The 89th Taman Red Banner Orders of Kutuzov and the Red Star Rifle Division (; ), or the Tamanyan Division, was a distinguished division in the

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. The division was primarily remembered for its second formation, composed primarily of ethnic

Armenians Armenians (, ) are an ethnic group indigenous to the Armenian highlands of West Asia.Robert Hewsen, Hewsen, Robert H. "The Geography of Armenia" in ''The Armenian People From Ancient to Modern Times Volume I: The Dynastic Periods: From Antiq ...

and fought in numerous battles during the war.

First Formation

The division was established at

Kursk Kursk (, ) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city and the administrative center of Kursk Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Kur (Kursk Oblast), Kur, Tuskar, and Seym (river), Seym rivers. It has a population of Kursk ...

prior to June 1941. On 22 June 1941 it was part of

30th Rifle Corps 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious and cultural significance in many societies ...

in the interior Orel Military District. Fighting as part of the 19th Army, it was wiped out at

Vyazma Vyazma () is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, town and the administrative center of Vyazemsky District, Smolensk Oblast, Vyazemsky District in Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Vyazma River, about halfway between Smolensk, the ...

in October 1941.

Second Formation

The division was re-formed in December 1941 in the capital of the

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic (ArSSR), also known as Soviet Armenia, or simply Armenia, was one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union, located in the Caucasus region of Eurasia. Soviet Armenia bordered the Soviet republics ...

Yerevan Yerevan ( , , ; ; sometimes spelled Erevan) is the capital and largest city of Armenia, as well as one of the world's List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest continuously inhabited cities. Situated along the Hrazdan River, Yerev ...

, following the

German invasion of the Soviet Union Operation Barbarossa was the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany and several of its European Axis allies starting on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. More than 3.8 million Axis troops invaded the western Soviet Union along a ...

. It was a redesignation of the 474th Rifle Division, which was formed on 14 December 1941 and renumbered the 89th Rifle Division on 26 December 1941. Over the course of the war period, the division had a number of commanders, including Colonel Simeon G. Zakian (who was killed in action in April 1942 during military operations in the

Kerch peninsula The Kerch Peninsula is a major and prominent geographic peninsula located at the eastern end of the Crimean Peninsula. This peninsula stretches eastward toward the Taman Peninsula between the Sea of Azov and the Black Sea. Most of the peninsula i ...

), Lieutenant-Colonel Andranik Sargsian, Colonel Artashes Vasilian, and finally Colonel G. Safarian, who took over command in February 1943 and would eventually attain the rank of major general. Hakobian, Arshavir M., K. Harutyunian, S. Sargsian and N. Baloian. "Haykakan diviziyaner" rmenian divisions

Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia Armenian Soviet Encyclopedia (also rendered ''Soviet Armenian Encyclopedia''; , ''Haykakan sovetakan hanragitaran''; ASE) is the first general encyclopedia in the Armenian language. It was published in 1974-1987 by the main editorial office of th ...

, vol. 6, p. 175. It published its own weekly Armenian-language newspaper called the ''Karmir Zinvor'' (Red Soldier).

The Caucasus and the Crimea

In August 1942, the 89th Division was dispatched toward the

North Caucasus Front The North Caucasus Front, also translated as North Caucasian Front, was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War. The North Caucasus Front describes either of two distinct organizations during the war. First Creation The ...

, where it took up defensive positions to block the German drive toward

Grozny Grozny (, ; ) is the capital city of Chechnya, Russia. The city lies on the Sunzha River. According to the 2021 Russian census, 2021 census, it had a population of 328,533 — up from 210,720 recorded in the 2002 Russian Census, 2002 ce ...

. From November to December 1942, the unit took part in several fierce battles in the area around the cities of Elekhotvo,

Malgobek Malgobek (; ) is a town in the Republic of Ingushetia, Russia, located northwest of the republic's capital of Magas. Population: History In 1934, the '' selo'' of Voznesenskoye was granted work settlement status. It served then recently disc ...

, and Voznesenskaya and helped bring the German penetration into the

Caucasus The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region spanning Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is situated between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, comprising parts of Southern Russia, Georgia, Armenia, and Azerbaijan. The Caucasus Mountains, i ...

to a halt. As the Soviet armies shifted to the offensive during the winter of 1942-43, the 89th Division began its gradual advance toward the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

. On January 21, 1943, along with other Soviet forces from the

Transcaucasian Front The Transcaucasus Front (), also translated as Transcaucasian Front, was a front of the Soviet Red Army—a military formation comparable to an army group, not a geographic military front—during the Second World War. The Transcaucasus Front ...

