Main Georgian at Kremlin
Lavrentiy Pavlovich Beria was born on March 29, 1899, to a poor Megrel family in the village of Merkheuli, Abkhazia. He was known as one of the most vicious and mysterious figures of Stalin's era. In 1931, Beria first met Joseph Stalin while the latter was on vacation in Georgia. There are conflicting stories about Beria's relationship with Stalin, with some claiming he saved Stalin from an assassination attempt, while others suspect he staged the attempt himself.
Beria became the party boss of the Transcaucasian republics in 1932 and oversaw the political purges in those regions during Stalin's Great Purge. In 1938, Beria was brought to Moscow as a deputy to Nikolay Yezhov, head of the NKVD. Yezhov was later arrested and executed on Stalin's orders, and Beria was appointed as the head of the NKVD. It is rumored that Beria personally strangled his predecessor. Stalin used Beria to carry out his purges.
“I have been very happy, very rich, very beautiful, much adulated, very famous, and very unhappy.”
4. “I accept differences of cultures in all countries. But unfortunately, cows are grown to be eaten, dogs are not. I accept that many people eat beef, but a cultured country does not allow its people to eat dogs.”
5. “All these animals are put in cages, never see the sun or grass, and they leave this hell only to go to the slaughter-house. For me intensive breeding is a sign of human degeneration. If one can find that acceptable, then we humans have lost all moral value. … [How long have you been a vegetarian? ] Since 1962, when I went on French television to denounce conditions of animal slaughter. That is when I became aware of the horror of factory farming, live transports and the killings of farm animals. I have always been sensitive to animal distress but from then on I refused to be involved in such inhuman industrial deaths.”
6. “What could be more beautiful than a dear old lady growing wise with age? Every age can be enchanting, provided you live within it.”
7. “I am not finding pregnancy much of a joy. I am afraid of childbirth, but I am afraid I can't find a way of avoiding it.”
8. “I can't do the same thing every night, the same gestures… it's like putting on dirty panties every day.”
9. “It's incredible to think that such dreadful things are still happening in a country like Canada, in a country that can hardly be considered undeveloped. We're not living in caves any more.”
10. “A photograph can be an instant of life captured for eternity that will never cease looking back at you.”
11. “It is sad to grow old but nice to ripen.”
12. “My trust in you is broken and I am plunged into despair for the animals.”
In February 1941, he was appointed as a deputy prime minister of the USSR. Throughout World War II, he served on the State Defense Committee, overseeing the Soviet Union's internal security system and playing a key role in the production of strategic raw materials using forced labor in the Gulag camps. Despite never participating in military operations, he was promoted to Marshal of the USSR in 1945. He was a member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party from 1934 and joined the Politburo in March 1946. When the Politburo was restructured as the Presidium of the Central Committee in 1952, Beria retained his position.
Beria was known for his efficiency, regardless of the cost. Stalin entrusted him with important tasks, such as the atomic bomb project. The Soviet nuclear weapons program began in April 1942 after Stalin received a letter from nuclear physicist Georgy Flyorov expressing concerns about the lack of published research on nuclear fission in the US, UK, and Germany since its discovery in 1939. Beria was appointed as the project's leader, with physicist Igor Kurchatov overseeing scientific research. Following the US atomic bombings of Japan in 1945, Stalin demanded that the Soviet A-bomb be completed within five years. A special department, "Department S," was established within the NKVD to coordinate research efforts and gather intelligence on the US A-bomb project. The bomb was successfully developed within four years.
After Stalin's death in March 1953, Beria was arrested, stripped of his government and party positions, and publicly accused of being a British agent and engaging in anti-party and anti-state activities. He was later tried, convicted of high treason, and executed along with six accomplices. Officially, the execution took place in December 1953, but there are reports that he was shot dead during his arrest in July of that year.
