General Vlasov changed sides I think in the winter of 1941 because he led an extremely successful attack against the Germans and was unsupported abd his after being surrounded his men where simply forgotten by Moscow. He told his captors that he would be willing to fight for Nazi Germany against his former masters in the Soviet Union and throughout the war he led a small army of former Red Army soldiers against the Soviet Union. Can anyone please tell me if they know the history of this small army and the history of General Vlasov during and after the war. Thanks in advance.
I think some reference is made to him in Anthony Beevors "Berlin", if this the case he obviously survivied to the closing stages of the war in Europe. I'll try and look my copy out when I get some time and if no one else has corrected me/given you the info I'll get back to you. Ali
For an excellent article on Russian Volunteers in the Wehrmacht and particularily on General Andrey Andreyevich Vlasov can be found at: Russian Volunteers of the Wehrmacht Hope this helps
I know that Vlasov and his men were handed back to the Russians at the end of the war. They surrendered to the Americans in Czechoslovakia and Patton handed him over to the Soviets, who hanged him. His men were taken by train back to Russia and machine gunned as they disembarked.
Originally posted by Prefab Sprouter@Feb 18 2005, 11:52 AM I know that Vlasov and his men were handed back to the Russians at the end of the war. They surrendered to the Americans in Czechoslovakia and Patton handed him over to the Soviets, who hanged him. His men were taken by train back to Russia and machine gunned as they disembarked. [post=31653]Quoted post[/post] Which is a very quick way to hold a treason trial. There are good articles on the Vlasov Army in the Purnell's WW2 magazine series, one in "The Renegade Armies" and the other in "The Vlasov Army and the Prague Rising." At the very end of the war, the Vlasov Army switched sides again to support the Czech rising. A little late, Tovaritsches.
From contemporary Russians point of view: http://www.sptimesrussia.com/archive/times.../top/t_5096.htm And from Andrei Andreyevich Vlasov point of view: A A Vlasov Why have I taken up the struggle against Bolshevism? March 1943 In calling on all Russian people to rise up in struggle against Stalin and his clique, to build a new Russia without Bolsheviks or capitalists, I consider it my duty to explain my actions. Soviet power has done nothing to offend me. I am the son of a peasant, born in Nizhniy Novgorod gubernia. I managed to get a higher education which cost next to nothing. I accepted the people's revolution, and enlisted in the Red Army to fight for land for the peasants, for a better life for the workers, for a bright future for the Russian people. From that day on my life was completely tied to the Red Army, I served in its ranks for 24 years without a break. I rose from being a rank-and-file soldier to an army commander and a deputy front commander. I commanded a company, a battalion, a regiment, a division, and a corps. I received the Orders of Lenin, the Red Flag, and 20 Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army. From 1930 I belonged to the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). And now I am waging a struggle against Bolshevism, and call on the whole people, of which I am a son, to join me in this. Why? Anyone who reads my appeal will surely ask this question, and so I am duty bound to give an honest answer. During the Civil War I fought in the ranks of the Red Army because I believed that the revolution would give the Russian people land, freedom and happiness. As a Red Army commander, I lived among the men and the officers - Russian workers, peasants, intellectuals, all wearing the grey trench coats. I knew their thoughts, their concerns, and their problems. I did not lose contact with my village or my family, and knew how, and on what, the peasants lived. And I came to realise that the victory of the Bolsheviks had brought the Russian people none of those things for which it had fought during the Civil War years. I could see how hard life was for the Russian worker, how the peasant had been driven by force into the collective farms, and how millions of Russian people simply disappeared, arrested without trial or investigation. I could see how everything Russian was trampled on, that the leading positions in the Red Army were given to lickspittles, to people who cared little for the interests of the Russian people. The system of commissars destroyed the Red Army. Irresponsibility, shadowing and espionage made the army commander the plaything of party bureaucrats in civilian or military dress. In 1938 and 1939 I was in China, as a military adviser to Chiang Kai-Shek. When I returned to the USSR, it turned out that during that time for no reason the entire command of the Red Army had been eliminated on Stalin's orders. Thousands upon thousands of the best commanders, including marshals, had been arrested and executed, or had been locked up in concentration camps to disappear forever. This terror extended not only to the army, but to the entire people. No family was able to avoid that fate entirely. The army was weakened, and the terrified people looked to the future with dread as they awaited the war Stalin had been preparing.
