General Vlasov and Roa. Path of the Traitor

Andrey Andreevich Vlasov was born in 1900. He studied at theological school and seminary. Then came the revolution, conscription into the Red Army and battles on the fronts of the Civil War. Vlasov took part in campaigns and battles with Wrangel and against the bands of Makhno, Maslak, Kamenyuk, Popov and others. He completed courses for command personnel, quickly became an officer, battalion, regiment commander... In his autobiography, he wrote: “Since July 1937. commanded the 215th Infantry Regiment, from November

1937 commanded the 133rd Infantry Regiment until May 1938, from May

1938 - Head of the 2nd department of the headquarters of the Kyiv Special Military District until September 1938. From September 1938, he was appointed commander of the 72nd Infantry Division of the Kyiv Special Military District and was sent on a government trip on instructions from the party and government, which he completed in December 1939 Since January 1940 I have commanded the 99th Infantry Division of KOVO.”

And the secret government trip was to China, to help the government of Chiang Kai-shek.

In November 1941 A.A. Vlasov was appointed commander of the 20th Army of the Western Front. This was a critical time in the fighting near Moscow - the enemy approached the capital at a distance of about 25 km. Following the results of the hostilities near Moscow, A.A. Vlasov was awarded the Order of Lenin by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR on February 22, 1942; even earlier, in January, he was awarded the military rank of lieutenant general, and on January 14, 1942, his photo was published in all central newspapers among the most distinguished military leaders in the defense of Moscow.

March 9, 1942 Lieutenant General A.A. Vlasov arrived at the disposal of the commander of the Volkhov Front as a deputy. The 2nd Shock Army separated from the main forces of the Soviet troops and went deeper into the Simovsky swamps. The Germans surrounded her with a ring.

The army commander fought to the end and shared all the hardships with his soldiers. But he could not prevent the collapse of the 2nd Shock Army.

When there was no longer any doubt about the hopelessness of the situation, several planes landed at the headquarters of the 2nd Shock Army to take out the general and his headquarters. Vlasov refused to fly: he wanted to stay with his soldiers to the end, to fight and die with them. The thought of suicide was alien to him.

But fate decreed otherwise. He survived.

When almost all parts of his army were destroyed, Vlasov with a small battle group retreated into the wilds of swampy forests. But soon this group also died, with the exception of a few people. For several more weeks, Vlasov, without insignia on his uniform, hid in the Volkhov forests, entering villages at night and receiving some bread from the peasants.

Then, obviously, the decision matured in him to try his luck once again. Neither he nor anyone else doubted that Stalin’s henchmen had already prepared a death sentence. In those years, Soviet military doctrine denied the very idea that a Soviet soldier could be captured. Anyone who committed this in a conscious or unconscious state was a priori considered a traitor and traitor to the Motherland. The soldiers were persistently instilled with the idea of ​​the legality and even necessity of suicide in case of injury or capture.

During interrogation, Vlasov explained to the Germans that he surrendered due to the incompetence of the leadership of the USSR Armed Forces, the erosion of his abilities, his disagreement with the methods of leading the country and the established political system in the Union. According to Vlasov, in order to achieve victory over Stalin, it was necessary to use Russian prisoners of war in the fight against the Red Army. On the ruins of the Soviet Union, a new Russian statehood could then emerge, which, in close alliance with Germany and under its leadership, would participate in the transformation of Europe.

Vlasov proposed establishing contacts with high-ranking military leaders of the Red Army and major figures in the Soviet government, whom he considered like-minded people. The creation of the Russian Liberation Army in the Wehrmacht troops during the Great Patriotic War was not unexpected for representatives of the Russian emigration and many foreign countries.

With the beginning of the war, the German command did not object to the creation of Russian volunteer units and formations, but as part of German units and formations.

While captured by the Germans, Vlasov quickly understood the situation and began to persistently propose to the Germans to create a Russian Liberation Army on the basis of already existing volunteer formations. After some time, he received agreement in principle.

To select officers and soldiers in prisoner-of-war camps, 10 special commissions were created, which began to intensively engage in recruitment. Vlasov managed to form two divisions.

At the end of the winter of 1944-1945, the ROA numbered approximately 50 thousand people.

In 1945, ROA units defended Prague. In fact, Vlasov was desperately trying to contact the allies and transfer power over the city to them. The Allied command was aware of the need to occupy the city before the Soviet troops. On May 5, leaflets were scattered over Prague that power was being transferred to the Americans, who would be in the city during the day. This served as a signal for the beginning of the Prague Uprising. By the evening of May 7, the Vlasovites actually took control of all transport communications, bridges leading to the West, and railways.

A message was also broadcast on the radio that delegates of the Czech National Council had been summoned to the Vlasov headquarters for negotiations. However, this was not true. The Council, resolutely opposing any negotiations with the ROA, made a special statement that “it has no relations with the Vlasovites.” In the middle of the day on May 7, the Nazis broke into the city center. In Prague, the massacre of the rebels began. Vlasov sent a telegram to the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union Konev: “I can hit the Germans in the rear,” but received no response. Alarmed by the events, Churchill insisted that the Americans enter Prague as quickly as possible. But Eisenhower did not make a decision.

On the evening of May 7, the Vlasovites had no doubt that the city would be occupied by Soviet troops. At 11 p.m., Vlasov’s deputy, General Bunyachenko, gave the order for the first ROA division to leave Prague.

On the night of May 9, after an eighty-kilometer tank throw from the north, Soviet troops reached the city. By 10 o'clock in the morning Prague was liberated. On May 10, the Czech National Council transferred power to the National Front government.

Columns of the Vlasov army went to the West. However, many of them (including Vlasov himself and several people from his headquarters) were handed over to the Soviet command.

The trial was held secretly under the chairmanship of the well-known Colonel General of Justice V.V. Ulrich (Chairman of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR).

On August 26, 1946, a message from the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR was published in central newspapers:

“The other day, the All-Russian Military Commission of the USSR considered the case against Vlasov A.A., Malyshkin V.F., Zhilenkov G.N., Trukhin F.I., Zakutny D.E., Blagoveshchensky I.A., Meandrov M.A. , Maltseva V.I., Bunyachenko S.K., Zvereva G.A., Korbukova V.D. and Shatova N.S. in treason and the fact that they, being agents of German intelligence, carried out active espionage, sabotage and terrorist activities against the Soviet Union, i.e. in crimes provided for in Art. Art. 58-1 "b", 58-8, 58-9, 58-10 and 58-N of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR.

All defendants pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them.

In accordance with paragraph 1 of the Decree of the OGVS of the USSR dated April 19, 1943, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR sentenced the accused... to death by hanging.

The sentence has been carried out."

On September 14, 1901, Andrei Vlasov was born in one of the villages of the Nizhny Novgorod province. He was destined to become the most scandalous military leader in Soviet history. The general’s very name became a household word, and every Soviet citizen who served with the Germans began to be called a Vlasovite.

Little is known about the early period of the life of the future general. Andrey Vlasov was born in a Nizhny Novgorod village in 1901. His father, according to some sources, was a non-commissioned officer of long-term service. According to others, he was an ordinary peasant. There were 13 children in the family, Andrei was the youngest of them. Nevertheless, with the help of his older brothers, he managed to study at the Nizhny Novgorod Seminary. Then Vlasov studied at a local university to become an agronomist, but completed only one course. The Civil War flared up, and his education was interrupted by mobilization in the Red Army. This is how his army career began.

In the Red Army, which lacked literate and educated people, Vlasov quickly worked his way up to company commander, and then was transferred to staff work. He headed the regimental headquarters, then headed the regimental school. He joined the party relatively late, only in 1930.

Vlasov was in good standing and was considered a competent commander. It is no coincidence that he was sent to China in the late 30s as part of a group of military advisers to Chiang Kai-shek. Moreover, for several months, Vlasov was considered the main military adviser to the Chinese leader. At the end of 1939, he was recalled to the USSR and appointed commander of the 99th division.

There Vlasov again proved himself to be the best. In just a few months, he managed to restore such order that, based on the results of the exercises, it was recognized as the best in the Kiev Military District and was especially noted by the highest authorities.

Vlasov also did not go unnoticed and was promoted to commander of the mechanized corps, and also received the Order of Lenin. The corps was stationed in the Lvov area and was one of the first Soviet units to enter into hostilities with the Germans.

