Sabitlenmiş Tweet
#WWII - The #Cossacks in Carnia - Italy
Cossacks, the nomadic people from the south-eastern areas of European Russia in the northeast of Italy.
From mid-1942, they supported and collaborated with the Nazi regime against the communist regime.
They supported the national and religious claims of the ethnic groups that made up the mosaic of the USSR, repressed by the policies of the Soviet leadership.
1942 Hitler approved the aid of opponents of the Communist Party, including the Cossacks.
Defenders of their freedom and autonomy, they had been recognised by the Tsars. The Soviet regime, on the other hand, had acted by erasing and nullifying their autonomy, identity, and traditions.
The Cossack army was formed in 1943 in Belarus, then transferred to Poland in 1944 and from there sent to Carnia with the promise that the land would be theirs, the Kosakenland.
The aim was to fight the Italian partisans in Upper Friuli and Carnia.
Forced evacuation, Italian people fled, houses occupied, crops, food, and materials used.
July-August 1944 Cossacks arrived in Amaro, Osoppo, and Trasaghis up to Tolmezzo (Wermacht and SS garrison).
October 1944, they passed Tolmezzo and went into Val But.
November 1944, they arrive towards Villa di Verzegnis.
They walked on foot with horses, camels, carts, and their material. They entered houses, shared food, claimed space, and slept in the heat. With time, the population became familiar with the situation.
The group was not only composed of Cossacks like those from the Don, the Kuban, the Terek, and Asians, but also a mix of ethnicities such as Orthodox Muslims, Chechens, Azerbaijanis and Dagestani.
About 22,000 people: 9,000 soldiers, 6,000 old men, 4,000 families, and 3,000 children. In addition, another 2000 soldiers and their 2000 Caucasian families.
The establishment of this Kosakenland in Northern Italy also involved changing the names of the villages, among which Novocerkassk was Alesso, Novorossisk was Trasaghis and Krasnodar was Cavazzo.
At the head was General Piotr Nikolaevic Krasnov, who, together with his wife Lidia Fedeorovna, stayed at the ‘Stella d'Oro’ inn.
He was supreme commander of the Cossacks, a former army general of the tsarist counterrevolution (White Army).
Military meetings were held in Cavazzo.
In Telmezzo, there was the Cossack military commander General Domanov - Ataman of the area.
The cohabitation continued until 29.04. The end of hostilities also began the end of the Cossacks in Carnia. On 30.04. the Cossacks left the area towards Villa Santina, beginning their retreat towards the Monte Croce Carnico pass, towards Austria (Linz) to take the train to Russia.
Many, in order to avoid the treatment that would await them in the Soviet Union, committed suicide on their way back near the Drava River (present-day Slovenia).
Have any of you ever heard or read about this very peculiar event? I find it important to pass it on and not forget it.
English
