German chronicle of the capture of General Vlasov. Captivity of General Vlasov: the story of a participant. Open action against Stalin

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 in 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 into 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 Lviv region 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 the 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 this. 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.

In captivity

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.

From the editor:

Every year on May 9, our country celebrates Victory Day and pays tribute to the valiant defenders of the Fatherland - living and dead. But it turns out that not everyone who should be remembered with a kind word is remembered and known by us. The lies of totalitarian ideology have given rise to myths for many years. Myths that became truth for several generations of Soviet people. But sooner or later the truth becomes known. People, as a rule, are in no hurry to part with myths. It’s more convenient and familiar this way... Here is one of the stories about how a national hero, a favorite of the authorities, “became a traitor.” This story happened with the combat lieutenant general of the Red Army Andrei Vlasov.

Who are you, General Vlasov?

So, autumn 1941. The Germans attack Kyiv. However, they cannot take the city. The defense has been greatly strengthened. And it is headed by a forty-year-old Major General of the Red Army, commander of the 37th Army, Andrei Vlasov. A legendary figure in the army. Came all the way - from private to general. He went through the civil war, graduated from the Nizhny Novgorod theological seminary, and studied at the Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army. Friend of Mikhail Blucher. Just before the war, Andrei Vlasov, then still a colonel, was sent to China as military advisers to Chiang Kai-shek. He received the Order of the Golden Dragon and a gold watch as a reward, which aroused the envy of the entire Red Army generals. However, Vlasov was not happy for long. Upon returning home, at Almaty customs the order itself, as well as other generous gifts from Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek, were confiscated by the NKVD...

Returning home, Vlasov quickly received general's stars and an appointment to the 99th Infantry Division, famous for its backwardness. A year later, in 1941, the division was recognized as the best in the Red Army and was the first among the units to be awarded the Order of the Red Banner of Battle. Immediately after this, Vlasov, by order of the People's Commissar of Defense, took command of one of the four created mechanized corps. Headed by a general, he was stationed in Lvov and was practically one of the very first units of the Red Army to enter hostilities. Even Soviet historians were forced to admit that the Germans “got punched in the face for the first time,” precisely from the mechanized corps of General Vlasov.

However, the forces were unequal, and the Red Army retreated to Kyiv. It was here that Joseph Stalin, shocked by Vlasov’s courage and ability to fight, ordered the general to gather the retreating units in Kyiv, form the 37th Army and defend Kyiv.

So, Kyiv, September-August 1941. Fierce fighting is taking place near Kyiv. German troops are suffering colossal losses. In Kyiv itself... there are trams.

Nevertheless, the well-known Georgy Zhukov insists on the surrender of Kyiv to the attacking Germans. After a small intra-army “showdown,” Joseph Stalin gives the order: “Leave Kyiv.” It is unknown why Vlasov’s headquarters was the last to receive this order. History is silent about this. However, according to some as yet unconfirmed reports, this was revenge on the obstinate general. The revenge of none other than Army General Georgy Zhukov. After all, just recently, a few weeks ago, Zhukov, while inspecting the positions of the 37th Army, came to Vlasov and wanted to stay the night. Vlasov, knowing Zhukov’s character, decided to joke and offered Zhukov the best dugout, warning him about night shelling. According to eyewitnesses, the army general changed his face after these words and hastened to retreat from his position. It’s clear, said the officers present, who wants to expose their heads... On the night of September 19, practically undestroyed Kyiv was abandoned by Soviet troops.

Later, we all learned that 600,000 military personnel ended up in the “Kiev cauldron” through Zhukov’s efforts. The only one who withdrew his army from encirclement with minimal losses was “Andrei Vlasov, who did not receive the order to withdraw.”

Having been out of the Kyiv encirclement for almost a month, Vlasov caught a cold and was admitted to the hospital with a diagnosis of inflammation of the middle ear. However, after a telephone conversation with Stalin, the general immediately left for Moscow. The role of General Vlasov in the defense of the capital is discussed in the article “The failure of the German plan to encircle and capture Moscow” in the newspapers “Komsomolskaya Pravda”, “Izvestia” and “Pravda” dated December 13, 1941. Moreover, among the troops the general is called nothing less than “the savior of Moscow.” And in the “Certificate for Army Commander Comrade. Vlasov A.A.,” dated 24.2.1942 and signed by deputy. head HR Department of the NPO Personnel Directorate of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) Zhukov and head. The Sector of the Personnel Administration of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (Bolsheviks) reads: “By working as a regiment commander from 1937 to 1938 and by working as a rifle division commander from 1939 to 1941, Vlasov is certified as comprehensively developed, well prepared in operational and tactical terms commander."

(Military Historical Journal, 1993, N. 3, pp. 9-10.). This has never happened in the history of the Red Army: possessing only 15 tanks, General Vlasov stopped Walter Model’s tank army in the Moscow suburb of Solnechegorsk and pushed back the Germans, who were already preparing for a parade on Moscow’s Red Square, 100 kilometers away, liberating three cities... It was from which he received the nickname “the savior of Moscow.” After the battle of Moscow, the general was appointed deputy commander of the Volkhov Front.

What remains behind the Sovinformburo reports?

And everything would be just great if, after the completely mediocre operational policy of the Headquarters and the General Staff, Leningrad found itself in a ring akin to Stalingrad. And the Second Shock Army, sent to the rescue of Leningrad, was hopelessly blocked in Myasny Bor. This is where the fun begins. Stalin demanded punishment for those responsible for the current situation. And the highest military officials sitting on the General Staff really did not want to hand over their drinking buddies, the commanders of the Second Shock, to Stalin. One of them wanted to have absolute command of the front, without having any organizational abilities for this. The second, no less “skillful”, wanted to take this power away from him.

The third of these “friends,” who drove the Red Army soldiers of the Second Shock Army in front under German fire, later became the Marshal of the USSR and the Minister of Defense of the USSR. The fourth, who did not give a single clear command to the troops, imitated a nervous attack and left... to serve in the General Staff. Stalin was informed that “the group’s command needs to strengthen its leadership.” Here Stalin was reminded of General Vlasov, who was appointed commander of the Second Shock Army. Andrei Vlasov understood that he was flying to his death. As a person who went through the crucible of this war near Kiev and Moscow, he knew that the army was doomed, and no miracle would save it. Even if he himself is a miracle - General Andrei Vlasov, savior of Moscow.

One can only imagine that the military general changed his mind « Douglas », flinching from the explosions of German anti-aircraft guns, and who knows, if the German anti-aircraft gunners had been luckier, they would have shot down this « Douglas » .

Whatever grimace history would make... And now we would not have the heroically deceased Hero of the Soviet Union, Lieutenant General Andrei Andreevich Vlasov. According to existing, I emphasize, information that has not yet been confirmed, there was a proposal against Vlasov on Stalin’s table. And the Supreme Commander-in-Chief even signed it...

Official propaganda presents further events as follows: traitor general A. Vlasov voluntarily surrendered. With all the ensuing consequences...

But few people to this day know that when the fate of the Second Shock became obvious, Stalin sent a plane for Vlasov. Of course, the general was his favorite! But Andrei Andreevich has already made his choice. And he refused to evacuate, sending the wounded on the plane. Eyewitnesses of this incident say that the general threw through his teeth « What kind of commander abandons his army to destruction? »

There are eyewitness accounts that Vlasov refused to abandon the fighters of the 2nd Shock Army who were actually dying of hunger due to the criminal mistakes of the Supreme Command and fly away to save his life. And not the Germans, but the Russians, who went through the horrors of the German and then Stalinist camps and, despite this, did not accuse Vlasov of treason. General Vlasov with a handful of fighters decided to break through to his...

Captivity

On the night of July 12, 1942, Vlasov and a handful of soldiers accompanying him went to the Old Believer village of Tukhovezhi and took refuge in a barn. And at night, the barn where the encirclement found shelter was broken into... no, not the Germans. To this day it is unknown who these people really were. According to one version, these were amateur partisans. According to another - armed local residents, led by the church warden, decided to buy the favor of the Germans at the price of the general's stars. That same night, General Andrei Vlasov and the soldiers accompanying him were handed over to regular German troops. They say that before this the general was severely beaten. Please note, your...

One of the Red Army soldiers who accompanied Vlasov then testified to SMERSHA investigators: “When we were handed over to the Germans, the technical officers, without talking, shot everyone. The general came forward and said: “Don’t shoot!” I am General Vlasov. My people are unarmed!’” That’s the whole story of the “voluntary departure into captivity.” By the way, between June and December 1941, 3.8 million Soviet troops were captured by the Germans, and in 1942, more than a million, for a total of about 5.2 million people.

Then there was a concentration camp near Vinnitsa, where senior officers of interest to the Germans - prominent commissars and generals - were kept. Much was written in the Soviet press that Vlasov, they say, chickened out, lost control of himself, and saved his life. The documents say otherwise.

Here are excerpts from official German and personal documents that ended up in SMERSH after the war. They characterize Vlasov from the point of view of another side. These are documentary evidence of Nazi leaders, whom you certainly would not suspect of sympathizing with the Soviet general, through whose efforts thousands of German soldiers were destroyed near Kiev and Moscow.

