Grigory Semyonov
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Grigory Mikhaylovich Semyonov, or Semenov (Russian: Григо́рий Миха́йлович Семёнов) (September 13(25), 1890–August 30, 1946), was a Japanese-supported leader of the White movement in Transbaikal and beyond from December 1917 to November 1920, Lieutenant General and Ataman of Baikal Cossacks (1919).
Semyonov graduated from Orenburg Military School in 1911. He took part in World War I and became a yesaul. In July of 1917, Semyonov was appointed Commissar of the Provisional Government in the Baikal region, responsible for recruiting counterrevolutionary volunteer military units.
[edit] The Russian Civil War in Transbaikal
After the October Revolution, Semyonov stirred up an anti-Soviet rebellion, but sustained a defeat and fled to Manchuria. In August of 1918, he managed to consolidate his positions in the Transbaikal region with the help of the Czechoslovak Legions, and imposed his ruthless regime. In his rule over this region, he has been described as a "plain bandit [who] drew his income from holding up trains and forcing payments, no matter what the nature of the load nor for whose benefit it was being shipped."[1] The so-called Siberian Provisional Government appointed Semyonov commander of a detached unit with the headquarters in Chita. Initially, Admiral Kolchak refused to recognize Semyonov's authority, but he had no choice but to accept Semyonov as de facto leader and confirm Semyonov as Commander-in-Chief of the Chita military district. In early 1919, Semyonov declared himself Ataman of the Transbaikal Cossack Host with support from the Imperial Japanese Army, elements of which had been deployed to Siberia. The region under his control extended from Verkhne-Udinsk near Lake Baikal to the Shilka River and town of Stretensk, to Manchuli, where the Chinese Eastern Railway met the Chita Railway, and northeast some distance along the Amur Railway. Semenov, however, was not truly sovereign in this domain, being under the thumb of the Imperial Japanese troops who "supported" him, and used him to further Tokyo's agenda in Russia.
Contrary to popular belief, Semyonov was not an anti-Semite, though one author insists that Semyonov handed out copies of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion to the Japanese troops he became associated with[2]. In February 1919, it is said that he allowed a Jewish unit to form in his Cossack-dominated army. His most illustrious mistress and partner in crime was a Jewish cabaret singer named Mashka Sharaban.
Due to the defeat of the White movement, Admiral Kolchak transferred his power to Semyonov in the Far East. However Semyonov's forces in Siberia were little better than thugs. They stole, burned, murdered, and raped civilians who lived in territory his troops controlled. Semyonov either could not control his soldiers or did not care. In July 1920 the Japanese Expeditionary Corps started their withdrawal in accordance with the Gongota Agreement signed with the Fast Eastern Republic. The Japanese left the Ataman alone. Transbaikal partisans, internationalists and the 5th Soviet Army under Genrich Eiche launched the operation of re-taking Chita. In October of 1920, units of the Red Army and guerrillas forced Semyonov's tiny army out of the Baikal region. After having retreated to Primorye, Semyonov tried to continue fighting the Soviets, but was finally forced to abandon all Russian territory in September of 1921.
[edit] In Exile
Semyonov first ran away to Manchuria, then to Nagasaki, and later he settled in the USA where, after a short period of time, he was accused of committing acts of violence against the American soldiers of the Expeditionary Corps. Semyonov was eventually acquitted. He came back to China where he was given a monthly 1000-yen pension by the Japanese authorities. The ataman lived mostly in Northern China. He had ties with the Japanese intelligence community and, having been a leader of the White emigrants of the Far East, was in charge of their anti-Soviet activities. In September of 1945, Semyonov was captured by the Soviet Army in Manchuria and sentenced to death by hanging by the Military Board of the Supreme Court of the USSR. He was executed on 29th August, 1946. His executioners allegedly used prohibited methods to prolong his agony on the gallows.[1]
