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The Russian Civil War was one of the 20th century's bloodiest chapters. The fight for Russia between Lenin's Red Army and the White Army was ruthless. Its legacy can be felt in Europe to this day.
Director: Florian Riedelsperger
Director: Florian Riedelsperger
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00:04In 1917, Russia was plunged into a brutal civil war.
00:09The abdication of Tsar Nicholas II opened up a power vacuum across the nation,
00:14with various parties eager to fill it.
00:18Everything was falling apart.
00:20The country's financial situation was rapidly deteriorating.
00:27Lenin's Communist Red Army was opposed by an alliance of monarchists loyal to the Tsar
00:32and a broad range of other anti-Bolshevik forces called the White Army.
00:38It was made up of volunteers, former Tsarist soldiers and officers,
00:42most of them Cossacks who were regarded as especially loyal to the Tsar.
00:47But the Red Army forced them to flee.
00:50Even as White Army emigres scattered across Europe,
00:54their struggle against Bolshevism continued.
00:57True to the motto of the enemy of my enemy is my friend,
01:01segments of the White Army would later side with Adolf Hitler,
01:05in the hopes of liberating Russia.
01:11It had been almost 20 years since the White Army left Russia,
01:16but the idea of one day returning never left their hearts.
01:21The final remnants of the former White Army under Hitler
01:25eventually found themselves in East Tyrol in Austria with a tragic ending.
01:31Tomorrow you're going to be handed over, report at 6 a.m.
01:54May 1st 1945, after six years of devastation in the Second World War,
01:59German leader Adolf Hitler had committed suicide the day before in Berlin,
02:04rather than fall into the hands of the advancing Soviet army.
02:08National Socialism had reached its end.
02:11Just seven days later,
02:13Germany's armed forces would sign an unconditional surrender.
02:27Meanwhile, in the Karnic Alps of northern Italy on the border with Austria,
02:32a mass of Cossack troops together with their families and horses were heading north.
02:36They likewise feared being captured by Soviet forces.
02:41In the tiny village of Timau,
02:44a Cossack column, numbering 30,000 people in total, made a brief stop.
02:51Before continuing, they entrusted their war chest to the local priest,
02:56telling him that if they failed to come back soon,
02:59he should use the money to build a new church.
03:02They would never return.
03:11Just nine months earlier,
03:13Hitler had ordered the Cossacks to relocate to northern Italy
03:16to find a new home in the Friuli region.
03:20But neighbouring Yugoslavia, now led by Josip Tito,
03:23and allied with the Soviet Union,
03:26was uncomfortably close.
03:28Especially now that their hopes of a peaceful return to Russia
03:31had been dashed by Hitler's defeat.
03:34In 1943, these White Army soldiers had already fled from Soviet forces.
03:46When the German army began to retreat in February 1943,
03:51the Cossacks realized that the Red Army was coming
03:54and that their lives were in danger.
03:56And given their love for their homeland,
03:58they left with tears in their eyes.
04:02The Cossacks were under the command of Pyotr Nikolaevich Krasnov,
04:06albeit indirectly from Berlin.
04:09In the final months of the war in 1945,
04:12his headquarters there were unable to operate effectively,
04:15and being far away from his troops weighed heavily on him.
04:22Berlin had been under increasingly intense bombardment for two years,
04:27and he now decided that he needed to be with his soldiers,
04:31one group being in Yugoslavia and the other in northern Italy.
04:37He wanted to join them as their recognized commander.
04:43Now Krasnov and his wife Lydia, with the Cossacks,
04:48were making their way towards the Austrian border.
04:50As they reached Pluchen Pass on the Austrian-Italian border,
04:54it began to snow.
04:56In the beginning of May,
04:58the column braved the harsh conditions to cross the mountain pass.
05:01Turning back was not an option.
05:08Convinced that they had to escape in order to survive,
05:12as seen previously,
05:13their only hope of escape was to keep moving forward.
05:16While they were led by their commander-in-chief,
05:19Krasnov's role was largely symbolic.
05:25He didn't do much in military terms,
05:27seeing himself more as a writer.
05:30He'd written around 20 books,
05:32translated into 15 European languages,
05:35so he was more of a figurehead,
05:39a nominal leader,
05:41but one who was highly respected by the Cossacks.
05:47After crossing the pass,
05:49the group surrendered to British forces,
05:51which now controlled southwestern Austria.
05:57There, the vast column of men, women and children
06:00were assigned new settlement areas
06:02and instructed to move to camps
06:04in and around the town of Lienz.
06:09For the Cossacks, a safe haven,
06:12or so they believed.
06:14But the 30,000 newcomers
06:17were not welcome among the locals.
06:19Lienz itself had a population of only 8,000.
06:29Instead of on farms,
06:31they were housed primarily altogether
06:33in the Pegetz camp,
06:35as well as their own makeshift camps,
06:37comprising tents
06:38and horse-drawn wagons.
06:45While the Cossacks felt safe for the time being,
06:48unbeknownst to them,
06:49the British were in the process
06:51of negotiating an agreement with Stalin.
