Description
Book SynopsisA famous Soviet general who fought in the Battle of Moscow (1941/1942) and the siege of Leningrad (19411944), Andrey Vlasov (19011946) was captured by Nazi troops and then defected to the Third Reich. Supported by Nazi propaganda, he created a Russian Liberation Committee that later became the Russian Liberation Army (RLA). The RLA was a body of several hundred officers and several thousand troops who had defected from the USSR and served Nazi purposes on Soviet territory. Vlasov was arrested by Soviet troops in Czechoslovakia while trying to escape to theWestern Front and was subsequently tried for treason and executed by Soviet authorities. In 2015, the Russian State Archive of Social and Political History (RGASPI) released three volumes of archives documenting the infamous Vlasov Case, the main instance of Soviet collaborationism with Nazi Germany. With this volume, which draws on the archives of Russia, Belarus, Germany, and the US, the English-speaking audience can now access the most important documents on this topic for the first time. The documents tell the story of Vlasovs betrayal, from the moment he became a prisoner, to his service under the Nazis, and up through the trial in Moscow in 1946. Volume 1 is comprised of archival documents on Vlasovs activities from 1942 to 1945. Volume 2 explores the Soviet investigations of Vlasov during the 19451946 trial.
Trade Review"The Vlasov Case is a unique collection of documents that draws on archival repositories from several countries, including previously inaccessible files from the Russian archives. The documentary collection will spur re-evaluations of Russian collaboration during the Second World War, a topic too often bypassed or studied in superficial ways. The importance and controversy of World War Two memories in contemporary politics in Russia and Eastern Europe make the publication of these new materials on Vlasov and Vlasovism particularly welcome." -- Benjamin Tromly, Professor of History, University of Puget Sound
