PERSPECTIVErnAllied Crimes Against Humanityrnby Anthony HarriganrnThe book cannot be closed on World War II until thernAmerican and British people know the full story of therncrimes their governments committed against anticommunistrnRussians, Yugoslavs, and others who desperately wanted tornavoid Soviet terror and who, nevertheless, were turned over tornStalin’s killer squads—all in violation of American and Britishrntraditions and international law. This dark chapter in the historyrnof the two great democracies must be acknowledged now,rn50 years after the hideous events.rnFor five decades, the cruelties committed against WhiternRussians and other anticommunists have been largely concealedrnfrom public view on both sides of the Atlantic. ForrnAmericans who are justly proud of the accomplishments ofrntheir men at arms, it is appalling to discover that on the ordersrnof the highest officials of the wartime government, terrible crueltiesrnwere committed on American soil and abroad in an effortrnto appease Stalin and his tyrannical communist regime. Muchrnof the horrifying story has remained hidden as a result of thernconfidential classification placed on the story. The same situ-rnAnthony Harrigan is a former president and now counselor ofrnthe U.S. Industrial Council Educational Foundation, and arnresearch fellow of the National Humanities Institute inrnWashington, D.C.rnation prevails in Great Britain.rnTwo writers, Julius Epstein in America and Count NikolairnTolstoy in Britain, have done heroic work in lifting the curtamrnof official secrecy, though much more remains to be disclosed.rnEpstein, for many years a scholar at the Hoover Institution, re-rn’ealed the dark stain on American honor in his pioneering bookrnOperation Keelhaul, published in 1973. Unfortunately, therernhas been little investigative follow-up in the years since then.rnAn exception to the silence in the United States is the first-raternstudy by Mark R. Elliott, Pawns of Yalta: Soviet Refugees andrnAmerica’s Role in Their Repatriation (1982). On the first pagernof his book, Mr. Epstein explains: “Operation Keelhaul is therncode designation the U.S. Armv gave to its own—Top Secretrn—documentary record of the forced repatriation of at leastrntwo million prisoners of war and displaced persons to Stalin’srnhangmen and slave labor camps.”rnThe reality of this vast operation has never been understoodrnby the American people. It was cloaked in secrecy whenrnit began in 1944—even before the Yalta Agreement—and remainsrnlargely unknown today. It was not mentioned at all atrnthe celebrations marking the 50th anniversary of D-Day. Thisrnis understandable, for the facts were hidden from historians andrnjournalists as well as ordinary citizens. The same cover-up hasrntaken place in Great Britain. Indeed, Count Tolstoy believesrn10/CHRONICLESrnrnrn