One of Stalin's assistants, who held high positions in the USSR. He is especially known for his activities as a representative of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. According to many historians, it was his control that led to the tragedy of the Crimean Front.
Before the revolution
Mekhlis L.Z. was born in 1889 to Jewish parents. Prior worked in an office, gave private lessons and was a member of the Zionist party Poalei Zion. The program of this party combined traditional Jewish issues with the ideas of communism. For example, plans for the return of Jews to their historical homeland in Palestine and the restoration of the Israeli state, with plans for the reorganization of society on the basis of socialism and the dictatorship of the proletariat.
During the war, he served in the artillery, where he served as a bombardier, and then as a fireworker.
Career takeoff after 17 years
Soon after the revolution, Lev Zakharovich joins the Communist Party. During the Civil War, he served as a political worker in the Red Army. There he was noticed, and in the 22nd year he was already working as a personal secretary for himself.
In 1926-1936, Lev Zakharovich was the head of the press department of the Central Committee, a member of the editorial board and, finally, the editor-in-chief of the Pravda newspaper. In parallel with this, he is studying at the Institute of the Red Professors for a doctorate in economics. Moreover, he was exempted from defending his dissertation.
The Pravda newspaper (also called Krasnaya Pravda and Pravda KPRF) was the main printed publication in the USSR. Of course, it was completely ideological, strictly followed the will of Stalin and accurately reflected all the changes in the political course of the country.
Everything that was printed in this newspaper had the force of a state decree. M.N. Ryutin called Pravda "the leader's personal, immediate mouthpiece."
Since 1937. Mekhlis already holds the post of head of the political department of the Red Army (becomes a member of a collegium of 9 people, including Stalin).
This was the period of the "Great Terror", when the army command was subjected to a large-scale "purge". And the new head of the Red Army with great zeal organized repressions against the "enemies of the people."
During the two years of terror, the staff of Red Army officers was reduced by about 30%.
From Voroshilov's speech on the results of the military purge, delivered at a meeting of the Military Council on November 29, 1938:
“The purge was carried out radically and comprehensively, from the very top to the bottom. Therefore, the number of cleaned out turned out to be very, very impressive. Suffice it to say that for all the time we cleared out more than 4 tens of thousands of people.
On the Crimean front
In 1942, Mekhlis was sent to the Crimean Front, in the role of a representative of Stalin himself. There, Mekhlis began to interfere in everything, including conducting operational affairs. Having no experience and knowledge for this, he practically took command of the front. And he made decisions with little interest in the opinions of military commanders, on whom, by the way, he willingly denounced.
Already 5 days after his arrival, Mekhlis organizes an offensive operation to liberate Feodosia. The operation ended in complete failure, despite the superiority of Soviet troops in numbers. According to an eyewitness, military journalist K. Simonov, the reason for this was the strategic mediocrity of Mekhlis, who led the operation, who placed the troops too tightly and too close to the front line, so that each enemy bomb and projectile inflicted increased damage.
Things went on like this. Mekhlis kept the front under heavy pressure, and the Soviet army suffered defeat after defeat. The representative of the headquarters tried to lay all the blame on the commanders, in particular on General Kozlov, and wrote to Stalin more than once about his incompetence. But in the biography of Kozlov there were major military successes, so Stalin did not fully trust the denunciations and did not remove him from his post. But many other military leaders were removed at the insistence of Mehlis. That did not improve the situation at the front at all.
In the end, the Crimean Front was defeated. Mehlis was demoted and removed from his posts.
After the civil war, he moved to Nar. Com. Slave. Cross. Inspections, another people's commissariat, at the head of which stood, doing nothing in it, Stalin; from here Stalin takes him as his secretary in the Central Committee in 1922. Mekhlis is more decent than Kanner and Tovstukha, he avoids "dark" deeds. He even creates for himself a comfortable mask of an "ideological communist." I do not really believe in her, I see that he is an opportunist who will adapt to everything. And so it will happen. In the future, no Stalinist crimes will embarrass him. Until the end of his days, he will serve Stalin without fail, but at the same time he will pretend that he believes in Stalin's superiority. Now he is Stalin's personal secretary. A good opportunist, he accepts everything and obeys everything, accepts my career and tries to establish friendly relations with me. In 1927, Tovstukha drove him out of the Stalinist secretariat. He will leave for three years to study at the Institute of Red Professors. But in 1930 he would come to Stalin and easily prove to him that the central organ of the Pravda party was not doing the necessary work to explain to the party what role Stalin's personal leadership played. Stalin would immediately appoint him editor-in-chief of Pravda. And here he will render Stalin an indispensable service. Pravda sets the tone for the entire Party and all Party organizations. Mekhlis in Pravda will begin to write from day to day about the great and brilliant Stalin, about his brilliant leadership. At first it will give a strange impression. Nobody in the party considers Stalin a genius, especially those who know him.
In 1932, Stalin again took Mekhlis into his secretariat. But Tovstukh is still more convenient for Stalin, and Stalin will gradually let Mekhlis go along the Soviet line. Before the war, he will be the head of the PUR (Political Directorate of the Red Army), then the People's Commissar of the State Control, during the war - a member of the Military Councils of the armies and fronts (where he will be a real Stalinist - an indomitable devourer of Red Army lives), after the war again Minister of State Control. He will die in his own bed in the same year as Stalin.
Lev Zakharovich Mekhlis since 1922 was one of Stalin's secretaries. Of these, even the Stalinist fosterlings (Tovstukha, Poskrebyshev), even those closest to the leader, he alone made an official party and state career. Before the war, he will be the head of the PUR (Political Directorate of the Red Army), then the People's Commissar of the State Control, during the war - a member of the Military Councils of the armies and fronts, after the war - again the Minister of State Control. He will safely survive all the purges and die in his bed in the same year as Stalin. He was, perhaps, the most "unsinkable" of Stalin's favorites and, perhaps, possessed some special qualities unknown to us that helped him establish himself in this role. But one of the reasons for his rise, and perhaps the main one, is well known.