06:57The Cossacks' ordeal had its origins
06:59in an event that had transformed Russia
07:02to this day 28 years previously.
07:06In the winter of 1916-17,
07:09the mounting toll of the First World War
07:11had brought the then Tsarist Empire
07:13to the brink of collapse.
07:17As the mood in the country
07:18turned increasingly volatile,
07:20Maria Bochkareva,
07:22later an officer in the White Army,
07:24believed,
07:24I fight not for a party or for politics.
07:27I fight for Russia,
07:28for our country,
07:30our honour,
07:30and for our dead.
07:34Although Russia's fortunes
07:35on the military front had improved,
07:37the ongoing war meant
07:39growing hardships for the population.
07:43When Russia entered the First World War
07:45in the summer of 1914,
07:47its military didn't initially face
07:49any material shortages.
07:51But over time,
07:52a financial crisis developed,
07:53which was compounded by economic
07:55and then political turmoil too.
08:02The Romanov dynasty had ruled Russia
08:04for nearly three centuries.
08:06And now,
08:07Nicholas II was confronted
08:09with mounting public discontent.
08:13St. Petersburg,
08:15renamed Petrograd,
08:16saw an outbreak of strikes
08:18and unrest among factory workers
08:20demanding higher wages
08:21as they struggled to feed their families.
08:26The uprising coincided
08:28with the Tsar being out of town.
08:38It happened while he was on his way
08:40to see the army general staff
08:41to prepare for the spring offensive.
08:47The disturbances had been planned
08:49in advance
08:49and were deliberately provoked
08:52by the organizers holding up
08:53food and fuel deliveries
08:55in what was a very cold winter.
09:00It was all part of a detailed strategy
09:04aimed at destabilizing Russia from within,
09:08starting with the then capital.
09:16The plan was devised by a Russian
09:18aiming to see a Marxist regime
09:20set in place,
09:21Alexander Israel Helfand,
09:23known as Alexander Parvos.
09:27He worked as an indirect intermediary
09:29between Germany
09:30and the Russian exile
09:31who would have a decisive impact
09:33on Russia's future,
09:35Vladimir Ilyich Lenin.
09:38Lenin was still living
09:39in exile in Switzerland,
09:41but was closely following
09:42developments back home.
09:44He made plans for his return,
09:47where, with the help of his supporters,
09:48the Bolsheviks,
09:50he would launch
09:50a communist revolution.
09:54But there was still
09:55the prominent obstacle
09:56of Tsar Nicholas II.
10:02Meanwhile,
10:03the unrest in Petrograd
10:04had spread to a point
10:05where the parliament speaker
10:07sent a telegram to the Tsar,
10:09asking him to appoint
10:10a brand new government.
10:15Otherwise, he warned,
10:16it would no longer be possible
10:18to keep the protests under control.
10:20Under immense pressure,
10:22the monarch agreed to the proposal
10:24and abdicated.
10:27The Tsarist empire
10:29had come to an end,
10:30bringing three centuries
10:32of rule by the Romanovs
10:33to a close.
10:36The world wars often
10:37ended with revolutions,
10:39which is what happened
10:40to the Russian empire.
10:41The first strikes
10:42in Petrograd in February
10:43turned into general unrest
10:45and eventually a revolution.
10:47It was against that backdrop
10:48that Nicholas II abdicated
10:50and a provisional government
10:52was formed.
10:52Although the economic situation
10:54did not improve,
10:56everything was falling apart.
10:57the country's financial situation
10:59was rapidly deteriorating.
11:03Lenin returned from exile
11:05and rallied more and more supporters
11:07to his cause,
11:08the preparation and implementation
11:10of a fully-fledged revolution.
11:14At his side,
11:15at home and in the political struggle
11:17was his wife,
11:18Nadezhda Krupskaya.
11:20During their years in exile,
11:21she had handled
11:22the extensive correspondence
11:24needed to build up
11:25and coordinate
11:25the revolutionary movement
11:27inside Russia.
11:28A teacher by profession,
11:30she shared Lenin's beliefs.
11:32Among her ideas
11:34was that
11:35women cannot be truly free
11:37until they take part
11:38in the great task
11:39of liberating humanity.
11:41The revolution demands
11:42not only the courage
11:43of men at the front,
11:44but also the awareness,
11:46knowledge
11:46and perseverance
11:47of women.
11:49The new provisional government
11:51was supposed to restore
11:52order and stability,
11:54but the continuing
11:55economic crisis
11:56was driving the country
11:57deeper into chaos.
12:01The army and the state
12:03were starting to disintegrate.
12:04There were a lot of officers
12:06protesting against the revolution
12:07under the slogan
12:08Save the Fatherland.
12:10So effectively,
12:12they joined
12:12the counter-revolutionary movement.
12:14They weren't yet
12:15anti-Bolshevik
12:16or anti-Soviet
12:17as the Bolshevik revolution
12:19had yet to happen.