He proved himself well in the first battles, and within a month Vlasov was promoted again. He was urgently transferred to Kyiv to command the 37th Army. It was formed from the remnants of units retreating from the west of the Ukrainian SSR, and the main task was to prevent the Germans from occupying Kyiv.

The defense of Kyiv ended in disaster. There were several armies in the cauldron. However, Vlasov managed to prove himself here too; units of the 37th Army were able to break through the encirclement and reach the Soviet troops.

The general is recalled to Moscow, where he is entrusted with command of the 20th Army in the most important direction of the German attack - Moscow. Vlasov did not disappoint again; during the German offensive, the army managed to stop Hoepner’s 4th Panzer Group at Krasnaya Polyana. And then go on the offensive, liberate Volokolamsk and go to Gzhatsk.

Lieutenant General Vlasov became a celebrity. His portrait, along with several other military leaders, was published on the front pages of major Soviet newspapers as the most distinguished in the defense of Moscow.

Doomed to Captivity

However, this popularity also had a downside. Vlasov began to be perceived as a lifesaver, which ultimately led to an inglorious end. In the spring of 1942, the 2nd Shock Army penetrated the German defenses, occupying the Lyuban ledge. It was planned to be used as a springboard for a further attack on Leningrad. However, the Germans took advantage of favorable conditions and closed the encirclement in the Myasny Bor area. Supplying the army became impossible. Headquarters ordered the army to retreat. In the Myasny Bor area, they managed to briefly break through a corridor through which several units emerged, but then the Germans closed it again.

Vlasov at that time held the post of deputy commander of the Volkhov Front of Meretskov and, as part of a military commission, was sent to the army location to assess the situation on the spot. The situation in the army was very difficult, there was no food, no ammunition, and there was no way to organize its supply. In addition, the army suffered very heavy losses in the battles. In fact, the 2nd strike was doomed.

By this time, the commander of the army, Klykov, had become seriously ill, and he had to be evacuated to the rear by plane. The question arose about a new commander. Vlasov proposed to Meretskov the candidacy of Vinogradov as chief of staff of the army. He himself did not want to take responsibility for the dying army. However, Meretskov appointed him. In this case, his track record played against Vlasov. He already had successful experience in breaking through encirclement, and also proved himself well near Moscow. If anyone could save a dying army, it would only be a person with such experience.

However, the miracle did not happen. Until the end of June, with the support of the 59th Army, desperate attempts were made to break out of the encirclement. On June 22, they managed to break through a 400-meter corridor for several hours, along which some of the wounded were carried out, but the Germans soon closed it.

On June 24, a last, desperate attempt to break through was made. The situation was very difficult, the army had been starving for a long time, the soldiers ate all their horses and their own belts and still died from exhaustion, there were no more artillery shells left, there was almost no equipment. The Germans, in turn, conducted hurricane shelling. After a failed breakout attempt, Vlasov gave the order to escape as best he could. Break up into small groups of 3-5 people and try to sneak out of the encirclement.

What happened to Vlasov in the following weeks has not yet been established and is unlikely to ever become known. Most likely, he was trying to get to the reserve command post, where food was stored. Along the way, he visited villages, introducing himself as a village teacher and asking for food. On July 11, in the village of Tuchovezhi, he entered a house, which turned out to be the house of the village headman, who immediately handed over the uninvited guests to the Germans. Having set the table for them in the bathhouse, he locked them and informed the Germans about it. Soon their patrol detained the general. Some sources contain claims that Vlasov deliberately intended to surrender to the Germans, but this is somewhat doubtful. To do this, there was no need to wander through the forests for two and a half weeks, hiding from patrols.

Captured

Smolensk Appeal"

Smolensk Appeal", in which Vlasov called for people to come over to his side in order to build a new Russia. It even contained some political points such as the abolition of collective farms. The German leadership approved the appeal, but considered it as a purely propaganda action. They wrote about it in the newspapers, and there were also Leaflets were printed in Russian to be dropped into Soviet territories.

The party leadership was completely indifferent to Vlasov. Hitler and Himmler had nothing to do with the captured general; they were not interested in him. Vlasov’s main lobbyists were the military, who may have seen Vlasov as a potential leader of the future puppet government, if there was such a thing. On the initiative of Field Marshals von Kluge and von Küchler, Vlasov made several trips to Army Group North and Center in the winter and spring of 1943. He not only met with prominent German military leaders, but also spoke to local residents in the occupied territories and gave several interviews to collaborationist newspapers.

However, the party did not like the fact that the military was playing their game and trying to enter their territory. The Russian Committee was dissolved, Vlasov was temporarily banned from speaking publicly, and the military was reprimanded. The Nazi Party had no desire to turn Vlasov into anything more than a propaganda phantom.

Meanwhile, Vlasov’s activities became known in the USSR. Stalin was so indignant that he personally edited the newspaper article “Who is Vlasov?” This article reported that Vlasov was an active Trotskyist who planned to sell Siberia to the Japanese, but was exposed in time. Unfortunately, the party took pity on Vlasov and forgave him, allowing him to lead the army. But as it turned out, even in the first days of the war, he was recruited by the Germans, and then returned to Moscow, showed himself well for some time in order to avoid suspicion, and then deliberately led the army into encirclement and finally defected to the Germans.

Vlasov found himself in a difficult situation. In Moscow they had already learned about his activities, but in Germany he found himself in limbo. The party leadership, including Hitler, did not want to hear about the creation of a separate army, which the military sought. When Field Marshal Keitel tried to probe the waters, Hitler made it clear that he would not allow it to go beyond ordinary propaganda actions.

For the next year and a half, Vlasov became a party animal. Patrons organized meetings for him with prominent figures who looked at the “Russian question” not as radically as the leaders. In the hope that, having secured their support, it would be possible to influence Hitler and Himmler at least indirectly, Vlasov was even arranged to marry the widow of an SS man.

But all that his patrons managed to achieve was the creation of a “school of propagandists” in Dabendorf. The party did not give permission for more.

Russian Liberation Army

Khivi" right down to the village police who had nothing to do with the ROA.

However, at the beginning and middle of the war, the Germans created small detachments (usually the size of a company/battalion and very rarely a regiment), the so-called. eastern battalions/companies, which were often involved in anti-partisan operations. A significant part of their personnel was later transferred to the ROA. For example, the former Soviet commissar Zhilenkov, before coming to Vlasov, held a prominent position in the RNNA - the Russian National People's Army, numbering several thousand people. Which just acted against the partisans in the occupied territories.

For some time, the RNNA was commanded by the former Soviet colonel Boyarsky, who later also became a person close to Vlasov. Most often, eastern battalions and companies were part of German divisions, under which they were created and controlled by German officers. The personnel of these units sometimes wore cockades and stripes later used by the ROA, which creates additional confusion. However, these units, which appeared even when Vlasov was a Soviet general, were subordinate to the Germans and Vlasov had no influence on them.

the same Bolsheviks, only against collective farms." Thus, we can sum up this confusing issue. The ROA did not operate in the occupied Soviet territories, but part of the personnel of this army had previously served in the German eastern battalions in Soviet territories.

The combat path of the newly formed army turned out to be very short. During the five months of its existence, ROA units took part in battles with Soviet troops only twice. Moreover, in the first case, this participation was extremely limited. In February 1945, three platoons of volunteers from the Dabendorf school took part in the battle on the side of the Germans with the 230th division of the Red Army.

And in early April, the 1st ROA Division fought alongside the Germans in the Fürstenberg area. After this, all ROA units were withdrawn to the rear. Even in the face of the inevitable end, the Nazi leadership did not have much confidence in the newly-made allies.

By and large, the ROA remained a propaganda force and not a real fighting force. One combat-ready division, which took part in hostilities only once, could hardly have had any influence on the course of the war other than propaganda.

Arrest and execution

Vlasov hoped to reach the location of the Americans, since he expected a new world war between the USSR and the USA. But he never managed to reach them. On May 12, 1945, he was arrested by a Soviet patrol following a tip. However, the Americans would still have extradited him to the USSR. Firstly, he was a symbolic and familiar figure. Secondly, the ROA was not a significant force militarily, so it would not even be considered by the Americans as a potential ally in the event of a new war. Thirdly, an agreement on the extradition of Soviet citizens was reached at a conference of allies; only a few managed to avoid this extradition.