In 1927 - he will leave for three years to study at. But in 1930 he would come to Stalin and easily prove to him that the central organ of the Pravda party was not doing the necessary work to explain to the party what role Stalin's personal leadership played. Stalin would immediately appoint him editor-in-chief of Pravda. And here he will render Stalin an indispensable service.
Pravda sets the tone for the entire Party and all Party organizations. Mekhlis in Pravda will begin to write from day to day about the great and brilliant Stalin, about his brilliant leadership. At first it will give a strange impression. Nobody in the party considers Stalin a genius, especially those who know him? In 1927, it seemed indecent. In 1930, the time came, and Mekhlis from issue to issue of Pravda set the tone for party organizations: "Under the wise leadership of our brilliant leader and teacher Stalin."
It was impossible not to repeat this to the party apparatchiks in the cells. Two years of such work, and neither in the country nor in the party it was possible to speak of Comrade Stalin without adding "great and brilliant." (Boris Bazhanov. Memoirs of the former secretary of Stalin. M. 1990. P. 132-133.)
Source - Wikipedia.
Lev Zakharovich Mekhlis
Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR September 6, 1940 - May 15, 1944
1st People's Commissar of State Control of the USSR September 6, 1940 - June 21, 1941
Predecessor: Position established, Rozalia Samoilovna Zemlyachka as Chairman of the Commission of Soviet Control.
1st Minister of State Control of the USSR March 19, 1946 - October 27, 1950
Birth: 1 (13) January 1889 Odessa, Russian Empire
Death: February 13, 1953 (age 64) Moscow
Party: VKP(b) (since 1918)
Education:
Lev Zakharovich Mekhlis (January 1 (13), 1889, Odessa - February 13, 1953, Moscow) - Soviet statesman and military leader, Colonel General (July 29, 1944). Member of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of the 7th convocation, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 1st-2nd convocations. Candidate member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (1934-1937), member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (1937-1953), member of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (1938-1952).
Doctor of Economics (1935).
Born into a Jewish family. He graduated from the 6th grade of the Jewish commercial school. In 1904-1911 he worked as a clerk and was a home teacher. In 1907-1910 he was a member of the workers' Zionist party "Poalei Zion (Odessa)".
Since 1911 in the Russian army. He served in the 2nd Grenadier Artillery Brigade. In 1912 he received the rank of bombardier (the rank in artillery corresponded to the rank of corporal in the infantry and cavalry). Later he received the title of fireworks. (Senior non-commissioned officer rank in artillery). Until 1917 - in the artillery.
In 1918 he joined the Communist Party and until 1920 was in political work in the Red Army (commissar of a brigade, then of the 46th division, group of troops). In 1921-1922, he was the manager of the administrative inspection at the People's Commissariat of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection (People's Commissar I.V. Stalin). In 1922-1926, he was assistant secretary and head of the bureau of the secretariat of the Central Committee, in fact, personal secretary of I.V. Stalin.
In 1926-1930 he studied at courses at the Communist Academy and in. Since 1930, he was the head of the press department of the Central Committee, at the same time a member of the editorial board, and then the editor-in-chief of the Pravda newspaper. Under him, newspaper galleys began to be delivered to Leningrad by air, and readers of the city of three revolutions received issues of Pravda every day. Since 1932, the "post link", which included the best pilots of the country, was headed by Leonard Kruse. In 1937-1940 - Deputy People's Commissar of Defense and Head of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army. Since 1939 - a member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (candidate since 1934), in 1938-1952 - a member of the Orgburo of the Central Committee, in 1940-1941 - People's Commissar of State Control.
In June 1941, he was again appointed head of the Main Political Directorate and Deputy People's Commissar of Defense. Mehlis was awarded the rank of army commissar of the 1st rank, which corresponded to the rank of army general. In 1942, he was a representative of the Headquarters of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief on the Crimean Front, where he constantly clashed with General Kozlov. The leaders of the front headquarters did not know whose instructions to follow - the commander or Mehlis. The commander of the North Caucasus direction, Marshal Budyonny, also could not influence Mekhlis, who stubbornly did not want to obey him, referring to the fact that he receives all instructions directly from the Headquarters.
Mekhlis, during his tenure as a representative of the Stavka, was engaged in writing rather critical reports on senior officers. After one of these reports, Major General Tolbukhin was removed from the post of chief of staff of the front, who had the imprudence, in contrast to Stalin's instructions, to express an opinion about the need for the front to take into account the need to defend. He also tried through the Headquarters to replace the front commander Kozlov with Rokossovsky or Klykov. At the same time, in his reports to Stalin, he tried to distance himself from the failures suffered by the Crimean Front and place all responsibility on the front command. On this occasion, Stalin sent a telegram to Mekhlis, in which he severely criticized him for such behavior.
In 1942-1946 - a member of the military councils of a number of armies and fronts, from December 6, 1942 - lieutenant general, from July 29, 1944 - colonel general.
In 1946-1950 - Minister of State Control of the USSR. On October 27, 1950, he was dismissed for health reasons.
After his death in February 1953, he was cremated, the ashes were placed in an urn in the Kremlin wall on Red Square in Moscow.
Reviews about Lev Mekhlis
The wife of A. I. Ugarov recalled L. Mekhlis: “He was with us in Leningrad in the twenty-eighth year. A heavy man ... Oh, and Alexander Ivanovich suffered with him, and Sergei Mironovich also had a hard time.
Stalin really did not like that comrades holding high government posts, especially political ones, stood out in some way among those around them. So, for example, having learned that the members of the Military Councils of the fronts, N. A. Bulganin and L. Z. Mekhlis, got themselves attendants and personal chefs, removed them from their posts on these fronts.
- Golovanov A.E. Long-range bomber ...
According to the stories of the former Minister of Health of the USSR E. I. Smirnov, in 1949 he suggested to Stalin that Mekhlis (Minister of State Control) be placed at the head of one of the government commissions. At this, Stalin “began to laugh, clutching his stomach and wiping his tears”:
Can Mekhlis be appointed to constructive deeds? Here is something to destroy, destroy, destroy - for this he is suitable.
According to the memoirs of N. S. Khrushchev: “He was a truly honest man, but in some ways he was crazy, which was expressed in his mania to see enemies and pests everywhere.”
