Grigorenko Memoirs

482 Pages·1980·14.935 MB·English

by  Petro Grigorenko

RfflERflOHISS

PETRO G.
GRIGORENKO
Translated by
Thomas B Whitney
W. W Norton
and Company
New York (cid:127) London
Copyright © 1982 by Petro G. Grigorenko
All rights reserved.
Published simultaneously in Canada by
George J. McLeod Limited, Toronto.
Printed in the United States of America.
The text of this book is composed in Times Roman,
with display type set in Times Roman Black and
Demi Outline. Manufacturing by The Haddon Craftsmen, Inc.
First Edition
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Grigorenko, Petro Grigoryevich, 1907-
Memoirs.
Includes index.
1. Grigorenko, Petro Grigoryevich, 1907- .
2. Soviet Union. Armilia—Biography. 3. Generals—Soviet Union—Biography.
4. Dissidents —Soviet Union—Biography.
5. Political prisoners—Soviet Union—Biography.
I. Title. DK268.G75A36 1982 361.230924 [B] 82-7852
AACR2
ISBN: 978-0-393-33341-1
W. W. Norton & Company, Inc. 500 Fifth Avenue,
New York, N. Y. 10110
W. W. Norton &, Company Ltd. 37 Great Russell Street,
London WC1B 3NU
1234567890
CONTENTS
Author's Note ix
PART I: THE FALCON RESPONDS
TO THE LURE
1. I Did Not Have a Childhood 3
2. I Learn of My Nationality 8
3. “To Be Cooked in the Workers’ Pot’’ 15
4. A New “Pot’’ 32
5. A Profession for Life 45
6. Vitebsk 58
PART II: THE FLIGHT OF THE
TRAINED FALCON
7. Minsk Fortified Area 67
8. The General Staff Academy 86
9. The Far East 105
10. Intelligence Summary Number Eight 114
vii
viii MEMOIRS
11. The War Begins 122
12. 1941-43 127
13. Unexpected Rest 140
14. The Fourth Ukrainian Front 150
15. The War Ends 187
16. A Decisive Turning Point 200
17. The Frunze Military Academy 206
PART III: THE FALCON CASTS
OFF HIS HOOD
18. My Dash to Freedom 237
19. For the Rebirth of Leninism 262
20. The Serbsky Institute 277
21. First Swallows of Freedom 305
22. Feeling My Way 315
23. Guerrilla Warfare 327
24. Head-on Battle 338
25. Under Siege 365
26. Psychoprison 391
27. No Rest for Us 429
28. Far from Home 448
Index 455
Photographs appear between pages 248 and 249.
have lived a long and complicated life, through turbulent, tempestuous,
and horrible times. I witnessed death, destruction, and awakening. I met a
great number of people. I searched and got involved, erred and reformed my-
self. I lived with the people and for the people. I accepted their help, took ad-
vantage of their good advice and instruction. Many of them left a visible mark
on my life, influencing its formation. This book is first and foremost about
them. Among them are those without whom I could never have been the way
I am.
This book is for my parents—Gregory Ivanovich Grigorenko, my father,
and Agatha Semyonovna (nee Belyak), my mother; for my first spiritual men-
tors—Uncle Alexander (Alexander Ivanovich Grigorenko) and Father Vladi-
mir Donskoi, who have sown the seeds of goodness in my soul; for my wife,
Zinaida Mikhailovna Grigorenko (nee Yegorova), who became my friend and
support throughout my uneasy life; and for my children and grandchildren,
who are destined to live.
In working on the book my aim was not to instruct my contemporaries or
descendants. Moreover, I do not believe that someone else’s life can be an ex-
ix