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Vlasov Andrey Andreevich

Lieutenant General of the Red Army.

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics 4th Mechanized Corps, 20th Army, 37th Army, 2nd Shock Army (1941-1942) St. Andrew's Flag Russian Liberation Army (1942-1945)
Battles/wars

1 Biography
1.1 In the ranks of the Red Army (before the start of the Great Patriotic War)
1.2 In the initial period of the Great Patriotic War
1.3 In the 2nd Shock Army
1.4 German captivity
1.5 German captivity and collaboration with the Germans
1.6 Captivity by the Red Army, trial and execution

1.6.1 Rumors of an execution
2 The image of Vlasov in the memoirs of Red Army commanders
3 Vlasov and other encirclement
4 Re-examination of the case
5 Arguments of Vlasov’s supporters
6 Arguments of opponents of Vlasov and his rehabilitation
7 Alternative versions of switching to the German side

Biography

Almost everything that is known about Vlasov’s life before captivity became known from his own stories to friends and like-minded people who met him either after the start of the Great Patriotic War, or during his stay in captivity, when he, nominally, became the ideological leader of the Russian liberation movement. movements, and who made up their memories of him.

Born on September 14, 1901 in the village of Lomakino, now Gaginsky district, Nizhny Novgorod region. Russian. He was the thirteenth child, the youngest son. The family lived in poverty, which prevented the father from fulfilling his wish - to give all his children an education. Andrey’s elder brother, Ivan, had to pay for his education, who sent his brother to receive a spiritual education at a seminary in Nizhny Novgorod. Studies at the seminary were interrupted by the revolution of 1917. In 1918, Andrei went to study as an agronomist, but in 1919 he was drafted into the Red Army.

In the Red Army since 1919. After completing a 4-month command course, he became a platoon commander and participated in battles with the Armed Forces in the South of Russia on the Southern Front. Served in the 2nd Don Division. After the liquidation of the white troops in the North Caucasus, the division in which Vlasov served was transferred to Northern Tavria against the troops of P. N. Wrangel. Vlasov was appointed company commander, then transferred to headquarters. At the end of 1920, a detachment in which Vlasov commanded horse and foot reconnaissance was deployed to eliminate the insurgent movement of N. I. Makhno.

Since 1922, Vlasov held command and staff positions, and also taught. 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. Historian A.N. Kolesnik argued that in 1937-1938. Vlasov was a member of the tribunal of the Leningrad and Kyiv military districts. During this time, the tribunal did not issue a single acquittal.

Since August 1937, commander of the 133rd Infantry Regiment of the 72nd Infantry Division, and since April 1938, assistant commander of this division. In the fall of 1938, he was sent to China to work as part of a group of military advisers, which indicates complete confidence in Vlasov on the part of the political leadership. From May to November 1939 he served as chief military adviser. As a farewell, before leaving China, Chiang Kai-shek was awarded the Order of the Golden Dragon; Chiang Kai-shek's wife gave Vlasov a watch. Both the order and the watch were taken by the authorities from Vlasov upon his return to the USSR.

In January 1940, Major General Vlasov was appointed commander of the 99th Infantry Division, which in October of the same year was awarded the Challenge Red Banner and recognized as the best division in the Kiev Military District. Marshal Timoshenko called the division the best in the entire Red Army. For this, A. Vlasov was awarded a gold watch and the Order of the Red Banner. The Krasnaya Zvezda newspaper published an article about Vlasov, praising his military abilities, his attention and care to his subordinates, and the precise and thorough performance of his duties.

In his autobiography, written in April 1940, he noted: “I had no hesitations. He always stood firmly on the general line of the party and always fought for it.”

In January 1941, Vlasov was appointed commander of the 4th Mechanized Corps of the Kyiv Special Military District, and a month later he was awarded the Order of Lenin.

During the initial period of the Great Patriotic War

The war for Vlasov began near Lvov, where he served as commander of the 4th Mechanized Corps. He received gratitude for his skillful actions, and on the recommendation of N. S. Khrushchev, he was appointed commander of the 37th Army, which defended Kyiv. After fierce battles, scattered formations of this army managed to break through to the east, and Vlasov himself was wounded and ended up in the hospital.

In November 1941, Stalin summoned Vlasov and ordered him to form the 20th Army, which would be part of the Western Front and defend the capital.

On December 5, near the village of Krasnaya Polyana (located 32 km from the Moscow Kremlin), the Soviet 20th Army under the command of General Vlasov stopped units of the German 4th Tank Army, making a significant contribution to the victory near Moscow. In Soviet times, a documented unsubstantiated and unreliable version appeared that Vlasov himself was in the hospital at that time, and the fighting was led by either the commander of the operational group A. I. Lizyukov or the chief of staff L. M. Sandalov.

Overcoming stubborn enemy resistance, the 20th Army drove the Germans out of Solnechnogorsk and Volokolamsk. On December 13, 1941, the Sovinformburo published an official message about the repulsion of the Germans from Moscow and printed in it photographs of those commanders who particularly distinguished themselves in the defense of the capital. Among them was Vlasov. On January 24, 1942, for these battles, Vlasov was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and promoted to lieutenant general.

Zhukov assessed Vlasov’s actions as follows: “Personally, Lieutenant General Vlasov is well prepared operationally and has organizational skills. He copes well with commanding troops.”

After the successes near Moscow, A. A. Vlasov in the troops, following Stalin, is 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.” John Erickson, an expert on the history of World War II in the USSR, called Vlasov “one of Stalin’s favorite commanders.”
Vlasov was trusted to give interviews to foreign correspondents, which indicates the trust in Vlasov on the part of the country’s top political leadership.

In the 2nd Shock Army

On January 7, 1942, the Lyuban operation began. Troops of the 2nd Shock Army of the Volkhov Front, created to disrupt the German offensive on Leningrad and the subsequent counterattack, successfully broke through the enemy’s defenses in the area of ​​​​the village of Myasnoy Bor (on the left bank of the Volkhov River) and deeply wedged into its location (in the direction of Lyuban). But lacking the strength for a further offensive, the army found itself in a difficult situation. The enemy cut her communications several times, creating a threat of encirclement.

On March 8, 1942, Lieutenant General A. A. Vlasov was appointed deputy commander of the Volkhov Front. On March 20, 1942, the commander of the Volkhov Front K. A. Meretskov sent his deputy A. A. Vlasov at the head of a special commission to the 2nd Shock Army (Lieutenant General N. K. Klykov). “For three days, members of the commission talked with commanders of all ranks, with political workers, with soldiers,” and on April 8, 1942, having drawn up an inspection report, the commission left, but without General A. A. Vlasov. On April 16, the seriously ill General Klykov was removed from command of the army and sent by plane to the rear.

On April 20, 1942, A. A. Vlasov was appointed commander of the 2nd Shock Army, remaining concurrently deputy commander of the Volkhov Front.