12:20But the political currents
12:22that would eventually
12:22become the white movement
12:23had already begun
12:25gathering strength
12:25before the communist revolution
12:27even took place.
12:31And it did take place
12:32in October 1917
12:34when the Bolsheviks
12:35led by Lenin
12:36took control
12:37in a military coup
12:38and that involved
12:39taking the Winter Palace
12:41in Petrograd
12:42which was intended
12:43to put an end
12:43to the government.
12:52Guarding the palace,
12:54the former home
12:55of the royal family,
12:56was an all-female battalion
12:58set up by Maria Bochkareva
13:00with the approval
13:01of the provisional government.
13:06She'd fought
13:07in the First World War
13:08where her bravery
13:09earned the respect
13:10of her male comrades.
13:15A public recruitment drive
13:17for the battalion
13:18quickly drew around
13:192,000 volunteers,
13:21many of them daughters
13:22from aristocratic families.
13:25Bochkareva was of the opinion,
13:27I didn't want women
13:29who were seeking adventure.
13:30I wanted women
13:32who were willing
13:33to die for Russia.
13:39Contrary to the image
13:40promoted by later
13:41Soviet propaganda,
13:42there was no dramatic
13:44storming of the Winter Palace
13:45by a huge mass
13:46of soldiers.
13:48In fact,
13:49it was little more
13:50than a handful
13:51of revolutionaries
13:52who managed to enter
13:53via a side entrance.
13:56Alexander Karensky,
13:58the chairman
13:58of the provisional government,
14:00fled.
14:02Lenin and his Red Army
14:03had seized power.
14:111917 saw two revolutions.
14:14The first
14:15was the February Revolution,
14:17when Russia became
14:18a democracy
14:19and a republic.
14:20The subsequent
14:21October Revolution
14:23divided society
14:24and the military
14:25as well.
14:27One side
14:28became the Bolshevik
14:29Red Army
14:30or Workers' Army,
14:32while the other,
14:33the White Army,
14:34comprised those
14:35who opposed
14:36the Bolsheviks.
14:41The White Movement
14:43emerged very quickly
14:44after Lenin's coup.
14:46By November 1917,
14:48it had already
14:49begun to take shape.
14:52its military wing
14:53was the White Army,
14:54made up of volunteers,
14:56former Tsarist
14:57officers and soldiers,
14:59most of them
15:00Cossacks,
15:00who were regarded
15:01as especially loyal
15:03to the Tsar.
15:06It was called
15:07the White Army
15:08because that was
15:08the color
15:09traditionally associated
15:10with the monarchy.
15:18For centuries,
15:19the Cossacks
15:20had been part
15:20of the Russian Empire.
15:21They were renowned
15:22for their military prowess,
15:24but prized
15:25their tradition
15:26of autonomy,
15:27which the Tsar
15:28granted them.
15:29They had played
15:30a crucial role
15:31in defending
15:31Russia's borders
15:32and now formed
15:33an important element
15:34of the White Army.
15:43Commanders
15:44of the fragmented
15:45White Army
15:45found themselves
15:46facing overwhelming
15:48Red Army forces
15:49as Russia
15:50descended into
15:50a brutal civil war
15:52following Lenin's
15:53seizure of power.
15:58The civil war
15:59was bloody
16:00and one of the
16:00great tragic episodes
16:01in Russian history.
16:03And it was fought
16:04across the entire country,
16:05not just in Crimea
16:06and in southern Russia.
16:15Among the most
16:16prominent White Army
16:17commanders
16:18was Alexander
16:19Vasiljevich Kolchak,
16:20a former Marine
16:22admiral
16:22and fiercely
16:23anti-Bolshevik.
16:24After a short time
16:26in exile in England
16:27and the US
16:27in the wake
16:28of the February Revolution,
16:30he returned to Russia
16:31via Siberia
16:32in the east
16:32with British support.
16:34In Omsk,
16:35where he established
16:36his headquarters
16:36for fighting
16:37the Red Army,
16:38his allies elected him
16:40supreme ruler
16:41of Russia.
16:47His romantic partner,
16:49poet and painter
16:49Anna Timoryova,
16:51spoke fluent German
16:52and French
16:53and worked as a
16:54translator for the White
16:55Army's press office.
16:56She also sewed clothes
16:58and cared for sick
16:59and wounded soldiers.
17:00But in war,
17:02one resource matters
17:03above all else.
17:05Money.
17:08At the outbreak
17:10of the First World War
17:11in 1914,
17:12patriotism was running
17:13high in Russia.
17:15Many wealthy citizens
17:16and almost the entire
17:18aristocracy transferred
17:19their savings from foreign banks
17:21back into the Russian Empire.
17:24This resulted in the accumulation
17:26of enormous sums of money.
17:29and in 1915,
17:32those funds,
17:33together with substantial assets
17:35from the state treasury,
17:37were moved for safekeeping
17:38to warehouses
17:39in Nizhny Novgorod
17:41and Kazan,
17:42far away from the front line.