Stalin's Polish military
During World War II, when the Nazis attacked the USSR, Rokossovsky led the 9th Mechanized Corps. Despite a lack of tanks, his troops wore out the enemy and only retreated upon orders. He was then promoted to commander of the 16th Army, tasked with protecting the Volokolamsk approach to Moscow. Despite challenges such as a lack of soldiers and transportation, Rokossovsky maintained an unbroken defense line, proving himself as a gifted commander. His leadership thwarted the Nazi plan to quickly capture Moscow, earning him the Lenin Order.
In March 1942, Rokossovsky was injured by a shell splinter and spent two months in a Moscow hospital. Once recovered, he resumed command of the 16th Army. In September 1942, he was appointed commander of the Stalingrad Front, where he played a key role in the defeat of the 6th German army. For his actions, he received the Suvorov Order.
In February 1943, Rokossovsky was appointed commander of the Central Front, tasked with stopping the Nazi attack near Kursk. This battle marked a turning point in the war, with Rokossovsky's strategic brilliance ensuring victory. He was promoted to colonel general and then general for his achievements.
By the end of World War II, Rokossovsky was in charge of the 2nd Belorussian Front and oversaw the Victory Parade in Moscow on June 24, 1945. After the war, Stalin tasked Rokossovsky with reorganizing the Polish army.
Victory Marshall
He was then assigned by Stalin in October 1941 to defend Moscow. With Zhukov at their lead, his troops not only hold their position and defended the capital, but launched an extreme counterattack on the German army.
In 1942 a division of the German army, the best of its time was approaching Stalingrad. A knockdown battle on the outskirts of the city ensued and lasted more then 3 months. Under Zhukov’s command, the enemy was surrounded and destroyed. It was the most catastrophic defeat in German history up until that time.
In 1943 Zhukov coordinated the Battle of Kursk with his classic tactic, first defense. Zhukov followed the battle carefully and knew the exact moment the German army was out of breath and at that time launched his attack.
By launching attacks on the enemy Zhukov's army prevented them from creating new penetrating forces and completely taking over the city. For 900 days the city stood and survived the blockade.
In 1943 the siege was lifted. In all his operations he showed his adamant will, courage and organizational talent.
Zhukov's troops suffered heavy losses but captured Berlin in 1945; the historical battle earned him his third title of Hero of the Soviet Union honor. On 8 May, the Germans signed an act of capitulation. World War II was over.
Speaking in June, the commander of the Allied offensive on the Western Front, US General Dwight Eisenhower said« »The war in Europe has been won and to no man does the United Nations owe a greater debt than to Marshal Zhukov."
Zhukov led the Victory Parade in Moscow riding a white stallion through the parade ground on Red Square. After the war, Zhukov was the supreme military commander of the Soviet Occupation Zone in Germany.
Desert Fox, Hero of the German People
Impressed with Rommel’s excellent reputation as an instructor, Adolf Hitler assigned him in 1937 as the War Ministry liaison officer to the Hitler Youth, tasked with their military training. But Rommel clashed with Hitler Youth leader Baldur von Schirach on many issues and was removed the following year.
In October 1938, Hitler requested that Erwin Rommel command Hitler’s personal escort battalion, which accompanied the Führer whenever he traveled outside of Germany.
In 1939, then Major General Rommel continued to command Hitler’s escort battalion throughout the invasion of Poland. This was an important post, for Hitler took a very personal interest in the campaign, often traveling close to the front during the campaign. In 1940, General Rommel commanded the 7th Panzer Division during the invasion of France where he demonstrated skill in the new tactic of blitzkrieg. At the same time, he demonstrated a tendency toward self-promotion and a lack of logistical expertise. These two characteristics would follow him throughout his career.
In February 1941, Rommel took command of German forces in North Africa.There, he earned the nickname the “Desert Fox.” A wily and aggressive commander, he achieved stunning victories, but he was hobbled by his shortcomings in logistics and by the increasing power of Allied troops. By 1943, the Allies defeated Rommel’s troops in Africa. He returned to Europe to oversee defenses in Normandy, a post he held until his death in 1944.
