Betraying the Lienz Cossacks - Operation Keelhaul 1945

[@derin111]

When I was at school in London in the 1970s, our German language teacher was an ex-WW2 British Intelligence Officer. He actually witnessed exactly such an event, including those who attempted to commit suicide rather than be handed over. He said, they could hear the Soviets executing those they had handed over before they were even out of earshot. This episode had disgusted and clearly traumatised him.

[@THX-ic8yw]

That’s very Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy having an ex British Intelligence Officer as a teacher. Did he drive an old Alvis perchance?

[@ericscottstevens]

There was an account of ex Soviets who fought with the HEER allowed by the allies freely to board a passenger train chartered east back to Russia in the summer of 1945. Many boarded and walked right out the exit on the other side of the train car escaping.

[@SlartibartfastTheFourth]

@@THX-ic8yw😂😂😂

[@Thermopylae2007]

I had an elderly Ukrainian neighbor when I was growing up who'd enrolled in the Wehrmacht and surrendered to the Americans in France, eventually joining the Free Polish Army. I'd hate to think about his chances had his unit been kept to fight on the Eastern Front.

[@harmseberhardharmseberhard9908]

Keelhauling was a punishment, that rarely anyone survived. So the name 'operation keelhaul' is signaling, that the authorities were well aware of the consequence of this 'repatriation' for their POWs.

[@samg5463]

Perhaps the worst legacy of this wouldn’t be felt until the 90s, when this operation would cause a major breech in security at MI6.

[@NGaugeVideo]

And the subsequent theft of a cutting edge French Tiger military Helicopter much to the embarrassment of the French Government.

[@brianallsopp69]

Wasn't a fella called Trevelayan by any chance ? 🤔

[@NGaugeVideo]

And the subsequent theft of a French Tiger military Helicopter much to the embarrassment of the French Government

[@tyree9055]

I'm still trying to figure out why Natashya had on a miniskirt in Siberia to this day! 😂🤣👍

[@NGaugeVideo]

'Britain will learn the price of betrayal' Alec Trevelyan Goldeneye.

[@Adelina-293]

006 had the UK by the boot until 007 let him go.

[@captainadams8565]

"Hardly Britain's finest hour."

[@brianallsopp69]

"FOR ENGLAND JAMES" ,,,,,

[@spectreagent00]

​@@brianallsopp69For me.

[@ChrisGuzmanS]

He didn't tell you? He's a Lienz Cossak... He'll betray you... Just like everyone else

[@ryanh4775]

This is the long version of why Alex trevelyan betrayed MI6.

[@massimoforesti]

Was thinking that, too

[@TheFlashman]

Yes boy! I'm so glad someone said it before me 😂

[@ryanh4775]

@@TheFlashman so now I think the debate comes down to was he justified in his actions.... I don't know do two wrongs really make a right?

[@penguinsmovies]

007 " am I supposed to feel sorry for you?" 006 " no you're supposed to die for me"

[@samparkerSAM]

I thought his parents died in a climbing accident....

[@ak9989]

I met a Russian Cossack in 1975. My dad's coworker who escaped from Russia after the war. He was a terek cossack. He never gave more details but my dad thought he served with the Germans

[@lightsinthedarkness]

Terek cossacks are very interesting in their history and culture. Sadly like most of the cossacks it's hard to know how many are still left.

[@user-sw3gjtns]

​@@lightsinthedarknessНе много их осталось.

[@lightsinthedarkness]

@@user-sw3gjtns I've heard.

[@KeithPrince-cp3me]

Back in 2003 I was working in a hotel in Gullane, East Lothian, which had been used by staff of the free Polish army in ww2. I was living in North Berwick, overlooking the Forth of Fife. One frost morning an elderly man got talking to me at the bus stop. He said in ww2 he'd been in the Royal Navy. At wars end he was aboard a ship taking former members of the free Polish forces back to Poland. He recounted how two of the Poles jumped overboard and drowned and the British officers didn't even try and have them rescued as they knew as soon as the Poles were repatriated back to Poland, then under Soviet control, the Soviets would simply execute them all. These were people who had served the allies, not the Germans. I wonder if anyone can shed light on this episode?

[@vsmicer]

The same fate (via a more prolonged and circuitous route) befell my parents in 1963.

[@Eric-kn4yn]

There would be too many.

[@jokodihaynes419]

"But the thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies"-Lawkeeper Equity Mlp Ace Attorney EOJ

[@lisapet160]

Pro-Nazi Cossacks were enemies of that time anti-Nazi British Army. No betrayal here.

[@NVRAMboi]

egad. I'm such a simpleton. I'd not really considered that truth.

[@whitewittock]

of course not, that doesn't make logical sense?