17:46That money was still there
17:48in 1917.
17:57Kolchak was aware
17:58of this enormous
17:59cache of treasure.
18:01He also knew
18:02that it would be vital
18:03for the fight
18:04against Lenin
18:05and was determined
18:06to secure it
18:07at all costs.
18:10after being seized
18:11by troops
18:12under Colonel
18:12Vladimir Kapel
18:13in Kazan.
18:15It was transported
18:16around 1,800 kilometers
18:19east to Omsk,
18:20where Kolchak's
18:21self-declared government
18:22was based,
18:23the transportation
18:24of which was possible
18:25only thanks
18:26to the Trans-Siberian Railway.
18:29It's remarkable
18:31that these railway lines
18:32existed at all.
18:34In just 10 years,
18:369,000 kilometers
18:37of track
18:38were laid
18:38under the last czar
18:39around the turn
18:41of the century.
18:44And they became
18:45the empire's
18:45most important
18:46communication
18:47and transportation routes,
18:50including also
18:51for transporting
18:52this infamous treasure.
18:55It took 40 railway cars
18:57to carry just a portion
18:58of the gold bars
19:00and precious metals.
19:05Along the rail lines,
19:07the White Army
19:08was able to move
19:08around 657 million rubles,
19:11along with gold,
19:13platinum,
19:13and banknotes
19:14worth a further
19:15100 million.
19:16But that mass of riches
19:17ultimately did little
19:19to help Kolchak.
19:20After suffering
19:21a major defeat
19:22at the hands
19:22of the Red Army
19:23in November 1919,
19:25he was forced
19:26to abandon Omsk.
19:27And the following February,
19:29Kolchak himself
19:30was handed over
19:31to the Bolsheviks
19:32and summarily executed.
19:39Anna Timiriova
19:41voluntarily gave herself
19:42up in January 1920.
19:44She was released
19:45shortly thereafter,
19:46but would spend decades
19:48facing persecution
19:49under the Soviet regime.
19:51Much of the gold
19:52ended up in Japan,
19:53where Kolchak wanted
19:55to exchange it
19:56for weapons
19:56and ammunition.
19:57Although shipments
19:59from Japan
19:59never arrived.
20:07A devastating setback
20:09for the White Army.
20:10Alongside Kolchak
20:11and his forces
20:12in Siberia,
20:13General Anton Ivanovich
20:15Dänikin
20:15was one of the leading
20:16figures of the White
20:17movement.
20:18In early 1919,
20:20he was in the
20:21North Caucasus,
20:22from where he launched
20:23an offensive towards
20:24Moscow.
20:26After capturing territory
20:28roughly one and a half
20:29times the size of France,
20:30his army was approaching
20:31the capital.
20:34Lenin realized
20:35the situation was critical
20:36and threw all available
20:38resources into a
20:39counter-offensive.
20:41Meanwhile,
20:42the White Army
20:43was increasingly beset
20:44by infighting.
20:45An ambitious young
20:46officer,
20:47Baron Pyotr Nikolaevich
20:49Vrangel,
20:49was beginning to challenge
20:51Dänikin's leadership.
20:57The White movement
20:58The White movement
20:58brought together a wide range
21:00of political forces.
21:02It included monarchists,
21:04but also representatives
21:05of the so-called
21:06bourgeois revolutionary movement.
21:08That was probably
21:09its greatest weakness.
21:11There was no unified
21:12political agenda.
21:13The Bolsheviks had a very clear vision
21:15for the creation of their
21:16communist state,
21:17which gave them an advantage.
21:19They were better organized,
21:21better mobilized,
21:22and presented a united front.
21:24The White movement
21:25had immense difficulty
21:26confronting such a force.
21:37Just a little while later
21:39in the spring of 1920,
21:41Dänikin relinquished command
21:42to Vrangel.
21:45What was left of the White Army
21:47had retreated to Crimea.
21:54Vrangel was a key figure
21:56in the White movement.
21:56When the revolution began,
21:59he was seen as one of
22:00Russia's most talented officers.
22:02He was around 40
22:03and in his prime.
22:11But as war raged on,
22:12the Red Army
22:13was gaining the upper hand.
22:15After suffering heavy losses
22:16over the course of the year,
22:18in November 1920,
22:19Vrangel decided to evacuate
22:21across the Black Sea
22:22towards Constantinople
22:24together with his remaining forces,
22:26their families
22:27and other civilians.
22:29For the White Army,
22:31the war was over.
22:36When they set sail from Crimea,
22:38they were in effect saying goodbye
22:40to their entire former lives.
22:42General Vrangel was reportedly
22:44the last man to board the ship.
22:47He removed his cap,
22:48bowed towards Russia
22:50and crossed himself,
22:51fully aware that he might never return.
22:53The retreat was a very trying ordeal
22:56for the soldiers
22:57and for the civilians
22:59who fled with them.
23:00There was not enough food
23:02and nowhere to sleep.
23:06They had no clear ultimate destination in mind.