Thus, the adviser to the German embassy in Moscow, Hilger, in the protocol of the interrogation of the captured General Vlasov dated August 8, 1942. briefly described him: “He gives the impression of a strong and straightforward personality. His judgments are calm and balanced” (Archive of the Institute of Military History of the Moscow Region, no. 43, l. 57.).

Here is the opinion of General Goebbels. Having met with Vlasov on March 1, 1945, he wrote in his diary: “General Vlasov is a highly intelligent and energetic Russian military leader; he made a very deep impression on me” (Goebbels J. Latest entries. Smolensk, 1993, p. 57).

Vlasov’s attitude seems clear. Maybe the people who surrounded him in the ROA were the last scum and slackers who were just waiting for the start of the war to go over to the side of the Germans. Annette, here the documents give no reason to doubt.

...and the officers who joined him

General Vlasov's closest associates were highly professional military leaders who at various times received high awards from the Soviet government for their professional activities. Thus, Major General V.F. Malyshkin was awarded the Order of the Red Banner and the medal “XX Years of the Red Army”; Major General F.I. Trukhin - the Order of the Red Banner and the medal “XX Years of the Red Army”; Zhilenkov G.N., Secretary of the Rostokinsky District Committee of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks), Moscow. - Order of the Red Banner of Labor ( Military-historical magazine, 1993, N. 2, p. 9, 12.). Colonel Maltsev M. A. (ROA Major General) - commander Air Force by KONR forces, was at one time pilot-instructor the legendary Valery Chkalov (“Voice of Crimea”, 1944, N. 27. Editorial afterword).

The Chief of Staff of the VSKONR, Colonel A.G. Aldan (Neryanin), received high praise upon graduation from the General Staff Academy in 1939. The then Chief of the General Staff, Army General Shaposhnikov, called him one of the brilliant officers of the course, the only one who graduated from the Academy with excellent marks. It is difficult to imagine that they were all cowards who went to serve the Germans in order to save their own lives. Generals F. I. Trukhin, G. N. Zhilenkov, A. A. Vlasov, V. F. Malyshkin and D. E. Purchase during the signing ceremony of the KONR manifesto. Prague, November 14, 1944.

If Vlasov is innocent, then who?

By the way, if we are talking about documents, then we can remember one more. When General Vlasov ended up with the Germans, the NKVD and SMERSH, on behalf of Stalin, conducted a thorough investigation of the situation with the Second Shock Army. The results were put on the table to Stalin, who came to the conclusion: to admit the inconsistency of the accusations brought against General Vlasov for the death of the 2nd Shock Army and for his military unpreparedness. And what kind of unpreparedness could there be if the artillery did not have enough ammunition for even one salvo... The investigation from SMERSH was headed by a certain Viktor Abakumov (remember this name). Only in 1993, decades later, Soviet propaganda reported this through clenched teeth. (Military Historical Journal, 1993, N. 5, pp. 31-34.).

General Vlasov - Hitler is kaput?!

Let's return to Andrey Vlasov. So did the military general calm down in German captivity? The facts speak differently. It was possible, of course, to provoke a guard into firing a burst of automatic fire, it was possible to start an uprising in the camp, kill a couple of dozen guards, flee to your own people and... end up in other camps - this time Stalin’s. It was possible to show unshakable convictions and... turn into a block of ice. But Vlasov did not experience any particular fear of the Germans. One day, the concentration camp guards who “took their breasts” decided to organize a “parade” of captured Red Army soldiers and decided to put Vlasov at the head of the column. The general refused this honor, and several “organizers” of the parade were knocked out by the general. Well, then our camp commandant arrived in time.

The general, who has always been distinguished by his originality and unconventional decisions, decided to act differently. For a whole year (!) he convinced the Germans of his loyalty. Then, in March and April 1943, Vlasov made two trips to the Smolensk and Pskov regions, and criticized ... German politics in front of large audiences, making sure that the liberation movement resonated with the people.

Noza's "shameless" speeches frightened the Nazis send him under house arrest. The first attempt ended in complete failure. The general was eager to fight, sometimes committing reckless acts.

All-seeing eye of the NKVD?

Then something happened. Soviet intelligence came out to the general. In his circle appeared a certain Melenty Zykov, who held the position of divisional commissar in the Red Army. The personality is bright and... mysterious. General, he edited two newspapers...

To this day it is not known for certain whether this man was who he said he was. Only a year ago, circumstances “surfaced” that could turn all ideas about the “case of General Vlasov” upside down. Zykov was born in Dnepropetrovsk, a journalist, worked in Central Asia, then at Izvestia with Bukharin. He married the daughter of Lenin's comrade-in-arms, People's Commissar of Education Andrei Bubnov, and was subsequently arrested in 1937. Shortly before the war he was released (!) and the army was called up to serve as a battalion commissar (!).

He was captured near Bataysk in the summer of 1942, being the commissar of an infantry division, whose numbers he never named. They met Svlasov in the Vinnitsa camp, where they kept Soviet officers of particular interest to the Wehrmacht. From there Zykov was brought to Berlin by order of Goebbels himself.

The stars and commissar insignia of Zykov, delivered to the military propaganda department, remained unbroken on his tunic. Melenty Zykov became the general's closest adviser, although he received only the rank of captain in the ROA.

There is reason to believe that Zykov was a Soviet intelligence officer. And the reasons are very compelling. Melenty Zykov was very actively in contact with senior German officers who, as it turned out, were preparing an assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler. For this they paid. It remains a mystery what happened on a June day in 1944 when he was called to the telephone in the village of Rasndorf. ROA captain Zykov left home, got into his car and... disappeared.

According to one version, Zykov was kidnapped by the Gestapo, who uncovered the assassination attempt on Hitler, and then shot in Sachsenhausen. A strange circumstance, Vlasov himself was not very concerned about Zykov’s disappearance, which suggests the existence of a plan for Zykov’s transition to an illegal position, that is, to return home. In addition, in 1945-46, after the arrest of Vlasov, SMERSH was very actively looking for traces of Zykov.

Yes, so actively that it seemed like they were deliberately covering their tracks. When in the mid-nineties they tried to find the criminal case of Melenty Zykov from 1937 in the FSB archives, the attempt was unsuccessful. Strange, isn't it? After all, at the same time, all of Zykov’s other documents, including the reader’s form in the library, and the registration card in the military archive, were in place.

General's family

There is one more significant circumstance that indirectly confirms Vlasov’s cooperation with Soviet intelligence. Usually, relatives of “traitors to the Motherland,” especially those occupying a social position at the level of General Vlasov, were subjected to severe repression. As a rule, they were destroyed in the Gulag.

In this situation, everything was exactly the opposite. Over the past decades, neither Soviet nor Western journalists have been able to obtain information that would shed light on the fate of the general’s family. Only recently it became clear that Vlasov’s first wife Anna Mikhailovna, arrested in 1942, after serving 5 years in a Nizhny Novgorod prison, was living and thriving in the city of Balakhna several years ago. The second wife, Agnessa Pavlovna, whom the general married in 1941, lived and worked as a doctor in the Brest regional dermatovenerological dispensary, died two years ago, and her son, who achieved a lot in this life, lives and works in Samara.

The second son, illegitimate, lives and works in St. Petersburg. At the same time, he denies any relationship with the general. He has a son growing up, very similar to his wife... His illegitimate daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren also live there. One of his grandchildren, a promising officer in the Russian Navy, has no idea who his grandfather was. So decide after this whether General Vlasov was a “traitor to the Motherland.”

Open action against Stalin

Six months after Zykov’s disappearance, on November 14, 1944, Vlasov proclaimed the manifesto of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia in Prague. Its main provisions: the overthrow of the Stalinist regime and the return to the people of the rights they won in the 1917 revolution, the conclusion of an honorable peace with Germany, the creation of a new free statehood in Russia, “approval national labor building”, “full development of international cooperation”, “elimination of forced labor”, “liquidation of collective farms”, “granting the intelligentsia the right to create freely”. The very familiar demands proclaimed by political leaders of the last two decades are not true.

Why is there treason here? KONR receives hundreds of thousands of applications from Soviet citizens in Germany to join its armed forces.

Star...

On January 28, 1945, General Vlasov took command of the Armed Forces of the KONR, which the Germans authorized at the level of three divisions, one reserve brigade, two squadrons of aviation and an officer school, a total of about 50 thousand people. At that time, these military formations were not yet sufficiently armed.

Lieutenant General A. A. Vlasov and representatives of the German command inspect one of the Russian battalions as part of Army Group North, May 1943. In the foreground is a Russian non-commissioned officer (deputy platoon commander) with shoulder straps and buttonholes of the Eastern troops, introduced in August 1942.

The war was ending. The Germans were already under-generalized by Vlasova; they were saving their own skins. February 9 and April 14, 1945 were the only occasions when the Vlasovites took part in battles on the Eastern Front, forced by the Germans. In the first battle, several hundred Red Army soldiers went over to Vlasov’s side. The second one radically changes some ideas about the end of the war.

On May 6, 1945, an anti-Hitler uprising broke out in Prague... Upon the call of the rebel Czechs, Prague entered... The first division of the army of General Vlasov. She enters the battle with units of the SSivermacht armed with teeth, captures the airport, where fresh German units arrive and liberates the city. The Czechs are rejoicing. Very eminent commanders of the Soviet army are beside themselves with fury of wickedness. Of course, again it’s the upstart Vlasov!

