Political Officers in Red Army in WW2.

Personal statement:
There are a lot of questions that people ask me. Probably because I am a "real" Russian. Most of them are: how do you cook borsch or schi? what did you think about "Enemy at the Gates" or "Russians are coming"? (don't get me started on some of them...) how do you put on the footwraps? (go HERE for that) why do you do political officer impression, when you strongly dislike communists?
A political officer of my sort - Politruk or Komissar (not an NKVD officer) was acting often as a secular chaplain. The state religion was atheism-communism, so it is logical that a "chaplain" would be a political officer. A politruk was writing letters for the illiterate and wounded, reading letters from home and upholding unit's morale (not only by threats and propaganda). Politruk's impression on my part is not a political statement, it is an attempts to represent a controversial occupation, that by the way puts me in a postion to correct my fellow re-enactors when they mercilessly distort my native language:). Well, actually my unit is doing a pretty good job of learning the commands, at least.

Political officers were not always loved and not always hated. Their figures in history are very controversial, however. They were not always "chaplains". Before pereattestatsiya or reform of the political ranks in the RKKA in 1942 political officers had power to interfere with commanding officers and could make tactical decisions. The existence of two sets of commanding officers posed obvious problems. In 1942 their ranks were abolished and they returned to their political work. They participated in the life of troops, sometimes inspiring them to desperate attacks against outnumbering forces by personal example.

Here is the table of ranks before and after pereattestatsiya in 1942:

Category	Rank	Rank after 1942
Junior political personnel	Zampolitruk	Starshina
Middle political personnel	Junior Politruk	Mladshiy/Junior Lieutenant
	Politruk	Lieutenant
Senior political personnel	Senior politruk	Starshiy /Senior Lieutenant
	Battalion Komissar	Kapitan/ Captain
	Senior Battalion Komissar	Mayor / Major
	Regimental Komissar	Podpolkovnik
Higher political personnel	Komissar of Division	Polkovnik/ Colonel
	Corps Komissar	General-Mayor
	Army Komissar 1 class	General-lieutenant
	Army Komisssar 2 class	General-colonel

Photograph: Russian POWs 1941-1942

It is in my Blood...

This is my Grandfather - Waldemar Konanovich Sheetik. This picture was taken in 1942.

I am a re-enactor of the Great Patriotic War or World War II (Eastern Front). My interest in the RKKA's or the Soviet Army's history developed since childhood, when I was listening to my grandparents' stories of their participation in the War. Even still the Russians of my generation refer to the Great Patriotic War as the War. It is in our blood, in our conscience, in the memory of our people. I grew up playing in the trenches and battlefields of the Leningrad front, soaking its history from the ground itself, from the stories of those who still remembered it well. I live in Texas now and am a part of the 8th Guards Mech. Corps, which is a re-enactment group, based in Texas, New Mexico, Kentucky, Indiana, Oregon and several other states.

And So It Begins

The Red Army made many mistakes: execution of its capable officers, terror, abolishing ranks, placing NKVD troops as a barrier to prevent retreat, and treating its common soldier in a typical Russian manner - with no regard for his life. This and scarce insofficent equipment created an image of "faceless Ivan"- uneducated uncivilized peasant. And only 50 years after westerners started to see a different image, shown through the personal stories of those people who committed the deeds of great courage and lived to tell about it. Very few know the story of my Grandparents, who did not tell much to anybody for different reasons. They were my heroes... Their stories of war, valor and tragedy are engraved in my memory since early childhood. They were not abstract soldiers in dusty shelter-halves that I used to see in propaganda photographs and films.

Facts that are good to know:

1.Not all the people in the Red Army were "left pink commies".
2.There was not much unity in the USSR, as it included 15 major states with different culture and languages, who often historically were sworn enemies
3.There were Russians, Ukranians, Georgians and many others in the German Army
4.The people above did not fight their own people out of hate for them or love for Hitler, but to spare their Motherland from the Communists
5.Far not all the people were atheists, Stalin had to use the support of the Orthodox Church in 1942 to raise the people for the defense of Moscow

The photo above is a photo of a POW from 1941-1942.