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УДК 355.72 (477) (091) DOI: 10.33099/2707-1383-2020-36-2-89-121 Ден Амір, Борис Морозов, Олександр Маслов

МАЛОВІДОМІ СТОРІНКИ БІОГРАФІЇ ІВАНА ЧЕРНЯХОВСЬКОГО

Як справедливо зазначають автори, у наявній літературі щодо біогра- фії І.Черняховського вкрай обмеженими є відомості, які стосуються похо- дження, дитинства й юнацтва майбутнього воєначальника. Серед спірних питань – національна приналежність І.Черняховського, адже ще у 1944 р. у зарубіжних джерелах було висунуто версію про його єврейські етнічні ко- ріння. У липні 1944 р. секретар Єврейського антифашистського комітету в Москві С. Епштейн звертався з проханням про з’ясування цього до секрета- ря ЦК ВКП (б) О. С. Щербакова, і отримав спростування. Між тим, версія про єврейське походження талановитого генерала на- була поширення, зокрема – у контексті процесу підготовки до створення Єврейської держави у Палестині. Етнічна приналежність І.Черняховського час від часу ставала предме- том дискусій. Новий поштовх до деталізації першого періоду його життя дала публікація у 2005 р. добірки з семи документів з Центрального архіву Міністерства оборони Російської Федерації, в яких також містилися різ- ночитання щодо дати народження та інших моментів ранньої біографії. Автори статті наводять характеристики цих документів, зазначаючи, що склалося до десяти варіантів опису раннього періоду біографії Івана Дани- ловича із суперечливими твердженнями. Дослідники вдалися до власного архівно-джерельного пошуку, виявили й вивчили відповідні документи у Державному архіві Київської області. Аналіз документів підтверджує православно-слов’янську приналежність І. Черня- ховського та визначення ним особисто української мови як рідної. У статті наводяться цікаві біографічні подробиці дитячого та юнацького віку воєна- чальника, пережиті ним поневіряння й становлення особистості. Ключові слова: Іван Черняховський, військова біографістика, військове мистецтво, просопографія, командні кадри, 3-й Білоруський фронт.

Від редакції “Військово-історичного вісника”. Стаття, присвячена маловідомим сторінкам життєпису визначного радянсько- го полководця доби Другої світової війни, наймолодшого військового діяча Ан-

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тигітлерівської коаліції, уродженця сучасної Черкаської області, командувача 3-м Білоруським фронтом, двічі Героя Радянського Союзу, генерала армії Івана Дани- ловича Черняховського, уперше побачила світ у науковому виданні “The Journal of Slavic Military Studies” (“Журнал слов’янських військових досліджень”, США) у 2013 р. (т. 26, вип.1, С. 81–113). Матеріал порушує дискусійні питання біографії знаного й перспективного воєначальника, який здобував воєнно-командну освіту у стінах Київської артиле- рійської школи (1925/1926–1928 рр.) – однієї з історичних попередників сучасно- го Національного університету оборони України, який з 22 лютого 2013 р. носить ім’я цього уславленого полководця. З люб’язного дозволу авторів статті, ми передруковуємо її під назвою, нада- ною редакцією “Військово-історичного вісника”. Наукову підготовку до друку здійснено к.і.н. О. Филем (автором кількох книг, присвячених своєму землякові, зокрема – “За крок до маршальського жезлу”. К. 2005, “Іван Черняховський”. К. 2006, “Життя як спалах зірки... Іван Черняховський: штрихи до портрета полко- водця”. К. 2014) та д.і.н. Д. Вєдєнєєвим.

Dan Amira*, Boris Morozovb & Aleksander A. Maslov

UNKNOWN PAGES OF IVAN CHERNIAKOVSKY'S BIOGRAPHY

Abstract family history which contradicts the Jew- The books and articles written about ish origin theory. Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky, one of General Ivan Danilovich Chernyak- the foremost Soviet commanders in World hovsky was one of the foremost Soviet War II, render very little reliable informa- commanders in the Second World War. tion about his childhood and youth, with His meteoric career in the – many inconsistencies, including even his where within three war years he was pro- birth date and birthplace. In particular, moted from the rank of colonel to four-star since 1944 it has been disputed whether general, becoming the youngest ever So- he was Jewish by birth, as was almost viet Army-General and the commander of unanimously accepted in the West but the 3rd Belorussian Front, was ended on denied by the Soviets. The Jewish origin 18 February 1945, when he was mortally was suspected of being the main reason wounded by a shell splinter in the East for the heavy veil drawn over Chernyak- Prussian front (near Königsberg, which is hovsky's past. We discuss the reasons for called Kaliningrad today), just a few days the scarcity and inconsistency of the bio- before he was to be promoted to the highest graphical material. New archival findings Red Army rank of marshal. Upon learning shed some light on the Chernyakhovsky of his death, Britain's Prime Minister Win-

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Cadet of the Kyiv Artillery School. 1926. Commander of the 241th Rifle Division. ston Churchill sent the following person- the available relevant few pieces of infor- al message to Joseph Stalin: ‘I read with mation were inconsistent, even contradic- sorrow of the loss you have sustained by tory. This situation became fertile ground the death from wounds received in action for much speculation, including the of General Chernyakhovsky. The qual- widespread supposition, especially in the ity and services of this brilliant and brave West, that Ivan Danilovich was of Jewish officer were greatly admired by His Maj- descent. This assumption was formulated esty's Government and the British Army.’1 in print for the first time already in 1944, Chernyakhovsky was honored twice with when the victories of the 60th army under the highest decoration ‘Hero of the Soviet his command became known worldwide. Union’, and after the war, the conquered According to an article published in East Prussian town of Insterburg was re- 2002 in the magazine Evreiskii Kamer- named in his honor. ton, in July 1944 the secretary of the Jew- Despite his national and international ish Anti-fascist Committee in , S. eminence, and the many books, articles, Epshtein, addressed the following request encyclopedia entries, etc. dealing with his to A.S. Shcherbakov, the secretary of the life and deeds, General Chernyakhovs- Central Committee of the Communist ky's childhood and family background Party and director of the Soviet Informa- remained in the dark for many years, and tion Bureau: only very little information about this Dear Alexander Sergeevich! We re- part of his life was available. Moreover, ceived from many countries suggestions

Воєнно-історичний вісник 2(36) / 2020 91 ДО 75-РІЧЧЯ ПЕРЕМОГИ НАД НАЦИЗМОМ for articles and reports dedicated to Jew- ish generals in the Red Army. In particu- lar, there is a large demand for material on Army-General Chernyakhovsky. We were informed from England that the informa- tion minister, who gave a speech about the bravery of the various nations in the Sovi- et Union, the Jewish nation among them, dwelled in particular on the figure of Gen- eral Chernyakhovsky. Many foreign cor- respondents wrote to their papers, with the approval of the People's Commissariat of Foreign Affairs, about the military capa- bilities of General Chernyakhovsky, with stress on his Jewish descent. The Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee, which has no official material at its disposal, could not satisfy the request of a number of journal Comandarm. February. 1943. editors and news agents. I ask you for an order enabling the responsible workers of lomo explains: ‘The decision to erase any the Jewish Anti-fascist Committee to be mention of General Chernyakhovsky's acquainted with the personnel department Jewish origin was pursued as a matter of of NKO (the People's Commissariat of policy… , he was given peasant origins by Defense) with the material about the Jew- an official ‘proletarian’ biography, just as ish generals, commanders and officers in General Lev Dovator, the commander of the Red Army, in particular about General the Soviet cavalry corps, who died in ac- Chernyakhovsky. tion in the battle of Moscow in December Shcherbakov's brief reply came in 18 1941, was transformed from the son of a July 1944: ‘General Chernyakhovsky is Jewish artisan born in ashtetl into the son Ukrainian, and not Jewish.’ 2 of a Belorussian peasant.’3 A similar story was told in 1991 by The But Shcherbakov was a notorious anti- Jewish Chronicle's East European cor- Semite who was believed to lead a clear respondent Ze'ev Ben-Shlomo, upon the policy of belittling the Jewish contribution transfer of Chernyakhovsky's remains to the war, as stated in the following ex- from Vilna to Moscow: ‘… When Eyni- cerpt from Salo Baron's book The Russian keit, the newspaper of the Jewish Anti-Fas- Jew under Tsars and Soviets: ‘ The num- cist Committee, wanted to refer to General ber of decorated Jewish soldiers is doubly Chernyakhovsky as a Jew, the report was remarkable as some of them were passed withdrawn on official orders.’ Ben Sh- over because of the pernicious influence

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Palestine, and the newspaper Davar pub- lished in 25 August 1944 the following: In light of the many questions ad- dressed to Davar's editors whether it is true that General Chernyakovsky is Jew- ish, and following the various hypoth- eses raised in this issue, that the Gener- al's correct name is Chernikhovsky (and surely he is from the family of the poet S. Chernikhovsky, o.b.m) – we must com- ment: The name of the commander of the Soviet army group, the liberator of Vilna and more, who is mentioned often nowadays in the Moscow announcements and Stalin's orders of the day, is Chern- yakhovsky (and not Chernikhovsky or Chernyakovsky). He does not belong to the family of the poet Chernikhovsky and With children Neoniloy and Oleg. he is not Jewish…7 of the late Supreme Army Commissar The question was raised again upon his Shcherbakov, member of the Politburo … death half a year later. In the New York dyed-in-the wool anti-Semite’. 4 Times report the following day, 19 Feb- Therefore, Shcherbakov did not enjoy ruary 1945, the following comment (in high credibility, neither among the Jews, brackets) was added: ‘Moscow dispatch- nor among Western correspondents, and es recently corrected reports that General his prompt brief reply did not convince Chernyakhovsky was Jewish, saying that them. In spite of Shcherbakov's blunt de- he was a member of the Ukrainian Ortho- nial, the Western correspondents contin- dox Church.’8 ued to refer to Chernyakhovsky as Jew- The picture drawn by Davar's short ish. Thus, David Abarbanel's article in the obituary, a few days later, is less decisive: August 1944 issue of Liberal Judaism, Jew or non-Jew? This question, which claimed that ‘General Chernyakhovsky was asked many times during the life- evidently stresses his Jewish origin’5 , time of the commander so rich in deeds, and the Time Magazine issue of 28 Au- is asked also after his death. The answer gust 1944, tells about ‘the iron-muscled is not clear and is uncertain. The well- and iron-willed young Jewish general, known American writer Maurice Hindus 9 Ivan Chernyakhovsky’.6 was one of the first to announce about the At the same time the question about talented Jewish general Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky's ethnicity was raised in Chernyakhovsky. The JTA (Jewish Tel-