23:09For most of them,
23:10Constantinople,
23:11today Istanbul,
23:12at least offered an initial safe haven.
23:15Before long, however,
23:17the White Army scattered in all directions.
23:19over 150,000 soldiers,
23:23many of them accompanied by their families.
23:26Many of the aristocrats
23:27who had already fled Crimea in 1919
23:30owned estates in the likes of France and Italy,
23:34whereas the soldiers from the White Army
23:36basically had nowhere to go
23:38when they fled in the 1920s.
23:40So the ships they were on
23:42docked in a variety of countries.
23:45The main destinations were France,
23:47Tunisia, Germany
23:49and the Kingdom of Serbs,
23:50Croats and Slovenes.
23:53Others found refuge in Asia,
23:56in Manchuria, for example.
24:05General Wrangel and his staff
24:07quickly realized
24:08that the army was falling apart.
24:10If they failed to keep it united,
24:15they risked losing any hope
24:16of restoring Imperial Russia.
24:19In 1923,
24:22Wrangel therefore established
24:23the Russian All-Military Union,
24:26or ROVS.
24:28Its purpose was to unite
24:30all former military personnel
24:32and consolidate the existing army,
24:35despite its members
24:36now being scattered
24:37across many countries.
24:40ROVS would become
24:41an organization
24:42of vital importance
24:43for the emigré community.
24:47White army units
24:48in all countries
24:50remained subordinate
24:51to General Wrangel,
24:52who had the task
24:53of providing
24:54a unified strategy.
24:56In addition to preserving
24:57the remnants of the army,
24:59one objective
25:00to absolute precedence,
25:02continuing the fight
25:03against the Soviet regime,
25:04a fight Moscow was ready for.
25:08The Soviet Union
25:09actively expanded
25:11its overseas intelligence network
25:13through organizations
25:14such as the GPU
25:16or the NKVD.
25:18Their foreign operations
25:20focused primarily
25:21on subverting
25:22and destabilizing
25:23the white emigré community.
25:25The goal was to identify
25:27and eliminate
25:28those individuals
25:29who were actually capable
25:31of posing a threat.
25:35The white army
25:36was not the only group
25:37driven into exile.
25:39During and after
25:40the civil war,
25:41successive waves
25:42of its supporters
25:43fled Russia as well.
25:50Lenin's Bolshevik government
25:52basically declared
25:53open season
25:54on two social classes,
25:56the bourgeoisie
25:57and the aristocracy.
26:03So in addition
26:04to the nobility,
26:06the middle classes
26:06were also suddenly
26:07declared as enemies.
26:11These groups
26:12were effectively stripped
26:13of any right to exist
26:15and treated
26:16as fair game.
26:25As a cosmopolitan centre
26:27and cultural melting pot,
26:29Paris was a major magnet
26:30for the emigrés.
26:32It had already
26:33had a special appeal
26:34before the war
26:34for members
26:35of the Russian upper classes
26:36who often spoke
26:37fluent French.
26:42The white movement
26:44emigrants
26:45were extremely diverse.
26:46In the period
26:47of 1918
26:48through 1922,
26:50somewhere between
26:51one and a half
26:52and 2.2 million people
26:54left Russia,
26:55a huge exodus
26:56of civilians.
26:59Throughout the 1920s,
27:01the Soviet government
27:02made overtures
27:03towards white army emigres.
27:05The new military
27:06was missing
27:07many of Russia's
27:08highest-ranking commanders
27:09who had served
27:10under the previous regime,
27:11a problem it hoped
27:13to relieve
27:13by persuading
27:14former officers
27:15to return home.
27:18The Bolshevik government
27:20devised a number
27:21of ploys
27:21to lure emigres
27:22back home,
27:23such as promising
27:24the return
27:25of their former positions
27:26and generous salaries.
27:28But they were often traps.
27:30Many of those
27:31who fell for the offers
27:32ended up on the
27:33Solovecki Islands
27:34and were shot.
27:37And the Bolsheviks
27:38later adopted
27:39even more drastic measures.
27:42anyone who had left
27:43Russia after 1917
27:44without the permission
27:46of the Bolshevik government
27:47had their citizenship
27:49revoked.
27:55As a result,
27:56members of the white movement
27:57were rendered stateless.
27:59As long as the Bolsheviks
28:01remained in power,
28:02returning to their Russia
28:03was unthinkable.
28:07The only thing waiting
28:08for them there
28:09was death
28:10and destruction.
28:16And for many,
28:17the struggle
28:18against Bolshevism
28:19continued in exile.
28:20In 1921,
28:22publisher
28:22Sergei Sokolov-Krechitov
28:24secured financial backing
28:26from the Duke of Leuchtenberg
28:27to find the brotherhood
28:29of Russian truth
28:30in Berlin.
28:31The anti-communist resistance
28:32now had a new lifeline.
28:41The Duke of Leuchtenberg
28:43managed to retain
28:44part of his wealth
28:45in Europe.
28:46He was a close friend
28:47of Krechitov
28:48and actively supported
28:49his initiative.
