The evacuation of Karafuto (Sakhalin) and the Chishima (Kuril) islands refers to the events that took place during the

Pacific theater of World War II The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War or the Pacific Theatre, was the Theater (warfare), theatre of World War II fought between the Empire of Japan and the Allies of World War II, Allies in East Asia, East and Southeast As ...

as the Japanese population left these areas, to August 1945 in the northwest of the main islands of

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. The evacuation started under the threat of Soviet invasion. As Japanese civilians evacuated

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

and

Manchuria Manchuria is a historical region in northeast Asia encompassing the entirety of present-day northeast China and parts of the modern-day Russian Far East south of the Uda (Khabarovsk Krai), Uda River and the Tukuringra-Dzhagdy Ranges. The exact ...

, they cleared out of the Karafuto and Kuril Islands according to the terms of the

Potsdam Declaration The Potsdam Declaration, or the Proclamation Defining Terms for Japanese Surrender, was a statement that called for the surrender of all Japanese armed forces during World War II. On July 26, 1945, United States President Harry S. Truman, ...

that the terms of the Cairo Declaration would be carried out, and Japanese sovereignty would be limited to the '' Home Islands'' of Honshū, Hokkaidō, Kyushu, Shikoku and such minor islands as the Allies determined.

Timeline

Karafuto

The operation began with the crossing of the Horonai (Poronai) Japanese frontier river post and bombardment of the Handenzawa Japanese land frontier post in Shikuka district, as well as the advance to the north of Koton (now Pobedino), a powerful fortified district (FD). Severe fighting with heavy losses on both sides continued for over a week, with Soviet troops breaking the Japanese defenses on 18 August. The Soviets also landed their naval forces deep behind enemy frontlines to aid their ground forces. According to some of the 6,000 refugees already evacuated from the area, Soviet forces carried out fierce naval bombardment and artillery strikes against civilians awaiting evacuation as well as Japanese installations in Maoka, Shikuka on 10 August. Nearly 1,000 civilians were killed by machine-gun fire in this attack. Telephone operators in the city decided not to evacuate, instead maintaining contact with the Wakkanai and Mainland Japan until the moment that Soviet forces destroyed the telephone and postal installations in the city. On 20 August, after Japan's surrender, fearing that they would be raped by the invading Soviet troops, nine of the twelve female operators poisoned themselves. Three were saved by male colleagues' intervention. The survivors at the post office were treated well by the Soviets. On 16 August, the coastguard '' Zarnitsa'', four minesweepers, two transports, six gunboats and nineteen torpedo boats landed in Port

Toro Toro may refer to: Places *Toro, Molise, a ''comune'' in the Province of Campobasso, Italy *Toro, Nigeria, a Local Government Area of Bauchi State, Nigeria *Toro, Shizuoka, an archaeological site in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan *Toro, Zamora, a ''m ...

(now Shakhtersk) with the 365th Separate Marine Battalion and one battalion of the 113th Infantry Brigade. The troops instantly engaged the Japanese in fierce battle and by morning of the next day had captured four populated areas and the port city of Esutoru (now Uglegorsk), Anbetsu (now Vozvrashcheniye) and Yerinai). During the Soviet assault on Maoka, on 20 August, a combined marine battalion and the 113th Infantry Brigade landed in Port Maoka (now Kholmsk). They were preceded by a group of scouts, landed secretly by a submarine, in the Maoka area to successfully complete their task. However, Japanese resistance was desperate, and the landing party had to fight particularly fiercely. Japanese fire set one of the coastguard vessels on fire, to which the Soviet response was intense naval bombardment of the city, causing more civilian deaths. The rest of the Japanese Maoka defenders retreated by Tei (now Polyakovo) and Futomato (now Chaplanovo) in Ikenohata county, between the mountains in the direction of Toyohara in order to make a last stand in the capital of the province or in Kawakami Sumiyama county for sustained guerrilla resistance. On 25 August, another 1,600 men landed in Otomari (now Korsakov). The Japanese garrison of 3,400 men laid down their arms with almost no resistance and surrendered. Some vessels of the last convoy, including civilian evacuees, had been sunk by Soviet submarines in the Aniva Gulf. Soviet Leninets-class submarine ''L-12'' and ''L-19'' sank two Japanese refugee transport ships ''Ogasawara Maru'' and ''Taito Maru'' also damaged ''No.2 Shinko Maru'' on 22 August. Over 2,400 civilian were killed.