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Funeral ceremony and farewell to the commander. . 20 February, 1945. egraphic Agency) writer in Moscow de- For example, Shalom Eilati, then a child nied the information about the Jewish- who had survived the Kovna () ness of Chernyakhovsky, but the English ghetto, says: ‘ … in particular I remember newspapers continued to write about the majestic funeral of Front Commander him as a Jew. John Gibbons and other General Chernyakhovsky who was killed Anglo-Saxon reporters describe him as a when his headquarters were bombed in ‘typical Ukrainian, short and sun-burnt’, Prussia. By the portraits carried in the while Gromiko, the USSR Ambassador funeral and published in the papers, the in Washington, recently raised a toast to man was young and good looking, and I ‘the USSR hero, son of the Jewish nation, mused in hidden pride – here is one of General Ivan Chernyakhovsky’. Davar's us among the army chiefs’. 11 Chernyak- editors addressed, a few months ago, a hovsky's human approach to the Jewish formal enquiry to Moscow asking wheth- survivors and his help to the Jewish com- er it is true that Chernyakhovsky is Jew- munity of Vilna (Vilnius) supported this ish. Such a confirmation did not arrive. It belief. Isaac Kowalsky, who ran the un- seems that Chernyakhovsky's father was derground press in Ghetto Vilna, writes of Jewish descent but the general himself that Chernyakhovsky met him personally did not boast of this. 10 and describes his excitement when he met At the same time, rumors about Chern- ‘the great Jewish general’. He states, yakhovsky's Jewishness were strength- The General spoke very slowly and ened by the fact that in liberated Belorus- was friendly. He asked about everything sia and , the Jewish survivors that had happened during the Nazi occu- considered him as their Jewish savior. pation. I felt that he had a very sensitive

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Funeral ceremony and farewell to the commander. Vilnius. 20 February, 1945. heart. He was serious and concerned, and ‘The War Record of Soviet Jewry’, and in mentioned that if we needed anything we 1967, two books on this subject appeared should freely ask for it. This we did, and in Israel (in Hebrew) – Face to Face with he helped a great deal, for example, in the Nazi Enemy and Jewish Soldiers in getting furnishing for a Jewish children's Europe Armies.14 None of these three home. 12 publications could conclusively estab- Unfortunately, Isaac Kowalsky passed lish Chernyakhovsky's ethnicity. Here are away a few years ago, and his son, Martin Ainsztein's words: Kowalsky from New York City, could not No doubt many readers will find it odd add any information to his father's story. that my list does not include the name of Other sources from Lithuania's Jewish Army General Ivan Danilovich Chern- community tell about the help received yakhovsky, one of the most brilliant So- through the personal involvement of viet commanders in the last war, who Chernyakhovsky's Jewish physician and would undoubtedly have become a mar- Front Psychiatrist Lieutenant Colonel shal if he had not died in . I Iosif Veniaminovich Rebelskii, who spon- am aware that several foreign correspond- sored the Jewish orphanages and schools ents writing from Moscow during the war in Vilna and Kovno after the liberation. 13 described him as being of Jewish origin When Kowalsky published his memoirs, and that Israeli publications dealing with there was renewed interest in the role of the military contribution of Soviet Jewry the Jewish fighters in Second World War. treat him as a Jew. However, my require- In 1966, the Polish-born Jewish historian ment for decision whether a Soviet gen- Reuben Ainsztein published his article eral was or is a Jew is to find a Soviet or a

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The monument on the grave of Ivan Chernyakhovsky. Vilnius. 28 April, 1945. Soviet Jewish source confirming the fact. whether I could answer your question, for I have never come across such a confir- during the war I did not stop to think what mation in the case of Chernyakhovsky. was the nationality of Generals Chern- To ascertain the nationality of Chern- yakhovsky and Dovator. I met Chernyak- yakhovsky and Dovator, the most famous hovsky several times during the war and, Cossack commander of the last war, I in my opinion, he was by nationality a wrote to Konstantin Simonov, the well- Russian, but he might easily have been a known playwright and novelist who de- Ukrainian. I did not have the opportunity spite many portraits of Jewish soldiers, is to meet Dovator, I only heard a great deal not a Jew. The reason why I also inquired about him, especially during the battle for Simonov about Dovator is that Pavel Moscow in 1941. But after receiving your Fyodorov in his biographical novelGen- letter, I consulted my friends who had eral Dovator, published in the Voennoe known him personally. They told me that Izdatel'stvo Ministerstva Oborony SSSR as far as they knew, Dovator was born in (Publishing House of the USSR Ministry Byelorussia, but was a Jew by national- of Defense), describes him as the son of ity.15 Belorussian parents. I received from Si- Face to Face with the Nazi Enemy, a monov the following answer in Novem- collection of Jewish war veteran stories, ber 1963: ‘At first I was not even certain which was published in Tel Aviv in 1967,

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Novodіveche cemetery – final shelter for commander. Moscow. 1992. does not count Chernyakhovsky among Chernyakhovsky was described, without the Jewish warriors. In the introduction to any doubt, as Jewish. For instance, in the chapter dealing with the Soviet Jew- Kremerman's From Vilna, ‘Jerusalem of ish soldiers, it is explained: Lithuania’ to Haifa, published in 1975, the We will not hide our hesitations and our author writes about ‘the 3rd Belorussian special deliberations concerning several Front commanded by the Jewish Marshal, famous and glorious heroes. We could Chernyakhovsky’, and tells another ver- not decide on the Jewishness of General sion of the Jewish orphanage story: ‘For Chernyakhovsky, commander of the 3rd the Jewish heart beating in his chest will Belorussian front and twice ‘Hero of the testify the fact, that after the liberation of ’; Katukov Yefim, Marshal Vilna he met a Jewish teacher and sug- of the Armored Troops and former com- gested to her to gather Jewish children mander of the 1st (Guards) Tank Brigade who hid in gentile homes and establish and twice ’; for them a home and school in the house Brandis Anatol, Air-Force Colonel and next to the green bridge … ’.17 twice ‘Hero of the Soviet Union’; General The Jewish historian Salo W. Baron, Dovator, the legendary commander of the who did not mention Chernyakhovsky cavalry corps; Pozniak Viktor Gribovich, explicitly in the first edition of his book -General, and Pinchuk Timophei mentioned above, was already convinced Zinovyevich, Lieutenant-Colonel.16 of Chernyakhovsky's Jewish descent 12 In spite of the above-mentioned un- years later, and in the second edition of certainty, during the 1970s several books his book The Russian Jew under Tsars were published in the West in which and Soviets (1976), he went quite far:

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Similarly Yona (Jan) Davidovich Cherniakhovski, holding the highest rank of Marshal of the Soviet Army, who had vanquished the Germans in three impor- tant 1943 encounters at Voronezh, and Konotop and was the only Soviet general who had never lost a battle, was killed during his drive on Königsberg (now Kaliningrad) by a mysterious ex- plosion of a mine, possibly laid by his own anti-Semitic subordinates. He was granted his final wish and was buried in the Jewish cemetery of his native Vilna in the presence of relatives, including two rabbis. But the monument erected in his honor failed to refer to his Jewish nation- ality, while the official Soviet who's who of leading military commanders called Commander's son Major General Oleg Ivanovich him a White Russian and described his Chernyakhovskiy. Photo from archive of Oleksandr Phyl. father – who had made a living from sell- Rommel, General Ivan Chernyakhovsky ing Vodka at a rented road-house – as a survived brutal anti-Semitism, Stalin's poor peasant sharecropper.18 madness, and German tanks to achieve a Since the 1970s, after Chernyakhovsky stunning combat record and fell at the end was entered into the Encyclopedia Juda- of the war.’ In the article, Ossad says that ica (1971)19 , as well as into the concise Chernyakhovsky, ‘the youngest Front Hebrew Judaica Lexicon (1976)20 , most Commander, and highest-ranking Jewish articles and encyclopedia entries in the officer in the Soviet Army … the young- West referred to Chernyakhovsky as a est of four children and son of a railroad Jew. 21 During the 1980–90s, the Western clerk, was born on 16 June 1906 in the bibliography didn't pay special attention small Ukrainian village of Uman near to General Chernyakhovsky's roots, and Kiev’. In his article Ossad cites Kowal- no new facts or claims regarding his bi- sky's story, and refers to Encyclopedia ography were published. Judaicaand to the Internet site of Jacque- The first, and up to now only, profes- line Zaslow from New York, who in 2002 sional article in the West on Chernyak- posted on the Internet a family genealogy hovsky, was published in 2004 in the site, in which it was claimed that Ivan Da- WWII History Journal by the Jewish- nilovich Chernyakhovsky was a brother American military historian Steven Os- of her great grandmother Raisel.23 sad.22 Ossad's summary is: ‘Russia's In a quite recent book about the war,

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Belorussia, Lithuania and Eastern Prussia, and his premature death. His family and childhood were usually described, if at all, in very general terms due to the lack of available information. Though it is impos- sible to mention all of those publications we'll try, anyhow, to present a brief review of what was published in the former USSR about his family and young days. Actually the late 1960’s and early 1970’s were the years during which in- terest in Chernyakhovsky reawakened in the Soviet Union. This, in a way, became part of a general campaign, encouraged by the state, of glorifying the exploit of Soviet people during World War II. In a comparatively short period, several Commander's douther Neonila Ivanivna. Moscow. publications devoted to the heroic life March, 2005. Photo by Oleksandr Phyl. of General Chernyakhovsky appeared. Sean M. McAteer's 500 Days; The War in A short biography, written by S. Dri- Eastern Europe, 1944–1945, Chernyak- go,25 was published in 1964 in the city hovsky is still considered Jewish - one of Kaliningrad and, since 1966, several finds in it the following about him: ‘This short articles dedicated to him appeared rare Jewish general in an army tinged in the local Chernyakhovsk youth jour- with anti-Semitism was the first of the nal Kommunist as well as in other lo- new generation of Soviet generals not to cal newspapers twice a year around the have fought in the civil war.’ 24 dates of his birth (June 29th) and his Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky, death (February 18th). among other legendary army command- Chernyakhovsky's first full-size biog- ers and heroes of war, became after the raphy was published in 1969 – this was war the subject of both semi-scientific Lieutenant-General P.G. Kuznetsov's and popular publications. Many news- bookGeneral Chernyakhovsky.26 Two paper articles containing elements of his more books on Chernyakhovsky followed biography appeared immediately after his in 1971: Kisilev's: Youth and maturity of death. After the war more serious biogra- a commander, and Colonel Sharipov's phies were published. The main emphasis Chernyakhovsky, a story about a com- in practically all of them was on his ex- mander.27 clusive military career, the battles he won, Needless to say, none of these publica- his role in overthrowing Nazi troops from tions regarded the Chernyakhovsky fami-