28:51Together,
28:52they founded
28:52the Bronze Horseman,
28:53which became one of
28:54the leading publishing
28:55houses of the Russian
28:57émigré community
28:58in Europe.
28:59The Duke also headed
29:01the city of Kitesh
29:02publishing house,
29:03which likewise
29:04produced a range of books.
29:06Also involved
29:07was Pyotr Nikolaevich
29:09Khaznov,
29:09one of the most
29:10prominent representatives
29:11of the old generation
29:12of imperial Russian generals.
29:14He was a hero
29:16of both the First World War
29:17and the Civil War
29:18and the last Ataman
29:19of the Don Cossacks.
29:21Over time,
29:22a large number
29:23of writers,
29:24journalists
29:24and other public
29:25figures joined
29:26the Brotherhood
29:26of Russian Truth.
29:33The Brotherhood
29:35would survive
29:35for almost two decades,
29:37building an extensive
29:38international network
29:40reaching from branches
29:41in North and South America
29:42to Europe,
29:43Egypt
29:43and the Far East.
29:46It could therefore
29:47operate along
29:48the Soviet Union's
29:49borders
29:50from practically
29:51every direction,
29:52from where its members
29:53sought to destabilize
29:54the regime
29:55through a range
29:56of measures.
29:59First and foremost,
30:00through a huge amount
30:01of anti-communist propaganda
30:03attacking Lenin,
30:04Stalin
30:05and the Soviet system
30:06itself,
30:07they also launched calls
30:09for resistance
30:09and sabotage,
30:11to kill Cheka
30:12secret police officials,
30:14set fire
30:15to communist party clubs
30:16and for what they called
30:18terror from below.
30:19The idea was that
30:20a popular uprising
30:21would have to come about
30:23inside Russia
30:24and just needed
30:25a spark
30:25to be ignited.
30:28The white emigres
30:29believed that people
30:30in the Soviet Union
30:32were suffering
30:32and were ready
30:33to rise up
30:34against the regime.
30:37while some elements
30:38of the brotherhood
30:39engaged directly
30:40in sabotage
30:41and underground activities,
30:43others focused
30:44on training
30:45new operatives
30:46and organizing
30:47financial resources.
30:53The women
30:54raised funds
30:55from donations,
30:57visiting emigre clubs,
30:58public events
30:59and in churches.
31:02Those active
31:04on the front lines
31:05needed weapons
31:06and support
31:06and securing funds
31:08became the brotherhood's
31:09key task.
31:10This made the women
31:12indispensable.
31:18Most of the other
31:19anti-communist initiatives
31:20had a strong
31:21military focus
31:22and were composed
31:23almost entirely of men.
31:25Women were given
31:26little opportunity
31:27to assume a more
31:28active role,
31:30despite having at least
31:31as much reason
31:32to see the regime
31:33toppled.
31:39life was extremely
31:41difficult for these women.
31:43They were separated
31:44from their homeland
31:44and also had to work,
31:46raise children
31:47and run the household.
31:49They carried
31:50the entire burden.
31:52But somehow,
31:53they never lost
31:54their sense
31:54of patriotism.
31:58In 1940,
32:00the brotherhood
32:00of Russian truth
32:01ceased to exist
32:02and Europe
32:03found itself
32:04in the midst
32:04of a second world war.
32:07The situation
32:09had changed
32:09fundamentally
32:10and the group
32:11dispersed,
32:12its members
32:13now focusing
32:13on other priorities.
32:17There was a pronounced
32:19nationalist streak
32:20running through
32:20the white movement.
32:22Convinced that
32:23Bolshevism was part
32:24of a Jewish
32:24global conspiracy,
32:26Alfred Rosenberg
32:27left Russia
32:28as a white émigré
32:29in 1918
32:30and settled in Munich.
32:32He would later
32:33become the Reich Minister
32:35for the occupied
32:36Eastern Territories
32:37under Adolf Hitler
32:38where his command
32:39oversaw the ghettoisation
32:41and systematic mass murder
32:43of Jews.
32:45In 1946,
32:47the fanatical anti-Semite
32:48was sentenced
32:49to death
32:49as a war criminal
32:50at the International
32:51Military Tribunal
32:52in Nuremberg.
33:01When Germany
33:02invaded the Soviet Union
33:04in 1941,
33:05large parts
33:06of the former
33:07white army
33:08believed that
33:08Hitler's military forces
33:10were strong enough
33:11to defeat
33:11the Bolsheviks.
33:16It had been
33:17almost 20 years
33:18since the white army
33:19left Russia
33:20but the idea
33:21of one day returning
33:22never left their hearts.
33:25Many émigrés
33:26still wanted
33:27to carry on fighting.
33:33And the Cossacks
33:35too had not
33:36given up
33:36on going back
33:37to their homeland.
33:41Cossack leaders
33:42first contacted
33:43Hitler
33:43and Spain's
33:44General Franco
33:45in 1937
33:47seeking to determine
33:48whom they could
33:49align with.
