Miller was brought to the Soviet Union and was interrogated and executed. General , who succeeded Miller as chairman, had to quit the post shortly afterward and was expelled from Bulgaria, where he had resided, since his son was exposed as a Soviet agent. The OGPU′s successful operations against the ROVS, as well as infighting, intrigues, and antagonisms in the wider Russian émigré community, demoralised and rendered impotent an organisation. When World War II began in 1939, it had also become largely irrelevant because of the geopolitical realignment. World War II After the outbreak of the war, the ROVS was virtually paralysed, as the war split the its leadership and membership into two opposing camps between those who advocated war against Germany or for it. General , who assumed the ROVS's presidency in March 1938, was personally pro-German, a stance opposed by such renowned émigré figures like General Anton Denikin. During the war, the ROVS maintained a cautious position of not siding officially with Nazi Germany or the Soviet Union but waiting for the emergence of an independent Russian Liberation Army. However, some members, acting as interpreters, joined the ranks of the Wehrmacht at the early stage of war on the Eastern Front. The reason was the ROVS's quasi-ideology, which was in no small way encapsulated in the idea of irreconcilability, which meant fighting against the Soviet power in any way possible. According to a 1988 oral history interview with Nikita Ivanovich Yovich, "Years passed, gradually people began dying off. In 1986, the most senior man still alive turned out to be Captain Ivanov who lived in Detroit. Captain Ivanov received a communication from Paris saying that as the most senior man he was now obliged to assume the presidency of the R.A.S.U. He was ninety-one. He needed a deputy and I was recommended to him. I received a letter from this Captain Ivanov whom I had never met, an official letter -- 'Dear Nikita Ivanovich, As of such and such a date, I have become the President of the Russian Armed Services Union. I am alone and am requesting your help.' And so I answered the letter, -- 'Dear Captain Ivanov: I was brought up to be a soldier -- that means, never volunteer for duty, but never shirk it.' A week later, I received orders from him, stating that as of such and such a date Lieutenant Nikita