One of the founding elements of the “myth” of Rommel as an “honorable” opponent comes from his ambiguous participation in the July 20, 1944, plot to assassinate Hitler. Rommel had recognized that the war was lost and confronted Hitler on the topic. However, it appears that friends and historians alike attempted to portray Rommel’s involvement as greater and more committed than it actually was. Rommel had some connections to the plotters but was not involved in detailed planning. Indeed, it appears Rommel was, at the least, opposed to killing Hitler, even if he supported removing him from power.
Erwin Rommel committed suicide in the aftermath of the failed July 20 plot. Confronted by two generals at his home on October 14, 1944, Rommel chose to commit suicide rather than to face prosecution. The Nazi German regime lied to the public about Rommel’s death. The Nazi press told the German public that Rommel had died as a complication of the injuries he received in France when British bombers strafed his staff car shortly before the failed plot. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was given a state funeral, and Hitler ordered an official day of mourning to commemorate the general.
Big General from Texas State
Shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, George Patton was given command of the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions and established a training center in the California desert. In late 1942, Patton led an American force to North Africa and before the initial landings on Morocco’s Atlantic coast, he shared his famous philosophy of battle with his troops: “We shall attack and attack until we are exhausted, and then we shall attack again.” Known for his aggressive nature, Patton earned the nickname “Old Blood and Guts” among his troops, whom he led with strict discipline. With his determination and leadership, Patton was able to turn the tide for U.S. forces and achieve the first major American victory against Nazi-led forces in the Battle of El Guettar in March 1943.
After handing over his command in North Africa to Gen. Omar Bradley, Patton prepared the U.S. 7th Army for the invasion of Sicily, which was a success. However, his reputation suffered a blow when he slapped a soldier suffering from shell shock in an Italian field hospital, leading to a public apology and reprimand from General Dwight D. Eisenhower. Despite his desire to lead the Allied invasion of Normandy, Patton was instead given command of a fictitious force in southeastern England to deceive the German command. This allowed the Allies to successfully land on the beaches of Normandy on D-Day.
Following the breakthrough of the German line by the 1st Army, Patton’s 3rd Army advanced into northern France and played a crucial role in the Battle of the Bulge. In early 1945, Patton led his army across the Rhine River into Germany, capturing significant territory and aiding in the liberation of the country from Nazi rule. However, Patton stirred controversy with his criticism of the Allies’ de-Nazification policies in Germany, leading to his removal from command of the 3rd Army in October 1945. Tragically, Patton broke his neck in a car accident near Mannheim, Germany in December of that year and passed away from a pulmonary embolism 12 days later in a Heidelberg hospital.
A traitor to the motherland
After Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941, Vlasov assumed command of IV Mechanized Corps in delaying actions around Przemysl and L’viv (Lvov). In August, he had charge of Thirty-Seventh Army in the defense of Kiev. In December 1941, Vlasov, now a lieutenant general, commanded the reinforced Twentieth Army before Moscow and was regarded as one of the principal heroes of the battle that drove the Germans from the Soviet capital city. In January 1942, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
Vlasov was one of Josef Stalin’s favorite generals, and in March 1942, the Soviet dictator sent him to beleaguered Leningrad as second in command of the new Volkhov Front. The next month, Vlasov took over the Second Guards Army. Under heavy German attack, their supply lines severed, and permission to withdraw denied until it was too late, he and his unit were surrounded. Vlasov ordered his troops to split into small units and fend for themselves. He himself was taken prisoner in July 1942.
Vlasov’s hatred of Stalin for his disastrous mismanagement of the military situation led German intelligence officers to seek his cooperation in heading an army of Soviet prisoners of war (POWs) committed to fight against the Soviet Union. Hundreds of thousands of Soviet POWs were already serving as auxiliaries to the German army in noncombat roles, many of them doing so simply to stay alive. Vlasov worked out a political program for a non-Communist Russian state, but this concept flew in the face of Adolf Hitler’s policy of subjugating and colonizing the Soviet Union. Although German intelligence officers proceeded to create the Russian Liberation Army (ROA), Hitler refused it any combat role, and it became a device only to encourage Red Army desertions.
