Divisional commander Kozlov, commander of the 17th rifle division. Service in the pre-war period
This fall, the Molodaya Gvardiya publishing house published the book “. Soldier's Marshal."
In the book, many pages are devoted to the difficult relationship between the two marshals - I.S. Koneva and . The author of the book, our fellow countryman, writer and historian Sergei Mikheenkov, is now working on a biography of Marshal Zhukov. In the course of collecting materials and working on the first chapters, curious materials fell into his hands, previously unknown or missed by the biographers of the great commander. These rare and little-studied documents add up to a very interesting, almost sensational picture. We hope that the article published today will mark the beginning of a whole series that will shed light on pages of the biography of the legendary marshal that are unknown to the general public.
“... And shoot in front of the line”
Did Zhukov execute his soldiers and colonels?
Summer 1939. Nomonhan Desert. Mongolia. Border with Manchuria. Khalkhin Gol River area…
Did he, at that time a cavalry comrade, think, looking at the opposite bank of the river and the Bain-Tsagan hill, occupied by Japanese infantry and Bargut horsemen, that this deserted place would become his Toulon?
Here, Zhukov’s gift for leadership, character, and assertiveness, which at times, especially in the eyes of our liberal public, bordering on cruelty, truly manifested themselves.
Well, he was also cruel. His predecessor, brigade commander Feklenko, had absolutely no control over the situation and dissolved discipline in the corps. The corps essentially lost its combat effectiveness.
From a report to the Political Directorate of the Red Army dated July 16, 1939: “In the arriving 82nd Infantry Division, cases of extreme indiscipline and crime were noted. The personnel were extremely clogged and had not been studied by anyone; the vanguard regiment, where Major Stepanov, the military commissar of the Musin regiment, was, was especially clogged. Both are now killed. On the first day, this regiment succumbed to provocative actions and shamefully abandoned its firing positions; before this betrayal, former fighters of this regiment Oshurkov and Voronkov tried to shoot the political composition of the regiment. On July 12, the commander of the machine gun company, Potapov, was demonstratively arrested and shot in front of the soldiers, the battalion commander of this regiment, German, personally provoked his battalion to retreat, all of them were shot ... "
One can imagine Zhukov’s state when he was informed that the regiment, which held the defense in the center of the front line along the Khalkhin Gol River, had abandoned its positions, was crushed by the advancing Japanese and was running in disarray, that on its shoulders the Japanese infantry was flowing around the exposed flanks 57- th Corps and threatens not only the bridgeheads on the other side of the river, but also the entire army group...
Exactly two years later, Zhukov more than once had to correct other people's sins, the results of other people's mediocrity, weak will and outright cowardice. Including the so-called “execution orders.” Personally, of course, he did not shoot. This never happened. Arrest, investigation, tribunal - how the card of fate will be laid...
On October 22, 1941, at 4:45 a.m., the commander of the Western Front, Army General Zhukov, gave the order:
"43rd Army. Golubev.
1. I again categorically forbid leaving the occupied position until 23.10.
2. Send Seleznev to the 17th Infantry Division immediately. The commander of the 17th Infantry Division was immediately arrested and shot in front of the formation.
The 17th division, the 53rd division should be forced to return in the morning of 22.10 Tarutino at any cost, including self-sacrifice.
To be (the command post) in the area of combat operations..."
Current readers of this and similar documents from the Great Patriotic War period will probably be divided into two categories. Some will see in the order strict, perhaps on the verge of cruelty, but completely appropriate to the time and circumstances, the commander’s requirements for his subordinates. Others are the unbridled cruelty of a tyrant commander, who orders to “arrest and shoot in front of the line,” perhaps an innocent commander.
Zhukov took command of the troops of the Western Front on October 10, 1941. There were essentially no troops. All of them remained in the “cauldrons” near Vyazma, Roslavl and Bryansk.
As is known, by mid-October the situation west of Moscow became so complicated that part of the central institutions, the entire diplomatic corps, and especially important state values began to be evacuated from the capital to Kuibyshev.
“Cowardice and panic in these conditions are tantamount to betrayal and treason. In this regard, I order:
1. Cowards and alarmists who abandon the battlefield, retreat from occupied positions without permission, throw away weapons and equipment, should be shot on the spot.
2. The military tribunal and the front prosecutor ensure the implementation of this order. Comrade Red Army soldiers, commanders and political workers, be courageous and steadfast.
No step back! Forward for the Motherland!”
Now, with documents in hand, let's see what happened at the 17th station rifle division.
The 17th Infantry during the autumn German offensive on Moscow (Operation Typhoon) was almost completely defeated near Spas-Demensk. It was commanded by Colonel P. Kozlov, and the military commissar was Brigade Commissar S. Yakovlev.
In Belousovo on the Warsaw highway, a few kilometers from the Ugodsky Plant and Strelkovka, the homeland of Zhukov’s front, the division is being reorganized, replenished and placed in defense at the junction of the 49th and 43rd armies. At the first slight pressure from the Germans, its regiments scatter, flee and expose the flanks of neighboring divisions, which stand rooted to the spot. The defenses are breaking down, and the armies in the center of the Western Front, covering the axis of the Warsaw Highway, are threatened with encirclement and defeat.
Those running had to be stopped. Bring to life. Return to the trenches. This is how the command front order of October 22 appeared - “... and shoot in front of the line.”
But was Colonel Kozlov shot, who, judging by the documents, clearly deserved a bullet from the commandant’s platoon?
Recently, in some liberal publication, I read a passionate article by a certain “military historian.” The article is presented as research. And this is what it says: “...were put on trial by a military tribunal: the commander of the 43rd Army, Major General P.P. Sobennikov, deputy. the head of the operational department of the Reserve Front headquarters, Colonel I.A. Novikov, the commander of the 31st Army, Major General V.N. Dolmatov, and some of them, such as the commander of the 17th Infantry Division, Colonel P.S. Kozlov. and the military commissar of the division, brigade commissar Yakovlev S.I., were shot in front of the formation of personnel.”
Let us check this list with documents in hand, this “hidden truth of the war”, under which the ominous shadow of the “bloody Zhukov” is clearly visible.
From the report of General Golubev to Zhukov dated October 31, 1941:
“I am reporting a criminal fact. Today, on the spot, I established that the former commander of the 17th Infantry Division, Kozlov, was not shot in front of the formation, but fled from the convoy. I am ordering an investigation."
The plot for a novel is a series of military adventures, isn't it? But the reader will say: okay, this one fled from execution, but what about the others?
Let's take a look at the recent history of the same 43rd Army. On the very eve of the German offensive on Moscow, for the failure of the operation in the Yelnya region, Major General Seleznev was removed from the post of army commander and put on trial with the threat of execution. But there was no trial. As we already know, in October, Seleznev, “executed” by Zhukov, replaced Colonel Kozlov by his own order. The next commander of the 43rd Army was Major General P. Sobennikov.
At the beginning of October, the 43rd Army of General Sobennikov was ironed by the tanks of the 4th Panzer Group of General Hoepner. The army was defeated in just over a day.
On October 10, Sobennikov, who had been removed from command of the army, was already interrogated by investigators. Some time later, the Presidium of the Supreme Court, having considered all the materials of the case, issued a ruling on his pardon and his return to the army with a reduction in rank to colonel. He ended the war as a lieutenant general as deputy commander of the 3rd Army.
