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|align=left|[[Kiều Mẫn Hoàng]] || {{W|People's Army of Vietnam|North Vietnamese Army}} || {{W|North Vietnam}} || 1967 || Defected to {{W|Australia}} via {{W|Thailand}}
 
|align=left|[[Kiều Mẫn Hoàng]] || {{W|People's Army of Vietnam|North Vietnamese Army}} || {{W|North Vietnam}} || 1967 || Defected to {{W|Australia}} via {{W|Thailand}}
 
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|align=left|[[Zu Qiangsheng]] || {{W|People's Liberation Army Ground Force|PLAGF}} || {{W|China}} || 1969 || Defected to {{W|Japan}}; served in {{W|French Foreign Legion}}
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|align=left|[[Zu Qiangsheng]] || {{W|People's Liberation Army Ground Force|PLAGF}} || {{W|China}} || 1969 || Defected to {{W|Japan}}; served in {{W|French Foreign Legion}} after defecting
 
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|align=left|[[Zoya Rodionova]] || ballet || {{W|Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russia}} || 1970 || Defected on tour in {{W|Republic of Ireland|Ireland}}; settled in {{W|Canada}}
 
|align=left|[[Zoya Rodionova]] || ballet || {{W|Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russia}} || 1970 || Defected on tour in {{W|Republic of Ireland|Ireland}}; settled in {{W|Canada}}

Revision as of 18:04, 25 May 2020

Soon after the formation of the Soviet Union, emigration restrictions were put in place to keep citizens from leaving the various countries of the Soviet Socialist Republics, though some defections still occurred. During and after World War II, similar restrictions were put in place in non-Soviet countries of the Eastern Bloc, which consisted of the Communist states of Central and Eastern Europe (except Communist Yugoslavia) and the People's Republic of Mongolia.

Until 1952, however, the Inner German border between East Germany and West Germany could be easily crossed in most places. Accordingly, before 1961, most of that east–west flow took place between East and West Germany, with over 3.5 million East Germans emigrating to West Germany before 1961. On August 13, 1961, a barbed-wire barrier, which would become the Berlin Wall separating East and West Berlin, was erected by East Germany.

Although international movement was, for the most part, strictly controlled, there was a steady loss through escapees who were able to use ingenious methods to evade frontier security. Numerous notable Eastern Bloc citizens defected to non-Eastern Bloc countries.

The following list of Eastern Bloc defectors contains notable defectors from East Germany, the Soviet Union, Poland, Bulgaria, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Albania before those countries' conversions from Communist states in the early 1990s.

Defections violating emigration restrictions of the Eastern Bloc countries
Defector Profession/
Prominence
Country Year Notes
Kiều Mẫn Hoàng North Vietnamese Army North Vietnam 1967 Defected to Australia via Thailand
Zu Qiangsheng PLAGF China 1969 Defected to Japan; served in French Foreign Legion after defecting
Zoya Rodionova ballet Russia 1970 Defected on tour in Ireland; settled in Canada
Marek Rüütel Soviet Navy Estonia 1970 Abandoned a Soviet frigate in international waters; settled in New Zealand
Mieczysław Fiedorowicz photographer Poland 1971 Fled to Canada after ban on his work
Kolë Thaçi UN representative Albania 1974 Defected to Italy