The question naturally arose: who should be entrusted with leading the troops of the 2nd Shock Army? On the same day, a telephone conversation between A. A. Vlasov and Divisional Commissioner I. V. Zuev took place with Meretskov. Zuev proposed to appoint Vlasov to the post of army commander, and Vlasov - the chief of staff of the army, Colonel P. S. Vinogradov. The Military Council of the [Volkhov] Front supported Zuev's idea. So... Vlasov became commander of the 2nd Shock Army on April 20, 1942 (Monday), while remaining at the same time deputy commander of the [Volkhov] Front. He received troops that were practically no longer capable of fighting, he received an army that had to be saved...

V. Beshanov. Leningrad defense.

During May-June, the 2nd Shock Army under the command of A. A. Vlasov made desperate attempts to break out of the bag.

We will strike from the Polist line at 20 o'clock on June 4. We don’t hear the actions of the troops of the 59th Army from the east, there is no long-range artillery fire.

German captivity

The commander of the Volkhov operational group, Lieutenant General M. S. Khozin, did not comply with the directives of Headquarters (dated May 21) on the withdrawal of army troops. As a result, the 2nd Shock Army was surrounded, and Khozin himself was removed from office on June 6. The measures taken by the command of the Volkhov Front managed to create a small corridor through which scattered groups of exhausted and demoralized soldiers and commanders emerged.

MILITARY COUNCIL OF THE VOLKHOV FRONT. I report: the army troops have been conducting intense, fierce battles with the enemy for three weeks... The personnel of the troops are exhausted to the limit, the number of deaths is increasing and the incidence of illness from exhaustion is increasing every day. Due to the cross-fire of the army area, the troops suffer heavy losses from artillery fire and enemy aircraft... The combat strength of the formations has sharply decreased. It is no longer possible to replenish it from the rear and special units. Everything that was taken was taken. On the sixteenth of June, an average of several dozen people remained in battalions, brigades and rifle regiments. All attempts by the eastern group of the army to break through the corridor from the west were unsuccessful.

Vlasov. Zuev. Vinogradov.

JUNE 21, 1942. 8 HOURS 10 MINUTES. TO THE HEAD OF THE GSHK. TO THE MILITARY COUNCIL OF THE FRONT. Army troops receive fifty grams of crackers for three weeks. The last few days there was absolutely no food. We are finishing off the last horses. People are extremely exhausted. There is group mortality from starvation. No ammunition...

Vlasov. Zuev.

On June 25, the enemy eliminated the corridor. The testimony of various witnesses does not answer the question of where Lieutenant General A. A. Vlasov was hiding for the next three weeks - whether he wandered in the forest or whether there was some kind of reserve command post to which his group made its way. Thinking about his fate, Vlasov compared himself with General A.V. Samsonov, who also commanded the 2nd Army and also found himself surrounded by the Germans. Samsonov shot himself. According to Vlasov, what distinguished him from Samsonov was that the latter had something for which he considered it worthy to give his life. Vlasov considered that he would not commit suicide in the name of Stalin.

German captivity and collaboration with the Germans

General Vlasov's order to stop bullying soldiers.
Main article: Vlasovites

Wikisource has the full text of the Open Letter “Why I took the path of fighting Bolshevism”

While in the Vinnitsa military camp for captured senior officers, Vlasov agreed to cooperate with the Nazis and headed the “Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia” (KONR) and the “Russian Liberation Army” (ROA), composed of captured Soviet military personnel.

Not a single photograph of this period of Vlasov’s life has survived in which he would have been dressed in a German military uniform (which distinguished Vlasov from his subordinates). He always wore a military cut specially tailored for him (due to his huge physique), a simple khaki uniform with wide cuffs and uniform trousers with general's stripes. The buttons on the uniform were without military symbols, and there were no insignia or awards on the uniform, including the ROA emblem on the sleeve. Only on his general’s cap did he wear the white, blue and red ROA cockade.

Vlasov wrote an open letter “Why I took the path of fighting Bolshevism.” In addition, he signed leaflets calling for the overthrow of the Stalinist regime, which were subsequently scattered by the Nazi army from airplanes at the fronts, and were also distributed among prisoners of war.

At the beginning of May 1945, a conflict arose between Vlasov and Bunyachenko - Bunyachenko intended to support the Prague Uprising, and Vlasov persuaded him not to do this and remain on the side of the Germans. At the negotiations in North Bohemian Kozoedy they did not reach an agreement and their paths diverged.

Captivity by the Red Army, trial and execution

On May 12, 1945, Vlasov was captured by soldiers of the 25th Tank Corps of the 13th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front near the city of Pilsen in Czechoslovakia while trying to cross into the western zone of occupation. The tank crews of the corps pursued the column in which Vlasov was located, 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.

Wikisource logo
Wikisource contains the full text of the Judgment in the case of General A.A. Vlasov and his accomplices.

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, but later abandoned this intention. According to the Russian historian K. M. Aleksandrov, the reason could be that some of the accused could express views during the trial that “objectively may coincide with the sentiments of a certain part of the population dissatisfied with the Soviet regime.”

From the criminal case of A. A. Vlasov:

Ulrich: Defendant Vlasov, what exactly do you plead guilty to?

Vlasov: I plead guilty to the fact that, being in difficult conditions, I became cowardly...

It seems that at the trial Vlasov tried to take full responsibility on himself, apparently believing that in this way he could commute the sentences for his subordinates.

The decision to sentence Vlasov and others 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.

Rumors of an execution

According to rumors, the execution was organized with horrifying cruelty - all those executed were hanged from piano wire, on a hook hooked under the base of the skull.

The image of Vlasov in the memoirs of Red Army commanders

The transfer of the commander of the 2nd Shock Army A. A. Vlasov to the service of the Germans was one of the most unpleasant episodes of the war for Soviet historiography. There were other Red Army officers who took the path of fighting against Soviet power, but Vlasov was the highest-ranking and most famous of all. In Soviet historiography, no attempts were made to analyze the motives of his action - his name was either automatically denigrated or, at best, simply hushed up.

A.V. Isaev noted that many of Vlasov’s colleagues who wrote memoirs after the war were put in an awkward position:

If you write well about the former commander, they will say: “How come you didn’t notice such a bastard?” If you write badly, they will say: “Why didn’t you ring the bells? Why didn’t you report and tell where it should go?”

For example, one of the officers of the 32nd Tank Division of the 4th Mechanized Corps describes his meeting with Vlasov as follows: “Looking out of the cockpit, I noticed that the regiment commander was talking to a tall general in glasses. I recognized him immediately.
This is the commander of our 4th mechanized corps. I approached them and introduced myself to the corps commander.” The surname “Vlasov” is not mentioned at all throughout the entire narrative of the battles in Ukraine in June 1941.

Also, M.E. Katukov simply chose not to mention that his brigade was subordinate to the army commanded by A.A. Vlasov. And the former chief of staff of the 20th Army of the Western Front, L. M. Sandalov, in his memoirs, bypassed the unpleasant question of meeting his army commander with the help of the version about A. A. Vlasov’s illness. Later, this version was supported and developed by other researchers who argued that from November 29 to December 21, 1941, Colonel Sandalov acted as commander of the 20th Army of the Western Front, and it was under his actual leadership that the 20th Army liberated Krasnaya Polyana, Solnechnogorsk and Volokolamsk

If Vlasov was mentioned in the memoirs, it was most likely in a negative image. For example, cavalryman Stuchenko writes:

Suddenly, three hundred to four hundred meters from the front line, the figure of army commander Vlasov in an astrakhan gray hat with earflaps and the same pince-nez appears from behind a bush; behind him is an adjutant with a machine gun. My irritation boiled over:

Why are you walking here? Nothing to see here. People are dying in vain here. Is this how they organize a fight? Is this how they use cavalry?