Then strange and terrible events began. Those who yesterday begged for help come to KVlasov and ask the general... to leave Prague, since his Russian friends are unhappy. IVlasov gives the command to withdraw. However, this did not save the walkers; they were shot... by the Czechs themselves. By the way, it was not a group of impostors who asked for Vlasov’s help, but people who carried out the decision of the highest body of the Czechoslovak Republic.

...And the death of General Vlasov

But this did not save the general, Colonel General Viktor Abakumov, the head of SMERSH, gave the command to detain Vlasov. The SMERSHists took the show. On May 12, 1945, the troops of General Vlasov were squeezed between the American and Soviet troops of the southwestern Czech Republic. The “Vlasovites,” who fell into the hands of the Red Army, are shot on the spot... According to the official version, the general himself was captured and arrested by a special reconnaissance group that stopped the convoy of the first division of the ROA and SMERSH. However, there are at least four versions of how Vlasov ended up behind the Soviet troops. We already know the first one, but here is another one, compiled on the basis of eyewitness accounts. Indeed, General Vlasov was in that very ROA column.

Only he wasn’t hiding on the carpet on the floor of the Willis, as stated by Captain Yakushov, who allegedly took part in that operation. The general sat calmly in the car. And the car was not a Willys at all. Moreover, this same car was of such a size that the two-meter tall general simply could not fit inside, wrapped in a carpet... And there was no lightning attack by the scouts on the convoy. They (the scouts), dressed in full uniform, calmly waited on the side of the road for Vlasov’s car to catch up with them. When the car slowed down, the leader of the group saluted the general and invited him to get out of the car. Is this how they greet traitors?

And then the fun began. There is evidence from the military prosecutor of the tank division to which Andrei Vlasov was taken. This man was the first to meet the general after his arrival at the location of the Soviet troops. He claims that the general was dressed in... a general's uniform of the Red Army (old style), with insignia and orders. The stunned lawyer could not find anything better than to ask the general to produce documents. This is what he did, showing the prosecutor the pay book of the commanding staff of the Red Army, the identity card of the Red Army general No. 431 dated 02.13.41. and party card of a member of the CPSU (b) No. 2123998 - everything is in the name of Andrey Andreevich Vlasov...

Moreover, the prosecutor claims that the day before Vlasov’s arrival, an unimaginable number of army commanders came to the division, who did not even think of showing any hostility or hostility towards the general. Moreover, a joint lunch was organized.

On the same day, the general was transported to Moscow by transport plane. I wonder if this is how traitors are greeted?

Very little is known further. Vlasov is located in Lefortovo. “Prisoner No. 32” was the name of the general in prison. This prison belongs to SMERSH, and no one, not even Beria and Stalin, has the right to enter there. They didn’t come in - Viktor Abakumov knew his business well. Why then I paid, but that was later. The investigation lasted more than a year. Stalin, or maybe not Stalin at all, thought about what to do as a sleepy general. Elevate the rank of a national hero? It’s impossible: the military general did not sit quietly, he spoke a lot. 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…

They say that it was then that Vlasov met with Melenty Zykov again...

But the general was consistent in his actions, as when he did not leave the soldiers of the Second Shock to die, as when he did not abandon his ROA in the Czech Republic. Lieutenant General The Red Army, holder of the Order of Lenin and the Red Banner of Battle, made his last choice...

August 2, 1946 official TASS message published in all central newspapers: August 1, 1946 lieutenant general The Red Army A. A. Vlasov and his 11 comrades were hanged. Stalin was cruel to the end. After all, there is no death more shameful for officers than the gallows. Here are their names: Major General of the Red Army Malyshkin V. F., Zhilenkov G. N., Major General of the Red Army Trukhin F. I, Major General of the Red Army Zakutny D. E, Major General of the Red Army Blagoveshchensky I. A, Colonel of the Red Army Meandrov M. A, Colonel of the USSR Air Force Maltsev M. A, Colonel of the Red Army Bunyachenko S. K, Colonel of the Red Army Zverev G. A, Major General of the Red Army Korbukov V. D. and Lieutenant Colonel of the Red Army Shatov N. S. It is unknown where the bodies of the officers were buried. SMERSH knew how to keep its secrets.

Forgive us, Andrey Andreevich!

Was Andrei Vlasov a Soviet intelligence officer? There is no direct evidence of this. Moreover, there are no documents indicating this. But there are facts that are very difficult to argue with.

The main one among them is this. It is no longer a big secret that in 1942 Joseph Stalin, despite all the successes of the Red Army near Moscow, wanted to conclude a separate peace with Germany and stop the war. Having given up Ukraine, Moldova, Crimea...

There is even evidence that Lavrenty Beria “ventilated the situation” on this issue.

IVlasov was an excellent candidate to conduct these negotiations. Why? To do this, you need to look at the pre-war career of Andrei Vlasov. You can come to some startling conclusions. Back in 1937, Colonel Vlasov was appointed head of the Second Department of the Leningrad Military District headquarters. Translated into civilian language, this means that the brave Colonel Vlasov was responsible for all the security work of the district. And then repressions broke out. Colonel Vlasov, who received the first pseudonym “Volkov”, was... safely sent as an adviser to the already mentioned Chiang Kai-shek... Further, if you read between the lines of the memoirs of the participants in those events, you come to the conclusion that someone else worked in China as... Colonel Volkov, a Soviet intelligence officer.

It was he, and someone else, who made friends with German diplomats, took them to restaurants, gave them vodka until they fainted, and talked for a long, long time. It is unknown, but how can an ordinary Russian colonel behave this way, knowing what is happening in his country, that people were arrested only because they were explaining to foreigners on the street how to get to the Alexander Garden. Where does Sorge go with his efforts at undercover work in Japan? All of Sorge’s female agents could not supply information comparable to that of Chiang Kai-shek’s wife, with whom the Russian colonel had a very close relationship... The seriousness of Colonel Vlasov’s work is evidenced by his personal translator in China, who claims that Volkov ordered him to shoot him at the slightest danger.

Another argument. I saw the document marked “Top Secret.” Ex. No. 1" dated 1942, in which Vsevolod Merkulov reports to Joseph Stalin on the destruction work traitor general A. Vlasova. So, Vlasov was hunted by more than 42 reconnaissance and sabotage groups with a total number of 1,600 people. Believe that in 1942 such a powerful organization as SMERSH could not “get” one general, even if he was well guarded. I don't believe. The conclusion is more than simple: Stalin, knowing full well the strength of the German intelligence services, tried in every possible way to convince the Germans of the general’s betrayal.

But the Germans turned out to be so simple. Hitler did not accept Vlasov that way. Andrei Vlasov fell in line with the anti-Hitler opposition. It is now unknown what prevented Stalin from completing the job - either the situation at the front, or the too late or unsuccessful attempt by the Naführer. IStalin had to choose between destroying Vlasov or kidnapping him. Apparently, we stopped last. But... This is the most Russian “but”. The whole point is that at the time of the general’s “transition” to the Germans in the USSR, there were already three intelligence agencies operating: the NKGB, SMERSH and the GRU of the General Staff of the Red Army. These organizations competed fiercely with each other (remember this). IVlasov, apparently, worked for the GRU. How else can one explain the fact that the general was brought to the Second Shock by Lavrentiy Beria and Kliment Voroshilov. Interesting, isn't it?

Further, the trial against Vlasov was carried out by SMERSH and did not allow anyone to be involved in this case. Even the trial took place behind closed doors, although logically, the trial of a traitor should be public and open. You need to see photographs of Vlasov in court - eyes expecting something, as if asking: “How long will it take, stop the clownery.” But Vlasov did not know about the secret services. He was executed... People present at the scene claim that the general behaved with dignity.

The scandal began the day after the execution, when Joseph Stalin saw the latest newspapers.

It turns out that SMERSH had to ask for written permission to punish from the Military Prosecutor's Office and the GRU. They asked, and they answered: “The execution will be postponed until further notice.” This letter remains in the archives to this day.

But Abakumov did not see the answer. Why did I pay? In 1946: the year Stalin personally ordered Viktor Abakumov to be arrested. They say that Stalin visited him in prison and reminded him of General Vlasov. However, these are just rumors...

By the way, in the indictment against Andrei Vlasov there is no article incriminating treason against the Motherland. Only terrorism and counter-revolutionary activities.

Later, when it became known that Vlasov had gone over to the side of the Germans, the amazed and dejected Stalin threw the following reproach to N.S. Khrushchev: “And you praised him, nominated him!” Most likely, they were talking about Vlasov’s promotion to the Volkhov Front. This is not the first time that the name Khrushchev appears in connection with Vlasov. It was Khrushchev who recommended that Stalin appoint Vlasov as commander of the 37th Army near Kiev. It was Khrushchev who was the first to meet Vlasov after the general left the encirclement near Kiev. It was Khrushchev who left us memories of Vlasov coming out “in peasant clothes and with a goat tied on a rope.”

