General Gorbatov and his uneasy fate

In the thirties, the Stalinist leadership massed the command staff of the Red Army. A lot has been written about this period, repressions against party leaders and military leaders have long been considered the main cause of the series of defeats of the initial period of the war.

General Gorbatov spent almost two and a half years in the camps, from October 1938 to March 1941. The reason for the arrest was the courage shown in the dispute with the NKVD investigators who accused his friend of treason. Kombrig, deputy commander of the 6th Cavalry Corps, was deprived of all government awards and became a disenfranchised slave of the Gulag, who was in the prison hierarchy below the level of criminals. The thieves and murderers mocked the deserved order bearer, remembering how the state that he was called to protect with him treated him.

He could have been shot, but for some reason they did not. Apparently, the bravest and talented commanders were kept in reserve. They made us suffer, but did not kill Rokossovsky. General Gorbatov, too, was swiftly swayed.

He survived, and before the war was released and reinstated. The time of hard trials was approaching. In June 1941, the value of literate and courageous commanders was higher than informers and lackeys.

General Gorbatov retained his best human qualities, Kolyma did not break him. Having passed all the steps of the military career, beginning with the private, he valued the soldier and tried to fight so that the funeral had to be sent as little as possible. It was not easy, I often argued. What could have ended objections to the authorities, the commander knew too well.

During the fighting in the Northern Donets, one of these disputes led to dismissal. The refusal to carry out a senseless order could have led to more tragic consequences, but the Battle of Kursk began, and General Gorbatov was again needed.

In those cases when it was required to show initiative and take responsibility for themselves, this commander did not hesitate. His decisions were true, he acted decisively, not being afraid of anger.

In 1944 a working army was visited by a delegation of workers of the rear, Donetsk miners. They told the commanders about the difficulties that had arisen in the liberated territories, and the fact that the lack of fastening forest prevents the full mining of coal . General Alexander Gorbatov gave the order to send to the rear of Poland the echelon of ownerless logs. The consequences of this act could have become the most sad, but here for the resolute commander himself stood up JV Stalin. He figured out the results of the investigation, and closed the case, scrolling at the same time: "Gorbatov's grave will correct ..."

The people who served under the command of this remarkable commander were infected with frankness and honesty. An elderly medical worker, assigned to the general in order to treat his spine, injured in camp work, confessed that she was being asked to report all the conversations of the commander of the Third Army. There was an unpleasant explanation with the Supreme himself, after which an overly zealous individual, a recruiter of informers, went to the front line.

In April 1945, General Gorbatov led his army to Berlin. Biography without embellishment is set forth in his book "Years and Wars. Notes of the Army Commander, "written after the war. Life turned out uneasy, but honest, which is the fate of the Russian soldier.