Yakov Smushkevich
Yakov Vladimirovich Smushkevich | |
---|---|
Battle of Khalkhin Gol Winter War | |
Awards | Hero of the Soviet Union (twice) |
Spouse(s) | Basia Solomonovna |
Signature |
Yakov Vladimirovich Smushkevich (Lithuanian: Jakovas Smuškevičius, Russian: Яков Владимирович Смушкевич, also Яков Вульфович Смушкевич,[2]; 14 April [O.S. 1 April] 1902 – 28 October 1941) was the Commander of the Soviet Air Forces from 1939 to 1940 and the first Jewish Hero of the Soviet Union. Arrested shortly before the start of Operation Barbarossa on falsified charges of being part of an anti-Soviet conspiracy, he became the only person to receive the Hero of the Soviet Union twice and then be executed. The charges were posthumously dropped and he was rehabilitated in 1954.
He participated in the
Early life
Smushkevich was born on 14 April [O.S. 1 April] 1902 to a Lithuanian Jewish family in Rokiškis, then part of the Russia Empire. He completed only three grades of primary school before the Emperor of Russia ordered the deportation and exile of all Jews in frontline areas of the First World War, resulting in he and the rest of his family being exiled to the Arkhangelsk Oblast in the far north of Russia. There, despite his young age, he worked at a bakery and a pier until he was allowed to return to Lithuania with his family in 1917. In 1918 he entered the Red Army and fought in the 1st Minsk Communist Battalion.[6] In 1919 the battalion was placed on the Western front to fight in the Polish-Soviet War. While commissar of the battalion he was injured during a battle in Belarus and captured. He was imprisoned in Baranavichy and Vilnius before his escape in Spring 1920, after which he eventually became the political instructor of the 144th Rifle Regiment. From 1921 to 1922 he was the head of the Cheka in Klintsy county, now part of the Bryansk region. His police unit participated in operations in the Gomel oblast, and in March 1922 he was transferred to the 3rd Infantry Regiment. There he served as the deputy commissar until September when he was made the party organizer of the 4th Separate Fight Aviation Squadron in Minsk. From August 1923 to February 1926 he was the political instructor of the squadron. While a political instructor he attended the Belarusian State University, but did not complete his studies there due to receiving a new post before he could finish. He went on to receive several promotions before graduating from the M.V.Frunze military academy in 1930, after which he was appointed as the deputy head of the political department of the 2nd Aviation Brigade.[7] In late 1931 he became the commander of the 2nd Mixed Aviation Brigade, which soon became a role model unit in the Soviet military and was praised by the government of the Byelorussian SSR. In 1932 he attended a flight training program in Kachinskygy where he learned to fly the I-5. He left his position in command of the brigade in 1936 due to the start of the Spanish civil war.[8]
Spanish Civil War
Smushkevich arrived in Spain as part of a group of Soviet volunteers in October 1936. There, he worked as a senior advisor to the commander of the Spanish Republican Air Force and lived under the pseudonym General Douglas. During the conflict he gained 223 flight hours, over half of them on the I-15 fighter. He was reprimanded for spending too much time flying combat missions instead of leading the Spanish as commander of the Madrid Air Defense. In June 1937 he returned to the Soviet Union and was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. That year he became the deputy head of the Soviet Air Forces.[9]
Neman R-10 crash
On 30 April 1938 Smushkevich was badly injured while conducting a practice flight on a R-10 in preparation for a parade before it crashed due to mechanical failure.
Battle of Khalkin Gol
After Japanese forces attacked Mongolian cavalry in the disputed territory east of the Khalkin Gol river in May 1939, Smushkevich was sent to Mongolia as the commander of the air force portion of the 1st Army Group. There he spent much of his time training pilots for missions, which were flown on the new I-16 and I-153 fighters. After returning to the USSR in September he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union again on 17 November 1939 for his role in gaining air superiority over the Japanese.[16]
Winter War
In November 1939 Smushkevich became the Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Air Force. During the
World War II and downfall
In August 1940 Smushkevich was made the Inspector-General of the Air Force, and Pavel Rychagov replaced him as commander-in-chief. That year he supported the establishment of a new military academy for navigators and aviation commanders. In December he became the assistant chief of General Staff of the Air Force, where he spent much of his time worrying about the lack of training pilots had for flying in poor weather and the shortage of pilots able to use new equipment. Aleksandr Golovanov suggested that he write a letter to Stalin expressing his concerns.[18][19]
He was arrested in early June 1941 while in the hospital, several days after having had another surgery on his legs.[20] Many other generals of the air force were also arrested on fabricated charges of participating in an anti-Soviet conspiracy shortly before the start of Operation Barbarossa. While he was in prison he was badly beaten before being forced to stand in front of his former colleague Pavel Rychagov (who had been beaten so badly that it damaged his eardrum) in a pre-arranged "confrontation", where they were then supposed to accuse each other of a variety of charges. During interrogation threats were made against his family and his bandaged legs were hit with clubs when he refused to give the "confession" wanted by interrogators.[4] On 28 October 1941 he was shot without trial in Kuybyshev. In 1947 his awards were revoked, but after the death of Stalin he was rehabilitated on 25 December 1954 and on 15 March 1957 his awards were reinstated.[21]
Awards and honors
- Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (21 June 1937 and 17 November 1939)
- Two Order of Lenin (3 January 1937 and 21 June 1937)
- Order of the Red Banner of Mongolia (10 August 1939)
References
- ISBN 9780807819067.
- ^ "Виражи судьбы Якова Смушкевича".
- ISBN 9780143037651.
Smushkevich Yakov.
- ^ ISBN 9780300130263.
- ISBN 9781416545736.
Smushkevich Yakov.
- ^ Bortakovsky 2012, p. 130.
- ^ Simonov & Bodrikhin 2017, p. 323.
- ^ Simonov & Bodrikhin 2017, p. 324.
- ^ Simonov & Bodrikhin 2017, p. 324-325.
- ^ Zilmanovičius 1979, p. 184.
- ^ Zilmanovičius 1979, p. 182-184.
- ^ Simonov & Bodrikhin 2017, p. 325.
- ^ Zilmanovičius 1979, p. 184-189.
- OCLC 749094151.
- ISBN 9785713310790.
- ^ Simonov & Bodrikhin 2017, p. 325-326.
- ^ Simonov & Bodrikhin 2017, p. 326-327.
- ^ Simonov & Bodrikhin 2017, p. 327.
- ^ Zilmanovičius 1979, p. 254-255.
- OCLC 41037894.
- ^ a b Simonov & Bodrikhin 2017, p. 328.
Bibliography
- OCLC 1005741956.
- Bortakovsky, Timur (2012). Расстрелянные Герои Советского Союза [Executed Heroes of the Soviet Union]. Moscow: Veche. pp. 129–161. OCLC 784099768.
- Zilmanovičius, Dmitrijus (1979). Jakovas Smuškevičius (in Lithuanian). Vilnius: Mintis. OCLC 9897068.