Which front was led by Rokossovsky. Konstantin rokossovsky - biography, information, personal life. Short biography: family
R Okossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich - Commander of the 1st Belorussian Front, Marshal Soviet Union; Commander of the 2nd Belorussian Front, Marshal of the Soviet Union.
Born on December 9 (21), 1896 in the city of Velikiye Luki, now the Pskov region (according to other sources in Warsaw) * in the family of a railway driver. Pole. In 1909 he graduated from the 4-grade city school in Warsaw. In 1909-1911 - a worker in a hosiery factory in Warsaw, from 1911 to August 1914 - a mason (marble and granite carver) at Vysotsky's factory in the city of Groitsy, Warsaw province.
Member of the First World War since August 1914, junior non-commissioned officer. He served in a military training team, then until October 1917 he fought as part of the 5th dragoon Kargopol regiment. In 1917 he was a member of the regimental committee. He fought on the Western and Southwestern Fronts. Was injured. He was awarded the St. George Cross and the St. George Medal of the 4th degree.
Since December 1917 - assistant chief of the Kargopol Red Guard cavalry detachment of the 3rd Army in the Urals.
In the Red Army since August 1918. Participant Civil war... Member of the CPSU (b) / CPSU since 1919. From August 1918 to May 1919 - squadron commander of the 1st Ural Cavalry Regiment of the 30th Division, from May 1919 to January 1920 - commander of the 2nd Cavalry Division. He was wounded on November 7, 1919. From January to August 1920 - commander of the 30th cavalry regiment of the 30th division of the Eastern Front, from August 1920 to October 1921 - commander of the 35th cavalry regiment of the 35th rifle division. He fought with the troops of Ungern in Transbaikalia and Mongolia. Wounded again in June 1921.
From October 1921 to October 1922 - the commander of the 3rd cavalry brigade of the 5th Kuban cavalry division, from October 1922 to July 1926 - the commander of the 27th cavalry regiment of the Kuban cavalry brigade. In 1925 he graduated from the Leningrad Cavalry advanced training courses for command personnel. From July 1926 to July 1928 - instructor of a cavalry division in the Mongolian People's Republic; from July 1928 to January 1930 - commander - commissar of the 5th separate Kuban cavalry brigade. In 1929 he graduated from the Advanced Training Courses for the Higher Commanding Staff at the Frunze Military Academy. Participant in battles at the Chinese Eastern Railway (1929).
From February 1930 to February 1932 - commander - commissar of the 7th Samara Cavalry Division of the Belorussian Military District, from February 1932 to February 1936 - commander of the 15th separate cavalry division in Transbaikalia, from May 1936 to June 1937 - commander 5- 1st Cavalry Corps of the Leningrad Military District (the city of Pskov).
From August 17, 1937 to March 22, 1940 he was repressed. Arrested on suspicion of having links with foreign intelligence. He was in prison "Kresty" in Leningrad, then in Butyrka prison and in Knyazh-Pogost, which is north of Kotlas. Released in March 1940 and fully restored to civil rights.
From July to November 1940 - again the commander of the 5th Cavalry Corps, from November 1940 to July 11, 1941 - the commander of the 9th Mechanized Corps of the Kiev Special Military District. In 1940 he took part in the liberation campaign in Bessarabia.
Member of the Great Patriotic War since June 1941. In the first weeks of the war, K.K. Rokossovsky commanded the 9th Mechanized Corps on the Southwestern Front. Member of the border battle on the Southwestern Front. From mid-July to August 10, 1941, he commanded a mobile army group of forces of the Western Front near Yartsevo. The Yartsevskaya group of troops, led by K.K. Rokossovsky, stopped the powerful pressure of the fascist troops.
From August 10, 1941 to July 1942 - commander of the 16th Army on the Western Front. Formations and units of the army participated in the Mozhaisk-Maloyaroslavets (October 10-30, 1941), Klinsko-Solnechnogorsk (November 15-December 5, 1941) defensive operations. He played an important role in the defense of Moscow. In January 1942, the army fought offensive battles in the Gzhatsk direction. He was seriously wounded in March 1942 in the liberated Sukhinichi by a shell fragment.
From July 14 to September 28, 1942 - commander of the Bryansk Front, from September 28, 1942 to February 15, 1943 - commander of the Don Front. During the counter-offensive at Stalingrad (Stalingrad offensive operation from November 19, 1942 to February 2, 1943: (Operation Uranus (November 19-30) and Ring (January 10-February 2, 1943)), the front troops, acting in conjunction with the troops The Southwestern and Stalingrad fronts broke through the enemy's defenses and surrounded his grouping with a total number of more than 300 thousand people between the Don and Volga rivers and eliminated it.
From February 15 to October 10, 1943 - commander of the Central Front. He conducted an independent front-line operation in the Sevsk direction (February 25-March 28, 1943). Member of the Kromsko-Oryol operation (July 15-August 18, 1943), conducted as part of the Oryol offensive operation ("Kutuzov") (July 12-August 18, 1943). In the battle of Kursk, he showed high military skill in repelling the offensive of the Germans, and then in the defeat of the Oryol group during the counteroffensive. From August 26 to September 30, 1943, having carried out the Chernigov-Pripyat offensive operation in the battle for the Dnieper (as part of the Chernigov-Poltava (August 26-September 30, 1943) operation, defeated the 2nd German army and successively crossed the Desna, Dnieper and Pripyat , creating conditions for an offensive in the Right-Bank Ukraine and in Belarus.
From October 10, 1943 to February 1944, he was the commander of the Belorussian Front. He made a significant contribution to the operation "Bagration", marked the beginning of the liberation of Poland. He conducted independent front-line offensive operations in Gomel-Rechitsa (November 10-30, 1943), Kalinovichsko-Mozyr (January 8-30, 1944), Rogachevsko-Zhlobin (February 21-26, 1944). At the same time he was a representative of the General Headquarters to coordinate the actions of the 1st Ukrainian Front.
From February to November 1944 - Commander of the 1st Belorussian Front (April 5-16, 1944 - Belorussian Front). Front troops conducted an independent Serotsk offensive operation (August 30-November 2, 1944). From November 1944 to June 1945 - commander of the 2nd Belorussian Front. Troops under his command participated in Belorusskaya (June 23-August 29, 1944): Bobruisk (June 24-29, 1944), Minsk (June 29-July 4, 1944), Lublin-Brest (July 18-August 2); East Prussian (January 13-April 25, 1945): Mlavsko-Elbing (January 14-26); East Pomeranian (February 10-April 4, 1945): Chojnice-Kozlinskaya (February 10-March 6, 1945), Danzig (March 7-31, 1945); Berlin (April 16-May 8, 1945): Stettin-Rostock (April 16-May 8, 1945) offensive operations.
Have by the kaz of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of July 29, 1944 for exemplary performance of combat missions in the leadership of front operations, to Marshal of the Soviet Union Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union with the Order of Lenin and the Gold Star medal (No. 5111).
Have by the kaz of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of June 1, 1945 for the skillful leadership of the front troops in the East Prussian, East Pomeranian and Berlin operations, Marshal of the Soviet Union Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich awarded the second Gold Star medal (No. 54 / II).
After the war, from June 1945 to October 1949, he was the commander-in-chief of the Northern Group of Forces. From October 1949 to November 1956 - Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Minister of National Defense of the Polish People's Republic. Member of the Politburo of the Polish United Workers' Party (1950-1956), deputy of the Sejm, Marshal of Poland (1949). Consisted of "Polish citizenship".
From November 1956 to June 1957 - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. From June to October 19, 1957 and from December 31, 1957 to April 1962 - Chief Inspector - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. Member of the Board of the USSR Ministry of Defense. From October to December 1957 - commander of the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District. From April 1962 to August 3, 1968 - Inspector General of the Group of General Inspectors of the USSR Ministries of Defense.
Member of the Central Executive Committee in 1936-1937, member of the Central Executive Committee of Belarus of the 10th convocation, member of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Belarus. Deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of the 2nd, 5th-7th convocations (in 1946-1949, 1958-1968). Candidate member of the CPSU Central Committee from October 1961 to August 1968.
KK Rokossovsky did a lot to study and use the experience of the last war and to introduce the achievements of the scientific and technological revolution into military affairs. The author of the articles "A battle that has no equal" (about the Battle of Kursk), "2nd Belorussian Front in the Berlin operation", "Courage, fortitude, courage", "On the Belarusian land", "On the Volokolamsk direction", "On the direction main blow ”(about the liberation of Belarus),“ On the Stalingrad direction ”,“ On the Central Front ”,“ On the Central Front in the summer of 1943 ”,“ From Gomel to Brest ”,“ The last day of the war ”,“ Vise closed ”(on Battle of Stalingrad ")," In the battles for the Polish Pomerania "," Outstanding victory "(to the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Kursk)," Two main blows "," North of Berlin "," A soldier is always a soldier "," Not a minute of respite for the retreating enemy " , “The blows that exhausted the enemy. From the experience of battles "," On the Berlin and East Prussian directions "," Victory on the Volga "and others.
Lived in Moscow. He died on August 3, 1968. Buried on Red Square in Moscow. The urn with his ashes is installed in the Kremlin wall (left side).
Divisional Commander (11/26/1935);
major general (06/04/1940);
Lieutenant General (09/11/1941);
Colonel General (01/15/1943);
General of the Army (04/28/1943);
Marshal of the Soviet Union (06/29/1944).He was awarded the Order of Victory (03/30/1945 - No. 6), 7 Orders of Lenin (08/16/1936, 01/02/1942, 07/29/1944, 02/21/1945, 12/25/1946, 12/20/1956, 12/20/1966), the Order of the October Revolution (02/22/1968), 6 Orders of the Red Banner (05/23/1920, 06/21/1922, 02/22/1930, 07/22/1941, 11/3/1944, 11/6/1947), Orders of Suvorov 1st degree (01/28/1943 - No. 5) , Kutuzov 1st degree (08/27/1943 - No. 145); medals "For the Defense of Moscow", "For the Defense of Stalingrad", "For the Liberation of Warsaw", "For the Capture of Koenigsberg", "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945", "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy", "40 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR", "For the defense of Kiev", "20 years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War", "50 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR", Honorary weapon with a golden image of the State Emblem of the USSR (02.22.1968). Cavalier of foreign awards: Poland - the Order of the Virtuti Militari 1st class with a star (1945), the Order of the Grunwald Cross 1st class (1945), the Order of the Builders of People's Poland (1951), the medals "For Warsaw" ( 1946), “For the Oder, Nisa and the Baltic” (1946), “Victory and Freedom” (1946); France - the Order of the Legion of Honor (1945), the Military Cross of 1939 (1945); Great Britain - Knight-Commander of the Order of the Bath (1945); USA - Order of the Legion of Merit of the Commander's Degree (1946); Mongolia - the Order of the Red Banner of the Battle (1943), the Order of Sukhe-Bator (1961), the "Friendship" medal (1967); Denmark - medals "For Freedom" (1947); People's Republic of China - medal "For Services to the Chinese Army" (1956).