33:53The Cossacks
33:54were a distinct
33:54group in society
33:58that's central
33:59to their history
34:00a parallel society
34:02with Tsarist Russia
34:04and they enjoyed
34:06freedoms that
34:06were not afforded
34:08to most peasants
34:09and other sections
34:10of the population.
34:13The Cossacks
34:15had close ties
34:16to the Tsarist state
34:17going back
34:18many years.
34:18serving the monarch
34:20directly
34:20they became
34:21one of the regime's
34:22vital pillars
34:23of support.
34:24They were a constant
34:25thorn in the side
34:26of the new
34:26Soviet government.
34:28In exile too
34:29the Cossacks
34:29remained a tightly
34:30knit group
34:31that preserved
34:31its traditional
34:32family-based
34:33community structures
34:34called stans.
34:37A lot of Russian
34:38emigres
34:39embraced a phrase
34:40associated with
34:41General Andrei
34:42Shkouro
34:42better with the devil
34:44than with the Bolsheviks.
34:45They were willing
34:46to fight for Russia
34:47under any circumstances.
34:50The idea was to first
34:51take care of the Bolsheviks
34:52and the communists
34:53and then Germany.
34:57At first
34:57members of the
34:58White Army
34:59were primarily
34:59used by the
35:00Germans
35:00as front-line
35:01interpreters.
35:02They were
35:03distributed
35:03among different
35:04divisions
35:05instead of
35:05comprising
35:06dedicated units
35:07of their own.
35:08Many were
35:09dispatched
35:10to concentration
35:10camps
35:11in order
35:11to help
35:12communicate
35:12with Soviet
35:13prisoners
35:14of war.
35:15Hitler himself
35:16viewed the
35:17Russians
35:18with suspicion.
35:19He never
35:20fully trusted
35:20them
35:21because it
35:21was unclear
35:22how they
35:22would behave
35:23once they
35:24were back
35:24in Russia.
35:26They were
35:26still Russians
35:27and he
35:28knew that
35:29their objective
35:29was to
35:30save Russia
35:31not to
35:31fight for
35:32German ideals.
35:34And Hitler
35:35did not
35:36want a
35:36free
35:37Russia.
35:43By 1943
35:44however a
35:45defeat for
35:46Hitler and
35:46his army
35:47was looking
35:47increasingly
35:48likely.
35:48The Red
35:49Army was
35:50now steadily
35:50advancing
35:51an alarming
35:52development
35:52for the
35:53remnants of
35:53the White
35:54Army
35:54and
35:54especially
35:55the
35:55Cossacks.
35:56With
35:57Hitler's
35:57approval
35:58they
35:58relocated
35:59to
35:59northern
36:00Italy
36:00in
36:001944.
36:02Nine
36:02months
36:02later
36:03they
36:03were
36:03on the
36:03move
36:04again
36:04now
36:05heading
36:05for
36:06Lienz
36:06across the
36:07Austrian
36:08border
36:08in order
36:09to avoid
36:10to avoid
36:10falling
36:10into
36:10Soviet
36:11hands.
36:17May
36:181945
36:19for nearly
36:20two weeks
36:21the last
36:21survivors
36:22of the
36:22White
36:22Army
36:23have been
36:23living in
36:24camps in
36:24the East
36:25Tyrol region
36:26of Austria.
36:29Over
36:3030,000
36:31soldiers,
36:32women and
36:32children now
36:33awaited a
36:33decision from
36:34the British
36:35occupying
36:35authorities.
36:38It was
36:39they who
36:39determined the
36:40Russians' fate.
36:46The British
36:47told them to
36:48hand over
36:48their weapons.
36:50This was about
36:51two weeks
36:52after their
36:53arrival.
36:55So in
36:56May the
36:56Cossacks
36:57protested
36:58saying,
36:58why?
36:59You said
37:00we were
37:00allies.
37:01We aren't
37:01Nazis.
37:03Some
37:04suggested
37:05they could
37:05resettle in
37:06Canada and
37:06join the
37:07mounted
37:08police.
37:09The
37:09British
37:10said,
37:10sure,
37:11but we
37:11just want
37:11to replace
37:12your
37:12weapons
37:13with
37:13standard
37:13British
37:14issue
37:14ones.
37:15And
37:15they
37:15were
37:15disarmed.
37:22Shortly
37:23afterwards,
37:23all
37:23officers
37:24were
37:24ordered
37:25to
37:25prepare
37:25for
37:25a
37:26conference
37:26in
37:26Spittel
37:27an
37:27der
37:27Drau.
37:29Confident
37:30that
37:30their
37:30long
37:31years
37:31of
37:31displacement
37:32may
37:32finally
37:33be
37:33coming
37:33to
37:33an
37:34end,
37:34they
37:34complied,
37:35including
37:36General
37:36Krasnov.
37:42They
37:43believed
37:43they were
37:44going to
37:44a
37:44conference.