In the same October days, the commander of the 53rd Infantry Division, Colonel N. Krasnoretsky, was removed from office, put on trial and sentenced to death, but with a deferment of the sentence.
On October 21, the following text was sent by telephone message from the headquarters of the Western Front to the headquarters of the 43rd Army:
“To the Military Council 43 A.
Due to the repeated flight from the battlefield of the 17th and 53rd Rifle Division
I order:
In order to combat desertion, allocate a barrage detachment by the morning of 22.10, selecting reliable fighters for it at the expense of the Airborne Forces.
Force the 17th and 53rd Rifle Division to fight stubbornly, and in case of escape, the assigned detachment of the barrage will shoot on the spot all those abandoning the battlefield.
Report the formation of the detachment.”
This document debunks another lie of current “military historians”: barrier detachments were created in rifle divisions from the best fighters and commanders and reported directly to the division commanders. The barrier detachments were not units of the NKVD.
Colonel Krasnoretsky died the next day in battle during a counterattack near the village of Chernishni, not far from the home village of the commander of the Western Front. The colonel had the opportunity to die in battle.
When things got especially hot at the front, Zhukov, as a rule, “shot” a lot and often.
But let’s return to the mysterious fate of the commander and commissar of the 17th Infantry Division.
Kozlov Pyotr Sergeevich. Born in 1905. In the Red Army since 1926. Member of the CPSU/b/ since 1928. Participant of the Soviet-Finnish war. He distinguished himself in battles, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Graduated Military Academy them. M.V. Frunze. He was a parachute instructor. In a short time he learned German and mastered spoken language almost perfectly.
Excellent track record! Young, smart, physically strong. Judging by the energy he showed in studying German language and parachute business, had a strong-willed character.
There are still versions circulating among researchers that in this way (by staging an execution) the intelligence department of the 43rd Army carried out an operation to deeply infiltrate its agent into the structure of German intelligence. And indeed, the former Soviet colonel Kozlov soon appeared in one of the Abwehr intelligence schools. According to information that was obtained from the FSB archives, by that time he was a heavy drinker, had the nickname “Bykov”, but was not connected with Soviet intelligence by a single thread...
The further fate of Brigade Commissar Yakovlev is as follows: deprived of awards, demoted in rank and sent to the Leningrad Front, he served as a senior instructor in the political department of the 46th Infantry Division of the 52nd Army.
Of course, there were also those who were shot. Because there were traitors and cowards. But the essence of Zhukov is not cruelty and mercy towards his subordinates, who sometimes forgot about the regulations and military duty.
...Now, reflecting on our history during the Great Patriotic War, we must be aware of this. Those battles are over. Our grandfathers conducted them brilliantly. They defended the Fatherland. But the battle for Marshal Zhukov continues.
Sergey MIKHEENKOV.
Tarusa.
In 2005, there was a complete posthumous rehabilitation of the commander of the 17th Infantry Division, Colonel P.S. Kozlov and the military commissar of this division, brigade commissar S.I. Yakovlev.
It was believed that on the 20th of October 1941 they were shot, and arbitrariness was committed against them. By the act of rehabilitation, historical justice was restored, and the officers were restored to their good names. But, as further research showed, in reality the situation was completely different.
The peak of the most difficult and tragic events in the battles of the autumn of 1941 in the defense zone of the 43rd Army at the turn of the Nara River occurred on October 22 and 23.
During these days, the commander of the 53rd Infantry Division, Colonel Nikolai Pavlovich Krasnoretsky, died. The commander of the 17th Rifle Division of the People's Militia of the Moskvoretsky District of Moscow, Colonel Pyotr Sergeevich Kozlov, and the commissar of this division, brigade commissar Sergei Ivanovich Yakovlev, were arrested.
N.P. Krasnoretsky.
Lieutenant General Stepan Dmitrievich Akimov, who commanded a group of troops on the left wing of the army, was seriously wounded and sent to the rear.
And the commander of the 312th Infantry Division, Colonel Alexander Fedorovich Naumov, on the basis of a coded telegram from the commander of the Western Front G.K. Zhukov, No. 6171 dated 10/23/41, was appointed commander of the consolidated 312th Infantry Division, which he was ordered to form during the battles from the remnants of the 312th Infantry Division , 53rd and 17th Infantry Division.
All these events occurred almost simultaneously in the area of the village of Korsakovo, located on the Old Kaluga Road.
S.D. Akimov.
Commander of the 43rd Army of the Western Front, General K.D. On November 8, 1941, Golubev was forced to turn to Stalin with a complaint against the commander of the Western Front, Zhukov:
“On the second day after my arrival they promised to shoot me, on the third to put me on trial, on the fourth day they threatened to shoot me in front of the army. It was impossible to work in such an environment.”
+++++++++++++++++++
"To the Military Council 43 A.
In connection with the repeated flight from the battlefield of the 17th and 53rd Infantry Divisions, I order:
In order to combat desertion, allocate a barrage detachment by the morning of 22.10, selecting reliable fighters for it at the expense of the Airborne Forces.
Force the 17th and 53rd Rifle Division to fight stubbornly and, in case of escape, the assigned barrage detachment to shoot on the spot all those abandoning the battlefield.
Report the formation of the detachment.
(Zhukov. Bulganin) 21. X. 41."
+++++++++++++++++++
Extracts from the Western Front combat log:
23.10.41:
“The 17th and 53rd Rifle Division launched an attack on Tarutino from the morning of 22.10. At 14.00, 22 enemy aircraft bombed and shot units, causing the divisions to flee in panic.
Member of the Military Council Seryukov and Lieutenant General Akimov personally detained the fleeing people with weapons in their hands... With the help of barrage detachments, some of the fleeing people were stopped at the Chernishnya line..., the 53rd Infantry Division has 1000 people..., the 53rd and 17th Infantry Infantry Divisions are demoralized and are subject to disbandment , and entire groups of command and political composition- to be brought to trial."
++++++++++++++++++++++++
"43rd Army. To Golubev.
1. Retreat from the occupied position before 23.10. Once again I categorically forbid it.
2. Send Seleznev to the 17th Infantry Division immediately. The commander of the 17th Infantry Division was immediately arrested and shot in front of the formation.
The 17th division, the 53rd division should be forced to return in the morning of 22.10 Tarutino at any cost, including self-sacrifice.
3. You report a small number of fighters in the formations and large losses, immediately search in the rear, you will find fighters and weapons.
4. In defense, make full use of RSs, not sparing shells. Be yourself (CP) in the combat area.
To defend the Gornevo and Kamenka region, I am subordinating to you another airborne brigade and a tank brigade, which you can move from Kresta closer to Gornevo.
But keep in mind that if you also don’t spare the tanks, just as you didn’t spare them today, throwing them head-on at the anti-tank tank, there will be nothing left of this brigade, just as there was nothing left of the good 9th Tank Brigade.
(Zhukov, Bulganin) Transmitted at 4.45"
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"To Army General Zhukov 10/31/41. 23.40.
I am reporting a crime. Today I established on the spot that the former commander of the 17th Infantry Division, Kozlov, was not shot in front of the line, but fled.
The circumstances of the case are as follows: having received your order to arrest and shoot the commander of the 17th Infantry Division in front of the formation, I instructed the member of the Military Council Seryukov and Lieutenant General Akimov, who went to the division, to carry it out. For unknown reasons, they did not do this and sent the division commander to me.
