Armenia holds first-ever international conference on the disastrous 1946–1948 repatriation drive

Diaspora minister publicly apologizes to repatriates 60 years later

by Maria Titizian

Published: Saturday December 20, 2008

Repatriates boarding the ship that would take them to Batumi, Georgia, and from there to Soviet Armenia, 1946. Photolure.

Yerevan - The Soviet Union, following the Second World War, had lost millions of its citizens and its republics lay in economic ruin. The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, geographically the smallest republic, had lost 12 percent of its population - some 175,000 people - in the war, and was at the brink of collapse. There were power outages several times a day and food was in short supply.

After having ceded the regions of Kars and Ardahan to Turkey, lands historically belonging to the Armenians and under Russian rule from 1878 till Armenia's independence in 1918, Moscow began developing plans to repopulate the Armenian SSR with the intentions of retrieving that territory from Turkey. These intentions were coupled with the cautious yet growing relationship between the Armenian Church and the Soviet regime. After receiving many requests from the Armenian diaspora and from within the republic itself, Gevorg VI, Catholicos of All Armenians, began a letter campaign urging Joseph Stalin to allow repatriation.

Thereby, with the full support of Moscow, the government of Soviet Armenia embarked upon the ambitious task of repatriation. Organizing committees were established and representatives were sent out to the various Armenian communities in the diaspora.

Between 1946 and 1948 almost 90,000 Armenians, desperate for a new start in the homeland, from 12 different countries, including the United States, repatriated to the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic.

However, what had begun as a pan-national dream to repatriate, involving Armenian organizations and political parties in the diaspora, turned into a nightmare for many families. Soviet Armenia was not prepared to handle tens of thousands of its sons and daughters after decades in exile. It could not provide decent housing nor jobs nor hope for the future. There were socioeconomic differences, cultural differences that could not be reconciled. Stories of poverty, degradation, and unbearable living conditions still haunt repatriates three generations on. During the last decade of the Soviet Union and following Armenia's independence, the 1946-48 repatriates were the first ones to leave the country.

Today, the notion of a large-scale, state-sponsored repatriation effort has never been on the country's agenda, yet it has never been discounted either. With these concerns in mind, the newly established Diaspora Ministry, with the assistance of the National Academy of Sciences, Yerevan State University and the Noravank Foundation, organized an international conference titled "The 1946-1948 Repatriation and its Lessons: The Issue of Repatriation Today," on December 13-14 in the resort town of Tsaghgatsor, not only to look back on those events but to draw lessons from it.

This was the first time ever in Armenia's history that the 1946-1948 repatriation plan was publicly discussed, especially in a large-scale conference such as this one. There were 29 papers presented by academics from Armenia and abroad, researchers, journalists, and members representing organizations and political parties involved in the repatriation effort 60 years ago.

An opening ceremony of the conference took place on December 12 in Yerevan at the Diaspora Ministry with the participation of Prime Minister Tigran Sarkisian, Diaspora Minister Hranush Hakobyan, Education Minister Spartak Seyranian, president of the National Academy of Sciences Radik Martirosian, and other high-ranking officials. A short film prepared by Yerkir Media on the 1946-48 repatration was shown to participants.

During her opening remarks, Ms. Hakobyan spoke at length about the great repatriation of the 1940s and the horrendous condition that those dreaming of living in the homeland had suffered through. Tens of thousands of Armenians after arriving in Soviet Armenia were left in dire circumstances, some eventually being exiled by Stalin in June of 1949 along with thousands of others. Ms. Hakobyan then publicly apologized to all those repatriates and their families for what was a botched attempt by the Soviet Union at repatriating Armenians. It was an emotional statement and the minister was visibly shaken. It was also the first time that the suffering of the repatriates was acknowledged.

The conference continued for the next two days at the Writers' Union summer residence in Tsaghgatsor.

The first session of the conference concentrated on the reasons for repatriation, specifically Stalin's intentions and aspirations for allowing Armenians dispersed primarily throughout the Middle East, to repatriate to Soviet Armenia. Although the majority of the presenters maintained that Stalin's reason for allowing repatriation was to be able to expand Armenia's borders by bringing Kars and Ardahan into Soviet Armenia, there were some who believed his intentions went beyond expansion and included weakening diasporan structures, with the aim of crippling the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, which he viewed as a threat.

The second session looked into the role played by various Armenian organizations and political parties at the time. Papers discussed the role of the AGBU in the repatriation process, including the role of the Social Democratic Party (Hnchakyan), the Armenian Democratic Liberal Party (Ramkavar) and the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (Dashnaktsutyun). When the plan for repatriation was finalized and the decision became known to the diaspora at the end of 1945, Armenian communities were thrilled by the notion of returning to their homeland. Soviet authorities had informed community leaders that they would not be able to finance the cost of transporting repatriates to Soviet Armenia. Thus began a huge fundraising campaign in the diaspora to raise money to ensure the travel costs of the repatriates. Armenian organizations from the Middle East, the United States and Europe, rallying behind the call for repatriation, embarked upon the largest fundraising effort in their history. At the helm was the AGBU who raised millions of dollars at the time. The Hunchakian and Ramkavar parties were also fully supportive of the repatriation effort. In time however, it became clear that Kars and Ardahan would not be ceded to the Soviet Union.