So, on March 8, 1942, Stalin summoned Vlasov from the Svatovo station in the Voroshilovgrad region, where the headquarters of the Southwestern Front was located, and appointed him deputy commander of the Volkhov Front. Soon, the front commander, General K. A. Meretskov, sent Vlasov as his representative to the 2nd Shock Army, which was supposed to improve the situation of besieged Leningrad. Meanwhile, the 2nd Shock Army was in a critical situation, and the main responsibility for this lay with Meretskov. As Meretskov himself wrote, “I and the front headquarters overestimated the capabilities of our own troops.” It was Meretskov who drove the 2nd Shock Army into the German “sack”. Without establishing its supply, Meretskov misinformed Headquarters that “the army’s communications have been restored.”

It is Meretskov who advises Stalin to send Vlasov to save the 2nd Shock Army instead of the wounded army commander N.K. Klykov. After all, Vlasov has experience in withdrawing troops from encirclement, Meretskov explained, and no one else but Vlasov will be able to cope with this difficult task. On March 20, Vlasov arrived at the 2nd Shock Army to organize a new offensive. On April 3, near Lyuban, this offensive began and ended in complete failure. This failure led to the encirclement of the 2nd Shock Army and the surrender, under very dark circumstances, of General Vlasov.

What motives guided Vlasov when he surrendered to the Germans? Vlasov’s apologists are trying to assure us that, wandering through the Volkhov forests, seeing all the horror and all the futility of the death of the 2nd Shock Army, Vlasov understood the criminal essence of the Stalinist regime and decided to surrender. Actually, these motives for surrender were given by Vlasov himself in 1943.

Of course, you can’t get into a person’s head and you won’t recognize his thoughts. But it seems that, having written these words in the spring of 1943, already in the service of the Germans, Vlasov, as usual, was lying. In any case, there is no reason to trust these words of the former commander of the 2nd Army, since two months before his capture, before his appointment to the Volkhov Front, in a letter to his wife he described his second meeting with Stalin: “Dear and dear Alik! You still won’t believe how much happiness I have. I was once again hosted by the biggest man in the world. The conversation was conducted in the presence of his closest students. Believe me, the big man praised me in front of everyone. And now I don’t know how I can justify the trust that HE places in me...”

Of course, they will again tell us that Vlasov was “forced to write like that,” that it was a device against Soviet censorship, etc. But even if this is so, then who gave guarantees that in 1943 Vlasov once again did not “disguise himself”, this time from German “censorship”? The arguments of a person who is constantly deceiving cannot inspire any confidence.

The second explanation for the surrender of Vlasov, which his apologists offer us, is the assertion that the army commander was afraid to go out to his own people, because he understood that Stalin would immediately shoot him for the ruined army. Proving this, Vlasov’s apologists do not stop at the most incredible speculations. “His military career,” writes E. Andreeva, “no doubt came to an end, he was the commander of the 2nd Shock Army, which was defeated, and regardless of who was responsible, he will have to pay. Other commanders in similar situations were shot.”

By “other commanders” E. Andreeva means the executed generals in the case of the “Conspiracy of Heroes”, as well as in the case of General D. G. Pavlov. E. Andreeva does not say a word that the real reason for the execution of these people was not their military failures (many of them did not even have time to take part in hostilities), but the treason charged against them in the form of organizing a conspiracy and deliberate sabotage in the troops of the Western front.

As for Vlasov, he was not guilty of the death of the 2nd Army; the main blame for this lay with Meretskov, or, in extreme cases, with the leadership of Headquarters. Vlasov could not help but know that Stalin was not at all inclined to reprisals against innocent subordinates. The best example of this is Vlasov himself, when he, in civilian clothes, emerged from encirclement near Kiev, having lost most of the army entrusted to him. As we remember, he was not only not shot or tried for this, but on the contrary, he was sent to command the 20th Army. What was the fundamental difference between Vlasov’s Kyiv encirclement and his entourage in the forests of Myasny Bor? Moreover, from the documents we see that Stalin was very worried about the fate of the Soviet generals of the 2nd Shock Army, who were surrounded. The leader ordered everything to be done to save the Soviet generals. It is characteristic that while in captivity, Vlasov boastfully declared that Stalin had sent a plane to rescue him.

Precisely to save, because no reprisals were applied to the survivors. For example, the evacuated communications chief of the 2nd Shock Army, Major General A.V. Afanasyev, not only was not subjected to any repression, but was awarded and continued to serve. In addition, Stalin was skeptical for a very long time about the very fact of Vlasov’s betrayal. The investigation into this fact lasted for a whole year. By order of the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR dated October 5, 1942, Vlasov was listed as missing in action, and was listed as such until April 13, 1943, when the circumstances of his betrayal were clarified and this order was canceled.

The third reason why Vlasov surrendered could be his cowardice and fear of death. It was this reason that the Soviet authorities propagated in every possible way, it was the one that was highlighted in the investigation materials, and it was cowardice that the defendant Vlasov explained his behavior at the trial. However, it must be admitted that there are no compelling reasons to consider Vlasov a coward. On the contrary, at the front he more than once demonstrated contempt for death, calmly being in the artillery shelling zone.

There is, however, another version by V.I. Filatov, that Vlasov was a secret employee of the GRU and was sent by our military intelligence to the Germans in order to prevent the emergence of a possible anti-Soviet movement. Despite all the visual appeal of this version, it has several major flaws that make it impossible. The main reason why this version is untenable is that, in the event that Vlasov was sent to the Germans to create a controlled anti-Soviet army, Stalin would have planted a time bomb under his power. The situation with Vlasov's army, even if he were a Soviet agent, would initially have been uncontrollable. Who would give guarantees that Vlasov would not play by German rules because of a hopeless situation? In the event of the creation of an anti-Soviet army, Stalin with his own hands would have created a force that threatened to add to the external war - the Civil War. Then Stalin would have become the initiator of a most dangerous adventure. Stalin was never an adventurer and would never have taken an adventure.

Thus, Filatov’s version seems to us completely untenable. We believe that it is very likely that Vlasov was sent to the Germans by Stalin’s enemies from among the Soviet Trotskyist party and military leadership, to conspire with the German generals to overthrow Stalin’s power.

Close ties between the Reichswehr generals and the Red Army existed even before Hitler came to power. The German Field Marshal General, and then the Reich President P. von Hindenburg, openly favored the army commanders I. E. Yakir and I. P. Uborevich. Marshal M.N. Tukhachevsky also had the closest ties with German military circles. “Always think about this,” Tukhachevsky told the German military attaché General Koestring in 1933, “you and we, Germany and the USSR, can dictate our terms to the whole world if we are together.”

Moreover, most of the military leaders of the Red Army, who were in a confidential relationship with the German generals, were accused of the 1937 conspiracy. Tukhachevsky, in his suicide letter to Stalin, known as the “Plan for Defeat in the War,” acknowledged the existence of a conspiracy between the Soviet and German military.

German generals, conspiring with the Soviet military in 1935-37, pursued the same goal as them: Tukhachevsky and company wanted to overthrow Stalin, and German generals wanted to overthrow Hitler and the Nazis. In 1941, internal contradictions between Hitler and the German generals did not disappear. Among a large number of German generals, including the Chief of the General Staff F. Halder, there were people who believed that a further war with the USSR would be disastrous for Germany. At the same time, they believed that Hitler and the Nazis were leading the Reich to disaster. To end the war with Russia according to our own scenario, and not according to Hitler’s scenario - that was the plan of part of the German generals. Under these conditions, it was extremely necessary for the Wehrmacht generals to come to terms with part of the Soviet generals, striving for their political goals and the overthrow of Stalin.

For their part, the conspirators from among the generals of the Red Army, coming into contact with the Germans, could pursue their far-reaching goals. The conspirators could hope that the anti-Soviet army of prisoners of war created by German generals, led by their accomplice Vlasov, would be able to radically change the course of the war. Vlasov on the German side, and the conspirators on the Soviet side would have done one thing - opened a front and overthrown the Stalinist government. At the same time, both German and Soviet conspirator generals believed that Hitler would have no reason to wage war against the new outwardly anti-Soviet regime, and he would be forced to make peace with it. This peace, on the one hand, would be honorable and victorious for Germany, on the other, it would be concluded according to the scenario of the German generals and would preserve Russia as a controlled by Germany, but still a “sovereign” state. Such a state, the German General Staff believed, could become an ally of the German military in confronting Hitler.

On the other hand, the Soviet conspirators could believe that by concluding peace with Germany, they would be able, by establishing a so-called “democratic” government that would be recognized by the United States and England, to ensure for themselves full power in the country. Thus, the fifth anti-Stalinist column in the USSR, oriented toward Trotskyist circles in the West, cleared its way to power at the cost of dismembering the territory of the USSR and concluding peace with its worst enemies. What did not work out in the summer of 1937 should have happened in 1942 or 1943. In 1937, Tukhachevsky was a candidate for “dictator”; in 1942, Vlasov was supposed to become him. Vlasov had to establish contacts not only with the Germans, but also with the Western allies.

Of course, there is no direct documentary evidence of this version today. It must be remembered that all archives relating to the processes of the 30-40s are still classified and are known only in fragments. But even from these passages one can judge the scale of conspiratorial activity in the ranks of the Red Army. The version of Vlasov the conspirator is also supported by the fact that Vlasov’s main protégés from among the German military later ended up in the camp of the anti-Hitler opposition.

