Yakov Vasilyevich Sheko (; 1 April 1893 – 5 June 1938) was a

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 ...

Komdiv () is the syllabic abbreviation to commanding officer of the division (; ), and was a military rank in the Soviet Armed Forces of the USSR in the period from 1935 to 1940. It was also the designation to military personnel appointed to command ...

''. He fought in the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, rising from private to officer, and joined the

in 1918, fighting 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 ...

and

Polish–Soviet War The Polish–Soviet War (14 February 1919 – 18 March 1921) was fought primarily between the Second Polish Republic and the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, following World War I and the Russian Revolution. After the collapse ...

. He received 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 ...

for one action while a chief of staff of a division of the

1st Cavalry Army __NOTOC__ The 1st Cavalry Army (), or ''Konarmia'' (Кона́рмия, "Horsearmy"), was a prominent Red Army military formation that served in the Russian Civil War and Polish–Soviet War, Polish-Soviet War. History Formation On 17 Novem ...

. Sheko held division and corps commands during the 1920s and 1930s, and had two stints in Mongolia as Chief of Staff of the

Mongolian People's Army The Mongolian People's Army (, ), also known as the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Army () or the Mongolian Red Army (), was an institution of the Mongolian People's Party, Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party constituting as the armed forc ...

and as an adviser to the Mongolian War Ministry. 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 ...

, Sheko spent several months as a cavalry corps commander due to vacancies created by arrests but was himself arrested in August 1937 and executed the next year.

Early life, World War I, and Russian Civil War

Sheko was born to a peasant family on 1 April 1893 in the village of Yeskovo, Krasninsky Uyezd,

Smolensk Governorate Smolensk Governorate () was an administrative-territorial unit ('' guberniya'') of the Tsardom of Russia, the Russian Empire, and the Russian SFSR. It existed, with interruptions, between 1708 and 1929. Smolensk Governorate, together with seven o ...

. He graduated from the village school and a city school and before 1912 worked in the village. He moved to Moscow between 1912 and 1913 to work as a laborer in a milk factory, but returned to the village for work between 1913 and 1914. While in the village he also took teaching classes and twice passed a teacher's exam. After

began, Sheko was drafted into the

in late 1914, serving as a

private Private or privates may refer to: Music * "In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation'' * Private (band), a Denmark-based band * "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorded ...

in an automobile company stationed in

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, ...

until September 1915. In November of that year, he graduated from the 3rd Peterhof Warrant Officers School to become a ''

praporshchik (, , ) is a rank used by the Russian Armed Forces and a number of former communist states. The rank is a non-commissioned officer's and is equivalent to in the corresponding navies. It is usually equivalent to warrant officer class 1 or serge ...

'' and was sent to a reserve battalion in Kozlov. This assignment proved brief, as a month later Sheko was sent to the

29th Chernigov Infantry Regiment The 31st Chernigov Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the Russian Imperial Army. In 1914, it was part of the 1st Brigade of the 15th Army Corps' 8th Infantry Division and was based in Warsaw. The regiment celebrated its feast day on ...

on the Western Front. He served successively as a company junior officer, company commander, and regimental adjutant, ending the war with the rank of

staff captain Staff captain is the English translation of a number of military ranks: Historical use of the rank Czechoslovakia In the Czechoslovak Army, until 1953, staff captain (, ) was a senior captain rank, ranking between captain and major. Estonia T ...

. Following the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, Sheko participated in the formation of

Red Guard The Red Guards () were a mass, student-led, paramilitary social movement mobilized by Chairman Mao Zedong in 1966 until their abolition in 1968, during the first phase of the Cultural Revolution, which he had instituted.Teiwes According to a ...

detachments in 1917. After joining the

in June 1918, Sheko fought in the

. He became assistant commander of the Volkovysk Infantry Regiment in July and in August took command of the 152nd Rifle Regiment. Attaining membership of the Communist Party in January 1919, Sheko served as chief of the

Sarny Sarny (, ) is a small city in Rivne Oblast, western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Sarny Raion within the oblast and is a major railway node on the Sluch River. Population: Etymology The city is named after the roe deer and can ...

and

Rovno Rivne ( ; , ) is a city in western Ukraine. The city is the administrative center of Rivne Oblast (province), as well as the Rivne Raion (district) within the oblast.

combat sectors from February, before departing to study at the General Staff Academy in March. His studies were interrupted by being sent to the front in May 1920 to serve as a war correspondent and chief of the information-historical section of the staff of the

. Serving as officer for operational staff duties for the 1st Cavalry Army commander between July and August, he served as chief of staff of the 6th Cavalry Division between 5 August and 14 December, during the 1st Cavalry Army's campaign in the

and operations against the

Army of Wrangel The Russian Army (), commonly known as the Army of Wrangel (), was a White Army active in South Russia during the Russian Civil War from March to November 1920. It was officially formed on 28 April 1920 from the merger of several White armies, i ...

in Crimea. Between 12 and 27 October Sheko served as acting division commander after Apanasenko was relieved of command. He was awarded the

on 29 May 1921 for capturing the Zavada station with two dismounted squadrons in fighting against the Army of Wrangel and blowing up the tracks, which was credited with cutting off the White armored trains and strengthening the superiority of the 1st Cavalry Army. As chief of staff of the 6th Cavalry Division, Sheko was mentioned in journalist

Isaac Babel Isaac Emmanuilovich Babel ( – 27 January 1940) was a Soviet writer, journalist, playwright, and literary translator. He is best known as the author of ''Red Cavalry'' and ''Odessa Stories'', and has been acclaimed as "the greatest prose write ...