Vlasov and all his associates from among Soviet citizens were taken to Moscow. Initially, it was planned to hold an open trial, but Abakumov, who oversaw it, was afraid that the leak of the defendants’ views would cause some undesirable consequences in society, and proposed to sort it out quietly. In the end, it was decided to hold a closed trial without any publications in the press. The final decision was made by the Politburo. Instead of an open trial of the traitors, on August 2, 1946, a meager note was given in Soviet newspapers that the day before, by a verdict of a Soviet court, Vlasov and his closest associates had been found guilty of high treason and executed.

General Vlasov – a traitor to the Motherland or a fighter against socialism? We will answer this question in this article, based on facts and historical documents.

I'll tell you the truth about you,

which is worse than any lie.

A.S.Griboyedov

In our critical time, the opportunity has arisen to re-evaluate the recent tragic events of Russian history. Previously, they were presented from the point of view of historical materialism, when the interests of the then dominant CPSU were put in first place. Now a number of studies have appeared that go to the other extreme, assessing historical processes from the point of view of boundless liberalism.

The attention of liberal researchers is attracted by the figure of Lieutenant General Andrei Andreevich Vlasov. It is alleged that Vlasov betrayed his oath in order to fight for a free Russia, against socialist Russia, and this idea is so attractive that it justified his fight and he can be considered a hero.

We will try to cover this issue to the best of our ability, based on facts and published documents.

“On the thirteenth day of deliberately starving people, the Germans drove a wounded horse into the camp. And a huge crowd of prisoners rushed to the unfortunate animal, opening knives and razors as they went, hastily rummaging in their pockets for anything sharp that could cut or tear the moving meat. At the resulting giant pile of people, two towers opened machine-gun fire. Perhaps this was the first time in the entire war that the Nazis used ammunition so beautifully and economically. Not a single amazingly luminous bullet whistled as it went over the heads of the prisoners! And when the people fled to the barracks, in the place where five minutes ago the nag was still hobbling on three legs, there lay a pile of bloody, still warm bones and around them about a hundred people killed, crushed, wounded ... "

Soviet soldiers who were captured found themselves in monstrous conditions that exceeded the limits of human strength. Among the many prisoners there were those who could not stand this suffering and, having received an offer to put on a German uniform and receive a hearty ration of a German soldier, agreed to cooperate with the Nazis. Some committed outright treason voluntarily, out of conviction, wanting to take revenge on the Bolsheviks for their atrocities during the Civil War, collectivization, and mass repressions. There were also those who betrayed their Motherland out of cowardice, justifying their base act with some plausible pretexts. Of course, a person is free to revise his beliefs, but it is a completely different matter to change his beliefs to save his life.

These latter included Lieutenant General Vlasov. The army he commanded was surrounded, and he himself surrendered in July 1942. Once captured, General Vlasov changed his communist beliefs to Nazi ones. However, for comparison we can recall, for example, Lieutenant General Karbyshev. He, like Vlasov, was captured, but, unlike him, he did not surrender, but was captured because he was seriously wounded in battle. For refusing to cooperate with the Nazis, General Karbyshev was tortured to death. We can also recall Lieutenant General Denikin, who also received an offer of cooperation. Well aware that he was living in a time when, in the words of the famous philosopher Ivan Ilyin, “word became deed, and deed became death,” he responded with a decisive refusal. And when asked why he did not want to serve the Germans, he answered with military brevity and firmness: “General Denikin served and serves only Russia. He has not served a foreign state and will not serve.”

Of course, it is difficult for us, who are in completely different conditions, to objectively judge what happened in those distant and tragic times. But we can look at the events through the eyes of those directly involved. Here is a fragment from the memoirs of Vasily Ivanovich Kamardin, recorded by his son:

“My father was in captivity in Germany and spoke about his camp life like this: At first they had a good boss, a caring one. So caring that every morning without a break he came to the barracks with guards and soldiers and, in order to speed up the rise, laid the prisoners on long tables along the barracks and ordered them to be flogged until they bled. Traces of this “caring” remained on my father’s body for the rest of his life. When, after the war, my father and I went to the bathhouse, I saw scars on his back and buttocks from torn out pieces of meat.

In another camp the chief was “very good.” He felt sorry for them and did not beat anyone. Only once a week, on Sundays, did he line everyone up on the parade ground and order them to pay off the first through the seventh. Every seventh person was immediately shot. My father often had to be sixth. From such a “good life” and even “good food” (and the food was only rutabaga and pieces of coal-black bread), the father was ready to die, as he began to walk with nothing but blood.

Many of his comrades could not stand it and committed suicide. There was not a single rise, my father recalled, when someone, or even several, were not immediately found hanging on hooks, which the “benefactors” of the Germans had driven into the walls of the barracks especially for this purpose. Everyone had the opportunity to hang themselves without further bothering the “caring” owners. But my father firmly knew that suicide is a mortal sin, and, surrendering himself to the will of God, he endured everything to the end.

Many times, when lining up on the parade ground, representatives of the Russian Liberation Army (ROA) invited them to join its ranks, promising all the benefits if only they would go kill their brothers. "God bless! - as my father recalled, - almost no one ever went out of order. Despite the unbearable life, there were only a few Judas.”

Vlasov wrote about his communist beliefs in 1940 in his autobiography.

“Autobiography of brigade commander Andrei Andreevich Vlasov.

... In the period 1928-1929. He graduated from the tactical rifle courses for improving the command staff of the Red Army "Vystrel" in Moscow, in 1934-1935. graduated from the 1st year of the Military Evening Academy of the Red Army in the Leningrad branch.

In the Red Army he was awarded the medal “XX Years of the Red Army” No. 012543 and various personal personalized gifts. For a government trip he was nominated for the Order of the USSR.

He did not serve in the old tsarist army or the white army; he did not live in captivity or in territory occupied by whites.

He joined the CPSU(b) in 1930 and was accepted by the divisional party organization of the 9th Don Rifle Division. Party card No. 0471565. He carried out mass propaganda work and was repeatedly elected as a member of the party bureau of the school and regiment. He was the editor of the school newspaper. He always took an active part in public work. He was elected a member of the district military tribunal, a member of the Presidium of regional organizations of Osoaviakhim and a friend.

He had no party penalties. I was never a member of other parties or oppositions and never took part in any way. I had no hesitation. He always stood firmly on the general line of the party and always fought for it.

He was never prosecuted by the Soviet authorities. I haven't been abroad.

Commander of the 99th Infantry Division

brigade commander VLASOV

The first thing that attracts attention is Vlasov’s low professional training. A general whose army was captured cannot be called a skilled commander. This is also evidenced by the testimony of Soviet commanders who had to fight under his command. The passage below talks about the events that took place in the early winter of 1942 during the counter-offensive of Soviet troops near Moscow.

“I also remember Wednesday because here I had a clash with the commander of the 20th Army, Vlasov. We had information that large enemy forces were concentrated in Sereda, and it was well prepared for long-term defense (especially in the eastern part along the Mutnya River). All around her lay open, waist-deep snow-covered terrain. In addition, our scouts discovered that a column of enemy infantry was moving towards Sereda from the direction of Knyazhi Gory station. In the event of a protracted battle, these reinforcements could fall on the right flank of the group. I reported the situation and my decision to army headquarters: bypass the Sereda resistance node and continue to develop the offensive towards Gzhatsk. Vlasov's answer was received very quickly: he ordered an attack on the enemy defending Sereda with a strike from the north along the highway and, having captured it, hold it with part of the forces until the infantry approaches, while the main forces continue the offensive.

An attack on the “front” of a well-organized defense, and even through an open area waist-deep in snow, was too risky. We would have to overcome a zone of dense barrage fire, suffering unjustified losses. And the situation was such that in order to carry out this order, part of the forces had to be returned back. I had no choice but to carry out the tasks previously assigned to the units. The offensive developed successfully. The battle for Krasnoye Selo with the crossing of Ruza has just ended. During it, further tasks for the units and formations were clarified, and they, without delay, continued to build on their success. The 3rd Guards Cavalry Division moved around Sereda from the northwest, the 20th Division from the southwest. General Vlasov again called me to the radio and demanded to report on how his order was being carried out. I confirmed my decision and tried to reasonably prove its expediency. The reaction, as one might expect, was very violent. Vlasov ordered to report to him at the agreed time that Sereda had been taken “head-on” from the north along the highway. I didn't answer and hung up. He immediately called again, but I ordered the signalman to answer that the corps commander had already left for the troops to organize a head-on attack on Sereda along the highway. This kind of military stratagem helped in relations with Vlasov. After all, otherwise he could have sent one of his deputies, and then the Cossacks would have had to climb through the snowdrifts into the dense, well-organized fire of the enemy.” According to Pliev’s plan, the village of Sereda was surrounded and taken without unnecessary losses.