Воєнно-історичний вісник 2(36) / 2020 99 ДО 75-РІЧЧЯ ПЕРЕМОГИ НАД НАЦИЗМОМ ly as being Jewish. We will try to compare year in search of work in the villages and and discuss the relevant parts of these towns of the . When the Soviet re- publications in the sequel. At the moment gime established itself, Ivan came back to we would like only to remark, that from Verbovo. Friends of his father arranged for all of these publications, Sharipov's was him work as a locksmith assistant in the chosen as the officially adopted biogra- Vapnyarka train station. Here he entered phy, which later became the source of the Komsomol and after some time be- different secondary publications. It was came the leader of the Komsomol cell in translated and published in Moscow for his village. After a while Chernyakhovsky propagation abroad, first into Spanish in went to Novorosisk. He worked as a coop- 1978, and later into English in 1980.28 er in the local cement factory Proletar. Already, these early biographies tell To this brief biographic report, and two different stories about Ivan Da- the description of the miserable life of nilovich's childhood. These stories differ the poor family in the civil-war stricken mainly in his birth date and birthplace Ukraine, Drigo adds a heroic story about and in his father's occupations. a night ambush on a troop of White-Pol- Story no.1, as told by Drigo, states: ish cavalry troop by the village young- Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky was sters led by young Ivan Danilovich, in born on June 29th in the village of Ok- which Ivan's group managed to surprise sanino, which is near to the city of Uman and scare the Polish soldiers and cause in the Ukraine. His father worked as a them to run away. switchman in the railway [ … ]. Ivan was On the other hand, General P.G. only eight years old when the imperialistic Kuznetsov's biography of Chernyak- war broke out and the father was taken to hovsky tells quite a different story. May- the front to defend ‘Father Tsar’. After a be because Kuznetsov didn't want to year, the father came back, wounded and present the controversial details about crippled. For a long time he could not find Chernyakhovsky's early biography in the work in Oksanino, and the family moved opening chapter, the reader is acquaint- to the village of Verbovo, nowadays in the ed with them only later, where they are Vinnitsa district. There the father hardly presented as Chernyakhovsky's feverish managed to find a job, with little money, as daydreams while being hospitalized in a horse-man with the local estate owner [ September 1941: … ]. In spring 1919 both parents of Chern- In his insomnia and high fever, he day- yakhovsky died, at the same time, from the dreamt about his homeland, near the heart typhus plague which spread in the neigh- of the Ukraine, the long sorrow of his par- borhood. The orphaned family was taken ents’ life, his youth-friends and his army care of by the neighbors. Ivan did not live experiences. Long ago, the early child- for long with the alien people. In order hood, can it be forgotten?! He was born in not to be of a burden, he roamed for a full 29 June 1907 in the village of Oksanino,

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Uman sub-district of Kiev district, in the gether with his elder brother Mikhail. In family of a landless agricultural worker. order to be admitted he missed a year, he Through the smoke of time stood his fa- had to change his birth year from 1907 ther's image – Danila Chernyakhovsky, to 1906. Since then, in all documents, he tall, broad-shouldered, with long shiny was considered to be older by one year. moustache with down-bent ends in the Mikhail volunteered to the Red Army in Cossack way. Next to the father – the 1923. In the same year, Ivan moved to mother, Maria Lyudovikhovna, a dark, Novorossiysk.29 black-eyed beauty, very quiet and effec- Though the book of A. Kisilev is titled tive in the household works. And, around Youth and Maturity of a Commander only the parents, all the bunch of children – the first six pages of it deal with Chern- two brothers and three sisters and him, yakhovsky's childhood and youth, and the fourth in the line, jolly and agile Sta- most of the text in these pages describes sik, thus he was nicknamed in childhood. the general situation in the Ukraine and The father worked as a stable man with the region at that time. While Drigo and Master Novinsky and sustained his large Kuznetzov do not refer to any document family with his meager pay. They lived in or evidence concerning Chernyakhovs- misery, hardly satisfying their hunger. ky's childhood, Kisilev mentions some In 1914, Master Novinsky bought a autobiographic report written by Chern- new estate for himself in the village Ver- yakhovsky, but cites only one sentence bovo, and moved there his permanet crew. from it. In his description of the contro- Together with the Master, moved also the versial biographic details, Kisilev agrees master's stable man, with his family. In with Drigo, though without stating explic- Verbovo passed Ivan's adolescence and itly the birth date or the birthplace. Yet, it youth. In autumn 1915, when he was al- does contain new, somewhat delicate, in- ready eight, he went to study at the Vapn- formation about Danilo's job in Verbovo. yarka railway school. His studies were … in August 1914 … Danila severed in the terrible year of 1919. In the Nikolayevich Chernyakhovsky – a country raged the civil war and spread the switchman at the Uman station in the typhus plague. In the spring, the father Kiev line … was called to go and fight for and mother died from the typhus, leav- the ‘Father Tsar’, and left the wife Ma- ing six uncared for orphans. A hard life ria Lyudvigovna with the bunch of little began for the twelve year old youngster children … in one of the battles he got Vanya Chernyakhovsky. For a piece of concussion. He was taken to hospital and bread he herded other people's cows, be- was found later to be unfit for further ser- came a hired worker for rich farmers, and vice. He returned to his homeland in au- worked in the railway in repair-works and tumn 1915. His former work position as as a locksmith assistant. a switchman was occupied. In search of In 1922 he entered the Komsomol’ to- work [ … ] he arrived at Vapnyarka sta-

Воєнно-історичний вісник 2(36) / 2020 101 ДО 75-РІЧЧЯ ПЕРЕМОГИ НАД НАЦИЗМОМ tion, but also there he couldn't get a job in Sharipov's book dealing with Chernyak- the railway in his specialty. He had to hire hovsky's childhood does not cite or refer himself to a landlord whose estate was in to any document. It stays ‘politically cor- the vicinity, in the village of Verbovo [ … rect’ as much as possible, leaving some ]. At first he worked as a stable-man, and vagueness concerning the points in which later as an ekonom. former books disagree. Thus, the 1971 An ekonom is a housekeeper or farm book did not explicitly state Ivan's birth manager. In the Soviet regime, such a po- date, though one can deduce from the text sition was not considered to be a genuine that he was born in the summer of 1906 workman's job, and those holding it were (interestingly, the more recent editions of suspected of being allied with the land- the book switched to the 1907 version). owners. It is no wonder that this ‘blot’ on The only reference to the family's history Chernyakhovsky's social background was before coming to Verbovo is a story, told not mentioned in most early publications. by a mother to a son, trying to attribute This may be the reason why Sharipov's the non-Ukrainian-sounding family name version of Chernyakhovsky's biogra- Chernyakhovsky and Ivan's nickname phy, which was considered ‘official’ by Yasik, to landlords’ whims (this ridicu- the Soviet regime30 , begins with a fan- lous story is not found in the recent Inter- tastic children's story ‘clearing’ Danila net version of Sharipov's book). Chernyakhovsky from the charge of co- Thus, the published material about operating with the upper class: In March Chernyakhovsky in the second half of the 1919, a Petlyura band arrives at Verbovo 20th century did not reveal much about and breaks into Danila's house, blaming his parents and his childhood years, and him for distributing the master's horses even in those rare bits of information it among the peasants, and going to kill was not possible to distinguish fact from him when he refuses to return the horses. fiction, since they did not cite or refer to The villagers, alarmed by 13-year-old documented evidence. Ivan and his friends, save Danila at the The new wave of interest in Chern- last moment. As for Danila's position yakhovsky in post-Soviet Russia and the as a manager in Novinsky's estate, it is Ukraine began in 2005, with a publica- mentioned only later in the book, as a tion of the Central Archive of the Minis- slander brought against Chernyakhovsky try of Defense (TsAMO) of the Russian in the 1937 purge period, without an ex- Federation.31 This publication consisted plicit denial of it. According to the book, of a three-page introductory short biog- Ivan Danilovich was cleared from that raphy written by I. D. Baranovoi, and a charge due to the personal intervention selection of seven documents from his of Lenin's sister. personal file. Although claiming to be based on ar- In the opening section of the introduc- chive documents, the 20-page chapter of tory biography we find: ‘He was born in

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1906 in the village Oksanino in the Uman village Okasanino, formerly in Uman district of Kiev region (now Cherkassy region, to the family of the peasant Ka- region) in a farmers’ family (according to linovsky. My father, like I.D. Chernyak- some biographies – a family of a railway hovsky's father, worked in the Novinsky worker. It is evident that the railway was estate. They were peasants who did not the later workplace of the father of I.D. have land of their own and they worked Chernyakhovsky)’. at the estate for wages. The wages includ- Document No.1 ed also the huts where we lived. These This Record of the reminiscences of huts, as accounted by the estate owner, I.D. Chenyakhovsky and the villagers were Master Novinsky's property … I.D. from the village Verbovo in the Vinnitsa Chernyakhovsky's father – Danko Chern- district told to O.T. Ivanova, colleague of yakhovsky, as he was called by the peas- the Central Museum of the Red Army, be- ants in Oksanino village, was in care of gins with: the horses of Master Novinsky. He liked Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky was animals very much and was considered born in July 1907 in the village Oksanino by our villagers as a veterinary. Tall, of the Uman district (uezd) of the Kievgu- broad shouldered, with reddish hair and bernia. In the extract from the 1907 church long shining moustaches – so was Danko registration (metrical) book it is written Chernyakhovsky. The mother was dark, about Ivan Danilovich's parents: ‘peasant with black eyes - one can say, even, a Danila Nikolayev Chernyakhovsky and beautiful woman, very quiet and clever. his legal wife Maria Lyudvigovna, both I remember that their house was always Pravoslav (Russian Orthodox), from the very clean … .33 village Bagva of the Tarashcha uezd. This comment does not give any ex- The contradiction between the birth planation or reference to the different date cited from the birth certificate, July birth date. It goes on with the story of the 1907, and the ‘official’ birth date, June Chernyakhovsky family in Verbovo: ‘In 1906, adopted by Baranavoi, is settled in the year 1914, the family moved to the the archive by a comment to Ivanova's re- village Verbovo in the Vinnitsa district. port, which also adds more information Master Novinsky bought the Verbovo about Chernyakhovsky's childhood and estate from Master Perlovsky. In 1914 family background: Novinsky himself moved there, and with The birth date is mistaken. him his stable-man Danila and his wife I.D.Chernyakhovsky was born on 16 Maria Chernyakhovsky.’ June 1906.32 About that period in the life A comment in the archive publication of the Chernyakhovsky's there are kept adds: reminiscences of Oksanino villager P.M. This part was complemented by the Desyatnik, who wrote to O.T. Ivanova on memories of E.D. Olshanskaya, who 23 September 1949: ‘’I was born in the wrote on the other side of the page: ’In