Honorary Citizen of the cities of Gomel (Belarus), Legnica (Poland), Kursk (1967).
Bronze busts of K.K. Rokossovsky were installed at home and in the cities of Kursk, Gomel and Sukhinichi (Kaluga region), Velikiye Luki, a monument in the city of Lechnitsa (Poland). The memorial plaque was installed in Moscow on the building of the Frunze Military Academy. A boulevard in Moscow, streets in Bobruisk, Volgograd, Gomel, Kaliningrad, Kiev, Kursk, Nizhny Novgorod, Pskov, Rybinsk, Chernigov and other cities of the former Soviet Union are named after the Hero. The name was given to a ship built at the Gdansk shipyard. The Far Eastern Higher Military Command School (military institute) is named after him.
* - (Military - historical journal. - 2006. - No. 5).
Biography supplemented by Alexander Semyonnikov
MATURITY OF TALENT
V heroic weeks and months of the winter battles of 1941/42, which received the name "Battle of Moscow" in military history, the 16th Army, commanded by K.K. Rokossovsky, was in one of the hottest areas. In this army, the 3rd Cavalry Corps under the command of L.M. Dovator, 316th Infantry Division, commanded by I.V. Panfilov, the 78th Infantry Division that arrived from Siberia - at that time it was commanded by Colonel A.P. Beloborodov and many, many others.
This period in the military biography of K.K. Rokossovsky can be called decisive. Here, in the battle of Moscow, the human and military leadership character of the future Marshal of the Soviet Union manifested itself. It is also noteworthy that at this time fate brought K.K. Rokossovsky with G.K. Zhukov, appointed commander of the Western Front. Both generals - the front commander and the army commander - not only knew each other well, but were friends for many years, although time often separated them. They met back in 1924 in Leningrad, at the Higher Cavalry School. In the thirties K.K. Rokossovsky in Minsk commanded a division in the cavalry corps S.K. Timoshenko, and G.K. Zhukov was the regiment commander in this division. Six months before the war, General of the Army G.K. Zhukov commanded the district, and Major General K.K. Rokossovsky - with a building in the same district.
V early March 1942, when the 16th Army, developing an offensive, liberated the city of Sukhinichi, K.K. Rokossovsky was seriously wounded by a shell fragment that flew into the window of the army headquarters. The commander was taken to Moscow, to the hospital. This was his third wound during his years in the army. And the son of the Warsaw railway driver began to serve in the army during the First World War. The first bullet wound of K.K. Rokossovsky received on the night of November 7, 1919, when he commanded a separate Ural cavalry division. The division went into the rear of the Kolchakites, defeated the headquarters of their group, and captured many prisoners. At the moment of the battle with Kolchak's general Voskresensky K.K. Rokossovsky was wounded in the shoulder. Voskresensky did not go well either. Rokossovsky struck him a fatal blow with a saber. The second wound was in June 1921 on the border with Mongolia, when the 35th Cavalry Regiment, commanded by K.K. Rokossovsky, attacked Unger's cavalry. The commander of the red regiment killed several enemy horsemen, but he himself was seriously wounded in the leg. And now - for the third time, in more than twenty years ...
The first year of the war was a year of hard trials and irreparable losses. But this year was also a great school of courage. In combat conditions, the army educated and selected from its midst such command cadres who, having stood at the head of divisions, corps, armies and fronts, not only held their troops in front of the hordes of the Nazis, but also struck the enemy blow after blow, and then led their troops to west until the victorious end of the war in Berlin.
Among the talented military leaders was, of course, K.K. Rokossovsky. In July 1942, he became the commander of the Bryansk Front. The Nazis had already reached the Don, were rushing to the Volga. There were stubborn battles for Voronezh. The Bryansk front covered the bare rear from the north and conducted diversionary operations, crashing into the flanks of German formations rushing to the east.
O once, having returned from the advanced units to the village of Nizhniy Olshanets, located fifteen kilometers east of Yelets - the headquarters of the Bryansk front was located here - I came to K.K. Rokossovsky. The sentries and the adjutant knew me, so they immediately let me into the room that served as the general's office and bedroom. I entered without warning. The general was not at the table. He was not in bed either. I looked around. Legs protruded from under the bed. And soon the general himself appeared. He, a little embarrassed, greeted and said:
- I was lying, reading a book. Dozed off, and she fell out of his hands. Failed between the wall and the bed. Here I got it ...I really wanted to know what kind of book it was. While our conversation was going on, I glanced several times at the book lying on the table. It was very reminiscent of the volume of the well-known editions "Academy", which came out in our country at the end of the twenties. And our conversation, if I may say so, was of a general nature.
After asking where I was and what I saw - and I was in the army of General N.E. Chibisov and observed an active defense in the area of the village of Surikov in action, where our units beat the enemy well, - Rokossovsky advised:
- Go to the 13th Army to see Nikolai Pavlovich Pukhov. An excellent general, energetic, adventurous. He has good military training and rich practical experience. A rifle brigade has recently arrived in his army. See how this brigade is fighting.Of course, I went to the 13th Army and to the "restless" brigade, as it was called at the front. And I was very happy with the recommendation. I made friends with the 13th Army for a long time, and with the brigade commander, then Colonel A.A. Kazaryan, later Major General, Hero of the Soviet Union, the front-line paths brought me together more than once. A trip to the brigade gave me a lot, I saw brave warriors who did not give the enemy a respite: they went to reconnaissance in force, then they silently underwent enemy trenches, forcing him to yield positions, then they went into deep reconnaissance and dragged with gags in their mouths the Germans of the most diverse military ranks.
Command of the Bryansk front for K.K. Rokossovsky was short-lived, served as a kind of school. Then he commanded the fronts on many decisive lines of the battle against German fascism.
V September 1942, when the situation on the Stalingrad direction sharply aggravated and the enemy, developing an offensive in the interfluve between the Don and the Volga, in some places even broke through to the Volga, K.K. Rokossovsky was summoned to the Headquarters of the Supreme High Command. He was ordered to take command of the Stalingrad Front, which was soon renamed Donskoy.
As you know, subsequently, the soldiers of the Don Front under the command of K. K. Rokossovsky had a historical mission: to take part in the November offensive near Stalingrad, which ended in a complete encirclement of the 6th German army, and then in the defeat and capture of the surrounded army of German Field Marshal Paulus. The troops of the front coped with this mission perfectly, and General Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky, who commanded them, won love and respect not only in the troops led by him, but also among the entire Soviet people.
On February 2, 1943, the remnants of the German group surrounded in the Stalingrad region surrendered - over 90 thousand prisoners in total, including 2500 officers, 24 generals led by Field Marshal Paulus. And the trophies were huge. On February 3, the commander of the Don Front interrogated the prisoners, drove around the fields of past battles. On February 5, a city meeting was being prepared in Stalingrad to commemorate the victory. But Rokossovsky did not have a chance not only to speak, even to be present at this rally. On February 4, he was summoned to Headquarters. The headquarters and management of the Don Front were renamed Central. It was necessary to hastily redeploy the huge headquarters from Stalingrad to the Yelets area, where the 21st, 65th combined arms armies and the 16th air army, which had previously been part of the Don Front, were also transferred.
The commander of the new front was tasked with deploying between the Bryansk and Voronezh fronts, which at that time were developing an offensive, and delivering a deeply sweeping blow to the flank and rear of the enemy's Oryol grouping. A few days later, the headquarters and directorate of the Central Front were already in the Yelets area. On February 12, the right neighbor - the Bryansk Front - went on the offensive and in some places advanced 30 kilometers, but was soon forced to stop, in particular at the approaches to Maloarkhangelskoye. During the fighting, the 13th Army was transferred from Bryansk to the Central Front.
At that time I was in the 13th Army units. We made our way to the town of Maloarkhangelsk in the “emka” along deep snow trenches laid in different directions and got to the headquarters of Colonel A.A. Kazaryan. His brigade received significant reinforcements and was reorganized into a division.
Having finished the battle for the town, the regiments of the division, following the order of the command, consolidated themselves on the occupied lines and dug in. The hospitable Andronic Abramovich Ghazaryan treated him to dinner. Usually laconic in his judgments, he got into conversation at dinner:
- Do you already know that our 13th Army has been transferred from the Bryansk Front to the Central? And who is in charge of Central?You know too. I must tell you, Rokossovsky is an extraordinary person! Human! For the third day now I have been under the impression of meeting him. It was like this: our division and the neighboring ones - on the right and on the left - were ordered to seize Maloarkhangelsk by storm on the move. But this town turned out to be a tough nut to crack. When we reached it and began the assault, the German garrison of this defense center received large reinforcements, and the chasseurs' battalions were transferred here. "At any cost to keep the Little Arkhangelsk bridgehead," followed an order from Berlin. For almost two weeks, we and our neighbors fought heavy battles. And they could not take the town in any way. Commander Nikolai Pavlovich Pukhov both advised and cursed, called on the phone and himself several times came to the observation post of the division. And we are all marking time and marking time. Just hit the wall. Were morally depressed. Everywhere successes, but we have ... Suddenly the commander called: "Immediately go to the front headquarters. You will be thrashed on the first day." I phoned the neighbors, both division commanders are generals. Let's go together. On the way to the front headquarters, I told them: "I am a colonel, they will give me a regiment, I will command it. And you, generals, are not comfortable going to the regiments. Huh?" The day was blizzard and frosty. On the way, we chilled a little. A member of the Military Council met us and said: "Go to the commander, he will warm you so much that it will be hot!" Come on, we are silent, we have gone deep into serious reflections. The adjutant, having reported, invited us to the commander's room. Rokossovsky, together with Chief of Staff Malinin, worked on the map. Having met us, he ordered the adjutant with a glance: "Organize the seagulls." Well, I think, at first he will pamper him with tea, and then ... And then this is what happened. We drank tea, we sit, we are silent. The front commander, having finished working on the map, comes up to us. Tall, slender, just charming. At first sight, I fell in love with him. He greeted everyone by the hand and asked: "Can you guess why I invited you here?" "That's right," we answer. "If you know, is it worth wasting time talking? Get to your parts quicker. Good messages tomorrow. Bon voyage!" I don't know what the commanders of the neighboring divisions did, but I, without stopping by the division headquarters, immediately went to the regiments and battalions, told everything I could tell about the meeting with K.K. Rokossovsky. The assault on Maloarkhangelsk was scheduled for six in the morning. And at noon I was already here, signing a report to the front commander. This method of commanding the troops can be safely called classic.
