Implementation
On February 19, 1951, Abakumov delivered a secret notice to Stalin, detailing plans for the deportations of Jehovah's Witnesses to Tomsk Oblast and Irkutsk Oblast. It said, in particular, that during 1947-1950, 1048 Jehovah's Witnesses leaders and activists had been arrested, 5 underground print houses had been uncovered, and large amounts of printed matter confiscated. The deportees were permitted to take a maximum of 150 kilograms of property; the remaining property was to be confiscated "to cover the obligations of the deportees before the state". Abakumov's notice listed the following planned numbers of deportees:
- Total number: 8576 persons (3048 families), including:
- Ukrainian SSR — 6140 persons (2020 families);
- Byelorussian SSR — 394 persons (153 families);
- Moldavian SSR — 1675 persons (670 families);
- Latvian SSR — 52 persons (27 families);
- Lithuanian SSR — 76 persons (48 families);
- Estonian SSR — 250 persons (130 families).
On March 3, 1951, the USSR Council of Ministers issued the corresponding decree (no. 667-339ss), followed by an order of the Ministry of State Security (no. 00193) of March 5, 1951. On March 24, the Moldavian SSR Council of Ministers issued the decree on the confiscation and selling of the property of the deportees. Operation North started at 4 a.m. on April 1, 1951, and round-ups ended on April 2. The deportees were classified as "special settlers". From the Moldavian SSR, there were 2,617 persons (723 families) deported on the night of March 31 to April 1, 1951. In total, 9,389 persons were deported from the whole country.
Read more about this topic: Operation North