At the beginning of the war, this man was in the forefront among the best commanders of the Soviet army. He and eight other generals became heroes of the Battle of Moscow. How does the story of the betrayal of General Vlasov begin? His personality is as legendary as it is mysterious. Until now, many facts related to his fate remain controversial.
A Case from the Archives, or a Dispute of Decades
The criminal case of Andrei Andreevich Vlasov consists of thirty-two volumes. For sixty years, there was no access to the history of the betrayal of General Vlasov. She was in the archives of the KGB. But now she was born without a stamp of secrecy. So who was Andrei Andreevich? A hero, a fighter against the Stalinist regime, or a traitor?
Andrey was born in 1901 in a peasant family. The main occupation of his parents was agriculture. First, the future general studied at a rural school, then at a seminary. Went through the Civil War. Then he studied at the Academy of the General Staff of the Red Army. If you trace his entire service, it can be noted that he wasa man who is incredibly lucky. The story of the betrayal of General Vlasov in this case, of course, is not meant.
Highlights in a military career
In 1937 Andrei Andreevich was appointed commander of the 215th infantry regiment, which he commanded for less than a year, since already in April 1937 he was immediately appointed assistant division commander. And from there he went to China. And this is another success of Andrei Vlasov. He served there from 1938 to 1939. At that time, three groups of military specialists were active in China. The first is illegal immigrants, the second is undercover, the third is military specialists in the army.
They worked simultaneously for both Mao Zedong and Chiang Kai-shek's troops. This part of the gigantic Asian continent, for which all the intelligence services of the world fought then, was so important for the USSR that intelligence worked in both opposing camps. Andrei Andreevich was appointed to the post of adviser to the department in the troops of Chiang Kai-shek. Further, General Vlasov, whose history of betrayal today causes a huge amount of controversy, again falls into a streak of luck.
Lucky General's Awards
In November 1939, Vlasov was appointed commander of the 99th division in the Kiev military district. In September 1940, observation district exercises were held here. They were conducted by the new People's Commissar of Defense Tymoshenko. The division was declared the best in the Kiev district.
And Andrei Andreevich became the best division commander, a master of training and education. And he was presented in the fall at the end of the academic year to the Order of the Red Star. Whatgoing on, defies any explanation. Because, contrary to all orders and rules, he is awarded the Order of Lenin.
Two patrons and a political career
All these events could be explained by another lucky coincidence. But it is not so. Andrei Andreevich made great efforts to create his positive image in the eyes of the leadership. The start of the political career of Andrei Vlasov was given by two people. This is the commander of the Kyiv military district Tymoshenko and a member of the military council, the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine Nikita Khrushchev. It was they who proposed him for the post of commander of the 37th Army.
At the end of November 1940 Andrei Vlasov was waiting for another certification. His next promotion to a higher position was being prepared. How did the story of the betrayal of General Vlasov begin? Why did a man with such a fate become a dark spot in the history of the USSR?
Start of hostilities, or Mistakes of leadership
The war has begun. Despite stubborn resistance, the Red Army suffers serious defeats in major battles. Hundreds of thousands of Red Army soldiers are captured by the Germans. Some of them volunteer for the German army, either for political reasons or to avoid starvation and death, like the millions of Nazi prisoners.
In the Kiev cauldron, the Germans destroyed more than six hundred thousand Soviet soldiers. Many commanders of the fronts, chiefs of staff of the army were thenshot. But Vlasov and Sandalov will remain alive, and fate will bring them together in the battle near Moscow. Archival documents of those years record that on August 23, due to a mistake made by the command of the southwestern front and the commander of the 37th army, General Vlasov, the Germans managed to force the Dnieper in its sector.
The death of the army, or the opportunity to be captured
Here Andrey Andreevich gets surrounded for the first time, abandons his positions and hurriedly tries to get out of it. What, in fact, destroys his army. Which is amazing. Despite the difficulties of getting out of the encirclement, the general confidently walked along the rear of the enemy. He could easily be captured. But, apparently, even the slightest opportunity for this did not take advantage. The story of the betrayal of General Vlasov is yet to come.