I thought: now he will remove me from office. But Vlasov, feeling unwell under fire, asked in a not entirely confident voice:

Well, how should we attack, in your opinion?

K. A. Meretskov spoke in approximately the same spirit, retelling the words of the chief of communications of the 2nd Shock Army, General Afanasyev: “It is characteristic that commander-2 Vlasov did not take any part in the discussion of the planned actions of the group. He was completely indifferent to all changes in the movement of the group." A.V. Isaev suggested that this description could be “relatively accurate and objective,” since Afanasyev witnessed the breakdown of Vlasov’s personality, which led to betrayal: the commander of the 2nd shock was captured literally a few days after “discussion of the planned actions” .

Marshal Vasilevsky, who became the chief of the general staff of the Red Army in the spring of 1942, also wrote in his memoirs about Vlasov in a negative way:

“The commander of the 2nd Shock Army, Vlasov, did not stand out for his great commanding abilities, and was also extremely unstable and cowardly by nature, and was completely inactive. The difficult situation created for the army further demoralized him; he made no attempts to quickly and secretly withdraw troops. As a result, the troops of the 2nd Shock Army found themselves surrounded.”

According to the director of the Institute for Strategic Studies L. Reshetnikov:

For Soviet people, “Vlasovism” became a symbol of betrayal, and he himself became a Judas of that time. It got to the point that namesakes wrote in their profiles: “I am not a relative of the traitor general.”

In this regard, search activities in the Myasny Bor area were also difficult. Local authorities adhered to the version that “Vlasov traitors lie in Myasny Bor.” This saved them from the unnecessary hassle of organizing funerals, and the state from the costs of helping the families of the victims. Only in the 1970s, thanks to the initiative of search engine N.I. Orlov, the first three military cemeteries appeared near Myasnoy Bor.

Vlasov and other encirclement

Many of those who remained surrounded held out until the end; mostly the soldiers captured in the corridor and the lightly wounded from large hospitals were captured. Many shot themselves under the threat of capture, such as divisional commissar I.V. Zuev, a member of the Army Military Council. Others were able to reach their own people or get to the partisans, such as the commissar of the 23rd brigade N.D. Allahverdiev, who became the commander of a partisan detachment. Soldiers of the 267th division, 3rd rank military doctor E.K. Gurinovich, nurse Zhuravleva, commissar Vdovenko and others also fought in the partisan detachments.

But there were few of them, most were captured. Basically, completely exhausted, exhausted people, often wounded, shell-shocked, in a semi-conscious state, were captured, such as the poet, senior political instructor M. M. Zalilov (Musa Jalil). Many did not even have time to shoot at the enemy, suddenly encountering the Germans.
However, once captured, the Soviet soldiers did not cooperate with the Germans. Several officers who went over to the enemy’s side are an exception to the general rule: in addition to General A. A. Vlasov, the commander of the 25th brigade, Colonel P. G. Sheludko, the officers of the headquarters of the 2nd shock army, Major Verstkin, Colonel Goryunov and the quartermaster 1, changed their oath. rank Zhukovsky.

For example, the commander of the 327th Infantry Division, Major General I.M. Antyufeev, was wounded and captured on July 5th. Antyufeyev refused to help the enemy, and the Germans sent him to a camp in Kaunas, then he worked in a mine. After the war, Antyufeyev was restored to the rank of general, continued his service in the Soviet Army and retired as a major general. The head of the medical service of the 2nd shock army, military doctor 1st rank Boborykin, deliberately remained surrounded to save the wounded of the army hospital. On May 28, 1942, the command awarded him the Order of the Red Banner. While in captivity, he wore the uniform of a Red Army commander and continued to provide medical assistance to prisoners of war. After returning from captivity, he worked at the Military Medical Museum in Leningrad.

At the same time, there are numerous cases where prisoners of war continued to fight the enemy even in captivity.
The feat of Musa Jalil and his “Moabit Notebooks” are widely known. There are other examples. The head of the sanitary service and brigade doctor of the 23rd Infantry Brigade, Major N.I. Kononenko, was captured on June 26, 1942, along with the staff of the brigade medical company. After eight months of hard work in Amberg, on April 7, 1943, he was transferred as a doctor to the camp infirmary in the city of Ebelsbach (Lower Bavaria). There he became one of the organizers of the "Revolutionary Committee", turning his infirmary in the Mauthausen camp into the center of the patriotic underground. The Gestapo tracked down the “Committee”, and on July 13, 1944, he was arrested, and on September 25, 1944, he was shot along with other 125 underground members. The commander of the 844th regiment of the 267th division, V. A. Pospelov, and the chief of staff of the regiment, B. G. Nazirov, were captured wounded, where they continued to fight the enemy and in April 1945 led an uprising in the Buchenwald concentration camp.

An indicative example is the political instructor of the company of the 1004th regiment of the 305th division D. G. Telnykh. Having been wounded (wounded in the leg) and shell-shocked in captivity in June 1942, he was sent to camps, finally ending up in a camp at the Schwartzberg mine. In June 1943, Telnykh escaped from the camp, after which Belgian peasants in the village of Waterloo helped contact partisan detachment No. 4 of Soviet prisoners of war (Lieutenant Colonel Kotovets of the Red Army). The detachment was part of the Russian partisan brigade “For the Motherland” (Lieutenant Colonel K. Shukshin). Telnykh took part in the battles, soon became a platoon commander, and from February 1944 - a company political instructor. In May 1945, the “For the Motherland” brigade captured the town of Mayzak and held it for eight hours until the British troops arrived. After the war, Telnykh, together with other fellow partisans, returned to serve in the Red Army.

Two months earlier, in April 1942, during the withdrawal of the 33rd Army from encirclement, its commander M. G. Efremov and army headquarters officers committed suicide. And if M. G. Efremov with his death “whitened even those cowardly ones who wavered in difficult times and abandoned their commander to save themselves alone,” then the fighters of the 2nd shock were looked at through the prism of A. A. Vlasov’s betrayal.

Review of the case

In 2001, Hieromonk Nikon (Belavenets), the head of the movement “For Faith and Fatherland,” applied to the Main Military Prosecutor’s Office to review the sentence of Vlasov and his associates. However, the military prosecutor's office came to the conclusion that there are no grounds for applying the law on the rehabilitation of victims of political repression.

On November 1, 2001, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Russian Federation refused to rehabilitate A. A. Vlasov and others, canceling the verdict regarding the conviction under Part 2 of Art. 5810 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR (anti-Soviet agitation and propaganda) and ending the case in this part for lack of corpus delicti. The rest of the sentence was left unchanged.

Arguments of Vlasov's supporters

The version of patriotism of A. A. Vlasov and his movement has its supporters and is the subject of debate to this day.