I, under escort organized by the head of the Special Department of the Army, sent him back with a categorical instruction that the order of the army commander must be carried out. I was informed that he had been shot, but today I found out that he was not shot, but fled from the convoy.
I am ordering an investigation.
Golubev 10/31/41. 23.40."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++
"Headquarters of GA "Center" 10.24.41. 18.15
...Evening report from the intelligence department of the 4th Army headquarters:
...In section 57 TK the enemy is still offering strong resistance.
4th Panzer Group: minor combat operations...
The commander of the 17th Infantry Division was captured."
(TsAMO RF, f. 500. op. 12462, d. 637. L. 163.)
++++++++++++++++++++++++
Today about the fate of P.S. Very little is known about Kozlov due to the fact that many documents about him are missing from the Central Academy of Medical Sciences of the Russian Federation. But it is known that Pyotr Sergeevich Kozlov, born in 1905, originally from the Klimovichsky region of the Belarusian SSR, served in the Red Army since 1926, a member of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks) since 1928, participated in the war with the White Finns, where he received the Order of the Red Banner.
Before the Great Patriotic War, he studied in Moscow, at the Military Academy named after. M. V. Frunze, was a parachuting instructor, and in a short time mastered the German language (colloquial speech). The rank of colonel was awarded in 1940.
Colonel Kozlov.
For some time, versions circulated among researchers of the Battle of Moscow that in this way (by staging an execution), the intelligence department of either the 43rd Army or the Western Front carried out an operation to deeply infiltrate its agent into the structure of German intelligence.
And indeed, in one of the Abwehr intelligence schools, former Soviet colonel P.S. Kozlov soon appeared. According to information from the FSB archives, by that time he was a heavy drinker, had the nickname “Bykov,” but was not connected with Soviet intelligence by a single thread. Whether this is Kozlov or another is unknown.
The further fate of Brigade Commissar Yakovlev is as follows. He was stripped of his awards, demoted in rank and sent to the Leningrad Front. He served as a senior instructor in the political department of the 46th Infantry Division of the 52nd Army. Further fate is unknown.
Biography of the commander of the 17th SD, Colonel P. S. Kozlov Author: Olga Semyonova Dear readers! The information is a little outdated, so I recommend that you talk to me before using the biography. (05.10.1905 - 05.01.1943) From party registration documents it is known: Kozlov Pyotr Sergeevich born 1905, Belarusian. Native language: Russian. Social origin: peasant. Parents' occupation before 1917: poor peasants. Parents' occupation after 1917: middle peasants (16 hectares of land, 2 horses, 2 cows, on a collective farm since 1929). The time of entry as a candidate of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks was October 1925. Kalininsky District Communist Party (b)B. The time of joining the CPSU(b) was January 1928. District Party Commission of the BVI. Stay in the Komsomol from 1924 to 1935. Education: Graduated from the first level school in the village of Domamerichi, Khotovizh volost, Klimovichi district, Mogilev province from 1917 to 1922. Graduated from the United Belarusian Military School from 1926 to 1929. Main profession and specialty: By education - Rifle commander parts. According to work experience - Commander of a rifle unit - 9 years of experience. Occupation and start of work: (June 1922 - September 1926) - Domamerichi village, Domamerichsky village council, Klimovichi district - Father's farm - Agriculture. (September 1926 – September 1929) – Belarusian Military District – Belarusian United Military School – Cadet. (September 1929 - March 1935) - Belarusian Military District - 33rd Infantry Division, 99th SP - Platoon commander “2”, assistant company commander, deputy commander of company 2 (I couldn’t understand the word). (March 1935 - October 1937) - Belarusian Military District - 33rd Infantry Division, 98th SP - Chief of Staff of the battalion, captain. (October 1937 - August 1938) - Belorussian Military District - 33rd Infantry Division, 99th SP - Vrid regiment commander - captain. (August 1938) - Belarusian Military District - Unit 5131, military unit 5146 - Unit commander, major. Does not have, was not a member, was not involved, did not serve, did not participate. October 5, 1938. The party card was canceled by the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army on December 15, 1941. - "Died". The registration card was canceled by the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army on March 13, 1942. - "Died". Autumn 1936 - Kozlov P.S. fighting in Spain. In October of this year, his daughter was born, and her grandfather took her from the maternity hospital. __________________________________________ Information from the book “The Great Patriotic War: Divisional Commanders. Military Biographical Dictionary" (Volume 4) (M.: Kuchkovo Pole, 2015): 1937 - (summer period) temporarily commanded the division's parachute battalion (Olsufyevo station). 1938 - completed two courses distance learning Military Academy of the Red Army named after. Frunze. August 1939 - appointed commander of the 574th Infantry Regiment of the 121st Infantry Division. February 12, 1940 - took command of the 39th Infantry Regiment of the 4th Infantry Division. “Major P.S. Kozlov proved himself to be a brave commander in a combat situation. In the battles on the Karelian Isthmus in early March 1940, he was wounded twice and shell-shocked once, but remained in service.” _______________________________________________ From the handwritten biography of Colonel P.S. Kozlov: “Participated in battles with the White Finns on the Karelian Isthmus, Lake Suvaito-Jarvi, Mero, the village of Yagoreya, Kirk, the island of Vasikkasaari along the Vuoksa river. He was slightly wounded three times: once at attack on Kirk and the height of Yagoreia - he was wounded in both legs and a slight concussion, and there, a day later, he was slightly wounded in right hand above the elbow from a bullet, and on the island of Vasikkasaari to the head from a mine fragment. in all three cases due to health reasons, did not leave the battle, continued command." 05/09/1940 - Colonel P.S. Kozlov was appointed chief of infantry of the 60th Infantry Division KOVO. 04/07/1940 - awarded the Order of the Red Banner. Summer 1940 - participates in the annexation of Bessarabia (there are family photos). 1940-1941 - studied at the command department of the Air Force Academy in Monino. Study is confirmed by the response of the FSB Central Election Commission and photo. June 22, 1941 - "Before the war, my father was recalled to Moscow, and soon my mother packed lightly with two suitcases and with us to him. When the beginning of the war was announced at a meeting of the command staff, the father held a glass, standing and crushed it." - lines from a letter from P.S. Kozlov’s daughter. July 2, 1941 - P.S. Kozlov was appointed commander of the 17th DNO (people's division militia). Here I omit the battles near Spas-Demensk. About the 17th Infantry Division from the book “The Great Patriotic War: Divisional Commanders. Military Biographical Dictionary” (Volume 4) (M.: Kuchkovo Pole, 2015: “She received her first baptism of fire on the river. Desna near the town of Spas-Demensk. After heavy fighting, its units were forced to retreat to the Nara River. Losses in the first 10 days of fighting were enormous. By October 10, of the 11,454 people available at the beginning of the fighting, only 584 remained in service. In the area Ugodsky Zavod (17 km east of Maloyaroslavets) the division was replenished with marching reinforcements, as well as the remnants of the 8th and 211th rifle divisions, and already on October 17, having become part of the 43rd Army, it entered the battle, with the task of blowing up bridges of the Protva River near the villages of Sloboda, Black Dirt and Trubino, organize anti-tank defense on possible ways advance enemy tanks and prevent them from crossing the river. Small units of the division were tasked with defending a line of 25-28 km. The enemy's 17th and 34th infantry divisions were advancing