In a diplomatic and military campaign between 1944-1947 the British and American Governments handed back to Stalin a great many Russians - PoWs, civilians, women and children - who were captured or liberated by the Western Forces. Our authorities were well aware that to these people repatriation might mean certain death or years in Stalin's labour camps; that most of them were eligible for political asylum. Yet they carried out the policy of forced repatriation - and kept it secret for nearly 30 years.
For the politicians who made the decision- a diplomatic and military necessity; for the repatriated Russians: 'a great betrayal'; for the British soldiers who had to carry it out (as one said): 'it stank of Belsen and Dachau.' The number of victims amounted to millions. It still remains one of the most bitter and controversial events of the last war. Narrators
LYNDON BROOK , PETER COPLEY
Based on The Last Secret by NICHOLAS BETHELL
Written and directed by ROBERT VAS