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1914 our family moved to Verbovo. Fa- forsook the thoughts about studies. Part ther worked there as the stable man, later of his salary he used to pay the teacher as an ekonom. For a while, when we were from whom he took lessons in the Ver- still living near Uman, father worked in bovo village. the railway. In 1914, soon after we moved In his childhood Vanya distinguished – the four of us, two sisters and two broth- himself by his earnestness, but he did ers, I.D. Chernyakhovsky included, went like loud merry games, especially war to the Vapnyarka Railway School. games. Such an episode from his child- The document continues, ‘1919 was hood is mentioned. In 1920, a company a terrible year for the Chernyakhovskys. of mounted white-Polish soldiers arrived In the same year both father and mother intending to park in Vapnyarka. Vanya died. There were left six children. The Chernyakhovsky grouped his age-peers eldest were Elena Danilovna and Anisia from the village Verbovo, cowherds like Danilovna – Ivan Danilovich Chernyak- him, to whom he supplied trophy obrez- hovsky's sisters, on whom fell all the bur- kas (shortened rifles) which were always den of raising the children and maintain- abundant in the Ukrainian villages, and ing the family.’ positioned them in the forest near the Another comment adds to that: road through which the company had to The tragedy of the Chernyakhovsky pass. When the company approached, the family is remembered by Verbovo villag- children opened fire simultaneously at er G.G. Bogarchuk in 19 September 1948: them. The Poles thought it was a serious ‘When the revolution arrived, the Master's ambush, and ran away from Vapnyarka wheat was distributed among the villag- on their horses. The joy of the children ers. The Master returned to the Ukraine was boundless … and to Verbovo with the white Poles. He In 1921, Vanya Chernyakhovsky ap- fired Danilo34 from work since he partici- pears as one of the first organizers of the pated in the wheat distribution. In 1919 he Komsomol cell in Verbovo village [ … [and his wife] died of typhus. 35 ] The dire material situation of the fam- And the document goes on: ily drove Ivan Danilovich in 1924 to go The Chernyakhovsky family was very to Novorossiysk city to look for work. needy in those years’ – told the villagers Chernyakhovsky began to work at the of Verbovo. When the father and mother Novorossiysk cement factory Proletar… . were still alive, Ivan Chernyakhovsky be- In document No. 2 of the Archive gan to study at the Vapnyarka School. But publication, Reminiscences of Anton when father and mother were not there Stepanovich Doob, present Director of anymore, he stopped going to school. In the I.D. Chernyakhiovsky Railway Club order to facilitate the family's situation, of Vapnyarka (Ivan Danilovich's broth- he worked as a cowherd in the summer, er-in-law), we find some stories about gaining thus their living. But he never the young Chernyakhovsky, including a

104 Воєнно-історичний вісник 2(36) / 2020 ДО 75-РІЧЧЯ ПЕРЕМОГИ НАД НАЦИЗМОМ humbler version of the ambush story, in for the quoted excerpt from the registra- which Ivan only ‘plans’ such an ambush tion book.36 in case the Petlyura people would come, In the same year, 2005, appeared also but there is no additional information Aleksander Sukharev's Legendary Chern- about Ivan's early history. yakhovsky, a collection of sources about The other five released archive docu- the general.37 , also appeared. Its fourth ments are: chapter, From the Personnel file of I.D. • Document No. 3: Memoirs of Major- Chernyakhovsky, is subtitled by archive General A.A. Pushkus, head of the chair and museum material, and includes part for tactics in the Armored Forces Acad- of the TsAMO (Central Archives of the emy (6 Jan. 1949). Ministry of Defense), Document No. 2. • Document No. 4: Memoirs of Lieu- Strangely enough, it does not contain tenant-Colonel V.E. Chelombitko, who Document No. 1 or any reference to it. On served as a commissar in 27th Tank Regi- the other hand, it contains photographs of ment prior to the 1941 Barbarossa inva- Ivan's parents which fit the description sion (12 Jan. 1949). given there, and, most important – sever- • Document No. 5: Record of a meet- al photocopied documents, among them ing of P.E. Novokhatsky with Captain a personal form submitted by Chernyak- L.S. Tserlevsky, who was deputy com- hovsky on 13 March 1939, with a hand- mander of the Political Department of 1st written short autobiography, probably the Regiment, 177th Brigade, of 60th Army same autobiography mentioned by Kisi- (23 Aug. 1948). lev. This was the first time that it was pub- • Document No. 6: Record of a meet- lished. Yet, Sukharev was quite cautious ing of P.E. Novokhatsky with V.I. Kole- – the pictures and photocopied docu- snik, born in 1922 in Verbovo, who re- ments are not listed in the contents of the membered seeing Chernyakhovsky in book, the sources of the documents are 1937 when Ivan came to the village on not given, and the autobiography is pre- vacation, but had a brief meeting with sented in Chernyakhovsky's handwriting. him only in 1944 (5 Sept. 1948). The reason for the reluctance to display • Document No. 7: Record of a meeting the document more openly was, prob- of O.T. Ivanova with Major-General S.B. ably, the damage that some of the follow- Kazbintsev, who was chief the Political ing relevant excerpts from the biography Directorate of the 3rd Belorussian Front, could cause to the immaculate image of telling about Chernyakhovsky's death (29 the ideal commander: June 1949). I was born in the year 1906 in the city This was the first and only time that an of Uman, in Kiev district. Father, Da- official document was cited to prove that niil38 Nikolayevich, worked until 1914 Ivan Danilovich's family was not Jewish, in the railway as a switchman. In 1914 though there was no archival reference father was taken to the front, and after

Воєнно-історичний вісник 2(36) / 2020 105 ДО 75-РІЧЧЯ ПЕРЕМОГИ НАД НАЦИЗМОМ head injury at the end of 1915 returned Other relevant details in that form are from the front to Vapnyarka station in that Chernyakhovsky declares his nation- Tomashpol uezd of Podolsk region, be- ality and his mother tongue as Ukrainian, gan to work in Novinsky's estate – first and that he was homeless in Vapnyarka as a stable-man and later as an ekonom, from October 1919 to May 1920. Indeed, and moved there the whole family. After in the form he filled in March 1936 for re- the October revolution father became a placing his old party card (no. 1094205) farmer in Verbovo village – he received by a new one (no. 1011604), where asked land and practiced agriculture until April for the father's occupation until 1917, Ivan 1919. Mother was always a housekeep- Danilovich wrote: ‘Until 1914, in the rail- er. In April 1919 father and mother died way, switchman. From 1915 to 1917 in from the typhus plague and were buried Novinsky estate in Verbovo village, To- in Verbovo. After the death of the par- mashpol sub-district of Podolsk district, a ents we remained a family of six. Today senior worker’, without explicitly speci- I have, from the close family: a sister fying his father's job as a farm-manager. Anastasia – a candidate to the Bolshe- In a later form, from 1944, he wrote that vik Communist Party, married to an ar- in 1937 he was reprimanded for conceal- tillery officer, a sister Anisia – working ing the fact that his father served as an at the Kolkhoz (collective farm) of Ver- ekonom for two years (which does not bovo village, a sister Elena – married to leave long time for the former job of a a state employee and living in the Vapn- stable-man in Verbovo …) These forms, yarka station of the South-West railway, as well as the 1939 form and biography, a brother Aleksander – trainee in the were found by B. Morozov in the Russian 49th cavalry regiment, now working in State Archive of Social-Political History. the NKVD (People's Commissariat of Thus, Chernyakhovsky's biographers Inner Affairs) organization in the city had to make a difficult choice between of Novorossiysk. I have no other adult two stories – two different birth dates, person in the close family … From 1915 two different birthplaces, and the differ- to 1919 I studied in Vapnyarka railway ent jobs of father Danila. While for the station elementary school … In 1937 I birth date it seemed to be too late, since had a party punishment – a reprimand – the ‘official’ birth date had already been from the Party Committee of 8th Mech- set as 29 June 1906; they had a somewhat anized Brigade, for not telling, at the wider choice for the location and the fa- time of the elections to the party insti- ther's employment. tutions, about the judicial inquiry in the With the publication of the TsAMO Academy for false writing of my social documents in 2005, a new wave of bi- origin. The reprimand was removed on ographies of Chernyakhovsky began. In 9 May 1938 by the Party Committee of that year, the above-mentioned book by 8th Mechanized Brigade … . Sukharev appeared. In Chernyakhovsk

