From Wiki: The British transported the Cossacks to a prison where the Soviets assumed their custody. In the town of Tristach, Austria, there is a memorial commemorating General Helmuth von Pannwitz and soldiers of the XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps who were killed in action or died as POWs. Other repatriations Judenburg, Austria On 1 and 2 June, 18,000 Cossacks were handed over to the Soviets near the town of Judenburg, Austria; of those in custody, some 10 officers and 50–60 Cossacks escaped the guards’ cordon with hand grenades, and hid in a nearby wood.[3] One eyewitness described many of these Cossacks as 'Ukrainians'.[11] Near Graz, Austria The Russian Cossacks of XV SS Cossack Cavalry Corps, stationed in Yugoslavia since 1943, were part of the column headed for Austria that would take part in the Bleiburg repatriations, and they are estimated to have numbered in thousands.[12] Tolstoy quotes a General Alexander telegram, sent to the Combined Chiefs of Staff, noting "50,000 Cossacks including 11.000 women, children and old men".[13] At a location near Graz, British forces repatriated around 40,000 Cossacks to SMERSH.[14] Fort Dix, New Jersey, United States Although repatriations are thought to have occurred only in Europe, it also occurred in the United States at Fort Dix, New Jersey, where 154 people were repatriated to the USSR after the Second World War; three committed suicide in the US, and seven were injured.[15][16]Julius Epstein described the scene: First, they refused to leave their barracks when ordered to do so. The military police then used tear gas, and, half-dazed, the prisoners were driven under heavy guard to the harbor where they were forced to board a Soviet vessel. Here the two hundred immediately started to fight. They fought with their bare hands. They started — with considerable success — to destroy the ship's engines. . . . A sergeant . . . mixed barbiturates into their coffee. Soon, all of the prisoners fell into a deep, coma-like sleep. It was in this condition that the prisoners were brought to another Soviet boat for a speedy return to Stalin's hangmen.[10]
Damn, what a way to go. Freakin SMERSH and Beria and the NKVD and the Black Marias. Lubyanka basement where the bullet holes in the walls tell all. Official statute of SMERSH listed following tasks to be solved by this organization: Counter-intelligence, counter-terrorism, preventing any other activity of foreign intelligence in the Red Army; fighting "anti-Soviet elements" in the Red Army; protection of front line against penetration by spies and "anti-Soviet elements"; investigating traitors, deserters and self-harm in the Red Army; checking military and civil personnel returning from captivity.