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==Early life== |
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Poplavsky was born in [[Imperial Russia]], in [[Podolia]]. His family (his father's name was Hilary) was ethnically [[Poles|Polish]], and in his younger years he considered himself a Pole |
Poplavsky was born in [[Imperial Russia]], in [[Podolia]]. His family (his father's name was Hilary) was ethnically [[Poles|Polish]], and in his younger years he considered himself a Pole. |
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In February 1920, he was drafted into the [[Red Army]], and participated in the [[Russian Civil War]]. He was a member of the [[Communist Party of the Soviet Union]] from 1930 onwards.<ref name="memoirs">{{cite book | author =Поплавский С. Г. | script-title=ru:Товарищи в борьбе | year =1974 | publisher =Воениздат | url = http://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/poplavsky_sg/index.html|language=ru}}</ref> |
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==Military career== |
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| ⚫ | Poplavsky served for the first three years (until 1923) as a [[Private (rank)|private]], then for four years (until 1927) as an [[Non-commissioned officer|NCO]], [[company (military unit)|company]] commander in the 297th Rifle [[Regiment]]. Over the next few years he attended an [[Officer (armed forces)|officer]] school, and afterwards received his own commands: first of a [[platoon]] in the 137th Rifle Regiment (1930–1931), then a platoon (1931–1933) and later a [[Company (military unit)|company]] in the School for Infantry Officers in [[Kharkov]] (1933–1935). |
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He returned to service shortly before the [[Operation Barbarossa|German invasion of the Soviet Union]]. He was first a member of the staff of the [[162nd Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|162nd Rifle Division]], next commander of 720th Rifle Regiment (July–September 1941), and then Chief of Staff of [[363rd Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|363rd Rifle Division]] (October 1941 – January 1942). During the next four months he commanded the [[184th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|184th]], [[256th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|256th]] and [[220th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|220th Rifle Division]]s, and then the [[45th Rifle Corps]] in the [[Soviet 5th Army]] (June 1943 – September 1944). |
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He returned to service shortly before the [[Operation Barbarossa|German invasion of the Soviet Union]], as the head of the Operational Division of the Staff of the [[162nd Rifle Division]]. |
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| ⚫ | In 1944 he was transferred to the [[Ludowe Wojsko Polskie]] (Polish People's Army) as one of the many Soviet officers who were to ensure that this allied formation remained loyal to [[communist]] ideals. As [[major general]] he commanded the [[Polish Second Army]] (26 September – 19 December 1944) and later the [[First Polish Army (1944-1945)|Polish First Army]] (till 10 September 1945). His units took parts in the breakthrough of the [[Pommernstellung]] ([[Pomerania]] Wall) fortification line, securing the [[Baltic Sea]] coast, crossing the [[Odra (Poland)|Odra]] and [[Elbe]] rivers and the [[battle of Berlin]]. He was wounded |
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===World War II=== |
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| ⚫ | After the war he remained in the Polish army, along with thousands of other ethnically-Polish Soviet officers, including [[Konstantin Rokossovsky]], who were put in charge of almost all Polish military units, either as commanding officers or as their ''advisors''.<ref name="God's Playground">{{cite book | author =Norman Davies | author-link =Norman Davies | title =[[God's Playground]] | year =1982 | publisher =[[Columbia University|Columbia University Press]] | location =New York | isbn =0-231-05353-3 }} (also {{ISBN|0-231-05351-7}})</ref> Poplavsky served as commander of the Polish forces occupying Germany, later being commander of the [[Silesian Military District]] (until 22 November 1947), Chief Commander of the Polish Land Forces (until 21 March 1950), and General Inspector of Military Training (until 2 April 1949). He also held political positions: on 2 April 1949 he became the 2nd [[Deputy Minister]] of National Defence and later was Deputy Minister himself. He was also a [[Legislator|deputy]] to the Polish [[Sejm]] (1947–1956), and from 1949 to 1956 he was a member of the Central Committee of the [[Polish United Workers Party]] (PZPR). |