106 Воєнно-історичний вісник 2(36) / 2020 ДО 75-РІЧЧЯ ПЕРЕМОГИ НАД НАЦИЗМОМ city, Igor and Galina Erofeev published a work he arrived at the village of Verbovo youth-oriented booklet on Chernyakhovs- in the Tomashpol’ district of the Podolsk ky, including a short biography based on region, where he was employed by Mas- the newly released information and oscil- ter Novinsky, first as a stable-man, and lating between the two birth dates.39 That later as an ekonom. After a short time in same year, Oleksandr Phil’ published, Verbovo, Danilo Mikolaevich moved his in Ukrainian, his thesis titled: From the whole family there as well. Following the Wandering Stick to the Marshal Scepter.40 October revolution, the father became a The little that is said in Phil's thesis about member of the village association of Ver- Ivan's childhood is the following: bovo, received a piece of land and, until Ivan Danilovich was born on 29 June April 1919, was a farmer. The mother re- 1907, but, in his autobiography from 13 mained a housewife all the time. In April March 1939, Major Chernyakhovsky, 1919 the father and mother both died of then commander of the 9th Light Tank typhus, and were buried in Verbovo.42 Regiment, wrote that he was born in 1906. In 2006, Phil’ published a ‘popular’ The same is found in the encyclopedias version of his thesis, titled Ivan Chern- and other data sources – the birth date of yakhovsky, also in Ukrainian. We have the commander is 29 June 1906. But, as not managed to get a copy of that book, told to the author in private talks with the and the information about it comes from son of the important military leader, Gen- talks with Phil’ himself. eral O.I. Chernyakhovsky, his father was In 2006 another biography of Chern- born in 1907. According to the memories yakhovsky appeared – Vladimir Karpov's of the mother, Ivan Danilovich's widow Army General Chernyakhosky.43 Karpov Anastasia Grigor'evna, he added a year in went a step further than Sukharev, and order to be admitted to the Odessa Infan- published the autobiography at the begin- try School. The same version is confirmed ning of Chernyakhovsky's biography, ful- also by Dr. F.D. Sverdlov in his book The ly legible – not as a photocopy of a hand- Unknown about Soviet Commanders.41 written document, but as a part of the text. The would-be commander was born to After a few opening words, he says: ‘I de- the family of Danil Mikolaevich and Ma- cided to present before the reader in the ria Lyudovigivna Chernyakhovsky, who beginning of the book, as an introduction lived at that time in the village of Oksani- to Chernyakhovsky (which is necessary, no in the Uman district of the Kiev region. of course), the ‘autobiography’ written by The father worked in the Uman railway him, assuming that this is the most true station. In 1914, when the First World and original document.’ War broke out and Ivan was eight years Yet, maybe for balance, he adds, almost old, his father went to the front. After suf- word for word, Sharipov's fantastic chil- fering a concussion at the end of 1915, the dren's story about the Petlyura band on its father returned from the front. In search of way to kill Ivan's father. Karpov dared to

Воєнно-історичний вісник 2(36) / 2020 107 ДО 75-РІЧЧЯ ПЕРЕМОГИ НАД НАЦИЗМОМ uncover another ‘unpleasant’ story about autobiographical report? Or are there still Chernyakhovsky: How he had had a nar- other skeletons in the closet? row escape from the autumn 1941 purg- As early as the 1980s and, especially, ing of the high commanders ‘responsible’ with the disintegration of the Soviet Un- for the defeat in the summer of 1941.44 ion in the 1990s, several Jewish histo- The most recent Chernyakhovsky bi- rians from the former Soviet Union set ography is Vladimir Daines’ General themselves the task of researching and Chernyakhovsky, Genius of Defense and making known to the public the signifi- Attack.45 Daines adopted the TsAMO cant role of the Soviet Jews in World War documents’ version, including the birth II. They took advantage of the ‘Glasnost’ dates and birthplace (according to him, that enabled some access which had been Ivan Danilovich changed his birth date formerly denied, to state and army ar- in order to be admitted to work in the chives. With this new wave of research, Vapnyarka station). Daines added some the problem of Chernyakhovsky's ethnic- of Sharipov's stories, copied almost ex- ity rose again. Due to lack of conclusive actly, including the investigation of the supporting documentation, most of those 1937 purges (which are, of course, now historians did not count Chernyakhovsky put in quite a different light), as well as among the Jewish war heroes. In partic- Karpov's story about Chernyakhovsky's ular, his name does not appear in Fedor critical situation of September 1941. Sverdlov's ‘canonical’ book Jewish Gen- All of the above-mentioned biogra- erals in the Soviet Army in Second World phies, with the exception of Phil's the- War. 46 Yet, the claims to Chernyakhovs- sis, are written in a literary style, with no ky's Jewishness continued to be raised references and no discussion of the con- among Russian-speaking Jewish commu- tradicting pieces of information. In fact, nities of the former Soviet Union, Israel the biographers add to the confusion. A and the United States. striking example is the different names of Thus, in the 31 January 2002 issue of Ivan's sisters mentioned in the different Evreiskii Kamerton, Tsvi Raz (Grigory documents and biographies. Thus, none Rozinsky) wrote that he had met the Be- of the ten existing biographies, including lorussian historian Feliks Gorelik, who Phil's thesis, provides a reliable history passed on to him ‘incontestable data about of Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky's Chernyakhovsky's parents.’ F. Gorelik family background and his childhood and was convinced that Chernyakhovsky's youth. It seems rather strange that, even Jewish parents came to their son's funeral in post-Soviet time, the early life story of in Vilna … Raz claimed that he himself one of the greatest Soviet war heroes was had visited the city of Gomel in Belorus- left in the dark until today. Is this only sia, where he met a Jewish woman named because of the unpleasant fact that Ivan Chernyakhovsky who worked in one of Danilovich did not stick to the truth in his the local hospitals as a doctor or a nurse,

108 Воєнно-історичний вісник 2(36) / 2020 ДО 75-РІЧЧЯ ПЕРЕМОГИ НАД НАЦИЗМОМ and she represented herself as a sister of hovsky family connection, and vaguely the general. Raz wrote also that he was remembers the famous general being told by the Jewish researcher Professor mentioned once), it turned into trying to Ster Elisavetsky from Kiev, who visited solve a ‘national’ dilemma. Israel, that long before that, he had vis- An extensive Internet and telephone ited Chernyakhovsky's birth village in the search revealed two more families with Uman district, where he heard from the alleged family connections to the general. villagers that Chernyakhovsky was born The Smoler family in the United States to a Jewish family.47 Almost the same has a family tradition, according to which story was brought as a counter-argument their great-grandmother Eva Smoler, born by Igor Akselrod in the Evreiskii Mir site Chernyakhovsky, was a sister, or a cous- – according to Akselrod, Elisavetsky met in, of Ivan Danilovich. After obtaining Chernyakhovsky's sister and looked at all her death certificate, we learned that she the preserved documents, but could not was born in 1880 in Radomysl’, and that find the smallest ‘hook’.48 her father's name was Avrum. The family In the 26 March 2002 issue of the same could not recall or find any other informa- magazine, Evreiskii Kamerton, Profes- tion about the alleged family relationship. sor Aron Chernyak published an article The members of the Chernyakhovsky named:The Riddle of General Yona Da- family in Holon, Israel, were more spe- vidovich Chernyakhovsky,49 based on cific about such a family relationship. the writings of Tsvi Raz and Salo Baron. Grandfather Isaak Yakovlevich Chern- As further supporting evidence, Chern- yakhovsky, himself a former officer in yak cites Il'ya Ehrenburg's People, Years, the Soviet Army, told them that Ivan Da- Life, where Chernyakhovsky is quoted as nilovich was his cousin, and that Ivan's telling Ehrenburg: ‘… in Uman, an old Jewish name was Isaak Davidovich. He man told me some time, that King Da- even sent his daughter Zhanna in 1960 to vid wrote psalms and offered them to the visit the general's widow in her nice Mos- frogs to quack with him …’.50 cow apartment where she was welcomed It turned out that the question of by Anastasia Grigor'evna. Unfortunately, Chernyakhovsky's ethnicity has a practi- both Zhanna and her brother, Vladimir, cal significance in Israel: Is he, as Israeli passed away a few years ago, but the re- historian Mikhael Har-Sgor wrote, ‘the maining family, including Zhanna's wid- most senior Jewish military leader in ower and her cousins in the United States, Jewish history’? Should he, or shouldn't remember the story. From Major Isaak's he, be memorialized in the newly estab- Yakovlevich Chernyakhovsky's army lished Museum of the Jewish Warrior in dossier, Aleksander Maslov managed to World War II? Thus, while the present learn that Isaak was born in 1907 in the research was initiated by personal cu- small village of Likhachikha, in the Be- riosity (Dan Amir has some Chernyak- laya Tserkov area.

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The family immigrated to Israel in ered this document and published it in his 1991 from the city of Vladikavkaz, and ‘popular’ book53 . This was the stenogram that city is probably the place where of a meeting with Anastasia Grigor'evna Mark Petrushansky, a local Jewish leader, Chernyakhovsky, written down on 29 heard about the alleged family relation- November 1949 by P.E. Novokhatsky, a ship and included it in his 2009 book junior co-worker of the Ukrainian Acad- From the Tribe of the Maccabees.51 Isaak emy of Sciences of the Soviet Union54 . Yakovlevich had three sisters, and may- The section of the document relevant to be it was one, or more, of them, whom our discussion is the following: Raz Elisavetsky and the others mention I know that Ivan Danilovich's child- (it must be remembered that in Russian, hood was not too good. His father and ‘brother’ or ‘sister’ may mean, sometimes, mother did not live well one with the just cousin, and ‘cousin’ may be what we other. The children were afraid of the fa- call ‘second cousin’, etc.). A similar ‘first ther, and the mother was sad and good- source information’ may have enabled The looking. Ivan Danilovich lost his parents Jewish Ukrainian community leader Il'ya when he was twelve. Both of them died at Levitas to be so adamant about Ivan Da- the same time from the typhus plague and nilovich Chernyakhovsky's Jewishness in were buried on the same day. When the his 2007 Jewish Military Encyclopedia.52 parents died, the children scattered each Thus, taking on the one hand the to his direction. The eldest sister married many existing rumors and speculations at the age of 18 and took with her the best regarding Chernyakhovsky's Jewish or- of the property. The younger sister, Misia, igin, though none of them was solidly married before she was 16, and took with confirmed, and, on the other hand, the her the younger brother Sasha, who was two suspiciously contradicting Soviet one or two years old at that time. Ivan Da- documents and lack of direct documen- nilovich's brother, Misha, left. He became tal evidence (no archival references to a Komsomol member. the extract from the church registration Ivan Danilovich went to rover in the book of the birth of Ivan Danilovich world and was cast into a band of vaga- Chernyakhovsky and no copy of the bond children. This was shortly after his document), it was necessary to search parents died. He stayed with them a full for other documents. year. I remember that he told how they These documents were indeed found. were severely beaten when they slept One of them was found in the Central State in a church somewhere around Vapn- Archives of the Supreme Bodies of Pow- yarka. They caught them, set benches, er and Government of the Ukraine (Ts- laid them over the benches and spanked DAVO Ukraini). After A. Maslov found them so harshly, that white scars showed that document, we learned from Olek- on the belts. After that Ivan Danilovich sandr Phil’ that he had already discov- ran away to another city and arrived at

