NKVD Order No. 00593, also known as NKVD Order about Harbinites (приказ НКВД о харбинцах, ("Харбинский приказ") by September 20, 1937, undersigned by Nikolai Yezhov regulated arrest and prosecution of former personnel of the

China Far East Railway The Chinese Eastern Railway or CER (, russian: Китайско-Восточная железная дорога, or , ''Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga'' or ''KVZhD''), is the historical name for a railway system in Northeast China (als ...

(KVZhD), who had lived in Harbin and reemigrated into the Soviet Union after 1935, when the KVZhD was sold to the Japanese puppet state of Manchukuo.

Background

The

Chinese Eastern Railway The Chinese Eastern Railway or CER (, russian: Китайско-Восточная железная дорога, or , ''Kitaysko-Vostochnaya Zheleznaya Doroga'' or ''KVZhD''), is the historical name for a railway system in Northeast China (als ...

(KVZhD) was constructed in 1897—1903. After the Russo—Japanese War, the southern portion of the railway was ceded to Japan, which created the

South Manchuria Railway The South Manchuria Railway ( ja, 南満州鉄道, translit=Minamimanshū Tetsudō; ), officially , Mantetsu ( ja, 満鉄, translit=Mantetsu) or Mantie () for short, was a large of the Empire of Japan whose primary function was the operatio ...

out of the former Russian portion of the railway. In the 1920s, some 120,000 Russian citizens lived in Manchuria. 43,500 persons, 64.5% of the population of Harbin, were Russians. The Russian population began to steadily drop as economic conditions deteriorated due to the Bolshevik victory in the

Russian Civil War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Russian Civil War , partof = the Russian Revolution and the aftermath of World War I , image = , caption = Clockwise from top left: {{flatlist, *Soldiers ...

, causing high rates of unemployment. Emigration from Northern Manchuria to the Soviet Union increased in the 1930s as the Soviet Government sold the railway to Manchukuo, accelerating as some 19,570 residents left Manchuria to the Soviet Union in 1935 alone.

Order No. 00593

By 1935, the NKVD began actively persecuting Harbin repatriates. Yezhov's order to arrest and execute the Harbinites stated that of 25,000 registered "Harbinites" the majority were former White Guardists, "emigre spying-fascist organizations", former policemen etc. and worked for the Japanese intelligence service. It was ordered to perform arrests (from October 1, 1937 to December 25, 1937) of all Harbinites that fell into 13 pre-defined categories. Those who didn't match any of the listed categories were to be immediately removed from all jobs related to transport and industry. Soviet intelligence conducted an investigation of Harbin emigres who had recently repatriated to

Voronezh Oblast Voronezh Oblast (russian: Воронежская область, Voronezhskaya oblast) is a federal subject of Russia (an oblast). Its administrative center is the city of Voronezh. Its population was 2,308,792 as of the 2021 Census. Geography V ...

, concluding that out of 2,500 persons investigated, 248 were former members of the White army or intelligence services and 108 were members of overseas political organizations.

Implementation

The operation lasted beyond the deadline of December 25th. According to the data collected by Memorial, 48,133 Harbinites were repressed, of which whom 30,992 were shot.

Background

Order No. 00593

Implementation

Sources

See also