37:46But when
37:47they were
37:47surrounded
37:48by British
37:48armoured
37:49vehicles
37:49near
37:50Ober
37:50Drauburg,
37:51they
37:51thought,
37:52what kind
37:52of
37:52conference
37:53is this?
37:55Some
37:55tried to
37:55run
37:56away.
37:56A few
37:57escaped,
37:58while others
37:58were shot.
38:00Then the
38:00officers,
38:01around
38:012,400
38:02of them,
38:03were told,
38:03tomorrow
38:04you're going
38:05to be
38:05handed over.
38:06Report
38:06at 6
38:07a.m.
38:09At
38:105 a.m.
38:11on June
38:11the 1st,
38:121945,
38:13tens of
38:14thousands
38:14of Cossacks,
38:15including
38:15women,
38:16children,
38:16and the
38:17elderly,
38:18gathered at
38:18the camp
38:19in Pegats
38:20for a
38:20divine
38:20liturgy
38:21held by
38:22around
38:2220
38:23priests.
38:25One
38:26side of
38:26the camp
38:26was blocked
38:27by the
38:27river
38:27Drau,
38:29the others
38:29by British
38:30troops.
38:31They were
38:32there to
38:32repatriate the
38:33Russians,
38:34for whom a
38:34return home
38:35now felt
38:36like a
38:36death sentence.
38:40after being
38:41ordered via
38:41loudspeakers
38:42to board
38:43trucks,
38:43they huddled
38:44ever closer
38:45together.
38:46Then the
38:47British
38:47resorted to
38:48force,
38:48firing
38:49warning shots
38:50into the
38:50air and
38:51into the
38:51ground.
38:52Some people
38:53took their
38:54own lives
38:54immediately.
38:55Mothers
38:56tied their
38:56children to
38:57themselves and
38:58jumped from
38:58bridges or
38:59from riverbanks
39:00into the river,
39:02screaming for
39:02forgiveness from
39:03God for
39:04the sin of
39:04suicide.
39:06The children
39:07yelled,
39:07mother, I
39:07don't want to
39:08die, no
39:09child, we
39:10must, and
39:11so on.
39:12Other people
39:13hanged
39:13themselves from
39:14the trees.
39:16These accounts
39:16came from
39:17the survivors.
39:21The British
39:22justified their
39:23actions by
39:24referring to
39:24the Yalta
39:25Conference
39:25agreements,
39:26which called
39:27for the
39:27repatriation of
39:28Soviet citizens
39:29after the
39:29war.
39:31The status
39:31of the
39:32Cossacks
39:32was unclear
39:33and the
39:33British knew
39:34that anyone
39:34being returned
39:35would at
39:36best end up
39:37in forced
39:37labour camps.
39:39But fearing
39:40that Soviet
39:41authorities might
39:41otherwise refuse
39:42to release
39:43liberated British
39:44soldiers,
39:45they proceeded
39:45with a
39:46handover.
39:48The remaining
39:49people were
39:50transported to
39:51Judenburg and
39:52delivered to
39:53Soviet custody.
39:54Those who
39:55resisted were
39:56executed in a
39:57factory.
40:01One soldier
40:03later recalled,
40:04I heard
40:04extraordinary
40:05male choirs
40:06singing,
40:07the most
40:07beautiful voices
40:08I've ever
40:08heard,
40:11in the
40:11sound of
40:12machine gun
40:12fire.
40:13Judging by
40:14the number
40:15of shots,
40:16nobody could
40:17have survived.
40:25among those
40:27who did
40:27survive the
40:28brutal
40:28handover
40:29was
40:30Pyotr
40:30Krasnov,
40:32although he
40:33would eventually
40:34be put on
40:35trial in
40:35Moscow in
40:361947 and
40:37sentenced to
40:38death by
40:38hanging.
40:53Today, the
40:54Cossack
40:55Cemetery
40:55stands as a
40:56memorial to
40:57the tragedy of
40:58the Lienz
40:59Cossacks,
41:00which claimed
41:00several thousand
41:01lives.
41:03Among the
41:04exhibits in
41:04the Cossack
41:05Museum in
41:05East Tyrol is
41:06a poster from
41:07the 15th
41:08Cossack
41:08Cavalry Corps
41:09bearing the
41:10following
41:11message.
41:13Bolshevism
41:15robbed us of
41:16our self-government,
41:17our property,
41:18our homes,
41:19our faith,
41:20and our
41:21future.
41:22Had you
41:23endured 20
41:24years of
41:24blood, tears,
41:25and slavery,
41:26as we did,
41:27you too would
41:28have become
41:29uncompromising
41:30fighters against
41:31communism.
41:47the white movement
41:50lost its fight
41:51against the
41:51Bolsheviks
41:52and against
41:53the Soviet
41:53system.
41:54But the
41:55divisions in
41:55society created
41:56by the
41:57revolution have
41:58to this day
41:58still not
41:59been overcome.
42:00It's
42:02It's
42:04a
42:04love.
42:04It's
42:05a
42:07love.
42:22It's
42:23a
42:24love.
42:24Amém.