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Vapnyarka station, where Yas Tsishko- from them … He did not like to tell about vsky's father worked as a locomotive the family. The eldest sister he saw later mechanic. only once …55 Ivan Danilovich told that he was very The fact that two other interviews re- hungry. He grabbed a bottle of milk from ported by the same Novokhatsky, were a milkman who stood there, and ran away. included in the Central Archive's publica- The milkman ran after him, caught him tion, while this document, which reveals and hit his head with the bottle with such much more about Chernyakhovsky's per- violence that his crane broke. That blow sonality, was not, speaks for itself. It is left a scar in his temple. Ivan Danilovich quite obvious why this document was not fell down and lost conscience. He was brought to the public knowledge – it was taken and brought to hospital. The wound extremely politically incorrect and could did not heal for a long time, it even got ruin the idyllic picture of the loving fam- worms. When he came out of the hospital ily and the iron-willed young hero. It also he was very exhausted. He began to think: explains the scarcity of reliable informa- I'll better fall under the train wheels. He tion about Ivan Danilovich's childhood – lied down on the rails. At the same time whether it was he himself who refused to the locomotive driven by Tsishkovsky contribute such information, or it was his maneuvered on the same track. Tsishko- sisters and widow who hid it. Anyhow, it vsky stopped the locomotive on a side is clear that the authorities were willing track. He saw a boy lying on the rails, to cooperate in concealing that part of his came to Ivan Danilovich, warmed him biography. Were there more skeletons in and took him to his place. the closet, even his ethnic origin? In order Ivan Danilovich recovered at the to learn more about that question, we had Tsishkovsky's family (he fell ill again – to search for documentation of the family the wound was infected). When he was in the relevant archives of the Ukraine. healthy again, Yas Tsishkovsky's father In order to find proof of the ethnicity taught him the locksmith trade, and he of Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky and began to work as a locksmith. Then he his family, a special search was conducted herded cows. He also entered the Komso- by Boris Morozov in various Ukrainian mol, and the Komsomol cell sent him to archives. This search produced some re- Novorossiysk. He went there intending to sults. In the State Archive of Kiev Region live with his sister, but she could not take (Kiev) he found the collection of docu- him in, since they did not live in pros- ments (fond) 384, containing the ques- perity. Her husband was a sailor, always tionnaires of the First General Census of out of home. He was a difficult man. The Population of the , which younger brother Sasha lived with them, was conducted in 189756 , dealing with the sailed with his brother-in-law in the ship population of the Kiev gubernia (region). in the furnace room and later ran away In this collection he found the file of the

Воєнно-історичний вісник 2(36) / 2020 111 ДО 75-РІЧЧЯ ПЕРЕМОГИ НАД НАЦИЗМОМ documents of the village Bagva of the his native tongue, was illiterate, and was Tarashcha District (Part 3), and Lists 133– registered as ‘civil guardsman of the 2nd 134 of this file are devoted to the family of class’ for the military service. Nikolai Lukyanov Chernyakhovsky, the A further check in the Kiev Regional grandfather of Ivan Danilovich.57 Archive produced no positive results, be- The front page (List 133) and the back cause the documents of the Uman district page of the questionnaire (List 134-re- (where Oksanino was located), as well as verse) contained the printed instructions the church metrical books for the village for the census workers, explaining how Bagva, were kept elsewhere. Finally the to fill in the form (Table 1). The form remaining documents were found in the had a number (64) and it was marked in city of Cherkassy. handwriting that the census was provided In the State Archive of Cherkassy Re- by ‘Census Station No.9, Counting Sta- gion (Cherkassy), in the collection (fond) tion No.6, Camp or Police Station No.2’. of metrical church books of the region, On the same page, in the box ‘type of in- we found the church metrical books of habitance’ it is written ‘private mansion’ the villages Teterovka59 and Bagva of the and ‘Nikolai Lukyanov Chernyakhovs- Tarashcha district for 1889–1901, 1903– ky, owner of his own house’. In the box 1905,60 and for 1906–1915, 1917–1919, ‘number of estates in this inhabitance’ it and 1922–1923.61 A thorough check was written ‘1’ and in the box describing of the files until 1908, including huge the house it was written ‘wooden peas- books where the local priests registered ant's house, straw thatched’. The box in handwriting all family events (births, ‘count of the population on the day of weddings, and deaths) of the citizens, the census’ was filled: ‘all available pop- disclosed several writings regarding the ulation: male - 4, female - 4’. The box Chernyakhovsky family. In Part 2 (regis- ‘population permanently living here’ was tering marriages), in the 1900 records, we filled: ‘male - 4, female - 4’. found the first writing (Table 2).62 TABLE 1 List 133–Reverse TABLE 2 From the 1900 Marriage Lists 133-reverse and 13458 contain the Registrations in the Teterovka Church following table (Table 1): Metrical Book From this particular document, we can This document reveals that the peas- easily see that Chernyakhovsky Daniil ant of Bagva, Daniil Chernyakhovsky, Nikolayev (old form of patronymic), the Russian Orthodox, 27 years old, on 29 son of Nikolai Lukyanov Chernyakhovsky May 1900 married the peasant of village and future father of Ivan, was, in 1897, 23 Bagva, Maria Lyudvigova Belinskaya, years old, still single, lived and worked to- Russian Orthodox, age 21. The sacra- gether with his parents, was Pravoslavnyi ment was done by the local parish priest (Russian Orthodox) like his whole family, – Pavel Matushevich – in the presence of considered the Ukrainian language to be the guarantors.

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The next writing mentioning the Chern- where one of the parents was Russian yakhovskys was found in the same book, Orthodox and the other, Roman Catho- in Part 1, registering those who were born lic with a Polish-sounding name. This is in 1900 (Table 3).64 not very surprising when we remember TABLE 3 From the 1900 Birth Reg- that the village of Bagva previously be- istrations in the Teterovka Church longed to Polish landowners (Pototsky Metrical Book and the Cherkovsky family). However From this document we found out that the christening and birth registrations a daughter was born on 8 August 1900, were done in the Teterovka Russian Or- to the family of Daniil and Maria Chern- thodox church. yakhovsky, and that, on 13 August 1900, In the same archive were also found the she was baptized and called Anna by the church metrical books of the village Ok- same parish priest Pavel Matushevich in sanino of the Uman district.68 Unfortunate- the presence of godparents. ly, the physical condition of these metrical The last writing is found in Part 3, reg- books was not very good and many year- istering deaths during 1905 (Table 4)67 . books were missing. Anyhow, the page TABLE 4 From the 1905 Death Reg- by page search of the book for 190669 did istrations in the Teterovka Church not indicate any evidence for the birth of Metrical Book Ivan Cherniakhovsky. This could prove From this document we learned that that he was not born in Oksanino in 1906, Olga, daughter of Nikolai Chernyakhovs- but neither could we confirm that he was ky and sister of Daniil, died on 2 October born there in 1907, because the book for 1905 due to cold and was buried accord- 1907 was missing (as well as the books for ing to the Orthodox tradition at the parish 1908–1911). This raises a serious question cemetery on 3 October . regarding the authenticity of the extract Because of the limited time and since from the 1907 church registration (metri- the principal aim was to find documents cal) book document (quoted in the publi- about Ivan Danilovich Cherniakhovsky, cation of 2005). Because no one published the search was at first confined to the a copy of this extract, we may assume that years 1899–1908. Aleksander Maslov it was just quoted without any reference. later also searched the Teterevka church Otherwise we cannot explain how the metrical books from 1909 on. He found book, missing in the archive and consid- in the 1912–1913 books six records of ered to be lost during the war, was quoted. events where the Chernyakhovsky, Be- One can even speculate that the metrical linsky, Levitsky, or Yavorsky families book did not survive the civil war, and this were mentioned, but in none of those enabled the young orphan Ivan Danilovich events was Danila's close family in- to declare a false birth date. volved. It is quite interesting that three Later, Aleksander Maslov found in the of those six records were birth records same file 2611, writings about the- par

Воєнно-історичний вісник 2(36) / 2020 113 ДО 75-РІЧЧЯ ПЕРЕМОГИ НАД НАЦИЗМОМ ticipation of Danilo Nikolayevich Chern- registrations were performed at the church yakhovsky (as godfather) in baptizing a of the nearby village of Teterovka. May- boy, named Nikolai, son of the peasant be this is also the reason for the very late Andrei Nikitovich Shkolnikov from the wedding ceremony – it seems that the fam- same village Bagva of Tarashcha district ily was not that devout to rush and perform on 2 May 1906,70 and of Maria Lyudvig- a baptism or wedding ceremony until the ovna Chernyakhovskaya (as godmother) very last moment … In general, it seems of two children, one of whom – a girl that the religious practices were not strictly from Oksanino, was baptized on 4 Janu- observed by the Bagva people. This may ary 1912, and the other – a boy from the be the reason why, besides Anna, we found nearby village of Shukaivoda, on the 21st no birth records for any of the brothers and of the same month.71 sisters, and we cannot know for sure where This archival search enabled us to re- and when Ivan's brother Mikhail and his construct (at least partly) the history of the sisters (about whom the documents and Chernyakhovsky family. From the 1897 stories are very confusing) were born. As census we learned that the family of Daniil for the most intriguing question, the when Nikolayevich indeed lived in the village of and where of Ivan's birth, we can only say Bagva. The father of the family, Nikolai for sure that he wasn't registered as born Lukyanovich, was born in about 1847 in in Oksanino during 1906. The birth certifi- the nearby village of Antonovka in the cate cited by Ivanova can be interpreted to Stavishche district (which is only about tell that he was baptized and registered in 20 km from Likhachikha, Isaak Chernyak- Oksanino in July 1907, of which we still hovsky's birthplace). He married a Bagva- have no actual proof, and that his parents born wife, Anna Gordeyeva, born in about at that time were still registered in Bagva. 1851, and acquired (maybe through mar- This leaves open the question of when ex- riage) a piece of land there. They had six actly the family moved to Oksanino, and children. The eldest was Daniil, born in when they were registered there. The fact 1873 or 1874. On 29 May 1900, Daniil that they participated in baptizing children married the 21-year-old Bagva girl Maria from the families of people born in Bagva Lyudovigovna Belinskaya. Only ten weeks may indicate that there were several Bag- later she bore him a baby daughter, Anna, va people employed in Novinsky's estate who probably died in infancy (according in Oksanino. The reason for Ivan's effort to the TsAMO document, she was not in not to mention Oksanino in his autobiog- the family when they moved to Oksanino). raphy may be the same as the reason for Since the village of Bagva was a derevnia presenting his father as a railway worker [country village without a church] and not – to minimize Danila's association with the a selo[another version of country village landowner. with a church], i.e., it did not have an active Our main conclusion is that the fam- church, the corresponding ceremonies and ily was definitely registered as Russian

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Orthodox in Bagva, practiced Russian he was his first or second cousin. How- Orthodox baptisms, marriages, and fu- ever, as things stand now, while none nerals in Bagva, and continued to par- of the published documents and biogra- ticipate in such ceremonies when they phies of Ivan Danilovich tells the exact lived in Oksanino. This certainly proves story, and there are many questionable that Daniil Chernyakhovsky's family details in them, Army-General Ivan Da- cannot be considered as Jewish.72 This nilovich Cherniakhovsky, famous mili- does not mean that all the Jewish fam- tary commander of the Soviet troops ily stories claiming family connections during World War II and twice hero of to the famous general were purely lies. the Soviet Union, cannot be considered The fact that there were Jewish officers as being of Jewish ethnicity. This should named Chernyakhovsky, and the lack probably stop still-existing speculations of reliable information about Ivan Da- and rumors, at least until any new re- nilovich, could have led Isaak Yakov- liable documents proving the opposite levich Chernyakhovsky to believe that are disclosed.

