GRU military intelligence officer who defected to the United Kingdom while working under UN cover in Switzerland |
| UN Undersecretary General | Ukraine | 1978 | Spied for the United States for three years before defection. His wife in Moscow died two months after his defection, purportedly of suicide. | |
| Conductor | Russia | 1978 | Defected in December 1978 while touring in the Netherlands and sought political asylum there. | |
| Securitate agent | Romania | 1978 | Two-star Romanian Securitate general and personal advisor to Nicolae Ceauşescu; defected in the American Embassy in Bonn, West Germany. He was sentenced to death twice in absentia with a $2 million bounty. Carlos the Jackal was sent to assassinate him. | |
| Securitate agent | Romania | 1978 | Defected to France in 1981 while on an industrial espionage mission. He was sentenced to death in absentia. | |
| KGB agent | Latvia | 1978 | Defected to United States while working at UN. | |
| Ballet dancer | Russia | 1979 | Defected on a ballet tour in New York City while in JFK International Airport in Queens; later became an actor, playing among other roles a terrorist in Die Hard[18] | |
| Stasi agent | East Germany | 1979 | Defected to West Germany after stealing state secrets | |
| Football player | East Germany | 1979 | Used a match in Yugoslavia to flee to West Germany | |
| Ballet dancer | Russia | 1979 | Defected with wife Valentina Kozlov during their company's tour in Los Angeles, United States | |
| Ballet dancer | Russia | 1979 | Defected with husband Leonid Kozlov during their company's tour in Los Angeles, United States | |
| Chess player | Russia | 1979 | Soviet chess grandmaster; defected to the United States, where he won the U.S. Chess Championship three times | |
| Figure skater | Russia | 1979 | Defected while in Switzerland | |
| Football player | East Germany | 1979 | Fled during a match in West Germany; allegedly assassinated by the Stasi in 1983 in an incident designed to look like a traffic accident. | |
| Figure skater | Russia | 1979 | Defected with Ludmila Belousova while on tour in Switzerland | |
| KGB agent | Russia | 1979 | Defected during a mission in Tokyo, Japan; detailed KGB's Japanese spy network | |
| Sprint canoe athlete | Lithuania | 1979 | Defected during world championships in the Frankfurt Airport in West Germany; recaptured by the KGB[19] | |
| Hockey player | Czechoslovakia | 1980 | Defected with brother Peter during European Cup tournament in Innsbruck, Austria |
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| Chess player | Russia | 1980 | Ran from KGB agents when his plane made an emergency stop in Gander, Canada | |
| Hockey player | Czechoslovakia | 1980 | Defected with his wife and brother Anton during European Cup tournament in Innsbruck, Austria | |
| Ballet dancer | Russia | 1980 | Sister's husband purged; defected to Britain at the age of 72 to coach ballet | |
| Underage defector | Ukraine | 1980 | Fled from his parents when they were about to return to the Ukrainian SSR. Granted political asylum as a naturalized U.S. citizen upon turning 18 on October 3, 1985. Had been subject of lengthy political cause célèbre during the preceding five years. | |
| Conductor | Russia | 1981 | Defected on tour in West Germany with his son[20] | |
| Ambassador | Poland | 1981 | Defected when martial law was declared in Poland in 1981 | |
| Colonel | Poland | 1981 | Spied for the United States for 10 years after the 1970 massacre of Polish workers. Later defected to United States and was sentenced to death in absentia. Died of a stroke. Sentence was annulled in 1998 by the Polish Supreme Court. | |
| Political scientist | Romania | 1981 | Defected in Spain on an authorized trip with his mother to visit site of father's battles | |
| Ice hockey player | Czechoslovakia | 1981 | Defected to Canada while at a tournament with the Czechoslovakia men's national ice hockey team in Bern, Switzerland[21] | |
| Clifford Kettemborough | Mathematician, computer scientist | Romania | 1982 | Defected to Turkey, then Austria, via Bulgaria before emigrating to the United States in June 1983 |
| KGB agent | Russia | 1982 | Defected to a British intelligence Tehran station and then to the United Kingdom | |
| Actor | Georgia | 1983 | Hijacked Aeroflot Flight 6833; tried to defect to Turkey and was arrested | |
