During World War II, many hundreds of thousands of Jewish
refugees found themselves in the eastern areas of the USSR. They
can be divided into three categories: Soviet citizens; new
Soviet citizens from territories annexed by the USSR in 1939 and
1940; and foreign citizens who escaped into Soviet territory,
mainly from the German-occupied parts of Poland between
September 1939 and the summer of 1940. The Soviet authorities
experienced great difficulties in their efforts to resettle
these people in their new surroundings. Shortages of housing,
suitable jobs, food, heating fuel, clothing, and medical
services heavily increased the adversities in the refugees’
daily lives. They were beset by hunger, frequent illness, and
increased mortality. While the central government tried to
ensure that industry and resources would be supplied, the local
authorities saw the refugees as a burden both because their
duties and responsibilities had been subjected to many other
wartime shortages and travails, and because they saw