General Vlasov and the RLA (Russian Liberation Army)

This thread is dedicated to the discussion of General Vlasov, the main Soviet collaborator with the German army. Was he a traitor or did he really mean well for his own country? (I think he's a mindless traitor, to be honest with you, and the Russian Orthodox Church in New York hold ceremonies in his honour (!) and has Vlasov Day or something, that's what Wikipedia told me. Traitors should be shot, quoting Stalin and many others, not honoured.) What are your thoughts on this? And why didn't Hitler support Vlasov in the way that he backed Mussolini and the Japanese Empire? I mean, it was a pretty large amount of people that Vlasov had under his command, and I'm sure they wouldn't have gone amiss in Hitler's plan of grand conquest.

General Vlasov from different angles and a pic of him with his troops.

 

Well Hitler didn't like the way Vlasov talked about the Germans to the Russian people, if I remember correctly, calling the Germans nothing but 'guests' in Russia. Hitler had a vision to crush the Soviets and take control of the Urals, clearly not only a guest.
The only reason Hitler eventually gave permission for the RLA to be created was because he knew they were losing the war, and they needed every bit of help they could get, even from Russians.

Was he a traitor to Russia and the Soviet party?, yes. But did be deserve to die for this. Well I suppose that is debatable, he did serve his county well near Moscow,(I believe it was), but he knew Stalin and knew what he was capable of, and knew what would happen if he returned to Russia a failure. He was a great leader and a great soldier from what I understand, he refused to leave his men but chose there fate as well, so should he get killed for his great service to his country.

He created the army to free Russia from communism and the Soviets, not to destroy it and to claim it as his own. Had he succeeded in removing Stalin from power he would have been called a hero probably, not a traitor, so in essence he did what he thought was right for his country.

 

I believe Vlasov to be an opportunist who was a patriot of Russia. Vlasov was treated well under Stalin. He had a very rapid rise in the Red Army. He survived Stalin’s purges, even though he was posted abroad (China).

When captured Vlasov was wounded and in a very bad health and state of mind. –(Germans actually thought that they found his body and already had a military funeral for him).

Vlasov petitioned for well treatment of Russian POWs.

After establishing first units of Russian Liberation Army, Vlasov was a strong advocate of Russian Nationalism and could have never been looked favorably upon by Nazi Party leadership. Actually his arrest warrant was issued a number of times by Gestapo.

Russian Liberation Army saw very limited action on the Russian Front. Some units performed bravely, while others joined partisans or quickly went back to the Red Army.

Vlasov was on the wrong side of History.

Traitors are usually hanged not shot, which is what happened to Vlasov.

 

Vlasov was very, very naive. Ultimately Hitler was ideologically opposed to the existence of the Russian people, and by choosing to overlook this, and pretending that he could do a deal with the devil, Vlasov probably helped more than hindered Stalin by decisively and completely discrediting the Russian anti-communist movement.

 

I thought you'd enjoy these good quality Vlassov pics in this thread

 

Vlasov was not a traitor because he fought against Stalin but because he shot at his own people on the side of an enemy at a time of war. The fact that Vlasov only switched sides (multiple times) in order to save his own hide makes him a coward (IMO).


As correctly put by Olegbabich, traitors are usually hanged and this is what happened to Vlasov.

 

Skipper, cheers for those pics!

As for Vlasov, I mean, even if he did mean well for his own country, he knew what Hitler was all about, didn't he? So why take sides with pure evil? And I said that traitors should be shot, not that Vlasov was shot.
Slonik, I agree with you on the fact that he took sides with the enemy to save his own hide, pretty much. Because there were countless stories of Soviet soldiers committing suicide or fighting till the death, just to avoid getting captured by the Germans. Not only did he submit to captivity, he collaborated and started killing his own nation's people, is that not bertraying your Motherland? And not only was it him, there were 2 million of his own soldiers that accepted that fate.

 

Vlasov liked power, power for himself, he was an opportunist, when Hitler seemed on the winning side he switched sides, he made the wrong choice and paid the ultimate price for it. It was to be expected. Did he really think his own people would ever forgive him for what he did? Some claimed he fough tfor the freedom of his country, others will say he fought for the Germans: he in fact fough tfor himself and did not hesitate to kill his own people for a few more onces of power.

 

I totally agree. Power does strange, unexplainable things to people.
I mean, whether it was for himself or Hitler, or just plainly against Stalin, that doesn't diminish the fact that he bertrayed his country, switched sides, joined forces with the Wehrmacht and went about killing the people that he was fighting with previously.