| Football player | East Germany | 1983 | Fled before a match in Yugoslavia; traveled to West Germany[22] | |
| Conductor | Georgia | 1983 | Defected while on tour with Victoria Mullova via Kuusamo, Finland and Haparanda, Sweden, to the United States | |
| Violinist | Russia | 1983 | Defected in a tour with Vakhtang Jordania via Kuusamo, Finland, and Haparanda, Sweden, to the United States | |
| Editor | Russia | 1983 | Foreign editor of Literaturnaya Gazeta; defected in Venice, Italy, to the United Kingdom[23] | |
| Track and Field athlete | Poland | 1984 | Left a hotel room in the middle of the night while in Turin, Italy, at an international track meet; spent several months in a refugee camp in Italy before relocating to the United States | |
| Deputy Minister of Justice | Estonia | 1984 | Defected via Kotka, Finland to Sweden; fled a Soviet crackdown on Estonian nationalism | |
| Aviation engineering student | Czechoslovakia | 1984 | Defected from Czechoslovakia after he created a homemade aircraft, flying to Vienna International Airport. Subsequently settled in the United States and founded the Ivoprop corporation. | |
| Sports scientist | Czechoslovakia | 1985 | Defected to the United States via Rome, Italy; "the highest-ranking Soviet-bloc sports scientist ever to defect to the West" | |
| Czechoslovak Embassy employee in Washington, D.C. | Czechoslovakia | 1985 | Defected in Washington, D.C., where he was Minister-Counselor; later became a commentator on East-West relations | |
| KGB agent | Russia | 1985 | Defected to the United Kingdom via Finland; became MI6 double agent after the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia; sentenced to death in absentia | |
| KGB agent | Russia | 1985 | Defected in Rome, Italy; exposed two KGB/CIA double agents, Ronald Pelton and Edward Lee Howard; ended up back in the KGB |
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| Musician | Romania | 1986 | Defected while in the United States on an authorized visit for a performance | |
| Football player | East Germany | 1986 | Fled after a match against FC Bayer 05 Uerdingen in the quarter finals of the 1985–86 European Cup Winners' Cup. | |
| Weightlifter | Bulgaria | 1986 | Defected during World Cup final in Melbourne, Australia; traveled to Turkey | |
| Opera singer | USSR | 1986 | Defected during a Madama Butterfly singing competition in Tokyo, Japan | |
| Air Force cadet | Romania | 1987 | Flew his Aero L-39ZA Albatros jet trainer aircraft from Buzau, Romania to near Kirklareli, Turkey, where he landed on a dirt road[24] | |
| Sprint canoe athlete | Hungary | 1987 | Defected to Canada | |
| Chess player | Romania | 1988 | Defected to the United Kingdom during the 1988 Lloyds Bank chess tournament in London | |
| Football player | Romania | 1988 | Defected to Belgrade, Yugoslavia | |
| Pilot | Russia | 1989 | Flew Mikoyan MiG-29 to Trabzon, Turkey | |
| Hockey player | Russia | 1989 | Defected after World Championships in Sweden | |
| Table tennis player | Romania | 1989 | Defected in Luxembourg during youth table tennis championship | |
| Sprint canoe athlete | Romania | 1989 | - | |
| Gymnast | Romania | 1989 | Defected weeks before the Romanian Revolution to Austria | |
| Rugby player | Romania | 1989 | - | |
| Hockey player | Czechoslovakia | 1989 | Defected during a midget hockey tournament in Calgary, Canada | |
| Bioweapons engineer | Russia | 1989 | Defected in Paris, France, to warn the West about the Soviet biological weapons program | |
| Military officer | China | 1989 | Defected to South Korea from his post at the Joint Security Area[25] | |
| Ice dancer | Russia | 1990 | Defected to the United States while on tour with a Soviet troupe | |
| Hockey player | Russia | 1990 | Defected in Seattle, United States during Goodwill Games | |
| Author | Ukraine | 1990 | Became a regular on BBC television in the United Kingdom |
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Peppridge farms remembers
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Im not done yet, taking a little trip down memory lane