on the left flank of the division (Vysokinichi area); on the right flank, units of the 19th tank and 98th infantry divisions were moving along the highway from Maloyaroslavets. Under these conditions, it was unrealistic for the division to hold the line to be defended." October 21, 1941 - date of arrest of P.S. Kozlov for withdrawing the division without an order from the General Staff, which is given in the response of the GVP dated February 18, 2016.. October 22, 1941 - date of P. Kozlov's escape .S. from the NKVD convoy, which is given in the response of the GVP dated 02/18/2016. October 26, 1941 - the date of the special message from the head of the NKVD OO 43A Vasilkov P.P. about the disappearance of the colonel, which is given in the response of the GVP dated 02/18/2016. December 15, 1941 year - P.S. Kozlov’s party card was canceled by the Main Political Directorate - “Died.” January 1942 – under the pseudonym “Bykov”, a teacher at the Warsaw Intelligence School (response from the Central Election Commission of the FSB dated June 10, 2015). March 13, 1942 – P. Kozlov’s party registration card. S. extinguished by the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army - "Died." May 1942 - under the pseudonym "Bykov" head of the intelligence camp (response from the Central Election Commission of the FSB dated 06/10/15). June 1942 - "transferred to the Poltava school to prepare for the transfer to the rear of the Red Army in uniform Major General Other information regarding Kozlov P.S. The FSB Central Election Commission of Russia does not have it,” - response from the FSB Central Election Commission dated June 10, 2015. May 1943 – date of issue of the certificate by Colonel SMERSH P.P. Vasilkov. (P.P. Vasilkov held the position of head of the NKVD OO 43A, sent a special message about P.S. Kozlov’s escape from arrest in October 1941): “No materials about criminal activity Peter Sergeevich KOZLOV, who was extrajudicially executed in 1941, has not been preserved either in our country or in the personnel department of the Western Front headquarters” (RF GA. F.R-7523.Op.60.D.3672). On July 21, 1943, by order of the State Administration of the NKO No. 0627 Kozlov P.S. excluded from the lists of the Red Army as missing in action. July 29, 1943 Kozlov P.S. By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, he was deprived of the Order of the Red Banner. 2003 - in the book “State Security Bodies of the USSR during the Great Patriotic War” (Volume 3) a description of Bykov, a teacher at the Warsaw and Poltava intelligence schools, appears. The footnote states that Bykov - Kozlov P.S. “He tells about himself that he used to serve in the Red Army at the intelligence headquarters. At the beginning of the war with Germany, he was at the academy in Moscow; he was captured in October - November 1941. Russian, over 40 years old, plump, bald. Teaches reconnaissance, topography and combat training." October 5, 2005 – posthumous rehabilitation of P.S. Kozlov, as unreasonably repressed on 10.22.41 out of court. June 18, 2009 - cancellation of the rehabilitation of the GVP - “an additional check established that Kozlov P.S. At the indicated time he was not shot, because he escaped from custody and subsequently went over to the side of the enemy.” February 4, 2016 – “Availability information court decisions The FSB of Russia does not have information about the conviction of this person for committing state or war crimes.” February 18, 2016 – “Data on the initiation of charges against P.S. Kozlov.” There is no criminal case or conviction. His search by the USSR security authorities in the post-war period did not give positive results and was stopped,” from the response of the GVP. April 2016 – A card of POW Pyotr Sergeevich Kozlov was DISCOVERED. According to the entries in the prisoner of war card, Colonel Pyotr Sergeevich Kozlov was captured on October 20, 1941, after which he was in the camp Stalag 367 Czestohau. 11/05/1942 - was in oflag camp 13 B. 11/07/1942 - was in stalag camp 13 A. 12/04/1942 - was transferred to oflag camp 13 D (62). 12/18/1942 - was transferred to the SS. 12/19/1942 to 01/05/1943 - was in prison in Nuremberg. A description of the personality of Pyotr Sergeevich Kozlov has been preserved for the work team of Nuremberg 10.217: build - average gait - normal complexion - pale scars - no hair (color) - light sandy bald - no special features - no mustache (color) - no eyes ( color) - gray And this description differs from the description of the man who was passed off as Pyotr Sergeevich Kozlov in Abwehr schools. May 2016 - the place of death of Colonel Pyotr Sergeevich Kozlov was found - the Flossenbürg concentration camp. In the book of prisoners of the Nuremberg prison, the signature of P.S. Kozlov was discovered. – from December 19, 1942 to January 5, 1943, he was in a Gestapo prison. Kozlov Pyotr Sergeevich was shot on January 5, 1943, burned in the Flossenbürg crematorium. The ashes were scattered in the vicinity of the camp. About the colonel's family here: http://www.proza.ru/cgi-bin/login/page.pl September 23, 2016 – From the response of the head of the archive service Armed Forces Russian Federation: “Pyotr Sergeevich Kozlov, born in 1905, does not appear in the incomplete file of prisoners of war for officers. Pyotr Sergeevich Kozlov, born in 1905, does not appear in the alphabetical card index of those convicted by military tribunals, in the card index of ongoing criminal cases, supervisory and observation proceedings of the military prosecutor's offices. Information about who was seized from P.S. Kozlov’s awards, order book and place of their storage are not available in the archives of the Russian Ministry of Defense.” October 7, 2016 – From the response of the Central Election Commission of the FSB: “in accordance with the provisions of the Law of the Russian Federation “On State Secrets,” the issue of the possibility of declassifying archival materials with testimony about P.S. Kozlov’s service in the Abwehr was considered. Based on the results of the consideration, a decision was made to leave the specified materials are in secret storage." December 26, 2016 - from the response of the Representative Office of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation for the organization and conduct of military memorial work in Germany: “It is reported that the Representative Office received a response from the German Red Cross, which indicated that Colonel Pyotr Sergeevich Kozlov, born in 1905, On December 18, 1942 he was transferred to the Gestapo. Later he was transferred to concentration camp Flossenbürg. Where he died on January 5, 1943. His name is included in the Book of Remembrance of the Flossenbürg concentration camp memorial center.”
The neighbor on the right is the 43rd Army. The fate of the 17th Infantry. Rehabilitation of those executed. What happened near Tarutino in the twenties of October 41st? Shot or... hidden? Colonel P.S. Kozlov fled from the convoy. Whose victims are these - General Zhukov's or the war? The fate of General S. D. Akimov. Mysterious plane crash. “Military-historical conclusion...” For whom was it written?
Army General G.K. Zhukov assumed the post of commander of the troops of the Western Front, one might say, during the most difficult period of the entire war. The front, in fact, did not exist, because there were no troops, that is, the actual armies that make up any front. There were separate divisions, reserve regiments, training teams, garrisons, companies, and security teams for various facilities. There were also army commands that, at the time of the enemy’s breakthrough to Tula, Serpukhov and Mozhaisk, found themselves outside the encirclement or were hastily withdrawn from Vyazma and Bryansk to the east and, thus, preserved for future battles. Let us remember history: even General K.K. Rokossovsky, who in the decisive days of the Battle of Moscow led the 16th Army and forced its divisions into one of the most dangerous directions - the northern one, was left at the time of the disaster near Vyazma without an army, with only one army command.
Army General G.K. Zhukov got an unenviable farm. Moreover, the situation worsened every day and hour. Decisive and sometimes drastic measures were needed to restore the front near Moscow and prevent German armored columns from breaking into the capital in the next 24 hours and hours.
