December 15, 1937 - Stalin begins purge of Soviet Greeks

On December 15, 1937, the purges by Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin' against the Greeks of the Soviet Union began.

By official Soviet decree (50215), Stalin's repression and persecution of the Greeks began in the Soviet Union and would last 13 years.

By 1937, almost 300,000 Greeks were registered in the official Soviet census.

Most of these Greeks were themselves already survivors, who had only years earlier fled to the Soviet Union following a Turkish-perpetrated genocide (assisted by the Soviets) against the Greeks of Eastern Thrace, Asia Minor and Anatolia (1914-1923).

However, this safety would not last.

Thousands of Greeks were either executed on the spot, or transferred to gulags in Siberia to work in forced labour camps, where they would work until death.

Thousands of Greeks would flee the Soviet Union and by 1950, estimates put the Greek death toll at a minimum of 20,000, and 50,000 at the higher end of the scale.

READ MORE: Russian deputy says he is “proud” the Soviets gave weapons to Turks that massacred over a million Greeks.