Kononov, Ivan Nikitič

Major General Ivan Nikitich Kononov



He was born into the family of a Cossack esaul, hanged by the Bolsheviks in 1918. The Bolsheviks also caused the death of his 3 brothers, the oldest fell in the fighting of the Civil War and another 2 died in the gulag in 1934-1937.


In 1922 he joined the Red Army, when he entered he deliberately stated 1906 as his date of birth and changed his origin to proletarian.
He joined the 79th Cavalry Regiment, 14th Cavalry Division. During his service, he graduated from the divisional school and became a lower commander.


In the years 1924-1927 he attended the Equestrian Department of the Military School of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee. At school, in the last year of his apprenticeship, he was a master of the students.
From 1927 to 1928 he was commander of the platoon of the 27th Bykadorov Cavalry Regiment at the 5th Stavropol Cavalry Division.


From 1928 to 1931 he was platoon leader in the regimental school. In this capacity, he took part in the spring of 1930 in suppressing civil unrest against collectivization in the Kursk region.
In 1929 he also joined the Communist Party. From 1930 to 1931 he was the temporary commander of the cavalry squadron.


In 1932 he served as a politruk, first with the 30th Squadron and then with the school squadron of the 5th Mechanized Regiment, 5th Cavalry Division. In the years 1933-1934 he was secretary of the party committee of the 30th Cavalry Regiment.


In 1934 he became an assistant chief of staff at the 28th Cavalry Regiment, where he worked until 1936, when he became chief of staff at the same regiment.


In 1937 he began studying at Frundze Military Academy, which he successfully completed in 1938, then he joined as Chief of Operations of the 2nd Cavalry Group at the Kiev Military District.


In September, he took part in the occupation of eastern Poland and then, until 1940, the fighting in the so-called Winter War with Finland. For his work he was awarded the Order of the Red Star in 1940.
September 15, 1940, in the rank of major, he became commander of the 436th Regiment of the 155th Rifle Division, located at the western border of the USSR. At the beginning of 1941, a proposal was submitted for his promotion to the rank of lieutenant colonel, but then war broke out and there was no promotion.


From the beginning of the war, he and his regiment participated in defensive and retreat battles, twice he managed to break through the siege.
On August 22, 1941, he was captured. His capture was preceded by several days of siege fighting, then he sent to German parliamentary troops to negotiate the terms of capture with the possibility of cooperation in the fight against the Red Army.


On September 6, 1941, he applied for permission to form a volunteer Cossack regiment at the Armenian Abwehr department, received permission, and on October 28, 1941, he assembled the 102nd Volunteer Cossack Squadron, which consisted of 2 cavalry squadrons, 2 bicycle squadrons, artillery platoon and anti-tank platoon. In 1942, the unit was transformed into the 600th Cossack Battalion. The soldiers were characterized by high fighting morale.


At the beginning of 1942, as part of the 88th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht, they fought against guerrillas in the Smolensk region and then in the Mogilev region. This year he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant colonel of the Wehrmacht. As of February 1943, the division consisted of 6 cavalry squadrons, 2 bicycle and 1 motorcycle squadron, further supplemented by an artillery division. In the summer of 1943, the unit was reorganized into the 5th Don Cossack Regiment, 2nd Cossack Brigade, 1st Cossack Division of the Wehrmacht.


In the autumn of 1943, the regiment was transferred to Yugoslavia to fight against the National Liberation Army of Yugoslavia. Even in these battles, the regiment proved a high martial morale and military art.


In June 1944, Kononov was promoted to the rank of colonel. During this year, he also gradually received German decorations - Iron Cross 2nd degree and Iron Cross 1st degree. He was also awarded the Croatian Knight's Cross.


In December 1944, the regiment successfully fought in the Pitomač area with parts of the 57th Army, 3rd Ukrainian Front. At the end of 1944, Col. Kononov began organizing a separate Plastun Brigade in the 15th Cossack cavalry group of SS troops (in which the 1st Cossack Division was transformed).


In April 1945, Kononov became a representative of the subcommittee of the Cossack parts at the headquarters of the Russian Liberation Army gen. Andrej Vlasov.At that time, he also established contacts with the commander of the Serbian armed forces, Draža Mihajlovič. Gene. At the end of April, Vlasov appointed him commander of the 15th Cossack group and ataman of all Cossack troops, but in practice he no longer took command due to the end of the war.


On April 1, 1945, he was appointed Major General by the "Hair" Committee of the Liberated Nations of Russia. In May 1945, he still managed to meet the gen. Vlasov, at that time his brigade was located in Austria. After the meeting, he tried to return to his troops, but was captured while passing through the American operating zone. Until 1946 he was in American captivity.


From 1946 to 1948 he lived in Munich and tried to create a political organization - the All-Immigrant Anti-Communist Foreign Association, but he failed with his efforts.


In 1948, after his political failure and partly out of fear of his extradition to the Soviet Union, he traveled to Australia, where he gradually settled in the city of Adelaide. Even in Australia, as a traitor to the USSR, he became the target of KGB surveillance.


I. N. Kononov was the only general of Russian troops fighting against the Soviet Union, who managed to survive the war and the subsequent actions of the USSR against all the so-called traitors. On September 15, 1967, he died in a car accident in Australia.




Source:
pics.livejournal.com
http://ru.wikipedia.org
http://geroev.livejournal.com/151455.html