The commander of the 49th Army, Lieutenant General I.G. Zakharkin, found himself in approximately the same position as G.K. Zhukov, only on his front sector. And now it seems to me that Zhukov understood this.
To the right of the 49th, beyond Vysokinichy, through the Ugodsky Plant to the Warsaw Highway, the 43rd Army held the defense. Then she moved east, to Podolsk. But soon she also stopped dead in her tracks. The connection with the 49th Army was provided by the 17th Infantry Division as the right flank.
In the autumn-winter battles of 1941, very often regiments and individual battalions of the 17th Division fought together with units of the 49th Army. Together they repelled enemy attacks. Together, acting according to the plan of one operation, they counterattacked. The Germans kept a large group in Vysokinichy, intending to throw it at Serpukhov, and this direction was covered by the 49th Army. And therefore, the 17th, willy-nilly, ended up as part of this army and in its zone of responsibility.
But the fate of the 17th Infantry interests us in connection with other events and thoughts.
Several years ago, the collections of the Museum of Marshal G. K. Zhukov received a folder with documents signed by the head of the Institute military history Ministry of Defense Russian Federation A. Koltyukov and the leading researcher of the Institute of Military History of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, a participant in the Great Patriotic War, retired colonel B. I. Nevzorov.
I present fragments of the “Military-historical conclusion on the compliance of the actions of the command of the 17th Infantry Division, Colonel P. S. Kozlov and Brigade Commissar S. I. Yakovlev, with the conditions of the situation in the defense zones of the 33rd and 43rd armies in October 1941.”
“...The prologue of the Moscow Battle turned out extremely unsuccessfully for the Soviet troops. The German Wehrmacht managed not only to break through our strategic defenses in the western direction, but also to encircle the main forces of the Western, Reserve and Bryansk fronts. 7 out of 15 army field directorates, 64 out of 95 divisions, and 11 out of 13 tank brigades fell into enemy pockets near Vyazma and Bryansk. A 500-kilometer gap appeared in the defense, and there were no strategic reserves in the capital area, since they were used to restore defense in the Kiev direction. As a result, almost all routes to Moscow were open. The enemy’s overall superiority in forces and means over the remnants of the front troops increased from 1.4–2.5 times at the beginning of the battle to 7–9 times by mid-October.”
“As the Soviet group surrounded near Vyazma was liquidated, the Germans intensified their onslaught in the direction of Moscow every day, delivering the main blows along the Minsk highway, Kyiv and Warsaw highways. On October 15, Borovsk fell. On October 18, the enemy managed to capture Mozhaisk, Vereya, and Maloyaroslavets. On October 22, fierce battles began for Naro-Fominsk. The Germans crossed the river. Nara and went to the square area. Zosimova Pustyn (3 km east of the city). This meant that the enemy was already about 50 km southwest of the outskirts of Moscow (less than 70 km from the Kievsky railway station).
In such a difficult and dangerous situation for the capital, acute problems were solved to save it. There was a regrouping of troops in the western direction. Divisions that had escaped from encirclement pockets were being restored. New formations and units were urgently transferred from neighboring fronts and from the depths of the country to Moscow. Troop leadership was strengthened. The front commanders, Marshal S. M. Budyonny, generals I. S. Konev, A. I. Eremenko, and the commander of the 33rd Army, brigade commander D. P. Onuprienko, were removed from office. The Western Front was recreated, the commander of which was appointed Deputy People's Commissar of Defense, Army General G.K. Zhukov. At the same time, the most severe measures were taken against those commanders and commanders who, in their sectors of the front, were unable to stop the enemy’s advance or made lapses in command and control of troops. Thus, the following were put on trial by a military tribunal: the commander of the 43rd Army, Major General P. P. Sobennikov, the deputy chief of the operational department of the Reserve Front headquarters, Colonel I. A. Novikov, the commander of the 31st Army, Major General V. N. Dolmatov, and some of them, such as the commander of the 17th Infantry Division, Colonel P. S. Kozlov and the division’s military commissar, Brigade Commissar S. I. Yakovlev, were shot in front of the formation of personnel.”
“The 17th division of the people's militia of the Moskvoretsky district was formed on July 3–7, 1941. Colonel P. S. Kozlov was appointed its commander, and Professor I. S. Kuvshinov was appointed its commander (from October 12 - brigade commissar S. I. Yakovlev) Based on the Headquarters directive of August 23, 1941, the division was supplemented with personnel, personnel commanders, weapons, military equipment, various property, and from September 26 it was transformed into the 17th Infantry Division of the Red Army with a reduced composition (staff dated July 1941) . Having about 10,500 men, 8,341 rifles, 270 machine guns (light and mounted), 52 mortars and 28 guns, the division took its first battle by the end of the day on October 2. (According to other sources, by the time it entered the battle on October 2, 1941, the 17th Infantry Division had the following strength and armament: with a strength of 11,454 people - 8,087 rifles, 60 easel, 148 light and 3 anti-aircraft machine guns, 79 50-mm mortars , 159 PPSh, 27 guns of various calibers. These data, as we see, are somewhat strengthen 17th Infantry Division. Particularly noteworthy is the presence of quite large quantity PPSh machine guns. Essentially, two machine gun companies. It should be noted that in some divisions of the 49th Army, machine gun companies were formed only in November-December 1941, immediately before the counter-offensive, when the required number of automatic weapons was sent to the troops. In 1941, there were not enough PPSh assault rifles. By 1943, the PPSh had become the most popular submachine gun of World War II. - CM.)
By this time, the 17th Rifle Division, part of the 33rd Army, was deployed on the southern flank of the Rzhevsko-Vyazemsky defensive line in the second echelon of the Reserve Front in the Star zone. Blizhevichi - Latvians up to 10 kilometers wide (15 kilometers south of Spas-Demensk, 5–15 kilometers south of the Warsaw Highway).”
“2.10.41. Collision with enemy reconnaissance, reinforced by five tanks.
3.10.41. The enemy flanks the division through Latvians and threatens the rear. Tank attack with air support. Battle with tanks that broke through in the area of Mamonovo and Kovalevka.”
There is no information in the archive for 4 and 5.10.41. 6.10.41. The 33rd Army as an organism ceased to exist.
During the battles 3 And The 4th of October The division found itself in operational encirclement. On October 10, it reached the Naro-Fominsk area, covering a distance of 250–300 km and losing all its material.
"1. Units of the 33rd Army continue to be re-equipped:
a) 17th Infantry Division - in the Ugodsky Plant area: 558 personnel; trucks - 12; horses - 50; rifles - 141; light machine guns - 55; PPD - 2; radio stations of the Republic of Belarus - 2. 876 VET regiment: personnel - 37 people; rifles - 30; machine guns - 5; materiel - no. KP - Ugodsky Plant. (Ugodsky Plant is the birthplace of G.K. Zhukov, at that time an army general, commander of the troops of the Western Front. The village of Strelkovka, from where Zhukov took his mother and sister just a few days ago, is a few kilometers from Ugodka. - CM.)
After reorganization, the 17th Infantry Division moves from the 33rd to the operational subordination of the 43rd Army.”
“By 11.00 18.10 the enemy captured Maloyaroslavets and separate groups of machine gunners reached the Belousovo area. (Now the village of Belousovo, Zhukovsky district, Kaluga region. Located on Varshavskoe highway. - CM.)