The poet, writer, publicist and journalist F. I. Chuev cites a conversation that took place between Stalin and the writers Fadeev and Makariev about the editor-in-chief of Pravda, Mekhlis. Stalin repeated several times to the writers' complaints: “This is a terrible man, Mekhlis. Ask for anything, but I can't do anything with him."
General Alexander Gorbatov, being rehabilitated and reinstated in the service, experienced the suspicion of Mehlis:
Lev Mekhlis: a note about Postyshev. 1937
At each meeting with me until the release of Orel, Mekhlis did not miss the opportunity to ask me some question that could lead to a dead end. I answered simply and probably not always in the way he wanted. However, it was noticeable that, although with difficulty, he was changing his former attitude towards me for the better. When we were already behind the Eagle, he suddenly said:
- I have been looking at you for a long time and I must say that I like you as an army commander and as a communist. I followed your every step after your departure from Moscow and I did not quite believe what I heard good about you. Now I see that I was wrong.
Thanking you for your frankness, I said:
- I won’t hide from you that I didn’t like you very much then, in Moscow, I went through many unpleasant hours. I also saw how wary you met me at the front. But I'm used to thinking about business first. I'm very happy with what you just told me.
After this conversation, L. Z. Mekhlis began to visit us more often in the army, lingered for tea and even complimented me and my wife, which was completely not in his custom. He was a tireless worker, but a stern and suspicious man, purposeful to the point of fanaticism, a man of extreme opinions and inflexible - that is why his energy did not always bring good results. It is characteristic that he never commissioned anyone to write ciphers, and wrote them only himself, in his original handwriting.
- Gorbatov A. V. "Years and wars"
Awards
4 orders of Lenin (1937, 1938, 1949, 1949)
2 orders of the Red Banner (1929, 1943)
Order of Suvorov, 1st class (1945)
Order of Kutuzov 1st class (1944)
Order of the Red Star (1940)
Order "Virtuti Militari" IV class (1946)
medals
Kerch-Feodosiya landing operation
Odessa, Russian Empire
Moscow
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Lev Zakharovich Mekhlis(January 1 (13), 1889, Odessa - February 13, 1953, Moscow) - Soviet statesman and military figure, Colonel General (July 29, 1944). Member of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of the 7th convocation, deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 1st-2nd convocations. Candidate member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (1934-1937), member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (1937-1953), member of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (1938-1952).
Biography
In 1922-1926, he was assistant secretary and head of the bureau of the secretariat of the Central Committee, in fact, personal secretary of I.V. Stalin.
In 1926-1930 he studied at courses at the Communist Academy and in. Since 1930, he was the head of the press department of the Central Committee, at the same time a member of the editorial board, and then the editor-in-chief of the Pravda newspaper. Under him, the proofs of the newspaper began to be delivered to Leningrad by air, and the readers of this city received issues of Pravda every day. Since 1932, the "post link", which included the best pilots in the country, was headed by Leonard Kruse.
From December 30, 1937 to September 6, 1940 - Deputy People's Commissar of Defense and Head of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army.
On February 8, 1938, Mehlis was awarded the rank of army commissar of the 1st rank, which corresponded to the rank of general of the army.
From October 12, 1939 - a member of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks (candidate since 1934), from January 19, 1938 to October 5, 1952 - a member of the Organizing Bureau of the Central Committee.
From September 6, 1940 to June 21, 1941 - People's Commissar of State Control.
On June 21, 1941, he was again appointed head of the Main Political Directorate and Deputy People's Commissar of Defense.
Participation in the Great Patriotic War
About how L. Z. Mekhlis worked on the Crimean Front, his telegrams to Headquarters speak. Two days after his arrival, Mekhlis sent a telegram to Stalin with the following content:
We flew to Kerch on January 20, 1942. We found the most unsightly picture of the organization of command and control of the troops... Kozlov does not know the position of the units at the front, their condition, as well as the enemy grouping. Not a single division has data on the number of people, the presence of artillery and mortars. Kozlov leaves the impression of a commander who is confused and unsure of his actions. None of the leading workers of the front has been in the army since the occupation of the Kerch Peninsula ...
Usually this telegram is characterized as follows - two days "enough" for the arrogant Mekhlis to get an idea of the state of affairs at the front. However, if what was written corresponded to the real situation at least partially, then the situation should have been at least alarming: it turned out that the front command was not fulfilling its duties. In fact, the main provisions of this telegram were recorded in the order to the troops of the front No. 12 dated January 23, 1942, signed by Kozlov himself, a member of the Military Council of the front F. A. Shamanin and Mekhlis.
It was L. Z. Mekhlis who, almost immediately after his arrival, raised the question of separating the front from the Caucasian into an independent Crimean before the Headquarters. Moreover, he raised the issue of transferring control of the troops of the Crimean Front to the Kerch Peninsula: the headquarters of the Caucasian Front was in Tbilisi and, due to such a serious distance from the battlefield, simply did not have time to quickly respond to the rapidly changing situation. At the same time, Mekhlis immediately requested replenishment in manpower (three rifle divisions), began to demand an urgent restoration of order in artillery, air defense, and logistics. Order No. 12 dated January 23, 1942 stated:
Mekhlis, during his tenure as a representative of the Stavka, was engaged in writing rather critical reports on senior officers. For example, here is how he spoke about the commander of the 44th Army, General Chernyak:
Chernyak. An illiterate person, incapable of leading an army. His chief of staff, Rozhdestvensky, is a boy, not an organizer of troops. One can wonder whose hand introduced Chernyak to the rank of lieutenant general.
He tried through the Stavka to replace the commander of the Crimean Front, Kozlov, with Rokossovsky or Klykov.
In a telegram dated May 9, 1942, Stalin pointed out to Mekhlis the need to take all measures to organize a rebuff:
You hold on to the strange position of an outside observer who is not responsible for the affairs of the Crimean Front. This position is very convenient, but it is rotten through and through. On the Crimean front, you are not an outside observer, but a responsible representative of the Headquarters, responsible for all the successes and failures of the front and obliged to correct the mistakes of the command on the spot. You, together with the command, are responsible for the fact that the left flank of the front turned out to be extremely weak. If "the whole situation showed that the enemy would attack in the morning," and you did not take all measures to organize a rebuff, limiting yourself to passive criticism, then so much the worse for you. This means that you have not yet understood that you were sent to the Crimean Front not as the State Control, but as a responsible representative of the Headquarters.