N I spent many months on the Central Front, more than once I heard stories about the peculiar character of K.K. Rokossovsky in the leadership of the troops and subordinates, about the deepening respect for him in the troops. As you know, leadership talent is manifested not only in the methods of commanding troops - this is one side of talent. Leadership talent manifests itself in an accurate and only correct assessment of the situation and the necessary decisions arising from this situation. Knowledge of the enemy's forces, his potential, immediate and long-range intentions. Ability to predict the possible course of events and prepare for them. Preempt the enemy, thwart his plan. And in the course of a combat operation, skillfully dispose of reserves, promptly change the direction of strikes. Combine risk with the least expenditure of manpower and resources. In a word, leadership talent is all-encompassing. A true commander surpasses the enemy in all respects, and this ensures his victory.
V All these, and many other qualities that may be included in the concept of military leadership, were clearly and vividly shown by the commander of the Central Front K.K. Rokossovsky on Kursk, or, as it is also called, the Fire Arc.
For seven days the Germans continuously attacked our troops in a narrow sector in the direction of Ponyri. Powerful columns of "tigers" entered the battle, more and more rifle units rushed to break through our defenses, guns and mortars spewed deadly metal, enemy aircraft hung in the air continuously. However, the enemies not only failed to break out into the operational space, they were unable to overcome our multilayered defense and, at the cost of heavy losses, only made a kind of dent in the Ponyri region. By July 12, the power of their attacks clearly began to weaken, the forces were coming to an end. In the battle on the Kursk Bulge, in its northern sector, the fascist operation "Citadel" came to its critical end. The 48th, 13th and 70th armies of the Central Front, which took the main blow of the Germans, by July 12 threw the enemy back to their original positions with a counterattack, and on July 15, all front troops, interacting with their right neighbors, went on the offensive. On August 5, the first salute thundered in Moscow: the troops of the Central, Bryansk and Western fronts liberated Oryol, and the Voronezh and Stepnoy fronts liberated Belgorod.
In August 1943, when the troops of the Central Front, developing the offensive, reached the Dnieper, I was returning from the forward units to the front communications center and noticed the commander's car on one of the forest glades. Has stopped. I wanted to ask the adjutant why K.K. is here. Rokossovsky, but did not have time to do it - Konstantin Konstantinovich came out of the forest with a double-barreled gun on his shoulder. Without waiting for my question, he said:
- Things are going well with us, I decided to take a break. And hunting is the best rest.For more than a month, on the hottest days of the battles on the Kursk Bulge, I did not meet K.K. Rokossovsky, although he was in the units quite often, especially in the divisions of the 13th Army. Talking to the commander, I asked:
- In which army were you most of all in the hot days of defense?Not in any! - came the answer. - I did not leave my command post, which was located on the main direction in the area of the 13th Army. The front is not an army. When I was in command of the army, I often visited the fiery patch of events. The front commander needs to know and see the general picture of the battle, to maneuver his forces in time. But, of course, not always and not in all cases the front commander should be chained to his point. Depending on the circumstances, the commander should be where it is more convenient and better for him to control the troops.
Having handed the double-barreled gun to the adjutant and by this, as if saying goodbye to an hour's rest, Konstantin Konstantinovich continued:
- Do you know what is especially important? In the most crucial moment of the battle (the beginning of an operation, its critical phase, or the repulsion of a counterattack), the commander must show an example of calmness and confidence. If the commander is calm, if he is not worried, does not fuss, it means that he is confident in the success of the operation, and this confidence is transferred to the troops subordinate to him.And then I remembered the volume of the "Academy" publishing house, which was read by K.K. Rokossovsky a little over a year ago, when he had just assumed command of the Bryansk Front. Indeed, time has changed, experience has accumulated, tasks have become more complicated. If near Yartsevo, in the forest near the Minsk highway, the presence of the general on the front line roused the fighters to the attack, now the calmness of General Rokossovsky instilled confidence in the successful outcome of the front-line operation.
M There are many more examples of the maturity of K.K. Rokossovsky, when he commanded the 1st Belorussian, and then the 2nd Belorussian Front, led powerful offensive operations that ended in the defeat of enemy forces on the Belarusian and Polish lands, in East Prussia and Pomerania, on the Oder, right up to the victorious exit to the Elbe. Each of these operations weaved another branch into the laurel wreath of glory with which our people crowned the heroes of the Great Patriotic War.
The final, victorious stage of the war. Troops aimed directly at Germany were led by the commanders of three fronts: in the center - 1st Belorussian under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov, on the right - 2nd Belarusian under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky and on the left - 1st Ukrainian under the command of Marshal of the Soviet Union I.S. Konev. The three most distinguished and renowned for the exploits of their troops, the commanders marched at the head of the troops that inflicted the last, fatal blow to German fascism. And it was symbolic. The order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief was also symbolic:
"V I appoint a commemoration of victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War on June 24, 1945 in Moscow, on Red Square, a parade of the troops of the Field Army, the Navy and the Moscow garrison - the Victory Parade ...
The Victory Parade will be hosted by my Deputy Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. Zhukov, to command the parade - Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky ".
P after the end of the war K.K. Rokossovsky was the commander-in-chief of the troops of the group of forces, the commander of the troops of the district, and the deputy minister of defense of the USSR. In 1949, at the request of the Polish government K.K. Rokossovsky left for Poland, where he was appointed Minister of National Defense and Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the Polish Republic. He was awarded the title of Marshal of Poland.
In March 1956, I was in Poland. Was in the units of the Polish Army. In those days, from the soldiers, officers in the generals of the Polish Army, I heard words of love and great respect addressed to K.K. Rokossovsky, under whose command Soviet troops liberated a significant part of Poland, the country of childhood and youth of Konstantin Konstantinovich, and contributed to the reunification of its Baltic lands with Poland.
Returning from Poland, K.K. Rokossovsky was the Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. Outstanding military leader, talented commander, K.K. Rokossovsky did a lot of party and state work. He was elected a delegate to several party congresses, was a member of the Central Committee of the CPSU, was a deputy of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR in many convocations.
P The last years of K.K. Rokossovsky was seriously ill. In the early sixties, I met with him in a sanatorium near Moscow, where he came for a short rest after a long stay in the hospital. Together with the rest, he walked along the alleys of the park, talked animatedly, recalled the combat episodes of the Civil and World War II, willingly told funny stories.
Hard work, enormous capacity for work, great knowledge, high general culture, courage and bravery, multiplied by experience and talent, have earned in our people great respect and heartfelt love for Konstantin Konstantinovich. Some of the vacationers told him about it. He shyly replied:
- I have been doing labor since I was twelve, in the army since 1914, that is, since the first days of the First World War. In October 1917 he joined the Red Guard. He went all the way from soldier to marshal. All that I have, all this was given to me by hard, daily work. I am the son of the glorious Communist Party and the most rank-and-file among others.V December 1966, the country celebrated the 70th anniversary of its beloved commander. August 3, 1968 K.K. Rokossovsky died after a serious long illness.
Konstantin Konstantinovich (Ksaveryevich) Rokossovsky (Polish: Konstanty Rokossowski). Born on December 9 (21), 1896 in Warsaw, Kingdom of Poland, Russian empire- died on August 3, 1968 in Moscow. Soviet and Polish military leader, Marshal of the Soviet Union (1944), Marshal of Poland (1949). He commanded the Victory Parade. One of the greatest commanders of the Second World War. Twice Hero of the Soviet Union (1944, 1945).
After being awarded the title of twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Velikiye Luki began to indicate the place of birth, where the bust of Rokossovsky was installed. According to a short autobiography written on December 27, 1945, he was born in the city of Velikiye Luki (according to the questionnaire dated April 22, 1920, in the city of Warsaw).
Father - Pole Xavier Jozef Rokossovsky (1853-1902), descended from the gentry family of Rokossovsky (coat of arms Glyaubich or Oksha), inspector of the Warsaw Railway. His ancestors lost the gentry in the middle of the 19th century. Great-grandfather - Jozef Rokossovsky, second lieutenant of the 2nd Uhlan regiment of the Duchy of Warsaw, a participant in the Patriotic War of 1812. Mother - Belarusian Antonina (Atonida) Ovsyannikova (died 1911), a teacher, originally from Telekhan (Belarus).
His father sent him to study at a paid technical school of Anton Lagun, but on October 4 (17), 1902 he died (according to Rokossovsky's questionnaire, at the time of his father's death he was 6 years old, and the technical school did not fit in here). Konstantin worked as an assistant to a pastry chef, then a dentist, and in 1909-1914 - as a mason in the workshop of Stefan Vysotsky, husband of his aunt Sophia, in Warsaw, and then in the town of Grojec, 35 km south-west of Warsaw. In 1911, his mother died. For self-education, Konstantin read many books in Russian and Polish.
On August 2, 1914, 18-year-old (according to the questionnaire, but in reality - 20-year-old) Konstantin, as a volunteer (hunter) joined the 6th squadron of the 5th Kargopol dragoon regiment of the 5th cavalry division of the 12th army. In April 1920, filling out a candidate card for filling command posts, Rokossovsky indicated that he served as a volunteer in the tsarist army and graduated from the 5th grade of the gymnasium. In reality, he served only as a hunter (volunteer) and, therefore, did not have the necessary educational qualification in the 6th grade of the gymnasium in order to serve as volunteers. On August 8, Rokossovsky distinguished himself during horse reconnaissance near the village of Yastrzhem, for which he was awarded the St. George Cross of the 4th degree and promoted to corporal. He took part in battles near Warsaw, learned how to handle a horse, mastered a rifle, saber and pike.