Vlasov's supporters argue that Vlasov and those who joined the Russian liberation movement were motivated by patriotic feelings and remained loyal to their homeland, but not to their government. One of the arguments given in favor of this point of view was that “if the state provides protection to a citizen, it has the right to demand loyalty from him,” but if the Soviet state refused to sign the Geneva Agreement and thereby deprived its captive citizens of protection, then the citizens were no longer obliged to remain loyal to the state and, therefore, were not traitors.

At the beginning of September 2009, the Synod of Bishops of the Russian Orthodox Church Abroad, at its meetings, touched upon the controversy regarding the published book of the church historian, Archpriest Georgy Mitrofanov, “The Tragedy of Russia.
“Forbidden” topics of 20th century history in church preaching and journalism.” In particular, it was noted that:

The tragedy of those who are commonly called “Vlasovites”... is truly great. In any case, it should be interpreted with all possible impartiality and objectivity. Without such comprehension, historical science turns into political journalism. We...should avoid a “black and white” interpretation of historical events. In particular, calling the actions of General A. A. Vlasov treason is, in our opinion, a frivolous simplification of the events of that time. In this sense, we fully support Father Georgy Mitrofanov’s attempt to approach this issue (or rather, a whole series of issues) with a measure adequate to the complexity of the problem. In the Russian Abroad, of which the surviving members of the ROA also became part, General A. A. Vlasov was and remains a kind of symbol of resistance to godless Bolshevism in the name of the revival of Historical Russia. ...Everything that they undertook was done specifically for the Fatherland, in the hope that the defeat of Bolshevism would lead to the re-creation of a powerful national Russia. Germany was considered by the “Vlasovites” exclusively as an ally in the fight against Bolshevism, but they, the “Vlasovites” were ready, if necessary, to resist with armed force any colonization or dismemberment of our Motherland. We hope that in the future Russian historians will treat the events of that time with greater justice and impartiality than is happening today.

Arguments of opponents of Vlasov and his rehabilitation

Vlasov’s opponents believe that since Vlasov and those who joined him fought against the Soviet Union on the side of its enemy, then they were traitors and collaborators. According to these researchers, Vlasov and the fighters of the Russian liberation movement went over to the side of the Wehrmacht not for political reasons, but to save their own lives, they were skillfully used by the Nazis for propaganda purposes, and Vlasov was nothing more than a tool in the hands of the Nazis.

Russian historian M.I. Frolov notes the great danger of attempts to glorify A.A. Vlasov, citing as their main consequences:

The desire to revise the results of the Second World War, in particular, to devalue the agreements reached by the victorious countries at the Yalta and Postdam conferences, at the Nuremberg trial of the main Nazi war criminals, to revise the principles of international law confirmed by the UN General Assembly (12/11/1946), recognized Charter of the tribunal and found expression in its verdict. In this way, various negative geopolitical, ideological and financial consequences for Russia can be achieved.
justification of collaboration in other countries (in particular, in the Baltic states and Ukraine), the desire to find a moral and psychological justification for the actions of anti-Russian political figures and forces, as well as the formation of a public consciousness that recognizes correct separatism.
a change in value orientations in society, the desire to remove the sources of the people’s positive sense of self, devaluing the victory in the Great Patriotic War by substituting the concepts of “treason - valor”, and “cowardice - heroism”.

According to the historian, “to present the traitor Vlasov, the collaborators “in the role” of fighters for Russia, for the Russian people is nothing more than a morally unworthy attempt, a conscious, deliberate perversion of the fundamental values ​​of Russian society - patriotism, love for the Motherland, selfless service interests of its people."

In 2009, with the support of the Russian Orthodox Church, the book “The Truth about General Vlasov: a collection of articles” was published, the main purpose of which, according to its authors, was “to show that the point of view of the professor of the St. Petersburg Theological Academy, Archpriest Georgy Mitrofanov, on the traitor general A A. Vlasov, the Great Patriotic War is marginal for the Russian Orthodox Church." The authors emphasize that the betrayal of Vlasov and the Vlasovites is “our pain and our shame, this is a shameful page in the history of the Russian people.”

Alternative versions of switching to the German side.

In some memoirs you can find a version that Vlasov was captured even earlier - in the fall of 1941, surrounded near Kiev - where he was recruited and transferred across the front line. He is also credited with the order to destroy all the employees of his headquarters who did not want to surrender with him. So, the writer Ivan Stadnyuk claims that he heard this from General Saburov. This version is not confirmed by published archival documents.

According to V.I. Filatov and a number of other authors, General A.A. Vlasov is a Soviet intelligence officer (an employee of the foreign intelligence of the NKVD or military intelligence - the Intelligence Directorate of the General Staff of the Red Army), who since 1938 worked in China under the pseudonym "Volkov", conducting reconnaissance activities against Japan and Germany, and then during the Great Patriotic War it was successfully abandoned to the Germans. The execution of Vlasov in 1946 is associated with the “quarrel” of the special services - the MGB and the NKVD - as a result of which, by the personal decision of Stalin and Abakumov, Vlasov was eliminated as a dangerous and unnecessary witness. Later, a significant part of the investigation materials on the “case” of Vlasov, Bunyachenko and other leaders of the KONR Armed Forces was destroyed.

There is also a conspiracy theory according to which, in reality, instead of Vlasov, another person was hanged on August 1, 1946, and Vlasov himself subsequently lived for many years under a different name.

Grigorenko Petr Grigorievich:

“In 1959, I met an officer I knew, whom I had seen before the war. We started talking. The conversation touched upon the Vlasovites. I said: “I had some pretty close people there.”
- Who? - he asked.
- Fedor Ivanovich Trukhin is my group leader at the Academy of the General Staff.
- Trukhin?! - My interlocutor even jumped up from his seat. - Well, I saw off your teacher on his last journey.
- Like this?
- And like this. You remember, obviously, that when Vlasov was captured, there was a report in the press about this, and it was indicated that the leaders of the ROA would appear in open court. They were preparing for an open trial, but the behavior of the Vlasovites spoiled everything. They refused to plead guilty to treason. All of them - the main leaders of the movement - said that they fought against the Stalinist terrorist regime. They wanted to free their people from this regime. And therefore they are not traitors, but Russian patriots. They were tortured, but achieved nothing. Then they came up with the idea of ​​“attaching” each of their friends from their previous lives. Each of us, planted, did not hide why he was planted. I was not assigned to Trukhin. He had another, formerly very close friend of his. I “worked” with my ex-buddy.
All of us, the “planted” ones, were given relative freedom. Trukhin’s cell was not far from the one where I “worked,” so I often went there and talked quite a lot with Fyodor Ivanovich. We were given only one task - to persuade Vlasov and his comrades to admit their guilt in treason against the Motherland and not say anything against Stalin. For such behavior, they were promised to spare their lives.

