Purge of the Red Army in 1941
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Between October 1940 and February 1942, in spite of the ongoing German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941, the Red Army, in particular the Soviet Air Force, as well as Soviet military-related industries were subjected to purges by Stalin.


Background

The Great Purge ended in 1939. In October 1940 the NKVD (People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs), under its new chief
Lavrenty Beria Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria (; rus, Лавре́нтий Па́влович Бе́рия, Lavréntiy Pávlovich Bériya, p=ˈbʲerʲiə; ka, ლავრენტი ბერია, tr, ;  – 23 December 1953) was a Georgian Bolsheviks ...
, started a new purge that initially hit the People's Commissariat of Ammunition, People's Commissariat of Aviation Industry, and People's Commissariat of Armaments. High-level officials admitted guilt, typically under torture, then testified against others. Victims were arrested on fabricated charges of anti-Soviet activity, sabotage, and spying. The wave of arrests in the military-related industries continued well into 1941.


1941 Purge

In April–May 1941, a
Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...
inquiry into the high accident rate in the Air Force led to the dismissal of several commanders, including the head of the Air Force, Lieutenant General
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 ...
. In May, a German
Junkers Ju 52 The Junkers Ju 52/3m (nicknamed ''Tante Ju'' ("Aunt Ju") and ''Iron Annie'') is a transport aircraft that was designed and manufactured by German aviation company Junkers. Development of the Ju 52 commenced during 1930, headed by German Aeros ...
landed in Moscow, undetected by the air defense forces beforehand, leading to mass arrests among the Air Force leadership. The NKVD soon focused attention on them and began investigating an alleged anti-Soviet conspiracy of German spies in the military, centered around the Air Force and linked to the conspiracies of 1937–1938. Suspects were transferred in early June from the custody of the
Military Counterintelligence Counterintelligence is an activity aimed at protecting an agency's Intelligence agency, intelligence program from an opposition's intelligence service. It includes gathering information and conducting activities to prevent espionage, sabotage, ...
to the NKVD. Further arrests continued well after the German attack on the Soviet Union, which started on June 22, 1941.


Arrests

* May 30: People's Commissar of Ammunition Ivan Sergeyev and Major General Ernst Schacht * May 31: Lieutenant General
Pyotr Pumpur Pyotr Ivanovich Pumpur (, lv, Pēteris Pumpurs; 25 April 1900 – 23 March 1942) was a Soviet Air Forces fighter pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union, and lieutenant general of Latvian ethnicity. Pumpur joined the Red Army in 1918 and became a mech ...
* June 7: People's Commissar of Armaments Boris Vannikov and Colonel General
Grigory Shtern 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 Sovi ...
* June 8: Lieutenant General
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 ...
* June 18: Lieutenant General Pavel Alekseyev * June 19: Colonel General
Alexander 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 ...
* June 24: General Kirill Meretskov and Lieutenant General
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 ...
* June 27: Lieutenant General
Ivan Proskurov Ivan Iosifovich Proskurov ( Russian: Иван Иосифович Проскуров; – 28 October 1941) was a Soviet pilot and recipient of the title Hero of the Soviet Union, best known as the chief of military intelligence who tried in vain t ...