In early April 1915, the division was transferred to Lithuania. In the battle near the city of Ponevezh, Rokossovsky attacked a German artillery battery, for which he was presented to the 3rd degree of St. George's Cross, but did not receive an award. In the battle for the railway station, Troshkuny, together with several dragoons, secretly captured the trench of the German field guard, and on July 20 was awarded the St. George Medal of the 4th degree. The Kargopol regiment waged a trench war on the banks of the Western Dvina. In the winter-spring of 1916, as part of partisan detachment formed from dragoons, Constantine repeatedly crossed the river for the purpose of reconnaissance. On May 6, for the attack of the German outpost, he received the St.George medal of the 3rd degree. In the detachment, he met non-commissioned officer Adolf Yushkevich, who had revolutionary views. In June he returned to the regiment, where he again crossed the river in a reconnaissance search.
At the end of October he was transferred to the training team of the 1st Reserve Cavalry Regiment. In February 1917, the Kargopol regiment was reorganized, Rokossovsky got into the 4th squadron, together with other fighters crossed the Dvina on the ice and attacked the German guards. On March 5, the regiment was temporarily in the rear, was convened and before the horse formation the colonel read out the act of abdication of Nicholas II from the throne. On March 11, the regiment swore allegiance to the Provisional Government. Convinced supporters of the Bolsheviks appeared in the regiment, among whom was Ivan Tyulenev, according to Order No. 1 of the Petrograd Soviet, a regimental committee was elected. On March 29, Rokossovsky was promoted to junior non-commissioned officer.
The Germans were advancing on Riga. From August 19, the Kargopol regiment covered the retreat of infantry and carts in Latvia. On August 23, Rokossovsky with a group of dragoons went on reconnaissance near the town of Kronenberg and found a German convoy moving along the Pskov highway. On August 24, 1917, presented and on November 21, awarded the St. George Medal, 2nd degree. The dragoons elected Rokossovsky to the squadron committee, and then to the regimental committee, which decided the life of the regiment. A cousin - fellow serviceman Franz Rokossovsky with a group of Polish dragoons returned to Poland and joined the military organization formed by the leaders of the Polish nationalists. In December 1917, Konstantin Rokossovsky, Adolf Yushkevich and other dragoons joined the Red Guard. At the end of December, the Kargopol regiment was transferred to the rear to the east. On April 7, 1918, at the Dikaya station, west of Vologda, the 5th Kargopol dragoon regiment was disbanded.
Since October 1917, he voluntarily transferred to the Red Guard (to the Kargopol Red Guard detachment as an ordinary Red Guard), then to the Red Army.
From November 1917 to February 1918, as part of the Kargopol Red Guard cavalry detachment, as an assistant to the chief of the detachment, Rokossovsky participated in the suppression of counterrevolutionary uprisings in the region of Vologda, Buy, Galich and Soligalich. From February to July 1918 he took part in the suppression of anarchist and Cossack counter-revolutionary uprisings in Slobozhanshchina (in the region of Kharkov, Unecha, Mikhailovsky farm) and in the Karachev-Bryansk region. In July 1918, as part of the same detachment, he was transferred to the Eastern Front near Yekaterinburg (Yekaterinburg was renamed Sverdlovsk in 1924) and took part in battles with the White Guards and Czechoslovakians near st. Kuzino, Yekaterinburg, Shamara and Shalya stations until August 1918. In August 1918, the detachment was reorganized into the 1st Ural Cavalry Regiment named after Volodarsky, Rokossovsky was appointed commander of the 1st squadron.
In the Civil War - the commander of a squadron, a separate division, a separate cavalry regiment. On November 7, 1919, south of Mangut station, in a fight with the deputy chief of the 15th Omsk Siberian Rifle Division of Kolchak's army, Colonel Nikolai Saveryanovich Voznesensky (in Rokossovsky's memoirs, mistakenly "Voskresensky") hacked the latter, and he was wounded in the shoulder.
On January 23, 1920, Rokossovsky was appointed commander of the 30th cavalry regiment of the 30th division of the 5th army.
In the summer of 1921, commanding the red 35th cavalry regiment in the battle near Troitskosavsk, he defeated the 2nd brigade of General Boris Petrovich Rezukhin from the Asian Cavalry Division of General Baron R.F. von Ungern-Sternberg and was seriously wounded. For this battle, Rokossovsky was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
In October 1921 he was transferred as the commander of the 3rd brigade of the 5th Kuban cavalry division.
In October 1922, in connection with the reorganization of the 5th division into the Separate 5th Kuban Cavalry Brigade, at his own request, he was appointed commander of the 27th Cavalry Regiment of the same brigade.
In 1923-1924 he participated in battles against the White Guard detachments of General Mylnikov, Colonel Derevtsov, Duganov, Gordeev and Esaul Shchedrin, who had entered the territory of the USSR, in Transbaikalia (he was the head of the Sretensky combat area). On June 9, 1924, during a military operation against the detachments of Mylnikov and Derevtsov, Rokossovsky led one of the detachments of the Red Army, walking along a narrow taiga path.
Mylnikov survived. Soon, the Reds operatively established the location of the wounded General Mylnikov in the house of one of the local residents and on June 27, 1924, he was arrested. The detachments of Mylnikov and Derevtsov were defeated in one day.
On April 30, 1923, Rokossovsky married Yulia Petrovna Barmina. On June 17, 1925, their daughter Ariadne was born.
September 1924 - August 1925 - a student of the Cavalry advanced training courses for command personnel, together with A. I. Eremenko. From July 1926 to July 1928, Rokossovsky served in Mongolia as an instructor for a separate Mongolian Cavalry Division (Ulan Bator). From January to April 1929, he passed refresher courses for the highest commanding staff at the Academy. M. V. Frunze, where he got acquainted with the works of M. N. Tukhachevsky.
In 1929 he commanded the 5th separate Kuban cavalry brigade, in November 1929 he participated in the Manchur-Chzhalaynor (Manchur-Jalaynor) offensive operation of the Red Army.
Since January 1930, Rokossovsky commanded the 7th Samara Cavalry Division (one of the brigade commanders in which was G.K. Zhukov). In February 1932 he was transferred to the post of commander-commissar of the 15th Separate Kuban Cavalry Division (Dauria).
With the introduction of personal ranks in the Red Army in 1935, he was promoted to division commander.
In 1936, K. K. Rokossovsky commanded the 5th Cavalry Corps in Pskov.
On June 27, 1937, he was expelled from the CPSU (b) "for the loss of class vigilance." Rokossovsky's personal file contained information that he was closely associated with K.A.Tchaikovsky. On July 22, 1937, he was dismissed from the Red Army "for service inconsistency." Komkor I. S. Kutyakov testified against the commander of the 2nd rank M. D. Velikanov and others, who, among others, “pointed out” to K. K. Rokossovsky. The head of the intelligence department of the ZabVO headquarters testified that Rokossovsky in 1932 met with the head of the Japanese military mission in Harbin, Mititaro Komatsubara.
In August 1937, Rokossovsky went to Leningrad, where he was arrested on charges of having connections with the Polish and Japanese intelligence services, becoming a victim of false testimony. He spent two and a half years under investigation (Investigation case No. 25358-1937).
The evidence was based on the testimony of Pole Adolf Yushkevich, Rokossovsky's associate in civil war. But Rokossovsky knew well that Yushkevich died near Perekop. He said that he would sign everything if Adolf was brought to the confrontation. They began to look for Yushkevich and found that he had died long ago.
From August 17, 1937 to March 22, 1940, according to a certificate dated April 4, 1940, he was held in the Internal Prison of the UGB under the NKVD in the Leningrad Region on Shpalernaya Street. According to Rokossovsky's great-granddaughter, who referred to the stories of Marshal Kazakov's wife, Rokossovsky was tortured. The head of the Leningrad NKVD Zakovsky took part in these tortures.
They knocked out several of Rokossovsky's front teeth, broke three ribs, beat him on the toes with a hammer, and in 1939 he was taken out into the prison yard to be shot and given a blank shot. However, Rokossovsky did not give false testimony either against himself or against others. According to the great-granddaughter's story, he noted in his notes that the enemy sowed doubts and deceived the party - this led to the arrests of innocent people.
According to Colonel of Justice F.A. Klimin, who was among the three judges of the Military Collegium of the USSR Armed Forces who examined the Rokossovsky case, a trial took place in March 1939, but all the witnesses who testified were already dead. The consideration of the case was postponed for further investigation, in the fall of 1939 a second session was held, which also postponed the sentencing. According to some assumptions, Rokossovsky was convoyed to the camp. There is a version that all this time Rokossovsky was in Spain as a military emissary under a pseudonym, presumably, Miguel Martinez (from the "Spanish Diary" by M. Ye. Koltsov).
“At the same time, it should be noted that the repressions were not always completely unfounded. So, the future Marshal of the Soviet Union K. K. Rokossovsky was convicted under Article 58. What grounds were put forward? As the commander of a cavalry division in Transbaikalia, Rokossovsky ignored warnings about the upcoming sharp change in weather, raised the division on alert and brought it out into the field. The cavalrymen were caught in torrential rains and then frost struck. The horses did not have warmed sweatshirts and blankets, they were shod like a summer. Did not have cloaks and overcoats and personnel. As a result, many horses fell ill and fell or broke their legs on the ice. There were cases of colds with a fatal outcome among the personnel of the division. The case can, of course, be qualified as criminal negligence, but in 1938 K. K. Rokossovsky's actions were considered sabotage. "(Raizfeld A. Wall battering tool).
On March 22, 1940, Rokossovsky was released, in connection with the termination of the case, at the request of S.K. Timoshenko to I.V. Stalin, and rehabilitated. KK Rokossovsky is fully restored to his rights, in the Red Army position and in the party, he spends the spring with his family at a resort in Sochi. In the same year, with the introduction of the ranks of generals in the Red Army, he was awarded the rank of "Major General".
After the leave, Rokossovsky was assigned to the command of the commander of the Kiev Special Military District (hereinafter KOVO), General of the Army G.K. Zhukov, and, upon the return of the 5th Cavalry Corps from the campaign to Bessarabia (June-July 1940), to the Cavalry Army Group KOVO (Slavuta), takes command of the corps.
