Fluchtwege: Eine Typologie der russischen Emigration der ersten Welle (1917–1940)

“Escape routes: A typology of the Russian emigration of the first wave (1917‒1940)”. This paper presents a typology of experience among former Russian Imperial subjects who found themselves abroad after 1917. The author proposes and describes eight categories: 1) Flight and evacuation; 2) Ethnic minorities; 3) Legal and illegal departure; 4) Optants; 5) Foreign residency; 6) Deportation; 7) Denaturalization (revocation of citizenship); 8) “Non-returnees”. The essay outlines key aspects of the Russian emigration of the first wave: quantitative relations, the reasons for leaving post-revolutionary Russia, the social composition of the émigré community in comparison to the situation in tsarist Russia, the home-comers movement, the reasons for returning to Soviet Russia, the number of the repatriates, the quantitative distribution of the émigré flow over the years.

Keywords: Russian culture; Russian emigration of the first wave; exile; deportation; “Philosophy steamer”; “non-returnees”