Soviet's in Manchuria Part 2

     The criminal activities of Soviet soldiers in Harbin began immediately upon their entry into the city.  However, the terror of Soviet occupation of Harbin was only just beginning with criminal activity of its soldiers.  Within days of their occupation of the city, the Soviet intelligence units began scouring the city and "interviewing" all of the Russian speaking residents.  The Soviets had detailed lists of everyone, lists that were supplied by their informers who had been in Harbin since the first wave of escapees from the Bolsheviks arrived shortly after 1918.  These informers, known as "stukachi" were either those who were coerced into becoming Soviet snitches or were in fact communists who believed in the Soviet system.  There certainly was no shortage of  stukachi in Harbin and some used the opportunity to carry out personal grudges that they held against others.  The Soviets did not miss anyone, they saw everybody who was Russian or Russian Korean (uhl mao zeh), anyone who came from Russia.
     The initial "interviews" were very cordial, seemingly very innocuous in nature.  Then, a few days to perhaps even weeks later, another crew would show up at the house.  This time they would not be so friendly, and usually they were not members of intelligence unit, but rather just some military police affiliated soldiers.  They were rough, vicious at times, and dragged off people who were usually never seen or heard from again.  Three possibilities existed when people were hauled off like that.  One, they were shortly simply shot and dumped in a common grave.  Two, they were put in prison before a decision was made to shoot the individual or send them off to Siberia, and three, they would be simply sent off to a Gulag for slave labor.  Once the Soviets started hauling away people, true terror set in among Harbin's Russian speakers.  There was no place to run, and no one knew what was going to happen next.  Anyone who had any affiliation or contact with the Japanese was arrested.  Anyone who was even suspected of having affiliation or contact with the Japanese was arrested as well.  Many were simply at the mercy of the numerous stukachi who carried out personal grudges by accusing individuals of crimes against the Soviet Union.  If a stukatch said you collaborated with the Japanese, you were gone!  There was no opportunity to prove otherwise.
     The first year of Soviet occupation, the first six months, was a period of reign of terror.  No one knew what was going to happen next.  No one knew if they would be found guilty by the Soviets of some crime against the Soviet Union or if a stukach decided to point a finger in their direction.  It was a terrible time for Russians and Russian Koreans in Harbin.  Finally, things seem to settle down a bit.  The Soviet appeared to have arrested and hauled off all of the people that they thought were "guilty."  The remaining population of Russians and Russian Koreans gave a sigh of relief.  Finally, the reign of terror was over, or so they thought.