Some hesitated, but the majority, including Vlasov and Trukhin, firmly stood on their unchanged position: “I have not been a traitor and will not admit to treason.” I hate Stalin. “I consider him a tyrant and I will say this in court.” Our promises of life's blessings did not help. Our frightening stories did not help either. We said that if they did not agree, they would not be tried, but would be tortured to death. Vlasov responded to these threats: “I know. And I'm scared. But it’s even worse to slander yourself. But our torment will not be in vain. The time will come, and the people will remember us with a kind word.” Trukhin repeated the same thing.

And there was no open trial,” my interlocutor concluded his story. - I heard that they were tortured for a long time and hanged half dead. How they hanged me, I won’t even tell you about it...”

Gene. P. Grigorenko “Only rats can be found underground”

USSR awards

Order of Lenin (1941)
2 Orders of the Red Banner (1940, 1941)
medal "XX years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army"

Subsequently, by the verdict of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR, he was deprived of all awards and titles.

Foreign awards

Order of the Golden Dragon (China, 1939).

Watch "Logicology - about the fate of man" in advance.

Let's look at the FULL NAME code tables. \If there is a shift in numbers and letters on your screen, adjust the image scale\.

3 15 16 34 49 52 53 67 72 89 95 105 106 120 125 142 148 154 157 167 191
V L A S O V A N D R E Y A N D R E E V I C H
191 188 176 175 157 142 139 138 124 119 102 96 86 85 71 66 49 43 37 34 24

1 15 20 37 43 53 54 68 73 90 96 102 105 115 139 142 154 155 173 188 191
A N D R E Y A N D R E E V I C H V L A S O V
191 190 176 171 154 148 138 137 123 118 101 95 89 86 76 52 49 37 36 18 3

Let's consider reading individual words and sentences:

VLASOV = 52 = KILLED, STRAPPED = 15-ON + 37-NECK.

ANDREY ANDREEVICH = 139 = 63-THROAT + 76-CLAMP = 73-GUN + 66-PLACES.

139 - 52 = 87 = CONVICTED, THROAT = 3-B + 84-LOOP.

VLASOV ANDREY = 105 = TAKE \life\, CERVICAL, CHOCKING, ASPHYXIA.

ANDREEVICH = 86 = BREATH, EXECUTED, DIE.

105 - 86 = 19th GO\rlo\.

ANDREEVICH VLASOV = 138 = OXYGEN, HANGED, DYING = 75-COMPRESSURE, COMPRESSES + 63-THROAT.

ANDREY = 53 = PRESSED, CLAMPED, TREASON, LOOP \I\.

138 - 53 = 85-LOOP, REVENGE, HANGED.

Let's insert the found numbers into the code for ANDREY VLASOV'S FULL NAME:

191 = 106 \ 87 + 19 \ + 85 = 106-Strangulation + 85-HANGED, REVENGE, LOOP.

DATE OF BIRTH: 09/14/1901. This = 14 + 09 + 19 + 01 = 43 = COURT, SWORD.

191 = 43 + 148-PUNISHABLE, SENTENCED.

DATE OF EXECUTION: 08/1/1946. This is = 1 + 08 + 19 + 46 = 74 = PUSH, RUSH, FADING = 19-OUT + 10-FOR + 45-PENITION = 30-PUNISHMENT + 44-CAMBER = 17-AMBA + 57-HANGED. Where the code for YEAR of execution = 19 + 46 = 65 = HANGING.

191 = 74 + 117. Where 117 = JUDGMENT, DESTROYER = 15-ON + 102-GAGGED = 76-RETENGE + 41-STRIKE.

FULL EXECUTION DATE = 129 + 65-YEAR CODE, HANGING = 194 = 2 X 97-MURDER = 108-ABORT + 86-BREATH.

The number of full years of life = 76-fraud + 100-four = 176 = breathing = 10-zero + 166-division = 76-produced, overwhelmed, destroyed, destroyed + 100-hypoxia = 106-death + 70-lack, outcome = 111 -JUSTICE + 65-HANGING = 51-PUNISHED, KILLED + 76-CRUSH + 49-THROAT.

Addition:

191 = 109-REVENGE, CONVICTED, HANGED, PICKED up + 10-FOR + 72-TREASON = VIOLENT = 121-ASSHYXIA + 70-LIFE, EXODUS = 146-MECHANICAL + 45-EXECUTION = 75-REVENGE + 116-HANG, G HYPOXIA = 54-KAROY, BOTTOM, SIGH, CLAMPED + 137-HANGED = 83-GAMBLED + 108-EXECUTED = 97-VERDICT + 94-STRIPPED = 61-STRIPPED + 67-SCRIPPED + 63-THROAT = 46-STICKED + 10 4-VESSELS + 41-NECK.

Our country's traitor is Andrei Vlasov. It would seem that the negative image of this historical figure is quite clear. But Andrei Vlasov still meets with different assessments even from domestic historians and public figures. Someone is trying to present him not as a traitor to the Motherland, but as a fighter against Bolshevism and “Stalinist totalitarianism.” The fact that Andrei Vlasov created an army that fought on the side of our country’s most fierce enemy, who committed genocide against the peoples of the USSR and destroyed millions of ordinary Soviet people, is for some reason not taken into account.

Andrei Vlasov, in a matter of four years, went from one of the most promising and respected Soviet generals to the hanged man - “traitor number one” of the Soviet Union. Having joined the Red Army at the age of 18, during the Civil War, Andrei Vlasov already held staff and command positions from the age of 21. At the age of 39, he was already a major general, commanding the 99th Infantry Division. Under his command, the division became the best in the Kiev Military District, Vlasov himself received the Order of the Red Banner. By the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, Vlasov commanded the 4th mechanized corps, stationed near Lvov. Then Joseph Stalin personally summoned him and ordered him to form the 20th Army, which then operated under the command of Vlasov. Vlasov’s fighters especially distinguished themselves in the battles near Moscow, after which, on a special assignment from the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army, they even wrote a book about Vlasov, “Stalin’s Commander.” On March 8, 1942, Lieutenant General Vlasov was appointed deputy commander of the Volkhov Front, and a little later, retaining this position, became commander of the 2nd Shock Army. Thus, in the first year of the war, Andrei Vlasov was considered one of the most capable Soviet military leaders, benefiting from the personal favor of Joseph Stalin. Who knows, if Vlasov had not been surrounded, maybe he would have risen to the rank of marshal and would have become a hero, not a traitor.

But, having been captured, Vlasov eventually agreed to cooperate with Nazi Germany. For the Nazis it was a huge achievement - to win over to their side an entire lieutenant general, the commander of the army, and even one of the most capable Soviet military leaders, the recent “Stalinist commander”, who enjoyed the favor of the Soviet leader. On December 27, 1942, Vlasov proposed to the Nazi command to organize the “Russian Liberation Army” from among former Soviet prisoners of war who agreed to go over to the side of Nazi Germany, as well as other elements dissatisfied with the Soviet regime. The Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia was created for the political leadership of the ROA. Not only high-ranking defectors from the Red Army, who went over to the side of Nazi Germany after being captured, but also many White emigrants, including Major General Andrei Shkuro, Ataman Pyotr Krasnov, General Anton Turkul and many others, who became famous during the Civil War, were invited to work in KONR. In fact, it was KONR that became the main coordinating body of the traitors who went over to the side of Hitler’s Germany, and the nationalists who joined them, who were already in Germany and other European countries before the war.