[@mattblom3990]

Interesting fact is in the James Bond film "Goldeneye" it is the Leinz Cossack betrayal that causes 006 to go rogue vs. the British. His parents were killed in the massacre, as he explains in the statue park scene. I was always interested in the story and now you, Dr. Felton, have helped improve my future experience watching Goldeneye. My favourite of all the Bond films.

[@comicbookninja5268]

The best Brosnon film at least.

[@perceptoshmegington3371]

I am eenveencebal!

[@mitanni0]

Tiny correction: 006 claimed the LINZ (Upper Austria) betrayal. LIENZ (Tyrol; where it actually happened) is another town (not to be confused with LIEZEN, Styria).

[@jarniwoop]

I'm going to rewatch 'Goldeneye'

[@Gfc22]

Countries don't have allies, only interests. Tragic but true.

[@ssyphoniss]

Countries are made from people. Country is nothing without people. So think again who has interests.

[@ra-ge]

Is this an Anglo-Saxon proverb 😂😂

[@mladenmatosevic4591]

It would be inconvenient if foreign powers put serious effort in aiding ethnic groups fighting British Empire.

[@TrevorMcdaid]

Never a truer saying

[@Pentonavalsolutions]

Specially true about britain

[@Kstang09]

For England, James?? No. For me.

[@NicolasSchaII]

James Bond Goldeneye, 1995

[@Sedgewise47]

@@NicolasSchaII 😏! (Beat me to it…/SIGH!>)

[@Galois32]

The same five minutes you gave me

[@adiconsdaple2285]

Sean Bean = Alec Trevelian. Pierce Brosnan = James Bond.

[@Adelina-293]

Bond and 006 had a falling out causing 006 to drop out of the film.

[@krisfrederick5001]

I didn't even know about the Lienz Cossacks until the James Bond GoldenEye movie 006 being my favorite.

[@johnclose2925]

Best movie. Best Bond. Best Nintendo 64 game.

[@karldecori9408]

These were mainly Cossacks who emigrated to Austria after the civil war in Russia. They fought against the Bolsheviks for two generations. Many had long been citizens of Austria. And one must understand the peculiarity of the Cossack class in Russia in order to fully understand this tragedy.

[@barbararice6650]

Total rot 😕

[@neelektronik]

Based British attitude towards the White Cossack collaboration

[@jonathanj.7344]

​@@neelektronikDa comrade.

[@neelektronik]

@@jonathanj.7344 The Cossacks were also massive anti-Semites and religious fairy tales lovers. I'm not going to cry for them.

[@karldecori9408]

@@neelektronik What do you mean by this? Do you think that the Cossacks had no grounds for at least personal revenge after the physical destruction of the Cossacks during the civil war and after? My wife's great-grandfather, a Cossack, was shot right on the threshold of his house in Kuban in 1919, his son was killed in 1920. And my ancestors were subjected to "dekulakization" in the Yaroslavl province. It's good that I found my great-grandmother still alive and in good memory, and old enough to ask about her life.

[@maxkourosh278]

Nothing good came out of Stalin.

[@SuhkdeepManjinder]

Stalin dances in 5 inch stilleto heals dressed like an alphabet cultist. Oh wait that's elensky

[@mladenmatosevic4591]

So sad Hitler went after Soviet Union instead of forming Nazi version of United Europe.

[@Lord_Messiah_Disciple]

The victory of Stalingrad, now Volgograd? 😅

[@065Tim]

​@@Lord_Messiah_DiscipleYou really think that was because Stalin was such a great leader and strategist?

[@alfaromeo2011]

Correct, but not much good came out of neither Chamberlain nor Churchill for that matter.

[@jokodihaynes419]

"That was not our proudest moment"-James Bond Golden Eye

[@Adelina-293]

I let him go.... wrong movie, similar finishing move.

[@thomashallam3566]

Finest you mean.

[@lex1945]

i was waiting for this comment, LOL!

[@TheWeekendMariner]

Who's strangling the cat?

[@michaelhviper]

And with those acts so created Alec Trevelyan. I must say, this made me think about that film.

[@dwhitey]

Must admit that General von Pannwitz demonstrated a high degree of honour in choosing to follow him men to certain death. However it is important to note that his unit did commit atrocities while under his command. The point is he could have stay in Western Allied captivity and been eventually released but instead stayed with his men and shared their fate.

[@RK-gv7rc]

funny that.

[@cleanerben9636]

Doesn't change the fact that the allies committed a war crime

[@brianallsopp69]

I can imagine they weren't too big on taking prisoners ,,,,,

[@punkypink83]

i thought the same. while it is admirable, he's still a dedicated nazi, and had a long history of committing murders in the name of fascism even in his SA days long before he took command of the unit. in fact he was in exile from germany for a bit due to said murders, so i don't feel bad for him.