Kurils

The rout of Japanese forces in

and

Sakhalin Sakhalin ( rus, Сахали́н, p=səxɐˈlʲin) is an island in Northeast Asia. Its north coast lies off the southeastern coast of Khabarovsk Krai in Russia, while its southern tip lies north of the Japanese island of Hokkaido. An islan ...

created favorable conditions for invasion of the

Kuril Islands The Kuril Islands or Kurile Islands are a volcanic archipelago administered as part of Sakhalin Oblast in the Russian Far East. The islands stretch approximately northeast from Hokkaido in Japan to Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, separating the ...

. The key Japanese position was on Shumushu and Paramushiro Islands. On 18 August, two coast guard ships, the mine layer '' Okhotsk'', four minesweepers, 17 transports and 16 special landing vessels with nearly 9,000 sailors, soldiers, and officers on board, approached Shumushu and Paramushiro to start the landing operation. The Japanese offered fierce resistance. Bloody battles took place in Shumushu and Paramushiro with varying success till 23 August when the Japanese garrison surrendered. By the end of August, all the northern Kurils were under the control of Soviet forces, including Uruppu Island. The Northern Pacific Flotilla occupied the rest of the islands to the south of Uruppu. Up to 60,000 Japanese officers and men were taken prisoner in the Kurils. The landing operation in the Kurils was the last of World War II. In the Kurils a similar pattern was repeated when Japanese civilians desperately retired from Shumushu and Paramushiro before the Soviet invasion (the Russians only sank one war vessel transporting some Japanese troops), but did not occur at the time in some islands such as Uruppu and South Kurils. In these cases, Russian troops arrived in aggressive form to expel local citizens and confiscate local property.

Fate of Western residents and Allied prisoners in the area

Similar treatment faced the German, Ukrainian and Polish citizens who resided in these provinces, the White Russians in the area (living from ancient

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

n administration under the Shimoda agreement) were arrested, accused of high treason and collaboration with an enemy power. Some were sent to

gulag The Gulag was a system of Labor camp, forced labor camps in the Soviet Union. The word ''Gulag'' originally referred only to the division of the Chronology of Soviet secret police agencies, Soviet secret police that was in charge of runnin ...

s in

Kolyma Kolyma (, ) or Kolyma Krai () is a historical region in the Russian Far East that includes the basin of Kolyma River and the northern shores of the Sea of Okhotsk, as well as the Kolyma Mountains (the watershed of the two). It is bounded to ...

, while others were summarily executed. Similar things happened to White Russians living in

Manchukuo Manchukuo, officially known as the State of Manchuria prior to 1934 and the Empire of Great Manchuria thereafter, was a puppet state of the Empire of Japan in Northeast China that existed from 1932 until its dissolution in 1945. It was ostens ...

, Kwantung or North Chosen (Korea). Some versions (including the work of American researchers) allege that Japanese forces during wartime sent certain

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

POW POW is "prisoner of war", a person, whether civilian or combatant, who is held in custody by an enemy power during or immediately after an armed conflict. POW or pow may also refer to: Music * P.O.W (Bullet for My Valentine song), "P.O.W" (Bull ...

s (

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Law of the United States, U.S. federal law does not equate nationality with Race (hu ...

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

, Dutch, and the like) to detention camps in Karafuto and the Kurils from other areas in

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

as well as to detention centers in

Hokkaidō is the second-largest island of Japan and comprises the largest and northernmost prefecture, making up its own region. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshu; the two islands are connected by railway via the Seikan Tunnel. The ...

(

Otaru is a Cities of Japan, city and Seaports of Japan, port in Shiribeshi Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan, northwest of Sapporo. The city faces Ishikari Bay and the Sea of Japan, and has long served as the main port of the bay. With its many historical ...

POW center) and North

Honshū , historically known as , is the largest of the four main islands of Japan. It lies between the Pacific Ocean (east) and the Sea of Japan (west). It is the seventh-largest island in the world, and the second-most populous after the Indonesian ...

, Manchukuo or Chōsen (the Japanese name for Korea). The final fate of the supposed Allied

s when

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

forces arrived in these areas previously under Japanese administration, if unknown, is very similar to

captured or interned in

Vladivostok Vladivostok ( ; , ) is the largest city and the administrative center of Primorsky Krai and the capital of the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia. It is located around the Zolotoy Rog, Golden Horn Bay on the Sea of Japan, covering an area o ...

(during the Doolittle Raid or

B-29 The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined Propeller (aeronautics), propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to ...

strikes against

industry) or

Kamchatka The Kamchatka Peninsula (, ) is a peninsula in the Russian Far East, with an area of about . The Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Okhotsk make up the peninsula's eastern and western coastlines, respectively. Immediately offshore along the Pacific ...

(when Americans carried out some air strikes against North Kurils Islands). Some reports also exist mentioning the possibility of identifying Americans interned in East

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

n gulags in the same period, and possibly into the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

period. Such a topic still awaits in-depth research by historians and experts of the area.

References

External links