The transformation of historiography on the "punished peoples

The article outlines Russian historiography on one of the most troubled episodes in Soviet history-the deportation of populations on an ethnic basis, sometimes in fact of entire national groups. The topic is sensitive since the impact of this practice has continued to trouble Russian politics in the post-Soviet period, and to an extent also the politics of other Soviet successor states. As a result, it is not surprising that historians writing against the backdrop of contemporary developments have tended to put varying emphases on the deportations and occasionally even to differ regarding the facts.