, it participated in the capture of Malgobek, Khamedan and a number of other settlements previously held by the Germans. The unit's advance picked up pace in the following month, averaging about 30-40 kilometers a day as it approached the

Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...

. The Germans put up a stiff resistance in the Crimea, and in the fighting around the settlement of Novo Jerilka division commander Colonel Vasilian was killed. The 89th itself suffered heavy casualties but in the following months fresh recruits from Armenia brought it back to full strength, and Vasilian's successor and the division commander was the able Colonel Safarian. In September 1943, the division was redeployed and ordered to attack the Axis defensive fortifications on the Taman Peninsula. On September 6, it moved in a northeasterly direction from

Novorossiysk Novorossiysk (, ; ) is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is one of the largest ports on the Black Sea. It is one of the few cities designated by the Soviet Union as a Hero City. The population was History In antiquity, the shores of the ...

and engaged in heavy fighting for several days until the Axis defenses were overwhelmed and the villages of Verkhnebakansk and

Taman Taman may refer to: Places Africa * Taman, Togo, a town in Bassar Prefecture Asia *Taman, Nepal * Taman, Pemalang, a district in Pemalang Regency, Central Java *Taman, a district in Madiun, East Java, Indonesia *Taman, a district in Sidoarjo Re ...

were liberated on September 18 and October 3, respectively. The 89th distinguished itself in these two battles and was given the honorary title of "Tamanskaia" (Таманская; Tamanyan, Թամանյան)." Two soldiers from the division in particular, Senior

Sergeant Sergeant (Sgt) is a Military rank, rank in use by the armed forces of many countries. It is also a police rank in some police services. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and in other units that draw their heritage f ...

s Hunan M. Avetisian and Suren S. Arakelian, were noted for the courage they displayed during the fighting and were both posthumously awarded with the medal of the

Hero of the Soviet Union The title Hero of the Soviet Union () was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded together with the Order of Lenin personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society. The title was awarded both ...

. On November 21, the 89th Division participated in the

Kerch–Eltigen Operation The Kerch–Eltigen operation was a World War II amphibious offensive made in November 1943 by the Red Army as a precursor to the Crimean offensive (8 April-12 May 1944), with the object of defeating and forcing the withdrawal of the German f ...

, an ambitious Soviet military operation involving the landing of amphibious troops onto the Kerch Peninsula. The unit landed near the settlements of Baksi and Adzhimushkay, not far from the

Strait of Kerch The Kerch Strait is a strait in Eastern Europe. It connects the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, separating the Kerch Peninsula of Crimea in the west from the Taman Peninsula of Russia's Krasnodar Krai in the east. The strait is to wide and u ...

, and held its position for five months despite withering Axis fire. Beginning in January 1944, it slowly made headway toward

Kerch Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...

and dislodged the defending Axis troops from one portion of the city. Members of the division distinguished themselves once more, the most prominent of them being field-engineer Jahan S. Karakhanian, who was killed in December 1943 while trying to establish a new observation post and was posthumously awarded with the medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union. In recognition of its efforts, on 24 April 1944 the division was awarded with the

Order of the Red Star The Order of the Red Star () was a military decoration of the Soviet Union. It was established by decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR of 6 April 1930 but its statute was only defined in decree of the Presidium of the ...

. In May 1944, the Soviet army began its offensive to retake

Sevastopol Sevastopol ( ), sometimes written Sebastopol, is the largest city in Crimea and a major port on the Black Sea. Due to its strategic location and the navigability of the city's harbours, Sevastopol has been an important port and naval base th ...

. The 89th Division was given the objective of capturing the Gornaia Height, which would then open the way to Sevastopol. This was accomplished and the unit subsequently took part in Sevastopol's and the promontory of

Kherson Kherson (Ukrainian language, Ukrainian and , , ) is a port city in southern Ukraine that serves as the administrative centre of Kherson Oblast. Located by the Black Sea and on the Dnieper, Dnieper River, Kherson is the home to a major ship-bui ...

's recapture. For the liberation of the Sevastopol the division was bestowed with the

Order of the Red Banner The Order of the Red Banner () was the first Soviet military decoration. The Order was established on 16 September 1918, during the Russian Civil War by decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. It was the highest award of S ...