At the end of, and following World War II, at least twelve million ethnic German Volksdeutsche or Reichsdeutsche fled or were expelled,[32][33][34][35] Barbara Marshall estimates that the number of ethnic Germans fleeing or expelled from the Eastern Bloc was "about fifteen million."[36]: 6 mostly in and from Soviet-occupied territories becoming the Eastern Bloc, making it the largest movement of any European people in modern history.[33][37] The expulsions had been agreed upon before the end of the war by the Allies.[38][39][40] At least two million people perished due to flight and expulsion, 400,000 to 600,000 of whom by physical force.[41][42] Almost all of these occurred between 1944 and 1948.[43][44] The total figures include a considerable exodus of Germans from areas near the front lines as the Red Army advanced towards German-settled areas.[45] Many were aware of the Soviet reprisals on German civilians,[46] such as Soviet soldiers committing rape and other crimes.[46][47] News of these atrocities, like the Nemmersdorf massacre,[46] were also, in part, exaggerated and spread by the Nazi propaganda machine. Many of these ethnic Germans also fled to the future East Germany, within the Eastern Bloc.[citation needed]
At the end of, and following World War II, at least twelve million ethnic German Volksdeutsche or Reichsdeutsche fled or were expelled,[32][33][34][35] Barbara Marshall estimates that the number of ethnic Germans fleeing or expelled from the Eastern Bloc was "about fifteen million."[36]: 6 mostly in and from Soviet-occupied territories becoming the Eastern Bloc, making it the largest movement of any European people in modern history.[33][37] The expulsions had been agreed upon before the end of the war by the Allies.[38][39][40] At least two million people perished due to flight and expulsion, 400,000 to 600,000 of whom by physical force.[41][42] Almost all of these occurred between 1944 and 1948.[43][44] The total figures include a considerable exodus of Germans from areas near the front lines as the Red Army advanced towards German-settled areas.[45] Many were aware of the Soviet reprisals on German civilians,[46] such as Soviet soldiers committing rape and other crimes.[46][47] News of these atrocities, like the Nemmersdorf massacre,[46] were also, in part, exaggerated and spread by the Nazi propaganda machine. Many of these ethnic Germans also fled to the future East Germany, within the Eastern Bloc.[citation needed]
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After Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe at the end of World War II, the majority of people living in the newly acquired areas aspired for independence and wanted the Soviet troops to leave.[48][need quotation to verify] While millions of ethnic Germans fled or were expelled from Eastern Europe, about four million ethnic Germans were prevented from leaving by advancing Soviet troops or deported to remote areas of the Soviet Union as part of Stalin's policy towards the German population.[36]: 8
Before 1950, over 15 million immigrants emigrated from Soviet-occupied eastern European countries to the west in the five years immediately following World War II.[49] Until the early 1950s, the lines between German occupation zones could be easily crossed.[50] Taking advantage of this route, the number of Eastern Europeans applying for political asylum in West Germany was 197,000 in 1950, 165,000 in 1951, 182,000 in 1952 and 331,000 in 1953,[50] One reason for the sharp 1953 increase was fear of potential further Sovietization with the increasingly paranoid actions of Joseph Stalin in late 1952 and early 1953.[51] 226,000 had fled in just the first six months of 1953.[31] Because of the lack of resources and space in West Germany, at the request of Truman in 1952, the United States increased its resettlement admissions quotas under the United States Escapee Program (USEP).[50] After the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, 171,000 Hungarian refugees crossed the border into Austria, while 20,000 crossed into Yugoslavia.[52]
In 1948, in the debate of a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Soviets objected to the language that "everyone has the right to leave any country including his own."[53] Arguing that "it would encourage emigration", the Soviets wanted to add the phrase "in accordance with the procedure laid down in the laws of that country", with only Poland and Saudi Arabia supporting the Soviet proposal.[53]
