Soviet repatriation of diaspora Armenians (Nergaght)
Postwar Soviet campaign inviting diaspora Armenians to resettle in Soviet Armenia. About 90,000–100,000 arrived from the Middle East, Europe and the Americas, only to encounter poverty, suspicion and later purges.
| Displaced | 90k 100k |
|---|
Where atlas sources disagree, the range spans the lowest credible to the highest credible estimate. Hover the inline citations above for source-by-source figures.
Account
Background
After the Second World War, Stalin briefly encouraged Armenian repatriation as part of a wider diplomatic posture toward Turkey and Soviet Armenia. Many survivors and descendants of the genocide understood repatriation as return to a homeland.
Movement and contradiction
Between 1946 and 1948 roughly 90,000–100,000 Armenians came to Soviet Armenia from Lebanon, Syria, Iran, Greece, France, the United States and elsewhere. The reality was harsh: housing shortages, linguistic and cultural differences, surveillance and economic hardship. Some repatriates were later deported or repressed.
The repatriation overlapped with the deportation of Azerbaijanis from Soviet Armenia. The relationship should not be simplified as one-for-one replacement everywhere, but Soviet planning clearly connected space, border security and demographic engineering editorial. Nergaght was therefore both homeland return and Stalinist vulnerability.