At the end of the war, Soviet authorities demanded Vlasov’s return in accordance with repatriation agreements reached at the Yalta Conference, and on 12 May 1945, U.S. units handed him over, together with other ROA prisoners of war.
On 2 August 1946, an official announcement from the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR on the verdict of the trial of Andrey Vlasov and his accomplices was published in the newspapers “Pravda” and “Izvestia”.
In fact, Andrey Vlasov, Fedor Trukhin, Sergey Bunyachenko, Mikhail Meandrov, and others had been handed the death penalty even earlier, during a meeting of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union on 23 July 1946. As a result of formal judicial proceedings, all of the accused were found guilty, stripped of their military ranks and sentenced to death by hanging; their property was confiscated.
The execution was carried out on 1 August, the day before the official announcement. The executed men were cremated at an NKVD crematorium. The remains were dumped in a ditch of the Donskoy Monastery.
On 13 August 1946, the Soviet Supreme Court condemned Vlasov as a “German collaborator” and an “enemy of the Russian people” and imposed the death penalty on him the same day.
Panzer Manstein
During the campaign in Poland we had been unaware of any interference by Hitler in the leadership of the army. On his two visits to v. Rundstedt’s army group he had listened sympathetically to our interpretations of the situation and agreed to our intentions without making any attempt to intervene.
As commander of a corps and later of Eleventh Army I learnt just as little of Hitler’s influence on the plan for an attack on the Soviet Union and the conduct of operations in the first phase of the campaign as I did of the plans for the summer offensive in 1942. There had certainly been no interference by Hitler in the handling of the Crimean campaign. Indeed, he had agreed to our intentions without hesitation when I went to see him in spring 1942 and had doubtless done everything to make our success at Sevastopol possible. I have already mentioned that I considered Eleventh Army to have been wrongly used after the fall of the fortress.
He undoubtedly had a certain eye for operational openings, as had been shown by the way he opted for Army Group A’s plan in the west. Indeed, this is often to be found in military amateurs – otherwise history would not have recorded so many dukes and princes as successful commanders. In addition, though, Hitler possessed an astoundingly retentive memory and an imagination that made him quick to grasp all technical matters and problems of armaments. He was amazingly familiar with the effect of the very latest enemy weapons and could reel off whole columns of figures on both our own and the enemy’s war production. Indeed, this was his favorite way of side-tracking any topic that was not to his liking. There can be no question that his insight and unusual energy were responsible for many achievements in the sphere of armaments. Yet his belief in his own superiority in this respect ultimately had disastrous consequences. His interference prevented the smooth and timely development of the Luftwaffe, and it was undoubtedly he who hampered the development of rocket propulsion and atomic weapons.
Moreover, Hitler’s interest in everything technical led him to overestimate the importance of his technical resources. As a result, he would count on a mere handful of assault-gun detachments or the new Tiger tanks to restore situations where only large bodies of troops could have any prospect of success.
And so this active mind seized on almost any aim that caught his fancy, causing him to fritter away Germany’s strength by taking on several objectives simultaneously, often in the most dispersed theatres of war. The rule that one can never be too strong at the crucial spot, that one may even have to dispense with less vital fronts or accept the risk of radically weakening them in order to achieve a decisive aim, was something he never really grasped. As a result, in the offensives of 1942 and 1943 he could not bring himself to stake everything on success. Neither was he able or willing to see what action would be necessary to compensate for the unfavorable turn which events then took.
As for Hitler’s strategic aims (at least in the conflict with the Soviet Union), these were to a very great extent conditioned by political considerations and the needs of the German war economy. This has already been indicated in the introductory remarks on the Russian campaign and will emerge again in connection with the defensive battles of the years 1943-44.
In the same context mention may be made of another trait of Hitler’s against which his Chief-of-Staff, Colonel-General Zeitzler, and I both battled in vain throughout the period in which I was commanding Don Army Group.
