In 1941, the Soviet Union and Germany were at loggerheads. In the early days, the Soviet Union was defeated one after another, and many soldiers were captured and imprisoned in concentration camps. One of the officers had a Georgian accent, distinctly different from the other captives, which caught the attention of the German leadership. Later, after investigation, it was found that this man was Actually Stalin's eldest son, Yakov, and the Germans were very surprised. Subsequently, it was announced that Stalin's eldest son had been captured and surrendered, and had surrendered to the German Nazis.
Stalin
I thought that stalin would be confused, but Stalin actually let people arrest his son's uncle and aunt and shoot them, and the two worked hard to raise Yakov to grow up, but the ending was very miserable, which made many people unable to understand. Then Stalin had his daughter-in-law imprisoned. Why did Stalin choose to hurt his eldest son's beloved? Why didn't Stalin try to save his son? What was his purpose in doing so?
Childhood shadows accompany a lifetime, and I am separated from my eldest son for 13 years
Stalin was born in Georgia on December 21, 1879. His father was a shoemaker, and his mother was out there helping people. Despite the hard work of the parents, the family still has a difficult life and barely survives. Before Stalin, the parents had two children, but neither survived.
A photograph of Stalin when he was young
The father has been at the bottom of society for a long time, and he has been bullied by people who have worked hard to repair his shoes, but he cannot change the status quo of life and cannot save his two children. The dissatisfaction and resentment in my heart accumulated, and I gradually contracted the problem of alcoholism, and the whole person became more and more irritable every day. Every time he encountered dissatisfaction and injustice, he would always drink alcohol, and when he was drunk, he would start beating and scolding his wife.
After Stalin was born, his father's problems did not change, and he still went his own way. When my father was sober, he was fine, and the most angry thing he could do was to scold Stalin and his wife. But when he was drunk, he did not recognize his relatives and beat Stalin and his wife. Every time the mother would protect Stalin, alone and silently endure everything.
Stalin's childhood was spent in the scolding of his father. Gradually, the whole person was different from ordinary children, and began to become like his father, grumpy and impulsive. In addition to the shadow brought to him by his father, there is also a physical influence that accompanies him throughout his life. Stalin was not in good health when he was a child, and he was left with numbness on his face when he encountered smallpox, because of sepsis, his left hand was disabled, and the second and third toes on his feet were still parallel toes.
Stalin's childhood was stacked with pain and tragedy, which also reflects the future Stalin's family is still unhappy. The 16-year-old Stalin, who first learned about Marxism from the book and was influenced by it, has since embarked on the road of revolution. While studying at the academy, Stalin met Alexander's sister Svanidze, and the two fell in love for a long time, and the 24-year-old Stalin had the impulse to start a family for the first time.
Stalin and Svanidze
In 1906, Stalin and Svanidze married, and their eldest son, Yakov, was born shortly after. He then took his wife to baku to live, but Stalin was so caught up in revolutionary activities that he was arrested and imprisoned several times. Unbeknownst to him once again in prison, his beloved wife was suffering from typhus, had no money to treat her illness and no one to take care of her, and finally died.
Stalin did not learn the news until he met his close friend Alexander in prison, and Yakov, who could not speak yet. Stalin was so grief-stricken that after his release from prison, he cried loudly in front of his wife's grave, and he blamed himself for not being able to let go of his wife's departure. But Stalin was destined not to stop at a woman, and after packing up his emotions, he once again embarked on the road of revolution.
Yakov
As for his son Yakov, Stalin did not take him with him out of consideration, but left it to his wife's brother to take care of him. Unexpectedly, this time the father and son who were separated had not seen each other for 13 years, and even Stalin had already married someone else and had a lovely son and daughter.
It was not until Stalin stabilized that he remembered his eldest son, whom he had not seen in 13 years, and sent someone to take him to the Kremlin in Moscow. At this time, Yakov had just turned 14 years old, left the family of his beloved uncle, and came to his strange father. Under the careful education of his uncle Alexander, Yakov grew into a very good youth, gentle and polite, and played football well and played chess well.
Yakov grew up in Georgia and learned Georgian, so not knowing Russian was his only inadequacy. But Yakov struggled to adapt to the changing environment and studied Russian seriously, but after studying, he was able to read the textbooks, but the Russian language still had a Georgian accent.
Yakov was interested in cars as a child, and as early as before returning to his father, he had discussed with his uncle to plan his future, so he went to participate in the design of cars and become a designer, which was his ideal. Yakov came to the automobile factory to become an apprentice, and the experts taught him by hand.
The discerning Stalin realized that the Soviet Union would have to go through war in the future, and his son had no retreat. If they have to go to war, teach them to survive in advance. With Stalin's encouragement, the three sons chose to become soldiers, and Yakov chose to be admitted to the command department of the Artillery Academy because of the machinery he had previously learned.
During school, Yakov met a girl named Yulia by chance, and the two fell in love at first sight. However, when Yakov proposed to Stalin to marry Yulia, he was strongly opposed by Stalin. But Stalin could not stop Yakov's decision, 13 years of strangeness and estrangement was not a three-foot cold, Yakov resolutely married Yulia despite the obstacles.
