Lost Souls

Soviet Displaced Persons and the Birth of the Cold War

Sheila Fitzpatrick

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Hardback

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English

Princeton University Pres
01 November 2024

History; The Cold War; Migration, immigration & emigration; Fascism & Nazism; Human rights; Civil rights & citizenship

A vivid history of how Cold War politics helped solve one of the twentieth century's biggest refugee crises.

When World War II ended, about one million people whom the Soviet Union claimed as its citizens were outside the borders of the USSR, mostly in the Western-occupied zones of Germany and Austria. These 'displaced persons,' or DPs – Russians, prewar Soviet citizens, and people from West Ukraine and the Baltic states forcibly incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1939 – refused to repatriate to the Soviet Union despite its demands. Thus began one of the first big conflicts of the Cold War. In Lost Souls, Sheila Fitzpatrick draws on new archival research, including Soviet interviews with hundreds of DPs, to offer a vivid account of this crisis, from the competitive maneuverings of politicians and diplomats to the everyday lives of DPs.

American enthusiasm for funding the refugee organizations taking care of DPs quickly waned after the war. It was only after DPs were redefined – from 'victims of war and Nazism' to 'victims of Communism' – in 1947 that a solution was found: the United States would pay for the mass resettlement of DPs in America, Australia, and other countries outside Europe. The Soviet Union protested this 'theft' of its citizens. But it was a coup for the United States. The choice of DPs to live a free life in the West, and the West's welcome of them, became an important theme in America's Cold War propaganda battle with the Soviet Union.

A compelling story of the early Cold War, Lost Souls is also a rare chronicle of a refugee crisis that was solved.

By: Sheila Fitzpatrick
Imprint: Princeton University Pres
Country of Publication: United States
Dimensions: Height: 235mm, Width: 156mm,
ISBN: 9780691230023
ISBN 10: 0691230021
Pages: 352
Publication Date: 01 November 2024
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , General/trade , Further / Higher Education , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

Sheila Fitzpatrick is the author of many books, including On Stalin's Team: The Years of Living Dangerously in Soviet Politics (Princeton), The Shortest History of the Soviet Union, and The Russian Revolution. She is professor of history at the Institute of Humanities and Social Science at the Australian Catholic University and Distinguished Service Professor Emerita at the University of Chicago.

Reviews for Lost Souls: Soviet Displaced Persons and the Birth of the Cold War

""Engaging.""---Gary Saul Morson, Wall Street Journal ""Lost Souls is an invaluable and provocative history of the postwar displaced-persons crisis. Fitzpatrick neatly demonstrates the multidirectional interaction between local, state, and international actors, as well as the causal connections between postwar displacement and contemporary European nationalisms.""---Heather Penatzer, Compact ""An instructive lesson in practical politics as well as history. A new look at a historical problem both logistical and humanitarian, with obvious implications today."" * Kirkus Reviews * ""Sheila Fitzpatrick’s fascinating book chronicles a remarkable success story.""---Geoffrey Roberts, Irish Times