Vlasov was highly decorated in the Soviet Army being decorated for his efforts in the defence of Moscow. He was captured(or surrendered, its not clear) whilst commanding the 2nd Shock Army on the Volkhov Front in June 1942. His army was trying to lift the siege of Leningrad at the time it was surrounded. One of Laufer's links about the contemporary view of Vlasov didnt work so here is another link to the article The St. Petersburg Times - Top Stories - It's Too Early To Forgive Vlasov
After Vlasovs capture (he was in a barn and a villager told the Germans) German officers convinced him he would be allowed to raise an army to fight the communists and bring about a free Russia. Vlasov believed this and threw himself into the work unfortunately for him Himmler and Hitler never saw him as anything other than someone who would raise an army of collaborators who would fight for Germany. Vlasov made tours of the areas behind the front and it seems was greeted enthusiastically and there was no shortage of volunteers for his army. Once the Germans realised he was not just a collaborator but really did intent to bring about a free non communist Russia allied with Germany he was put on the back boiler. During this period of inactivity he started to drink heavily and married a German woman, he had heard that his wife in Russia had been arrested and her fate would have been certain. Though the communists called all collaborators Vlasovites he did not receive permission from Himmler till towards the end of 1944 to raise military formations. No Vlasov troops fought on the eastern front till the end of 1945 something which because of the huge anti Vlasov propaganda campaign launched by the communists many people in Eastern Europe especially have trouble believing. Vlasov had been lucky during the period of the purges being in China and was a rising star in the Red Army meeting Stalin. What happened to his army at the beginning of 1942 when he believed it had been abandoned turned him against Stalin. He was probably slowly hanged with piano wire after a mock trial.
After Vlasovs capture (he was in a barn and a villager told the Germans) German officers convinced him he would be allowed to raise an army to fight the communists and bring about a free Russia. Vlasov believed this and threw himself into the work unfortunately for him Himmler and Hitler never saw him as anything other than someone who would raise an army of collaborators who would fight for Germany. Vlasov made tours of the areas behind the front and it seems was greeted enthusiastically and there was no shortage of volunteers for his army. Once the Germans realised he was not just a collaborator but really did intent to bring about a free non communist Russia allied with Germany he was put on the back boiler. During this period of inactivity he started to drink heavily and married a German woman, he had heard that his wife in Russia had been arrested and her fate would have been certain. Though the communists called all collaborators Vlasovites he did not receive permission from Himmler till towards the end of 1944 to raise military formations. No Vlasov troops fought on the eastern front till the end of 1945 something which because of the huge anti Vlasov propaganda campaign launched by the communists many people in Eastern Europe especially have trouble believing. Vlasov had been lucky during the period of the purges being in China and was a rising star in the Red Army meeting Stalin. What happened to his army at the beginning of 1942 when he believed it had been abandoned turned him against Stalin. He was probably slowly hanged with piano wire after a mock trial. General Vlasov, while not an incompetent leader is considered a traitor by Russians not because he fought against Stalin but becuase he took the side of an enemy and shot at his own men at a time of war. the fact that he only switched sides when threatened with execution makes him a coward. Many Russian POW's chose death instead of joining his "noble cause". He later switched sides again when the Red Army was winning; this fooled no one...
I don’t understand the bit about him switching sides when faced with execution, who was threatening to execute him? Vlasov switched sides because German officers who were aware that he was an unhappy man convinced him that he would be allowed to raise an army from prisoners of war and fight an anti Stalin anti communist war resulting in a free Russia. Vlasovs German liaison officer Strik-Strikfelt who was not a Nazi wrote an account of his time with Vlasov and he had a high opinion of the man. How Vlasov troops came to be fighting Germans in Prague will not make sense to anyone who does not know the Vlasov story. Relations between the Vlasov units and the Germans had broken down and by the time they neared Prague they were retreating against German orders. There was not a great deal of love between these units and the Germans because many not all had not joined Vlasov to co-operate with Hitler but to fight communists. It is true that the Russian renegades previously commanded by Kaminski had after his murder been incorporated into Vlasovs forces but the majority regarded them selves as anti communist patriots. Vlasov did not abandon his men and try to escape but went into captivity with them after trying to organise surrender to the Americans. He and the other high ranking officers who tried to organise the Russian Liberation Army were naive to think that Hitler would ever allow such an army. Once they had started down that road they could not turn round a year later and say we were mistaken take us back to the prison camp they knew what there fate would be if captured by the communists. It is forgotten sometimes that the Germans were welcomed initially by many people in the USSR and if Hitler had been prepared to treat the Russian people decently would have had no problem raising Russian forces. Vlasov in his tours behind the front attracted large enthusiastic crowds and there was no shortage of men in the early days prepared to volunteer for him. There were nearly a million Hiwis in the German military in 1944.