[@mladenmatosevic4591]

Last stint was in Yugoslavia where they gained fair share of infamy.

[@Ostenjager]

I can only hope that the officer who “gave his word of honor” and those responsible for the betrayal never knew the peace of a clear conscience ever again.

[@jokodihaynes419]

"Trust is a very fragile thing it takes years to build seconds to break and an eternity to repair that betrayal can last a lifetime"-Lawkeeper Equity mlp ace attorney EOJ

[@ClarenceCochran-ne7du]

And sometimes, it's lost forever.

[@dragosstanciu9866]

3:15 Hundreds of thousands of Cossacks were victims of the Holodomor famine during Stalin's time.

[@OllamhDrab]

That's one of the things that complicates, sometimes mitigates, maybe, some of the story of Cossacks and other Ukrainians and similarly-situated peoples among whom some collaborated witht he Nazis, (and some horrifically-so.) But it's not so hard to imagine some being willing to side with *anyone* fighting the regime oppressing their people. Maybe not the best idea siding with someone who'd do the same or worse of course, cause obviously a different brand of authoritarian bigots would be no bargain, but a lot of their elders and grandparents were what, Czarists, anyway. Complicated, probably why they shouldn't have let the Soviets rush the process of sorting everyone out individually so.

[@carrickrichards2457]

The Russians were open about the executions, some carried out immediately after handover. Lt General Charles Keightley continued indiscriminate handovers, long after everyone knew the results. There was serious unrest among units involved, to the point Eisenhower eventually stopped it. The subject is difficult to address, thank you for this but please go further.

[@alastairbarkley6572]

How would Eisenhower have stopped it? He ceased to have any multilateral SHAEF authority once Eastern Europe had been divided into autonomous zones of control - British, French, US and USSR. And, Ike didn't become US President until 1953. So, nope...

[@jamesgarman4788]

Thanks for covering this fascinating topic Dr. Mark! Without your channel a lot of these unique stories would be lost to history! Many thanks for posting!

[@nirfz]

I might be wrong, but i think i remember reading that the cossacks had their families with them in the "displaced persons" camps. And the british did not just beat up and even mortaly injure former soldiers, but also women and children that resisted "repatriation".

[@ronti2492]

A film was made in the 60's called 'Before winter comes' with actors David Niven and Topol. The setting was Austria and it dealt with Soviet citizens being sent back by the British. I don't recall it was specifically about Lienz.

[@PkPvre]

Both very funny and depressing. Thanks for the suggestion. Since the prisoners were either send to Linz or Freistadt it's safe to assume it wasn't about Leinz, although the same story played out as described in the video.

[@lablackzed]

I remember watching it a true betrayal of British honour .

[@scottrobinson3281]

This infamous story has been well buried. I have read so much about WWII and I have never heard of this. I admire Cossack culture and happily, it appears to be thriving in Russia today.

[@djhibberd9964]

It speaks to the character of Stalin that Churchill and Roosevelt did not trust he would return allied P.O.W.'s. The Nazi's, german's, and axis people knew what awaited capture by the Soviets. "Go west" was a universal phrase. That being said, GB should have tried to keep as many DP's out of Soviet hands as possible.

[@mitanni0]

I happen to be from Lienz, Austria. Some additions: (1) Quite a number of Cossack kids ended up as East Tyroleans, as their desperate parents gave them away and good willed ppl took them in. (2) Many Cossacks drowned in the river Drau, as they tried to escape. (3) There's a Cossack cemetery in Peggetz. (4) The barracks camp in Peggetz was used for French POWs (who were reportedly quite happy, given the scenic landscape in the Austrian Alps) (5) The Cossacks were brought to Judenburg (Styria, Austria), where they were handed over to the Soviets. (6) The Austrian city naming algorithm is broken. James Bond got it wrong, speaking about the "LINZ Cossacks". LIENZ is quite active in the Austrian chess scene, and delegations erroneously popping up in Linz or even Liezen have become a meme decades ago.

[@jbada17]

Dr Felton keeps dropping knowledge from the sky. All history teachers and professors should be required to take classes from this treasure of humanity.

[@davidbrims5825]

Not really, it’s been well known Churchill stabbing the Cossacks in the back.

[@NicolasSchaII]

There was a guy called Alec …

[@robinaart72]

I live 15mins from Lienz - I know of this story of course - the locals here tell a much more gruesome story - many (poss hundreds of) women ended themselves and their children with blades in the river (I guess then drowning), which famously ran red, rather than face the horror of being sent back to Russia.

[@clivedunning4317]

A long preamble to set the scene ! If you have watched the film "A Bridge Too Far" you might recollect the intelligence officer called "Fuller" warning about German units refitting in the area of Arnhem. This character was based on a real chap called Major Brian Urquhart, but his real name was not used because of the confusion it might have caused to cinema goers with General "Roy" Urquhart (they were not related). Brian Urquhart's job was to arrange the transfer of russian POWs to the Soviets. This experience was so upsetting and harrowing to him that he dedicated the rest of his life to conflict resolution. He worked for the UN for many years. He was knighted in 1986 and passed away a few years ago , in 2022. His biography I can thoroughly recommend to anyone, especially if you are wanting to find out more about this incident. It is titled . . ."A Life in Peace & War . . .

[@TheD777777]

Brits sold out many more in Austria, not just Cossacks.

[@igorsagdeev7881]

Yes, many Ostarbeiters were also returned.

[@YuriiHolodov]

I don't understand why children who were born on foreign soil were returned to USSR to die in Siberia of malnourishment and mistreatment. USSR citizenship is like slavery, passed to ancestors.

[@YuriiHolodov]

I don't understand why children who never were USSR citizens and born on foreign soil, were sent to almost certain deaths in Siberia.

[@davidcordell6556]

@@YuriiHolodovbecause the people in charge couldn’t convince President Truman to carry on the war against the communists. ( Because the British were bankrupt )The Yanks only signed on to defeat the Nazis. And the Japs and didn’t have the guts to stand up and continue the war ?

[@aleksazunjic9672]

@@YuriiHolodov They were not sent to certain death, i.e. majority of children did survive. And they were citizens of Imperial Russia and its successor USSR.

[@KapitanGzehotnik]

I really appreciate that Dr Felton made a video about this very-little known treachery (as well as how Allies treated Poles after WW2, about what is another Mark Felton's video). It was one of the worst parts of Allies-Soviet cooperation during and after the war, because Allies sent to Soviet hell millions of people. Just before Nuremberg trials, where they accused Nazi leaders of mass deportations and imprisonments in concentration camps... Hypocrisy.

[@nylotehace4531]

A history lesson for Ukrainians about Western loyalty. Lekcja histori dla Ukraincow na temat lojalnosci zachodu.

[@joshuagabe]

Isn’t this the whole launch of the plot of Goldeneye?

[@dirtdigger949]

@@nylotehace4531 All so the mistake that Churchhill givng Stalin all of Poland was a terrible mistake as well that should never be forgiven!

[@AdmiralBonetoPick]

I think it's pretty well-known, thanks to the James Bond Goldeneye movie.

[@williamjenman6902]

@@dirtdigger949 "given"?. would you prefer WW3 1945 style?

[@faithlesshound5621]

While Churchill must take ultimate responsibility for what the British Army did, the men on the spot were General Sir Charles Keightley, the commander of troops in Austria who supposedly ignored his orders to return only citizens of the USSR, and the British Minister in residence, Harold Macmillan.

[@aleksazunjic9672]

All of them were citizens of USSR.

[@Allmotorzl1]

@@aleksazunjic9672No? Mark litteraly said a lot of them fled after the Russian civil war and were long time citizens in Austria and other countries by 1945….

[@jollyjohnzz]

My father said it was the most shameful thing he saw in the war. He was the Major in charge of a small camp near Trieste.

[@stogmot1]

we did the same to the poles who fought so valiantly with us , we didnt even let them march in the victory parade in case it upset stalin . Huge black stain on us

[@28ebdh3udnav]

I don't know if you talked about this but I think you should do a video of American POWs that were intentionally left behind from 1917 all the way through Vietnam

[@MarkFeltonProductions]

I'm looking into it

[@Abcdefg-tf7cu]

There is zero evidence of American POWs being "left behind" in Vietnam. That is a myth popularized by the Rambo movies. The Vietnamese government would have at least tried to negotiate for their release decades ago if they actually had hundreds of American prisoners after the war.

[@Ostenjager]

@@MarkFeltonProductionsI read somewhere that a small number of American civilians who were captured when the Japanese occupied Attu, Alaska were essentially forgotten about for a long time before being repatriated. Attu village has stood abandoned since the Japanese were there. I could be wrong.

[@deaddocreallydeaddoc5244]

@@Abcdefg-tf7cu What I recall is a slow process of recovering some remains of Americans. They were mostly the remains of pilots shot down.

[@ethan9868]

@@Abcdefg-tf7cu It's not a myth, it was in fact pretty common knowledge after the war.

[@RJJ6129]

Thank you Dr Felton, always learning something new. I watch a lot of documentaries about WWI & WWII and very rarely or if ever do they mention events like this.

[@michaelsamuel9917]

Its done on purpose......

