Soviet Defectors: The KGB Wanted List by Vladislav Krasnov

Author:Vladislav Krasnov [Krasnov, Vladislav]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: History, Russia & the Former Soviet Union, Political Science, Intelligence & Espionage
ISBN: 9780817982331
Google: TF5YDwAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 4643440
Publisher: Hoover Press
Published: 2018-04-01T13:58:52+00:00

The decline in the share of the Slavic peoples cannot be explained solely in terms of the decline of their share of the total population of the USSR, as the share of the Baltic nationalities has also declined in the post-Wall period. A more likely explanation for the decline of the rate of defection among the Slavic peoples has to do with the ethnic composition of Soviet occupation forces in Europe. Apparently, the share of these nationalities among Soviet troops stationed there is higher than their share of the population. If opportunities to defect diminish for the soldiers, they also diminish for the Russians and other Slavs. The same applies to the Jews, or at least applies for the pre-Wall period.

The rise in the share of the Baltic peoples among post-Wall defectors—though it is not uniform, since the share of Latvians remains unchanged—may reflect a growth of centrifugal nationalist tendencies. However, we should also keep in mind that the share of these nationalities is probably higher among fishermen and sailors, the groups that came to displace soldiers as the chief sources of defectors. The increase in the share of Armenians probably reflects an increase of nationalistic sentiments.

In any case, the declining rate of defection among Russians and other Slavic peoples should not necessarily be seen as an indication of their becoming more loyal to the regime. In this respect, the example of the Jews is instructive. Although their share among defectors has decreased dramatically in the post-Wall period, the same years witnessed the rise of their movement for legal exodus from the USSR and their disproportionately high participation in the dissident and human rights movement.

We may conclude that there is a great disparity between defections before and after the Wall was built. In fact, one could speak of two distinctly different periods: the pre-Wall period from 1945 to 1961 and the post-Wall period from 1961 to 1969. Each period produced its own type of defector.

A typical pre-Wall defector (in two out of three cases) is a Russian or Ukrainian conscript who deserted Soviet occupation forces in Germany or Austria and crossed over into the American or British zone. At the time of his defection he was in his early twenties, had elementary education, had no profession, and left his family behind somewhere on a collective farm. After the defection, he was interrogated by American or British intelligence officers but was found not to merit admission to those countries. Now he probably works at odd jobs in West Germany, though many of his fellow defectors found homes in Australia or in Latin America, where they, too, work at odd jobs. He may be the one of four defectors who lives under an assumed name and is unlikely to correspond with anyone in the USSR. He has committed no crime, aside from the defection itself, but is certain to be on the KGB death list.

A typical post-Wall defector was, at the time of defection, a few years older than his predecessor. He is still neither a ballet star nor a KGB agent.

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