The 17th Infantry Division takes up defensive positions along the river. Protva from Belousov to Vysokinichi:
1316 joint venture - (claim) Maloyaroslavets highway near the village of Obninsk, claim. Dubrovka and Erivosheino;
1314 joint venture defends the Dubrovka, Strelkovka, Bol area. Roslyakovka;
1312 joint venture - occupies the defense sector of New. Slobodka, Vysokinichi, Lykovo.
Division headquarters - Ugodsky Plant."
The defense sector of the 17th Infantry Division was assigned to be quite large, about 30 kilometers. The trenches had already been partially dug by local residents. The line ran along the eastern bank of the river. Protvy. To the south of Vysokinichi, the positions of the neighboring, left-flank 5th Guards Rifle Division of the 49th Army begin. The 5th in those days also covered a huge section of the front. Its length absolutely did not correspond to either existing standards or the combat qualities and capabilities of the division. Everything was contrary then. There were no regulations in place. Neither on hardware, nor on motors, nor on the degree of strength of the human body and character.
And one more thing. General Zakharkin knew the 17th division. Knew its commanders and fighters. In August he briefly commanded the 43rd Army. It was much further west, near Kirov (Kaluzhsky), when the 43rd stood as part of the Reserve Front in the second echelon. The 17th Infantry Division was then part of the 33rd Army and stood next door, nearby. Then she was transferred to the 43rd.
According to the operational report of the headquarters of the Western Front, on October 20, 1941, the 43rd, with its divisions and brigades of paratroopers and tankers, repelled attacks by the LVII Motorized Corps in the Vorobyi - Akatovo - Istya area. At the same time, part of the troops tried to return Borovsk, which had been occupied by the enemy the day before. The 17th Rifle Division occupied the defense at the Spas-Zagorie - Vysokinichi line.
Three days later, on October 23, 1941, the combat log of the Western Front recorded a report from the commander of Army 43, Lieutenant General Golubev: “The 17th and 53rd rifle divisions launched an attack on Tarutino from the morning of 22.10. At 14.00, 22 enemy planes bombed and shot at units, causing the divisions to flee in panic. Lieutenant General S.D. Akimov and a member of the Military Council of the Army, Brigade Commissar A.D. Seryukov personally detained the fleeing people with weapons in their hands. Seryukov was wounded and evacuated. With the help of barrage detachments, the fleeing people were detained at the Cherneshnya line. The enemy occupied Korsakovo with a force of up to a battalion and 3 tanks.
53 SD has 1000 people, 17 SD has about 2500 people, 312 SD has only 300 people.
I believe that the 53rd and 17th Rifle Divisions are demoralized and are subject to disbandment, and entire groups of command and political personnel should be brought to justice.
A fresh rifle division should be sent to the Tarutino direction, which, with a strike in the Korsakov-Tarutino direction, will be able to restore the situation. Golubev".
Please note that the 312th Infantry Division of Colonel A.F. Naumov was the smallest. But it was she who, on that day, when the neighbors wavered and ran to the rear, attacked forward and knocked out the enemy from Orekhov and Biriskovo near Tarutin.
On the same day, 10/23/41, Zhukov, by encrypted telegram No. 6171, will appoint Colonel A.F. Naumov as commander of the consolidated 312th Infantry Division, into which units of the 53rd and 17th Infantry Divisions will be consolidated.
Until now, historians, search engines and local historians cannot fully reconstruct the dramatic chain of events that took place here from October 20 to 22 and which caused severe consequences for the command of the 53rd and 17th Infantry Divisions. There really is a lot that is unclear here. For example, how did Lieutenant General S.D. Akimov, who by that time had already been removed from his post as commander of the 43rd Army, end up in the battle for Tarutino? Veterans of the 43rd Army testify that General S.D. Akimov was seriously wounded by a mine fragment in a battle near the village of Korsakovo near Tarutin. A week later he died in the hospital.
On 10/22/41 at 4.45, the commander of the Western Front, Army General G.K. Zhukov, ordered the commander of the 43rd Army:
"43rd Army. Golubev.
1. Retreat from the occupied position before 23.10. Once again I categorically forbid it.
2. Send Seleznev to the 17th Infantry Division immediately. The commander of the 17th Infantry Division was immediately arrested and shot in front of the formation.
The 17th division, the 53rd division should be forced to return in the morning of 22.10 Tarutino at any cost, including self-sacrifice.
3. You report a small number of fighters in the formations and large losses, immediately search in the rear, you will find fighters and weapons.
4. In defense, make full use of RSs, not sparing shells. Be yourself (CP) in the combat area.
To defend the Gornevo and Kamenka region, I am subordinating to you another airborne brigade and a tank brigade, which you can move from Kresta closer to Gornevo. But keep in mind that if you also don’t spare the tanks, just as you didn’t spare them today, throwing them head-on at the anti-tank tank, there will be nothing left of this brigade, just as there was nothing left of the good 9th Tank Brigade.
(Zhukov, Bulganin.) (Transmitted at 4.45".)
This is the first order that G.K. Zhukov gives to General K.D. Golubev as commander of the 43rd Army. And the next morning, General S.D. Akimov goes on a counterattack on Tarutino in the battle formations of the advancing divisions. He returns from this attack on a bloody stretcher. And perhaps it was precisely this circumstance that freed him from accusations of withdrawing from his positions without orders and leaving weapons to the enemy, of cowardice and desertion to the rear.
Colonel P. S. Kozlov and the commissar of the 17th Infantry Division, brigade commissar S. I. Yakovlev, were removed from command and put on trial. Sentence: execution. At the same time, Colonel N.P. Krasnoretsky was removed from command of the 53rd Rifle Division and was also sentenced to death.
But then something incomprehensible happens. A mixture of Shakespearean tragedy, detective story and adventure novel with a blurry ending, which can be taken as a hint for a sequel. But there was no continuation. Or we still don’t know about him.
Search engines from the city of Chekhov, Moscow Region, found in the archives a memo from the commander of the 43rd Army, Major General K. D. Golubev, to the commander of the Western Front, Army General G. K. Zhukov. This note was published in the Chekhovsky Vestnik newspaper in July 2007. Here are excerpts from General Golubev’s report:
“To Army General Zhukov. 10/31/41. 23.40.
...I am reporting a criminal fact. Today I established on the spot that the former commander of the 17th Infantry Division, Kozlov, was not shot in front of the line, but fled. The circumstances of the case are as follows. Having received your order to arrest and shoot the commander of the 17th Infantry Division in front of the formation, I instructed member of the Military Council Seryukov and Lieutenant General Akimov, who went to the division, to carry it out. For unknown reasons, they did not do this and sent the division commander to me. I, under escort organized by the head of the Special Department of the Army, sent him back with a categorical instruction that the order of the army commander must be carried out. I was informed that he had been shot, but today I found out that he was not shot, but fled from the convoy. I am ordering an investigation.
(Golubev.")
A very interesting document. General Golubev is a difficult man, worn out by service and war. Look how skillfully the report was drawn up: he entrusted the execution to his deputies, and the convoy was organized by someone, or rather, “the head of the Special Department of the Army,” and the fifth or tenth... Colonel Kozlov himself did not shoot, which means he understood that there was nothing to kill the commander of the 17th, especially in front of the formation. Well, he’ll have to look him in the eye and say something to the soldiers and commanders... Did you want to do the dirtiest work with someone else’s hands? After all, it was General Golubev, with his reports about the demoralized state of the division and the need to bring the commanders to trial, who whipped up the anger of the new front commander. Combat General Stepan Dmitrievich Akimov simply did not shoot his comrade in arms, but sent him to the one who, the day before, reported to the headquarters of the Western Front: “I believe that the 53rd and 17th infantry divisions are demoralized and are subject to disbandment, and entire groups of command and political personnel - to be brought to justice.” . Like, shoot yourself, judge and shoot if you’re so cool...
