A People Uprooted: Civilian Evacuation in the USSR during World War 2, its Imperial Dimensions, and the Memory of the War in the FSU

This talk will focus on the massive civilian population displacement in the Soviet Union during the Second World War, considering the imperial dimension of millions of people being displaced from Ukraine, Belarus and western Russia to Siberia, the Urals, Kazakhstan and Central Asia. Dr. Belsky will also discuss how this story has been represented & memorialized in the contemporary commemoration of the war, particularly in light of recent events in Ukraine.

Natalie Belsky is an assistant professor of history at the University of Minnesota Duluth. Her areas of specialization include Soviet Jewish history, migration & displacement, and the history of the Great Patriotic War. Her forthcoming monograph examines the experiences of evacuees on the Soviet home front during the war.