BETWEEN HITLER AND STALIN

LIEUTENANT GENERAL ANDREY VLASOV

b. 1900, d. 1946

Vlasov began his service in the Red Army in 1919 during the Civil War. He joined the Communist Party in 1930 and rose quickly through the ranks of the Red Army. He commanded the 37th Army during the defense of Kyiv in September 1941. In November 1941 he was appointed commander of the 20th Army and took part in the counteroffensive outside Moscow; in January 1942 his army led the counteroffensive in the Mozhaisk-Gzhatsk-Vyazma area. After the counteroffensive Vlasov was promoted to Lieutenant General and awarded the Order of the Red Banner.

In March 1942 he was made deputy commander of the Volkhov front, and made responsible for the relief of the blockade of Leningrad. His 2nd Shock Army, however, was not reinforced or allowed to withdraw; as a result it was surrounded. Vlasov gave his men the order to disband. He could not return to the Soviet forces, as he would be blamed for the destruction of his army.  After hiding for several weeks, was captured by the Germans in July 1942. Disgusted by what he saw as a betrayal of himself and his men by the Soviet High Command, Vlasov agreed to lead the Russian Liberation Army, formed by the Germans out of Soviet POWs, with the aim of convincing the Germans to change their policies towards the USSR. Vlasov was recaptured by the Red Army in May 1945 and hanged on 1 August 1946.