Not all archives are yet open for study, not everything we are allowed to comprehend and understand in that cruel war. That is why some ends, causes and consequences are not connected in our minds. For example, it is still impossible to find out who else in the 17th and 53rd rifle divisions was shot after the report of General Golubev and the rage of General Zhukov. The report says: “...entire groups of command and political personnel.” True, if you understand that Zhukov was not as bloodthirsty as a commander of the front, as simple liberal political historians often portray him, then the background of the report of General Golubev, who was sincerely upset and frightened by what happened, becomes clear.
Who is Colonel Kozlov, who was sentenced to death and fled from the convoy to God knows where? It didn’t surface among the Germans either. But still a colonel. These, as a rule, surfaced. If they fled there consciously, for ideological, so to speak, reasons. Some colonels and even lieutenant colonels in the ROA, for example, rose to the rank of general.
What if Colonel Kozlov had a completely different goal of escaping from custody?.. This is where, as they say, you can endlessly think...
Here is what Chekhov researchers report about the commander of the 17th Infantry Division:
“Kozlov Petr Sergeevich. Born in 1905. Originally from the Klimovichi region, at that time the Belarusian SSR. In the Red Army since 1926. Member of the CPSU(b) since 1928. Participant of the Soviet-Finnish war. He distinguished himself in battles, for which he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner. After graduating from the Military Academy. M. V. Frunze. He was a parachute instructor. In a short time he learned German and mastered spoken language almost perfectly. He was awarded the rank of colonel in 1940.”
Excellent track record! Young, smart, physically strong. Judging by the energy that he showed in studying the German language and parachute business, he had a strong-willed character. The combination of two new professions - parachute business and knowledge of the German language - leads to very definite thoughts about why one person needs this knowledge and skills. And they are still trying to get it into our heads that the USSR was preparing for war with England. Unless Marshal Tukhachevsky had such an idea. But Stalin stopped it in 1938...
Almost nothing is known about the military commissar of the 17th Infantry Division, Brigade Commissar Sergei Ivanovich Yakovlev. No documents about him were found in the Podolsk archive.
Those studies carried out by search engines and local historians of Podolsk and Chekhov lead to a paradoxical conclusion, namely: neither Colonel P. S. Kozlov, nor divisional commissar S. I. Yakovlev were shot.
What happened to them? Where did they go?
First, it is appropriate to briefly talk about two more persons involved in this extremely confusing and vague semi-detective story.
The commander of the 53rd Rifle Division, Colonel Nikolai Pavlovich Krasnoretsky, according to some information, was also sentenced to death, but with a deferment of the sentence. And according to the authors of many publications, “he died in battle on October 22” near the village of Chernishnya near the village of Tarutina. There is very little information about him. It is known that from June 1, 1939 he commanded the 109th Motorized Division. He went to war with her. On the fourth day, Colonel N.P. Krasnoretsky was seriously wounded in the battle near Shepetovka. 09/24/41 after recovery in the hospital, he received the 53rd Infantry Division. He arrives with her to Roslavl. The division occupies the Kuzminichi-Tserkovshchina defense line west of Spas-Demensk, covering the Warsaw highway. A week later, the division enters battle with the vanguards of the German LVII Motorized Corps. She found herself at the forefront of the attack by the southern group of Army Group Center, which a few days later closed a pincer movement around Vyazma. Already on October 2, on the first day of Typhoon, the 53rd Rifle Division found itself in operational encirclement. It retreated along with the remnants of other units along the Warsaw Highway. Together with cadets from Podolsk military schools, she soon reached the village of Belousov on the Protva River.
On October 21, the following text was sent by telephone message from the headquarters of the Western Front to the headquarters of the 43rd Army:
“To the Military Council 43 A.
In connection with the repeated flight from the battlefield of the 17th and 53rd Infantry Divisions, I order:
In order to combat desertion, allocate a barrage detachment by the morning of 22.10, selecting reliable fighters for it at the expense of the Airborne Forces.
Force the 17th and 53rd Rifle Division to fight stubbornly and, in case of escape, the assigned barrage detachment to shoot on the spot all those abandoning the battlefield.
Report the formation of the detachment.
(Zhukov. Bulganin) (21.X.41.")
Colonel N.P. Krasnoretsky died the next day. Or didn't he die? Or did someone else die?
So far, no act of execution of the officers of the 43rd Army, nor eyewitness accounts of a possible execution have been discovered. Ordinary fighters, veterans of battles in the Moscow region say: before the formation they often shot someone...
Fighter - what? They lined him up, read something, took the poor fellow to the pit, the squad fired a volley, and buried him. And the fighter just wants to quickly go to his dugout, be warm, and eat porridge. History was then written in the offices of military tribunals, in headquarters and political departments. The historians who stood in the soldiers’ ranks were never allowed to find out the truth or tell about it, at least personally, as seen from the trench.
But Chekhov’s search engines found and even published an interesting document, which again upsets everything and makes us think that anything could really happen in the war. S.I. Yakovlev’s service record card contains entries made after October 1941. It turns out that he was not shot. He was stripped of his awards, demoted in rank and sent to the Leningrad Front. There he served as a senior instructor in the political department of the 46th Infantry Division of the 52nd Army. If we consider that Army General G.K. Zhukov returned to the headquarters of the Western Front from near Leningrad, then there is again something to think about.
And now a few words about General S. D. Akimov.
Stepan Dmitrievich Akimov was born in the village of Khatsievka, Pskov province. Ensign of the Russian Imperial Army since 1916. In the Red Army since 1918. In 1919 he graduated from command infantry courses in Peterhof, and then headed them for some time. IN Civil War commanded a platoon, company, battalion on the Western Front. In 1929 he graduated from the rifle-tactical advanced training courses for the command staff of the Red Army "Vystrel" named after. Comintern. Since 1937 - commander of the 58th Infantry Division. Then - the 23rd Rifle Corps of the ZakVO, with which it took part in the Soviet-Finnish War. Since December 1940 - infantry inspector of PribOVO. He received the rank of lieutenant general in July 1940. At the beginning of the war, assistant commander of the Northwestern Front, commanded a combined group near Daugavpils. Since August 1941 - commander of the 48th Army of the North-Western Front. Since September 1941, he studied in a special group of the General Staff Academy. K. E. Voroshilova. In October, he took part in the formation of the 113th Infantry Division, the remnants of which by that time were arriving from near Spas-Demensk. On October 10, 1941, he was appointed commander of the 43rd Army. On October 23, 1941, during a battle he was wounded by a mine fragment near the village of Korsakovo. Sent to Moscow, to the hospital. On October 29, 1941, he died during the crash of an airplane piloted by the famous test pilot N.B. Fegervari near the village of Golodeevka, Penza Region. Awarded the Order Lenin, two Orders of the Red Star, and the medal “XX Years of the Red Army”. Strange death, strange catastrophe. Along with General Akimov, 17 people on board died, including the famous aircraft designer Vsevolod Konstantinovich Tairov. The fact of the plane crash long years was classified. It was leaked that the plane was chock-full of classified documentation related to the development and testing of new aircraft designs. It was a time of massive and often chaotic, panicked evacuation of Moscow to Kuibyshev.
