Mikhail Fyodorovich Lukin

Mikhail Fyodorovich Lukin ( Russian Михаил Фёдорович Лукин , scientific transliteration Mikhail Fjodorovič Lukin ; * November 6th ^July / November 18th  1892 ^greg. Polochino near Subzow ; † May 25th 1970 in Moscow ) was a Soviet colonel general .

Life

MF Lukin was born in 1892 in the village of Poluchitino near the city of Subzow ( Kalinin Oblast ). He joined the Tsarist Army in 1913 and initially participated in the First World War as a simple soldier . It was not until 1916 that he was able to attend the officers' school in Moscow . He was then promoted to the rank of first lieutenant and led a company .

He joined the Red Guard in 1917, the Red Army in 1918, and the Communist Party in 1919 . In the following years he took part in the Russian Civil War. First was the officer in charge of reconnaissance in a rifle division. He then became regimental and brigade commander . He was also chief of staff of a rifle mission, with which he fought against white troops mainly in the south and west of the country .

After the civil war, Lukin served in various positions. As chief of staff and on the staff of various divisions as well as in the administration of the Ukrainian military district and the administration of the Red Army. During this period he also completed courses in the Frunze Military Academy in 1926 . From 1929 he commanded a rifle division before he assumed the trustworthy post of city commander of Moscow from 1935 to 1937. After that he was first deputy chief of staff, then himself chief of staff and finally deputy to the commander of the Siberian military district . In July 1940, he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general, and was finally deputy commander of the 16th Army in the Transbaikal Military District .

After the outbreak of the German-Soviet War , Lukin commanded the 16th, 20th and 19th Armies in turn from June to October 1941, with which he participated in the battles around Smolensk and Vyazma . The bulk of the troops of the Soviet western and reserve fronts were enclosed near the latter city on October 7th . Lukin took command in the pocket and made several attempts to escape before the last of his troops surrendered by October 20th. Lukin himself was seriously wounded and taken prisoner.

While in captivity, Lukin distanced himself from the Stalin regime and initially cooperated with the German authorities. On December 12, 1941, during an interrogation, he for the first time indicated the possibility of creating a Russian counter-government:

“The farmer was promised land, the worker participation in industry. Peasants and workers have been lied to [...] when misery and terror reign and above all joylessness in life, then you will understand that these people should gratefully welcome their liberation from the Bolshevik yoke [...] Russians are on the side of the so-called enemy - so it is not treason to go over to them, but only a departure from the system; this opens up new hopes. "

- Gen. Lt. MF Lukin (December 12, 1941)

Lukin refused to participate in the later Russian Liberation Army , probably out of consideration for his family and because of a lack of confidence in the German possibilities.

Lukin was released from captivity in May 1945. However, he was immediately suspected of treason and detained again in Lefortow Prison. However, on the orders of Stalin he was dismissed and from 1946 belonged to the Red Army Reserve. He died in 1970 and was buried in Moscow's Novodevichy Cemetery. Marshal of the Soviet Union G.K. On the occasion of his death in the same year, Zhukov ruled:

“I recently met Mikhail Fyodorovich and of course we talked about times gone by. I admit that I am still amazed at his courage and steadfastness. He survived the heavy warlike turmoil as well as excruciating physical suffering and still remained as he was, a humble, taciturn true hero of the Patriotic War and our victory. "

- GK Zhukov

Even after his death, Lukin received several honors. The city of Smolensk made him an honorary citizen posthumously in 1988 . In 1993, President Boris N. Yeltsin declared him " Hero of the Russian Federation ", after he had been named " Hero of the Soviet Union " in 1991.

literature

• Лукин, Михаил Фёдорович , in: Советская военная энциклопедия , Vol. 5, Москва 1978. ( Online version )
• Протокол допроса военнопленного генерал-лейтенанта Красной Армии М. Ф. Лукина, 14 декабря 1941 года - Новый часовой , in: Русский военно-исторический журнал (1994), No.2, pp. 173-175.

Web links

Commons : Michail Lukin  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Лукин Михаил Федорович , website of the city of Smolensk (as of September 19, 2009)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Лукин, Михаил Фёдорович , in: Советская военная энциклопедия , Vol. 5, Москва 1978.
2. ^ ^{A b} Horst Boog, Jürgen Förster, Joachim Hoffmann , Ernst Klink, Rolf-Dieter Müller , Gerd R. Ueberschär : The attack on the Soviet Union (= Military History Research Office [ed.]: The German Reich and the Second World War . Volume 4 ). 2nd Edition. Deutsche Verlags-Anstalt, Stuttgart 1987, ISBN 3-421-06098-3 , pp. 766 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
3. ↑ ”Не так давно мы встретились с Михаилом Федоровичем, конечно, говорили о былом, пережитом. Признаться, я испытывал и испытываю чувство восхищения его стойкостью и мужеством. Он перенес тяжелое военное лихолетье, мучительные физические страдания и остался таким, каким был - скромным, немногословным, истинным героем Отечественной войны и нашей Победы ", cit. to: Лукин Михаил Федорович ( Memento of the original from May 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Website of the city of Smolensk. 
4. ↑ Лукин Михаил Федорович ( Memento of the original from May 21, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Website of the city of Smolensk.