Soviet Emigre Rights Urged By Karpovich

Political refugees from the Soviet Union should be granted the same legal rights of asylum as those from Spain or any other place, and it is time for the governments of Europe and elsewhere to recognize this right, according to Michael Karpovich, professor of History.

In a statement to the CRIMSON Saturday, Karpovich called for legal action by the victor nations which will allow Russian emigres who have not been found guilty of crimes against their own government to remain safely in the country to which they have fled. This action would probably have to be made by international agreement, he said, and might be a job for the United Nations.

Professor Karpovich, who was First Secretary to the Russian Embassy at Washington under the Kerensky Provisional Government of 1917, pointed out that there are thousands of Russian emigres in Europe today, most of them workers and peasants. Many of them left the Soviet Union because they found that they could live more comfortably in France, or even in parts of occupied Germany, while others refused to return because of the alleged lack of personal liberty under the Soviet regime.

"With the great amount of reconstruction work that must be done all over Europe, these people could probably find work wherever they might go," he said. Among the refugees are many skilled craftsmen and engineers, who would be invaluable in these jobs, he added.

Appeal to American Sympathy

In a recent letter to the New York Times, Karpovich and Alexander Kerensky, called for a general recognition by the American people of the plight of Russian emigres, and released an appeal which they had received from a group of refugees now in Europe.

"It would seem obvious that these political emigres, for whom return to the Soviet Union would mean extermination, are entitled to sympathy, support, and protection on the part of the democratic world," the letter said.