Yakov Dzhugashvili was Joseph Stalin’s eldest son. When the World War 2 broke out , he joined
the Soviet army with his father’s " blessings” . Dzhugashvili served as
an artillery officer in the Red Army. In
1941, on 16th July, after getting contused he was taken hostage by
the Nazi soldiers in the early stage of the war at the Battle of Smolensk. Then,
the German soldiers were informed of his identity by other hostage soviet
soldiers. During interrogations Yakov behaved very courageously, honourably.
His first interrogation:
-Did you submit of your own will or were you taken hostage by force?
-I was taken hostage by force.
-In which way?
-On 12t July, our military group got encircled. I wanted to break out of the encirclement , but at that
time, I got injured by the splinter of
the bomb which exploded next to me
,and I lost my consciousness .If
I had had a chance , I would have shot
at myself.
-Do you deem captivity dishonest?
-Yes.
-In your opinion, do the Soviet army have a chance to bring about a
fundamental change in the war?
-The war is not over yet.
-What if we get Moscow?
-I cannot conceive that.
-When did you talk to your father last time?
-On 22th June, by phone, when he heard of my joining the army, he said "Go
, fight”.
Yakov refusing to make any co-operation with the German soldiers was sent
to a hostage camp. The Germans later offered to exchange Yakov for Friedrich Paulus, German Field Marshal captured by the Soviets
after the Battle of Stalingrad. However, Stalin turned the offer down. In return,
Joseph Stalin launched such an approach to this proposal that the history
included to its memory as a very controversial, debatable step by expressing
this statement: "I will not trade a Marshal
for a Lieutenant". According
to some sources, Hitler also wanted to exchange Yakov
for his nephew. Neither was this proposition accepted. In 1943, on 14th April,
not being able to bear violence, exasperation which he was exposed to, Yakov
run to into the fence screaming to be executed by shooting. There he was shot a by Nazi soldier, and so did he pass away.
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