The 8th Motorized Rifle Division of the NKVD Internal Troops (Russian: 8-я мотострелковая дивизия внутренних войск НКВД СССР 8-y motostrelkovaya diviziya vnutrenikh voisk NKVD SSSR) was formed in accordance with NKVD Order Number 0021 from January 5, 1942, during execution GKO decree number 1099- ss on January 4, 1942. It was based on the 23rd Motorized Rifle Division NKVD Internal Troops.

David Glantz David M. Glantz (born January 11, 1942) is an American military historian known for his books on the Red Army during World War II and as the chief editor of '' The Journal of Slavic Military Studies''. Born in Port Chester, New York, Glantz re ...

writes that in early December, the Southwestern Front combined the remnants of the 91st, 92nd, 94th, and 98th Border Guards Detachments with the 6th, 16th and 28th NKVD MRRs to form the division.(Colossus Reborn, 165) The 8th Infantry Division of the NKVD Internal Troops was part of the troops of the South-Western Front and included the: * 4th Red Banner Motor Rifle Regiment ; * 6th Motorized Rifle Regiment ; * 16th Motorized Rifle Regiment ; * 28th Motorized Rifle Regiment ; * 266th Motorized Rifle Regiment ; * 274th Motorized Rifle Regiment ; * 10th Artillery Regiment ; On May 9, 1942, from the 8th Motorized Rifle Division of Internal Troops stand * Management Division, * 4th Red Banner Motor Rifle Regiment, * 266th Motorized Rifle Regiment, * 274th Motorized Rifle Regiment. On the basis of these parts of the 8th Motorized Rifle Division of the NKVD the 13th Rifle Division NKVD was formed. The 287th Infantry Regiment of the 3rd Infantry Division NKVD internal troops also joined the division. Colonel Gorishnii Vasily Akimovich was appointed the Divisional commander, while military Political commissar Division Senior Battalion Commissar

Ilya Arkhipovich Vlasenko Ilya Arkhipovich Vlasenko (19 July 1902 – 11 May 1963) ( uk, Ілля Архипович Власенко, be, Ілья Архіпавіч Уласенка, russian: Илья Архипович Власенко) was a political commissar in th ...

With the Red Army

The remaining units of the division were part of the 8th Motorized Rifle Division NKVD Internal Troops until June 25, 1942, when the division joined the Red Army and was named the 63rd Rifle Division. (The 63rd Mountain Rifle Division had been formed from the 2nd Georgian Infantry Division in 1936-37 and had been destroyed in 1942). The division then fought in the Battle of Stalingrad. On November 23, 1942, the 63rd Rifle Division was transformed into the

52nd Riga-Berlin Guards Rifle Division 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

for military merit.{{Cite web, url=http://myfront.in.ua/krasnaya-armiya/divizii/strelkovye-61-75.html, title=Стрелковые 61-75 {{!, website=myfront.in.ua, access-date=2016-03-19 From April 22 to May 2 the division, in constant fighting took more than 20 km, 120 blocks in the streets of Berlin. On May 2nd alone, Division soldiers captured more than 7,000 Germans. For their courage and fighting in the successful offensive on Berlin the division received the honorary title "Berlin" on 11 June 1945. The commanders of the 52nd Guards Rifle Division were: *

Nestor Kozin Nestor Dmitryevich Kozin (Russian: Нестор Дмитриевич Козин; 28 October 1902 – 11 September 1992) was a Soviet Army major general. After being drafted into the Red Army in 1924, Kozin became an officer and from 1939 was a batt ...

(06/26/1942 – 01/21/1943), a colonel, made major-general 01/23/1943; Later awarded the

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union (russian: Герой Советского Союза, translit=Geroy Sovietskogo Soyuza) was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for ...

. *Nekrasov, Ivan Mikhailovich (05/09/1943 – 11/17/1943), colonel, made major general on 09.15.43; *Kolchigin, Bogdan K. (11/25/1943 – 12/25/1943), Major-General; *Simonov, Nikolai (12/26/1943 – 09/23/1944), Colonel; *Nestor Kozin (09/24/1944 – 05/09/1945), Major-General. The division was part of the 21st Army (April 1943 - 6th Guards),

3rd Shock Army The 3rd Shock Army (russian: Третья ударная армия) was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces ...

(February–March 1944) the

1st Shock Army The 1st Shock Army (russian: 1-я ударная армия) was a field army established by the Soviet Union's Red Army during World War II. The 1st Shock Army was created in late 1941 and fought in the northern areas of Russia and the Baltic ...

(April–October 1944); and 3rd Shock Army (Nov 1944 – May 1945). On May 1, 1945, it was part of 38th Rifle Corps, 3rd Shock Army. Thousands of division soldiers were decorated during the war, and seven, including the first divisional commander, awarded the

. After the formation of the 52nd Guards Rifle Division, the 63rd Rifle Division was reformed again at Kaluga from the 45th and 86th Rifle Brigades in May 1943. It fought at Stalingrad, Kursk, and in the Belorussian Offensive. With 5th Army of the RVGK in May 1945.

With the Red Army

References

Further reading