Ernest Fritzevich Appoga (, ; 1898 – November 28, 1937) was a Soviet general and revolutionary who was given the position of

Komkor () is the syllabic abbreviation for corps commander (; ). It was a Military ranks of the Soviet Union, military rank in the Red Army and Red Army Air Force of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in the period from 1935 to 1940. It was als ...

on November 11, 1935. He was born in present-day

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

. He fought in the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

in 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 Peop ...

. He was a recipient of 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 ...

and 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 ...

. During the

Great Purge The Great Purge, or the Great Terror (), also known as the Year of '37 () and the Yezhovshchina ( , ), was a political purge in the Soviet Union that took place from 1936 to 1938. After the Assassination of Sergei Kirov, assassination of ...

, as a part of the so-called " Latvian Operation", he was arrested on either May 22 or 23, 1937 and executed on either 26 or 28 November in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

. He was rehabilitated in 1956.

Biography

He was born in 1898 in Libau,

Governorate of Livonia The Governorate of Livonia, also known as the Livonia Governorate, was a province (''guberniya'') and one of the Baltic governorates of the Russian Empire, Baltic Governorate-General until 1876. Governorate of Livonia bordered Governorate of E ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

. He worked as a

turner Turner may refer to: People and fictional characters * Turner (surname), a common surname, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name * Turner (given name), a list of people with the given name *One who uses a lathe for tur ...

and machinist polisher at various factories in Libau,

Petrograd Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

, and Lysva. He became a member of the

Bolshevik Party The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

in 1917 and participated in both the

February February is the second month of the year in the Julian calendar, Julian and Gregorian calendars. The month has 28 days in common years and 29 in leap years, with the February 29, 29th day being called the ''leap day''. February is the third a ...

and

October Revolution The October Revolution, also known as the Great October Socialist Revolution (in Historiography in the Soviet Union, Soviet historiography), October coup, Bolshevik coup, or Bolshevik revolution, was the second of Russian Revolution, two r ...

s and was a member of the Red Guard and elected to the Council of Workers' Deputies. During the Civil War, he took part in battles against the forces of Kolchak and Denikin. He held the posts of military commissar of the Cherdyn region, commissar of the headquarters of the Ural Military District, military commissar of the 38th Infantry Division, chief of the department of the headquarters of the 9th Kuban Army and, from June to July 1920, chief of staff of the 10th Terek Army. After the end of the Civil War he was assistant to the chief of staff of the

North Caucasus Military District The North Caucasus Military District was a military district of the Russian Armed Forces from 1992-2010. Before 1992 it had been part of the Soviet Armed Forces since 1918. In 2010 it became the Southern Military District and lately also included t ...

, chief of staff of the 37th Novocherkassk Rifle Division. From March 1923 he was assistant to the commander of the 9th Don Rifle Division. In 1924, he graduated from the Higher Academic Courses at the Military Academy of the Red Army. From May 1924 he was head of the non-military training department of the Combat Training Directorate of the Red Army. From November 1924 he served as assistant inspector for non-military training of workers. In March 1925 he became head of the Directorate of the

Moscow Military District The Order of Lenin Moscow Military District () is a Military districts of Russia, military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. Originally it was a district of the Imperial Russian Army until the Russian Empire's collapse in 191 ...

. From 1925 to 1927 he studied of at the

Frunze Military Academy The M. V. Frunze Military Academy (), or in full the Military Order of Lenin and the October Revolution, Red Banner, Order of Suvorov Academy in the name of M. V. Frunze (), was a military academy of the Soviet and later the Russian Armed Forces ...

. Until April 1928, he was at the disposal of the Main Directorate of the Red Army. From April 1928 to July 1930 he was secretary of the administrative meetings of the Council of Labor and Defense of the USSR. From 1930 to 1937 he served as Chief of the 3rd Directorate (Department) of the Headquarters (General Staff) of the Red Army, the Chief of Military Communications of the Red Army. From March 1933, he concurrently served as the head of the military communications department of the Red Army Military Transport Academy. He was also a member of the Military Council under the People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR. He was arrested on either May 22Жертвы политического террора в СССР
/ref> or May 23 of 1937 on charges of "participating in the fascist-Soviet military conspiracy and sabotage". On November 26 or 28, 1937, the Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the USSR sentenced him to death. He was executed the same day. His wife, Klavdiya Petrovna Appoga (born in 1898), was sentenced to eight years in the camps in December 1937 as a member of the family of a traitor to the Motherland. He was posthumously rehabilitated by the Military Collegium of April 18, 1956.

Biography

Awards

References

Bibliography

Further reading