Latest / The Story of Armenia: Survival Through Empires and Genocide — Fexingo History / The Great Repatriation: Armenia's Post-WWII Soviet Homecoming
Transcript
- Lucas: You know, we've talked a lot about the 1915 genocide, the diaspora that followed, the communities in New Julfa, in Beirut, in Aleppo. But there's a chapter after World War II that I don't think we've touched — a state-sponsored attempt to bring the diaspora back to Armenia. It's called the Nerkaght, the repatriation, and it's one of the most bizarre and poignant episodes in Armenian history. Luna: Wait — the Soviet government actively encouraged Armenians abroad to move to Soviet Armenia? Why would they do that? Lucas: That's exactly the question. And the answer involves Stalin's territorial ambitions, a surprising alliance with the Armenian Church, and the desperate hope of a scattered people. But before we go deep — if you've been stepping into history with us episode by episode, you know we don't run ads on this show by design. No sponsors, no commercial breaks. It's a choice that keeps these conversations honest and uninterrupted. If that matters to you — if you want to see history covered without someone selling you something — there's a simple way to support it. Luna: Yeah, it's a small gesture that goes a long way for a show like this. Lucas: Exactly. The link is buy me a coffee dot com slash fexingo. No pressure, just an open door. So back to that question — why would Stalin, of all people, want to repatriate Armenians? Lucas: It starts in 1945, as World War II was ending. Stalin emerged from the war with massive influence, and he had territorial demands on Turkey — including the return of the provinces of Kars and Ardahan, which had been part of Imperial Russia and briefly the first Armenian Republic before being ceded to Turkey in 1921. Luna: So he wanted to use the Armenian population as a demographic claim? Lucas: Exactly. If Soviet Armenia had a large Armenian population, Stalin could argue that these regions were historically and ethnically Armenian. So the Kremlin launched a massive propaganda campaign — through radio, newspapers, and the Armenian Apostolic Church — calling on the diaspora to return and help rebuild the homeland. Catholicos Gevorg VI, the head of the Armenian Church in Etchmiadzin, issued formal appeals. For many Armenians who had lived as refugees for decades, it sounded like a dream. Luna: But was it a real homecoming, or a trap? Lucas: Both, really. Between 1946 and 1948, about 100,000 Armenians repatriated from across the Middle East, Europe, and even the Americas. They arrived in Yerevan's train station, greeted by banners and orchestras. The Soviet government gave them small plots of land, basic housing — often just mud-brick huts on the outskirts of the city. But the reality quickly soured. They were put to work in collective farms and factories. Those who had been professionals — doctors, teachers, merchants — were often assigned manual labor. And the NKVD was watching. Luna: Were they suspected of being spies or something? Lucas: Pretty much. Anyone who had lived in the capitalist West was automatically suspect. Many repatriates — especially those from France and the United States — were interrogated, exiled to Siberia, or executed on charges of espionage. The Soviet government wanted their labor and their numbers, but not their independent thinking. There's a story of a man from Aleppo — a goldsmith — who was arrested within a week of arriving because he had relatives in America. He spent ten years in the Gulag. Luna: That's heartbreaking. And the territorial claim — did it work? Lucas: No. Turkey resisted, backed by the United States under the Truman Doctrine. By 1947, Stalin dropped the demand. But the repatriation continued for another year. Then, in 1948, the campaign suddenly stopped. The borders closed. No more arrivals. The Soviet Union had what it wanted — a larger Armenian population in its own republic, a buffer against Turkey — and the diaspora had lost tens of thousands of people, many of whom would never see their families again. Luna: So the Nerkaght both fulfilled and betrayed the dream of return. Lucas: Exactly. And it left a complicated legacy. For the Armenians who stayed in the diaspora, it created a deep suspicion of Soviet promises. But for those who went, it was a mix of patriotism, desperation, and tragedy. Some of those repatriates, or their children, became prominent figures in Soviet Armenia — writers, scientists, artists. But the shadow of the NKVD never fully lifted. Luna: I've heard that some families are still divided — one branch in Aleppo or Beirut, another in Yerevan, with very different stories. Lucas: Yes, and that's still a living memory. The Nerkaght shaped the identity of both Soviet Armenia and the diaspora. It also raises big questions — what does it mean to call a place home when it's ruled by a regime that sees you as a tool? And how do you reconcile the dream of return with the reality of state control? Luna: It's a story that doesn't get told much, even among Armenians I know. Lucas: That's partly because it's uncomfortable — it complicates the narrative of homeland as a pure refuge. And partly because the Soviet archives were closed for so long. But now we can piece together the full picture: the propaganda, the migration, the disappointment. It's a chapter that reminds us that history is never simple.