&quot;If they thought you really were a threat you were executed rather than being sent to a camp.&quot;<p>True, but the threat of deportation was nonetheless one of the Nomenklatura&#x27;s weapon of choice. Someone&#x27;s death was, even in the aftermath of the WW2 mass carnage, perceived as brutal mean of &quot;solving&quot; problems and could spur further backslash&#x2F;dissidence. Someone&#x27;s separation from their social circle however, was a much more safer method and the perpetrators were able to sleep at night because there could hardly be any retribution for such a thing.