Vlasov’s closest ally and chief of staff was former Soviet Major General Fyodor Trukhin, another traitor who, before his capture, was the deputy chief of staff of the Northwestern Front, and after his capture agreed to cooperate with the German authorities. By April 22, 1945, the Armed Forces of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia included a whole motley conglomerate of formations and units, including infantry divisions, a Cossack corps, and even its own air force.

The defeat of Nazi Germany put former Soviet Lieutenant General Andrei Vlasov and his supporters in a very difficult position. As a traitor, especially of such a rank, Vlasov could not count on leniency from the Soviet authorities and understood this perfectly well. However, for some reason he refused several times the asylum options offered to him.
One of the first to offer Vlasov refuge was the Spanish caudillo Francisco Franco. Franco's proposal came at the end of April 1945, when only a few days remained before Germany's defeat. Caudillo was going to send a special plane for Vlasov, which would take him to the Iberian Peninsula. Although Spain did not actively participate (with the exception of sending volunteers from the Blue Division) in World War II, Franco was positive towards Vlasov, as he saw him as a comrade-in-arms in the anti-communist struggle. It is possible that if Vlasov had accepted Franco’s offer then, he would have lived safely in Spain to a ripe old age - Franco hid many Nazi war criminals, much more bloody than Vlasov. But the commander of the ROA refused Spanish refuge, because he did not want to abandon his subordinates to the mercy of fate.

The next proposal came from the opposite side. After the victory over Germany, Andrei Vlasov found himself in the occupation zone of American troops. On May 12, 1945, Captain Donahue, who held the position of commandant of the zone where Vlasov was located, invited the former commander of the ROA to secretly travel deep into the American zone. He was ready to provide Vlasov with asylum on American territory, but Vlasov also refused this offer. He wanted asylum not only for himself, but also for all the soldiers and officers of the ROA, which he was going to ask the American command for.

On the same day, May 12, 1945, Vlasov headed deep into the American zone of occupation, intending to achieve a meeting with the American command at the headquarters of the 3rd US Army in Pilsen. However, along the way, the car in which Vlasov was located was stopped by soldiers of the 25th Tank Corps of the 13th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front. The former commander of the ROA was detained. As it turned out, former ROA captain P. Kuchinsky informed the Soviet officers about the possible whereabouts of the commander. Andrei Vlasov was taken to the headquarters of the commander of the 1st Ukrainian Front, Marshal Ivan Konev. From Konev's headquarters, Vlasov was transported to Moscow.

As for Vlasov’s closest associates in the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia and the command of the Russian Liberation Army, generals Zhilenkov, Malyshkin, Bunyachenko and Maltsev were able to reach the American occupation zone. However, this did not help them. The Americans successfully handed over the Vlasov generals to Soviet counterintelligence, after which they were all also transferred to Moscow. After the detention of Vlasov and his closest henchmen, KONR was headed by ROA Major General Mikhail Meandrov, also a former Soviet officer, a colonel who was captured while serving as deputy chief of staff of the 6th Army. However, Meandrov did not manage to walk free for long. He was interned in an American prisoner of war camp and remained there for a long time, until on February 14, 1946, almost a year after the end of the war, he was handed over to the Soviet authorities by the American command. Having learned that he was going to be extradited to the Soviet Union, Meandrov tried to commit suicide, but the guards of the high-ranking prisoner managed to stop this attempt. Meandrov was transported to Moscow, to the Lubyanka, where he joined the rest of the defendants in the Andrei Vlasov case. Vladimir Baersky, also a general of the ROA and deputy chief of staff of the ROA, who, together with Vlasov, stood at the origins of the Russian Liberation Army, was even less fortunate. On May 5, 1945, he tried to travel to Prague, but on the way, in Pribram, he was captured by Czech partisans. The Czech partisan detachment was commanded by a Soviet officer, Captain Smirnov. The detained Baersky began to quarrel with Smirnov and managed to slap the commander of the partisan detachment in the face. After this, the Vlasov general was immediately captured and hanged without trial.

All this time, the media did not report the detention of “traitor number one.” The investigation into the Vlasov case was of enormous national importance. In the hands of the Soviet government was a man who was not just a general who went over to the Nazis after being captured, but led the anti-Soviet struggle and tried to fill it with ideological content.

After arriving in Moscow, he was personally interrogated by the head of the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence SMERSH, Colonel General Viktor Abakumov. Immediately after the first interrogation by Abakumov, Andrei Vlasov was placed as secret prisoner number 31 in the internal prison at Lubyanka. The main interrogations of the traitor general began on May 16, 1945. Vlasov was “put on the conveyor belt,” that is, interrogated continuously. Only the investigators who carried out the interrogation and the guards guarding Vlasov changed. After ten days of conveyor interrogation, Andrei Vlasov fully admitted his guilt. But the investigation into his case continued for another 8 months.

Only in December 1945 was the investigation completed, and on January 4, 1946, Colonel General Abakumov reported to Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin that the top leaders of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia Andrei Vlasov and his other associates were being held in custody at the SMERSH Main Directorate of Counterintelligence. Abakumov proposed to sentence all those detained for treason to the Motherland to death by hanging. Of course, the fate of Vlasov and his closest associates was predetermined, and yet the sentence to the former Soviet general was discussed in great detail. This is about the question of how Stalinist justice was administered. Even in this case, the decision was not made immediately and not individually by any senior person in the structure of the state security agencies or the military tribunal.

Another seven months passed after Abakumov reported to Stalin about the completion of the investigation into the case of Andrei Vlasov and the top management of KONR. On July 23, 1946, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) decided that the leaders of the KONR Vlasov, Zhilenkov, Malyshkina, Trukhin and a number of their other associates would be tried by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR at a closed court session chaired by Colonel-General of Justice Ulrich without participation parties, i.e. lawyer and prosecutor. Also, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks gave the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR an order to sentence them to death by hanging, and to carry out the sentence in prison. It was decided not to cover the details of the trial in the Soviet press, but after the end of the trial to report on the court verdict and its execution.

The trial of the Vlasovites began on July 30, 1946. The meeting lasted two days, and immediately before sentencing Vlasov and his associates, members of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR deliberated for seven hours. Andrei Vlasov was sentenced on August 1, 1946. Reports of the sentence and its execution appeared in the central newspapers of the Soviet Union the next day, August 2, 1946. Andrei Vlasov and all other defendants pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them, after which, in accordance with paragraph 1 of the Decree of the PVS of the USSR of April 19, 1943, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR sentenced the defendants to death by hanging, the sentence was carried out. The bodies of the hanged Vlasovites were cremated in a special crematorium, after which the ashes were poured into an unnamed ditch near the Donskoy Monastery in Moscow. This is how the man who called himself the Chairman of the Presidium of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia and the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Liberation Army ended his life.

Many decades after the execution of Vlasov and his assistants, voices began to be heard from some of the Russian right-wing conservative circles about the need to rehabilitate the general. He was proclaimed a fighter against “Bolshevism, atheism and totalitarianism,” who supposedly did not betray Russia, but simply had his own view of its future fate. They talked about the “tragedy” of General Vlasov and his supporters.

