Crimean Tatars in Kherson Region (Settlement History)¶

The history of the 1944 deportation of the Crimean Tatars and their return and settlement in Kherson Region (predominantly in Henichesk District) from 1968 to the present day. The topic traces the people's more-than-half-century journey from genocide to the restoration of home in southern Ukraine.

Overview¶

On 18 May 1944, the operation to deport Crimean Tatars from their permanent places of residence in Crimea began — a forced resettlement with catastrophic consequences for the people, commemorated in Ukraine as the genocide of the Crimean Tatar people. Deprived of the right to return to Crimea, Crimean Tatars began settling in Kherson Region from the late 1960s, which became the place of their return and settlement.

Key Details / Subtopics¶

Deportation of 18.05.1944: the start of the operation to forcibly evict Crimean Tatars from Crimea — genocide of a people with catastrophic consequences.
Struggle for return: over 20 years of struggle for the right to return to the historical homeland; in September 1967, the Supreme Soviet of the USSR amnestied the Crimean Tatars of charges of mass treason, but the ban on returning to Crimea remained.
Spontaneous return from 1968: Crimean Tatars began settling in Kherson Region; over five years more than 1.3 thousand people arrived in the oblast, mostly in Henichesk District.
Obstacles by the authorities: a tightened passport regime and forced employment of men — this situation lasted until the end of the 1980s.
Recognition of 14.11.1989: forced resettlements of the peoples of the USSR were declared illegal, which paved the way for the return of 260 thousand Crimean Tatars; in 1990, 1,709 families (6,121 people) declared their wish to move to Crimea, 80% of them from Henichesk District.
After the 2014 annexation: Kherson Region again became a home for Crimean Tatars — today there are about 7.0 thousand of them in Henichesk District.
"Kherson" period of the Crimean economy: from 1 June 1960, the peninsula's industry came under the subordination of the newly created Crimean sovnarkhoz (Regional Economic Council); documentary evidence of this period is partially preserved in the collections of the State Archives of Kherson Region.

Sources and Links¶

History of Crimean Tatars in Kherson Region — Publication of the State Archives of Kherson Region on the 1944 deportation and the settlement of Crimean Tatars in Kherson Region.
Kherson — Region that became the place of return and settlement of the Crimean Tatars.
Disaster over the Syvash (An-24 plane crash, 1978) — Henichesk District on the shore of the Syvash, where the crash site is located, is a Crimean Tatar settlement zone in Kherson Region.
Deportation of Crimean Tatars (1944) — Article on the settlement of Crimean Tatars in Kherson Region — a direct continuation of the theme of the 1944 deportation.
Crossing of the Syvash (1943–1944) — Henichesk District on the shore of the Syvash is the main settlement place of Crimean Tatars in Kherson Region.
Arabat Spit (Administrative-Territorial History) — The Arabat Spit (Henichesk District) is a territory of compact settlement of Crimean Tatars in Kherson Region.
Heroes of the Soviet Union — Natives of Kherson Region (Combat Participants in Crimea) — The heroes fought in the 4th Ukrainian Front, which liberated Crimea, where Crimean Tatars later settled.
Battle for Crimea (1941–1942) — The article traces how the events of 1942 and the attitude of the population in Crimea were used to accuse the Crimean Tatars of collaboration and to justify the 1944 deportation.
Ethnogenesis of the Crimean Tatars — the centuries-long process of the formation of the Crimean Tatar people as the autochthonous population of the peninsula.
Crimean Tatar Folk Dance — the distinctive folk choreography of the people, preserved as part of the cultural heritage.
Lipka Tatars — a separate branch of Turkic-Muslim history in Eastern Europe (the Lipka Tatars), tangential to the broader Crimean Tatar historical context.