I don’t understand the bit about him switching sides when faced with execution, who was threatening to execute him? Vlasov switched sides because German officers who were aware that he was an unhappy man convinced him that he would be allowed to raise an army from prisoners of war and fight an anti Stalin anti communist war resulting in a free Russia. On the eastern front countless of Russian soldiers were asked to join the fight against Communism. Refusal to do so spelled certain death; whether immediately being shot or starving in the POW camps. A high ranking Red Army officer or General refusing to do so usually meant immediate execution. Vlasovs German liaison officer Strik-Strikfelt who was not a Nazi wrote an account of his time with Vlasov and he had a high opinion of the man. Before the Battle of Moscow, a French reporter (name escapes me) interviewed him and also had a high opinion of the man. He was a capable leader but a traitor none the less. It is forgotten sometimes that the Germans were welcomed initially by many people in the USSR and if Hitler had been prepared to treat the Russian people decently would have had no problem raising Russian forces. Vlasov in his tours behind the front attracted large enthusiastic crowds and there was no shortage of men in the early days prepared to volunteer for him. There were nearly a million Hiwis in the German military in 1944. Yes, however this was mostly the case in Western Ukraine and in some part of Belarus... Hitler did not capitalize on the opportunity and after a few months the numbers of partisans grew from these very same parts.
One thing is for sure, you guys wont find many Russians who praise him or his so called efforts. Amen, Sloniksp. Regardless of his intentions or political views, Vlasov still turned his back on his own country, and so did millions of his men. He joined forces with pure evil - Adolf Hitler - and started a so-called 'liberation campaign', killing his own countrymen, the people that had praised him not so long ago. He had the choice - to surrender or to stay true to his Motherland - and he made his decision. There were hundreds of cases when surrounded generals committed suicide to avoid surrendering to the Wehrmacht or died in a desperate last battle, their troops encircled and supply lines dead, for absolutely the same reason. Take General Efremov of the 33rd army for example.
Were Vlasov´s actions a reaction against Stalin´s mob, or can they be interpreted as against Mother Russia? Given the nature of the war in the East, an extermination struggle, the line between both becomes a little blurred.
Knowledge of Russian generals is not my strong point and so I have looked up this mans record for others like me that were unaware. Biography of Lieutenant-General Mikhail Grigorevich Efremov - (Михаил Григорьевич Ефремов) Regards Tom
The main point is that Vlasov's efforts were in vain as has already been outlined.Hitler, generally speaking was against the recruitment of the "untermenchen" into Germany's Wehrmacht and SS for any complications that might arise. He was not supportive of the decision to press 100.000 Hwis into the Nazi war machine but did not make any policy to prevent it.These policies came from the likes of Himmler who recognised that the war machine was running out of manpower and dropped his well known phyical and racial standards from 1943 onwards.SS Divisions in occupied countries had been set up earlier but their qualification was that they were of Aryan stock.(strangely,a qualification also accepted in of the case the Japanese nation) Regarding the recruitment of auxiliaries into the SS police gangs,he did state that their employment must not be at level where security might be adversely effected,in other words he did not want people in these posts who were not German. These policies point to Hitler's overiding desire to creat the Greater German Reich up to the Urals.Further, he could have accepted the Ukrainians, vast pool of manpower had he given them the assurance that they would be fighting against the SU for an independent Ukraine.Those Ukrainians who served the Nazi cause probably thought they we involved in a struggle against the Soviet Union for independence.But an independent Ukraine was the last thought Hitler had in his future plans for the Ukraine.
Who mainly joined Vlasov's army ? I had once read it had a large amount of cosacks, yet i also came across came across some info that a large contingent were non slavic ethnicities such as Chechens, Dagestanis, Turkmens, tatars etc etc
It seems odd that a man as devious and evil as Hitler wouldn't think, with regards to the Ukrainian Nationalists and anti-communist Russians, "Let them fight with us/for us now and once were done with the USSR, we'll deal with them". I guess he was a victim of his own propaganda machine and believed in his own infallibility.