So, captured under very strange and unclear circumstances, the commander of the 2nd Shock Army, Lieutenant General A. A. Vlasov, was taken under strong guard to Siverskaya, to the headquarters of the 18th German Army. He was immediately received by the army commander, Colonel General Georg von Lindemann. Vlasov gave Lindeman a number of important information that constituted state secrets of the USSR.

From Lindeman, Vlasov was sent to the Promenent prison camp in Vinnitsa. When we hear the word Nazi “prisoner of war camp,” we immediately rightly draw a picture of a death camp. But the camp in Vinnitsa was not like that at all. This was a special camp, subordinate directly to the High Command of the Wehrmacht Ground Forces (OKH), in which high-ranking Soviet prisoners of war were kept. By the time Vlasov arrived at the Vinnitsa camp, captured Soviet generals Ponedelin, Potapov, Karbyshev, Kirillov, as well as Stalin’s son Ya. I. Dzhugashvili, were already being held there. And this camp was led by... an American of German origin, Peterson. What a strange thing! Well, the Germans didn’t have enough normal Germans, so they started inviting American fellow tribesmen to serve? Vlasov’s apologist K. Alexandrov gives us amazing information about the camp. He writes that the camp in Vinnitsa “was under the actual control of representatives of the anti-Hitler opposition.”

In August, Vlasov had a meeting with the camp leadership, a representative of the German Foreign Ministry and intelligence representatives. What is noteworthy: Foreign Ministry Advisor Gustav Hilder, at a meeting with Vlasov, discussed the possibility of his participation in the puppet government of Russia, which was supposed to officially transfer the territories of Ukraine and the Baltic states to Germany. Let's note that a high-ranking official of the German Foreign Ministry arrives for a meeting with Vlasov, who conducts a conversation in the presence of a person from the United States! He and Vlasov had very interesting conversations about his inclusion in the Russian government! Why did it happen? Who is Vlasov to negotiate with him on this topic?

But the most interesting thing is that Hilder arrived not only to see Vlasov. At the same time, a regimental commissar, a certain I. Ya. Kernes, was in the Vinnitsa camp. Kernes voluntarily went over to the German side in June 1942 in the Kharkov region. Having been captured, Kernes turned to the German authorities with the message that he had extremely important information.

Kernes said that after the defeat of the Trotskyist-Bukharin bloc and the groups of Tukhachevsky, Egorov and Gamarnik in the USSR, their remnants united into a widely ramified organization with branches both in the army and in government institutions. He, Kernes, is a member and envoy of this organization.

The information that Kernes gave the Germans about the conspiratorial organization indicated that in the USSR there was an anti-Stalinist secret organization that stood on the platform of “continuing the true teachings of Lenin, distorted by Stalin.” The organization aims to overthrow Stalin and his government, restore the NEP policy, destroy collective farms and focus its foreign policy on Nazi Germany.

When asked whether there were representatives of the “organization” in the NKVD, Kernes replied that there were even in the central office, but did not name anyone.

It is curious that these provisions, which Kernes spoke about, almost exactly coincide with the “Manifesto of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia,” signed by Vlasov in November 1944.

The conditions for contact between the German side and the conspirators were agreed upon with Kernes, and it was also guaranteed that the response from the German side would be conveyed through the same Kernes. Field Marshal von Bock personally met with Kernes even before the Vinnitsa camp.

And although the representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Hilder, in his official report doubted the seriousness of Kernes’ powers, it is not difficult to guess that this was done with the desire to distract the tenacious eye of the Nazi leadership from the commissar. As we understand, the plans of the German generals did not include Hitler knowing about the negotiations with the Red conspirators.

As is easy to see, the same people met with Vlasov as with Kernes. It is quite possible that both of them were present at the meeting. It is also possible that they knew each other: both fought in Ukraine in 1941. After a meeting with representatives of the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Intelligence, Vlasov writes the following note: “The officer corps of the Soviet Army, especially captured officers who can freely exchange thoughts, are faced with the question: in what way can Stalin’s government be overthrown and a new Russia created? All are united by the desire to overthrow Stalin's government and change the form of government. 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. However, the question of Russia's future is unclear. This could lead to an alliance with the United States and England if Germany does not clarify this issue."

Amazing document! The Soviet general sits in German captivity, which, as we know, was not a resort, and freely discusses who post-Stalin Russia should join: the USA, England or Germany! In the end, Vlasov graciously agrees to join Germany, but warns that if the latter behaves badly, Russia may join the Western Allies! It is simply impossible to imagine that the Nazis would tolerate such antics from some “Untermensch”, a captured communist. And this is possible only in one case, if Vlasov wrote his note not for the Nazis, but for the generals opposed to the Hitler regime. Vlasov’s note is an appeal, no, not to him personally, but to the leaders of the anti-Stalin conspiracy, to the entire West hostile to the USSR. This is a call for immediate cooperation, this is evidence of readiness to oppose Stalin.

The note from Vinnitsa is the most important and most interesting document issued from the pen of Vlasov. This is not propaganda or a demagogic appeal, which he will write later. This is a proposal for cooperation with the West, a proposal coming from a person who feels strong behind him. Noteworthy are the words Vlasov said to a German officer of Russian origin and career intelligence officer, Captain V. Strik-Strikfeldt: “We decided on a big game.”

The same Strik-Strikfeldt, who supervised Vlasov, gives us an idea of ​​the essence of this “big game”. Vlasov’s curator recalled that the captive general called to follow “Lenin’s path,” that is, to take advantage of the war to “liberate the people and the country from the Bolshevik regime.” After all, during the First World War, Lenin and Trotsky helped the Germans defeat Russia and for this received power in the country. Why not now, in the name of overthrowing Stalin, not enter into an agreement with Hitler and buy peace from Germany, giving it the Baltic states, Belarus and Ukraine?

“Will they give us,” Vlasov asked Shtrik-Shtrikfeld, “the opportunity to field the Russian army against Stalin? Not an army of mercenaries. She must receive her assignment from the national Russian government. Only a higher idea can justify taking up arms against the government of one's country. This idea is political freedom and human rights. Let's remember the great freedom fighters in the USA - George Washington and Benjamin Franklin. In our case, only if we put universal human values ​​over nationalist values ​​is our consent to your help in the fight against the Bolshevik dictatorship justified.”

Isn’t it true, dear reader, that in our recent history we have already heard these calls for the priority of “universal human values” over “nationalist” ones; we have already been told somewhere about “human rights” and “about freedom fighters” in the USA? If you don’t know that the above words belong to the traitor to the Motherland Vlasov in 1942, then you might think that this is a speech by A. N. Yakovlev, a member of the Politburo of the CPSU Central Committee, in 1990. Apparently, in 1942, the German General Staff began a major game to actually overthrow Stalin and replace him with a Trotskyist-liberal regime. But this game was broken by Adolf Hitler.

Hitler did not like all this fuss with the “Russian liberation movement” at all. And the point here is not only Hitler’s zoological Russophobia. Hitler could not help but see that the manipulations with the “new Russian government” were started by his old enemies from the general corps. This alone could not arouse any enthusiasm in the Fuhrer. In addition, the formation of an independent Russian army threatened Nazi Germany with unpredictable consequences. Arm several hundred thousand Soviet prisoners of war with German weapons, so that they would then go over to Stalin and turn the issued weapons against Hitler?! No, Hitler was not a fool. But even if the anti-Stalinist conspiracy won, Hitler gained absolutely nothing. On the contrary, his power was again under threat. After all, then the main pretext for war disappeared - the Bolshevik threat to Europe. With the new “Russian” government, willy-nilly, peace would have to be made. And this would mean the end of all Hitler’s predatory and savage plans regarding Russian territory and the Russian people. At the same time, the new “Russian” government could easily conclude a peace treaty with the West. And then in the name of what did Hitler begin such a difficult campaign in June 1941? Not to mention the fact that such an outcome made the opposition generals a real force capable of carrying out a coup in the Reich, relying on the help of their “Russian allies.” No, Hitler did not smile at this development of events at all. And therefore he categorically refuses to not only see, but even hear about Vlasov. And Reichsführer SS G. Himmler, without hiding, calls him a “Slavic pig.” Vlasov is sent under house arrest, then released, he lives in Berlin, in good conditions, but still he remains in the position of a semi-prisoner. Vlasov was expelled from the big game and did not return to it until the end of 1944.

The plan of the Soviet and German conspirators collapsed before it began to be implemented. This was facilitated first by the successes of the German troops at Stalingrad, when it seemed that the Soviet Union was about to fall, and, starting in 1943, by the successes of the Soviet troops, when the power and authority of I.V. Stalin in the country and in the world, as the main leader of the anti-Hitler coalition , become indisputable.

Abandoned by both his fellow conspirators and the German generals, Vlasov found himself in a terrible situation. In his ambitious plans, he was supposed to become the commander-in-chief of the “new Russian army”, and perhaps even the “dictator” of Russia, but he became a German puppet, dressed in either a Russian or a German uniform. In vain Vlasov continued to rush around with the ideas of the ROA, an independent Russian government - all this, in essence, was no longer needed by anyone. Hitler did not allow the formation of independent Russian military units, allowing the formation of only SS national units with Russian symbols. Like a mannequin, Vlasov at parades raised his hand in a semi-Nazi salute addressed to “Russian” soldiers dressed in Wehrmacht uniform, like a parrot he repeated demagogic slogans about “free Russia without the Bolsheviks.”

