1st Edition
"White Russians, Red Peril" A Cold War History of Migration to Australia
Over 20,000 ethnic Russians migrated to Australia after World War II – yet we know very little about their experiences. Some came via China, others from refugee camps in Europe.
Many preferred to keep a low profile in Australia, and some attempted to ‘pass’ as Polish, West Ukrainian or Yugoslavian. They had good reason to do so: to the Soviet Union, Australia’s resettling of Russians amounted to the theft of its citizens, and undercover agents were deployed to persuade them to repatriate. Australia regarded the newcomers with wary suspicion, even as it sought to build its population by opening its door to more immigrants.
Making extensive use of newly discovered Russian-language archives and drawing on a lifetime’s study of Soviet history and politics, award-winning author Sheila Fitzpatrick examines the early years of a diverse and disunited Russian-Australian community and how Australian and Soviet intelligence agencies attempted to track and influence them. While anti-Communist ‘White’ Russians dreamed a war of liberation would overthrow the Soviet regime, a dissident minority admired its achievements and thought of returning home.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgements ix
A note on transliteration xiii
Introduction 1
Part I. Displaced persons in Europe
Chapter 1. Displacement 25
Chapter 2. Australia’s selection procedures 50
Part II. Russians in China
Chapter 3. Manchuria 75
Chapter 4. Shanghai 100
Chapter 5. Departure 124
Part III. Resettlement in Australia
Chapter 6. Arrival 151
Chapter 7. White Russians 174
Chapter 8. Red Russians 199
Chapter 9. ASIO and the Cold War 223
Conclusion 247
White Russians Red Peril
Statistical note 263
Abbreviations used in notes 273
Notes 274
Bibliography 339
Index 351
Tables
Table 1. Population of Harbin by nationality/citizenship, 1913–40 77
Table 2. Russians, Ukrainians and ‘stateless’ among mass resettlement migrants arriving in Australia, 1947–51 264
Table 3. Russian arrivals from China, 1951–60 268
Table 4. Australian census data on people born inRussia (USSR) and Ukraine, or giving Russian or Ukrainian as their nationality, 1933–61 269
Biography
Sheila Fitzpatrick is the multi-award-winning author of My Father’s Daughter, Mischka’s War, On Stalin’s Team and The Russian Revolution, among other titles. She is a regular contributor to the London Review of Books.
Cette rétrospective dense et compliquée, qui combine une réflexion sur les identités dans leur environnement à la fois extérieur et dans la fabrication du lien communautaire, les suivant dans le mouvement des bouleversements locaux et de la grande histoire, sources de nouveaux déplacements et refondations, relève in fine d’une véritable performance. L’analyse est affranchie de tout jugement sur un sujet comportant pourtant une part d’abîme, tant elle est mobilisée par l’intention primordiale de reconstituer l’univers mental, culturel qui a animé les grands perdants de l’histoire. Elle est le fait d’une spécialiste de l’histoire sociale de l’URSS qui, finalement, est allée explorer, à l’encontre de ses affinités personnelles, souligne-t-elle, les destins de ceux que la révolution avait rejeté sur l’autre bord, les scrutant avec la même impartialité, la même exigence et les mêmes nuances qu’elle avait mises dans ses investigations au cœur du xxe siècle soviétique. White Russians, Red Peril représente une contribution substantielle à l’histoire du monde de l’exil russe dans sa longue durée où s’exprime comme un enseignement la grande voix historienne de Sheila Fitzpatrick.