You are demanding that we replace Kozlov with someone like Hindenburg. But you must know that we do not have Hindenburgs in reserve. Your affairs in the Crimea are simple, and you could handle them yourself. If you had used attack aircraft not for side affairs, but against enemy tanks and manpower, the enemy would not have broken through the front and the tanks would not have passed. You don't have to be a Hindenburg to understand this simple thing while sitting on the Crimean Front for two months.
However, the battle order of the front was not rebuilt from offensive to defensive; the result of this was the 1942 Kerch disaster. On May 19, 1942, the Crimean Front was disbanded and its troops transferred to the North Caucasian Front.
As a result of his activities on the Crimean Front, by Directive of the Headquarters No. 155452 of June 4, 1942, Mekhlis was reduced in rank by two steps to the corps commissar and removed from the post of deputy people's commissar of defense and head of the Glavpolitupr.
- 6th Army (07/04/1942 - 09/25/1942);
- Voronezh Front (09/28/1942 - 10/07/1942);
- Volkhov Front (10/08/1942 - 04/06/1943);
- Reserve Front (04/06/1943 - 04/15/1943);
- Steppe Military District (04/15/1943 - 07/09/1943);
- Bryansk Front (07/09/1943 - 10/10/1943);
- Baltic Front (10/10/1943 - 10/20/1943);
- 2nd Baltic Front (10/20/1943 - 12/15/1943);
- Western Front (12/16/1943 - 04/19/1944);
- 2nd Belorussian Front (04/24/1944 - 07/28/1944);
- 4th Ukrainian Front (08/06/1944 - 07/09/1945).
Military ranks awarded:
- December 6, 1942 - lieutenant general;
- July 29, 1944 - Colonel General.
After the war
From March 19, 1946 to October 27, 1950 - Minister of State Control of the USSR, at the same time Chairman of the State Staff Commission under the Council of Ministers.
From July 30, 1949 to October 27, 1950 - Member of the Presidium of the Council of Ministers of the USSR.
After his death in February 1953 from heart disease, he was cremated, the urn with the ashes was placed in the Kremlin wall on Red Square in Moscow.
Reviews about Lev Mekhlis
Stalin really did not like that comrades holding high government posts, especially political ones, stood out in some way among those around them. So, for example, having learned that the members of the Military Councils of the fronts, N. A. Bulganin and L. Z. Mekhlis, got themselves attendants and personal chefs, removed them from their posts on these fronts.
According to the stories of the former Minister of Health of the USSR E. I. Smirnov, in 1949 he suggested to Stalin that Mekhlis (Minister of State Control) be placed at the head of one of the government commissions. At this, Stalin “began to laugh, clutching his stomach and wiping his tears”:
Can Mekhlis be appointed to constructive deeds? Here's something to destroy, smash, destroy - for this he is suitable.
The poet, writer, publicist and journalist F. I. Chuev cites a conversation that took place between Stalin and the writers Fadeev and Makariev about the editor-in-chief of Pravda Mehlis. Stalin repeated several times to the writers' complaints: “This is a terrible man, Mekhlis. Ask for anything, but I can't do anything with him."
In popular culture
- Leo Mekhlis is bred by Konstantin Simonov in the form of a member of the military council of the Lvov front in the third part of the novel The Living and the Dead.
- He is the hero of Yuz Aleshkovsky's novel "Death in Moscow".
- He is characterized as an extremely narrow-minded, but extremely self-confident person in the novel Barbarossa by Valentin Pikul. [ ]
Awards
- 4 orders of Lenin (04/26/1937, 02/22/1938, 01/15/1949, 04/1949)
- 2 orders of the Red Banner (02/20/1928, 08/27/1943)
- Order of Suvorov, 1st class (05/23/1945)
- Order of Kutuzov 1st class (07/29/1944)
- Order of the Red Star (03/21/1940)
- Order of Virtuti Militari IV class (06.1946)
- medals
Memory
- One of the streets of Vladivostok bears the name Mekhlis.
see also
Write a review on the article "Mekhlis, Lev Zakharovich"
Notes
Literature
- Rubtsov Yu.V. Stalin's alter ego. - M., 1999.
- Rubtsov Yu.V. Mehlis: Shadow of the leader. - M.: Veche, 2011. - 384 p. - ISBN 978-5-9533-5781-4.
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An excerpt characterizing Mekhlis, Lev Zakharovich
- Voila une belle mort, [Here is a beautiful death,] - said Napoleon, looking at Bolkonsky.Prince Andrei understood that this was said about him, and that Napoleon was saying this. He heard the name sire of the one who said these words. But he heard these words as if he heard the buzzing of a fly. Not only was he not interested in them, but he did not notice them, and immediately forgot them. His head burned; he felt that he was bleeding, and he saw above him a distant, lofty and eternal sky. He knew that it was Napoleon - his hero, but at that moment Napoleon seemed to him such a small, insignificant person in comparison with what was now happening between his soul and this high, endless sky with clouds running across it. It was absolutely indifferent to him at that moment, no matter who was standing over him, no matter what they said about him; he was only glad that people had stopped over him, and only wished that these people would help him and bring him back to life, which seemed to him so beautiful, because he understood it in such a different way now. He mustered all his strength to move and make some kind of sound. He feebly moved his leg and produced a pitiful, weak, painful groan.
- BUT! he is alive,” said Napoleon. “Raise this young man, ce jeune homme, and take him to the dressing station!”
Having said this, Napoleon rode on to meet Marshal Lan, who, having removed his hat, smiling and congratulating him on his victory, drove up to the emperor.
Prince Andrei did not remember anything further: he lost consciousness from the terrible pain caused to him by laying on a stretcher, jolts while moving and probing the wound at the dressing station. He woke up only at the end of the day, when he, having been connected with other Russian wounded and captured officers, was carried to the hospital. On this movement he felt a little fresher and could look around and even talk.
