79 years ago today, on May 18, 1944, over 400,000 Crimean Tatars were deported from their homeland on the orders of the head of state and party leader of the Soviet Union, Josef Stalin, for allegedly collaborating with the German occupying forces. Under strict secrecy, the People’s Commissars for Internal Affairs and State Security Lavretiy P. Beria and Vsevolod N. Merkulov signed the order for the forced resettlement of the Crimean Tatars. On April 10, 1944, the Red Army succeeded in recapturing the Crimean Peninsula from the German Wehrmacht. The reconquest meant a period of suffering for the Crimean Tatars, which began with their deportation from their ancestral homeland.
From May 18-20, 1944, all Crimean Tatars were forced to pack up their belongings within 15-20 minutes and taken to the train stations in trucks. The Red Army deported over 400,000 Crimean Tatars by rail to Central Asia and Siberia. During the transport, it is estimated that over 150,000 Crimean Tatars died of hunger, thirst, rampant disease and unfavorable weather conditions. Between 2015-2019, the parliaments of Ukraine, Lithuania, Latvia and Canada recognized the deportation of the Crimean Tatars in 1944 as genocide. In Turkish and Azerbaijani historiography, the term technicus Mezalim has become established for mass violent crimes against the Muslim civilian population.