In November 1940, Rokossovsky received a new appointment as commander of the 9th Mechanized Corps, which he was to form in KOVO.
He commanded the 9th Mechanized Corps in the battle at Dubno-Lutsk-Brody. Despite the shortage of tanks and transport, the troops of the 9th mechanized corps during June - July 1941 exhausted the enemy with active defense, retreating only by order. For his successes he was presented to the 4th Order of the "Red Banner".
On July 11, 1941, he was appointed commander of the 4th Army on the southern flank of the Western Front (instead of the arrested A.A. Smolensk. He was given a group of officers, a radio station and two cars; the rest he had to collect himself: to stop and subjugate the remnants of the 19th, 20th and 16th armies leaving the Smolensk cauldron, and to hold the Yartsevo area with these forces.
Rokossovsky's group contributed to the release of the Soviet armies surrounded in the Smolensk region. On August 10, it was reorganized into the 16th Army (second formation), and Rokossovsky became the commander of this army; On September 11, 1941 he was promoted to lieutenant general.
At the beginning of the Moscow battle, the main forces of Rokossovsky's 16th army fell into the Vyazemsky "cauldron", but the 16th army's command, having transferred the troops of the 19th army, managed to get out of the encirclement. The "new" 16th army was ordered to cover the Volokolamsk direction, while Rokossovsky again had to collect his troops. Rokossovsky intercepted troops on the march; a separate cadet regiment, created on the basis of the Moscow Infantry School named after V.I. Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR, 316th Rifle Division of Major General I.V. Panfilov, 3rd Cavalry Corps of Major General L.M. Dovator. Soon, a continuous line of defense was restored near Moscow, and stubborn battles ensued.
It was near Moscow that K. K. Rokossovsky acquired a commanding authority. For the battle near Moscow K. K. Rokossovsky was awarded the Order of Lenin. During this period, in the 85th field hospital at the headquarters of the army, he met the 2nd rank military doctor Galina Vasilievna Talanova.
On March 8, 1942, Rokossovsky was wounded by a shell fragment. The injury turned out to be serious - the right lung, liver, ribs and spine were affected. After an operation in Kozelsk, he was taken to a Moscow hospital in the building of the Timiryazev Academy, where he underwent treatment until May 23, 1942.
On May 26 he arrived in Sukhinichi and again took command of the 16th Army. On September 30, 1942, Lieutenant General K. K. Rokossovsky was appointed commander of the Don Front.
With his participation, a plan for Operation Uranus was developed to encircle and destroy the enemy grouping that was advancing on Stalingrad. On November 19, 1942, the operation began with the forces of several fronts; on November 23, the ring around the 6th Army of General F. Paulus was closed.
The Stavka instructed the Don Front, headed by K. K. Rokossovsky, who was promoted to Colonel General on January 15, 1943, to guide the defeat of the enemy grouping.
On January 31, 1943, troops under the command of K. K. Rokossovsky captured Field Marshal F. von Paulus, 24 generals, 2,500 German officers, 90 thousand soldiers. On January 28, he was awarded the newly established Order of Suvorov.
In February - March 1943, Rokossovsky led the troops of the Central Front in the Sevsk operation. On February 7, the headquarters of the front commander was located in the Fatezhsky district, Kursk region. The following case is noteworthy, about which the journalist Vladimir Erokhin once told ("Literary Russia" of July 20, 1979): "There was nothing to pave the roads with. Rokossovsky ordered to dismantle the destroyed church in Fatezh and use it to build a road. Troops and tanks passed along these stones ... Despite the failure of the offensive on April 28, 1943, Rokossovsky was promoted to general of the army.".
Intelligence reports indicated that the Germans were planning a major offensive in the Kursk region in the summer. The commanders of some fronts proposed to develop the successes of Stalingrad and conduct a large-scale offensive in the summer of 1943, K. K. Rokossovsky had a different opinion. He believed that an offensive needed a double, triple superiority of forces, which the Soviet troops did not have in this direction.
To stop the German offensive in the summer of 1943 near Kursk, it is necessary to go on the defensive. It is necessary to literally hide personnel and military equipment in the ground. K. K. Rokossovsky proved to be a brilliant strategist and analyst - based on intelligence data, he was able to accurately determine the area where the Germans struck the main blow, create a defense in depth in this area and concentrate about half of his infantry, 60% of artillery and 70% tanks. A truly innovative solution was also the artillery counterpreparation, carried out 10-20 minutes before the start of the German artillery preparation. The defense of Rokossovsky turned out to be so strong and stable that he was able to transfer a significant part of his reserves to Vatutin when the threat of a breakthrough arose on the southern flank of the Kursk Bulge. His fame had already thundered on all fronts, he became widely known in the West as one of the most talented Soviet military leaders. Rokossovsky was also very popular among the soldiers.
As part of the Central Front in 1943, the 8th Separate (Officer) Battalion, nicknamed the "Rokossovsky Gang" by German propaganda, was formed and joined the fighting.
After the Battle of Kursk, Rokossovsky successfully conducted the Chernigov-Pripyat operation, the Gomel-Rechitsa operation, the Kalinkovichsko-Mozyr and Rogachev-Zhlobin operations with the forces of the Central (since October 1943, renamed the Belorussian) front.
In the summer of 1944, KK Rokossovsky's military leadership talent manifested itself in full during the operation to liberate Belarus. Rokossovsky writes about this: "Implementing the plan of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Comrade Stalin to defeat the central group of German troops and the liberation of Belarus, from May 1944 he directed the preparation of the operation and the offensive actions of the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front ..."
The plan of the operation was developed by Rokossovsky together with A.M. Vasilevsky and G.K. Zhukov.
The strategic highlight of this plan was Rokossovsky's proposal to strike in two main directions, which ensured coverage of the enemy's flanks at operational depth and did not give the latter the ability to maneuver with reserves.
Operation Bagration began on June 22, 1944. As part of the Belarusian operation, Rokossovsky is successfully carrying out the Bobruisk, Minsk and Lublin-Brest operations.
The success of the operation significantly exceeded the expectations of the Soviet command. As a result of a two-month offensive, Belarus was completely liberated, part of the Baltic was recaptured, and the eastern regions of Poland were liberated. The German Army Group Center was almost completely defeated. In addition, the operation endangered Army Group North in the Baltics.
From a military point of view, the battle in Belarus led to a massive defeat for the German armed forces. There is a widespread point of view according to which the battle in Belarus is the largest defeat of the German armed forces in World War II. Operation Bagration is a triumph of the Soviet theory of military art thanks to a well-coordinated offensive movement of all fronts and an operation to misinform the enemy about the place of the general offensive.
On June 29, 1944, General of the Army K. K. Rokossovsky was awarded the diamond star of the Marshal of the Soviet Union, and on July 30, the first Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union. By July 11, the 105-thousandth enemy group was captured. When the West doubted the number of prisoners during Operation Bagration, JV Stalin ordered them to be escorted through the streets of Moscow. From that moment on, J.V. Stalin began to call K.K.Rokossovsky by name and patronymic, only Marshal B.M.Shaposhnikov received such an address. Further, the troops of the 1st Belorussian Front participated in the liberation of KK Rokossovsky's native Poland.
As the commander of the 2nd Belorussian Front, K. K. Rokossovsky carried out a number of operations in which he proved to be a master of maneuver. He twice had to deploy his troops almost 180 degrees, skillfully concentrating his few tank and mechanized formations. He successfully led the front troops in East Prussian and East Pomeranian operations, as a result of which large powerful German groups in East Prussia and Pomerania were defeated.
During the Berlin offensive operation, the troops of the 2nd Belorussian Front under the command of K.K.Rokossovsky with their actions fettered the main forces of the 3rd German Panzer Army, depriving it of the opportunity to participate in the battle for Berlin.
On June 1, 1945, Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky was awarded the second Gold Star medal for the skillful leadership of the front troops in the East Prussian, East Pomeranian and Berlin operations.
On January 7, 1945, Galina Talanova gave birth to his daughter Nadezhda. Rokossovsky gave her his last name, then helped, but did not meet with Galina.
In February 1945, thirty years later, Rokossovsky met his sister Helena in Poland.
June 24, 1945 by the decision of K. K. Rokossovsky commanded the Victory Parade in Moscow(hosted the Victory Parade G.K. Zhukov). And on May 1, 1946, Rokossovsky receives a parade.
From July 1945 to 1949, by order of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, he was the creator and Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Group of Forces on the territory of Poland in Legnica, Lower Silesia. He established contacts with the government, the military districts of the Polish Army, public organizations, and assisted in the restoration of the national economy of Poland. Barracks, officers' houses, warehouses, libraries, medical institutions were built, transferred to further Troops Polish.
In 1949, Polish President Boleslav Bierut turned to JV Stalin with a request to send a Pole KK Rokossovsky to Poland to serve as Minister of National Defense. Despite his long residence in Russia, Rokossovsky remained Pole in manner and speech, which ensured the favor of the majority of Poles.
In 1949, the city people's councils of Gdansk, Gdynia, Kartuz, Sopot, Szczecin and Wroclaw by their decrees recognized Rokossovsky as an "Honorary Citizen" of these cities, which during the war were liberated by the troops under his command. However, some newspapers and Western propaganda strenuously created his reputation as a "Muscovite" and "Stalin's governor". In 1950, he was twice assassinated by Polish nationalists, including those from the Polish army cadres who had previously been in the Home Army.
In 1949-1956, he did a lot of work on rearmament, structural reorganization of the Polish army (ground motorized troops, tank formations, missile formations, air defense forces, aviation and the Navy), raising the defense capability and combat readiness in the light of modern requirements (threat nuclear war), preserving its national identity. According to the interests of the army, in Poland, the lines of communication and communications were modernized, the military industry was created (artillery, tanks, aviation, other equipment). In April 1950, a new Statute of the internal service of the Polish Army was introduced. The training was based on the experience of the Soviet Army. Rokossovsky constantly visited military units and maneuvers. For the training of officers, the Academy of the General Staff was opened. K. Sverchevsky, Military Technical Academy named after J. Dombrovsky and the Military-Political Academy named after F. Dzerzhinsky. He also worked as Deputy Chairman of the Council of Ministers of Poland, was a member of the Politburo of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party. On May 14, 1955, he attended the signing of the Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance in Warsaw.