In fairness, it should be noted that during that period of the war, such harsh methods of command were used not only by General Vlasov, but also by some other commanders. General A.V. recalls this. Gorbatov: “In that situation, it was natural for the division commander to choose targets for private operations, to determine the strength of the detachment and the time for an attack using surprise. In such cases, the enemy usually had losses two, three, or even four times greater than ours. It’s another matter when they write everything down to you from afar and order you to capture on January 17 - Maslova Pristan, on January 19 - Bezlyudovka, on January 24 - Arkhangelskoye, etc., indicating the hour of attack, the forces will be determined (and, moreover, not corresponding to either the task or yours) possibilities). In these cases, the result was almost always the same: we were unsuccessful and suffered losses two to three times greater than the enemy.

Particularly incomprehensible to me were the persistent orders - despite failure, to attack again, moreover, from the same starting position, in the same direction for several days in a row, to attack, without taking into account that the enemy had already strengthened this sector. Many, many times in such cases my heart bled... But this was a whole stage of the war, during which many of our commanders learned how to fight and, therefore, how not to fight. The slowness with which this science was assimilated - no matter how graphic the bloody examples were - was the result of the general pre-war conditions in which the thinking of the commanders developed.”

A prominent domestic specialist in the field of military ethics, psychology and philosophy A.A. Kersnovsky, analyzing the behavior of a commander who found himself in a difficult situation with his troops, cites General Klyuev as a negative example. During the First World War, the corps entrusted to him was surrounded during the East Prussian operation. General Klyuev “surrendered, completely unaware of what he was doing, how the enemy’s spirit would increase and our own would decrease at the news of the surrender of such an important person as the corps commander. He knew that he commanded a corps, but he never suspected that he was still has the honor to command. The higher the official position, the greater this honor. And the corps commander - at whose appearance tens of thousands of people freeze, abandon their own self, who can order forty thousand to go to their deaths - must be especially aware of this honor and pay for it, when necessary - pay without flinching. ... It is easier for the homeland to endure the death of a corps or squadron in a fair battle than their surrender to the enemy.”

What a strong negative impact the betrayal of General Vlasov had on his former subordinates at the height of the Battle of Stalingrad can be seen from the memoirs of Professor-Archpriest Gleb Kaleda, at that time an ordinary soldier in the Red Army.

“The Battle of Stalingrad... A terrible tension of forces on both sides. The constant smell of corpses, penetrating into all the cracks, had a strong effect on the psyche. For a month and a half, warehouses burned in the city, and the sky was covered with black clouds of smoke. Rivers of fuel oil flowed through the streets; The dugout of the commander of the 62nd Army, General Chuikov, flooded.

When carrying out the order to drive the Germans out of the market area, we were assigned to the 99th Infantry Division, which was commanded by General Vlasov before the war. This division was one of the best in the Red Army, holding the People's Commissar's challenge banner. The officers proudly told us: “We are Vlasovites!” The battles for the market began on September 21, we were supported by a tank brigade, but in three days we crawled only 800 meters, having at the beginning of the fighting the pre-war complement: 800 bayonets in the battalion. Every night the division received reinforcements, and by the end of the third day the battalions had an average of only 200 bayonets left, and more people died than the original composition of the battalion. The Germans fought heroically, they literally grabbed our tanks with their hands and smashed petrol bottles against them. Our sacrifices did not help: the right flank fell behind and did not crawl these 800 meters, the Germans attacked it, and in three hours we surrendered these blood-stained meters and retreated...

We were tormented by German aviation: 28 raids a day with ten bombers and one hundred bombers. The first raid is nothing, the second is worse, the third is a hassle, and then the nerves just give way. The psychological impact is strong: it seems that the plane is flying straight at you, the pilot turns on the siren, shells and bombs are flying...

The next day they waited for a new order. I wandered across the steppe and picked up a leaflet, fortunately I was alone: ​​it was forbidden to read leaflets. I read: “To the soldiers and commanders of the 99th Infantry Division.” I turn and look at the signature: “Former commander of the 99th Infantry Division, Lieutenant General Vlasov. The leaflet said: I fought, was surrounded, then I realized that military resistance was pointless and gave the order to lay down my arms. Long days of reflection led to the conclusion: the Red Army cannot win, because the army must have unity of command, and all commanders are tied hand and foot by commissars and government officials who know nothing about military affairs. But the Russian people have the strength to free themselves, there is a volunteer army, it is necessary to conclude an honorable peace with the Germans and cooperate with them. In conclusion it was said: “Post-war Russia must be without the Bolsheviks and without the Germans.” Naturally, after such a leaflet, the commanders of the 99th division were no longer proud of the fact that they were Vlasov’s students.”

The second thing I would like to draw your attention to when studying Vlasov’s autobiography is that he joined the ranks of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) in 1930 and “was never a member of other parties or oppositions anywhere and did not take any part. I had no hesitation. He always stood firmly on the general line of the party and always fought for it.” The fact that, indeed, Vlasov “had no hesitations” and always fought for the general line of the party is evidenced by his election to a member of the military tribunal of the Kyiv Special Military District. Military tribunals were punitive bodies with the help of which a significant part of the career officers and military leaders of the Red Army were destroyed before the war. In addition, by convicting a superior officer, a member of a military tribunal ensured rapid career growth. According to Vlasov’s biographer A. Kolesnik, in 1937-1938 Vlasov “was a member of the military tribunal in the Leningrad and Kiev military districts. Getting acquainted with his activities in this role, it was not possible to find a single acquittal pronounced on his initiative.” This is the third thing Vlasov’s autobiography talks about.

Just a few weeks after the surrender, the following document was signed by Vlasov: “The officer corps of the Soviet Army, especially captured officers who can freely exchange thoughts, are faced with the question: how can Stalin’s government be overthrown and a new one created? Russia? All are united by the desire to overthrow Stalin's government and change the state form. The question is: who exactly should we join - Germany, England or the United States? The main task - the overthrow of the government - suggests that one should join Germany, which has declared the fight against the existing government and regime as the goal of war.

I have come to the firm conviction that the tasks facing the Russian people can be resolved in alliance and cooperation with the German people. The interests of the Russian people have always been combined with the interests of the German people, with the interests of all the peoples of Europe. In alliance and cooperation with Germany, he must build a new happy Motherland within the framework of a family of equal and free peoples of Europe.

We consider it our duty to our people and to the Fuhrer, who proclaimed the idea of ​​​​creating a new Europe, to bring the above to the attention of the high command and thereby contribute to the implementation of the mentioned idea.

Former commander of the 2nd Army, Lieutenant General Vlasov

Former commander of the 41st Infantry Division, Colonel Boyarsky."

The document, drawn up in Vinnitsa on August 8, 1942, when Germany was at the zenith of its military successes, aims to cast a shadow over the entire officer corps of the Red Army, which supposedly faces “the question: how can Stalin’s government be overthrown and a new Russia created?” In addition, the document indicates that Vlasov sided with a stronger master, the Fuhrer, and began to consider it his duty to serve Hitler, leaving his former “Master,” as he himself called him. This is what he wrote to his wife, Anna Mikhailovna Vlasova, on February 14, 1942 during our counteroffensive near Moscow: « You won't believe it, dear Anya! What joy I have in life. I talked there with our greatest Master. This was the first time in my life that I had such an honor. You can’t imagine how worried I was and how inspired I came away from it. You probably won’t even believe that such a great man has enough time even for our personal affairs. So believe me, he asked me where my wife was and how she was living. He thought you were in Moscow. I said that it was far away, so I wouldn’t stop in Moscow for an hour, but would go back to the front. Things don't wait. Dear Anya, we are still beating the Nazis and driving them west.”

On the same day, he sent a letter to his traveling wife, military doctor Agnes Pavlovna Podmazenko, to whom he wrote almost the same thing as his wife: “The biggest and most important owner called me to him. Imagine, he talked with me for a whole hour and a half. You can imagine how lucky I was. You won’t believe that such a big man is interested in our little family affairs. He asked me where my wife was and about my health in general. This can only be done by HE, who leads us all from victory to victory. With him we will defeat the fascist vermin.”