[@jsldj]

"Not exactly our finest hour." James Bond (GoldenEye)

[@hertoramann]

They trusted Germans and fought with them. Their German general never left them alone. He knew that what will happen and didn’t left them. They trusted Britts, and Britts handed them over to Soviets without hesitation. UK never trustable ally nor enemy. But at least they are gentlemen.

[@kaanerdem2822]

Definition of being gentleman is not what brits do or act accordingly, thats what cowards do. The brits wherent known in history of being gentlemen fighters, never made alone remarkable battle against a huge opponent (from the crusaders till now). Even theyve lost few crucial battles against a dying empire in the ww1 at their height power. They had a mighty naval power although and made their succes against primitive tribal gangs with bows and axes in their hands in the overseas.

[@t16205]

Nothing was gentle about how they forced the Cossacks into USSR

[@hertoramann]

@@kaanerdem2822 At least they are not as savage as Soviets I mean but it became an irony

[@hermanvonsprudelwasser]

They still remember in Lienz.

[@MICKEY-q3z]

Fitzroy Maclean wrote a fantastic book - a memoir - entitled Eastern Approaches, about his travels in the USSR's forbidden zones in the 1930s and his wartime experiences in Yugoslavia. Highly recommended!

[@jonathontroy1447]

There was a lawsuit over Operation Keelhaul. Nikolai Tolstoy was sued by Lord Adderley over his book that went into the operation. He was able to prove a lot of what he said but given the quirks of British defamation law at the time, he had to declare bankruptcy to avoid paying Adderley any damages. Personally I think Operation Keelhaul was shameful and the German general who went with his men into Soviet captivity and later trial and execution is the only person who shows any honour. The western allies were right to be concerned about what would happen to western POWs liberated by the Soviets. The Soviet POWs liberated by their own side often just exchanged the Nazi concentration camps for the Gulags due to exposure to fascist influences.

[@richardw3052]

Keelhaul was a war crime, no matter how you spin it. The excuse that the russians would have kept POWs as bargaining chips or to enact retribution may be true, but I think there were POWs kept anyway in Russia, not just nazis, but Americans and brits.

[@HistoricalWonder720]

This video has made me eager to go talk to my neighbor (who is in her 80s) who said she was born in a camp (or something of the sort) in Russia to parents who had their wealth confiscated after ww1 because they had been loyal to the Czar. I don’t know the specifics but intend to find out.

[@tomsenft7434]

She may not be eager to talk to you

[@HistoricalWonder720]

@@tomsenft7434 She told my father everything once, it’s the only reason we know of this. Very friendly person.

[@coffebean94]

​@@tomsenft7434 why wouldn't she be? We're not living in 1937 anymore

[@browngreen933]

British and American troops acting like KaPo's. Shameful.

[@tombats6428]

Please leave the Americans out. We never took anything from Germany in WW1, but the brits and frogs robbed them blind. In WW2 it was the russians along the rest of Europe. We just took some ships to use as targets and samples of their technology. But we fed the world with the Marshall Plan when everyone was starving. The problem continues today. The European Union should fend for itself. We, the American taxpayer are sick and tired of it. Our debt is going up $1trillion evy 100 days.

[@OllamhDrab]

@@tombats6428 You leave the US out. You don't speak for me, or in fact arithmetic with those figures.

[@chuckh5999]

yes and were rather happy to take on board "experts" and scientists or their works (aka experiments) from Germany and Japan and in the case of the US allow known Japanese/Korean/Taiwanese war criminals to go back "home".

[@GVGames1986]

So that is why Sean Bean (006) got so angry!

[@Semperfi2011]

I like how Mark is so firm in issuing his own condemnations on matters he thinks were “wrongs”. But leaves topics like this to the viewer to decide.

[@Fathervinyard]

only know about this because of a james bond film

[@lancegoodthrust546]

And you're bragging this?

[@Fathervinyard]

@@lancegoodthrust546😂 well it made me interested over 20 years ago and i know the full story now after investigating 20 years ago so what else ?

[@akaJughead]

​@@lancegoodthrust546 Don't be a dick

[@BlackAcePlays]

@@lancegoodthrust546 No one here in Austria know it, except you are interested in history and learn it by yourself. It is not even mentioned in school, at least ~25 years ago it wasn't.

[@mr.F.Castle]

Which one?

[@Supercereal4]

Indeed, this was not the first British abandonment of the Cossacks, as Gen. Wrangel writes of his dealings with them in Always with Honor

[@ClarenceCochran-ne7du]

Another Great "What If?" What if the Westen Allies had told Stalin to piss off? Stalin had the men for a war with his former allies, but even then, Truman (at the War's end), had the A-Bomb. Obviously, repatriating Soviet Citizens who fought against Stalin's rule was a bad choice. It didn't ease tensions between the East and the West to any great degree, history shows that. If anything, it enboldened Stalin, who without the material aid from the US, couldn't harness domestic weapon production until very late in the war. Without that aid, Stalin would never have managed his assault from the East.