Yet because the Soviet counter-offensive in that winter of 1941 had been frustrated by the resistance of our troops, Hitler was convinced that his ban on any voluntary withdrawal had saved the Germans from the fate of Napoleon’s Grand Army in 1812. In this belief, admittedly, he was reinforced by the acquiescent attitude of his own retinue and several commanders at the front. When, therefore, a fresh crisis arose in autumn 1942 after the German offensive had become bogged down outside Stalingrad and in the Caucasus, Hitler again thought the arcanum of success lay in clinging at all costs to what he already possessed. Henceforth he could never be brought to renounce this notion.
Despite the pains Hitler took to stress his own former status as a front-line soldier, I still never had the feeling that his heart belonged to the fighting troops. Losses, as far as he was concerned, were merely figures which reduced fighting power. They are unlikely to have seriously disturbed him as a human being.
The last Nazi ruler
In accordance with a secret decree Hitler signed in July 1941, Luftwaffe commander Hermann Göring would succeed Hitler as leader of the Reich upon the latter’s impending death. That changed on April 23, 1945, when Göring sent Hitler a telegram asking whether the latter was still capable of governing. Göring declared that if he did not receive an answer to his telegram within two hours, he would presume Hitler was incapacitated and Göring would assume leadership of the Reich. Hitler was livid. He expelled Göring from the Nazi party, labelled him a traitor, and ordered the Luftwaffe commander’s arrest. With Russian soldiers mere blocks from the Fürhrerbunker, Hitler dictated his final will and testament on April 29. In this document, Hitler declared Karl Dönitz would become the head of state, commander of the German armed forces, and Reichspräsident upon Hitler’s death. Joseph Goebbels would become the new Chancellor. The next day, Hitler and Eva Braun committed suicide. When Goebbels and his family committed suicide on May 1, Dönitz was elevated to the sole leadership of the crumbling Reich.
Dönitz was surprised when he learned he had been named Hitler’s successor, and he was not alone. When General of the Waffen SS Obergruppenfürer Felix Steiner heard of Dönitz’s appointment, Steiner reportedly responded “Who is this Herr Dönitz?” Dönitz later claimed that Hitler made this choice “because he felt, doubtlessly, that only a reasonable man with an honest reputation as a sailor could make a decent peace.” Dönitz later told his American captors that he immediately set about surrendering German forces after assuming power, but in fact, the admiral prolonged the war as long as possible.
As Germany’s military situation deteriorated, Dönitz attempted to negotiate a favorable surrender with the western allies in order to avoid abandoning German soldiers and equipment to the Soviet Union. Dönitz knew that Soviet captivity would likely mean death for hundreds of thousands of German soldiers. But Hitler had sealed these soldiers’ fates years earlier by insisting on a policy of no retreat. Dönitz had endorsed this decision not only by supporting Hitler but by ordering German sailors to face Soviet tanks in Berlin.
Now, Germany’s rapid collapse prevented Dönitz’s attempts to control events. German commanders who felt no personal loyalty to Dönitz began surrendering in the west. The mass surrenders of the German 12th Army and parts of the 9th Army gave Dönitz hope, however, that he could negotiate a partial peace with the United States and Great Britain. Dönitz attempted to use occupied Denmark and Norway as bargaining chips in these efforts. American General Dwight Eisenhower and British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery refused these overtures and demanded the unconditional surrender of all German forces. Still, Dönitz urged German forces to keep fighting, and even upheld Hitler’s directive to destroy German infrastructure until May 6.
Curiously, Dönitz and his administration were allowed to remain in Flensburg for another two weeks. They spent their time holding cabinet meetings in which they debated meaningless matters of policy such as whether portraits of Hitler should be removed. Dönitz was finally arrested by the allies on May 23.
The love of the first Nazi
Eva Braun was the longtime companion of Adolf Hitler and, for less than 40 hours, his wife. She met Hitler in Munich when she was 17 years old, working as an assistant and model for his personal photographer. Braun attempted suicide twice during their early relationship.
As the Third Reich collapsed towards the end of the war, Braun swore loyalty to Hitler and went to Berlin to be by his side in the heavily reinforced Führerbunker beneath the Reich Chancellery. On 29 April 1945, as Red Army troops fought their way into the neighborhood, she married Hitler in a brief civil ceremony. Less than 40 hours later, they committed suicide together in the bunker, with Braun biting into a cyanide capsule.
