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'''Operation Keelhaul''' was a secret military operation agreed to a the [[Yalta Conference]] that forcibly returned 2 million Russians captured during [[World War II]] back to the communist [[Soviet Union]], where [[Joseph Stalin]] would punish them for being "traitors" to [[communism]].  The operation was kept secret from the [[American]] people for decades.  The term "keelhaul" refers the most brutal punishment inflicted on a sailor, whereby a sailor is tortured by tying him in ropes and hauling him under a boat's keel to virtually certain death.

'''Operation Keelhaul''' was a secret military operation agreed to a the [[Yalta Conference]] that forcibly returned 2 million Russians captured during [[World War II]] back to the communist [[Soviet Union]], where [[Joseph Stalin]] would punish them for being "traitors" to [[communism]].  The operation was kept secret from the [[American]] people for decades.  The term "keelhaul" refers the most brutal punishment inflicted on a sailor, whereby a sailor is tortured by tying him in ropes and hauling him under a boat's keel to virtually certain death.

One example of the subterfuge used to return these [[Russians]] was a conference on May 28, 1945, in Lienz, Austria. The [[British]] forces told [[Cossack]] officials to attend this conference, and whose families were not to worry.  An English officer calmed their nerves by declaring, "I assure you on my word of honor as a British officer that you are just going to a conference." Then 2,749 Cossacks (including 2,201 officers) were driving into a prison camp to be picked up by [[Soviet]] armed authorities and forcibly returned to the [[Soviet Union]].

One example of the subterfuge used to return these [[Russians]] was a conference on May 28, 1945, in Lienz, Austria. The [[British]] forces told [[Cossack]] officials to attend this conference, and whose families were not to worry.  An English officer calmed their nerves by declaring, "I assure you on my word of honor as a British officer that you are just going to a conference."<ref>Julius Epstein, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=iuRBAAAAIAAJ Operation Keelhaul: the story of forced repatriation from 1944 to the present]'' (Devin-Adair Co., 1973), p. 77. Cf. Philip Rife, ''[http://books.google.com/books?id=6IzFL9CVsGYC The Pariah Files: 25 Dark Secrets You're Not Supposed to Know]'' (iUniverse, 2003), p. ISBN 0595291821, p. 137</ref> Then 2,749 Cossacks (including 2,201 officers) were driven into a prison camp to be picked up by [[Soviet]] armed authorities and forcibly returned to the [[Soviet Union]].

[[category:World War II]]

[[category:World War II]]