In the winter of 1941, German troops came close to Moscow. Stalin declares a state of emergency. He appoints Andrei Andreevich commander of the 20th Army. It was Khrushchev and Timoshenko who offered Vlasov for this position. In the winter battle near Moscow, the myth of the invincibility of the German army disappears. The troops of four Soviet fronts managed to inflict the first crushing blow on the Germans, more than a hundred thousand Wehrmacht soldiers were killed or captured. The 20th army under the leadership of General Vlasov also contributed to this victory.
New appointment and captivity
Stalin promotes Andrei Andreevich to the rank of lieutenant general. So he becomes famous among the troops. After the battle near Moscow, he reaps the fruits of glory. He's lucky all the time. His finest hour is coming, butall luck comes to an end. Now the reader will see General Vlasov, whose story of betrayal crossed out all previous achievements.
Andrei Andreyevich becomes deputy commander of the 2nd Shock Army, and then heads it. During heavy bloody battles, a significant part of it dies in the forests. But those who sought to get out of the encirclement, in small groups, could break through the front line. However, Vlasov deliberately remained in the village. The next day, when the German patrol began to find out his identity, he suddenly introduced himself unexpectedly: Lieutenant General Vlasov, commander of the 2nd Shock Army.
The subsequent fate and history of Andrei Vlasov. Anatomy of betrayal
After being captured, Andrei Andreevich ends up in a special camp of the propaganda department in Vinnitsa, where German specialists work with him. He surprisingly quickly accepted the offer of the Nazis to lead the non-existent Russian army of the ROA. In mid-1943, Wehrmacht propaganda disseminates information that a Russian liberation army and a new Russian government have been created. This is the so-called "Smolensk Appeal", in which Vlasov promises the Russian people democratic rights and freedom in Russia liberated from Stalin and Bolshevism.
Spring 1944 Andrei Andreevich spent under house arrest at his villa in Dahlem. He was sent there by Hitler for a memorable trip through the occupied territories, where he showed too much independence. But on November 14, 1944,on the day of the triumph of Andrei Vlasov as commander of the ROA. The entire political elite of the Wehrmacht arrived at the official ceremony on the occasion of the formation of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia. The culmination of the event is the announcement of the political program of this committee.
Last years of the war
What was General Vlasov thinking at that time? The history of betrayal, Russia and the people, who will never forgive him for this act, did not frighten him? Did he really believe in the victory of Germany? The turn of 1944 and 1945 is marked by numerous events in Berlin. On them, he chooses Soviet prisoners of war and osterbeiters for his political goals. In early 1945, Goebbels and Himmler met with him.
Then on January 18, he signs a loan agreement between the German government and Russia. As if the final victory of the Germans is only a matter of time. In the spring of 1945, things were going very badly for Germany. In the west, the allies are advancing, in the east, the Red Army does not leave a single chance for the victory of the Wehrmacht, occupying one German city after another. So how could the story of betrayal end for a man like General Vlasov? An epilogue is waiting for the reader.
First division or endless defeats
Andrey Andreevich does not seem to notice the events taking place. For him, everything seems to be going well again. On February 10, he solemnly receives his first division, which is sent to the Eastern Front for verification. The encounters here were brief. The Red Army cannot be stopped. The ROA soldiers are running, leaving their positions. The Vlasovites made their last attempt to somehow rehabilitate themselves in the war in Prague. But even there they were defeated.
Fearing capture by the Soviet troops, the Vlasovites, together with the Germans, hastily leave Prague. Separate groups surrender to the Americans. Two days earlier, General Vlasov himself did this. The tank corps of the Fomins and Kryukov were tasked with breaking through to the base where Andrei Andreyevich and his closest associates were being held, capturing them and delivering them to Moscow.
Then the Lubyanka will be investigated during the year. Eleven officers and Vlasov himself, whose history of betrayal has been carefully studied by Lubyanka specialists, on July 30, 1946, are sentenced to death by hanging on charges of treason.