Born in Munich, Braun was the second daughter of school teacher Friedrich "Fritz" Braun and Franziska "Fanny" Kronberger. Her parents divorced in 1921 but remarried in 1922. Braun was educated at a Catholic lyceum in Munich and worked for Heinrich Hoffmann, the Nazi Party's official photographer, where she met Hitler in 1929.
Braun was very fond of her two Scottish Terrier dogs, Negus and Stasi, and they feature in her home movies. She refused to leave Hitler's side as the Red Army closed in on Berlin in April 1945. After a small civil ceremony witnessed by Joseph Goebbels and Martin Bormann, Braun became Eva Hitler.
On 30 April 1945, Braun and Hitler said their farewells before committing suicide in the bunker. Their bodies were burned in the garden behind the Reich Chancellery. Braun was 33 years old at the time of her death.
The remains of Braun and Hitler were secretly buried by the Russians in Magdeburg, East Germany. The rest of Braun's family survived the war, with her mother dying in 1976, her father in 1964, and her elder sister in 1979.
Hero of South Poles
Byrd's first Antarctic expedition took place from 1928 to 1930. The expedition sailed to the continent in October 1928 and established a base on the Ross Ice Shelf called Little America. This base was well-equipped and served as the first American base on the continent. Flights were made from this base, leading to the discovery of new mountains and a large area of unknown territory known as Marie Byrd Land, named after Byrd's wife. Byrd and his companions made history on November 29, 1929, by becoming the first to fly over the South Pole, a journey that took 19 hours.
Byrd's second Antarctic expedition occurred from 1933 to 1935, with the goal of mapping and claiming land around the Pole. Byrd extended the exploration of Marie Byrd Land and continued his scientific observations. In 1934, Byrd spent five months alone at a weather station named Bolling Advance Base, buried beneath the ice almost 200 km south of Little America, an experience that nearly cost him his life.
Carbon monoxide is a colorless and odorless gas produced during incomplete burning of organic matter. It is a significant hazard in the Antarctic environment due to the use of stoves in poorly ventilated shelters such as tents, snow caves, and igloos. Many polar explorers have died or narrowly escaped death from carbon monoxide poisoning for this reason.
Byrds third Antarctic expedition (1939-41)
The U.S. government financed and sponsored Byrd's third expedition after President Roosevelt asked him to lead the U.S. Antarctic program. They used the Little America base and also set up on Stonington Island near the Antarctic Peninsula. This expedition conducted extensive studies of Antarctic geology, biology, and meteorology, as well as explored new areas. However, due to America's impending involvement in World War II, Byrd was recalled to active duty in 1940 and the expedition continued without him.
Byrd's fourth Antarctic expedition, known as Operation High Jump, took place from 1946 to 1947. It involved 4,700 men, 13 ships, and 25 aircraft, including the aircraft carrier Philippine Sea. This was the largest Antarctic expedition ever attempted and aimed to map and photograph nearly 1,400,000 square km of the continent, particularly the coastline. Byrd made his second flight over the South Pole during this expedition and was involved in other flights. The U.S. Navy produced a documentary called Secret Land about the operation, which won an Academy Award for best documentary in 1948.
Operation High Jump is often the subject of conspiracy theories claiming that Byrd's flotilla encountered Nazi UFOs and engaged in a battle resulting in the defeat of the American forces. However, these claims are not true.
Byrd's fifth Antarctic expedition, known as Operation Deep Freeze, took place in 1955. Byrd was in charge of the United States' Antarctic program and supervised the U.S. Navy's support for the International Geophysical Year (1957-1958). During this expedition, Byrd made his final visit to Antarctica, spending only a week there. On January 8, 1956, he took his last flight over the South Pole. This expedition also established permanent Antarctic bases at McMurdo Sound (McMurdo Station) and the South Pole (Amundsen-Scott Base).