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Poplavsky served as the commander of 720th Rifle Regiment (July–September 1941), and then Chief of Staff of [[363rd Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|363rd Rifle Division]] (October 1941 – January 1942). During this time, he participated in the [[Battle of Białystok–Minsk|Białystok–Minsk]] and [[Battle of Smolensk|Smolensk]] battles. At the beginning of the [[Battle for Moscow]] , during the [[Vyazma]] and [[Bryansk]] defensive operation, his regiment was surrounded. But a few days later, on October 6, he broke through the encirclement with a battle and withdrew his regiment and several other units of the [[19th Army (Soviet Union)|19th Army]]. For distinctions in the battles of summer and autumn of 1941, he was awarded the [[Order of the Red Banner]]. |
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Poplavsky, who distinguished himself in a difficult situation, was immediately appointed with a promotion as chief of staff of the [[19th Guards Mechanized Brigade (Belarus)|363rd Rifle Division]], which was hastily formed in the [[Ural Military District]], and already in December entered the battle as part of the [[30th Army (Soviet Union)|30th Army]] of the [[Kalinin Front]], and took part in the [[Klin, Klinsky District, Moscow Oblast|Klin]]-[[Solnechnogorsk]] offensive operation. In January 1942, he was appointed as the commander of the [[185th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|185th Rifle Division]]. During the Rzhev-Vyazemskaya operation, his unit was assigned to [[29th Combined Arms Army|29th Army]], Kalinin Front. During the battle, his unit pulled ahead and was surrounded by enemy forces. A month later, his unit was in a complete encirclement. But with air supply, the unit managed to organize an active defense using the terrain conditions, prevented the destruction of the division and at the end of February 1942, it successfully broke through the front line to join the main army forces. |
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On May 1942, he was appointed as the commander of the [[256th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|256th Rifle Division]], which was assigned to the [[39th Army (Soviet Union)|39th Army]], Kalinin Front. From June 16 to 29, he was the chief of staff of the unit, and then was appointed commander of the [[220th Rifle Division (Soviet Union)|220th Rifle Division]] on the Kalinin and [[Western Front]]s. During the [[Operation Büffel|Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive]] in March 1943, his division fought over 170 kilometers and crossed six rivers on the move, preventing German troops from gaining a foothold along their lines. |
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From June 1943 to September 1944, he commanded the [[45th Rifle Corps]] in the [[Soviet 5th Army]] on the [[Western Front (Soviet Union)|Western]], [[1st Belorussian Front|1st Belorussian]] and [[3rd Belorussian Front|3rd Belorussian Fronts]]. At the command of the corps, he participated in the second [[Battle of Smolensk (1943)|battle of Smolensk]] and [[Operation Bagration]]. |
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| ⚫ | In September 1944 he was transferred to the [[Ludowe Wojsko Polskie]] (Polish People's Army) as one of the many Soviet officers who were to ensure that this allied formation remained loyal to [[communist]] ideals. As [[major general]] he commanded the [[Polish Second Army]] (26 September – 19 December 1944) and later the [[First Polish Army (1944-1945)|Polish First Army]] (till 10 September 1945). His units took parts in the breakthrough of the [[Pommernstellung]] ([[Pomerania]] Wall) fortification line, securing the [[Baltic Sea]] coast, crossing the [[Odra (Poland)|Odra]] and [[Elbe]] rivers and the [[battle of Berlin]]. He was wounded eight times in the war and showed high organizational skills in planning combat operations, and commanding troops. For his successful operations, he was noted 15 times in the orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief [[Joseph Stalin]]. |
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For skillful command and control of troops in breaking through enemy defenses on the [[Oder River]] and in the battles for Berlin on May 29, 1945, Poplavsky was awarded the title of [[Hero of the Soviet Union]]. |
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===Post war=== |
