7 facts about deportation you did not know

In May 18, 1945 all the Crimean Tatar people were deported from Crimea. They were given only 15 minutes to get packed. Everyone knows about this tragedy. Still there are some little-known facts about the deportation.

  1. Cyclops and cannibals

Crimean Tatars were deported to Uzbekistan, Ural, etc. Locals were not very kind to them at first. It is not a surprise. They were urged to stay away from Crimean Tatars as they were “cyclops” and “cannibals”. Sometimes people even checked if there were horns on their heads.

  1. Deported and robbed

Banks offered Crimean Tatars credits for house building. Having no opportunity to pay back people had to sell their property.

  1. Forbidden language

After the deportation of 1944 Crimean Tatar language was banned. Not just language but any information about Crimean Tatars. After 12 years of exile Crimean Tatar newspaper Lenin Bayragi was published. “Crimea” and “Crimean Tatar” words were still banned anyway.

  1. Destroyed nature

Crimean Tatar deportation caused damage to Crimean nature. Natural water springs were gone, gardens ran wild. Traditional, Crimean sorts of fruits and vegetables were lost.

  1. False toponyms

After the deportation most of Crimean toponyms were changed.  Many villages were closed to habitation and erased from the map of Crimea, others got names of fruits, vegetables, etc.

  1. Changed history

History of Crimea was changed. There were nothing about Crimean Tatars except for so-called “incursions” of Crimean Khanate.

  1. Apologies

Ivan Sheredega was one of the heads of the 1944 NKVD troops operation. In 72 years his grandson, a journalist Vasily Sheredega, offered his apologies to Crimean Tatar people.