However, we should not forget that Vlasov and the structures he created fought until the last on the side of Hitler’s Germany, the terrible enemy of our state. Attempts to justify the behavior of General Vlasov are very dangerous. And the point is not so much in the personality of the general himself, which can and can be called tragic, but in the deeper consequences of such a justification for betrayal. Firstly, attempts to justify Vlasov are another step towards revising the results of World War II. Secondly, Vlasov’s acquittal breaks the value system of society, since it asserts that betrayal can be justified by some lofty ideas. Such an excuse can be found for all traitors in this case, including ordinary policemen who took part in the robbery and terror of civilians, in the genocide of the Soviet people.

In contact with

Classmates

Evgeny Vlasov

The amorous affairs in the capital of the general of the Cossack troops of Russia Yevgeny Vlasov ended unsuccessfully. An attempt to find a girl for meetings without obligations on the dating site Mamba.ru ended in a simple theft.

Having met a pretty stranger who introduced herself as Alena, General Vlasov took her to a rented apartment in the capital. Then there was a night of love - according to the Cossack, very successful. But in the morning he was much less happy.

“When the victim woke up, he saw that the girl had left the apartment,” a source in the police of the Russian capital told reporters. – Money in the amount of 340 thousand rubles disappeared with her. The prostitute also took with her the victim’s documents - a certificate of a general of the Cossack troops of the Russian Federation and a passport of an American citizen in his name.

As it turned out, the “true Russian patriot” Yevgeny Vlasov moved to the United States for permanent residence back in 2010, and, having passed the required period for a green card, went through the naturalization procedure - obtaining American citizenship. It is worth noting that in its process, applicants must not only pass an exam on knowledge of the history and political system of the country, but also take an oath of allegiance to the United States, in which they promise to defend their new homeland to the last drop of blood.

Andrei Vlasov is a Soviet general who defected to the Nazis during the Great Patriotic War. He gained fame after he began collaborating with the Third Reich, leading the so-called Russian Liberation Army (unofficial abbreviation ROA).

After the end of the war, General Vlasov was accused of treason and sentenced to death by hanging. His name has become a household name and is used as a symbol of betrayal and cowardice.

Vlasov's army managed to push back the enemy and move forward significantly. But since the advance took place through dense forests surrounded by the Germans, they could be counterattacked by the enemy at any moment.

A month later, the pace of the offensive slowed significantly, and the order to capture Lyuban was not carried out. The general repeatedly said that he was experiencing a shortage of people, and also complained about the poor supply of soldiers.

Soon, as Vlasov predicted, the Nazis began an active offensive. German Messerschmitt planes attacked from the air the 2nd Shock Army, which ultimately found itself encircled.

Exhausted by hunger and continuous bombing by German aircraft, Russian soldiers did everything possible to get out of the cauldron.

However, everything was to no avail. The combat strength became smaller every day, as did the supplies of food and ammunition.

During this period, about 20,000 Soviet soldiers remained surrounded. It should be noted that even German sources said that Russian soldiers did not give up, preferring to die on the battlefield.

As a result, almost the entire 2nd Army of Vlasov died heroically, not yet knowing with what shame its native general would cover it.

Captivity

Those few witnesses who managed to somehow escape from the cauldron claimed that after the failed operation, General Vlasov lost heart.

There were no emotions on his face, and when the shelling began, he did not even try to hide in shelters.

Soon, at a council of officers, in which Colonel Vinogradov and generals Afanasyev and Vlasov participated, it was decided to leave the encirclement in small groups. As time will tell, only Afanasyev will be able to get out of the German ring.

On July 11, General Vlasov, together with three comrades, reached the village of Tukhovezhi. Entering one of the houses, they asked for food, and the general himself called himself a teacher.

After they were fed, the owner suddenly pointed a weapon at them and ordered them to go to the barn, where he locked them.

He then called the police, all the while carefully guarding the barn with the “teacher” and his associates.

On July 12, a German patrol responded to the call. When the barn doors opened, General Vlasov said in German who he really was. Wehrmacht soldiers successfully identified the famous general from a photo published in a newspaper.

The betrayal of General Vlasov

He was soon taken to headquarters, where they immediately began interrogating him. Andrei Vlasov gave detailed testimony, answering all questions.

Vlasov's meeting with Himmler

A month later, while in the Vinnitsa military camp for captured senior officers, Vlasov himself offered cooperation to the German leadership.

Deciding to go over to the Nazi side, he headed the “Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia” (KONR) and the “Russian Liberation Army” (ROA), which consisted of captured Soviet military personnel.

Vlasov with ROA soldiers

An interesting fact is that some pseudo-historians are trying to compare General Vlasov, who betrayed the Soviet Union during the years, with Admiral Kolchak, who in 1917 fought on the side of the white movement against the reds.

However, for any more or less informed person it is obvious that such a comparison is at least blasphemous.

“Why I took the path of fighting Bolshevism”

After the betrayal, Vlasov wrote an open letter “Why I took the path of fighting Bolshevism,” and also signed leaflets calling for the overthrow of the Stalinist regime.

Subsequently, these leaflets were scattered by the Nazi army from airplanes at the fronts, and were also distributed among prisoners of war.

Below is a photo of Vlasov’s open letter:

What made him take such a step? Many accused him of cowardice, but it is very difficult to find out the true reasons for going over to the enemy’s side. According to the writer Ilya Ehrenburg, who personally knew Andrei Vlasov, the general chose this path not because of cowardice.

He understood that upon returning from encirclement, he would certainly be demoted for failing the operation with colossal losses.

Moreover, he knew perfectly well that in wartime they would not stand on ceremony with a general who had lost his entire army, but for some reason himself survived.

As a result, Vlasov decided to offer cooperation to the Germans, since in this situation he could not only save his life, but also remain the commander of the army, albeit under the banner.

Generals Vlasov and Zhilenkov at a meeting with Goebbels, February 1945.

However, the traitor was deeply mistaken. His shameful betrayal in no way led him to glory. Instead, he went down in history as the main Soviet traitor of the Great Patriotic War.

The surname Vlasov became a household name, and Vlasovites figuratively call those who betray the interests of the Motherland.

Death of Vlasov

In May 1945, during the battles near Czechoslovakia, General Vlasov was captured by Soviet soldiers. At the trial, he pleaded guilty because he committed treason due to cowardice.

Prison photo of A.A. Vlasov from the criminal case materials

By the verdict of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR, he was stripped of his military ranks, and on August 1, 1946, he was hanged.

His body was cremated and his ashes were scattered in the “bed of unclaimed ashes” located near the Donskoy Monastery. The remains of destroyed “enemies of the people” have been dumped in this place for decades.

Now you know about stories of the betrayal of General Vlasov everything you need. If you liked Vlasov’s biography, share it on social networks and subscribe to the site. It's always interesting with us!