[@РыжийСтарпом]

Most of this people probably newer was a citizens of ussr.

[@TankerBricks]

Mark. Thanks for providing my Monday Night Entertainment!

[@davidbrims5825]

Churchill did that, stabbed the Cossacks in the back.

[@tomsenft7434]

Our political systems allow the most vain and least empathetic people to rise to the top.

[@ssyphoniss]

@@tomsenft7434 Sure. Blame it on political system. People are not corrupt at all...

[@johnclose2925]

He stabbed the Polish in the back as well 😢

[@Cohen.the.Worrier]

@@johnclose2925 What would you have Churchill do to save the Poles?

[@johnclose2925]

@@Cohen.the.Worrier not send them back for a start.

[@scottwolf1238]

Murder is murder whether you are committing the act yourself or handing the victims to the ones who you know will committ the act.

[@vinniemoran7362]

I first found out about this in the Bond film "Golden Eye", where Agent 006 Sean Bean turns out to be a Lienz Cossack. Remember coming home and reading about them. Huge betrayal by the British.

[@pbh9195]

I remembered hearing about this in Goldeneye, wasn't sure it was an actual tribe or loosely inspired by one Thanks for posting this

[@gianp33]

they did the same with cossacks who were relocated to italy near the border with today slovenia and austria, both cossacks and their families, were being settled in that region of the alps in what was to be called “Kossakenland in Norditalien”, when germany was defeated the british invited the cossack leaders to discuss the situation, they agreed on a place and also agreed on meeting unarmed, the cossacks were true to their word while the brits ambushed them with guns and arrested them, all the while their families were also ambushed and driven with their backs to the main river that flowed down from the mountain, many in desperation, knowing they were being round up to be sent to the USSR jumped into the river and drowned, the cossack leaders were sent to soviet prisons where they were later executed if im not mistaken.

[@nematolvajkergetok5104]

The Cossacks, as they fled from the advancing Soviet troops, passed through Hungary. A Hungarian fighter pilot, Tibor Tobak was serving in Transylvania at the time when they arrived. He wrote the following in his memoirs: "At the outskirts of the village, I witnessed a poignant sight. I stood near the eastern edge of the settlement, on a barren hillside, offering a great view of the entire valley up to the straits. The road curved along the valley toward Bereck. As far as my eyes could see, an endless procession of horse carts, riders, and many people on foot was approaching. But their condition! Skeleton thin, ragged, tawny-faced women, often with kids, some walking barefooted. Men in torn Cossack kaftans. Their battered carts carried miserable bunches of clothware. Everything and everybody was covered in dust. I will never forget those faces. That deep desperation, those lethargic, apathetic eyes… Drooling, bone-thin horses… The many miles-long procession soon reached us. Yes, they were Cossacks, war refugees. They sided with the Germans during the occupation. One of them, a tall, older man, was leading a skeleton-like horse. He unmistakably offered it for sale for ten (yes, 10) cigarettes. I had two boxes of Symphonia, I gave both to him. He really wanted to force the horse on me, and it took some difficulty to make him understand that the cigarettes were a gift. I can only condemn myself today, but I pictured the spectacle I would've made if I pulled the horse behind the Storch on a long rope, straight into the hangar at Szamosfalva. I grinned inside at the thought. The Germans were apparently accustomed to such sights. They sat back in the car, and onward to 'Sepsis.' It was impossible for them to pronounce Sepsiszentgyörgy." (Original title: "Pumák földön-égen". The English translation is unpublished, for the family of the author refuse to allow it. So it stays in my desk drawer, who knows for how long... A French translation also exists, but you got to be super lucky to come across a copy.)

[@franzoidle7002]

My father was there when this happened. As the war neared its end, he was pressed to fight as a teenager along side the Cossacks. He hated the British Government to the day he died, even though he had many British friends later in life in the USA.

[@jimandmarypowell9783]

Another shameful incident in British military history. My mother was Austrian, living in a village near Spittal at the end of the war. A troop of cossacks were billeted in her father's barn and the horses corralled in the orchard. They were collected one day and moved off, to where, we now know. Our friend, also an Austrian, came from the region, Karnten. She married a British serviceman who was involved in this episode. My half-brother's grandfather was murdered by 'stateless persons' while cycling home, probably from a camp near Spittal, where he was working. All of these people have passed away now. It would have been interesting to get their stories.

[@lokischildren8714]

Not Britains finest hour very shameful

[@CzechImp]

It was actually mostly done by the Americans.

[@Charles-i4y]

I knew something of this had happened from both the movie "Goldeneye" and a book I had seen once while living in Richmond, VA. This was truly informative.