On August 13, 1961, a barbed-wire barrier that would become the Berlin Wall separating East and West Berlin was erected by East Germany.[71] Two days later, police and army engineers began to construct a more permanent concrete wall.[74] The construction briefly caused fears of a military crisis, though only 11,000 western troops were located in Berlin compared to 500,000 Soviet troops surrounding them deployed in East Germany.[75] The completion of the Berlin Wall closed the biggest loophole in the Iron Curtain. It brought an end to a decade during which divided capital of the divided Germany was the easiest place for unauthorized east-to-west crossings.[76] Along with the wall, the 830 miles (1,340 km) zonal border became 3.5 miles (5.6 km) wide on its East German side in some parts of Germany with a tall steel-mesh fence running along a "death strip" bordered by bands of plowed earth, to slow and to reveal the prints of those trying to escape, and mined fields.[77]
Before 1950, over 15 million immigrants emigrated from Soviet-occupied eastern European countries to the west in the five years immediately following World War II.[49] Until the early 1950s, the lines between German occupation zones could be easily crossed.[50] Taking advantage of this route, the number of Eastern Europeans applying for political asylum in West Germany was 197,000 in 1950, 165,000 in 1951, 182,000 in 1952 and 331,000 in 1953,[50] One reason for the sharp 1953 increase was fear of potential further Sovietization with the increasingly paranoid actions of Joseph Stalin in late 1952 and early 1953.[51] 226,000 had fled in just the first six months of 1953.[31] Because of the lack of resources and space in West Germany, at the request of Truman in 1952, the United States increased its resettlement admissions quotas under the United States Escapee Program (USEP).[50] After the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, 171,000 Hungarian refugees crossed the border into Austria, while 20,000 crossed into Yugoslavia.[52]
In 1948, in the debate of a Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Soviets objected to the language that "everyone has the right to leave any country including his own."[53] Arguing that "it would encourage emigration", the Soviets wanted to add the phrase "in accordance with the procedure laid down in the laws of that country", with only Poland and Saudi Arabia supporting the Soviet proposal.[53]
On August 13, 1961, a barbed-wire barrier that would become the Berlin Wall separating East and West Berlin was erected by East Germany.[71] Two days later, police and army engineers began to construct a more permanent concrete wall.[74] The construction briefly caused fears of a military crisis, though only 11,000 western troops were located in Berlin compared to 500,000 Soviet troops surrounding them deployed in East Germany.[75] The completion of the Berlin Wall closed the biggest loophole in the Iron Curtain. It brought an end to a decade during which divided capital of the divided Germany was the easiest place for unauthorized east-to-west crossings.[76] Along with the wall, the 830 miles (1,340 km) zonal border became 3.5 miles (5.6 km) wide on its East German side in some parts of Germany with a tall steel-mesh fence running along a "death strip" bordered by bands of plowed earth, to slow and to reveal the prints of those trying to escape, and mined fields.[77]
holdover
.475 A&M Magnum
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Famous defectors include Joseph Stalin's daughter Svetlana Alliluyeva (though she returned in 1984), Mig-25 pilot Viktor Belenko, U.N. Undersecretary General Arkady Shevchenko, chess grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi, ballet stars Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Natalia Makarova, and Alexander Godunov.[110] Famous East German defectors include writer Wolfgang Leonhard, East German soldier Conrad Schumann, who was famously photographed jumping the Berlin wall while it was under construction, and a number of European football players, including Jörg Berger. Chess world champion Boris Spassky also emigrated to France in a fashion comparable to defection.
While media sources often reported high level defections, non-prominent defections usually went unreported.[111] The number of non-public "black stream" defectors is not known.[110]