The History and Memory of Cossack’s Emigration in France (1924-1945)

Lydia Kamenoff’s doctoral thesis focuses on the history and memory of the Cossacks in France (1924-1945), an original and central theme to better understand the history of Russian emigration in the twentieth century. Located at the crossroads of military history, social history, the history of anticommunism and memory studies, her Ph.D. thesis aims to provide a better understanding of the first wave of Russian emigration, as well as the history of anti-communism and the West-East clashes that agitated twentieth-century Europe.
The combination of French and American sources will provide the most complete picture possible of the roles and specificities of the Cossacks in emigration to France. Lydia Kamenoff will reconstruct the history and trajectories of the Cossacks who emigrated to France between 1924 and 1945 and examine the manifestations of the ideological struggle of the Cossacks against the Soviets, up to the involvement of some of them in the ranks of the Wehrmacht during the Second World War. 
Finally, her work will provide important answers for the understanding of memory issues, as she will analyze how Cossacks tried to preserve their identity and maintain their memory abroad.