The first words he heard when he woke up were those of a French escort officer who hurriedly said:
- We must stop here: the emperor will pass now; he will be pleased to see these captive masters.
“Today there are so many prisoners, almost the entire Russian army, that he probably got bored with it,” said another officer.
- Well, however! This one, they say, is the commander of the entire guard of Emperor Alexander, ”said the first, pointing to a wounded Russian officer in a white cavalry guard uniform.
Bolkonsky recognized Prince Repnin, whom he met in St. Petersburg society. Next to him stood another, 19-year-old boy, also a wounded cavalry guard officer.
Bonaparte, riding up at a gallop, stopped the horse.
- Who is the eldest? - he said, seeing the prisoners.
They named the colonel, Prince Repnin.
- Are you the commander of the cavalry regiment of Emperor Alexander? Napoleon asked.
“I commanded a squadron,” answered Repnin.
“Your regiment honestly fulfilled its duty,” said Napoleon.
“The praise of a great commander is the best reward for a soldier,” said Repnin.
“I give it to you with pleasure,” said Napoleon. Who is this young man next to you?
Prince Repnin named Lieutenant Sukhtelen.
Looking at him, Napoleon said, smiling:
- II est venu bien jeune se frotter a nous. [He came young to compete with us.]
“Youth does not interfere with being brave,” Sukhtelen said in a broken voice.
“A fine answer,” said Napoleon. “Young man, you will go far!”
Prince Andrei, for the sake of completeness of the trophy of the captives, was also put forward, in front of the emperor, could not help but attract his attention. Napoleon, apparently, remembered that he had seen him on the field and, addressing him, used the very name of the young man - jeune homme, under which Bolkonsky was first reflected in his memory.
– Et vous, jeune homme? Well, what about you, young man? - he turned to him, - how do you feel, mon brave?
Despite the fact that five minutes before this, Prince Andrei could say a few words to the soldiers who carried him, he now, directly fixing his eyes on Napoleon, was silent ... All the interests that occupied Napoleon seemed so insignificant to him at that moment, seemed so petty to him his hero himself, with this petty vanity and joy of victory, in comparison with that high, just and kind sky that he saw and understood - that he could not answer him.
Yes, and everything seemed so useless and insignificant in comparison with that strict and majestic structure of thought, which caused in him a weakening of forces from the flow of blood, suffering and the imminent expectation of death. Looking into Napoleon's eyes, Prince Andrei thought about the insignificance of greatness, the insignificance of life, which no one could understand the meaning of, and the even greater insignificance of death, the meaning of which no one could understand and explain from the living.
The emperor, without waiting for an answer, turned away and, driving off, turned to one of the chiefs:
“Let them take care of these gentlemen and take them to my bivouac; have my doctor Larrey examine their wounds. Goodbye, Prince Repnin, - and he, having touched the horse, galloped on.
There was a radiance of self-satisfaction and happiness on his face.
The soldiers who brought Prince Andrei and removed from him the golden icon that they came across, hung on his brother by Princess Marya, seeing the kindness with which the emperor treated the prisoners, hastened to return the icon.
Prince Andrei did not see who and how put it on again, but on his chest, over and above his uniform, suddenly appeared a small icon on a small gold chain.
“It would be nice,” thought Prince Andrei, looking at this icon, which his sister hung on him with such feeling and reverence, “it would be nice if everything was as clear and simple as it seems to Princess Marya. How good it would be to know where to look for help in this life and what to expect after it, there, beyond the grave! How happy and calm I would be if I could say now: Lord, have mercy on me!... But to whom shall I say this! Either the power - indefinite, incomprehensible, which I not only cannot address, but which I cannot express in words - great everything or nothing, - he said to himself, - or this is the God who is sewn up here, in this palm, Princess Mary? Nothing, nothing is true, except for the insignificance of everything that is clear to me, and the greatness of something incomprehensible, but the most important!
The stretcher moved. At every push he again felt unbearable pain; the feverish state intensified, and he began to become delirious. Those dreams of a father, wife, sister and future son and the tenderness that he experienced on the night before the battle, the figure of a small, insignificant Napoleon and above all the high sky, constituted the main basis of his feverish ideas.
A quiet life and calm family happiness in the Bald Mountains seemed to him. He was already enjoying this happiness, when suddenly little Napoleon appeared with his indifferent, limited and happy look from the misfortune of others, and doubts, torments began, and only heaven promised peace. By morning, all the dreams were mixed and merged into chaos and darkness of unconsciousness and oblivion, which, in the opinion of Larrey himself, Dr. Napoleon, were much more likely to be resolved by death than by recovery.
- C "est un sujet nerveux et bilieux," said Larrey, "il n" en rechappera pas. [This man is nervous and bilious, he will not recover.]
Prince Andrei, among other hopelessly wounded, was handed over to the care of the inhabitants.
At the beginning of 1806, Nikolai Rostov returned on vacation. Denisov was also going home to Voronezh, and Rostov persuaded him to go with him to Moscow and stay at their house. At the penultimate station, having met a comrade, Denisov drank three bottles of wine with him and, approaching Moscow, despite the bumps in the road, did not wake up, lying at the bottom of the sledge, near Rostov, which, as it approached Moscow, came more and more into impatience.
“Soon? Is it soon? Oh, these unbearable streets, shops, rolls, lanterns, cabbies! thought Rostov, when they had already written down their holidays at the outpost and drove into Moscow.
- Denisov, come! Asleep! he said, leaning forward with his whole body, as if by this position he hoped to speed up the movement of the sleigh. Denisov did not respond.
- Here is the corner of the crossroads where Zakhar the cab driver is standing; here he is and Zakhar, and still the same horse. Here is the shop where the gingerbread was bought. Is it soon? Well!
- Which house is that? asked the coachman.
- Yes, at the end, to the big one, how can you not see! This is our house, - said Rostov, - after all, this is our house! Denisov! Denisov! We'll come now.
Denisov raised his head, cleared his throat, and said nothing.
“Dmitry,” Rostov turned to the lackey in the box. “Is this our fire?”
- So exactly with and with daddy in the office glows.
