Soviet Penal Battalions, Orel 1943

[Laser Lackey]

Are there any Soviet WWII history specialists in tanknet? I am looking for information on the Soviet Penal Battalions used in the summer of 1943 in the area of Orel. My Grandfather was a member of one and I would like to understand his life better.

Tanks a million for your help!

[wilsonam]

This one will be pretty hard... there wasn't a lot recorded about the Penal Battalions. The Penal Battalions (Shtrafnoe') were for officers/politruks who "have been guilty of violating discipline from cowardice or unsteadiness". There were required to be 1 to 3 such Battalions per Front. If he was around Orel in the summer of 1943, that would put him in Central, Bryansk or Western Front. Possible units include:

 

20th ShtrafBat (Western Front 1942-)

38th Shtrafbat (Central Front June 1943)

156th ShtrafBat (Central/Western Front mid-1943)

 

Apparently, over 100 such battalions were formed at Front level, and about 300 at Army level. These had a TO& of about 800 men, in 2-3 Rifle Companies, MG Companies and the other usual add-ons for a Separate Battalion. However, the vast bulk of those serving died or were seriously wounded - the ShtrafBat were intended to be used "where the fighting was thickest" so that the men could "atone for their guilt with their blood".

 

I seem to remember that there was an article written by a ShtrafBat survivor printed in the Journal of Soviet Military Studies...

 

Hope that helps?

 

Alan

[konev]

Gents,

 

You guys are SOOO lucky. About 2 months ago, I downloaded a 36 volume set of books on the units and formations of the Operational Army during the war. [YES, I am in the process of translating all 6,400 pages!] It lists the units, the dates in the OA and sometimes what command it was assigned to.

 

One of those volumes has the Penal Battalions and Companies. There were a TON of them (I just check the original: 100 pages of SMALL print (figure at least 1,200 units to go through). Either 3 Companies or 1-2 Battalions for each Army. Given the fact that there were about a dozen Armies around Orel during the summer of '43, it could be any of them.

 

Can you provide any details where around Orel or what Army command? At least that will nail it down a bit further.

 

konev

[RETAC21]

You downloaded them? from where? there must be a gazillion terabytes there!

[Mk 1]

My Grandfather was a member of one and I would like to understand his life better.

If I may, I might suggest another approach to your reading beyond unit histories.

 

There is a relatively recent book out, called: Ivan's War. I have just finished reading it. If you want some insite into what your Grandfather went through, you might find it very interesting.

 

You can find it on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Ivans-War-Life-Death...5/dp/0312426526

 

The author, Catherine Merridale, had done a great deal of original research. She has gone through archive documents including not only unit histories but period letters and diaries that had been seized by the Soviets. She has also interviewed some hundreds of veterans and veteran family members in Russia and the FSU nations, and draws it all together to create an impression of the life of the soldiers (and their families) during the Great Patriotic War.

 

The book includes a fairly detailed examination of the penal formations and the experiences of several individuals who were assigned to Shtrafs.

 

From the publisher's synopsis:

Sixty years have passed since their epic triumph, but the heart and mind of Ivan -- as the ordinary Russian soldier was called -- remain a mystery. We know something about hoe the soldiers died, but nearly nothing about how they lived, how they saw the world, or why they fought.

 

Drawing on previously closed military and secret police archives, interviews with veterans, and private letters and diaries, Catherine Merridale presents the first comprehensive history of the Red Army rank and file. She follows the soldiers from the shock of the German invasion to their costly triumph in Stalingrad, where life expectancy was often a mere twenty-four hours. Through the soldiers’ eyes, we witness their victorious arrival in Berlin, where their rage and suffering exact an awful toll, and accompany them as they return home full of hope, only to be denied the new life they had been fighting to secure.

 

A tour de force of original research and a gripping history, Ivan’s War reveals the singular mixture of courage, patriotism, anger, and fear that made it possible for these underfed, badly led troops to defeat the Nazi army. In the process Merridale restores to history the invisible millions who sacrificed the most to win the war.

The book pretty much destroys all the post-war stereotypes that came from all sides, whether the German post-war writings(unstoppable hord), American cold-warriors (mindless automatons), or Soviet propoganda (proletarian heros). You get an indication of the variety of backgrounds, the stresses they endured, the hopes and dreams that fed their spirits. It is written in an un-appologetic style, describing many attrocities that Red Army soldiers suffered, but also many that they participated in. It does not seek to excuse, but to describe.

 

All in all, I would recommend it to anyone who seeks to understand this period in history.

 

-Mark 1

[konev]

RETAC21,

 

So to this web page (part of the soldat.ru web site): http://www.soldat.ru/files/4/6/216/

 

You will see a list of all the files you need to download.

 

You need WinRaR to extract the files (ALL Parts of of a volume need to be downloaded before you can extract it).

 

You also need Djvu to view the files.

 

In the end, therer are a total of 41 files with 361 MB of storage. All are scanned pages and in Russian.

 

konev

[RETAC21]

RETAC21,

 

So to this web page (part of the soldat.ru web site): http://www.soldat.ru/files/4/6/216/

 

You will see a list of all the files you need to download.

 

You need WinRaR to extract the files (ALL Parts of of a volume need to be downloaded before you can extract it).

 

You also need Djvu to view the files.

 

In the end, therer are a total of 41 files with 361 MB of storage. All are scanned pages and in Russian.

 

konev

 

wow! This is pastime enough for a lifetime.

[LeoTanker]

What ever happend to your grandfather? Did he pay the ultimate price?

[Laser Lackey]

What ever happend to your grandfather? Did he pay the ultimate price?

 

He wrote a book about his life called "Escape From The Red Hell". It is in German so I still need to get it translated. I don't have any details about his unit and such but he did explain how he got out of Russia. A quick over-view of my Grandfather goes something like this. Of German decent born 1902 in the northern region of the Volga. His childhood was good under the Csar. When the revolution broke he was given the option to join the reds or die. His life was a nightmare, he feld from famine, disease and such. He was an officer's aid/lackey (runs in the family! ) Due to to his knowlege of grain production, he was put in charge of a mill. He tried to get the government to leave a little food for his starving workers instead of shipping all of it out. Standing up for his workers plus any person for any reason making accusations against him, landed him in and out of jail numerous times. Later during the war he landed in a penal battalion. He said the Russians were shooting at his unit from behind while the Germans were firing on them. He took a head wound and woke up in a German hospital. He was fluent in German and 5 dialects of Russian, so the Germans used him to translate when sorting prisoners and such. He met my Grandmother in Germany after the war and started a family. He wrote his book and was killed in an accident in 1953.