Vasily Korzh
Encyclopedia
Vasily Zakharovich Korzh , also known under the Soviet partisan
nom de guerre "Komarov", was a Belarusian communist activist and Soviet World War II
hero.
A kolkhoz
chairman, NKVD
officer, and volunteer with the Spanish Republican
forces in the Spanish Civil War
, he is best remembered for organizing and leading one of the first Soviet partisan
units during the 1941-1944 occupation of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic by Nazi Germany
.
On account of his partisan service, Korzh was made a major-general in the Soviet military in 1943 and was awarded the honorary title
Hero of the Soviet Union
in August 1944.
, then part of the Russian Empire
) in 1899, Korzh spent his early years assisting his family's toils on the agricultural lands owned by the noble Galitzine
family.
A supporter of the communist cause, Korzh participated in the guerrilla struggles of the pro-Soviet
Belarusian anti-Polish resistance movement in the 1920s in western Belarus (first occupied by Piłsudski and then officially ceded to the Second Polish Republic
after the 1921 Treaty of Riga in the aftermath of the 1919-1921 Polish-Soviet War
). He had initially been conscripted into the Polish Army during the conflict, but deserted from it after a fight with a Polish commander, provoked by the abuse inflicted on the Belarusian soldiers in the army's ranks.
Arriving in the Soviet Union in 1925, Korzh began working in agriculture and became a kolkhoz
chairman after organizing the first peasants' commune in the village of Metyavichi, though not yet a member of the Communist Party
. After joining the party's ranks in 1929, Korzh went on to serve in the NKVD
in 1931. He left in 1936 in order to fight as a volunteer with the International Brigades
on the side of the leftist Spanish Republicans
against the Nationalist forces of General Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War
, returning to the Soviet Union in 1939 as a decorated fighter. He managed a sovkhoz
in 1939-1940 and became head of the local Communist Party's Pinsk Oblast
organization in 1940.
Korzh began organizing resistance cells in western Belarus immediately after the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany
on 22 June 1941. Within a month, Korzh's unit was already battling the German troops, having first engaged the German panzers accompanying the 293rd Wehrmacht Infantry Division on June 28.
Having served out most of the war in the rank of "brigade commander" or "combrig
" among the Soviet partisans (the Red Army
also had not fully transitioned to the traditional officer ranks' system by the beginning of the German invasion), he was made a major-general in 1943. He subsrquently was recognized with the honorary title
of Hero of the Soviet Union
on 15 August 1944, during the last days of Operation Bagration, the Red Army's successful effort to liberate the remaining German-held Belarusian territory.
Korzh received his discharge from the military on account of poor health in 1946. He subsequently worked as an assistant to the Forestry Minister of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1949-1953.
Upon returning to the Belarusian countryside from Minsk in 1953, he was again elected a kolkhoz chairman of a Belarusian village.
Korzh died on 5 May 1967.
Soviet partisans
The Soviet partisans were members of a resistance movement which fought a guerrilla war against the Axis occupation of the Soviet Union during World War II....
nom de guerre "Komarov", was a Belarusian communist activist and Soviet World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
hero.
A kolkhoz
Kolkhoz
A kolkhoz , plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms . The word is a contraction of коллекти́вное хозя́йство, or "collective farm", while sovkhoz is a contraction of советское хозяйство...
chairman, NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
officer, and volunteer with the Spanish Republican
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
forces in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, he is best remembered for organizing and leading one of the first Soviet partisan
Soviet partisans
The Soviet partisans were members of a resistance movement which fought a guerrilla war against the Axis occupation of the Soviet Union during World War II....
units during the 1941-1944 occupation of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic by Nazi Germany
Occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany
The occupation of Belarus by Nazi Germany occurred as part of the German invasion of the Soviet Union on June 22, 1941 and ended in August 1944 with the Soviet Operation Bagration.- Background :...
.
On account of his partisan service, Korzh was made a major-general in the Soviet military in 1943 and was awarded the honorary title
Title of honor
An honorary title or title of honor is a title bestowed upon individuals or organizations as an award in recognition of their merits.Sometimes the title bears the same or nearly the same name as a title of authority, but the person bestowed does not have to carry any duties, possibly except for...
Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
in August 1944.
Biography
Born into a peasant Belarusian family in Khorostovo (south of MinskMinsk
- Ecological situation :The ecological situation is monitored by Republican Center of Radioactive and Environmental Control .During 2003–2008 the overall weight of contaminants increased from 186,000 to 247,400 tons. The change of gas as industrial fuel to mazut for financial reasons has worsened...
, then part of the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
) in 1899, Korzh spent his early years assisting his family's toils on the agricultural lands owned by the noble Galitzine
Galitzine
For Orthodox clergyman and theologian, see Alexander Golitzin.The Galitzines are one of the largest and noblest princely houses of Russia. Since the extinction of the Korecki family in the 17th century, the Golitsyns have claimed dynastic seniority in the House of Gediminas...
family.