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| ⚫ | After the war he remained in the Polish army, along with thousands of other ethnically-Polish Soviet officers, including [[Konstantin Rokossovsky]], who were put in charge of almost all Polish military units, either as commanding officers or as their ''advisors''.<ref name="God's Playground">{{cite book | author =Norman Davies | author-link =Norman Davies | title =[[God's Playground]] | year =1982 | publisher =[[Columbia University|Columbia University Press]] | location =New York | isbn =0-231-05353-3 }} (also {{ISBN|0-231-05351-7}})</ref> Poplavsky served as commander of the Polish forces occupying Germany, later being commander of the [[Silesian Military District]] (until 22 November 1947), Chief Commander of the Polish Land Forces (until 21 March 1950), and General Inspector of Military Training (until 2 April 1949). He also held political positions: on 2 April 1949 he became the 2nd [[Deputy Minister]] of National Defence and later was Deputy Minister himself. He was also a [[Legislator|deputy]] to the Polish [[Sejm]] (1947–1956), and from 1949 to 1956 he was a member of the Central Committee of the [[Polish United Workers Party]] (PZPR). On August 12, 1955 he was appointed General of the Soviet Army. |
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From 1947 to 1956, he was a member of the [[Legislative Sejm]] on behalf of the [[People's Party (Poland)|People's Party]], later the [[Polish United Workers' Party]], and then a member of the Sejm of the [[Polish People's Republic]] of the first term. On 1949, he became a member of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party. From 1953 to 1956, he was the president of the Supreme Hunting Council of the Polish Hunting Association. Poplavsky served as the president of the sports club [[Legia Warsaw (sports club)|Legia Warsaw]], from 1950 to 1957. |
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In 1956 he was commander of the military forces responsible for the suppression of the [[Poznań 1956 protests]]. Afterwards, with the beginning of the era of [[destalinization]], he (together with a significant number of other Soviet officers) left the Polish Army, which was granted slightly increased independence, and returned to the Soviet Union, where he became the 1st Deputy of the Chief Inspector of Military Training of the [[Soviet Army]], and from 1958 an advisor to the inspectors-general of the [[Ministries of the Soviet Union#Defense|Soviet Ministry of Defense]]. |
In 1956 he was commander of the military forces responsible for the suppression of the [[Poznań 1956 protests]]. Afterwards, with the beginning of the era of [[destalinization]], he (together with a significant number of other Soviet officers) left the Polish Army, which was granted slightly increased independence, and returned to the Soviet Union, where he became the 1st Deputy of the Chief Inspector of Military Training of the [[Soviet Army]], and from 1958 an advisor to the inspectors-general of the [[Ministries of the Soviet Union#Defense|Soviet Ministry of Defense]]. |
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He retired in 1963 with the rank of [[army general]]. |
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<!-- Deleted image removed: [[Image:Stanislav Poplavsky.PNG|thumb|right|200px|Stanislav Poplavsky]] --> |
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He retired in 1963 with the rank of [[army general]]. Married with one daughter, he died on 10 August 1973 in [[Moscow]] and was buried in the [[Novodevichi Cemetery]], Moscow. |
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==Awards== |
==Awards== |
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Revision as of 11:56, 14 January 2021
Stanislav Gilyarovich Poplavsky (Russian: Станислав Гилярович Поплавский, Polish: Stanisław Popławski) (22 April 1902 – 10 August 1973) was a general in the Soviet and Polish armies.
Stanislav Poplavsky | |
|---|---|
| File:Poplawski.Stanislaw.01.JPG Stanislav Poplavsky in the uniform of a Polish Army General | |
| Birth name | Stanislav Gilyarovich Poplavsky |
| Born | 22 April 1902 Vendichany village, Mogilev district, Podolsk province, Russian Empire (now Mogilev-Podolsky district, Vinnytsia region, Ukraine ) |
| Died | 10 August 1973 (aged 71) Moscow, Russian SFSR, Soviet Union |
| Buried | |
| Allegiance |  Soviet Union Polish People's Republic |
| Years of service | 1923-1963 |
| Rank | Army General |
| Commands held | 720th Rifle Regiment (July - September 1941) Headquarters of the 363rd Infantry Division (October 1941 - January 1942) 45th Rifle Corps of the 5th Army (June 1943 - September 1944) Polish Second Army (September 26 - December 19, 1944) Polish First Army (December 19, 1944 - September 10, 1945) |
| Battles/wars | Russian Civil War, World War II:
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| Awards | Hero of the Soviet Union Virtuti Militari Several others (see below) |
Early life
Poplavsky was born in Imperial Russia, in Podolia. His family (his father's name was Hilary) was ethnically Polish, and in his younger years he considered himself a Pole.