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It was about how Andrey Vlasov was considered a talented and promising general of the Red Army. After commanding (often successfully) a number of units, on April 20, 1942, Vlasov was appointed commander of the 2nd Shock Army. This army, intended to break the blockade of Leningrad, found itself in a difficult situation by the end of spring. In June, the Germans closed the “corridor” connecting army units with the main front line. About 20 thousand people remained surrounded, along with the commander, General Vlasov.

Rescue of General Afanasyev

Both the Germans and ours, knowing that the command of the 2nd Shock Army remained surrounded, tried at all costs to find him.

Vlasov's headquarters, meanwhile, tried to get out. The few surviving witnesses claimed that after the failed breakthrough, a breakdown occurred in the general. He looked indifferent and did not hide from the shelling. Took command of the detachment Chief of Staff of the 2nd Shock Army Colonel Vinogradov.

The group, wandering around the rear, tried to reach their own. It entered into skirmishes with the Germans, suffered losses, and gradually dwindled.

The key moment occurred on the night of July 11. Chief of Staff Vinogradov suggested dividing into groups of several people and going out to their own people on their own. He objected Chief of Army Communications Major General Afanasyev. He suggested that everyone should go together to the Oredezh River and Lake Chernoe, where they could feed themselves by fishing, and where the partisan detachments should be located. Afanasyev’s plan was rejected, but no one stopped him from moving on his route. 4 people left with Afanasyev.

Literally a day later, Afanasyev’s group met with the partisans, who contacted the “Big Land”. A plane arrived for the general and took him to the rear.

Alexey Vasilyevich Afanasyev turned out to be the only representative of the senior command staff of the 2nd Shock Army who managed to escape from the encirclement. After the hospital, he returned to duty and continued his service, ending his career as the chief of communications for the artillery of the Soviet Army.

“Don’t shoot, I’m General Vlasov!”

Vlasov's group was reduced to four people. He broke up with Vinogradov, who was ill, which is why the general gave him his overcoat.

On July 12, Vlasov's group split up to go to two villages in search of food. Stayed with the general cook of the canteen of the military council of the army Maria Voronova.

They entered the village of Tuchovezy, introducing themselves as refugees. Vlasov, who identified himself as a school teacher, asked for food. They were fed, after which they suddenly pointed weapons and locked them in a barn. The “hospitable host” turned out to be the local elder, who called local residents from among the auxiliary police for help.

It is known that Vlasov had a pistol with him, but he did not resist.

The headman did not identify the general, but considered those who came to be partisans.

The next morning, a German special group arrived in the village and was asked by the headman to pick up the prisoners. The Germans waved it off because they were coming for... General Vlasov.

The day before, the German command received information that General Vlasov had been killed in a skirmish with a German patrol. The corpse in the general's overcoat, which was examined by members of the group upon arriving at the scene, was identified as the body of the commander of the 2nd Shock Army. In fact, Colonel Vinogradov was killed.

On the way back, having already passed Tuchowiezy, the Germans remembered their promise and returned for the unknown.

When the barn door opened, a phrase in German sounded from the darkness:

- Don’t shoot, I’m General Vlasov!

Two destinies: Andrey Vlasov vs. Ivan Antyufeev

At the very first interrogations, the general began to give detailed testimony, reporting on the state of the Soviet troops and giving characteristics to Soviet military leaders. And just a few weeks later, while in a special camp in Vinnitsa, Andrei Vlasov himself would offer the Germans his services in the fight against the Red Army and Stalin’s regime.

What made him do this? Vlasov’s biography shows that not only did he not suffer from the Soviet system and from Stalin, but he received everything he had. The story about the abandoned 2nd Shock Army, as shown above, is also a myth.

For comparison, we can cite the fate of another general who survived the Myasny Bor disaster.

Ivan Mikhailovich Antyufeev, commander of the 327th Infantry Division, took part in the Battle of Moscow, and then with his unit was transferred to break the siege of Leningrad. The 327th Division achieved the greatest success in the Lyuban operation. Just as the 316th Rifle Division was unofficially called "Panfilovskaya", the 327th Rifle Division received the name "Antyufeevskaya".

Antyufeyev received the rank of major general at the height of the battles near Lyuban, and did not even have time to change his shoulder straps from a colonel to a general, which played a role in his future fate. The division commander also remained in the “cauldron” and was wounded on July 5 while trying to escape.

The Nazis, having captured the officer, tried to persuade him to cooperate, but were refused. At first he was kept in a camp in the Baltic states, but then someone reported that Antyufeyev was actually a general. He was immediately transferred to a special camp.

When it became known that he was the commander of the best division of Vlasov’s army, the Germans began to rub their hands. It seemed to them self-evident that Antyufeyev would follow the path of his boss. But even having met Vlasov face to face, the general refused the offer to cooperate with the Germans.

Antyufeyev was presented with a fabricated interview in which he declared his readiness to work for Germany. They explained to him that now for the Soviet leadership he is an undoubted traitor. But here, too, the general answered “no.”

General Antyufeyev stayed in the concentration camp until April 1945, when he was liberated by American troops. He returned to his homeland and was reinstated in the Soviet Army. In 1946, General Antyufeyev was awarded the Order of Lenin. He retired from the army in 1955 due to illness.

But it’s a strange thing - the name of General Antyufeyev, who remained faithful to the oath, is known only to fans of military history, while everyone knows about General Vlasov.

“He had no convictions - he had ambition”

So why did Vlasov make the choice that he did? Maybe because what he loved most in life was fame and career growth. Suffering in captivity did not promise lifetime glory, not to mention comfort. And Vlasov stood, as he thought, on the side of the strong.

Let us turn to the opinion of a person who knew Andrei Vlasov. Writer and journalist Ilya Erenburg met with the general at the peak of his career, in the midst of his successful battle near Moscow. Here is what Ehrenburg wrote about Vlasov years later: “Of course, someone else’s soul is dark; nevertheless, I dare to state my guesses. Vlasov is not Brutus or Prince Kurbsky, it seems to me that everything was much simpler. Vlasov wanted to complete the task assigned to him; he knew that Stalin would congratulate him again, he would receive another order, rise to prominence, and amaze everyone with his art of interrupting quotes from Marx with Suvorov jokes. It turned out differently: the Germans were stronger, the army was again surrounded. Vlasov, wanting to save himself, changed his clothes. When he saw the Germans, he was afraid: a simple soldier could be killed on the spot. Once captured, he began to think about what to do. He knew political literacy well, admired Stalin, but he had no convictions - he had ambition. He understood that his military career was over. If the Soviet Union wins, at best he will be demoted. So, there is only one thing left: accept the Germans’ offer and do everything so that Germany wins. Then he will be the commander-in-chief or minister of war of a ripped-off Russia under the auspices of the victorious Hitler. Of course, Vlasov never said that to anyone, he declared on the radio that he had long hated the Soviet system, that he longed to “liberate Russia from the Bolsheviks,” but he himself gave me a proverb: “Every Fedorka has his own excuses.”... Bad people exists everywhere, it does not depend either on the political system or on upbringing.”

General Vlasov was mistaken - betrayal did not bring him back to the top. On August 1, 1946, in the courtyard of Butyrka prison, Andrei Vlasov, stripped of his title and awards, was hanged for treason.