[@rodneyhull9764]

years ago I met an old soldier who was a guard at a displaced person camp. He told me there were a few nationalities within but the Russians were lawless. Arranged football matches had to be won by the Russians or else there were numerous murders following a defeat. He also said every woman in the camp was pregnant.

[@AllanFolm]

Lienz is such a pretty city today, and the mountains around them are beautiful. There's a ruin of an old castle, called Scholossbruck at the edge of town. And a long downhill rollercoaster, taking about 5 minutes from top to bottom just nearby, called "Osttirodler".

[@michaelplunkett5124]

Yes. We ride our bicycles from Dobbiacco in Italy for 50 km along a beautiful bike path slowly downhill to Lienz. He have lunch there and then with our bikes we board the train for a 45 min ride back uphill to Dobbiacco. The Dolomites are on one side, farm fields on the other and you don't encounter a car for the whole ride. It's one of the easiest and most beautiful rides in the world.

[@deepwashington499]

"James, for England."

[@Rushfelt33]

Bloody Hell, did Mark know i just watched Goldeneye or KZbin? Either way? Well played

[@benbaker2965]

Another WWII incident I had never heard of. Keep them coming, Dr Felton. You don't take sides. You present facts. No combating side would chose friendly adversaries over the welfare of their own men. I am not saying that it was a moral decision.

[@frankperkin124]

People tend to forget how nasty the British and Americans could be. Just look at the American and British police today.

[@FGH9G]

Alec Trevelyan intensifies*

[@dhm7815]

Painful to hear.

[@genepozniak]

British and US behavior was absolutely wrong. The allies had plenty of other means at their disposal to force the return of their own soldiers.

[@kladblok2729]

Solchenitzyn wrote about a similar situation in his 'the gulag archipelago'. It has always intrigued me, sending those men into certain death.

[@charrogate]

I recently found an account after my father died who served in the 🇬🇧 army engaged as an interpreter in post war Germany describing similar horrific events involving suicide 😨

[@MBP1918]

Tragic

[@Sedgewise47]

I dunno-isn’t it arguable that those who made their beds should sleep in them?

[@JAGtheTrekkieGEMINI1701]

"For England James"? "No... For ME" Still a Bloody Mistake by the Brits

[@happygingertime]

Thank you sir

[@Trodon1987]

This is one of the best videos you’ve made. Thank you.

[@davidleonard1813]

I saw a movie on a similar topic Before Winter Comes starring David Niven. Good movie you can find it here

[@paulcorrigan3753]

I read about this in the 1970s in a book of these events by Nikolai Count Tolstoy. That sparked a discussion in my workplace. It emerged several of my workmates - New Zealand soldiers - had had to do what one of them said was 'the dirtiest business I ever was involved with during the war'. Others grunted agreement. Several Cossacks did commit suicide - or tried to - rather than be handed back. They knew what awaited them. There's a photo of one man, his chest bared. One day several hundred were handed over. Fifteen minutes later the soldiers heard the first volleys of machine-gun fire mixed with screams of men, women, and children. The 'British officer' who gave his 'word of honour' might have been the New Zealand Major-General Sir Steven Weir, who was most reluctant to talk

[@nickmansfield1]

Shame on us, the sole source of truth.

[@bert8373]

Victims of Yalta,read it too!👍👍

[@fordfairlane662dr]

Another fascinating video 🏆

[@ColinH1973]

There's an excellent book called 'Victims of Yalta' by Nikolai Tolstoy which documents the whole shameful post-war treatment of tens of thousands of people who trusted the British. It is well worth seeking out.

[@HealthySkepticism1775]

I am so happy to see so many comments about the James Bond movie Goldeneye (1995)

[@sailordude2094]

Britain was very nice to the Soviet Union right after the war. Then Churchill talked about the Iron Curtain so I guess the relationship had soured by early 1946. That didn't last long. Thanks for talking about "hidden" history Mark!

[@EdMcF1]

No, Attlee sold them jet engines after that.

[@dhm7815]

Churchill was voted out of office on 26 July 1945, only a month after VE day and a month before VJ day. He was not PM in 1946.

[@aleksazunjic9672]

Completely wrong. British prepared war against USSR (Operation Unthinkable) . It was weariness of the population and general situation with Japan that prevented such outcome.

[@CzechImp]

@@sailordude2094 "Hidden" history? Not at all - this is all well known.

[@littlepaf1]

Goldeneye

[@pjelias_]

Now i understand why 006 “Alec Travelyan” was such an angry man…

[@thilomanten8701]

History is literally a "double-edged" sword...it cuts both ways!

[@perwahloo3499]

Whilst it could be argued that ‘military intelligence’ is an oxymoron, you’d think that the person who designed the MI6 logo in this video would have the intelligence to spell ‘military’ correctly.