Meanwhile, these units began to become increasingly disillusioned with the Nazis. On August 16, 1943, soldiers and officers of the 1st Russian National SS Brigade (“Druzhina”), led by former Red Army lieutenant colonel V.V. Gil-Rodionov, went over to the side of the Soviet partisans. For this transition, during which the newly minted partisans killed many Germans, Gil-Rodionov was reinstated in the army with the assignment of another military rank and, moreover, awarded the Order of the Red Star, and his unit was renamed the 1st anti-fascist partisan brigade.

But it cannot be said that Vlasov did not play any role at all in the Third Reich. According to the recollections of one of the leaders of the Abwehr, W. Schellenberg, “we entered into special agreements with General Vlasov and his headquarters, even giving him the right to create his own intelligence service in Russia.” What kind of service was this? What sources did she use? This question is still waiting for its researcher.

In the second half of 1944, the Germans again needed Vlasov in a big game. Now, however, this game was intra-German. In July 1944, almost all of Vlasov's German patrons (Field Marshal von Bock, Colonel General Lindemann, Colonel Stauffenberg and others) turned out to be indirect or direct participants in the conspiracy against Hitler. As it turns out, Vlasov and his non-existent “army” played an important role in the plans of the conspirators. Here is what Shtrik-Shtrikfeldt writes about this: “Vlasov knew quite well about the independent and active role intended by the ROA conspirators. According to their plan, immediate peace was envisaged in the west, and in the east the continuation of the war, turning it into a civil war. For this, a well-prepared and powerful Vlasov army was needed.”

That is, the German generals were preparing for Vlasov the same role: the role of the leader of a fratricidal war. And Vlasov happily agrees to this plan.

“I know,” he assures the German generals, “that even today I can win the war against Stalin. If I had an army consisting of citizens of my fatherland, I would reach Moscow and end the war by telephone, simply by talking with my comrades.”

Vlasov speaks to his accomplices in the ROA about the need to support the German conspirators.

However, in the case of the anti-Hitler conspiracy, everything is not easy for Vlasov. On July 20, 1944, Vlasov persistently sought a meeting with Reichsführer Himmler. The meeting did not take place then due to the assassination attempt on Hitler and the outbreak of a coup d'etat, which was suppressed by J. Goebbels and the SS apparatus. What did Vlasov want to tell Himmler? It’s difficult to say about this now, but it is known that after the failure of the July 20 plot, Vlasov demonstratively turns away from his yesterday’s allies - the generals who turned out to be conspirators. This unscrupulousness of Vlasov amazed even Shtrik-Shtrikfeld. When the latter, in a conversation with Vlasov, called Stauffenberg and other rebels “our friends,” Vlasov sharply interrupted him: “They don’t talk about such dead people as friends. They are not known."

After the failure of the conspiracy, Vlasov realized that the work of the generals was over and the only real force in Germany was the NSDAP, and more specifically, Reichsführer SS Heinrich Himmler, whose power and capabilities increased incredibly after the failure of the putsch. Vlasov again hurries to see “Black Henry” and asks for a meeting. Such a meeting took place on September 16, 1944. It is curious that the meeting between Vlasov and Himmler took place behind closed doors, one on one. The result of this meeting with Himmler was the recognition of Vlasov as an “ally” of the Reich and commander-in-chief of the ROA. On November 14, 1944, the founding meeting of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (KONR) was solemnly held in Prague, which addressed the people of Russia with a “manifesto”. Vlasov was elected Chairman of the Committee.

Meanwhile, the agony of Hitler's Germany began. The Thousand-Year Reich collapsed under the blows of the Red Army.

Once again Vlasov is trying to change owners. He betrays the Germans and stabs them in the back in Prague in May 1945. However, he cannot stay there for long - the Red Army is approaching Prague.

Vlasov runs to the Americans, who seem to agree to accept his services. But the Americans do not tell Vlasov that they already had an agreement with the USSR on the extradition of Vlasov and his associates. Having tricked the ROA commander into allegedly going to the American headquarters as part of a tank column, the Americans took Vlasov exactly the opposite - to the SMERSH capture group.

On this, in fact, Vlasov’s life ended. This life was terrible and black. Vlasov betrayed everyone and everything all his life. The Church, to whose service I wanted to devote my life, Stalin, to whom I swore allegiance and “admired”, the Motherland, to which I owed everything, the soldiers and commanders of the 2nd Shock Army, from whom I ran away, my patrons, German generals, new patrons - Himmler and the SS . Vlasov betrayed his wives, betrayed his mistresses, betrayed leaders, generals and soldiers. Betrayal became the norm of life for him, defined by its internal content. The result of such a life could be one - a rope around the neck in the Lefortovo internal prison.

But the investigation and trial of traitors to the Motherland Vlasov and his accomplices were closed. The protocols of these interrogations have not yet been fully declassified. Therefore, it remains a mystery who stood behind Vlasov in the tragic days of 1942?

Concluding our article about Vlasov, let’s say the following. It looks to the present and future rather than to the past. There, in the past, everything was put in its place long ago. Loyalty was called Loyalty, Valor - Valor, cowardice - cowardice, treason - treason. But today there are extremely dangerous tendencies to call treason Valor and cowardice Heroism. The Vlasovs gained hundreds of admirers, apologists who mourned their “martyrdom.” Such people are doing a criminal thing; they insult the Holy Memory of our soldiers, the true martyrs who died during the Great Patriotic War for the Faith and the Fatherland.

Once upon a time, back in 1942, Vlasov enthusiastically read the book “Grozny and Kurbsky”, more than once admiring the words and actions of Andrei Kurbsky. He managed to continue the work of his idol. Well, Vlasov and others like him will find a “worthy” place in the shameful row of traitors and traitors to Russia.

CAPTURE OF GENERAL VLASOV

It remains to describe the capture of General Vlasov and his entourage. As an outstanding person, there are many reports and descriptions about him, including romanticized and deliberately distorted versions, which try to present him in the wrong light. In an article by Soviet General Fomin, for example, it is reported that when General Vlasov’s car was detained, it was found wrapped in a carpet. How Vlasov managed to do this, given his almost two-meter height, is not explained. At the Hoover Institution, I found an unsigned manuscript detailing how Vlasov lived illegally in the Czech Republic and was finally arrested by border patrol in 1946 while trying to cross the border into Bavaria and handed over to Soviet authorities. There is also a description of a dramatic escape into the nearest forest through an underground passage from the castle in the village of Lnarzhe, which Bunyachenko and several further officers allegedly took advantage of. Vladimir Pozdnyakov, one of those who managed to escape, writes in his article that about the capture of the general. Vlasov can only be testified by two people who were present and experienced the events. The first is cap. Antonov, and the second is a person identified by the initials I.P. In all likelihood, he is the personal security officer, General. Vlasova, Igor Pekarsky.

There are rumors about Captain Antonov that he did not act as one would have expected from him and that he did not leave anything that could bring light to the circumstances of the capture of the general. Vlasova.

While studying materials at the Hoover Institution, I found a two-page manuscript signed with the name Igor Pekarsky. I used some of the information from this manuscript in describing this chapter, mainly as it relates to the trip of the gene. Vlasov to the city of Pilsen and back to the division in the village of Lnarzhi. Due to the fact that the capture of the gene. Vlasov happened a few tens of minutes after the dissolution of the division; in all likelihood, everything happened quickly and without complications. Igor Pekarsky's description corresponds to this, it is sensible and, in my opinion, the most reliable, although it reveals connections that may never be explained. From Pekarsky’s manuscript I quote the main passage:

The capture took place on May 12th. (Pekarsky cites that this happened “in the morning,” but from other sources it follows that it all started at 14.00, when the brigade of Colonel Mishenko began to move to occupy the area of ​​​​the village of Lnarzhe, abandoned by the American army and when Capt. Donahue was supposed to send General Vlasov to the American High Command - author's note).

In the morning, Gen. Vlasov, gen. Bunyachenko, lieutenant colonel. Nikolaev, cap. Antonov and several other headquarters officers got into four passenger cars and, accompanied by two American officers and an American tank, drove out of the castle (in the village of Lnarzhe - author's note) towards Bavaria. A jeep with American officers rode at the head of the column, followed by the car of the general. Bunyachenko, which was controlled by lieutenant colonel. Nikolaev. Next to him sat another officer (Major Ryl - author's note), and in the back seat were the general. Bunyachenko and I (Igor Pekarsky - author's note). Three more cars followed, and in the last of them was the gene. Vlasov. An American tank brought up the rear of the column.

All of us, except the gene. Vlasov, were dressed, fully or partially, in civilian clothes; we removed insignia and ranks from uniforms.

