Dissolution
Rogozhin immediately began planning for a surrender of the Corps to the allies, while avoiding capture by partisan or Soviet forces. After a heavy argument with the German command, Rogozhin marched his men (now numbering 4,500) towards Klagenfurt, Austria, with the intent of surrendering to British troops together with the Serbian Volunteer Corps and Slovenian Domobrantsi.
The surrender to the British took place on the 12th of May, 1945, after which Rogozhin said in his daily order
| “ | We with a calm conscience can say that we completely accomplished the duty of the honest Russian soldier. The British commanders have respectfully treated us, as we did not surrender our weapons to those against whom we raised them, - our enemy - the Bolsheviks. With faith in a better future, let us await that moment when the Lord will help us finish our fight for the liberation of our Motherland to victory. | ” |
In reality, Rogozhin faced many difficulties with the British command, largely because of their ties with their Soviet allies who wanted the Corps delivered to them. Immediately after surrender, the Corps created their own camp in Kellerberg, which included an Orthodox church. The camp was unknown to the Soviets until an informer from another former Russian axis unit which was stationed nearby told the Soviet authorities of its location.
A confrontation began between the Corps' officers and Soviet SMERSH agents. Unlike with the Cossacks of Lienz and many veterans of the Russian Liberation Army, the British spared the Corps from forceful repatriation, citing that it was formed of people who did not fall under the classification of "former Soviet citizens" (as per the Yalta agreement). Those members of the Corps who were former Soviet citizens (as well as stray members of other Russian units who fled to the Corps' camp) were given false documents to protect them from repatriation.
On November 1, 1945, Rogozhin officially disbanded the Corps and formed a veteran's union (the Russian Corps Combatants) which was responsible for the safety and coordination of its members. Many Corps members emigrated to the United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina, and several European countries.
The corps veterans created a modified symbol which was formed of a white Russian military opolchenskiy cross, upon which was a black cross of the Corps with the letters "R" and "K" (standing for "Russkiy Korpus") inscribed in white. On the blades of the white cross the years 1917 - 1921 and 1941 - 1945 are marked, signifying respectively the years of the Russian Civil War, and the years of its continuation during the Corps action in Yugoslavia.
A chapel of St. Alexander Nevsky (the patron saint of the Corps, on whose day of memory the Corps was originally founded) was erected in the Novo Deveevo Russian Orthodox convent in Nanuet, New York (USA) in honor of the Russian Corps. Many Corps veterans (including Rogozhin) are buried nearby. The Combatants union began publishing a periodical known as Nashi Vesti (Our News).
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Famous quotes containing the word dissolution:
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—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)