After the death of President Boleslav Bierut and the Poznan speeches, the "anti-Stalinist" Vladislav Gomulka was elected the first secretary of the PUWP. The conflict between the “Stalinists” (“Natolin's group”) who supported Rokossovsky and the “anti-Stalinists” in the PUWP led to the removal of Rokossovsky from the Politburo of the PUWP Central Committee and the Ministry of National Defense as a “symbol of Stalinism”. On October 22, in a letter to the PUWP Central Committee, signed by Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet side agreed with this decision. Rokossovsky left for the USSR and never came again, and distributed all his property in Poland to the people who served him.
From November 1956 to June 1957 - Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR, to October 1957 - Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Defense of the USSR, leaving as Deputy Minister of Defense.
From October 1957 to January 1958, due to the aggravation of the situation in the Middle East, he was the commander of the troops of the Transcaucasian Military District. This transfer is also associated with the fact that at the 1957 Plenum of the Central Committee of the CPSU, Rokossovsky said in his speech that many of those in leadership positions should feel guilty for Zhukov's wrong line as Minister of Defense of the USSR.
From January 1958 to April 1962 - again Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR - Chief Inspector of the Ministry of Defense. In 1961-1968 he headed the State Commission to Investigate the causes of the death of the S-80 submarine.
According to Air Chief Marshal Alexander Golovanov, in 1962 he suggested that Rokossovsky write "blacker and thicker" an article against JV Stalin. According to Alexander Golovanov, Rokossovsky replied: “Nikita Sergeevich, Comrade Stalin is a saint to me!” And did not clink glasses with Khrushchev at the banquet. The next day he was finally removed from the post of Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. Rokossovsky's permanent adjutant, Major General Kulchitsky, explains the aforementioned refusal not by Rokossovsky's loyalty to Stalin, but by the commander's deep conviction that the army should not participate in politics. Those who met and served with him invariably noted his intelligence and respect for people.
From April 1962 to August 1968 - Inspector General of the Group of General Inspectors of the USSR Ministry of Defense. Investigated the delivery of unfinished ships in the navy.
He wrote articles for the Military Historical Journal. The day before his death in August 1968, Rokossovsky signed his memoirs into the set "Soldier's Duty".
On August 3, 1968 K. K. Rokossovsky died of cancer. Urn with the ashes of K. K. Rokossovsky was buried in the Kremlin wall.
As twice Hero of the Soviet Union K. K. Rokossovsky, a bronze bust was installed in the city of Velikiye Luki. The Far Eastern Higher Military Command School (Military Institute) named after Marshal of the Soviet Union K. K. Rokossovsky operates in Blagoveshchensk, Amur Region. On May 6, 2015, a monument to Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. Rokossovsky, which is installed on the boulevard named after him.
The family of K.K. Rokossovsky:
The first wife is Yulia Petrovna Barmina. The daughter is Ariadne.
Grandson - Constantine.
Grandson - Pavel.
Great-granddaughter - Ariadne, journalist of the "Rossiyskaya Gazeta".
Mistress (young military doctor) Galina Talanova's daughter Nadezhda is a teacher at MGIMO.
K.K. Rokossovsky:
St. George Cross, IV degree (08/08/1914)
St. George medal, IV degree (20.07.1915)
St. George Medal II 1st degree (6.05.1916)
St. George medal 2nd degree (24.08.1917)
Order "Victory" (№ 6 - 03/30/1945)
2 medals "Gold Star" of the Hero of the Soviet Union (07/29/1944, 06/01/1945)
7 Orders of Lenin (08/16/1936, 01/02/1942, 07/29/1944, 02/21/1945, 12/26/1946, 12/20/1956, 12/20/1966)
Order of the October Revolution (02.22.1968)
6 Orders of the Red Banner (05/23/1920, 12/2/1921, 02/22/1930, 07/22/1941, 11/3/1944, 11/6/1947)
Order of Suvorov I degree (01/28/1943)
The order Kutuzov I-st degree (08/27/1943)
Medal "For the Defense of Moscow" (05/01/1944)
Medal "For the Defense of Stalingrad" (12/22/1942)
Medal "For the Defense of Kiev" (06/21/1961)
Medal "For Victory over Germany" (05/09/1945)
Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945." (7.05.1965)
Medal "For the capture of Konigsberg" (06/09/1945)
Medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw" (06/09/1945)
"Medal" XX years of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army "" (02.22.1938)
Medal "30 years of the Soviet Army and Navy" (02.22.1948)
Medal "40 years Armed Forces USSR "(18.12.1957)
Medal "50 years of the Armed Forces of the USSR" (26.12.1967)
Medal "In Commemoration of the 800th Anniversary of Moscow" (06/12/1947)
Honorary weapon with a gold image of the State Emblem of the USSR (1968)
Order of the Builders of People's Poland (Poland, 1951)
Order "Virtuti Militari" 1st class with a star (Poland, 1945)
Order "Grunwald Cross" 1st class (Poland, 1945)
Medal "For Warsaw" (Poland, 03/17/1946)
Medal "For the Oder, Nisa and Baltic" (Poland, 03.17.1946)
Medal "Victory and Freedom" (Poland, 1946)
Order of the Legion of Honor (France, 06/09/1945)
Military Cross 1939-1945 (France, 1945)
Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (Great Britain, 1945)
Legion of Merit Order of the Commander-in-Chief (USA, 1946)
Order of the Battle Red Banner (Mongolian People's Republic, 1943)
Order of Sukhe-Bator (Mongolian People's Republic, 03/18/1961)
Friendship Medal (Mongolian People's Republic, 10/12/1967)
Medal "For Freedom" (Denmark, 1947)
Medal of "Sino-Soviet Friendship" (PRC), (1956).
It is known that the future commander was born in Warsaw on December 21, 1894. However, he himself claimed that he was born two years later and not at all on the territory of modern Poland, but in the Soviet city of Velikiye Luki. It was there, in the official homeland of the twice Hero, that a bronze bust was installed. Few people know that the real patronymic of the legendary military leader is Ksaveryevich. But having changed the date and place of his birth, Rokossovsky, as if crossed out his Polish roots and became Konstantinovich.
The surname of the Rokossovskys came from the name of a large Polish village - Rokossovo, which belonged to the boy's family related to the Greater Poland nobility. But after the uprising of 1863, the estate became the property of the people.
Photo: Marshal Rokossovsky in his youth
Father K.K. was a railway inspector, and my mother taught at a local school. His paternal great-grandfather devoted his entire life to military affairs. Most likely, it was from him that K.K. inherited his abilities as a warlord.
The biography of the Soviet commander was corrected, deleting from it any hint of noble roots. How else? To be closer to the people, the famous marshal must have an exclusively proletarian origin.
Childhood
As soon as Kostya was 5 years old, his father sent him to a prestigious school with a technical profile. Xavier Rokossovsky was glad that his only son would become an educated person and would stand firmly on his feet.
But the joy turned out to be premature. In 1902, the boy's father died suddenly, and the mother's salary was sorely lacking to pay for further education. The woman was constantly sick and left this world when the teenager was 15 years old.
Now a hard life has begun for the orphaned Kostya. In order to somehow feed himself, he takes on any, even the most difficult work: he helps a stonecutter, a dentist, gets a job in a pastry shop.
The boy strives for knowledge and in rare hours of leisure he reads all the publications that fall into his hands.
The beginning of the way
The difficulties hardened the character of K.K. and made him an extremely purposeful person. The young man cherished the dream of joining the dragoon regiment. And finally, in the summer of 1914, his cherished desire came true. Twenty-year-old Konstantin with enviable persistence masters the subtleties of military affairs: he becomes an excellent rider, skillfully shoots a rifle, masterly owns a saber, has no equal in the art of hand-to-hand combat. No wonder that higher ranks noticed a gallant fellow and promoted him to the rank of corporal. Then K.K. was awarded the first award - "St. George's Cross" IV degree.
Even then, Konstantin showed himself as a talented strategist, which won the respect of his associates. In 1917, at the age of 24, K.K. - junior non-commissioned officer.
The revolution has come. K.K. was elected to the committee of the regiment.
Red Guard
Becoming a Red Army soldier, K.K. began to selflessly fight the enemies of the revolution. He started out as a simple soldier and, thanks to his skill and courage, already in 1919 command a squadron. Since 1920 - commanded a cavalry regiment.
Personal life
The civil war came to an end, and in the spring of 1923, K.K. married to Julia Barmina. Two years later, the newlyweds had a daughter, Ariadne.
Rokossovsky married once and for life, although the relationship with his wife was not always cloudless.
At the Second World War, he met the doctor Galina Talanova. She became his front-line girlfriend for the entire war. In 1945, Galina had a daughter, Nadezhda.
K.K. did not leave the illegitimate daughter and helped her in everything, but did not leave the family.
Close K.K. remember that he loved and greatly appreciated the warmth of the home, but the official duty was above all.
Fateful dating
By the age of 30, Rokossovsky took up his self-education and went to the courses of commanders. There he made acquaintance with G. Zhukov and A. Eremenko.
From 1926 to 1929, K.K. served in Mongolia, where he met M. Tukhachevsky.
Condemned without guilt
The rapid career of divisional commander Rokossovsky did not go unnoticed by ill-wishers and envious people. In 1937, denunciations began to come in against him. The investigation lasted about three years, which plunged K.K. into severe depression.
He, like a war criminal, was stripped of his rank and put under arrest. Many were convicted and shot at that time, but K.K. was lucky, and already in 1940 the case was closed.
The acquitted Rokossovsky was promoted to major general.
Start. Battle for Moscow.
Since the beginning of the 1941 war, Rokossovsky has been in command of the 9th Mechanized Corps. For special achievements he was promoted to lieutenant general.
During the terrible battle for Moscow, when he managed to push the enemy far beyond its borders, he was awarded the Order of Lenin.
Battle wounds
In the spring of 1942 he was seriously injured: shrapnel damaged his liver and lung. The spine was also affected. Despite the fact that K.K. there was a long rehabilitation ahead, he returned to duty, barely recovered. Then K.K. stood at the head of the Don Front.
Battle of Stalingrad
Rokossovsky brilliantly carried out Operation Uranus to destroy enemy troops in the region of strategically important Stalingrad. At the same time, Field Marshal Paulus and one hundred thousand soldiers of Nazi Germany were captured.
For a talented operation, K.K. awarded the Order of Suvorov and the rank of Colonel General.
Since then, Stalin addressed Rokossovsky by name and patronymic.