Yakov left
After marriage, the two gave birth to a lovely daughter, and life was very happy and peaceful. But the days of stability did not last long, and in June 1941, Germany suddenly attacked the Soviet Union and the Soviet-German War broke out. As a soldier, Yakov will also rush to the front line with his troops, even if he is Stalin's son, he cannot avoid going to the battlefield, which is the beginning of Yakov's tragedy.
As the saying goes, the mother is worried, and the father is also worried. Before leaving, Stalin did not say much to Yakov, because Stalin knew that Yakov was his son a moment ago, and that he was a glorious soldier of the Soviet Union after he stepped onto the battlefield.
Old photographs from the Soviet-German war
Agents were sent to rescue them without success, and the iron-blooded wrist eventually killed the parents
At the beginning of the Soviet-German war, the Soviet Union was not fully prepared, and Stalin's command was wrong. Germany, on the other hand, took a surprise attack, using a large number of mechanized troops, which caught the Soviet Union off guard. All the Soviet warplanes on the border were destroyed, and the air superiority was completely lost, and the losses were very huge. Coupled with the fact that the soviet high-level officers still used the old tactics, the combat effectiveness could not withstand the Germans, so a large number of troops were lost in a few days.
Successive defeats and the sacrifice of countless people made soviet soldiers panic. These soldiers are just children, most of them are on the battlefield for the first time, and fear is also a common human feeling. There is no shortage of timid people who have slipped away from work. One has two and three, and countless soldiers have escaped.
Defending the country is the responsibility of all people, but why can others escape and live, but they themselves have to die on the battlefield or even sacrifice their lives. With this mentality, many people directly deserted from the battlefield, which led to the loss of cities and large areas of land in the Soviet Union.
In order to unite the people of the whole country, Stalin was bent on defending against foreign enemies. Soldiers who strongly ordered to flee from work on the battlefield or surrender after being captured were punished for their actions. It was Stalin's iron-blooded means, which ruthlessly shattered the illusion that the soldiers wanted to escape, so that the Soviet soldiers faced the Nazis head-on with determination, without causing more serious consequences.
Photo of Yaakov when he was captured
In July, the Germans surrounded three Soviet armies, killing and wounding millions and taking hundreds of thousands of prisoners. It so happened that Yakov's artillery regiment was among them, and Yakov was also captured by the Germans. The high-ranking officers who were soon captured, some of whom could not withstand the Nazi interrogation methods, chose to surrender and betray the Soviet Union.
Because of the appearance of these traitors, Yakov, who spoke Georgian, was known to be Stalin's son and the situation became very difficult. But even in the face of German persecution or whipping, Yakov was never soft and vowed to die. The Germans really had no choice but to abandon Yakov.
One German general felt that instead of fighting Yakov here, it would be better to announce Yakov's surrender and spread the news of his submission to the Soviet Union. Who wants to verify whether it is true or false, everyone only believes what they see, as for the truth behind it, no one will care. Wasting time and energy has no result, and spreading rumors can also achieve the goal.
The insidious Nazis scattered leaflets all over the sky, and all the Soviet soldiers and officers fighting on the front line saw them, and for a moment people were panicked. Stalin knew that if he did not solve the problem well, then the morale of the Soviet Union would be completely exhausted, and in the end it would only live under the control of the Nazis, and he would never allow this to happen, and Stalin knew that he should make a decision.
Stalin quickly ordered that the uncle and aunt who had raised Yakov be shot and Yakov's wife, Yulia, imprisoned. Stalin, who showed no mercy and disregarded his family affection, saved the situation, stabilized the soviet military heart, and cracked the sinister intentions of Nazi Germany. Therefore, he also carried the infamy of a lifetime, and was accused of being cold-blooded and ruthless.
In fact, Stalin was not cold-blooded and ruthless, he knew that his son would certainly not surrender and betray the Soviet Union, would not betray his father, but he could not explain it to the Soviet people, and he had to take into account the overall situation. Stalin was not only Yakov's father, but also the leader of the Soviet Union, who had his own responsibilities and obligations.
As early as hearing of his son's arrest, Stalin sent many agents to the rescue. However, many lives were sacrificed, and Yakov was still not rescued. Stalin had the heart to continue the rescue, but the Nazis gave him a conundrum, and he could only choose between his son and the state.
No one knows what reason Yakov chose to escape from prison by disobeying the rules, perhaps because his father said that "to be captured is to be a traitor", or to hear that his uncle and aunt who loved him died because of him, and his wife was also imprisoned.
In short, on the night of April 14, 1943, Yakov did not return to the cell according to the rules, but walked alone in the direction of the wall, and was finally shot and killed by the Germans, ending his life.
Yakov's death
epilogue
Stalin's life was bumpy, but it was also legendary. As the leader of the Soviet Union, his inhumanity and iron-blooded methods made the Soviet Union one heart and one mind and willing to submit to him. However, behind the people in power of a country, there is the bloody sacrifice of relatives, with eternal regret. He was worthy of the Soviet people, but he was sorry for his son and his best friend and wife. Life is destined to make choices, there will always be regretful decisions, only wish to be worthy of themselves, not ashamed.