. Senior lieutenants Simeon K. Baghdasarian and Khoren A. Khachaturian, and senior sergeants Aydin Gh. Harutyunian, Harutyun R. Mkrtchian and Vardges A. Rostomian were awarded with the Order of the Hero of Soviet Union.

Poland and Germany

In October–September 1944, the division was transferred first to Brest and then deployed along the defensive line near

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

. With the commencement of the Vistula–Oder Offensive on January 12, 1945, the 89th Division took part in the general advance into

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

and aided in the liberation of dozens of Polish settlements and towns. By February, it had crossed the

Oder River The Oder ( ; Czech and ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and its largest tributary the Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows through west ...

and had taken control of the approach leading to

Frankfurt an der Oder Frankfurt (Oder), also known as Frankfurt an der Oder (, ; Marchian dialects, Central Marchian: ''Frankfort an de Oder,'' ) is the fourth-largest city in the German state of Brandenburg after Potsdam, Cottbus and Brandenburg an der Havel. With a ...

and prevented the Germans from breaking through to endanger the Soviet forces now converging onto

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. By now, the unit was formally referred, in a mixed Russo-Armenian phrase, to as the "Little Armenian Land" (''Haykakan Malaia Zemlia''). With these routes secure, the Soviets now prepared for the capture of Berlin. The 89th Division entered Frankfurt an der Oder on April 16 and was then integrated into the command of the

3rd Shock Army The 3rd Shock Army () was a field army of the Red Army formed during the Second World War. The "Shock" armies were created with the specific structure to engage and destroy significant enemy forces, and were reinforced with more armoured and ar ...

, part of Marshal

Zhukov Georgy Konstantinovich Zhukov ( 189618 June 1974) was a Soviet military leader who served as a top commander during World War II and achieved the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union. During World War II, Zhukov served as deputy commander-in-ch ...

1st Belorussian Front The 1st Belorussian Front (, ''Pervyy Belorusskiy front'', also romanized " Byelorussian"), known without a numeral as the Belorussian Front between October 1943 and February 1944, was a major formation of the Red Army during World War II, bein ...

. Unit veteran Arshavir Hakobian writes that many of the Armenians of the division expressed a particular eagerness to take part in Berlin's capture on account of

Imperial Germany The German Empire (),; ; World Book, Inc. ''The World Book dictionary, Volume 1''. World Book, Inc., 2003. p. 572. States that Deutsches Reich translates as "German Realm" and was a former official name of Germany. also referred to as Imperia ...

's role as an ally of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

during the 1915

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

. The 89th arrived in the German capital on the night of April 29, along with other elements of the 3rd Shock Army, and deployed the 390th, 400th, and 526th regiments to take part in heavy street-to-street battles in the

Wedding A wedding is a ceremony in which two people are united in marriage. Wedding traditions and customs vary greatly between cultures, ethnicity, ethnicities, Race (human categorization), races, religions, Religious denomination, denominations, Cou ...

and

Reinickendorf Reinickendorf () is the twelfth borough of Berlin. It encompasses the northwest of the city area, including the Berlin Tegel Airport, Lake Tegel, spacious settlements of detached houses as well as housing estates like Märkisches Viertel. Subd ...

districts. The division's artillery was put to good effect to level buildings where lurking

panzerfaust The (, or , plural: ) was a development family of single-shot man-portable anti-tank systems developed by Nazi Germany during World War II. The weapons were the first single-use light anti-tank weapons based on a pre-loaded disposable laun ...

teams were holding up the unit's advance into the central part of the city. On April 30 the division had encountered the twin four-storey structures at Flakturm III at Humboldthain Park. Safarian ordered that they be encircled, and brought his artillery to bear against the flak towers and had his sappers lay a thousand kilograms of explosives at the foundations. Though they caused a great number of casualties, including inflicting concussions against the defenders within, they were unable to penetrate the four meters of iron and concrete walls. But under withering artillery and anti-tank gun fire, on May 2 the commander of the flak towers agreed to surrender. In several days of fighting the division had overrun seven districts. For its role in the capture of Berlin, the 89th was awarded with the

Order of Kutuzov The Order of Kutuzov ( ''orden Kutuzova'') is a military decoration of the Russian Federation named after famous Russian Field Marshal Mikhail Kutuzov, Mikhail Illarionovich Kutuzov (1745–1813). The Order was established during World War II t ...

