Yan Petrovich Gaylit (russian: Ян Петро́вич Га́йлит, lv, Jānis Gailītis; May 25, 1894 – August 1, 1938) was a Soviet

Komkor (russian: комкор) is the abbreviation for Corps commander (russian: командир корпуса, komandir korpusa; ), and was a military rank in the Soviet Armed Forces of the USSR in the period from 1935 to 1940. It was also the d ...

of Latvian ethnicity. He fought in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

before going over to the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks (russian: Большевики́, from большинство́ ''bol'shinstvó'', 'majority'),; derived from ''bol'shinstvó'' (большинство́), "majority", literally meaning "one of the majority". also known in English ...

in the subsequent

civil war A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. He was a recipient of the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner (russian: Орден Красного Знамени, Orden Krasnogo Znameni) was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of th ...

. During the

Great Purge The Great Purge or the Great Terror (russian: Большой террор), also known as the Year of '37 (russian: 37-й год, translit=Tridtsat sedmoi god, label=none) and the Yezhovshchina ('period of Nikolay Yezhov, Yezhov'), was General ...

, as a part of the so-called " Latvian Operation", Gaylit was arrested by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (russian: Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних дел, Naródnyy komissariát vnútrennikh del, ), abbreviated NKVD ( ), was the interior ministry of the Soviet Union. ...

on August 15, 1937 and executed the following year. He was rehabilitated in 1956.

Sources

Латышские стрелки

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaylit, Yan 1894 births 1938 deaths People from Valmiera People from Kreis Wolmar Soviet komkors Imperial Russian Army officers Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Great Purge victims from Latvia People executed by the Soviet Union by firearm Soviet rehabilitations