Battle of Kursk
Since 1943, he has been in charge of the Central Front. It was not easy, but thanks to the resourcefulness and innate instinct of the commander-in-chief, our troops managed to push the enemy back. For the valor and courage of K.K. promoted to army general.
After the Battle of Kursk, Rokossovsky is considered an unsurpassed strategist. Thanks to him, our troops pushed back the enemy and suffered minimal losses.
It was on the Kursk Bulge that new methods of fighting were first used: tactics of advancing the enemy, etc.
Belarus
Liberation of Belarus K.K. considered his main achievement. In 1944, Zhukov, Vasilevsky and Rokossovsky drew up a plan, codenamed "Bagration". For its implementation, it was necessary two simultaneous strikes to "paralyze" the enemy and deprive him of the opportunity to transfer equipment and manpower.
For 60 days Belarus, Poland and part of the Baltic states were free from invaders.
End of the war
Germany surrendered in 1945, and Rokossovsky received his second order.
In 1946, the Marshal hosted the parade in Moscow.
Life goes on
In 1949, the marshal returned to the land of his ancestors - to Poland.
He made a lot of efforts to increase the defenses of his homeland. The military industry was created out of nothing, tanks, airplanes, and missiles appeared.
Returning to the USSR, K.K. returns to military activities and heads the Ministry of Defense.
Death of a great man
Within several months, the legendary commander was dying of cancer. On August 3, 1968, the heart of Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky stopped beating. His ashes are buried in the Kremlin wall.
Almost before his death, K.K. completed work on a book of memoirs.
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Rokossovsky Konstantin Konstantinovich - early biography, military services and awards. Army path - from non-commissioned officer to Marshal of Victory. The most famous battles of Rokossovsky, brilliant success and fate after the war.
Marshal Rokossovsky and his crucial battles
In every war there are winners and losers, heroes and traitors, inhumanity, suffering and humanism, a triumph of spirit. War grinds nations, breaks destinies, but also raises great personalities.
It is difficult to imagine our victory without Marshal K. K. Rokossovsky, twice Hero of the Soviet Union. He started the war with the rank of major general, with a mediocre mechanized corps under his command. In the battle for Moscow, he already commanded an army, and in Stalingrad, on the Kursk salient and until the Victory itself, he commanded various fronts, as a rule, in the most important directions. His excellent leadership qualities and ingenious strategic thinking allowed him to achieve success in battles, regardless of whether he fought on the offensive or held the defenses.
The childhood of the future commander
When studying the biography of Marshal of the Soviet Union Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky, there are some incidents. There is no agreement between the sources of different times regarding the date of his birth. In the Soviet, it is indicated that he was born on December 21, 1896 in Velikiye Luki, in later, including the memoirs of the marshal, his hometown is Warsaw. It's all about the notorious "origin" column of Soviet questionnaires.
The Rokossovskys descended from the ancient ruined Polish noblemen - shlyakhtichi. Father, Xavier Yusef, worked as a railway inspector, mother Antonina Ovsyannikova taught at school. The marshal was left without parents early - he lost his father at the age of 9, and at the age of 14 he lost his mother. Young Rokossovsky and his sister came under the care of relatives. Konstantin began earning a living early, tried himself in various professions. He was an assistant to a pastry chef, dentist, stonemason, worked in a hosiery factory.
Later, Soviet biographers corrected the origin of the marshal. His father became a machinist, and Konstantin Rokossovsky himself became a mason. Isn't it a proletarian pedigree? And already in the twenties, due to a complex pronunciation and constant distortions in writing, he will change his patronymic to Konstantinovich.
Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky received only elementary education, but he was drawn to knowledge, he was especially fascinated by reading in two languages. At his uncle's estate, he received excellent cavalry training and, when the First World War broke out, he immediately went to the front as a volunteer.
Falls into the Kargopol Dragoon Regiment. He fights selflessly and bravely, he is marked with high awards - the St.George Cross of the IV degree and three St.George medals. During the battles he received the rank of non-commissioned officer.
Civil War
During the period of battles in the army, he gets acquainted with the Bolsheviks and is imbued with their ideas. Subsequently, he completely took the side of the October Revolution and entered the ranks of the Red Guard. Since the beginning of the Civil War, he commanded various cavalry units, mainly in the Urals and Transbaikalia. He also fights selflessly, was twice wounded, and was awarded two Orders of the "Battle Red Banner". Since 1919, a member of the CPSU (b).
At the end of the Civil War, Rokossovsky did not leave the service. However, for further career growth and increasing command skills, a specific education is needed. Since the fall of 1924, the future commander was a student of the cavalry courses for improving the command staff. Then he served in Mongolia, and in 1929 he again sits down at his desk to take advanced training courses for the commanding staff.
He is much more capable and gifted than his fellow students, so the career growth of Konstantin Rokossovsky was much faster. It is noteworthy that in those days Georgy Zhukov himself was under his command. At the end of 1929 he was at war in Manchuria. In 1935 he received the title of division commander, this after the introduction of special army ranks.
Arrest
The end of the thirties was marked by the purges of the command elite of the Red Army. The figures are striking and depressing: out of five commanders of the 1st rank, repression destroyed three, out of ten 2 ranks - all, out of 57 corps commanders - 50, out of 186 divisional commanders -154.
In August 1937, Divisional Commander Rokossovsky was arrested on the usual trumped-up charge of connections with foreign intelligence services, which was also of Polish origin. He spent more than two years in prison, where he endured numerous tortures and was even taken out twice to be faked to suppress his will. Konstantin Rokossovsky did not admit anything, during interrogations he behaved in the highest degree with dignity, did not slander anyone, courageously endured all the torture and humiliation.
In the spring of 1940, when the leader of the NKVD changed, some military leaders were reinstated in their posts and fully acquitted. It is believed that Marshal Timoshenko interceded for Rokossovsky. Perhaps the country's leadership had an understanding that at the height of the Second World War, which was in full swing in Europe, the leadership of the Red Army is in dire need of qualified commanders and chiefs of the highest echelon.
After rehabilitation and conferring the rank of Major General, Rokossovsky was appointed commander of the 9th Mechanized Corps in the Kiev Military District. A military man learns all his life - this is the truth, and Rokossovsky had a huge break of 2.5 years. During this time, military science has made a significant step forward. It was necessary to make up for lost time, especially since the mechanized unit, which was entrusted to Konstantin Konstantinovich, was completely new to him.
The Great Patriotic War
The beginning of the Great Patriotic War
The 9th Mechanized Corps was one of the few units of the Red Army that met the treacherous attack of Nazi Germany in an organized manner. He entered the battle on the second day. The corps commander with skillful actions, fire and maneuver of troops did not allow the Lvov grouping to be encircled, while maneuvering defense exhausted the superior enemy forces. For skillful management of the compound, Rokossovsky was awarded the Order of the "Battle Red Banner" - at the beginning of the war this happened extremely rarely, literally isolated cases.
Soon Rokossovsky was recalled to locality Yartsevo near Smolensk and received the army under his command. But there were no units and formations in its composition, since the formation of this military association was in the process. Rokossovsky knocked together parts from the retreating disparate units, established management. All this happened on the move and, as they say, from the wheels. In combat documents it is military formation was called the "group of General Rokossovsky." The newly-made formation completed its combat mission successfully - the enemy was unable to encircle a large grouping of our troops near Smolensk. And the actions of Rokossovsky were highly appreciated. In September, he became a lieutenant general.
Battle for Moscow
General Rokossovsky's group was reorganized into the 16th Army. Its troops found themselves in the direction of the general strike and suffered heavy losses. In those days, Stalin's order "Not a step back!" Was already published. Rokossovsky violated it several times. He acted like a mature, forward-looking general. If there was an opportunity to withdraw troops, regroup and dig in at a more advantageous line, he did it.
This happened near Volokolamsk. The Wehrmacht outnumbered our troops by all criteria. It was impractical to keep the city, suffering huge losses. On the other hand, conducting an active maneuvering defense with the aim of exhausting the enemy, forcing him to introduce more and more reserves, seemed to be the most thoughtful plan. After all, the enemy offensive potential is not endless and has its limit. This stage happened at the turn of Krasnaya Polyana in Kryukovo, on the Istra River. On December 5, 1941, a Soviet counteroffensive began. The enemy was thrown back 200 kilometers from Moscow.
Battle of stalingrad
In Sukhinichi, near Kaluga, in early March 1942, Rokossovsky was seriously wounded. Treatment continued for more than two months, but by the beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad, he was back in operation. Since July 1942, he has been the commander of the Bryansk Front, and in September - the Donskoy Front.
Tanks T-26 Soviet 105th tank division Rokossovsky is attacked by German positions
He plays an important role in the development of the "Uranus" plan - a strategic counteroffensive at Stalingrad. The successful implementation of this plan leads to the encirclement of the three hundred thousandth group of the Nazis. Later, with one Don Front, Konstantin Konstantinovich conducts Operation Ring, which ends with the defeat of the encircled group and the capture of its leader, Field Marshal Paulus.
Operation "Ring"
It is noteworthy that the field marshal refused to surrender his personal weapons to the officers who had captured him and agreed to give only to Rokossovsky. At the height of the Battle of Stalingrad in January 1943, he was awarded the rank of Colonel General.
Kursk Bulge
In February 1943, Rokossovsky was given command of the Central Front. His troops defended the northern face of the Kursk salient. It was here that Konstantin Konstantinovich discovered himself to be an excellent strategist. Using in-depth analysis, assessment of the enemy, terrain, his troops and many other factors, he determined with high accuracy the direction of the main attack of the Wehrmacht grouping. Managed to prepare a defense in depth. And in the course of the battle, he applied new techniques and methods of conducting combat operations in defense. Artillery counterpreparation, undertaken before the start of the battle, became a new word in the combat use of artillery and in the development of operational art. The fortress of defense under the leadership of Rokossovsky was amazing, and this made it possible to allocate reserves to help the Voronezh front.
Stubborn defense bled the Nazis. Without giving the enemy a respite, both our fronts launched a counteroffensive, which ended with the liberation of the cities of Orel and Belgorod. The German offensive in the summer of 1943 failed. The Battle of Kursk finally broke the forces of the Wehrmacht. Rokossovsky, after a series of offensive operations, becomes an army general.