Notes

1 Correspondence among the Chairman of the Council of Ministers of the USSR and the Presidents of the United States and the Prime Ministers of Great Britain during the Great Patriotic War of 1941 – 1945, Progress, Moscow, digital reprint 2006, 416 pp. Message No. 408, p. 306. 2 Boris Gertsnov, ‘The Invisible Institute and Its Co-workers’, (in Russian), Evreiskii Kamerton, Novosti Nedele, 11 July 2002, p. 11. 3 Zeev Ben-Shlomo, ‘Kiev's Liberator Reburied in Moscow’, The Jewish Chronicle, London, 20 December 1991, p. 3. 4 Salo W. Baron, The Russian Jew under Tsars and Soviets, Macmillan, New York, 1964. 5 David Abarbanel, ‘Scourge of the Supermen’, Liberal Judaism Journal, August 1944, pp. 20–21. 6 ‘ Stage Wait’, Time Magazine 44(9), (1944). 7 ‘Kishinev Liberated’ (in Hebrew), Davar, (1944), p. 1. 8 ‘Chernyakhovsky Dies of War Wound’, New York Times, 19 February 1945, p. 8. 9 The Jewish-American writer Maurice Hindus (1891–1969), born in Belarus, served as a war cor- respondent of the New York Herald Tribune in Russia during the Second World War. 10 ‘General Ivan Chernyakhovsky’ (in Hebrew), Davar, 22 Feb. 1945, p. 2. 11 Isaac Kowalski, A Secret Press in Nazi Europe, The Story of a Jewish United Partisan Organiza- tion, Shengold Publishers, New York, 1978, p. 338. 12 Shalom Eilati, To Cross the River (in Hebrew), Karmel Publishers, Jerusalem, 1980, p. 222. 13 Dina E.G. Porat, ‘Beyond the Material – The Life-Story of Aba Kovner’, (in Hebrew), Am-Oved Publishers, Tel Aviv, 2000, p. 200. 14 Jewish Soldiers in Europe Armies (in Hebrew), Ma'arachot – IDF Publishing House, Tel Aviv, 1967.

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15 Reuben Ainsztein, ‘The War Record of Soviet Jewry’, Jewish Social Studies Journal 28 (1966), pp. 3–24. The above-mentioned quotation appears on p. 10. 16 Face to Face with the Nazi Enemy (in Hebrew), Association of Disabled Veterans of Fight against Nazism, Tel Aviv, vol. 2, 1967, p. xxiv. 17 Yekhezkel Kremerman, From Vilna, ‘Jerusalem of Lithuania’ to Haifa, (in Hebrew), Author's edi- tion, Haifa, 1975, pp. 185, 191. 18 Salo W. Baron, The Russian Jew under Tsars and Soviets, MacMillan, New York, 1976, (2nd printing), pp. 259–260. 19 Chernyakhovsky, Ivan Danilovich, Encyclopedia Judaica, Vol. 5, MacMillan Inc., New York, 1971, p. 397. 20 Chernyakhovsky, Ivan Danilovich, (in Hebrew), Judaica Lexicon, Keter House, Jerusalem, p. 278. 21 For example, on p.65 of Martin McCauley's Who's Who in Russia since 1900 Routledge, London, 1997, we find: ‘Chernyakhovsky, General Ivan Danilovich (1906–1945), most famous Jewish general in the Red Army … ’. The 2004 EnglishWikipedia entry said: ‘Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky, (Cherniak- hovsky), 1906–1945, Russian general, (promoted to field marshal), twice Hero of the Soviet Union, bril- liant commander of the 3rd Byelorussian Front, died from wounds received outside Konigsberg at the age of 39. He was the youngest Front commander in the Red Army. He was Jewish by birth.’ After the 2005 publication of documents about Chernyakhovsky from the Central Archives of the Ministry of Defense (TsAMO) of the Russian Federation the sentence about Chernyakhovsky's Jewish descent was dropped. 22 Steven L, Ossad,, ‘Russia's General Ivan D. Chernyakhovsky achieved a combat record that is virtually unknown in the West’,WWII History Journal 3 (2004), May 2004. 23 Jacqueline M. Zaslow, from New York, stated in her Genealogy Homepage (The Generations Network, 2002) that she received this information in 1992 from her great aunt, Raisel's daughter Esther Sokol. According to that information, Raisel, born 1887 in Loyev, was the third child of Moishe and Momsi Chernyakhovsky from Loyev, Ukraine (the first two being Pinchus and Sprny). Momsi was born about 1867 in Loyev, Ukraine and died of cholera during an outbreak when she went to Boslev (Boguslav) to help her daughter to give birth. There was no clarification in this family story for the long time gap between Raisel and Ivan, and more puzzling, for Ivan's patronymic name (Danilovich and not Movshovits or Moiseevich etc.). No documental proofs for the story were mentioned. Correspondence and personal meeting with the Zaslow family did not contribute any further information about the al- leged family tie to the general, and the site has been recently removed. 24 Sean M. McAteer, 500 Days: The War in Eastern Europe, 1944–1945, Dorrance Publishers, Pitts- burgh, PA, 2009, p. 100. 25 Sergei Vasil'evich Drigo, Chernyakhovsky (in Russian), Kaliningrad Book Edition, 1964. 26 Pavel Grigor'evich Kuznetsov, General Chernyakhovsky (in Russian),Voenizdat, Moscow, 1969. 27 Akram Agzamovich Sharipov, Chernyakhovsky, a Story about a Commander (in Russian), USSR Ministry of Defense Publishing House, Moscow, 1971. 28 A.A. Sharipov. Cherniajovski. Relato sobre el Estratega, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1978.;

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A.A. Sharipov, General Chernyakhvsky, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1980. 29 P.G., Kuznetsov, General Chernyakhovsky, pp. 47–49. 30 A shortened version of the first edition was published in 1978 by the youth publishing house Molodaia Gvardiia [Young Guard] - A.A. Sharipov, Chernyakhovsky (in Russian), Molodaia Gvardiia, 1978, 303 pp. and in 1980 a second edition of 100,000 copies was published. On the cover of the English translation it says: ‘General Chernyakhovsky’ is a documentary novel … The novel has a strong appeal for its veracity. None of the heroes is fictitious … ’ 31 ‘I.D. Chernyakhovsky in the recollections of his contemporaries’ (in Russian), Otechestvennye arkhivy (Fatherland Archives), 2005, no. 2, Moscow, http://www.rusarchives.ru/publication/chernya- hovskiy.shtml 32 16 June of the old Russian calendar is 29 June according to the present calendar. 33 TsMVS (Central Museum of the Armed Forces), B-4/62, ll.6–7. 34 Danilo is the Ukrainian name for the Russian Danila. 35 TsMVS (Central Museum of the Armed Forces), B-4/62, l.5. 36 This was, and until now still is, the only official statement disclosing the facts of Chernyak- hovsky's birth, but even in this quoted document there is no archival reference for the mentioned ‘church registration book’. This publication affected some of the more recent Western publications, but certainly not most of them. In Wikipedia, for example, the sentence about Chernyakhovsky's Jewish descent was dropped. 37 Aleksander Yakovlevich Sukharev, Legendary Chernyakhovsky, (in Russian), Zarnitsa, Mos- cow, 2005. 38 This is the way I.D. Chernyakhovsky spelled his father's name, but all authors use Danila (Rus- sian) or Danilo (Ukrainian). 39 Igor Erofeev and Galina Kashtanova-Erofeeva, Ivan Danilovich Chernyakhovsky, 1906 (1907) – 1945, A Short Biographic Chronicle (in Russian), Chernyakhovsk District Municipal Education Admin- istration, 2005. 40 Oleksandr Phil’, Za krok do marshalskovo zhezla (One Step to the Marshal Scepter) (in Ukrain- ian), Taras Shevchenko University, Kiev, 2005. 41 Fedor Davidovich Sverdlov, The Unknown about Soviet Commanders (in Russian), Moscow, 1995, p. 87. 42 Oleksandr Phil’, Za krok do marshalskovo zhezla, pp.10–11. 43 Vladimir Vasil'evich Karpov, Army-general Chernyakhovsky, (in Russian), Veche, Moscow, 2006 44 V, Karpov himself was arrested already in February 1941 and tried for ‘anti-Soviet agitation’, re- drafted in October to a ‘penal unit,’ where he climbed again from private to lieutenant, and became Hero of the Soviet Union, though rehabilitated only in 1956. 45 Vladimir Ottovich Daines, General Chernyakhovsky, Genius of Defence and Attack, (in Russian), Iauza, Moscow, 2007. 46 Fedor Davidovich Sverdlov, Jewish Generals in the Armed Forces of the USSR, (in Russian), Moscow (with Yad Vashem) 1993. Hebrew translation: Ma'arachot, Tel Aviv, 1996.