- Haven't gone to bed yet? BUT? how do you think? Look, don’t forget, get me a new Hungarian at once, ”added Rostov, feeling his new mustache. “Come on, let’s go,” he shouted to the driver. “Wake up, Vasya,” he turned to Denisov, who lowered his head again. - Come on, let's go, three rubles for vodka, let's go! Rostov shouted when the sleigh was already three houses from the entrance. It seemed to him that the horses were not moving. Finally the sleigh was taken to the right to the entrance; above his head, Rostov saw a familiar cornice with broken plaster, a porch, a sidewalk pillar. He jumped out of the sleigh on the move and ran into the passage. The house also stood motionless, unfriendly, as if it didn't care who came to it. There was no one in the vestibule. "My God! is everything all right?" thought Rostov, stopping for a minute with a sinking heart, and at once starting to run further along the passage and the familiar, crooked steps. The same doorknob of the castle, for the uncleanliness of which the countess was angry, also weakly opened. A single tallow candle burned in the hallway.
Old man Mikhail was sleeping on the chest. Prokofy, the visiting lackey, the one who was so strong that he lifted the carriage by the back, sat and knitted bast shoes from the hems. He glanced at the open door, and his indifferent, sleepy expression suddenly changed into ecstatic fright.
- Fathers, lights! Count young! he exclaimed, recognizing the young master. – What is it? My dove! - And Prokofy, shaking with excitement, rushed to the door to the living room, probably in order to announce, but apparently again changed his mind, returned back and leaned on the shoulder of the young master.
– Healthy? Rostov asked, pulling his hand away from him.
- Thank God! All thanks to God! just ate now! Let me see you, Your Excellency!
- Is everything all right?
- Thank God, thank God!
Rostov, completely forgetting about Denisov, not wanting to let anyone warn him, threw off his fur coat and ran on tiptoe into a dark, large hall. Everything is the same, the same card tables, the same chandelier in a case; but someone had already seen the young gentleman, and before he had time to run to the living room, something swiftly, like a storm, flew out of the side door and hugged and began to kiss him. Another, third, similar creature jumped out of another, third door; More hugs, more kisses, more cries, more tears of joy. He could not make out where and who is dad, who is Natasha, who is Petya. Everyone was screaming and talking and kissing him at the same time. Only his mother was not among them - he remembered that.
- But I didn’t know ... Nikolushka ... my friend!
- Here he is ... ours ... My friend, Kolya ... He has changed! No candles! Tea!
- Kiss me then!
- Darling ... but me.
Sonya, Natasha, Petya, Anna Mikhailovna, Vera, the old count, embraced him; and people and maids, having filled the rooms, sentenced and gasped.
Petya hung on his feet. - And then me! he shouted. Natasha, after she, bending him to her, kissed his whole face, jumped away from him and holding on to the floor of his Hungarian, jumped like a goat all in one place and squealed piercingly.
From all sides there were tears of joy shining with tears, loving eyes, from all sides there were lips looking for a kiss.
Sonya, red as red, also held on to his hand and beamed all over in a blissful look fixed on his eyes, which she was waiting for. Sonya was already 16 years old, and she was very beautiful, especially at this moment of happy, enthusiastic animation. She looked at him, not taking her eyes off, smiling and holding her breath. He looked at her gratefully; but still waiting and looking for someone. The old countess hasn't come out yet. And then there were footsteps at the door. The steps are so fast that they couldn't have been his mother's.
But it was she in a new dress, unfamiliar to him, sewn without him. Everyone left him and he ran to her. When they came together, she fell on his chest sobbing. She could not raise her face and only pressed him against the cold laces of his Hungarian coat. Denisov, not noticed by anyone, entered the room, stood right there and, looking at them, rubbed his eyes.
“Vasily Denisov, your son’s friend,” he said, introducing himself to the count, who looked at him inquiringly.
- Welcome. I know, I know,” said the count, kissing and hugging Denisov. - Nikolushka wrote ... Natasha, Vera, here he is Denisov.
The same happy, enthusiastic faces turned to the shaggy figure of Denisov and surrounded him.
- My dear, Denisov! - Natasha squealed, beside herself with delight, jumped up to him, hugged and kissed him. Everyone was embarrassed by Natasha's act. Denisov also blushed, but smiled and took Natasha's hand and kissed it.
Denisov was taken to the room prepared for him, and the Rostovs all gathered in the sofa near Nikolushka.
The old countess, without letting go of his hand, which she kissed every minute, sat next to him; the rest, crowding around them, caught his every movement, word, glance, and did not take their eyes off him with enthusiastic love. The brother and sisters argued and intercepted places from each other closer to him, and fought over who would bring him tea, a handkerchief, a pipe.
Rostov was very happy with the love he was shown; but the first minute of his meeting was so blissful that it seemed to him that his present happiness was not enough, and he kept waiting for something more, and more, and more.
The next morning the visitors slept off the road until 10 o'clock.
In the previous room, sabers, bags, carts, open suitcases, dirty boots were lying around. The cleaned two pairs with spurs had just been placed against the wall. Servants brought washstands, hot water for shaving, and washed dresses. It smelled of tobacco and men.
- Hey, G "bitch, t" ubku! shouted the hoarse voice of Vaska Denisov. - Rostov, get up!
Rostov, rubbing his eyes that were stuck together, lifted his tangled head from the hot pillow.
- What's late? “It’s late, 10 o’clock,” answered Natasha’s voice, and in the next room there was a rustle of starched dresses, a whisper and laughter of girlish voices, and something blue, ribbons, black hair and cheerful faces flashed through the slightly open door. It was Natasha with Sonya and Petya, who came to see if he got up.
- Nicholas, get up! Natasha's voice was heard again at the door.
- Now!
At this time, Petya, in the first room, seeing and grabbing sabers, and experiencing the delight that boys experience at the sight of a warlike older brother, and forgetting that it is indecent for sisters to see undressed men, opened the door.
- Is that your sword? he shouted. The girls jumped back. Denisov, with frightened eyes, hid his shaggy legs in a blanket, looking around for help at his comrade. The door let Petya through and closed again. There was laughter outside the door.
