The Union of Russian Patriots (russian: Союз русских патриотов) was an organization of Russian (

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

) emigres living in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. The organization was pro-

Soviet The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nation ...

and was active from 1943 to 1948. When Germany invaded the USSR, the occupation authorities started with massive arrests of Russian emigres residing in France, e.g. Dmitry Odinets. Many Russians participated in the

French resistance The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...

movement, and a number of those founded the Union of Russian Patriots on 3 October 1943 in collaboration with the

French Communist Party The French Communist Party (french: Parti communiste français, ''PCF'' ; ) is a political party in France which advocates the principles of communism. The PCF is a member of the Party of the European Left, and its MEPs sit in the European Un ...

. The union published the newspaper ''Russian Patriot''. After the

Liberation of France The liberation of France in the Second World War was accomplished through diplomacy, politics and the combined military efforts of the Allied Powers, Free French forces in London and Africa, as well as the French Resistance. Nazi Germany inv ...

the organization was renamed the Union of Soviet Patriots («Союз советских патриотов») and the newspaper was consequently renamed ''Soviet Patriot''. The activities of the Union proceeded with contacts with the Soviet

consulate general A consul is an official representative of the government of one state in the territory of another, normally acting to assist and protect the citizens of the consul's own country, as well as to facilitate trade and friendship between the people ...

in Paris. At that time, the membership of the Union was estimated to be 6,500. After the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR published the decree on reinstating Soviet citizenship for former subject of the Russian Empire living in France, Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 14 June 1946 many White emigres (including the overwhelming majority of the members of the Union) decided to apply for Soviet passports. Thereafter, the Union itself was again renamed, this time becoming the Union of Soviet Citizens in France (). Against the backdrop of the Cold War, in 1947 the French authorities arrested and expelled most of the Union's leaders from France (among them Lev Lyubimov). On 16 January 1948 the Union was closed on the order of the French internal minister. In March 1948, all participants of a gathering of the board of the Union were arrested and deported to the

Soviet occupation zone The Soviet Occupation Zone ( or german: Ostzone, label=none, "East Zone"; , ''Sovetskaya okkupatsionnaya zona Germanii'', "Soviet Occupation Zone of Germany") was an area of Germany in Central Europe that was occupied by the Soviet Union as a ...

in Germany.

Sources

Bibliography

* * Pavel M. Polian, Christine Colpart ''Le rapatriement des citoyens soviétiques depuis la France et les zones françaises d’occupation en Allemagne et en Autriche'' — Cahiers du Monde russe, Vol. 41, No. 1 (January — March 2000), pp. 165–189 * http://www.ukrnationalism.org/articles/boregar.html * * {{French Communist Party Russian diaspora in France French Resistance networks and movements History of the French Communist Party France–Soviet Union relations