's ''1920 Diary'' and '' Red Cavalry''. Babel wrote in his entry for 14 August 1920 in ''1920 Diary'' that Sheko ordered the killing of Polish prisoners of war, a policy condoned by division commander

Iosif Apanasenko Iosif Rodionovich Apanasenko (Russian: Иосиф Родионович Апанасенко) (April 15 (April 3 O.S.), 1890 – August 5, 1943) was a Soviet division commander. Career Iosif Apanasenko was an ethnic Russian, born in a village ...

Interwar period

After the end of the war, Sheko returned to the General Staff Academy, renamed the Military Academy of the Red Army, graduating in 1921. He served as manager of the affairs of the Red Army cavalry inspectorate until January 1922, then served as commander of the 1st Tomsk Cavalry Division between January and July. Sheko became assistant chief of staff of the

11th Rifle Corps The 11th Rifle Corps () was a corps of the Soviet Red Army, Red Army, formed twice. The 11th was first formed in 1922 in the Petrograd area but soon moved to the Belorussian Military District. After fighting in the Soviet invasion of Poland, the c ...

in the

Leningrad Military District The Order of Lenin Leningrad Military District () is a military district of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. The district was awarded the Order of Lenin in 1968. In 2010, it was merged with the Moscow Military District, the Northern ...

in November 1922, then served as assistant commander of the

16th Rifle Division The 16th Rifle Division (; ; ) was a formation in the Red Army created during World War II. The division was formed twice, and was given the title 'Lithuanian' during its second formation. It was originally established at Tambov in May 1918. It ...

of the same district from June 1923. After simultaneously serving as commander and commissar of the

20th Rifle Division The 20th Rifle Division was an infantry division of the Soviet Red Army, formed three times. The first formation of the division lasted from 1919 to 1921 and fought during the Russian Civil War before its downsizing into a brigade. The brigade be ...

of the same district from October 1924, he went to Mongolia to serve as Chief of Staff of the

between March 1927 and July 1930. Sheko's service in satellite Mongolia was part of a regular rotation of Soviet commanders who served as chief of staff, supervising the modernization and expansion of the Mongolian army. His duties also involved participation in the creation of military regulations and training manuals. As the senior Soviet commander in Mongolia, Sheko was the head of all Soviet military advisors in the country. Returning to the Soviet Union, Sheko became commander and commissar of the

1st Rifle Corps First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

of the Leningrad Military District in September 1930, then assistant commander 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 ...

in July 1931. He was placed at the disposal of the

People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs The People's Commissariat for Military and Naval Affairs of the Soviet Union was the central Military administration, body of military command and control of the Soviet Armed Forces, Armed Forces of the Soviet Union from November 12, 1923, to Marc ...

in January 1932 and returned to Mongolia as the chief military advisor to the Ministry of War of the Mongolian People's Republic. Awarded a second Order of the Red Banner on 22 February 1933 for "exceptional bravery, courage, and combat leadership," Sheko received the rank of ''

komdiv () is the syllabic abbreviation to commanding officer of the division (; ), and was a military rank in the Soviet Armed Forces of the USSR in the period from 1935 to 1940. It was also the designation to military personnel appointed to command ...

w''hen the Red Army introduced personal military ranks in 1935. Upon his return to the Soviet Union, Sheko became commander and commissar of the 10th Terek-Stavropol Cossack Territorial Cavalry Division, stationed in 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 ...

, in January 1936. As a result of vacancies created by the arrest of higher-ranking officers during the

, he succeeded to the command of the 4th Cossack Cavalry Corps in April 1937, serving simultaneously as its commissar until May. In July, as a prelude to his arrest by the

NKVD The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (, ), abbreviated as NKVD (; ), was the interior ministry and secret police of the Soviet Union from 1934 to 1946. The agency was formed to succeed the Joint State Political Directorate (OGPU) se ...

on 10 August, Sheko was placed at the disposal of the Red Army Command Personnel Directorate. The

Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union The Military Collegium of the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union () was created in 1924 by the Supreme Court of the Soviet Union as a court for the higher military and political personnel of the Red Army and Fleet. In addition it was an immedia ...

sentenced Sheko to death for participating in a military conspiracy on 5 June 1938 and his execution followed in Moscow that day. He was posthumously rehabilitated on 18 July 1956.

Awards and honors

Sheko was a recipient of the following decorations: *

(1921, 1933) * Order of the Red Banner of the Mongolian People's Republic (3)

References

Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sheko, Yakov 1893 births 1938 deaths Russian military personnel of World War I Military personnel of the 1st Cavalry Army Soviet komdivs Recipients of the Order of the Red Banner Great Purge victims from Russia People executed by the Soviet Union Frunze Military Academy alumni Imperial Russian Army personnel Communist Party of the Soviet Union members People of the Polish–Soviet War People from Krasninsky District, Smolensk Oblast People from Smolensk Governorate