Belarusian operation
The genius and strategist of Konstantin Rokossovsky fully revealed himself in the development and implementation of Operation Bagration. It began on June 22 and ended on August 29, 1944. The "highlight" of this operation was the delivery of two enveloping main blows. They were applied in difficult terrain, counting on the enemy's unprepared lines of defense, and immediately led to stunning results. The offensive speed exceeded 32 km per day. The shock groupings of our troops completely fettered the Nazis' maneuver and by the beginning of July had surrounded and captured a group of 105 thousand people. Developing a further offensive, the Soviet army managed to completely liberate Belarus, part of the Baltic states and Poland.
The operation was developed jointly with Zhukov and Vasilevsky, its approval was extremely difficult. Rokossovsky managed to convince the leadership of the need for two strikes. Difficult terrain conditions would deprive the troops of operational space when operating in one direction. Parts and connections would simply bump into each other. This was one of the decisive arguments that managed to convince Stalin.
The use of long-range aviation at the beginning of the offensive at night, against enemy artillery positions, was innovative.
The operation was not over yet, and Rokossovsky was first awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and was awarded the first Star of the Hero, and a little later the diamond star of the Marshal of the USSR. Operation Bagration remains the largest in the history of world wars.
The final stage of the war
In November 1944, Rokossovsky was appointed commander of the 2nd Belorussian Front. The decision to entrust the storming of Berlin to Zhukov was ambiguous. The 2nd Belorussian Front fought in East Prussia and Pomerania. As a result of a series of offensive operations, a large German formation was destroyed, and here the marshal fought outside the box. He made wide use of maneuver by troops and fire.
On May 2, 1945, Rokossovsky became twice a hero of the Soviet Union. And a little earlier, on March 30, another iconic Order of Victory will be added to the awards of Konstantin Konstantinovich. By the way, only 10 people were awarded them.
Rokossovsky commands the Victory Parade on Red Square
Post-war time
Immediately after the war, Rokossovsky was involved in the formation of the Northern Group of Forces and commanded it until 1949, when he was appointed Minister of Defense of Poland. Since November 1956, Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR. With a short break in this position, he will serve until 1962. It was then that he would refuse to write, on the orders of Khrushchev, an article denigrating Stalin. This will be connected not with loyalty to the "leader", but with his firm belief that a military man cannot interfere in politics and evaluate the leaders of the state. He will be removed from his post and transferred to the group of inspectors of the USSR Ministry of Defense.
Family
The Rokossovsky family got it back in 1923. Julia Barmina became his wife. A couple of years later, a daughter appeared, who was named Ariadne. He also had an illegitimate daughter, Nadezhda, born during the war from the military doctor Galina Talanova. But that front-line romance was short.
Rokossovsky and wife Julia Barmina with their daughter Ariadna
The life of great people is always overgrown with various myths and fables. So Rokossovsky was credited with a lot of novels with film actresses and other love affairs. But this is mostly idle speculation. He stayed loving husband and father.
Rokossovsky died on August 3, 1968. He found his last refuge, like many heroes of his level, in the Kremlin wall.
Rokossovsky managed to write his autobiography, which he entitled "Soldier's Duty." The book was published after the death of the great military leader, and then it was heavily curtailed by the censorship. Only at the beginning of our century, the descendants of Konstantin Konstantinovich were finally able to achieve the publication of the full version of his memoirs.
Thanks to this, our and subsequent generations can get an integral idea of the biography and difficult life path of the great commander, talented military leader and brilliant strategist - Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky.
Konstantin Rokossovsky "Soldier's Duty"
On December 21, 1896, a Soviet and Polish military leader, twice Hero of the Soviet Union, the only Marshal of two countries in the history of the USSR, Konstantin Konstantinovich Rokossovsky, was born. We present to you a photo selection of one of the greatest commanders of the Second World War, who commanded the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945 on Red Square in Moscow.
Konstantin Rokossovsky was born in Warsaw on December 21, 1896, but according to other sources in 1894. While in the Red Army, he began to indicate the year of birth as 1896 and changed his patronymic to "Konstantinovich". After being awarded the title of twice Hero of the Soviet Union, Velikiye Luki began to indicate the place of birth, where the bust of Rokossovsky was installed.
Young Rokossovsky
On August 2, 1914, young Constantine volunteered for the 6th squadron of the 5th Kargopol dragoon regiment of the 5th cavalry division of the 12th army. After 6 days, he distinguished himself during horse reconnaissance, for which he was awarded the St. George Cross of the 4th degree and promoted to corporal. Young Rokossovsky took part in battles, learned how to handle a horse, mastered a rifle, saber and pike.
Dragoon K. Rokossovsky. 1916 year
Since October 1917, he voluntarily transferred to the Red Guard, and then to the Red Army. From November 1917 to February 1918, as an assistant to the chief of the detachment, Rokossovsky participated in the suppression of counter-revolutionary uprisings. From February to July he took part in the suppression of anarchist and Cossack counter-revolutionary uprisings. In July 1918, he participated in battles with the White Guards and Czechoslovakians, and after his detachment was reorganized into the 1st Ural Volodarsky Cavalry Regiment, where Rokossovsky was appointed commander of the 1st squadron.
Konstantin Rokossovsky among relatives
In the summer of 1921, commanding the red 35th cavalry regiment in the battle near Troitskosavsk, he defeated the 2nd brigade of General Rezukhin and was seriously wounded. For this battle, Rokossovsky was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
Commander of the 35th Cavalry Regiment Konstantin Rokossovsky (center).
On April 30, 1923, Rokossovsky married Yulia Petrovna Barmina, and two years later they had a daughter, Ariadne.
Rokossovsky with his wife Julia Barmina
In 1924 he was sent to study in Leningrad at the Higher Cavalry School. In addition to theoretical studies, the cadets mastered the higher forms of horse riding, fencing.
Students of the Cavalry advanced training courses for command personnel 1924-1925. K. K. Rokossovsky (standing 5th from the left). Extreme - G.K. Zhukov
In the fall of 1929, Rokossovsky took part in an armed conflict with the Chinese in the Sino-Eastern railroad... The aggravated relations with Japan in the Far East necessitated the transfer of knowledgeable commanders there, as Rokossovsky proved to be. Here he took command of the 15th Cavalry Division. For the training of divisional units, he was awarded the Order of Lenin, and in 1935 he was awarded the title of division commander.
In August 1937, Rokossovsky was arrested and charged with links with the Polish and Japanese intelligence services, convicted, but in March 1940, at the request of S. K. Timoshenko, he was rehabilitated to Stalin. The great Patriotic War Rokossovsky met in the rank of major general, and already September 11, 1941 received the title lieutenant general.
Lieutenant General K. K. Rokossovsky, 1941
Rokossovsky about the battle for Moscow: “ In connection with the breakthrough of the defense in the sector of the 30th Army and the withdrawal of units of the 5th Army, the troops of the 16th Army, fighting for every meter, in fierce battles were pushed back to Moscow at the turn: north of Krasnaya Polyana, Kryukovo, Istra, and on At this point, in fierce battles, the German offensive was finally stopped, and then, going over to a general counteroffensive, together with other armies, carried out according to the plan of Comrade Stalin, the enemy was defeated and thrown back far from Moscow».
It was near Moscow that Rokossovsky acquired a commanding authority. For the battle of Moscow, he was awarded the Order of Lenin.
Rokossovsky (2nd from right) n at the front, 1941−1942
On March 8, 1942, Rokossovsky was wounded by a shell fragment. The wound was severe - the right lung, liver, ribs and spine were affected. After an operation in Kozelsk, he was taken to a Moscow hospital, where he underwent treatment until May 1942.
Rokossovsky (2nd from left), member of the Military Council A.A. Lobachev and writer Stavsky inspect the captured enemy equipment
On January 31, 1943, troops under the command of Rokossovsky captured Field Marshal F. von Paulus, 24 generals, 2500 German officers, 90 thousand soldiers.
After the Battle of Kursk, his glory resounded on all fronts, he became widely known in the West as one of the most talented Soviet military leaders. Rokossovsky was also very popular among the soldiers.
Rokossovsky with officers inspecting the destroyed German self-propelled gun Ferdinand
Rokossovsky's general talent was fully manifested in the summer of 1944 during the operation to liberate Belarus. The success of the operation exceeded the expectations of the Soviet command. As a result of a two-month offensive, Belarus was completely liberated, part of the Baltic was recaptured, the eastern regions of Poland were liberated, and the German Army Group Center was almost completely destroyed.
On June 29, 1944, Rokossovsky was awarded the diamond star of the Marshal of the Soviet Union, and on July 30, the first Star of the Hero of the Soviet Union.
The commander of the 2nd Belorussian Front K. K. Rokossovsky prepares for a balloon flight in April 1945
By July 11, 1944, the 105-thousandth enemy group was captured. When the West doubted the number of prisoners, Stalin ordered to lead them through the streets of Moscow. From that moment on, Stalin began to call Rokossovsky by name and patronymic; only Marshal B.M.Shaposhnikov received such an address.
Until the end of the war, Rokossovsky commanded the 2nd Belorussian Front, whose troops, together with other fronts, smashed the enemy in the East Prussian, East Pomeranian and, finally, the Berlin strategic operations.
Georgy Zhukov, Konstantin Rokossovsky, Bernard Montgomery (back). Berlin 1945
On June 24, 1945, Rokossovsky commanded the historic Victory Parade in Moscow, which was hosted by Marshal Zhukov. " I perceived the command of the Victory Parade as the highest award for all my many years of service in the Armed Forces."- said the Marshal at the Kremlin reception in honor of the parade participants.
Rokossovsky summed up his military leadership as follows: “The greatest happiness for a soldier is the realization that you helped your people defeat the enemy, defend the freedom of the Motherland, and restore peace to it. The knowledge that you have fulfilled your soldier's duty, a heavy and noble duty, higher than which there is nothing on earth ”!
Rokossovsky (2nd from right) in the Kremlin, February 1968.
N.S. Nikita Sergeevich, Comrade Stalin is a saint to me!"- and at the banquet did not clink glasses with Khrushchev. The next day he was removed from the post of Deputy Minister of Defense of the USSR.
Since 1962, he was the Inspector General of the Group of Inspectors General of the USSR Ministry of Defense.
Konstantin Konstantinovich died on August 3, 1968 from cancer. The urn with his ashes is buried in the Kremlin wall.
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