Erased histories

In May 1944, nearly 400,000 Crimean Tatars were forcibly deported from their homeland. Families were packed into cattle trains bound for Central Asia. The artwork evokes silence and exile — and the unbroken memory of return.

Ethnic Germans lived in Ukraine for over 1500 years, but Soviet rule shattered their communities. Between 1935 and 1941, and after World War II, tens of thousands were deported to labor camps, Siberia, and Central Asia, many dying from hunger and exhaustion. These images tell the story of loss, and the long search for home.

On June 27, 1944, the Soviet authorities forcibly deported Crimean Greeks, Bulgarians, Italians, and Armenians. Accused of desertion, collaboration, and aiding the Nazis, tens of thousands were sent into exile — including around 16,000 Greeks, 12,500 Bulgarians, and nearly 10,000 Armenians.In this painting, a frightened girl holds a photograph, remembering her family’s forced deportation.

Greek culture deeply influenced Ukraine, from early Christianity to literature. Descendants of Hellenic colonies still live in southern Ukraine. Pontus was the homeland of the Pontic Greeks, over 30,000 of whom were deported to Kazakhstan and other remote regions of the USSR in 1942 and 1944. The painting shows the Pontic lyra, a symbol of their enduring culture.

The Caucasian War, lasting over a century, saw the mass killing and deportation of the Circassian people. In this painting, the beauty of the Caucasus mountains contrasts with the tragedy, as rivers of Circassian blood spread across the land — a haunting reminder of the brutality of the Russian Empire.

Another group targeted by Soviet deportations were ethnic Koreans. In the early 20th century, many Korean peasants fled Japanese occupation and settled in the Russian Far East. After Japan’s invasion of China on July 7, 1937, Soviet authorities accused them of spying and collaborating with the enemy. About 172,000 Koreans were forcibly relocated from border regions of the Far East to remote areas of Kazakhstan and Central Asia.

In February 1944, over 400,000 Chechens were forcibly deported by the NKVD in just eight days. This tragic event reflects the Soviet Union’s colonial policies, which continue to echo today in Russia’s treatment of the Chechen population.

At the start of the 20th century, the Kalmyks gained an autonomous region but were later labeled “unreliable” and deported. On December 28, 1943, tens of thousands were sent overnight to Siberia and Central Asia, and their Kalmyk Autonomous Republic was abolished. A horse running across green hills symbolizes their homeland, slipping further from the Kalmyk people.

The 1944 deportation of Meskhetian Turks, Kurds, Hemshins, Lazes, and other groups from southern Georgia reflected years of Soviet repression. In the eyes of those who left their homes, one sees pain and despair — the very emotion the artist sought to capture in this work.

During the second wave of collectivization in 1935–1936, about 41,000 Ingrian Finns were forcibly deported north to Siberia, Kazakhstan, and Central Asia. In 1937–1938, Soviet authorities completed the “ethnic cleansing” of the region: Ingrian Finns were no longer recognized as a distinct community, Finnish-language schools, newspapers, and theaters were closed, and the remaining intelligentsia faced repression.