In the same letter, he congratulated Agnes Pavlovna, who, having become pregnant by him, left the active army, on being awarded the medal “For Courage”: “Dear Alya! Now let me congratulate you on your high government award - the medal for courage. You have now overtaken comrade. Cousin: he has a medal for military merits, and you immediately received a second one: “for courage.” I’m sincerely glad, and not only me. All our employees congratulated me.” “The medal “For Courage” is awarded for personal courage and bravery shown in battles with the enemies of the socialist Fatherland; when protecting the state border of the USSR; when performing military duty under conditions involving a risk to life,” and not in the bed of the army commander.

In Stalin's time, people close to the traitor to the Motherland were declared by the ChSIR as “members of the family of a traitor to the Motherland,” and the wife became ZHIR - “the wife of a traitor to the Motherland.” Vlasov mentioned the name of Anna Mikhailovna when in May 1945 he filled out the arrestee’s questionnaire at Lubyanka. She was arrested already in 1942, and she was considered in the case as “the wife of a traitor to the Motherland.” Paying for her husband's betrayal, she spent 8 years in the camps. It is known that in recent years she lived in Balakhna, Nizhny Novgorod region. She was rehabilitated only in 1992. And the regimental wife, Agnes Pavlovna, did not escape this bitter fate. In 1943, by decision of the Special Meeting, she received five years in the camps. It is known that she also served exile. Rehabilitated in 1989, died in 1997. The former member of the military tribunal could not help but know what awaited those close to him.

The so-called Smolensk Declaration, which was of a declarative propaganda nature, said: “Stalin’s allies - the British and American capitalists - betrayed the Russian people. In an effort to use Bolshevism to take possession of the natural resources of our Motherland, these plutocrats not only save their own skins at the cost of the lives of millions of Russian people, but also entered into secret enslaving agreements with Stalin.

At the same time, Germany is waging war not against the Russian people and their Motherland, but only against Bolshevism. Germany does not encroach on the living space of the Russian people and their national and political freedom .

Adolf Hitler's National Socialist Germany sets as its task the organization of a New Europe without Bolsheviks and capitalists, in which every nation will be provided with an honorable place. December 27, 1942 Smolensk.”

The “place of honor” that was being prepared for the Russian people in New Europe was discussed in the Ost General Plan. The plan itself has not survived, but additions to the plan, drawn up by a certain Dr. Wetzel, head of the colonization department of the First Main Political Directorate of the Rosenberg Ministry, have been preserved:

Top secret

This is not only about the defeat of the state centered in Moscow. Achieving this historic goal would never mean a final solution to the problem. The point is most likely to defeat the Russians as a people, to divide them. Only if this problem is considered from a biological, especially from a racial-biological, point of view, and if German policy in the eastern regions is carried out in accordance with this, will it be possible to eliminate the danger that the Russian people poses to us.

If the German leadership succeeds... in preventing the influence of German blood on the Russian people through extramarital affairs, then it is quite possible to maintain German dominance in this area, provided that we can overcome such a biological danger as the monstrous ability of these people to reproduce... There are many ways to undermine the biological the strength of the people... The goal of German policy towards the population on Russian territory will be to bring the birth rate of Russians to a lower level than that of the Germans. The same applies, by the way, to the extremely fertile peoples of the Caucasus, and in the future, partially to Ukraine. For now, we are interested in increasing the size of the Ukrainian population as opposed to the Russians. But this should not lead to Ukrainians taking the place of Russians over time. In order to avoid an increase in population in the eastern regions that is undesirable for us, it is urgently necessary to abandon in the East all the measures that we used to increase the birth rate in the empire. In these areas, we must consciously pursue policies to reduce the population. By means of propaganda, especially through the press, radio, cinema, leaflets, short brochures, reports, etc., we must constantly instill in the population the idea that it is harmful to have many children. It is necessary to show how much money raising children requires and what could be purchased with these funds. It is necessary to talk about the great danger that a woman is exposed to when giving birth to children, etc. In addition, the broadest propaganda of contraceptives must be launched. It is necessary to establish widespread production of such products. Their distribution and abortions should not be restricted in any way. It is necessary to promote in every possible way the expansion of the network of abortion clinics... and also to promote voluntary sterilization, to prevent the struggle to reduce infant mortality, and not to allow training of mothers in the care of infants and preventive measures against childhood diseases. It is necessary to reduce to a minimum the training of Russian doctors in such specialties, and not provide any support to kindergartens and other similar institutions. Along with these measures in the field of health, no obstacles should be created to divorce. Help should not be provided to illegitimate children. We should not provide financial assistance to families with many children in the form of salary supplements... or allow them any tax privileges.

It is important for us Germans to weaken the Russian people to such an extent that they will not be able to prevent us from establishing German domination in Europe. We can achieve this goal in the above ways...

The above document, which conveys the very essence of German fascism, is so eloquent that it requires no comment.

This is what SS Reisführer Heinrich Himmler said about Vlasov at one of the important meetings before party functionaries and representatives of the state and military leadership:

“Now we have discovered the Russian General Vlasov. Our Brigadefuehrer Fegelein captured this Russian general. He was the commander of one shock army. Our brave Fegelein said to his men: “Let’s try to treat him as if he were really a general!” And he dashingly stood at attention in front of him: “Mr. General, Mister General!..” This is a pleasure for everyone to listen to. This is true all over the world. It worked here too. After all, this man, after all, had the Order of Lenin number 770, which he later presented to Brigadefuehrer Fegelein. When the Führer awarded Fegelein the Oak Leaves, he gave this order to the Führer. The Fuhrer ordered it to be placed in a silver case and returned to Fegelein. So this general was treated properly, terribly polite, terribly nice. This man gave us all his divisions, his entire offensive plan and, in general, everything he knew.

The price for this betrayal? On the third day, we told this general something like this: “The fact that there is no turning back for you is probably clear to you. But you are a significant person, and we guarantee you that when the war is over, you will receive a lieutenant general’s pension, and in the near future - here’s schnapps, cigarettes and women.” That's how cheap you can buy such a general! Very cheap. You see, in such things you need to have damn accurate calculations. Such a person costs 20 thousand marks a year. Let him live 10 or 15 years, that’s 300 thousand marks. If only one battery fires well for two days, that also costs 300 thousand marks... And this Russian pig, Mr. Vlasov, offers his services for this. Some of our old people wanted to give this man an army of millions. They wanted to give weapons and equipment to this unreliable guy so that he would move with these weapons against Russia, and maybe one day, which is very likely, for good measure, against ourselves!”

In no, even the most barbaric and cruel, culture of the world, in which honor and valor are valued, will we find approval and encouragement of a traitor who has betrayed his military oath.

The great Suvorov spoke in his characteristic impetuous manner: “for a soldier - cheerfulness, for an officer - courage, for a general - courage.” A captured general needs special courage. It is obvious that Vlasov not only lacked the consciousness that he “ has the honor to command“, but also the courage to “pay without flinching.” As it turns out, a general who lacks courage and who, due to his ambitions and incompetence, does not spare the soldiers, can be bought cheaply. But for the soldiers who were captured due to the inept command of General Vlasov, the price was very high: suffering in captivity or death. His betrayal was paid at an equally high price, that is, the suffering and death of Soviet soldiers. He told the Germans everything he knew, and as commander of the 2nd Shock Army and deputy commander of the Volkhov Front, he had extensive information about the disposition of the Red Army's forces and assets and the plans of the Soviet High Command. Of course, these data were used by the German command when planning and conducting the summer campaign of 1942.

According to the testimony of Protopresbyter Alexander Kiselev, Vlasov settled in a suburb of Berlin in a two-story stone house with a small garden, where he lived calmly, comfortably and safely on the general’s pension. As for “cigarettes, schnapps” and women, Vlasov did not refuse either one, or the other, or the third. With the sanction of Himmler, he married again, and his chosen one was the widowed German aristocrat Adele Bielenberg. In fact, Vlasov became a polygamist, since he continued to be legally married to his legal wife, who remained in Russia and, because of his betrayal, found herself behind barbed wire.

As for wine, one can cite the memoirs of I.L. Novosiltsev, who was present at the dinner given by the Governor-General of Poland Frank in honor of Vlasov after the signing of the manifesto in Prague. “The dinner was rich, the wine, as they say, flowed like a river. Many could not resist the temptation, and their behavior aroused Vlasov’s disapproval. He himself was strict with himself and did not allow any excess. To test himself, he called Novosiltsev over and asked him in his ear: “Igorek, how am I holding myself?” Apparently not only “many”, but also Vlasov himself could not resist “the temptation”, since he needed external control to find out how he behaved. But this is not the main thing, the main thing is whose invitation he accepted and whose wine he drank.