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47 Tsvi Raz, (in Russian), Evreiskii Kamerton, Tel Aviv, 31 January 2002. 48 Igor Akselrod, ‘To Love Jews Is Difficult, but Necessary’, (in Russian), Evreiskii Mir, 25 May 2004. 49 Aron Cherniak, ‘The Riddle of General Yona Davidovich Chernyakhovsky’, (in Russian), Evre- iskii Kamerton, Tel Aviv, 26 March 2002, p. 24. 50 Il'ia Erenburg, Liudi, Gody, Zhizn’ (People, Years, Life) (in Russian), book 5, chapter 13 (digital edition),http://militera.lib.ru/memo/russian/erenburg_eg07/index.html 51 Mark Borisovich Petrushansky, Iz Plemeni Makkaveev (From the Tribe of the Maccabees), (in Russian), Vladikavkaz Regional Center, Vladikavkaz, 2009. 52 Ilya Mikhailovich Levitas, Jewish Military Encyclopedia (in Russian), Stal’, Kiev, 2007. 53 Oleksandr Phil’, Ivan Chernyakhovski (in Ukrainian), Kiev, 2006, pp. 161–165. 54 This is the same Novokhatsky who wrote also two of the seven documents published by the Cen- tral Archive. 55 TsDAVO Ukraini, F.4620. op. 3, spr. (sprava, file in Ukrainian) 50, ark. (arkush, list in Ukrainian) 6–15. 56 According to the regulations, approved by the Decree of the Emperor on 5 June 1895. 57 State Archive of Kiev Region, fond (collection) 384, opis (list of files) 11, delo (file) 55, ll.133– 134–reverse. On the cover of the file it is written: ‘Kievskaia gubernia's Commission regarding the First General Census of Population of 1897.Census Commission of Tarashcha District. Part 3. The lists of the census of population of 1897.Village Bagva, Tarashcha district. private estates on chinshevye (quit- rent) lands. Census Station No. 9, Counting Station No. 6.’ The lists of the census of village Bagva are contained in 3 files — NN 53–55. File 53 is titled as Part 1, file 54 — Part 2 and file 55 — Part 3. Chinsh in Ukrainian (in Polish, czynsz, in German, Zins, meaning percent) is a form of quitrent, which was paid for the piece of land or house lent for a long time, used originally in . Later it brought to the special form of property based on everlasting and hereditary rent. The amount of chinsh couldn't be changed by one of the sides. Historically in the Western areas of Russian Empire there were many villages (places) built on such land. The law of 1886 guaranteed the right of people living on such lands to preserve their status and to pass it to their heirs, unchangeable amount of quit-rent as well as the right to buy these lands from former owners. 58 List 134-reverse contains the prolongation of an instruction how to fill the census list. It is very general and not very interesting. Below we just show some of the paragraphs as an example: In the para- graph devoted to religion (11) it is written: ‘Here to write the religious confession, for shortening you can write instead of pravoslavnuiu (Russian Orthodox) - ‘prav.’; edinovercheskuiu (sect dissenters from the Orthodox church) - ‘edinov.’; rimsko-katolicheskuiu (Roman Catholic) - ‘rims.kat.’;liuteranskuiu (Lutheran) - ‘liut.’; reformatskuiu (Reformist) - ‘reform.’; armiano-gregorianskuiu (Armenian-Gregori- an) - ‘arm.grig.’; iudeiskuiu (Judean) - ‘iud.’; musul'mane (Muslim) - ‘musul.’; buddisty (Buddhists) - ‘bud.’; lamaity (Lamaists) - ‘lam.’;shamanstvuiushchie (shamanism) - ‘shamast.’; etc.’ In the paragraph devoted to the mother tongue (12) it is written: ‘Here to write the language which is considered to be mother tongue. For Russian you can write letter ‘R’, for Malorossiiskii (Ukrainian) - ‘MR’, for Belorus-

118 Воєнно-історичний вісник 2(36) / 2020 ДО 75-РІЧЧЯ ПЕРЕМОГИ НАД НАЦИЗМОМ sian - BR, while for all other languages it must be written in full, for instance, - Polish, French, English, German, Jewish, Tatar, Mordovian, etc.’ 59 The church was in the village Teterovka, so the people of the village Bagva were a part of Teter- ovka's parishioners. In the church metrical books Bagva was specially marked. 60 State Archive of Cherkassy Region, fond 931, opis 1, delo 2252. 61 Ibid., fond 931, opis 2, delo 34. 62 Ibid., fond 931, opis 1, delo 2252, list 204. 63 Not completely legible — maybe also Podirchuk, Pokhidchuk etc 64 Ibid., list 193. 65 We may assume that here the priest just made a mistake because in other existing documents the wife of Daniil Cherniahovsky was mentioned as Maria Lyudvigova (see, for instance, document 4). He probably wrote the patronymic of the godmother by mistake. 66 This writing is not absolutely clear, so it can be also read as ‘Grigorii Morskoi’. 67 State Archive of Cherkassy Region, fond 931, opis 1, delo 2252, list 42. 68 Ibid., fond 931, opis 1, delo 2432 (for the period 1883–1900) and delo 2611 (for the period 1906, 1912, 1918–1919). 69 Ibid., fond 931, opis 1, delo 2611, ll. 113–142-reverse (lists for January 1906 are missing). 70 Ibid., fond 931, opis 1, delo 2611, l.122. 71 Ibid., fond 931, opis 1, delo 2611, ll.56–57. 72 The fact that the first name Avraam appears twice in the names of Danil's ‘garantors’ in his wed- ding registration — Avraam Gordeyev Podirchuk and Semion Avraamov Levitsky — does not neces- sarily suggest a Jewish connection. I It seems that in pre-revolution times there were no less non-Jewish Avraams than Jewish, and the same applies even more so to the somewhat Jewish-sounding family name Levitsky.

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8 — 1.—2.— the same the same the army the same the same the same the same the same 1.-=2. — 1. —2.— 1.—2. — 1.—2. — 1. —2. — Trade, post.B — 1. Trade, civil guardsman of 2 have to be registered works2. Opolchenets 2. razriada — Whether registered here (if here, registered to Vo [lost] Vo here, registered to 1. na podsobnyh rabotah 2. 1. na podsobnyh rabotah - accessory subsidiary work2. position in not — where?) for those who those for where?) — not 7 14 here here here here here here here town) father Volost) pri ottse pri ottse pri ottse zem.hozrab. zem. pri ottse pri ottse -with father means of subsistence together with husband (Stavishche of Stav.Vo work, subsidiary work main,which brings main podrabotka -agricultural in the village Antonovka in the village where? gubernia, district, Occupation, business, A — A Occupation, business, zem. pri ottse - farmer with Whether born here (if not —

6 — — — — — — — at home how long eto iz odno without any without any without any without any without any without any Estate, status, rank the owner of 1 house) — peasant, (odnodvorets odno , owner of one house B — where studied and for 5 P P N M 13 — — — — Nm little virgin single literate da - yes underage M - married N — net, no , P - podrostok Single, married, Nm - nemnozhko , a widower divorced. Literacy A -whether A Literacy TABLE 1 List 133–Reverse TABLE 1 5 8 4 12 14 50 23 19 46 Mr . Mr . Mr . Mr . Mr . Mr . Mr . Mr . the birth Mother tongue How many years or months passed since Ukrainian - Malorossiiskii , 3 11 Pr . Pr . Pr . Pr . Pr . Pr . Pr . son son son wife owner Religion daughter daughter daughter Russian Orthodox Pr . - Pravoslavnyi or to the family head Relation of the person to the mansion's owner 2 F F F F M M M M 10 — — — — — — — — presence F — for female) Sex (M — for male, Special remark about absence or temporary gubernia , 1 Where usually lives (if not here — district, town) 9 8. Cherniahovskaya Ekaterina Nikolayeva here 7. Chernyahovsky Nikolayev Trofim 6. Chernyakhovskaya Olga Nikolayeva 4. Chernyakhovskaia Maria Nikolayeva 5. Chernyakhovsky Ivan Nikolayev Surname, name (nickname), patronymic special a be to has (there mark in case people are blind, deaf and mute, or mad). 1. Chernyakhovsky Nikolai Lukyanov 2. Chernyakhovskaya Anna Gordeyeva 3. Chernyakhovsky Daniil Nikolayev here here here here here here here (Continued)

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tory) ______Signa-tures Signa-tures (not obliga- obligatory) of witne-sses Signatures of Signatures witnesses (not

the dead buried? At the parish cemetery Who buried and where were were Who buried and where

Yavorsky baptism? and Simeon Avraamov Avraamov and Simeon Kravchenko. 63

Parish priest — Pavel Who were guarantors Who were as psalm-reader — Kirik Matushevich, with acting Who did the sacrament of Belinsky and Grigori Ivanov of v.Bagva Avraam Gordeyev Avraam of v.Bagva Eucharist? Matushevich Levitsky; guarantors of the bride Who accepted — peasants of v.Bagva Ivan Vasyev Vasyev Ivan — peasants of v.Bagva Pokhidchuk Guarantors of the groom — peasants confession and did Parish priest — Pavel

66 death sacrament Who did the

The reason of The reason Because of cold Matushevich, with Parish priest — Pavel — Kirik Kravchenko. Morskov acting as psalm- reader of godparents 21 Age

bride Leontyeva, the wife of Grigori of the 16 The peasant of the same village dead Ivan Ivanov Matkovsky and Daria Names, patronymics, and surnames Names, patronymics, Age of the marriages Belinskaya, Russian denomination of the The peasant of v[illage] Orthodox, first marriage surname, and religious surname, and religious Bagva Maria Lyudvigova Bagva Maria Lyudvigova Rank, name, patronymic, Rank, name, patronymic, bride; number of previous of previous bride; number

dead 27 Age of the both of Russian Orthodox religion groom 65 reader Pavel Dolgosheya parents and religious belonging and religious parents Rank, name, patronymic, and surname of Rank, name, patronymic, Chernyahovsky and his legitimate wife Maria Nikolai Lukyanov Cheryiahovsky — Olga. Parish priest — Pavel Matushevich, psalm- Daughter of the peasant village Bagva The peasant of v[illage] Bagva Daniil Nikolayev Leontyevna, Rank, name, patronymic, and surname of the Rank, name, patronymic, TABLE 3 From the 1900 Birth Registrations in the Teterovka Church Metrical Book Church Teterovka the 1900 Birth Registrations in 3 From TABLE TABLE 4 From the 1905 Death Registrations in the Teterovka Church Metrical Book Church Teterovka the 1905 Death Registrations in 4 From TABLE TABLE 2 From the 1900 Marriage Registrations in the Teterovka Church Metrical Book Church Teterovka the 1900 Marriage Registrations in 2 From TABLE

marriage marriages Anna Name of newborn burial 3 October number of previous of previous number Russian Orthodox, first surname, and religious surname, and religious Rank, name, patronymic, Rank, name, patronymic, Nikolayev Chernyakhovsky, Nikolayev Chernyakhovsky, The peasant of Bagva Daniil belonging of the betrothed; belonging of the betrothed; 13 zing Bapti- August of Month and day of death of 2 October 8 Month May, 29 May, and day birth Month and day August

N 4 born the dead wedding Number of Number Number of Number N 18 (female) Number of Number N 31 female 31 N

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