In February 1920, he was drafted into the Red Army, and participated in the Russian Civil War. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1930 onwards.[1]
Military career
Poplavsky served for the first three years (until 1923) as a private, then for four years (until 1927) as an NCO, company commander in the 297th Rifle Regiment. Over the next few years he attended an officer school, and afterwards received his own commands: first of a platoon in the 137th Rifle Regiment (1930–1931), then a platoon (1931–1933) and later a company in the School for Infantry Officers in Kharkov (1933–1935).
Before the Second World War he attended the Frunze Military Academy (1935–1938) where he became an instructor of military tactics (1938–1939) but in February 1939 he was relieved after a false accusation and given a manager's job at a sovkhoz in Tula region.
He returned to service shortly before the German invasion of the Soviet Union, as the head of the Operational Division of the Staff of the 162nd Rifle Division.
World War II
Poplavsky served as the commander of 720th Rifle Regiment (July–September 1941), and then Chief of Staff of 363rd Rifle Division (October 1941 – January 1942). During this time, he participated in the Białystok–Minsk and Smolensk battles. At the beginning of the Battle for Moscow , during the Vyazma and Bryansk defensive operation, his regiment was surrounded. But a few days later, on October 6, he broke through the encirclement with a battle and withdrew his regiment and several other units of the 19th Army. For distinctions in the battles of summer and autumn of 1941, he was awarded the Order of the Red Banner.
Poplavsky, who distinguished himself in a difficult situation, was immediately appointed with a promotion as chief of staff of the 363rd Rifle Division, which was hastily formed in the Ural Military District, and already in December entered the battle as part of the 30th Army of the Kalinin Front, and took part in the Klin-Solnechnogorsk offensive operation. In January 1942, he was appointed as the commander of the 185th Rifle Division. During the Rzhev-Vyazemskaya operation, his unit was assigned to 29th Army, Kalinin Front. During the battle, his unit pulled ahead and was surrounded by enemy forces. A month later, his unit was in a complete encirclement. But with air supply, the unit managed to organize an active defense using the terrain conditions, prevented the destruction of the division and at the end of February 1942, it successfully broke through the front line to join the main army forces.
On May 1942, he was appointed as the commander of the 256th Rifle Division, which was assigned to the 39th Army, Kalinin Front. From June 16 to 29, he was the chief of staff of the unit, and then was appointed commander of the 220th Rifle Division on the Kalinin and Western Fronts. During the Rzhev-Vyazma Offensive in March 1943, his division fought over 170 kilometers and crossed six rivers on the move, preventing German troops from gaining a foothold along their lines.
From June 1943 to September 1944, he commanded the 45th Rifle Corps in the Soviet 5th Army on the Western, 1st Belorussian and 3rd Belorussian Fronts. At the command of the corps, he participated in the second battle of Smolensk and Operation Bagration.
In September 1944 he was transferred to the Ludowe Wojsko Polskie (Polish People's Army) as one of the many Soviet officers who were to ensure that this allied formation remained loyal to communist ideals. As major general he commanded the Polish Second Army (26 September – 19 December 1944) and later the Polish First Army (till 10 September 1945). His units took parts in the breakthrough of the Pommernstellung (Pomerania Wall) fortification line, securing the Baltic Sea coast, crossing the Odra and Elbe rivers and the battle of Berlin. He was wounded eight times in the war and showed high organizational skills in planning combat operations, and commanding troops. For his successful operations, he was noted 15 times in the orders of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief Joseph Stalin.
For skillful command and control of troops in breaking through enemy defenses on the Oder River and in the battles for Berlin on May 29, 1945, Poplavsky was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union.
Post war
After the war he remained in the Polish army, along with thousands of other ethnically-Polish Soviet officers, including Konstantin Rokossovsky, who were put in charge of almost all Polish military units, either as commanding officers or as their advisors.[2] Poplavsky served as commander of the Polish forces occupying Germany, later being commander of the Silesian Military District (until 22 November 1947), Chief Commander of the Polish Land Forces (until 21 March 1950), and General Inspector of Military Training (until 2 April 1949). He also held political positions: on 2 April 1949 he became the 2nd Deputy Minister of National Defence and later was Deputy Minister himself. He was also a deputy to the Polish Sejm (1947–1956), and from 1949 to 1956 he was a member of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers Party (PZPR). On August 12, 1955 he was appointed General of the Soviet Army.