Hans Frank, one of the most sinister Nazi criminals, was assigned by Hitler to carry out the following task: “Men capable of leading in Poland must be eliminated. Those who follow them... must be destroyed in their turn." At a meeting of the management team in Krakow, Frank said the following words: “As for the Jews, I want to tell you quite frankly that they need to be removed one way or another... Gentlemen, I have to ask you to get rid of any pity. Our duty is to destroy the Jews." Frank, this executioner of the Polish and Jewish peoples, along with other Nazi criminals, was sentenced to death by hanging by decision of the international court in Nuremberg. The sentence was carried out on October 16, 1946 by American professional executioner John Wood. Despite the fact that Vlasov could not help but know about Frank’s atrocities, he did not refuse the dubious “honor” of drinking at the table of a Nazi criminal who killed millions of people.

It is obvious that Vlasov, whose goal was to save his life, was just a pawn in the war of German fascism against the Russian people. The documents signed by Vlasov contain an idea identical to that which the Bolsheviks once proclaimed: “to turn the imperialist war into a civil war with the aim of overthrowing the existing government.” As a result, the people were plunged into the bloody chaos of the civil war, and Soviet power reigned over the vast country for many years. As is known, Lenin and the Bolshevik Party he led acted on orders and with extensive financial support from the Kaiser’s Germany, which was at war with Russia.

These ideas are not new; they were already heard in the 19th century. F. M. Dostoevsky, through the mouth of the character of his novel, Smerdyakov, whose last name speaks for itself, formulated them like this: “There was a great invasion of Russia and it would be good if they conquered us... A smart nation would have conquered a very stupid one and annexed it to itself. There would even be completely different orders, sir.” It is surprising that Smerdyakov’s lackey point of view continues to attract supporters in our time.

The fascist leadership used the same methods as the Kaiser's, but failed to repeat the result. During the Great Patriotic War, the Russian people did not fall for the bait that liberal-minded circles of the Russian Empire fell for in 1917. Otherwise, if Nazi Germany had won and the General Plan Ost had been implemented, then, indeed, “there would have been completely different orders, sir.”

Finding himself in the hands of Soviet justice, Vlasov cooperated with the investigation, realizing that this would save him from physical coercion; perhaps he hoped to mitigate his fate. He revealed facts that could not be known to the court and the investigation, which, of course, could not arouse the approval of his fellow businessmen:

« Defendant Vlasov. The defendant Zhilenkov did not accurately tell the court about his role in his connections with the SS. In particular, he showed the court that it was only on my instructions that he contacted the SS representative. This is not entirely true. Zhilenkov was the first to have contact with representatives of the SS, and it was thanks to his role that I was accepted by Himmler. Before this, Himmler had never accepted me.

Defendant Zhilenkov. I do not deny Vlasov’s testimony, but I want to say that only after my trip to the Lvov area and establishing contact with Himmler’s representative d’Alken, through the latter, we were able to organize a meeting between Vlasov and Himmler. I knew that Himmler called Vlasov a deserted pig and a fool. It fell to my share to prove to d’Alquin that Vlasov is not a pig or a fool. So, with my active participation, a meeting between Vlasov and Himmler was organized.”

Vlasov preferred to remain silent about his actions that could cause legal condemnation, but his former subordinates paid him in the same coin and revealed what he did not want to reveal to the investigation:

« Chairman. Defendant Maltsev, when the question of moving to the south of Germany arose, did you suggest that one of your subordinates report to Vlasov about the eighteen arrested and what instructions did you give?

Defendant Maltsev. Yes, I suggested that Tukholnikov report the 18 arrested to Vlasov and ask for his instructions on how to deal with them. Moreover, the cases against six of those arrested were completed, and I recommended insisting on their execution. Vlasov approved the execution of six people.

Defendant Vlasov. Yes, that was the case, but that was the only time I approved death sentences, and that was because Maltsev reported it to me.”

To approve the death sentences of his compatriots who are in captivity and, we can assume, tried to provide some kind of resistance - this very eloquently characterizes Vlasov. A servile attitude towards the new owners is also characteristic:

Chairman. What prompted you to communicate with Nedich and exchange pleasantries with him?

Defendant Vlasov. I did this mainly on the recommendation of the German representative with me. In fact, I never saw Nedich. I sent congratulatory telegrams and addresses to Ribbentrop, Himmler, Guderian on behalf of the Russian people.

Chairman. It seems that you were close to the strangler of the Czechoslovak people, Frank, Protector of the Czech Republic and Moravia, and sent various kinds of congratulations to him?

Defendant Vlasov. Yes, this happened. Frank at one time provided us with territory and everything we needed, and later he helped us move to the south of Germany by road.”

In his final speech at the trial, Vlasov said: “The crimes I have committed are great, and I expect severe punishment for them. The first fall was surrender. But not only did I completely repent, albeit late, but during the trial and investigation I tried to identify the whole gang as clearly as possible. I expect the most severe punishment." At the trial and investigation, as well as in German captivity, he revealed everything he knew and “tried to identify the whole gang as clearly as possible,” but did not achieve a mitigation of fate and was sentenced to the highest degree and hanged with his accomplices.

German folk wisdom says: “To lose money is to lose nothing, to lose health is to lose something, to lose honor is to lose a lot, to lose courage is to lose everything, it would be better not to be born.”

It cannot be assumed that only in the Soviet Union they dealt so harshly with traitors. John Amery, son of Leo Amery, Secretary of State for India in Winston Churchill's War Cabinet, was captured and led a detachment of British soldiers ready to fight on the side of Germany. The British SS men fought as part of the 11th Volunteer Panzergrenadier Division "Norland". Aimery was arrested at the end of the war in Milan. He was found guilty of treason and executed by hanging.

And yet, despite these very eloquent facts, voices are heard trying to elevate Vlasov to the rank of a national hero. American political scientist Yu. Layen, in the book “Our Secret Allies” wrote: “For many, his name became a banner. They are confident that someday the label of a traitor will be removed from his memory, and he will take his place among the great heroes of the free Russian spirit.”

However, as people say, “you can’t wash a black dog white” even with the help of “secret allies.” Making a hero out of Vlasov is an attempt with clearly unsuitable means. Of course, not all Americans thought or think so. There were and are decent people who hold a different point of view. The captain of the American army, to whom Vlasov came in May 1945, told him: “Well, Mr. General, now it’s all over for you! Unfortunately, you changed owners in vain and bet on a dark horse!”

In conclusion, we present the authoritative opinion of the great American writer, Nobel Prize winner, Ernest Hemingway, who fought against fascism with arms in hand: “When people fight to liberate their homeland from foreign invaders... then, looking at their life, and the struggle, and death, you begin to understand that there are things worse than war. Cowardice is worse, betrayal is worse, selfishness is worse.” Prot. Alexander Kiselev. The appearance of General Vlasov. New York. Publishing house "Path of Life", p. 62.

Ibid., page 90.

E. Hemingway. The writer and the war. June 1937 2nd Congress of American Writers vol.3. M. 1968. Hood. lit. pp.613-615.

On July 11, 1942, General Andrei Andreevich Vlasov was captured by Wehrmacht soldiers. Soon the military leader agreed to cooperate with the Third Reich. This made him an extremely controversial figure: in Soviet times, the image of Vlasov was exclusively negative, and later attempts to understand the motives for his action only gave rise to additional contradictions.

Andrei Vlasov was born into the family of a middle peasant farmer, Andrei Vladimirovich Vlasov. The father of the future general was highly respected in the village and was appointed church warden. Andrey grew up as a smart child. His brother, Ivan, died on the fronts of the First World War and his father had high hopes for his youngest son, Andrei. Andrei Vlasov went to study at a theological seminary, but the revolution made adjustments; the former seminarian first became a student at the Nizhny Novgorod Agricultural Academy, and then went to the Red Army. His entire subsequent life was connected with “army science,” however, Andrei Vlasov did not renounce his father and the church until the end of his life. In the pocket of his jacket he always kept an icon, a gift from his mother.

