The 1st Russian National Army was a Russian pro-Axis army under

Boris Smyslovsky Boris Alexeyevich Smyslovsky (; 3 December 1897 – 5 September 1988), also known under the pseudonyms Hauptmann von Regenau and (later) Arthur Holmston (), was a Russians in Finland, Russian-Finnish general, émigré and anti-communist. He ...

, a Russian-Finnish aristocrat and former Tsarist military officer, during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

History

Origins

Before 1945, the Army was known as Sonderdivision Russland (), an organisation composed of

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

emigrants, who trained prisoners of war and defectors from the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

to obtain information about the

partisan movement Partisan(s) or The Partisan(s) may refer to: Military * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line ** Francs-tireurs et partisans, communist-led French anti-fascist resistance against Nazi Germany during WWII ** Itali ...

, like the names of the main leaders and their locations. The group participated in

anti-partisan operations During the Second World War, resistance movements that bore any resemblance to irregular warfare were frequently dealt with by the German occupying forces under the auspices of anti-partisan warfare. In many cases, the Nazis euphemistically used ...

in occupied Eastern Europe. Initially part of the Nazi German

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

, Smyslovsky's forces were elevated to the ''1st Russian National Army'' on 10 March 1945. On 4 April 1945 it received a status of the independent allied army.

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (, ; ; ), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein ( ), is a Landlocked country#Doubly landlocked, doubly landlocked Swiss Standard German, German-speaking microstate in the Central European Alps, between Austria in the east ...

was the only state which denied Soviet demands for the extradition of Russians who fought on the side of the Axis powers.

Retreat and repatriation

By April 1945, Smyslovsky had moved his remaining fighters to Feldkirch where he met Grand Duke Vladimir Cyrillovich, the

Romanov The House of Romanov (also transliterated as Romanoff; , ) was the reigning dynasty, imperial house of Russia from 1613 to 1917. They achieved prominence after Anastasia Romanovna married Ivan the Terrible, the first crowned tsar of all Russi ...

claimant to the

Russian Imperial Crown The Imperial crown of Russia (), also known as the Great Imperial Crown of Russian Empire (), was used for the coronation of the monarchs of Russia from 1762 until the Russian monarchy's abolition in 1917. The great imperial crown was first used ...

. The whittled-down army of 462 men, 30 women, and 2 children then moved into neutral Liechtenstein on 2 May 1945; the Grand Duke, however, decided to stay in the US occupied zone in

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

because neither

nor

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

would issue him a visa. The Russians were cared for by the

Liechtenstein Red Cross The Liechtenstein Red Cross (German: '), or LRK, is the national Red Cross society for Liechtenstein. It conducts humanitarian aid in cooperation with the International Committee of the Red Cross. The LRK was formed on 30 April 1945 under the in ...

. On 16 August 1945, a

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 ...

delegation came to Liechtenstein in an attempt to repatriate the Russians. Homesick and subject to cajoling and menacing, about 200 of the group agreed to return. They departed in a train to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and nothing was ever heard of them again. The remainder stayed in Liechtenstein for another year, resisting with support of Liechtenstein further pressure by the Soviet government to participate in the repatriation program. Eventually the government of

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

offered asylum, and about a hundred people left. According to

Alexander Frick Alexander Frick (, ; 18 February 1910 – 31 October 1991) was a politician from Liechtenstein who served as Prime Minister of Liechtenstein from 1945 to 1962. He later went on to serve in the Landtag of Liechtenstein from 1966 to 1974 and as the ...

Prime Minister of Liechtenstein The head of government of Liechtenstein (), known informally as the prime minister, is the chief executive of the Government of Liechtenstein and chairs the cabinet of Liechtenstein. They are appointed by the sovereign prince of Liechtenstein ...

(1945–1962), the Russians were at no point in danger of being

extradited In an extradition, one jurisdiction delivers a person accused or convicted of committing a crime in another jurisdiction, into the custody of the other's law enforcement. It is a cooperative law enforcement procedure between the two jurisdic ...

, and the local population fully supported the government in providing asylum to the Russians. The small population of the country (12,141 in 1945) supported the émigrés (4% of the population) at a rate of CHF 30,000 per month for two years and paid their costs to move to Argentina; they did not know that these costs were later to be reimbursed by

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Western Allies Western Allies was a political and geographic grouping among the Allied Powers of the Second World War. It primarily refers to the leading Anglo-American Allied powers, namely the United States and the United Kingdom, although the term has also be ...

and other countries in Europe complied with Soviet requests to

repatriate Repatriation is the return of a thing or person to its or their country of origin, respectively. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as the return of mi ...

Soviet citizens regardless of their individual wishes. Liechtenstein was the only country that rejected this demand and informed the Soviet government that only those Russians who wanted to go home would be sent back. A monument for these Russians was erected in

Hinterschellenberg Hinterschellenberg is a settlement in Schellenberg, Liechtenstein. Geography Hinterschellenberg is located in the town of Schellenberg, a few kilometres away from its downtown core. Main sights Hinterschellenberg contains the Catholic Chapel of S ...

, Liechtenstein in 1980.

References

{{Authority control Foreign volunteer units of the Wehrmacht Military units and formations established in 1945 1940s in Liechtenstein White Russian collaborators with Nazi Germany White Russian emigrants to Argentina White Russian emigrants to Liechtenstein

History

Origins

Retreat and repatriation

See also

References