From 1947 to 1956, he was a member of the Legislative Sejm on behalf of the People's Party, later the Polish United Workers' Party, and then a member of the Sejm of the Polish People's Republic of the first term. On 1949, he became a member of the Central Committee of the Polish United Workers' Party. From 1953 to 1956, he was the president of the Supreme Hunting Council of the Polish Hunting Association. Poplavsky served as the president of the sports club Legia Warsaw, from 1950 to 1957.
In 1956 he was commander of the military forces responsible for the suppression of the Poznań 1956 protests. Afterwards, with the beginning of the era of destalinization, he (together with a significant number of other Soviet officers) left the Polish Army, which was granted slightly increased independence, and returned to the Soviet Union, where he became the 1st Deputy of the Chief Inspector of Military Training of the Soviet Army, and from 1958 an advisor to the inspectors-general of the Soviet Ministry of Defense.
He retired in 1963 with the rank of army general.
Awards
Poplavsky was the recipient of many awards, including Polish (Commander Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari, Cross of Grunwald Second Class) and Soviet (Hero of the Soviet Union, Order of Lenin (3 times), Order of Suvorov (I and II Class), Order of Kutuzov (II Class), Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky (II Class) and Order of the Red Banner (4 times)). Several items were named after him, particularly in the People's Republic of Poland, including a ship of the Polish Merchant Navy.
Poland
- Wound Decoration, 7 times
- Commander's Cross of the Order of Virtuti Militari
- Grand Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta (previously awarded Commander and Commander with Star)
- Cross of Grunwald, 2nd class
- Order of the Banner of Work, twice
- Gold Cross of Merit, twice
- Silver Medal in the Service of the Armed Forces of the Homeland
- Bronze Medal in the Service of the Armed Forces of the Homeland
- Silesian Uprising Cross
- Warsaw Medal 1939–1945
- Medal for Odra, Nysa, Baltic Sea
- Medal of Victory and Freedom 1945
- Medal "10th Anniversary of People's Poland"
- Medal "For participation in the battle for Berlin"
- Medal "Brotherhood in Arms"
Soviet Union
- "Gold Star" Medal, Hero of the Soviet Union (29 May 1945)
- Order of Lenin, three times
- Order of the October Revolution
- Order of the Red Banner, four times
- Order of Suvorov, 1st and 2nd classes
- Order of Kutuzov, 2nd class
- Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, 2nd class
- Order of the Red Star
- Medal "For the Defence of Moscow"
- Medal "For the Liberation of Warsaw"
- Medal "For the Capture of Berlin"
- Jubilee Medal "In Commemoration of the 100th Anniversary since the Birth of Vladimir Il'ich Lenin"
- Medal "For the Victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War 1941–1945"
- Jubilee Medal "Twenty Years of Victory in the Great Patriotic War 1941-1945"
- Jubilee Medal "30 Years of the Soviet Army and Navy"
- Jubilee Medal "40 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
- Jubilee Medal "50 Years of the Armed Forces of the USSR"
Other nations
- Military Order of the White Lion, 1st class (Czechoslovakia)
- Gold Star of the Czechoslovak Military Order for Liberty (Czechoslovakia)
- Distinguished Service Cross (United States)
- Chief Commander of the Legion of Merit (USA)
- Order of the Partisan Star, First Class (Yugoslavia)
- Order of Courage (Yugoslavia)
Works
Author of memoirs "Comrades of the front roads" (or "Comrades of the struggle"; Polish title: Towarzysze frontowych dróg, Warszawa 1964, 1966, 1970, 1973, 1983; Russian title: Товарищи в борьбе', Moskwa 1963, 1974; German title: Kampfgefährten, Berlin 1980). The original title was to be "On the land of forefathers" (Na ziemi przodków, За землю предков), but it was changed by the censors.
Notes
- ^ Поплавский С. Г. (1974). Товарищи в борьбе (in Russian). Воениздат.
- ^ Norman Davies (1982). God's Playground. New York: Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-05353-3. (also ISBN 0-231-05351-7)
External links
- (in Polish) Short biography on the page of Silesian Military District
- Timeline of military career
- (in Russian) Comrades in the Struggle, memoirs of Poplavsky
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