[@t16205]

Ìts the Itaryan mill

[@Davivd2]

There's a shameful bit of history that I've never heard of until now. Geopolitical chess matches between nations always seem to leave the refugee's out in the cold..

[@paultapner2769]

Reminds me of a quote from a review I read of a Star Trek Deep Space nine episode called 'Cardassians.' '...made the wrong decision in a situation where it was impossible to make a right one.' I think though that, just like the dropping of the Atom bombs, arguing rights and wrongs is academic. These things happened. We can't change them. We can only learn from them

[@MichaelKng-fk5jk]

My Grandfather only once made a comment on the Lienz Cossacks, he would never speak of it again. He was with Fitzroy Maclean in Yugoslavia and they went with the Partisan escort of the White Russians to Lienz. The comment, I forget the exact words, meaning was very clear, as soon as they arrived and the Soviet NKVD surrounded the White Russians the atmospherics were very dark and ominous. He knew the White Russians were going to be murdered. He stated he was disgusted and shamed by what the British did. To put a better perception on Lienz, my Grandfather hated the SS including the White Russians after what they did in Yugoslavia against the Partisans and civil population and; still thought Lienz was massively wrong.

[@WALTERBROADDUS]

White hats and black hats are not very clear in this War.....

[@DEEPENFRIENDSHIP]

Sean Bean told me about this when I was ten and I remembered it forever.

[@skywatcher5616]

Certainly a situation of "Damned if you do or damned if you don't". We knew Russia wasn't returning out B-29's, but we did want our people back. Well done, as usual and very informative.

[@jankusthegreat9233]

Well that was evil

[@Sedgewise47]

@@jankusthegreat9233 But was it? After all, these people _had_ served the Nazis, didn’t they?…

[@douglascharnley8249]

My father finished up in north east Italy, I believe it was Trieste and they were tasked with returning Russian POWS. The first train returned with the train full of bullet holes and the inside of the wagons were covered in blood. They were ordered to hose the wagons down and send the next load, needless to say it didn't go well.

[@FortuneZer0]

T.I.K. also did a more indepth video on this.

[@Neuensdadt34]

Yes. And he also talk about the Russian Forced labour in Germany during ww2. So in total operation keelhaul involved Million of men. Not just couple Hundred thousand, it's still a bit Confused me why did the western ally Allow So much Group of people to be Deported back into USSR Even though they're not a Soviet Citizen ( Beside their usefulness to the Western ally at that time ). I'm sure that the western ally has the power to do it, it just that they don't want to. US can just Negotiate it with the Soviet Especially because of the Lend lease and the Allied bombardement of the western Germany as a Point of Leverage against the Soviet, so they should be able to save Most of them

[@countalma9800]

A horrible episode of WWII. Those people should have never been repatriated. One has to keep in mind that the Cossacks surrendered to the British together with their entire families. When they were forcibly repatriated, the families were separated with almost all the men perishing in Stalin’s camps or being executed, and the women and children sent to Kazakhstan and other such places. That being said, tens of thousands of Russians who collaborated with the Nazis did, somehow, manage to escape repatriation and ended up in the US. There is still a community of the descendants of the Cossacks in NJ and there is a large russian orthodox cemetery not far from New York City in the town of Nanuet. Many prominent members of the “White Russian” emigre society are buried there (including members of the Romanoff family, former Russian imperial army officers, and the youngest daughter of Leo Tolstoy - Alexandra). The cemetery also has a unique monument - a memorial dedicated to general Andrei Vlasov and those who fought in the “Russian Liberation Army”. As far as I understand, it is the only monument dedicated to a group that fought on the side of Nazi Germany in the world. I wonder how come those people were able to escape to America and not being forcibly repatriated.

[@jarosawburyk893]

Some Russians from Wlasov's army ended up in Lichtenstein. Soviet Union pressed Lichtenstein to deport them, yet they refused and they ended up in Argintina eventually.

[@leonkrouwel1878]

Hmmm, there is a lot of Fabergé in the Lichtenstein treasury... ;

[@IBM29]

Appeasement failed in 1937, and again in 1945...

[@Napoleon1815-l8c]

Dr. Felton, the more I study history, the more I realize that the so called “good guys” in many wars weren’t really that just and honorable. The victors of wars write the history.

[@t16205]

Very true. It all comes down to perspective. Nazis viewed themselves as "the good guys"

[@JMLE1949]

There was a court case about this event, where an author of a book on this subject, was was sued by a British general, the General won his case!

[@cleanerben9636]

the punitive damages were the largest of any court case in Britain for a single person at that time, and adjusted for inflation ever since iirc.

[@Russojap2]

A sad and fascinating subject. Greetings from East Tennessee