Leaving the village, we saw a closed car, next to which stood some ROA sergeant in uniform, but without military insignia and cockade. When we approached him, we heard him asking the lieutenant colonel. Nikolaeva: “Where are you going, Mr. Lieutenant Colonel?” Nikolaev responded to this, waving his hand: “Follow us, Misha.” We continued on our way for some time, and then slowed down as we were approaching the bridge. At that moment, the car Misha was standing next to got ahead of us and stood across the road, between us and the jeep in such a way that the entire column had to stop. A Soviet captain (Yakushev, battalion commander from Colonel Mishenko’s brigade - author’s note) got out of the car, approached our car, turned to the general. Bunyachenko and asked him to get into his car and follow him to the commandant’s office of the tank unit, through whose territory we were passing.

The American officers who accompanied us and the general (Bunyachenko - author's note) unsuccessfully tried to explain to Soviet capital that we were American prisoners and that we were on territory under the jurisdiction of the American command. Our cars were surrounded by people in civilian clothes who looked neither like Ostovtsy (Russified name for Ostarbeiters - author's note) nor like soldiers dressed in civilian clothes.

In the group accompanying the Soviet captain there was one ROA officer (Captain Kuchinsky, battalion commander

ROA, one of those that went over to Soviet units. It was he who warned Yakushev that there was a gene in the last car. Vlasov. - See the above article by Gen. Fominykh). Finally, one of the Americans - as I later learned, by the name of Martin, a Slovak Jew by origin, and at that time the head of the prisoner of war camp in Gorazdovice - told us that we must obey the order of the Soviet captain.

There was a dispute during which it became known that the last machine contained a gene. Vlasov. The captain (Yakushev - author's note) focused all his attention on this machine and the general. Vlasov came out of it.

The details of the conversation, swear words and threats are not so important. After what Martin said, both American officers stood aside, chewing gum, and watching what would happen. (Col. Martin was a new figure on the scene, and various other sources clearly state that he arrived on the scene in a third American car. Snatches of conversations as recorded in various witness statements, as well as the presence of someone who had the right to give or change orders, puts this whole incident in a special light. It can be assumed that with a high degree of probability, negotiations were held about the prepared action. Fominykh clearly cites that Soviet intelligence knew where the general was and blocked everything way to the west near the village of Lnarzhe. - Author's note).

When gen. Vlasov got out of the car, his translator, Lieutenant. Ressler tried to explain the essence of the matter to the American officers in poor English. The regiment ended the conversation. Martin, who stated: “This is a Russian matter, it does not concern us.” Gene. Vlasov, refused to follow the captain. Yakushev and the latter pointed a machine gun at him. Vlasov unbuttoned his cloak and said: “Shoot!” At this moment the regiment intervened again. Martin turned to Yakushev with the words: “Not on our territory, please.” That was the end of it. Meanwhile, several people managed to escape. Cap. Nikolaev even, using his car, returned to the castle in Lnarzha and informed the captain about what had happened. Donahue. He immediately returned with him to the scene of the incident, but there they found only the Americans accompanying them. (The author of this testimony, Igor Pekarsky, managed to escape. - Author's note).

The vehicles turned back and followed the Soviet officer.

This ends the entry of Igor Pekarsky. Capture gene. Vlasov was captured two kilometers south of the village of Lnarzhe.

Information about gene capture. Vlasov’s capture can be supplemented by a description of the incident by his translator, Lieutenant. Victor Ressler, who, together with Gen. Vlasov and cap. Antonov, was in the last vehicle of the above-mentioned convoy. When the column stopped in front of the bridge, Gen. Vlasov got out of the car along with Ressler, who went to the front car of the column and at that moment saw their car, with a driver and a cap. Antonov, turns back and leaves in the direction of the village. Lnarzhe. The rest of the cars stood abandoned with their doors open. Apart from Yakushev, who was still pointing his machine gun at Vlasov, there was only one healthcare worker present who tried to prevent Yakushev from shooting at him. A group of Americans stood aside and did not interfere in anything. Finally, Yakushev said: “Why shoot! Stalin will judge you." At that moment, Ressler heard Vlasov’s calls: “Ressler, where are you, Ressler!” The latter ran up to him and said: “Wait, Andrei Andreevich, Antonov will return immediately with our people.” Yakushev became worried and again began to threaten with a machine gun. Finally, he forced them both into the back seats of the car. The driver was a soldier in the uniform of the ROA and Yakushev sat next to him in front. The car quickly rushed back to the village. Lnarzhe. As she walked through the village, Vlasov asked to stop at the castle so that he could pick up his things. Yakushev ordered the driver: “Drive, don’t stop!” The following episodes take place at the headquarters of the Fomin corps in the city of Nepomuk.

Gene. Vlasov, together with Lieutenant. Ressler, was taken to the headquarters of the 25th Tank Corps, where the general American-Soviet banquet had just ended. There were still bottles of wine and the remains of various dishes on the tables. The officers of the Soviet headquarters immediately recognized Gen. Vlasova. In front of them stood the former commander of the 2nd Shock Army of the Leningrad Front. More under duress than by his own decision, he had to immediately write an order to his subordinate units for unconditional surrender. His objection that the army was already disarmed was not accepted by the corps commander.

At the headquarters of Lieutenant Ressler was separated from Gen. Vlasov and never saw him again. Soviet officers and soldiers asked him with interest about Vlasov and the ROA. They treated him well. At night, he was locked in the basement, and the next day, in front of the counterintelligence building, he met with Bunyachenko, Nikolaev and Kostenko; he does not give his name, but his command position and description: tall figure and sharp nose. There were also other ROA officers there. He managed to approach Bunyachenko and ask him under what circumstances he got here. But the latter had no desire to indulge in long conversations and he snapped briefly: “I’m tired of staggering.” The next day, they were taken by truck to the headquarters of the 13th Army and there they were interrogated again. After this they were taken to the airfield in Dresden and there they were treated roughly for the first time. A group of prisoners, consisting of approximately twenty-five people, were loaded into the Douglas, without seats, only with captured carpets on the floor, and flew “home.”

In Dresden, Gen. Vlasov was brought to the commandant’s office of the 1st Ukrainian Front to Marshal I. S. Konev. The latter ordered him to be immediately sent to Moscow.

When gen. Vlasov, even before that at 14.00. left the castle in the village. Lnarzhe, he left a capt there under guard. Donahue, Lt. Col. Tensorov and other headquarters officers so that, if necessary, they would provide assistance to the disbanded division. That same night, cap. Donahue transported this group 30 kilometers deep into the American zone, gave them a supply of provisions and left them to their fate. The group included: Lieutenant Colonel. Tensorov, Major Savelyev, Capt. Antonov, Vlasov's driver Lukyanenko, translator Rostovtseva, her husband and health worker Donarov and his wife.

I cannot resist the impression that the path to Gorazdjovice, on which, by the will of above, General Vlasov was captured, was Captain Donahue’s last attempt to save the general. Vlasova. But I emphasize that this is just my personal assumption.

From the book The Great Civil War 1939-1945 author Burovsky Andrey Mikhailovich

The path of General Vlasov Andrei Andreevich Vlasov (1901–1946)… A legendary personality in the army and throughout the USSR. He has gone all the way - from private to general. The son of a peasant from the village of Lomakino, Nizhny Novgorod region. Personal friend of Vasily Blucher, Konstantin Rokossovsky and...Chan

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How many faces did General Vlasov have?

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by Gibbon Edward

CHAPTER LVII Seljuk Turks. -Their rebellion against the conqueror of Hindustan, Mahmud. -Toghrul conquers Persia and patronizes the caliphs. - Defeat and capture of Emperor Roman by Alp Arslan. - The power and splendor of Malik Shah. - Conquest of Asia Minor and Syria. - Position

From the book The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbon Edward

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Part three "STALIN'S FALCONS" BY GENERAL VLASOV

author

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From the book Against Stalin and Hitler. General Vlasov and the Russian Liberation Movement author Strik-Strikfeldt Wilfried Karlovich

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From the book On the Eve of June 22, 1941. Documentary essays author Vishlev Oleg Viktorovich

No. 25 Opening speech of General A. A. Vlasov at the founding congress of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia in Prague on November 14, 1944 For more than a quarter of a century, the people of Russia fought against the hated dictatorship of Bolshevism. This struggle was not successful only because the forces

General Vlasov went over to the side of the Germans to save his soldiers from death? Photo from aif.ru

You can still hear conflicting opinions about who General Vlasov should be considered. The savior of Russian soldiers from death during the war or a coward? A hero-martyr, as the Russian Orthodox Church abroad suggests, or a double traitor, as the Russian Orthodox Church in Russia insists? Is it any wonder then that even many years after the execution of Vlasov, in November 2001, the military collegium of the Supreme Court of Russia considered a claim for the rehabilitation of Vlasov and his 11 accomplices...

The lawsuit was filed by the founder of the movement “For Faith and Fatherland,” Hieromonk Nikon (Sergei Belavenets). He asked to rehabilitate General Vlasov and his accomplices. They say that they are not traitors, although at the very height of fascist aggression against our country they went over to the side of the enemy, but adherents of a different ideology, fighters against the Stalinist regime and zealous atheism. But the court generally rejected the hieromonk, satisfying only a small part of the claim - it excluded the article on counter-revolutionary propaganda and agitation from the general’s charges. On all other points, the verdict of the military board of the Supreme Court of August 1, 1946 was left unchanged; the guilt of Vlasov and the other 11 generals of the Russian Liberation Army is considered fully proven.