A supporter of the communist cause, Korzh participated in the guerrilla struggles of the pro-Soviet
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
Belarusian anti-Polish resistance movement in the 1920s in western Belarus (first occupied by Piłsudski and then officially ceded to the Second Polish Republic
Second Polish Republic
The Second Polish Republic, Second Commonwealth of Poland or interwar Poland refers to Poland between the two world wars; a period in Polish history in which Poland was restored as an independent state. Officially known as the Republic of Poland or the Commonwealth of Poland , the Polish state was...
after the 1921 Treaty of Riga in the aftermath of the 1919-1921 Polish-Soviet War
Polish-Soviet War
The Polish–Soviet War was an armed conflict between Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine and the Second Polish Republic and the Ukrainian People's Republic—four states in post–World War I Europe...
). He had initially been conscripted into the Polish Army during the conflict, but deserted from it after a fight with a Polish commander, provoked by the abuse inflicted on the Belarusian soldiers in the army's ranks.
Arriving in the Soviet Union in 1925, Korzh began working in agriculture and became a kolkhoz
Kolkhoz
A kolkhoz , plural kolkhozy, was a form of collective farming in the Soviet Union that existed along with state farms . The word is a contraction of коллекти́вное хозя́йство, or "collective farm", while sovkhoz is a contraction of советское хозяйство...
chairman after organizing the first peasants' commune in the village of Metyavichi, though not yet a member of the Communist Party
Communist Party of the Soviet Union
The Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the only legal, ruling political party in the Soviet Union and one of the largest communist organizations in the world...
. After joining the party's ranks in 1929, Korzh went on to serve in the NKVD
NKVD
The People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs was the public and secret police organization of the Soviet Union that directly executed the rule of power of the Soviets, including political repression, during the era of Joseph Stalin....
in 1931. He left in 1936 in order to fight as a volunteer with the International Brigades
International Brigades
The International Brigades were military units made up of volunteers from different countries, who traveled to Spain to defend the Second Spanish Republic in the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939....
on the side of the leftist Spanish Republicans
Second Spanish Republic
The Second Spanish Republic was the government of Spain between April 14 1931, and its destruction by a military rebellion, led by General Francisco Franco....
against the Nationalist forces of General Francisco Franco in the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
, returning to the Soviet Union in 1939 as a decorated fighter. He managed a sovkhoz
Sovkhoz
A sovkhoz , typically translated as state farm, is a state-owned farm. The term originated in the Soviet Union, hence the name. The term is still in use in some post-Soviet states, e.g., Russia and Belarus. It is usually contrasted with kolkhoz, which is a collective-owned farm...
in 1939-1940 and became head of the local Communist Party's Pinsk Oblast
Pinsk Voblast
Pinsk Voblast was a territorial unit in the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic created after the annexation of West Belarus into the BSSR in November 1939...
organization in 1940.
Korzh began organizing resistance cells in western Belarus immediately after the invasion of the Soviet Union by Nazi Germany
Operation Barbarossa
Operation Barbarossa was the code name for Germany's invasion of the Soviet Union during World War II that began on 22 June 1941. Over 4.5 million troops of the Axis powers invaded the USSR along a front., the largest invasion in the history of warfare...
on 22 June 1941. Within a month, Korzh's unit was already battling the German troops, having first engaged the German panzers accompanying the 293rd Wehrmacht Infantry Division on June 28.
Having served out most of the war in the rank of "brigade commander" or "combrig
Combrig
Combrig was a military rank used in the Red Army for commanders of brigades between 1935 and 1940 . Kombrigs were senior to polkovniks and junior to comdivs...
" among the Soviet partisans (the Red Army
Red Army
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army started out as the Soviet Union's revolutionary communist combat groups during the Russian Civil War of 1918-1922. It grew into the national army of the Soviet Union. By the 1930s the Red Army was among the largest armies in history.The "Red Army" name refers to...
also had not fully transitioned to the traditional officer ranks' system by the beginning of the German invasion), he was made a major-general in 1943. He subsrquently was recognized with the honorary title
Title of honor
An honorary title or title of honor is a title bestowed upon individuals or organizations as an award in recognition of their merits.Sometimes the title bears the same or nearly the same name as a title of authority, but the person bestowed does not have to carry any duties, possibly except for...
of Hero of the Soviet Union
Hero of the Soviet Union
The title Hero of the Soviet Union was the highest distinction in the Soviet Union, awarded personally or collectively for heroic feats in service to the Soviet state and society.-Overview:...
on 15 August 1944, during the last days of Operation Bagration, the Red Army's successful effort to liberate the remaining German-held Belarusian territory.
Korzh received his discharge from the military on account of poor health in 1946. He subsequently worked as an assistant to the Forestry Minister of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic in 1949-1953.
Upon returning to the Belarusian countryside from Minsk in 1953, he was again elected a kolkhoz chairman of a Belarusian village.
Korzh died on 5 May 1967.