Lot 500
Stalin, Joseph. Typed Document Signed ("J. Stalin"). As People's Commissar of Defense of the USSR. Two pages, large quarto, Moscow, September 22, 1941. Being military orders. Pencil corrections in Stalin's hand. Signed in pencil. Possibly unrelated list (untranslated) on verso of second sheet. Filing holes at left have been ripped on both sheets, diagonal crease with wrinkling at bottom right of second page. Very good condition.
Only months after Hitler's invasion destroyed the German-Soviet Nonaggression Pact, Stalin makes military changes. The Red Army, whose officer corps had been decimated by Stalin's purges, was unable to stop the German army's advance and Stalin and his loyalists struggled to undo the damage done in the 1930s. Our document illustrates one of the measures taken to rebuild the military leadership, while engaging in some revisionist history: "From the beginning of the war, due to incomprehensible reasons, positions of the mentioned deputies have been eliminated. Abolishment of positions of deputies undermined the cause of growing the commanding staff in the Army and led to such a situation, where at present we do not have sufficiently trained commanders of the middle and senior levels. For purpose of faster correcting this mistake, as well as for growing and practical training of the cadre and ensuring immediate replacement of commanders in case of their promotion to higher positions or departure -- I COMMAND…" Stalin then proceeds to list appropriate measures to be taken. Of course, the reasons "sufficiently trained commanders of the middle and senior levels" were not available lay squarely at Stalin's feet, so here we offer not only an interesting World War II item, but also a prime example of Stalin's continual campaign to rewrite history.
Estimated Value $4,000 - 4,500.
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