Having shown himself on the fronts of the civil war, Andrei Vlasov rapidly climbed the army career ladder. Since 1922, Vlasov held command and staff positions, and was also involved in teaching. In 1929 he graduated from the Higher Army Command Course “Vystrel”. In 1930 he joined the CPSU(b). In 1935 he became a student at the M.V. Frunze Military Academy. Historians have different information about the fate of Vlasov in the late 30s. According to one version, Vlasov was a member of the tribunal of the Leningrad and Kyiv military districts and took a direct part in Stalin’s “purge” of senior command personnel. Historians agree on one thing: in the fall of 1938, Vlasov was sent to China to work as part of a group of military advisers under Chiang Kai-Shek. The Chinese side treated Andrei Vlasov with great reverence. Before leaving, Chiang Kai-Shek personally awarded Vlasov the Order of the Golden Dragon, and Chiang Kai-Shek's wife gave the Soviet commander a watch.

Andrei Vlasov met the war near Lvov with the rank of commander of the 4th mechanized corps. Later he was appointed commander of the 37th Army defending Kyiv. Vlasov was the last of the commanders to learn about Stalin’s order to leave Kyiv and his units were surrounded. The situation was very tense. More than half a million soldiers died in those days, but Vlasov managed to get through the encirclement with minimal losses.

After leaving the encirclement near Kiev, Vlasov ended up in the hospital, but he did not manage to stay there for long. Stalin personally summoned the general to a meeting. The fate of Moscow was at stake. In the battle of Moscow, Andrei Vlasov distinguished himself again. Possessing only 15 tanks, Vlasov’s units stopped Walter Model’s tank army in the Moscow suburb of Solnechegorsk, and drove the Germans back 100 kilometers, liberating three cities. In the newspapers of that time, General Vlasov was called nothing less than the “savior of Moscow.” On instructions from the Main Political Directorate, a book is being written about Vlasov called “Stalin’s Commander.” Vlasov did not rest on his laurels. Now he was sent to lead the 2nd Shock Army, which was blocked in Myasny Bor. This became a fatal appointment for General Vlasov and he understood this very well.

Vlasov is among the commanders who particularly distinguished themselves in the battle of Moscow. Newspaper "Izvestia"

On July 11, 1942, Andrei Vlasov surrendered to Wehrmacht soldiers. According to the testimony of his personal cook M.I. Voronova, this happened by accident: “being surrounded, Vlasov, among 30-40 staff members, tried to connect with units of the Red Army, but nothing worked. Wandering through the forest, we connected with the leadership of one division, the commander of which was Cherny, and there were already about 200 of us. Around June 1942, near Novgorod, the Germans discovered us in the forest and forced a battle, after which Vlasov, I, the soldier Kotov and the driver Pogibko escaped into the swamp, crossed it and reached the villages. Pogiboko and the wounded soldier Kotov went to one village, and Vlasov and I went to another. When we entered a village, I don’t know its name, we went into one house, where we were mistaken for partisans, the local “self-defense” surrounded the house, and we were arrested. We were put in a collective farm barn, and the next day the Germans arrived, showed Vlasov a portrait of him in a general’s uniform cut out from a newspaper, and Vlasov was forced to admit that he was really Lieutenant General Vlasov. Before that, he was recommended by a refugee teacher.”

The Geneva Conference obliged the captured soldier to provide the following information about himself: name, rank, name of the military unit. The prisoner was not obliged to provide the rest of the information, and the convention forbade extracting this information by force. Although in practice everything happened, General Vlasov was not beaten or tortured. He gave his testimony very willingly himself, starting with the fact that he joined the Communist Party for the sake of his career. Vlasov praised the work of German aviation and artillery, illustrating the enemy's successes with the exact number of killed and captured. He apologized for not knowing the answer to some questions.

The Germans offered him cooperation - he agreed. And soon Vlasov organized the Russian Liberation Army on the basis of the previously created “Russian battalions”. It should be noted that the Russian liberation movement arose long before the surrender of General Vlasov and from the very beginning of the war, when there were mass surrenders of Soviet soldiers and officers who did not want to fight for Stalin. The commander of Army Group Center, von Bock, wrote in an order dated July 8, 1941: “The count of prisoners and weapons captured to date has given the following figures: 287,704, including many divisional and corps commanders, 2,585 tanks captured or destroyed, including super-heavy types.” . Many military units went over to the enemy in full force - as, for example, the 436th Infantry Regiment of Major Ivan Kononov did on August 22, 1941.

Here are some more examples. In July 1941, the commander of the 48th Infantry Division, Major General Pavel Bogdanov, surrendered and invited the Germans to form a detachment from prisoners of war for operations on the Eastern Front.

In August 1941, the commander of the 102nd Infantry Division, brigade commander Ivan Bessonov, went over to the enemy’s side and created a special unit to combat partisans.

However, the collaborationist “Russian forces” needed their own leader. This was the “Stalinist commander” Vlasov.

It is difficult to find a large-scale analogy to the Russian liberation movement and the army of General Vlasov. Still, up to two million “Russians” served in the troops of the Third Reich - prisoners, residents of occupied regions, emigrants. Collaboration in all other countries occupied by the Nazis was much more modest. The regimes of Quisling in Norway and Mussert in the Netherlands relied on a small percentage of the population. The only experience of collaboration comparable in level to the Soviet one was observed in France, where more than half of the adult male population collaborated with the Germans in one form or another.

Vlasov tried to persuade other captured Soviet generals on instructions from the Germans to do the same. Here is his own testimony from testimony at the trial: “In December 1942. Shtrikfeldt organized a meeting for me in the propaganda department with Lieutenant General Ponedelin, the former commander of the 12th Army. In a conversation with Ponedelin, the latter flatly refused my offer to take part in the creation of a Russian volunteer army... At the same time, I had a meeting with Major General Snegov, the former commander of the 8th Rifle Corps of the Red Army, who also did not agree to take part in the work I was doing... After this, Strikfeldt took me to one of the prisoner of war camps located where I met with Lieutenant General Lukin, the former commander of the 19th Army, whose leg was amputated after being wounded and his right arm was not functional. Alone with me, he said that he did not believe the Germans, that he would not serve with them, and rejected my offer. Having failed in conversations with Ponedelin, Snegov and Lukin, I no longer turned to any of the prisoners of war generals ... "

Vlasov’s relationship with the Germans was also not easy. In the spring of 1943, the Wehrmacht command prepared a plan for the propaganda operation “Prosvet,” according to which the Red Army soldiers had to make sure that not only the Germans were fighting with them in one of the sectors of the front, but also their “former comrades fighting for a free Russia.” The Nazis were going to carry out this action near Leningrad, between Oranienbaum and Peterhof. The emphasis was placed on Vlasov’s personal participation in it, but it was during this period that the general began making statements to prisoners of war about a future independent Russia.

Naturally, the Nazi leadership was indignant. The general was put under house arrest. So he avoided participating in the provocation. The review “On the structure and activities of the Russian Liberation Army led by Vlasov,” compiled by Leningrad security officers at the end of August 1943, said: “During July-August, the propaganda of the “Vlasov movement” in anti-Soviet radio broadcasts in Russian was reduced to almost nothing. We haven’t heard anything about the Russian Liberation Army (ROA) or Vlasov.”

The disgrace ended only in the fall of 1944, when Vlasov proclaimed the manifesto of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia. Its main provisions: the overthrow of the Stalinist regime and the return to the people of the rights won by them in the revolution of 1917, the conclusion of an honorable peace with Germany, the creation of a new free statehood in Russia, “the establishment of the national labor system,” “the comprehensive development of international cooperation,” “the elimination of forced labor”, “liquidation of collective farms”, “granting the intelligentsia the right to create freely”.

And Vlasov becomes the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces of the KONR, which the Germans authorized at the level of three divisions, one reserve brigade, two aviation squadrons and an officer school - about 50 thousand people in total. It is clear that the Germans already agreed to everything - the war was approaching the borders of Germany, and Hitler needed any help.

But something strange happens here. On May 6, 1945, an anti-Hitler uprising broke out in Prague. At the call of the rebel Czechs, the First Division of General Vlasov's army enters Prague. She enters into battle with heavily armed SS and Wehrmacht units and captures the airport, where fresh German units arrive. And the Vlasovites liberate the city. The Czechs are rejoicing.