- Nikolenka, come out in a dressing gown, - Natasha's voice said.
- Is that your sword? Petya asked, “or is it yours?” - with obsequious respect he turned to the mustachioed, black Denisov.
Rostov hurriedly put on his shoes, put on a dressing gown and went out. Natasha put on one boot with a spur and climbed into the other. Sonya was spinning and just wanted to inflate her dress and sit down when he came out. Both were in the same, brand new, blue dresses - fresh, ruddy, cheerful. Sonya ran away, and Natasha, taking her brother by the arm, led him into the sofa room, and they started talking. They did not have time to ask each other and answer questions about thousands of little things that could interest only them alone. Natasha laughed at every word that he said and that she said, not because what they said was funny, but because she had fun and was unable to restrain her joy, expressed in laughter.
- Oh, how good, excellent! she said to everything. Rostov felt how, under the influence of the hot rays of love, for the first time in a year and a half, that childish smile blossomed in his soul and face, which he had never smiled since he left home.
“No, listen,” she said, “are you quite a man now? I'm awfully glad you're my brother. She touched his mustache. - I want to know what kind of men you are? Are they like us? Not?
Why did Sonya run away? Rostov asked.
- Yes. That's another whole story! How will you talk to Sonya? You or you?
“How will it happen,” said Rostov.
Tell her, please, I'll tell you later.
- Yes, what?
- Well, I'll tell you now. You know that Sonya is my friend, such a friend that I would burn my hand for her. Here look. - She rolled up her muslin sleeve and showed on her long, thin and delicate handle under her shoulder, much higher than the elbow (in the place that is sometimes covered by ball gowns) a red mark.
“I burned this to prove my love to her. I just kindled the ruler on fire, and pressed it.
Sitting in his former classroom, on the sofa with pillows on the handles, and looking into those desperately animated eyes of Natasha, Rostov again entered that family, children's world, which had no meaning for anyone except for him, but which gave him one of the best pleasures in life; and burning his hand with a ruler, to show love, seemed to him not useless: he understood and was not surprised at this.
MEHLIS Lev Zakharovich, Soviet statesman and military leader, colonel general (1944)
He received his primary education at a commercial school, from which he graduated in 1903. Then he served as a clerk and gave private lessons. During the years of the first Russian revolution, he participated in the actions of the Jewish workers' self-defense detachment, was arrested. In 1907 he joined the Jewish Social Democratic Labor Party "Poalei Zion". In 1911 he was called up for military service in the 2nd Grenadier Artillery Brigade of the XI Army. During the First World War was on the Southwestern Front, fireworks. In January 1918 he returned to Odessa and was elected a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Councils of Deputies of the Romanian Front, the Black Sea Fleet and the Odessa Military District (Rumcheroda). Participated in the establishment of Soviet power in the city. From the end of 1918 until March 1919, he worked as deputy manager of the Kharkov office of the Ukrainian Economic Council. In March 1919, he was mobilized into the Red Army and appointed military commissar of a reserve marching brigade. From June 1919 he was a military commissar of a group of troops of the Kharkov direction, then a military commissar of the 46th rifle division. In its composition, he fought against the troops of General A.I. Denikin, and from January 1920 with the troops of General P.N. Wrangel, seriously wounded. In May 1920 L.Z. Mekhlis was appointed manager of the affairs of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Southwestern Front, and in July - the military commissar of the Pravoberezhnaya shock group of troops. In September 1920, he was again appointed military commissar of the 46th division, and in this position he participated in the Perekop-Chongar operation.
In the postwar period, L.Z. Mekhlis held various positions in the state and central party apparatus: in 1921-1922. - manager of the inspection in the apparatus of the People's Commissariat of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection (RCI), in 1922-1926. - Assistant Secretary and Head of the Bureau of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. After graduating from the courses of Marxism-Leninism and the Moscow Economic Institute of Red Professors, he held the position of executive secretary of the Pravda newspaper, and from 1937 he was also head of the department of printing and publishing of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. In December 1937, Mekhlis was awarded the rank of army commissar of the 2nd rank, and he was appointed to the post of Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR, at the same time, until September 1940, he headed the Political Directorate of the Red Army (since June 1940 - the Main Directorate of Political Propaganda of the Red Army) . In 1938-1940. participated in the fighting in the area of the lake. Hasan, r. Khalkhin-Gol, on a campaign in Western Ukraine and in the Soviet-Finnish war, army commissar of the 1st rank. From September 1940 - People's Commissar of the State Control of the USSR, at the same time was Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (September 1940 - March 1944), a member of the Bureau of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (1941), chairman of the State Staff Commission under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (1941).
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, L.Z. Mekhlis, remaining People's Commissar of the State Control of the USSR, was again appointed head of the Main Directorate of Political Propaganda of the Red Army (since July 16, 1941 - the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army). At the same time, in July 1941, he was a member of the Military Council of the Western Front. As a political and military leader, he was distinguished by straightforwardness and promiscuity in the choice of working methods. In May 1942 L.Z. Mekhlis, being a representative of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (VGK) on the Crimean Front, did not provide effective leadership of military operations and coordination of the efforts of the troops of the front, the forces of the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov military flotilla, which contributed to the defeat of the Soviet troops. For this, he was relieved of his military posts and reduced in military rank to corps commissar.
From July to September 1942, he was a member of the Military Council of the 6th Army of the Voronezh Front and took part in the Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad defensive operation. In September-October 1942, he served as a member of the Military Council of the Voronezh Front, then was appointed a member of the Military Council of the Volkhov Front, whose troops in January 1943 took part in the offensive operation to break the blockade of Leningrad (Operation Iskra). In the future, he was consistently a member of the Military Council of the Steppe, Bryansk, Baltic, 2nd Baltic, Western and 2nd Belorussian fronts. From July 1944 until the end of the war, Colonel General (the rank was awarded in July 1944) L.Z. Mekhlis was a member of the Military Council of the 4th Ukrainian Front. Participated in the East Carpathian offensive operation, the liberation of the southern regions of Poland and a significant part of the territory of Czechoslovakia. In May 1945, the troops of the front took part in the Prague Offensive.
