The Mankurt Factory: Root and Uprooting When Memory Is the Target
By: Giorgio Provinciali
Live from Ukraine ??
Lviv On May 18, 1944, the Soviet attempt to separate the Crimean Tatars from Crimeabegan, as one might sever a root from the earth, trusting that the plant would die without being cut down. In a few days, the NKVDemptiedthe peninsula: approximately 200,000 people, the vast majority of them women, the elderly, and children, were loaded into cattle cars and shipped to Central Asia and other remote regions of the USSR.
Estimates of the victims remain controversial: official sources and subsequent studies indicate tens of thousands of deaths; Tatar memory speaks of enormous percentages, up to nearly half of the population deported in the first years of exile. This numerical uncertainty is part of the crime:when a state deports a people and then controls the archives, even the dead become hostages of the executioner. Ukrainerecognizedthe deportation as genocide in 2015; other states, including Latvia, Lithuania, Canada, Poland, Estonia, and the Czech Republic,followedorsupportedthe same path of recognition.
Moscows genocidal intent, then, lay not only in the mortality caused by the deportation but in the totality of the act. Individual collaborators were not punished, nor were individuals prosecuted for proven responsibility:membership was condemned.
Being a Crimean Tatar became a source of guilt.
The logic was typical of empires that cannot dominate a land without first falsifying its people: eradicate the natives, disperse them, contaminate their memory, replace their physical presence with another population, and transform human geography into retroactive proof of conquest.
Crimea had to cease being Tatar to become fully Soviet, that is, Muscovite.
This point makes the parallel with today not only legitimate but necessary. In 1944, Moscow collectivelyaccusedthe Crimean Tatars of treason and collaboration; today, Ukrainians are collectivelyaccusedof beingNazisartificial,deviant Russians, a population to be re-educated, filtered, evacuated, registered, and relocated.
The category changes its name, but not its function.
The enemy is defined not by what it has done but by what it is.
In 1944, Tatar identity was treated as a security issue for the Soviet state. First with the Розстр?ляне в?дродження, the socalledexecuted Renaissance, then with theHolodomoranddekulakization, and then again since 2014, with the invasion of a fully sovereign state, Ukrainian identity has begun to betreatedas a historical error to be corrected: with hunger, cold, linguistic repression, and then with missiles, occupation schools, deportations, forced adoptions, and administrative replacement.
Promotedby the Ukrainian Archives of National Memory, the documentary exhibitionCommunism = Rashismparallelshistories of the 20th and 21st centuries to demonstrate the continuity of Soviet and Russian methods in over forty cities across five countries.
The ideology changes its vocabulary, flag, and liturgy but retains the same imperial impulse. The legal difference is thattoday the world cannot pretend not to know what to call these acts.
Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Conventionprohibitsindividual or mass forcible transfers and the deportation of protected persons from an occupied territory, regardless of the reason the occupier gives. The Genocide Conventionincludesthe forcible transfer of children from one group to another as a genocidal act when committed with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial, or religious group. The Rome Statutedefinesdeportation or forcible transfer as a crime against humanity and, in specific contexts of occupation, also as a war crime.
This is why the International Criminal Courts arrest warrantissuedagainst Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova on March 17, 2023, is of transcendental significance: the Court presumes they are responsible for the war crime of illegal deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children from occupied areas to the Russian Federation.
In 2026, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine took a further step,concludingthatRussian authorities committed crimes against humanity, including deportation and forcible transfer of children, as well as forced disappearance. The Yale Humanitarian Research Lab hasidentifiedat least 210 facilities in Russia and the occupied territories involved in the re-education, militarization, foster care, or forced adoption of Ukrainian children; the OHCHR hasdocumentedtransfers and deportations of civilians perceived by the occupation authorities as disloyal or noncompliant with imposed policies; Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International havedescribedinfiltrations, forced transfers, and deportations of Ukrainian civilians to Russia or other territories it illegally occupies.
Historically, the aims of the Moscow-led Soviet regime in 1944 were clear:collective punishment, theelimination of an indigenous political entityin Crimea, the transformation of the peninsula into a more easilycontrollable and Russified space, and theprevention of a people with their own memory, language, and identity from claiming rights to their land.
Today, the Russian Federations aims are similar but applied to the entire architecture of occupied Ukraine:denying Ukraines status as a nation,emptying the conquered territories of their unassimilated population,transferring children and civilians, andimposing Russian citizenship,education, language, archives, property, and administration, therebytransforming military occupation into a presumed demographic reality.
If Taras Shevchenko, in the Kavkaz, had alreadyidentifiedthe moral core of Russian imperialism, describinga power that speaks of civilization while carrying chains, crosses, and cannons, then in The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years Chingiz Aitmatovcoineda nearly perfect metaphor for Russian policy toward deported Ukrainian children, consigning to literature the figure of themankurt: a man whose memory is stripped away until he becomes docile to his master.
This is what Moscow does to Ukrainian children: its not enough to move them; they must be made to forget where they come from.
The inaction of other nations in the face of similar events has almost always produced the same result:the aggressor interprets others caution as license.
Munich in 1938allowedNazi Germany to annex the Sudetenland in the hope of avoiding a war that came the following year; Rwanda and Srebrenica havebecome, in the memory of international law, the names of the failure to prevent or stop mass atrocities.
Aggressor states monitor the worlds tolerance threshold. If the price of deportation is merely a declaration, the deportation continues. If the price of annexation is merely a negotiating formula, annexation becomes a precedent. If the price of cultural genocide is merely annual indignation, the executioner learns the calendar of commemorations and works on the days in between.
From the Second World War to the present, the history of invasion wars shows a recurring pattern that has not spared the victorious nuclear powers (although the USSRwasHitlers first ally in theMolotov-Ribbentrop Pact):states that attempted to subjugate another people, dispossess them of their land, or erase their identity have often achieved tactical victories but suffered strategic catastrophes.
The United StateswithdrewfromVietnamin 1973 after an unbearable human, political, and moral cost. The USSRwithdrewfromAfghanistanin 1989, after a war that contributed to the irreversible erosion of the Soviet system. InAlgeria, Francewonmany battles butlostthe political war for independence.The Prague Springconfirmsthe other side of the coin: the 1968 Soviet invasion temporarilycrushedCzechoslovakian reforms but failed to erase the demand for freedom, whichresurfacedin 1989 inthe Velvet Revolution. The empire won the day the tanks rolled in, but lost the day society remembered it had been right.
One could continue withEast Timor,invadedandannexedby Indonesia in 1975, whichbecamea sovereign state in 2002 after resistance and international pressure; with thePortuguese colonies in Africa, where the colonial waracceleratedthe crisis of the Lisbon regime andledto the independence ofGuinea-Bissau,Angola,Mozambique,Cape Verde, andSo Tom and Prncipe; withIraq, where the 2003 invasionoverthrewa regime butusheredin a regional strategic catastrophe; withpost-2001 Afghanistan, where twenty years of Western military presencefailedto produce a stable state capable of surviving withdrawal.
The only armed conflicts that history tends to judge as foundational victories for those who fought them are those for independence or liberation from external domination:Ireland,Algeria,anti-colonial Vietnam,African struggles against European empires,East Timor, and today,Ukrainein its struggle against Russian aggression.
Not because every independence movement is pure or every liberation war is free of shadows, but becausethere is a difference between those who fight to regain their own home and those who fight to steal anothers.
In 1.546 days of war, we recorded over 250 videos from ground zero and wrote more than 1,500 articles.
We are doing our best to provide genuine, first-hand reports from zones where almost no press dares to go. This means living in a kill zone constantly. We take the risk, but without your invaluable support, our voices would remain unheard and silent. Without brave people sharing our articles from afar, they would remain unread. Our reports would go unseen, and our efforts would be lost. Theres still a lot of work to do here, as the people around us are also in no better situation.
Were renewing our fundraising campaign and thanking everyone who joins us in helping to restore what Russia is destroying. Moving forward with only a small reimbursement for each article from a brave newspaper that believes in us is extremely challenging. Thats why we are grateful to all the kind people who support us and trust in our mission.
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Well keep you updated on developments.
Thank you all, dear friends ??
曼庫爾特工廠：當記憶成為目標時的連根拔除
作者：Giorgio Provinciali
翻譯：旺財球球
烏克蘭前線報道??
利沃夫1944年5月18日，蘇聯開始了將克裏米亞韃靼人與克裏米亞分離的行動，就像把植物的根從土地裏拔出，寄望於植物（無根後）不被砍伐也會枯死。幾天之內，內務人民委員會（NKVD）清空了半島：大約20萬人，其中絕大多數是婦女、老人和兒童，被裝進牛車，送往中亞及蘇聯其他偏遠地區。
（圖：Alla與我在伊萬諾-弗蘭科夫斯克報道，幾天前，俄羅斯聯邦襲擊了這棟民用建築，建築內還有一座博物館版權所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
遇難者人數的估計仍有爭議：官方資料和後續研究指出死者數以萬計；韃靼人的記憶則稱受害率極高，流放最初幾年死亡人數幾乎接近半數人口。這個數字的不確定性本身就是罪行的一部分：當一個國家驅逐一個民族並掌控檔案，即便是死者也成為行刑者的人質。烏克蘭在2015年認定這次流放為種族滅絕；隨後拉脫維亞、立陶宛、加拿大、波蘭、愛沙尼亞和捷克等國也紛紛承認或支持了這一認定。
莫斯科的種族滅絕意圖，不僅體現在流放造成的死亡率上，更在於行動的整體性。個別合作者未被懲處，亦沒有對確證責任人進行逐一審判：
被定罪的是身份本身。
成為克裏米亞韃靼人便成了一種罪責。
這種邏輯是一些帝國的慣用伎倆。它們若想統治一片土地，必須先愚化其人民：根除原居民、驅散他們、汙染他們的記憶，用另一個人口取而代之，並將轉變後的人類地理反過來證明征服的和理性。
克裏米亞必須不再是韃靼的，才能完全成為蘇維埃的，也就是莫斯科人的。
這一點使得與今日的類比不僅合情合理，而且必要。1944年，莫斯科以集體方式指控克裏米亞韃靼人叛國與合謀；今日，烏克蘭人被集體指為納粹、非自然的、畸變的俄羅斯人一個需要被再教育、篩選、疏散、登記和重新安置的人群。
類別的名稱變了，但功能未變。
敵人的定義取決於其是什麽而非其所為。
1944年，韃靼人的身份被視為蘇聯國家的安全問題。先是所謂的被槍決的複興，隨後是大饑荒與去富農化，自2014年起，隨著對一個完全主權國家的入侵，烏克蘭身份開始被視為需糾正的曆史錯誤：以饑餓、嚴寒、語言壓製，繼而以導彈、占領學校、流放、強製收養與行政替代的形式進行。
由烏克蘭國家記憶檔案館推動的紀錄展覽共產主義=拉什主義在五國四十餘城並行展示二十世紀與二十一世紀的曆史，以證明蘇聯與俄羅斯手法的延續性。
（圖：若幹我在烏克蘭切爾尼夫齊拍攝的共產主義=羅斯主義展位??版權所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
（圖：Alla與我在俄羅斯對烏克蘭特爾諾皮爾發動猛烈空襲後不久現場報道??版權所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
意識形態換了詞匯、旗幟和禮儀，但保留了同樣的帝國衝動。法律上的區別在於，今天世界不能再假裝不知道應如何稱呼這些行徑。
《日內瓦第四公約》第49條禁止對被占領土地上的被保護人員進行個人或大規模強迫轉移和驅逐，無論占領者給出的理由為何。《防止及懲治滅絕種族罪公約》將將兒童從一群體強行轉移到另一群體列為種族滅絕的一部分，其行為具有消滅（全部或部分）某一國家、民族、種族或宗教團體之意圖。《羅馬規約》將驅逐或強迫轉移定義為危害人類罪，並在特定占領情境中亦構成戰爭罪。
因此，國際刑事法院於2023年3月17日對弗拉基米爾普京與瑪麗亞洛沃娃-別洛娃簽發的逮捕令具有跨越時空的重要意義：法院認定他們對從被占領地區非法驅逐和轉移烏克蘭兒童至俄羅斯聯邦的戰爭罪負有責任。
2026年，聯合國關於烏克蘭的獨立國際調查委員會進一步認定，俄羅斯當局犯下反人類罪行，包括驅逐與強迫轉移兒童，以及強迫失蹤。耶魯人道主義研究實驗室已識別出至少210處位於俄羅斯及被占領烏克蘭地區的機構，涉及對烏克蘭兒童的再教育、軍事化、寄養或強製收養；聯合國人權事務高級專員辦事處記錄了占領者當局對視為不忠或不服從烏克蘭平民的轉移與驅逐；人權觀察與國際特赦組織亦描述了對烏克蘭平民的滲透、強製轉移與驅逐至俄羅斯或其非法占領的其他領土。
（圖：Alla與我俄軍襲擊烏克蘭盧茨中心後現場報道??版權所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
曆史上，1944年莫斯科領導的蘇維埃政權目標明確：集體懲罰，消除克裏米亞本土政治實體，將半島改造成更易控製與更俄羅斯化的空間，阻止擁有自身記憶、語言與身份的民族對其土地提出權利主張。
今日，俄羅斯聯邦的目標類似，但其適用對象是被占烏克蘭的整體架構：否認烏克蘭作為一個民族的地位，清空被征服地區中未被同化的人口，轉移兒童與平民，強行施加俄國公民身份、教育、語言、檔案、財產與行政，從而把軍事占領轉化為一種被既成事實化的人口現實。
（圖：Alla與我在烏克蘭特爾諾皮爾市中心報道??版權所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
如果塔拉斯舍甫琴科在《高加索》中已揭示出俄羅斯帝國主義的道德核心：一個口稱文明卻攜帶鐐銬、十字架與大炮的強權；那麽欽吉斯艾特馬托夫在《一日長於一百年》中，則提出了幾近完美的隱喻：俄羅斯對被流放烏克蘭兒童的政策是要鑄就曼庫爾特似的人物：一個記憶被剝奪、對其主人惟命是從的人。
莫斯科對烏克蘭兒童的所作所為正是如此：轉移他們還不夠，還必須讓他們忘記自己來自哪裏。
（圖：Alla與我在烏克蘭利沃夫市中心報道，所有獻給烏克蘭曆史的紀念碑現在均受保護，因為俄軍經常攻擊它們??版權所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
其他國家在類似事件麵前的不作為幾乎總會產生相同後果：侵略者把他國的謹慎解讀為許可。
1938年的慕尼黑讓納粹德國吞並蘇台德地區，以期避免翌年的戰爭；盧旺達與斯雷布雷尼察在國際法記憶中成為未能預防或製止大規模暴行的代名詞。
侵略國在試探世界的容忍閾值。如果驅逐的代價僅是一紙聲明，驅逐便會繼續；如果吞並的代價僅是談判公式，吞並便成先例；如果文化滅絕的代價僅是年度譴責，行刑者便會記住紀念的日程，並在紀念日之外繼續其作為。
（圖：Alla與我在烏克蘭利沃夫報道，烏克蘭郵政的民用物流樞紐遭俄羅斯空襲??版權所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
從二戰至今，侵略戰爭的曆史呈現出反複出現的模式，這一模式並未放過那些勝利的核大國（盡管蘇聯曾與希特勒在《莫洛托夫裏賓特洛甫條約》上結盟）：試圖征服他族、剝奪其土地或抹去其身份的國家，常在戰術上取得勝利，卻在戰略上遭受失敗。
美國於1973年從越南撤軍，代價為難以承受的人道、政治與道德損失。蘇聯於1989年從阿富汗撤軍，這場戰爭助推了蘇聯解體。法國在阿爾及利亞打贏了許多戰役，卻在獨立的政治戰爭中落敗。布拉格之春展示了另一麵：1968年的蘇聯入侵暫時壓製了捷克斯洛伐克的改革，但未能抹去自由的訴求，該訴求在1989年的天鵝絨革命中重現。帝國在坦克開進的那天贏得了局麵，但在社會記起自己是正確的那天卻失去了戰爭。
還可以舉東帝汶的例子：1975年被印度尼西亞入侵並吞並，經過抵抗與國際壓力後於2002年成為主權國家；還有葡萄牙在非洲的殖民地，殖民戰爭加速了裏斯本政權的危機並導致幾內亞比紹、安哥拉、莫桑比克、佛得角和聖多美與普林西比的獨立；還有伊拉克，2003年入侵推翻了一個政權，卻帶來地區性戰略災難；還有2001年後的阿富汗，二十年的西方軍事存在未能在撤軍後留下一個能自存的穩定國家。
曆史上，唯有那些為獨立或擺脫外來統治而鬥爭的武裝衝突，往往被視為開創性勝利：愛爾蘭、阿爾及利亞、反殖民的越南、非洲反對歐洲帝國的鬥爭、東帝汶，以及今日為反抗俄羅斯侵略而鬥爭的烏克蘭。
並非每一場獨立運動都純潔無瑕，也並非每一場解放戰爭都無可指摘，但在為收複家園而戰的人與為奪取他人家園而戰的人之間，存在本質的區別。
（圖：我身後這棟利沃夫民用建築上的標語寫著：我們已經贏了！曆史將產生新的鬥士！我們不過是偉大理念之火中的柴薪版權所有，Giorgio Provinciali）
***
在1546天的戰爭中，我們從前線錄製了250多段視頻，並撰寫了1500多篇文章。
我們盡最大努力從幾乎沒有媒體敢進入的地帶進行真實的一手報道，這意味著我們長期生活在殺傷區。我們承擔風險，但若沒有你們寶貴的支持，我們的聲音將無從傳出。若沒有遠方的勇敢的人們轉發分享我們的文章，它們將無人問津。我們的報道會被忽視，我們的努力將付諸流水。這裏還有大量工作要做，周圍的人們境況同樣艱難。
我們正在更新籌款活動，感謝每一位加入我們、幫助修複俄羅斯破壞的人們。僅靠一家勇敢的報紙為我們每篇文章支付微薄稿酬以維持前線報道極為困難。因此，我們感激所有支持並信任我們使命的善良人們。
哪怕是小小的捐助也有助益。
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