True, Vlasov himself was not in Parga - he was looking for a way of salvation for his army. At the end of April 1945, the Spanish dictator Franco granted Vlasov political asylum and sent a special plane for him, which was ready to deliver Vlasov to Spain. But the general refused to abandon his soldiers. The Americans offered to shelter him, but for the second time Vlasov refused to leave his subordinates. Seeking political asylum for soldiers and officers of the KONR Armed Forces, Vlasov went to the headquarters of the 3rd US Army in Pilsen in Czechoslovakia, but on the way he was captured by soldiers of the 25th Tank Corps of the Red Army.

On the same day, the general was transported to Moscow by transport plane. Next - to Lefortovo, to the SMERSH special prison, where they began to call him “prisoner No. 32.”

The investigation lasted more than a year. Why? Retired NKVD officers claim that they bargained with Andrei Vlasov for a long time - repent, they say, before the people and the leader. Admit mistakes. And they will forgive. May be. But the general was consistent in his actions, as when he did not leave the fighters in the Czech Republic. On August 2, 1946, the official TASS message published in all central newspapers - on August 1, 1946, Lieutenant General of the Red Army A. A. Vlasov and his 11 comrades were hanged.

Many years later, some modern historians began to suspect that Vlasov was an agent of SMERSH from the very beginning. Documents about the secret operation were declassified: they say that Stalin, under the guise of a captured general, sent the Germans an assassin who was ready to strangle Hitler with his bare hands - given Vlasov’s gigantic height and his enormous physical strength, it would not have been difficult for Andrei Andreevich to do this. But Hitler refused to meet with Vlasov.

Secondly, by his actions, Vlasov really made it clear to all Russians who were ready to cooperate with the Nazis that the Russian liberation movement was not on the same path with Hitler’s bloodthirsty maniacs, that the Third Reich was only a temporary ally in the fight against Bolshevism and nothing more.

Of course, there is no evidence of Vlasov’s work for Soviet intelligence, but one small nuance attracts attention: the fate of his family. It is known that Stalin never stood on ceremony with the relatives of “enemies of the people.” But the Vlasov family is an exception. Vlasov’s first wife, Anna Mikhailovna, was arrested immediately after her husband’s capture in 1942. According to the verdict of the “troika”, she received 5 years in prison; she spent her time in a Nizhny Novgorod prison; until a few years ago she lived and lived in the city of Balakhna. The second wife, Agnessa Pavlovna Podmazenko, whom the general married in 1941, also received five years in the camps, after which she lived and worked as a doctor at the Brest Regional Dermatovenerological Dispensary. Her son still lives in Samara.

USSR, Moscow

The decision to sentence General Vlasov to death was made by the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks on July 23, 1946. From July 30 to July 31, 1946, a closed trial took place in the case of Vlasov and a group of his followers. All of them were found guilty of treason. By the verdict of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR, they were stripped of their military ranks and hanged on August 1, 1946, and their property was confiscated. The bodies of those executed were cremated in the NKVD crematorium and their ashes were poured into the nameless ditch of the Donskoy Monastery - the name in post-Soviet times was “flowerbed of unclaimed ashes” - where during the years of Soviet power the ashes of “enemies of the people” shot in Moscow were poured for decades. Andrei Andreevich Vlasov (September 14, 1901, the village of Lomakino, Nizhny Novgorod province, Russian Empire - August 1, 1946, Moscow, USSR) - Soviet military leader, participant in the Battle of Moscow. He commanded the 2nd Shock Army, during the Lyuban offensive operation in 1942 he was captured by the Germans and collaborated with the leadership of the Third Reich against the political system of the USSR, becoming the head of a military organization of Soviet prisoners of war and emigrants - the Russian Liberation Army (ROA). Leader of the Russian liberation movement, Chairman of the Presidium of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (1944-1945), Commander-in-Chief of the ROA (January 28 - May 12, 1945). In 1945 he was captured by the Red Army, in 1946 he was convicted on charges of treason, stripped of his military rank and state awards and hanged. At the end of April 1945, the Spanish dictator Franco granted Vlasov political asylum and sent a special plane for him, which was ready to deliver Vlasov to Spain. Vlasov refused to abandon his soldiers. On May 12, 1945, the American commandant of the occupation zone in which Vlasov was located, US Army Captain R. Donahue, proposed to secretly take Vlasov deep into the American occupation zone, providing him with food cards and documents. For the third time in his life, Vlasov refused to leave his subordinates. On the same day, heading deep into the American zone of occupation to the headquarters of the 3rd US Army in Pilsen in Czechoslovakia to seek political asylum for soldiers and officers of the KONR Armed Forces, Vlasov was captured by soldiers of the 25th Tank Corps of the 13th Army of the 1st Ukrainian front near the city of Pilsen, who pursued Vlasov’s small column at the direction of the Vlasov captain, who informed them that his commander was in it. According to the Soviet version, Vlasov was found on the floor of a jeep, wrapped in a carpet. This seems unlikely, given the interior space in the jeep and Vlasov's build. After his arrest, he was taken to the headquarters of Marshal I. S. Konev, and from there to Moscow. From that moment until August 2, 1946, when the Izvestia newspaper published a report about his trial, nothing was reported about Vlasov. Due to his age, Andrei Andreevich Vlasov was not subject to military mobilization in the First World War and for this reason he did not end up in either the tsarist or the White army, which could have affected his future life. Very tall, handsome, wearing glasses, he looked more like a priest than a student when he studied at the agronomy department of Nizhny Novgorod State University. Such a resemblance was given to him by his manners, apparently acquired in theological school and seminary. Then came the revolution, conscription into the Red Army and battles on the fronts of the civil war. Vlasov took part in campaigns and battles with Wrangel and against the bands of Makhno, Maslak, Kamenyuk, Popov and others. He completed courses for command personnel and quickly became an officer, battalion or regiment commander. In his autobiography, he wrote: “From July 1937 he commanded the 215th Infantry Regiment, from November 1937 he commanded the 133th Infantry Regiment until May 1938, from May 1938 he was the head of the 2nd Department of the Kyiv Special Military District headquarters until September 1938. From September 1938 appointed commander of the 72nd Infantry Division of the Kyiv Special Military District and was sent on a government trip on instructions from the party and government, which he completed in December 1939. Since January 1940, I have commanded the 99th Infantry Division of KOVO.” And the secret government trip was to China, to help the government of Chiang Kai-shek. In November 1941, A. A. Vlasov was appointed commander of the 20th Army of the Western Front. This was a critical time in the fighting near Moscow - the enemy approached the capital at a distance of about 25 km. The Moscow epic was well covered in the press; we only add that following the results of the hostilities near Moscow, A. A. Vlasov was awarded the Order of Lenin by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of February 22, 1942; even earlier, in January, he was awarded the military rank of lieutenant general, and on January 14, 1942, his photo was published in all central newspapers among the most distinguished military leaders in the defense of Moscow. At the end of April 1945, the Spanish dictator Franco granted Vlasov political asylum and sent a special plane for him, which was ready to deliver Vlasov to Spain. Vlasov refused to abandon his soldiers. On May 12, 1945, the American commandant of the occupation zone in which Vlasov was located, US Army Captain R. Donahue, proposed to secretly take Vlasov deep into the American occupation zone, providing him with food cards and documents. For the third time in his life, Vlasov refused to leave his subordinates. On the same day, heading deep into the American zone of occupation to the headquarters of the 3rd US Army in Pilsen in Czechoslovakia to seek political asylum for soldiers and officers of the Armed Forces of the KON, Vlasov was captured by soldiers of the 25th Tank Corps of the 13th Army of the 1st Ukrainian front near the city of Pilsen, who pursued Vlasov’s small column at the direction of the Vlasov captain, who informed them that his commander was in it. According to the Soviet version, Vlasov was found on the floor of a jeep, wrapped in a carpet. This seems unlikely, given the interior space in the jeep and Vlasov's build. After his arrest, he was taken to the headquarters of Marshal I. S. Konev, and from there to Moscow. From that moment until August 2, 1946, when the Izvestia newspaper published a report about his trial, nothing was reported about Vlasov. At first, the leadership of the USSR planned to hold a public trial of Vlasov and other leaders of the ROA in the October Hall of the House of Unions, however, fearing that the defendants at the open trial would present anti-Soviet views, “which could objectively coincide with the sentiments of a certain part of the population dissatisfied with the Soviet regime,” the leaders of the trial, V. S. Abakumov and V.V. Ulrikh turned to Stalin on April 26, 1946 with a request “to hear the case of the traitors in a closed court session without the participation of the parties,” which was done.