How Vlasov was arrested and the investigation was conducted

The general was arrested by Captain Yakushev's reconnaissance group on May 12, 1945. Three days later, Vlasov was taken to Moscow to the Lubyanka.

There is not much information left about what happened next with Vlasov. At Lubyanka, he was immediately interrogated by the head of the Main Directorate of Counterintelligence SMERSH, Abakumov. After which Vlasov was assigned number 31, under which he was placed in an internal prison as a secret prisoner. On May 16, Vlasov was put on the “conveyor belt”: the general was interrogated by constantly changing investigators and guards. Vlasov was kept on this “conveyor” for ten days.

Eight months later, in December 1945, the investigation was completed. On January 4, 1946, Abakumov sent a message to Stalin that the leaders of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (KONR), Vlasov and other generals, were being held in custody at the SMERSH Main Directorate. The head of the main counterintelligence department "SMERSH" proposed to sentence all accused to death by hanging, and to carry out the sentence in prison in accordance with paragraph 1 of the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of April 19, 1943.

On July 23, 1946, the Politburo of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks decided: “1. To try by the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR the leaders of the “Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia” created by the Germans: Vlasov, Malyshkin, Trukhin, Zhilenkov and other active Vlasovites in the amount of 12 people. 2. The case of the Vlasovites will be heard in a closed court session chaired by Colonel-General of Justice Ulrich, without the participation of the parties (prosecutor and lawyer). the sentence should be carried out in prison. 4. The progress of the trial should not be covered in the press. At the end of the trial, publish in the newspapers in the “Chronicle” section a message about the trial that took place, the court verdict and its execution. The trial will begin on Tuesday, July 30 from . G.".

The trial lasted two days. The judges deliberated for seven hours before handing down the verdict.

On August 1, 1946, the verdict was pronounced. The next day, a message from the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR was published in the central newspapers: “The other day, the All-Russian Military Commission of the USSR considered the case on charges of A.A. Vlasov, ... of treason and 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 Articles 58-1 b, 58-8, 58-9, 58-10, Part 11 and 58-11 of the Criminal Code of the RSFSR. All accused admitted themselves guilty of the charges brought against them. In accordance with paragraph 1 of the Decree of the PVS 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 was carried out." It is unknown where the bodies of General Vlasov and his comrades are buried.

The beginning of the wrong path

It all started on July 11, 1942, when the second shock army under the command of Lieutenant General Vlasov was surrounded by German troops. With part of the fighters, the general went to the village of Tukhovezhi, Leningrad Region. It is difficult to say for sure what happened next. According to one version, the Germans learned that Red Army soldiers were hiding in the village and threatened the local residents with violence if they did not hand over their compatriot soldiers. Local residents allegedly gave him away. According to another version, General Vlasov himself surrendered to a patrol of the 28th Infantry Regiment of the 18th Army of the Wehrmacht. One way or another, Andrei Vlasov ended up in a concentration camp organized by the Nazis for senior officers of the Red Army, located in the Ukrainian city of Vinnitsa.

It became clear that the general had gone over to the enemy's side.

In the concentration camp, German army officer Wilfried Strik-Strikfeldt worked closely with Vlasov. As a result, Vlasov’s “memorandum” to the German High Command was born. Its contents are:

“The officer corps of the Soviet Army, especially captured officers who can freely exchange thoughts, are faced with the question: in what way can Stalin’s government be overthrown and a new Russia created? Everyone is united by the desire to overthrow Stalin’s government and change the state form. The question is: to whom namely, to 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 the goal of war." On September 10, 1942, Vlasov signed another document - a leaflet that was scattered from airplanes at the forefront of Soviet troops and distributed among prisoners of war. “Where is the way out of the impasse into which the Stalinist clique has led our country?” Vlasov asked, clearly speaking from someone else’s voice. “There is only one way out... History does not give another. He who loves his homeland, who wants happiness for his people, must do so with all his might.” and by all means involved in the cause of overthrowing the hated Stalinist regime, he must contribute to the creation of a new anti-Stalinist government, he must fight for the end of the criminal war waged in the interests of England and America, for an honest peace with Germany."

From this leaflet it is clear that Vlasov is trying to look not like a traitor, but a fighter against the Soviet regime and the Stalinist regime, who deliberately took this path. The general directly stated this in his open letter dated March 3, 1943, “Why I took the path of fighting Bolshevism” (). In it he writes: “I stayed with the soldiers and commanders of the army until the last minute. There were only a handful of us left, and we fulfilled our duty as soldiers to the end. I made my way through the encirclement into the forest and hid in the forest and swamps for about a month. But now in full force the question arose: should the blood of the Russian people be shed further? Is it in the interests of the Russian people to continue the war? What are the Russian people fighting for? I was clearly aware that the Russian people were being drawn into the war by Bolshevism for the interests of the Anglo-American capitalists that were alien to them... So wouldn’t it be a crime "And continue to shed blood? Isn't Bolshevism and, in particular, Stalin, the main enemy of the Russian people? Isn't it the first and sacred duty of every honest Russian person to fight against Stalin and his clique?"

The Germans supported Vlasov and allowed him to turn around. But Himmler called the general a "Russian pig"

The fascist authorities, of course, could not resist the temptation to use General Vlasov for their own purposes. Speaking about what role he could play in the war with Russia, the chief of the SS troops spoke disapprovingly of the Russian general: “... 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 have a damn accurate calculation. Such a person costs 20 thousand marks a year. Let him live 10 or 15 years, that’s 300 thousand marks. If one battery fires well for two days, that also costs 300 thousand marks... And then Mr. Vlasov’s ideas arrived : "Russia has never been defeated by Germany; Russia can only be defeated by the Russians themselves. And this Russian pig (diese russische Schweine) Mr. Vlasov offers his services for this."

The Russian liberation army created by Vlasov was quite numerous

Some publications in the Russian media reported that the number of ROA troops reached a million and even one and a half million military personnel. German documents, meanwhile, indicate that the Vlasov army, including aviation and security units, amounted to only about 50 thousand people, with 37 thousand Russians (5). At the end of April 1945, Vlasov was subordinate to: 1st Division of Major General S.K. Bunyachenko (22 thousand people), 2nd division of Major General G.A. Zverev (13 thousand people) and the 3rd division of Major General M.M. Shapovalov (about 10 thousand not yet armed volunteers).

Why did Vlasov’s army enter the battle only a few months before the end of the war?

Formations and units of the ROA entered into battle with Soviet troops on April 13, 1945. Almost three years have passed since the capture of General Vlasov by the Germans. Why did the Hitler regime take so long to use the “fighter against Bolshevism”? The thing is that the decision to create the ROA was opposed by the all-powerful Reichsführer of the SS troops, Heinrich Himmler. However, facing the threat of defeat in the war, he finally agreed to the creation of armed formations under the leadership of Vlasov.

In April 1945, Vlasov showed himself to be a traitor for the second time. Now in relation to the Germans

1st Division under the command of Vlasov’s ally, Major General S.K. Bunyachenko stormed Soviet positions on the Oder, but was defeated. On April 15, the Vlasovites, contrary to the orders of the German command, moved south - to surrender to the Allied forces. On May 1, the division approached Prague, and on May 4, an uprising broke out in this city. The SS troops were ordered to destroy the city, and then the Czechs turned to the Russian liberation army. The Germans did not expect a stab in the back, and were forced to leave the city. The newly created government of the Czech Republic unexpectedly announced to the Vlasovites that it had not asked them for help - the people who called themselves representatives of the headquarters of the Prague Uprising had nothing to do with it. The Vlasovites were advised to surrender to the advancing Soviet army. Nevertheless, it was precisely this episode in Vlasov’s life that later allowed him and all his sympathizers to talk about how the general allegedly came up with everything cunningly: in order to save the lives of the soldiers at the beginning of the war, he surrendered to the Germans, and then at the first opportunity dealt them a crushing blow in the back ...

Inglorious end to the battle path

On May 7, Bunyachenko's division left Prague and stubbornly continued its movement to the south. On May 9, she met with a tank unit of the American army, and on May 11, she handed over weapons to the USSR allies and settled in the Shlisselburg area. On the same day, the headquarters of the Russian Liberation Army and the remnants of the 2nd Division surrendered to the Americans. And on May 12, the Americans announced that Shlisselburg would be transferred to their Soviet allies. Thus, 10 thousand Vlasovites ended up in the hands of the Soviet army, about the same number managed to infiltrate in groups and individually into the zone of American occupation, but were extradited to the USSR. Bunyachenko was among them. Several hundred people were detained by Czech partisans, who executed several high-ranking Vlasovites, and Major General Trukhin was handed over to representatives of the Soviet troops.

On April 18, representatives of General Vlasov entered into unsuccessful negotiations with the commander of the 7th American Army, Patch, about the transition to Allied protection. Then the general was denied political asylum by neutral Switzerland. On May 11, Vlasov arrived at the location of Bunyachenko’s division. On May 12, 1945, Captain Yakushev’s reconnaissance group, with the tacit consent of the Americans, arrested Vlasov in front of Bunyachenko and his disarmed division. You already know what happened next.