“Could it not have happened, for example, that Stepan Dmitrievich Akimov, in that difficult situation, refused to carry out the order of G.K. Zhukov in relation to P.S. Kozlov, for which he was later “demoted” in life and in history? » - writes journalist and historian Valery Stepanov.
It very well could.
But if you follow V. Stepanov’s version, much more becomes incomprehensible. Why, for example, was Colonel N.P. Krasnoretsky not shot - he was given the opportunity to die in battle, which was then very important great importance for relatives deceased. For example, if he had been shot for desertion and cowardice, then, in accordance with order number 227, his family would also have been subjected to severe repressive measures under martial law. Who took care of this?
Chekhov and Podolsk search engines, as an argument for why General S. D. Akimov did not shoot Colonel P. S. Kozlov, cite the assumption that the officers were friends from the Finnish campaign. And they were awarded orders at the same time, by one decree: S. D. Akimov - the Order of Lenin, and P. S. Kozlov - the Order of the Red Banner.
But it could happen that Lieutenant General S.D. Akimov, having personally understood the situation in which the divisions left their occupied line of defense under the pressure of superior enemy forces, simply refused to shoot at his officers. Be that as it may, the result is this: after the harsh orders of the front commander, no one was shot in the 43rd Army. And no one was shot in the 49th. This is what Army Commanders Akimov and Zakharkin decided. Both, by the way, are warrant officers of the old Russian army, brought up in a different culture and having learned a different degree of relationship.
Two facts remain a mystery to history.
First: where did Colonel P.S. Kozlov go? Recently I was shown a photograph of him. The colonel has the face of an adventurer, but not the face of a commander. Perhaps his further fate was surprising. Adventures behind enemy lines, completing a particularly important command assignment, etc. Just a plot for an adventure novel!
If the Germans had broken through to the right of the 49th Army’s defenses, its rear would have been immediately attacked and crushed, and the fate of the Serpukhov line would have been decided back then, in October. But execution orders stopped the fleeing troops. It was the orders for executions, and not the demonstration executions themselves, that calmed the defending regiments and instilled in them courage and fortitude. In any case, to the command staff. Battalion commanders and regimental commanders, as well as commanders of other levels, suddenly realized: it is better to die here, on the line, in battle with the enemy, than to be shamefully shot in front of the formation in some nameless forest in the near rear and buried like a dog...
Studying this period and carefully, as far as possible, going through private details, you come to the conclusion that the headquarters of the Western Front, as they said in the old days, were quite happy with the way the question was posed. Otherwise, how can we understand, for example, the following document:
“Especially important.
Deliver immediately.
Commander-43 Golubev.
Headquarters granted the request to transfer the 93rd Infantry Division to your subordination. (The division was formed in the Trans-Baikal Military District. It had the name East Siberian. Upon arrival at the front it became part of the 43rd Army. Then it fought as part of the 33rd, 20th, 16th and from May 1943 - the 11th Guards Army. Participated in the Battle near Moscow, in battles in the Spas-Demensky and Zhizdrinsky directions, in the Battle of Oryol-Kursk. Transformed into the 26th Guards and acquired the honorary name Gorodok. During the Battle of Moscow, the division was commanded by Major General K. M. Erastov. - CM.)
The Front Commander ordered the 93rd Infantry Division to be accepted and the division's movement to be organized immediately. Urgently present a plan for using the division based on the following: launch a short counterattack in order to seize an advantageous position, return Vorobyi, Tarutino. (The exhausted 17th, 53rd and 312th rifle divisions did their job - they held out. They retreated, sometimes fled. Then they returned again. Or dug in at a new line. But they were able to hold out until the arrival of those very strategic reserves that the command spoke about and which were already ordinary soldiers did not believe in the trenches. The fresh, full-blooded Transbaikal 93rd was the very strategic reserve of Headquarters. The crisis was over. - CM.)
Send commanders and political workers to the division with an order for reprisals for leaving positions without permission, to clarify and carry out the appropriate work. Unit commanders must sign orders for reading them.
(Nashtafronta Sokolovsky) (Military Commissar of the Kazbintsev headquarters.) (10.23.41. 24.00 ".)
Trans-Baikal residents were immediately brought up to date with the situation, familiarized with “the order of reprisals for leaving positions without permission,” there is no doubt that they were told about shot. The unit commanders signed the orders “for reading them” and then conveyed their essence to each soldier.
Years passed, and the Institute of Military History reconstructed the events of October 1941 in great detail, within the framework of those documents and facts that are publicly available. Comrades in arms of Colonel P. S. Kozlov and S. I. Yakovlev filed a petition with the Main Military Prosecutor's Office for the rehabilitation of the officers. For this purpose, another study was conducted. The position and combat capabilities of the 17th Infantry Division superimposed on the regulations that existed at that time on the density of rifle battalions per 1 kilometer of front, guns and mortars, tanks, etc. The authors of the “Military Historical Conclusion...” indicate: “The 17th Rifle Division, having received the task of defending a 28 km wide strip on the eastern bank of the river. Protva, was forced to build its battle formation of divisions and regiments in one echelon, without artillery groups and reserves, and to equip only the main defense line with a depth of 2–2.5 km. In turn, this zone consisted of one (main) resistance position, which included company defense areas equipped with trenches for a rifle squad and communication trenches. The defense was patchy. In addition, due to the lack of forces and means, the division was unable to arrange: anti-tank obstacles, anti-tank areas; all types of barriers, equip a combat guard position and shelter to protect against artillery and aviation fire.
Tactical defense density of 17 infantry divisions (per 1 km of front): rifle battalions - 0.3, guns and mortars - 0.39 and tanks - 0. In other words, the density of rifle battalions was 3–5 times, and guns and mortars - 66–120 times lower than the values established by regulatory documents.”
All this is true. But the enemy also approached the defense of the 17th Infantry Division not in the same strength that he had on October 2 near Spas-Demensk. If the “Military-Historical Conclusion...” was written only for the rehabilitation of innocent victims, without affecting anything else, then one could turn a blind eye to this. But the fact is that, while rehabilitating the honorable names of officers, it is necessary to recognize the orders of higher commanders and staffs as unfounded. Yes, the orders given at that time were impossible to implement. But some of them were fulfilled! And this is precisely what stopped the tank and motorized columns at the line of Dmitrov, Naro-Fominsk, Serpukhov, Tula.
The conclusions made by military scientists in the “Military-Historical Conclusion...” are as follows:
"1. There is no corpus delicti in the actions of the commander of the 17th Infantry Division, Colonel P. S. Kozlov, and the military commissar of the division, Brigade Commissar S. I. Yakovlev. They were true patriots and devoted all their strength, knowledge and experience to the defense of the Motherland. The reprisal against them was carried out in a crisis situation on the outskirts of the capital, a certain panic among the country's leadership, the introduction of a state of siege in Moscow, a change in army command, without conducting investigative actions, without a military tribunal and even without issuing an act of execution of the sentence.
2. The Institute of Military History of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation supports the appeal of the directorate of the State Defense Museum of Moscow for rehabilitation and return good name for lack of corpus delicti to the command of the 17th Infantry Division P.S. Kozlov and S.I. Yakovlev.”
