“There used to be different nations here”: deportations of the years 1939-1949 in the memory of Siberian rural population

The article considers the processes which take place in Siberian society under the influence of ethnic deportations. In spite of the stores of historiography on deportations life and behavior of the host society remains one of the least studied problem. The focus of the research is the individual and social memory of rural population. The author considers a number of aspects on the basis of oral history materials - the disposal of deportees and the problems of their integration for local population; the perception of forced deportations by Siberians and the attempts to explain what was going on; the formation of concepts of deported population and the reasons of acceptance/non-acceptance of their «otherness»; the factors determining the establishing of contacts and everyday communication, the peculiarities of formation of personal memory. Using the example of Altai krai rural population the different attitude towards ethnic special settlers in pre-war, war and post-war time is revealed. It is confirmed that Siberian society was influenced by the traditions of permanent voluntary and forced deportations. The author shows the influence of life sustaining conditions on the mutual relations of both ethnic groups, determined for the host society not only by the war but also by the pre-war practice of collectivization.

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