After the war in August 1945, L.Z. Mehlis was appointed a member of the Military Council of the Carpathian District, formed on the basis of the 4th Ukrainian Front. From March 1946 - Minister of State Control of the USSR. He was in this position until October 1950. Then - a personal pensioner of allied significance. He was a member of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of the 7th convocation; deputy and member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 1st and 2nd convocations. An urn with ashes was buried in the Kremlin wall on Red Square in Moscow.
Awarded: 4 Orders of Lenin, Order of the Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov 1st class, Kutuzov 1st class, Red Star, Order of the Red Banner of the RSFSR, medals; Polish Order "Virtuti Military" 4th Art.
Awarded with orders: 4 Lenin, 2 Red Banner, Suvorov and Kutuzov 1st degree, 2 Red Stars, medals.
Ranks
army commissar 1st rank
lieutenant general 1942
colonel general 1944
Positions
Head of the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army
member of the military council of the army
front military council member
Biography
MEHLIS Lev Zakharovich, Soviet statesman and military leader, colonel general (1944).
He received his primary education at a commercial school, from which he graduated in 1903. Then he served as a clerk and gave private lessons. During the years of the first Russian revolution, he participated in the actions of the Jewish workers' self-defense detachment, was arrested. In 1907 he joined the Jewish Social Democratic Labor Party "Poalei Zion". In 1911 he was called up for military service in the 2nd Grenadier Artillery Brigade of the XI Army. During the First World War was on the Southwestern Front, fireworks. In January 1918 he returned to Odessa and was elected a member of the Central Executive Committee of the Councils of Deputies of the Romanian Front, the Black Sea Fleet and the Odessa Military District (Rumcheroda). Participated in the establishment of Soviet power in the city. From the end of 1918 until March 1919, he worked as deputy manager of the Kharkov office of the Ukrainian Economic Council. In March 1919, he was mobilized into the Red Army and appointed military commissar of a reserve marching brigade. From June 1919 he was a military commissar of a group of troops of the Kharkov direction, then a military commissar of the 46th rifle division. In its composition, he fought against the troops of General A.I. Denikin, and from January 1920 with the troops of General P.N. Wrangel, seriously wounded. In May 1920 L.Z. Mekhlis was appointed manager of the affairs of the Revolutionary Military Council of the Southwestern Front, and in July - the military commissar of the Pravoberezhnaya shock group of troops. In September 1920, he was again appointed military commissar of the 46th division, and in this position he participated in the Perekop-Chongar operation.
In the postwar period, L.Z. Mekhlis held various positions in the state and central party apparatus: in 1921-1922. 1922-1926 - manager of the inspection in the apparatus of the People's Commissariat of the Workers' and Peasants' Inspection (RKI), in 1922-1926. - Assistant Secretary and Head of the Bureau of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. After graduating from the courses of Marxism-Leninism and the Moscow Economic Institute of Red Professors, he held the position of executive secretary of the Pravda newspaper, and from 1937 he was also head of the department of printing and publishing of the Central Committee of the All-Union Communist Party of Bolsheviks. In December 1937, Mekhlis was awarded the rank of army commissar of the 2nd rank, and he was appointed to the post of Deputy People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR, at the same time, until September 1940, he headed the Political Directorate of the Red Army (since June 1940 - the Main Directorate of Political Propaganda of the Red Army) . In 1938–1940 participated in the fighting in the area of the lake. Hasan, r. Khalkhin-Gol, on a campaign in Western Ukraine and in the Soviet-Finnish war, army commissar of the 1st rank. From September 1940 - People's Commissar of the State Control of the USSR, at the same time was Deputy Chairman of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (September 1940 - March 1944), a member of the Bureau of the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (1941), chairman of the State Staff Commission under the Council of People's Commissars of the USSR (1941).
With the beginning of the Great Patriotic War, L.Z. Mekhlis, remaining People's Commissar of the State Control of the USSR, was again appointed head of the Main Directorate of Political Propaganda of the Red Army (since July 16, 1941 - the Main Political Directorate of the Red Army). At the same time, in July 1941, he was a member of the Military Council of the Western Front. As a political and military leader, he was distinguished by straightforwardness and promiscuity in the choice of working methods. In May 1942 L.Z. Mekhlis, being a representative of the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command (VGK) on the Crimean Front, did not provide effective leadership of military operations and coordination of the efforts of the troops of the front, the forces of the Black Sea Fleet and the Azov military flotilla, which contributed to the defeat of the Soviet troops. For this, he was relieved of his military posts and reduced in military rank to corps commissar.
From July to September 1942, he was a member of the Military Council of the 6th Army of the Voronezh Front and took part in the Voronezh-Voroshilovgrad defensive operation. In September-October 1942, he served as a member of the Military Council of the Voronezh Front, then was appointed a member of the Military Council of the Volkhov Front, whose troops in January 1943 took part in the offensive operation to break the blockade of Leningrad (Operation Iskra). In the future, he was consistently a member of the Military Council of the Steppe, Bryansk, Baltic, 2nd Baltic, Western and 2nd Belorussian fronts. From July 1944 until the end of the war, Colonel General (the rank was awarded in July 1944) L.Z. Mekhlis was a member of the Military Council of the 4th Ukrainian Front. Participated in the East Carpathian offensive operation, the liberation of the southern regions of Poland and a significant part of the territory of Czechoslovakia. In May 1945, the troops of the front took part in the Prague Offensive.
After the war in August 1945, L.Z. Mehlis was appointed a member of the Military Council of the Carpathian District, formed on the basis of the 4th Ukrainian Front. From March 1946 - Minister of State Control of the USSR. He was in this position until October 1950. Then - a personal pensioner of allied significance. He was a member of the Central Executive Committee of the USSR of the 7th convocation; deputy and member of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 1st and 2nd convocations. An urn with ashes was buried in the Kremlin wall on Red Square in Moscow.
Awarded: 4 Orders of Lenin, Order of the Red Banner, Orders of Suvorov 1st class, Kutuzov 1st class, Red Star, Order of the Red Banner of the RSFSR, medals; Polish Order "Virtuti Military" 4th Art.
