Grigoriy Shtern
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Grigory Mikhailovich Shtern (russian: Григорий Михайлович Штерн; – 28 October 1941) was a Soviet officer in the Red Army and military advisor during the Spanish Civil War. He also served with distinction during the Soviet-Japanese Border Wars and the Winter War. The Soviet authorities accused him of treason and had him shot during Stalin's military purge of 1941.


Career

Shtern was born into a Jewish family in
Smila Smila ( uk, Сміла ) is a city located on Dnieper Upland near the Tyasmyn River, in Cherkasy Raion, Cherkasy Oblast of Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Smila urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. Climate Climate in the ci ...
, Kiev Governorate in 1900. He started his military career as a
Commissar Commissar (or sometimes ''Kommissar'') is an English transliteration of the Russian (''komissar''), which means 'commissary'. In English, the transliteration ''commissar'' often refers specifically to the political commissars of Soviet and Eas ...
of a Red Army brigade in 1919, the same year he joined the Communist Party. Shtern graduated from the
Military Academy of the Red Army The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (russian: Военная академия имени М. В. Фрунзе), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (rus ...
in 1929 and worked for the
People's Commissariat for Military Affairs The People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs of the Soviet Union was the central body of military command and control of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union from November 12, 1923, to March 15, 1934. History The People's Commissaria ...
. He was appointed commander of the 7th Cavalry Division in 1936. Shtern served as a Soviet military advisor to the Spanish Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War between January 1937 to April 1938. After returning from Spain, Shtern became chief of staff of the Far Eastern Front, commanded by Vasily Blyukher, who would soon be executed in the Great Purge. During the July and August 1938 Battle of Lake Khasan, Shtern was given command of operations after Blyukher's initial counterattack failed. He attacked the Japanese troops on the disputed ridge with numerically superior forces and slowly pushed them back. The pressure of the Soviet attack forced the Japanese to a cease-fire on 11 August as they could not hold the ridge without widening the conflict. On 31 August Stalin decided to abolish the Far Eastern Front as he felt it had not "proved its worth", and Shtern was given command of the new
1st Red Banner Army The 1st Red Banner Army () was a Red Army field army of World War II that served in the Soviet Far East. Before 1941 The 1st Army was created in July 1938 under the name of the 1st Coastal Army (or, depending on translation, 1st Maritime Army) i ...
. On 9 February 1939 he was promoted to
Komandarm 2nd rank 2nd rank (russian: Командарм 2-го ранга) is the abbreviation to Commanding officer of the Army 2nd class (russian: Командующий армией 2-го ранга, Komanduyushchiy armiyey 2-go ranga; ), and was a military ...
. After a series of border incidents in the spring and early summer of 1939 escalated into the Battles of Khalkhin Gol, Shtern was given command on 5 July of a "front group", which coordinated all Soviet forces in the Far East. The front group oversaw future World War II commander Georgy Zhukov's 57th Special Rifle Corps, fighting at Khalkhin Gol, but on 19 July the corps was converted into the 1st Soviet Mongolian Army Group and given operational independence from Shtern's command, in order that Zhukov could act without interference from Shtern and on direct orders from the
General Staff A military staff or general staff (also referred to as army staff, navy staff, or air staff within the individual services) is a group of officers, enlisted and civilian staff who serve the commander of a division or other large military un ...
. According to British military historian
Geoffrey Roberts Geoffrey Roberts (born 1952) is a British historian of World War II working at University College Cork. He specializes in Soviet diplomatic and military history of World War II. He was professor of modern history at University College Cork (UCC ...
, Shtern played a central role in planning the Soviet counterattack in August, but Zhukov was its chief organizer and executor. Shtern was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on 29 August 1939, for his "courage and bravery in the performance of military duties" at Khalkhin Gol. During the Winter War between Finland and the Soviet Union, Shtern became commander of the 8th Army on 12 December 1939. After the Winter War, the Red Army restored traditional military ranks, and Shtern was promoted to
Colonel General Colonel general is a three- or four-star military rank used in some armies. It is particularly associated with Germany, where historically general officer ranks were one grade lower than in the Commonwealth and the United States, and was a ra ...
on 5 June 1940. He was appointed commander of the Far Eastern Front on 22 June 1940. Shtern was arrested on 7 June 1941 during a new purge of the Red Army. After being struck by the notorious torturer
Lev Shvartzman Lev Leonidovich (Aronovich) Shvartzman (russian: Лев Леони́дович (Аронович) Шва́рцман; 25 July 1907 13 May 1955) was a Soviet MGB officer, notorious for his brutality, who was executed for using torture to extract ...
with an electric cable with such force that it severed his right eye, he "confessed" that he had belonged to a Trotskyist conspiracy within the Red Army from 1931, and that he was a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...
spy. He was shot without trial on 28 October. Shtern was rehabilitated in August 1954.


Awards and honors

* Hero of the Soviet Union (29 August 1939) * Two Order of Lenin (21 June 1937, 29 August 1939) * Three Order of the Red Banner (4 September 1924, 22 October 1937, and 25 October 1938) *
Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star (russian: Орден Красной Звезды, Orden Krasnoy Zvezdy) was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 193 ...
(19 May 1940) *
Order of the Red Banner of Mongolia The Order of the Red Banner ( mn, «Цэргийн гавьяаны улаан туг» одон) is a military decoration of Mongolia, originally established as the "Order for Military Merit" of the People's Republic of Mongolia. The medal has be ...
10 August 1939)


See also

*
Yakov Smushkevich russian: Яков Вульфович Смушкевич , nickname = General Douglas , birth_date= , death_date= , birth_place=Rokiškis, Kovno Governorate, Russian Empire , death_place=Barbysh, Kuibyshev oblast, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union , al ...
*
Pavel Rychagov Pavel Vasilievich Rychagov (russian: Павел Васильевич Рычагов; 2 January 1911 – 28 October 1941) was the Commander of the Soviet Air Forces (VVS) for a brief time from 28 August 1940 to 14 April 1941.Hooton, E.R. ''The L ...
*
Aleksandr Loktionov Aleksandr Dmitriyevich Loktionov (russian: Александр Дмитриевич Локтионов; ) – 28 October 1941) was a Soviet general. In 1923 he was given command of the 2nd Infantry Division in Belarus, and the next year he becam ...


References


Bibliography

* * * *


External links


warheroes.ru






{{DEFAULTSORT:Shtern, Grigori Mihailovich 1900 births 1941 deaths People from Smila People from Kiev Governorate Jews from the Russian Empire Ukrainian Jews Jewish socialists Bolsheviks Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union members Members of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union Soviet colonel generals Soviet Jews in the military Soviet people of the Spanish Civil War Soviet people of World War II Heroes of the Soviet Union Recipients of the Order of Lenin Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Soviet military personnel of World War II Jews executed by the Soviet Union Executed military leaders Soviet rehabilitations Frunze Military Academy alumni