2nd Class and Major General Hmayak G. Babaian was bestowed with the Hero of the Soviet Union. The 89th Rifle Division is recorded to have liberated a total of 900 cities, towns, and villages. It had advanced a distance of 3,700 kilometers in its combat history, and 7,333 of its members were given commendations and awards, nine of whom were decorated with the award of the Hero of the Soviet Union. A "friendship monument" and memorial was erected in the division's honor in

. On the morning of May 3, the 89th was dispatched westward and four days later arrived on the east bank of the

Elbe River The Elbe ( ; ; or ''Elv''; Upper and , ) is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia (western half of the Czech Republic), then Germany and flo ...

, near

Wittenberg Wittenberg, officially Lutherstadt Wittenberg, is the fourth-largest town in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, in the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany. It is situated on the River Elbe, north of Leipzig and south-west of the reunified German ...

Postwar

The division was slated for disbandment by the order that formed the

Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany The Western Group of Forces (WGF), previously known as the Group of Soviet Occupation Forces in Germany (GSOFG) and the Group of Soviet Forces in Germany (GSFG), were the troops of the Soviet Army in East Germany. The Group of Soviet Occupation ...

on 29 May 1945, but this was countermanded. Instead, the 89th Rifle Division was withdrawn to

in 1946, becoming part of the

7th Guards Army The 7th Guards Army was a field army of the Red Army during World War II and of the Soviet Army during the Cold War. History The 7th Guards Army was formed from the 64th Army on April 16, 1943. 64th Army had originally been formed from 1s ...

of the

Transcaucasian Military District The Transcaucasian Military District, a military district of the Soviet Armed Forces, traces its history to May 1921 and the incorporation of First Republic of Armenia, Armenia, Azerbaijan Democratic Republic, Azerbaijan, and Democratic Republic ...

. The division continued to be an Armenian national division until its disbandment on 7 July 1956 when the Soviet Army eliminated the national divisions.

Division legacy

Honorifics included Tamanskaya Krasnozamennaya, of

and

. In 1944, an obelisk was erected at the foot of the mountain at the mass grave of 250 soldiers of the division in the city of

Balaklava Balaklava ( Ukrainian and , , ) is a settlement on the Crimean Peninsula and part of the city of Sevastopol. It is an administrative center of Balaklavsky District that used to be part of the Crimean Oblast before it was transferred to Sevast ...

.Памятники Севастополя
/ref> On the war's 75th anniversary in 2020, a memorial in the

Bryukhovetsky District Bryukhovetsky District () is an administrative district (raion), one of the thirty-eight in Krasnodar Krai, Russia.Reference Information #34.01-707/13-03 As a municipal division, it is incorporated as the Bryukhovetsky Municipal District.Law #699 ...

of the

Krasnodar Territory Krasnodar Krai (, ) is a federal subject of Russia (a krai), located in the North Caucasus region in Southern Russia and is administratively a part of the Southern Federal District. Its administrative center is the city of Krasnodar. The third ...

was created. One of the streets of the district, Krasnodar Territory is named after the division. The division also has a large legacy within

Armenia Armenia, officially the Republic of Armenia, is a landlocked country in the Armenian Highlands of West Asia. It is a part of the Caucasus region and is bordered by Turkey to the west, Georgia (country), Georgia to the north and Azerbaijan to ...

. The 4th Independent Motor Rifle Regiment of the Armenian 5th Army Corps retains the battle flag and the traditions of the 89th Tamanyan Division of the Red Army. The battle flag of the regiment holds the Order of the Battle Cross of the 1st degree. The banner of the division was carried by the Armenian contingent at the

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

and

2020 Moscow Victory Day Parade The 2020 Moscow Victory Day Parade was a military parade that took place in Moscow's Red Square on 24 June 2020 to commemorate the 75th Diamond Jubilee of both the capitulation of Nazi Germany in the Second World War in 1945 and the historic Mosc ...

. On 18 July 2002, the Armenian Embassy in

Tbilisi Tbilisi ( ; ka, თბილისი, ), in some languages still known by its pre-1936 name Tiflis ( ), ( ka, ტფილისი, tr ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Georgia (country), largest city of Georgia ( ...

ceremonially awarded 8 Georgian veterans of the division with the

Medal of Marshal Baghramyan The Medal of Marshal Baghramyan () is a state award of Armenia awarded first and foremost to veterans of the Great Patriotic War as well as active servicemen of the Armed Forces of Armenia. It is named in honour of Marshal of the Soviet Union Iva ...

First Formation

Second Formation

The Caucasus and the Crimea

Poland and Germany

Postwar

Division legacy

See also

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading