Grigoriy Davydovich Plaskov (), also known as G.D. Plaskov and Hirsch Plaskov, was a Lieutenant General of Artillery for the

Soviet Union 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 ...

. He is known for being one of the most prominent Jews in the

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 ...

Early life

Plaskov was born in December 1898 in

Minsk Minsk (, ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach (Berezina), Svislach and the now subterranean Nyamiha, Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the administra ...

to a Jewish family. Plaskov's father was a brewer. In 1911, he graduated from the local

yeshiva A yeshiva (; ; pl. , or ) is a traditional Jewish educational institution focused on the study of Rabbinic literature, primarily the Talmud and halacha (Jewish law), while Torah and Jewish philosophy are studied in parallel. The stu ...

and was employed as a metal worker in "Mateushik and Sons," an iron foundry. Plaskov joined the Red Guard in October 1917 and, after joining the

in May 1918, 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 ...

for the

Bolsheviks The Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Lenin, were a radical Faction (political), faction of the Marxist Russian Social Democratic Labour Party (RSDLP) which split with the Mensheviks at the 2nd Congress of the Russian Social Democratic Labour Party, ...

. In the years following the war, Plaskov attended an advanced artillery school, graduating in 1925, as well as attending 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 ...

in Moscow, graduating in 1932, and the Military Academy of Chemical Protection, graduating in 1938.

World War II

Plaskov saw action during

World War Two World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilisi ...

, beginning in July 1941, when he assisted

Ivan Flyorov Ivan Andreyevich Flyorov (; 24 April 1905 – 7 October 1941), was a Captain (land and air), captain in the Red Army in command of the first Artillery battery, battery of 8 ''Katyusha rocket launcher, Katyushas'' (BM-8), which was formed in Lipet ...

by firing one of the first

Katyushas The Katyusha ( rus, Катю́ша, p=kɐˈtʲuʂə, a=Ru-Катюша.ogg) is a type of rocket artillery first built and fielded by the Soviet Union in World War II. Multiple rocket launchers such as these deliver explosives to a target area m ...

at the

Wehrmacht The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the German Army (1935–1945), ''Heer'' (army), the ''Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmac ...

Orsha Orsha (; , ; ) is a city in Vitebsk Region, Belarus. It is situated on the fork of the Dnieper, Dnieper River and Arshytsa River, and it serves as the administrative center of Orsha District. As of 2025, it has a population of 101,662. History ...

. Roughly a month later, Plaskov would attempt to defend Zhlobin alongside

Leonid Petrovsky Leonid Grigorevich Petrovsky (11 June 1897 – 17 August 1941) was a Soviet lieutenant general. He was the oldest son of Grigory Petrovsky. He was born in what is now Donetsk Oblast in Ukraine. He was promoted to Komkor from Komdiv in 1937. While ...

. Plaskov then helped to defend Moscow from the German Forces and participated in the counter-offensive that repelled them from the city. In the winter of 1942, Plaskov was promoted to Major General of Artillery of the 10th Army under Lieutenant General

Filipp Golikov Filipp Ivanovich Golikov (; – July 29, 1980) was a Soviet military commander. As chief of the GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate), he is best known for failing to take seriously the abundant intelligence about Nazi Germany's plans for an inva ...

. During his time in the army, Plaskov would frequently be reprimanded by the Soviet High Command for "indiscreet actions," but would remain a Major General of Artillery for the remainder of the war. During the

Battle of Berlin The Battle of Berlin, designated as the Berlin Strategic Offensive Operation by the Soviet Union, and also known as the Fall of Berlin, was one of the last major offensives of the European theatre of World War II. After the Vistula–Od ...

, Plaskov proudly exclaimed to Lieutenant General Semyon Krivoshein:

Look, Sema, just look! Jew Grigory Plaskov beats
Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
, beats this bitch right on the head! Beat, beat him, lads! Beat for
Babi Yar Babi Yar () or Babyn Yar () is a ravine in the Ukraine, Ukrainian capital Kyiv and a site of massacres carried out by Nazi Germany's forces during Eastern Front (World War II), its campaign against the Soviet Union in World War II. The first and ...
, for the torment of our people! Fire, more fire, more fire! Indeed, a symbolic episode...

Postwar

Following the war's conclusion, Plaskov was promoted to Lieutenant General of Artillery and nominated for

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 ...

but ultimately never received the latter. Plaskov would later say that he never considered

anti-Semitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

to be a factor in this event. Plaskov did, however, receive 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 ...

four times, the

Order of Lenin The Order of Lenin (, ) was an award named after Vladimir Lenin, the leader of the October Revolution. It was established by the Central Executive Committee on 6 April 1930. The order was the highest civilian decoration bestowed by the Soviet ...

two times, 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 ...

, the Order of Bogdan Khmelnitsky, the Medal for the Defense of Moscow, the Medal for the Liberation of Warsaw, the Medal for the Capture of Berlin, and the Medal for Victory Over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941–1945. Regarding Plaskov's service in the Soviet military,

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 ...

said, "I don't know of any soldier more valiant than General Plaskov." In the early 1950s, Plaskov was the Deputy Military Commander of the

Taurida Military District The Taurida Military District was a military district of the Soviet Union. It was formed from the headquarters of the Separate Coastal Army and the 22nd Army in the summer of 1945. The military district controlled troops on the territory of the ...

, but this changed during "the anti-Semitic year of 1952", when widespread anti-Semitism led to Plaskov's demotion and subsequent appointment as the Head of the Military Department of the State University of Non-Ferrous Metals and Gold. Shortly afterward, in 1956, Plaskov would retire. Plaskov wrote his memoir, ''Under the Roar of the Cannonade,'' in 1969. That same year, the village council of

Cosăuți Cosăuți is a commune in Soroca District, Moldova. It is composed of two villages, Cosăuți and Iorjnița.Vvedenskoye Cemetery Vvedenskoye Cemetery ( rus, Введенское кладбище, p=vʲːɪˈdʲenskəjə) is a historic cemetery in Lefortovo District of Moscow in Russia. Until 1918 it was mainly a burial ground for the Catholic and Protestant communities ...

Legacy

In 2010, a memorial was erected in Sheremetevsky that commemorated Plaskov and eighty-one other former residents of the officer's village that contributed to the Soviet war effort in the Second World War.Martynov, S.A. "Памятник Защитникам Родины в Шереметьевском." June 2, 2010 -, Encyclopedia of Dolgoprudny , June 2, 2010, http://www.dolgoprud.org/photo/?sect=11&subsect=169&photo=6022. Among the other officers who were commemorated are

Vasily Glazunov Vasily Afanasyevich Glazunov (Russian: Василий Афанасьевич Глазунов; – 27 June 1967) was a Soviet lieutenant general, who was the first commander of the Soviet airborne forces (VDV). He was twice awarded the Hero of ...

and Yuri Rykachev.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* Sverdlov, F.D., Ruvik Danieli, and Yishai Cordova. Jewish Generals in the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union. Latrun: Yad Lashiryon, 2005. * Kazakov, V.I. At the Break. Military Publishing, 1962. * Schulman, Elias. ‘Sovietish Heimland’: Lone Voices, Stifled Creators. Judaism 14, no. 1 (1965). * Gitelman, Zvi. Soviet Reactions to the Holocaust, 1945–1991. Essay. In The Holocaust in the Soviet Union, 1st Edition. Routledge, 1993. * Colton, Timothy J.. Commissars, Commanders, and Civilian Authority: The Structure of Soviet Military Politics. Cambridge, MA and London, England: Harvard University Press, 1979. * Pashkov, G.P., et al. Belaruskaâ èncyklapedyâ. Polycrates – Prometheus ed., vol. 11, BelEn, 2001.

External links

* https://www.infocenters.co.il/gfh/notebook_ext.asp?book=8996&lang=eng&site=gfh * https://lechaim-journal.livejournal.com/137393.html * https://www.rujen.ru/index.php/ПЛАСКОВ_Григорий_Давидович * https://evreimir.com/160582/bogi-vojny/ * https://www.geni.com/people/Grigoriy-Plaskov/6000000187576262837 {{DEFAULTSORT:Plaskov, Grigoriy 1898 births 1972 deaths Soviet Jews in the military Soviet lieutenant generals Soviet military personnel of World War II People from Minsk Recipients of the Order of Lenin Jews of World War II NBC Protection Military Academy alumni