Polish historian expelled from Russia
PR dla Zagranicy
Victoria Bieniek
27.11.2017 08:30
A historian from Poland's Institute of National Remembrance (IPN) has returned to Kraków after being detained by Russia's FSB security service and given 24 hours to leave the country, the IPN has said.
Kremlin. Photo: Wikimedia Commons/alexandergusev.com (CC BY-SA 3.0).
The historian, Henryk Głębocki, who went to Russia earlier in November, had given lectures in St Petersburg on “Operation Poland” – the Soviet secret police operation of 1937-38 in which 111,000 to 200,000 Poles were killed – before he was detained.
“I was detained around midnight on Friday after I returned from St Petersburg to Moscow,” Głębocki said.
“After leaving the train I was detained by a station patrol and led to a room where a group of FSB officers were waiting,” he added.
Głębocki had planned to stay in Russia until 10 December to research the Russian Empire's policy regarding Poles in the 19th century and the Soviet policy on Poland in the 20th century.
According to the IPN, Głębocki's expulsion means he will not be allowed access to Russia's archives.
According to Polish Radio, the expulsion could be a retaliation for Poland's recent expulsion of a Russian citizen, who was accused of “conducting an activity aimed at jeopardizing the interests of the Polish State, initiating hostile hybrid activities and maintaining contacts with special services of the Russian Federation.”
The IPN has called “Operation Poland” “undoubtedly one of the biggest genocide-like crimes in the history of 20th century Europe”. (vb/pk)