In wartime

During the first months of the war, scores of commanders, most notably General Dmitry Pavlov, were made
scapegoat In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...
s for failures. Pavlov was arrested and executed after his forces were heavily defeated in the early days of the campaign. Only two of the accused were spared: People's Commissar of Armaments Boris Vannikov (released in July) and Deputy People's Commissar of Defense General Kirill Meretskov (released in September). The latter had admitted guilt, under torture.Michael Parrish. ''The Lesser Terror: Soviet State Security, 1939–1953''. Westport, Conn: Praeger, 1996. . P. 71–76. About 300 commanders, including Lieutenant General Nikolay Klich, Lieutenant General Robert Klyavinsh, and Major General Sergey Chernykh, were executed on October 16, 1941, during the
Battle of Moscow The Battle of Moscow was a military campaign that consisted of two periods of strategically significant fighting on a sector of the Eastern Front (World War II), Eastern Front during World War II. It took place between September 1941 and January ...
. Others were sent to Kuybyshev, provisional capital of the Soviet Union, on October 17. On October 28 twenty individuals were summarily shot near Kuybyshev on Lavrentiy Beria's personal order, including Colonel Generals
Alexander 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 ...
and
Grigory Shtern 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 Sovi ...
, Lieutenant Generals Fyodor Arzhenukhin,
Ivan Proskurov Ivan Iosifovich Proskurov ( Russian: Иван Иосифович Проскуров; – 28 October 1941) was a Soviet pilot and recipient of the title Hero of the Soviet Union, best known as the chief of military intelligence who tried in vain t ...
,
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 ...
, and
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 ...
with his wife, as well as several individuals who had been previously arrested during the immediate aftermath of the Great Purge in 1939, prior to the Red Army Purge of 1941, including politicians
Filipp Goloshchyokin Filipp Isayevich Goloshchyokin (russian: Филипп Исаевич Голощёкин) (born Shaya Itsikovich) (russian: Шая Ицикович) ( – October 28, 1941) was a Bolshevik revolutionary, Soviet politician, and party functionar ...
and Mikhail Kedrov. In November, Beria successfully lobbied Stalin to simplify the procedure for carrying out death sentences issued by local military courts so that they would no longer require approval of the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court and Politburo for the first time since the end of the Great Purge. The right to issue extrajudicial death sentences was granted to the Special Council of the NKVD. With the approval of Stalin, 46 persons, including 17 generals, among them Lieutenant Generals
Pyotr Pumpur Pyotr Ivanovich Pumpur (, lv, Pēteris Pumpurs; 25 April 1900 – 23 March 1942) was a Soviet Air Forces fighter pilot, Hero of the Soviet Union, and lieutenant general of Latvian ethnicity. Pumpur joined the Red Army in 1918 and became a mech ...
, Pavel Alekseyev, Konstantin Gusev, Yevgeny Ptukhin,
Nikolai Trubetskoy Prince Nikolai Sergeyevich Trubetzkoy ( rus, Никола́й Серге́евич Трубецко́й, p=trʊbʲɪtsˈkoj; 16 April 1890 – 25 June 1938) was a Russian linguist and historian whose teachings formed a nucleus of the Prague School ...
, Pyotr Klyonov,
Ivan Selivanov Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...
, Major General Ernst Schacht, and People's Commissar of Ammunition Ivan Sergeyev, were sentenced to death by the Special Council. They were executed on the Day of the Red Army, February 23, 1942.


Aftermath

On February 4, 1942, Beria and his ally Georgy Malenkov, both members of the
State Defense Committee The State Defense Committee (russian: Государственный комитет обороны - ГКО, translit=Gosudarstvennyĭ komitet oborony - GKO) was an extraordinary organ of state power in the USSR during the German-Soviet War (Grea ...
, were assigned to supervise production of aircraft, armaments, and ammunition. Many victims were exonerated posthumously during
de-Stalinization De-Stalinization (russian: десталинизация, translit=destalinizatsiya) comprised a series of political reforms in the Soviet Union after the death of long-time leader Joseph Stalin in 1953, and the thaw brought about by ascension ...
in the 1950s–1960s. In December 1953 a special secret session of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union, itself without
due process Due process of law is application by state of all legal rules and principles pertaining to the case so all legal rights that are owed to the person are respected. Due process balances the power of law of the land and protects the individual pers ...
, found Beria guilty of terrorism for the extrajudicial executions of October 1941 and other crimes, and was given the death penalty as his sentence.


See also

* Case of Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization (Tukhachevsky trial)


References

{{Joseph Stalin 1941 in the Soviet Union 1942 in the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin Lavrentiy Beria Military history of the Soviet Union during World War II NKVD Political and cultural purges Political repression in the Soviet Union Soviet military personnel