Mikhail Georgyevich Khatskilevich (; 21 November 1895 – 25 June 1941) was a

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

major general. He fought in the Imperial Russian Army in World War I before going over to the Bolsheviks in the subsequent civil war. Khatskilevich commanded the 6th Mechanized Corps in Belarus at the outbreak of

Operation Barbarossa Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along ...

, and was killed in action three days into the war during the

Battle of Białystok–Minsk The Battle of Białystok–Minsk was a German strategic operation conducted by the Wehrmacht's Army Group Centre under Field Marshal Fedor von Bock during the penetration of the Soviet border region in the opening stage of Operation Barbaros ...

Early life, World War I, and Russian Civil War

Khatskilevich was born to a Jewish family on 21 November 1895 in

Nizhny Novgorod Nizhny Novgorod ( ; rus, links=no, Нижний Новгород, a=Ru-Nizhny Novgorod.ogg, p=ˈnʲiʐnʲɪj ˈnovɡərət, t=Lower Newtown; colloquially shortened to Nizhny) is a city and the administrative centre of Nizhny Novgorod Oblast an ...

. During

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he served in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

as a

one-year volunteer A one-year volunteer, short EF (German language, de: ''Einjährig-Freiwilliger''), was, in a number of national armed forces, a Conscription, conscript who agreed to pay his own costs for the procurement of equipment, food and clothing, in return ...

between September 1916 and March 1917, becoming a clerk at the headquarters of the 10th Artillery Brigade. Drafted into the

in August 1918 during the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

, Khatskilevich was sent to study at the 1st Tver Soviet Cavalry Courses, and after graduating from them in 1919 served with the 1st Ukrainian Special Cavalry Brigade as a squadron commander and assistant regimental commander. From August 1919 he served as regimental commander and chief of staff of the brigade as part of the 9th and 17th Cavalry Divisions of the 12th Army. From May 1920 he was assistant commander and then commander of the Consolidated Cavalry Regiment and 10th Marching Cavalry Regiment of the 12th Army and the

1st Cavalry Army __NOTOC__ The 1st Cavalry Army (), or ''Konarmia'' (Кона́рмия, "Horsearmy"), was a prominent Red Army military formation that served in the Russian Civil War and Polish–Soviet War, Polish-Soviet War. History Formation On 17 Novem ...

. Khatskilevich fought in battles on the Southwestern,

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

, and Southern Fronts. For distinguishing himself during the

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

in 1920 he was awarded the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

twice in 1922.

Interwar period

Sent to study at the Military Academy of the Red Army in late 1920, upon graduation in August 1924 Khatskilevich was appointed chief of staff of the 11th North Caucasian Territorial Cavalry Division of the

North Caucasus Military District The North Caucasus Military District was a military district of the Russian Armed Forces from 1992-2010. Before 1992 it had been part of the Soviet Armed Forces since 1918. In 2010 it became the Southern Military District and lately also included t ...

in Armavir. Transferring to serve in the same position with the 1st Special Cavalry Brigade of the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District () is a Military districts of Russia, military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Originally it was a district of the Imperial Russian Army until the Russian Empire's collapse in 191 ...

in October 1926, he graduated from Courses of Improvement for Higher Officers at the

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (), 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 (), was a military academy of the Soviet and later the Russian Armed Forces ...

in 1928. Appointed commander of the 63rd Cavalry Regiment of the brigade in November 1928, Khatskilevich became assistant inspector of the cavalry of the Red Army in February 1930. He served as chief of the Borisoglebsk-Leningrad Combined Cavalry School from November 1931, and continued as chief when the school was relocated to

Tambov Tambov ( , ; rus, Тамбов, p=tɐmˈbof) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Tambov Oblast, Central Federal District, central Russia, at the confluence of the Tsna River (Moksha basin), Tsna ...

in May 1932 and used to form the Combined Cavalry School. For his contributions to combat training at the school, Khatskilevich was awarded the

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star () 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 1930 but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the ...

in May 1936. He returned to unit command in November 1936 as commander and military commissar of the 1st Cavalry Division in Ukraine from November 1936, then became commander of the 2nd Cavalry Corps at

Zhitomir Zhytomyr ( ; see #Names, below for other names) is a city in the north of the western half of Ukraine. It is the Capital city, administrative center of Zhytomyr Oblast (Oblast, province), as well as the administrative center of the surrounding ...

in July 1937. Khatskilevich subsequently became chief of the Cavalry Commanders' Improvement Courses of the North Caucasus Military District before assuming command of the 6th Mechanized Corps of the Western Special Military District in Belarus in June 1940. When the Red Army introduced general officer ranks, he became a major general on 4 June.

World War II

At the outbreak of

on 22 June 1941, Khatskilevich led the corps as part of the 10th Army in the

. Between 24 and 25 June the corps counterattacked the German

3rd Panzer Group The 3rd Panzer Army () was a German armoured warfare, armoured formation during World War II, formed from the 3rd Panzer Group on 1 January 1942. 3rd Panzer Group The 3rd Panzer Group () was formed on 16 November 1940. It was a constituent ...

in the sector of

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

and

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

, in which Khatskilevich was killed in action near Białystok on 25 June, three days into the war.

Awards and honors

Khatskilevich was a recipient of the following decorations: *

(2) *

Order of the Patriotic War The Order of the Patriotic War () is a Soviet Union, Soviet military Order (decoration), decoration that was awarded to all soldiers in the Soviet armed forces, security troops, and to Partisan (military), partisans for heroic deeds in the Easte ...

, 1st class * Jubilee Medal "XX Years of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army".

References

Citations

Bibliography

* *
Выступление М. Г. Хацкилевича на совещании высшего командного состава Красной Армии в декабре 1940 года
{{DEFAULTSORT:Khatskilevich, Mikhail 1895 births 1941 deaths Military personnel from Nizhny Novgorod Russian military personnel of World War I Soviet military personnel of the Russian Civil War Soviet military personnel of the Polish–Soviet War Soviet military personnel killed in World War II Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Soviet major generals Frunze Military Academy alumni