Russia once more labels Stalin's former victims as traitors
Under the rule of dictator Joseph Stalin, individuals accused of cooperating with the Nazis often faced execution or imprisonment. Many of these individuals were eventually cleared of wrongdoing and reinstated. However, Russian authorities have recently decide to overturn the reinstatement of over 4,000 individuals who were victimized during Stalin's purges.
Since 2020, the Prosecutor General's Office has uncovered instances from the 1990s and early 2000s where people who had committed treason during World War II were given a clean slate. According to Andrei Ivanov, a spokesperson for the agency, these individuals were collaborators with the Nazis. Some had willingly joined the Waffen-SS or auxiliary police units, while others worked within the Nazi-established self-government organizations.
Joseph Stalin ruled the Soviet Union from the mid-1920s until his death in 1953 in Moscow. His leadership marked a prolonged period of oppression. The most notable of these repressions occurred from 1936 to 1938, which became infamously known as the Great Terror or Stalin's purges.
During and even after World War II, when the Soviet Union joined the conflict following the German Wehrmacht's invasion in 1941, those suspected of collaborating with the Nazis were often met with harsh consequences. Executions or labor camp sentences were common. However, many of these victims were subsequently cleared of wrongdoing after thorough investigations.
In light of this, the call for justice for those wrongfully accused and punished during Stalin's purges has gained significant traction. The overturning of the reinstatements of over 4,000 individuals is widely seen as a miscarriage of justice.
