The illustrious military leader of the Great Patriotic War began to fight with the Civil War when he volunteered for the Red Army. Army General Zhadov served a total of 52 years in military service, going from a rank-and-file Red Army to first deputy commander-in-chief of the ground forces of the most powerful army in the world.
early years
The future general Zhadov Aleksey Semenovich was born on March 17 (30), 1901 in the small village of Nikolskoye, Orel Region. In a large peasant family there were seven children. They did not live richly, but also did not live in poverty. Parents made a living by baking bread. Since there was not enough money for training, Alexei managed to finish only four classes of a rural school in 1912. Then I had to help my parents and older brothers bake bread. The future commander worked as a shepherd and as a scribe in the volost military department.
The real name of Aleksey Semenovich is Zhidov, maybe someone from his distant ancestors was a Jew. According to the documents, he himself was Russian and, even according to some sources, did not want his daughter to marry Semyon Gudzenko, who was Jewish by nationality. General Zhadov changed his surname in 1942 at the insistence of Joseph Stalin personally.
Good commander with the wrong last name
A little strange story went into the memoirs of General Zhadov and Marshal Rokossovsky. Konstantin Konstantinovich describes this situation as follows. Stalin, after listening to a report on the slow progress of the 66th Army, asked to tell about the commander. Having received the best description of the commander, Joseph Vissarionovich proposed to talk about changing the name of the Jews to Zadov. Rokossovsky said in response that the military general is not one of those who are backing away, it’s just very difficult for the troops now. Stalin replied that he had no complaints against the commander. It's just that in the army it matters what the name of the military leader sounds, so persuade comrade Zhidov to change his name at his discretion. Perhaps Alexei Semenovich was lucky that he did not become Zadov.
In his biography, General Zhadov describes further events as follows. Once, Rokossovsky called him and said that Vasiliev (Stalin’s operational pseudonym) was very pleased with him, but he did not like the name of the Jews. By morning, I had to report my decision. Alexey Semenovich gathered the meeting and his chief of staff, General Korzhenevich, proposed replacing only one letter. He liked such an offer. So he became General Zhadov. After some time, the resolution of the Supreme Commander was passed to him with approval. This document has been preserved.
The beginning of military service
In May 1919, Alexei voluntarily joined the Red Army. On the way to the Southern Front at the location of the rifle division, where he was enrolled, he contracted typhoid. After which he was treated at the hospital for several months. When the young Red Army man recovered, in April 1920 he was sent to military training. In the same year he graduated from the 4th Oryol cavalry courses. He was appointed commander of a training platoon in the First Cavalry Army, then he held the position of assistant squadron commander.
The future general Zhadov fought on the Southern Front against the Russian army under the command of Baron Wrangel. Further, his cavalry division fought with the Ukrainian rebel army of Nestor Makhno, fought with gangs in Belarus. In 1921 he was sent to Central Asia, where Aleksey Semenovich chased gangs of Basmachi for about three years. In the same year he joined the Communist Party. In the postwar years he served in various parts of the Red Army, in 1934 he graduated from the military academy.
"Four years of war"
So later General Zhadov will call his memoirs. The beginning of the war found him on his way to a new duty station. He was appointed commander of the 4th Airborne Corps. Already on June 28, he took command of the compound retreating from the Western border. During heavy battles, the military unit retained combat effectiveness despite heavy losses. Participated in the defense of Moscow and subsequent defensive military operations.
Since the fall of 1942, he commanded the 66th Army on the famous Don Front, which played a decisive role in the Battle of Stalingrad. In the biography of General Zhadov, this was one of the most important military operations. The army launched a series of counterattacks on the flank of German troops, seeking to break through to the city from the north, and forged several enemy divisions in battle. Later, troops under the command of Alexei Semenovich participated in the encirclement and defeat of the German group. For courage, stamina and combat skill, the army received the title of 5th Guards.
At the head of the Guards Army, General Zhadov participated in many important battles from the Kursk to the Berlin and Prague operations. In the spring of 1945 he was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union.
In peacetime
In 1946, Alexei Semenovich was appointed to the post of deputy commander in chief of the ground forces of the country, was responsible for combat training. Since 1950, he led the Military Academy named after M.V. Frunze. In 1955 he returned to his former post in the command of the ground forces, by 1956 he rose to the post of first deputy commander in chief.
In addition to military service, he was elected deputy of the Supreme Soviets of the RSFSR and the USSR. The illustrious military leader died on November 10, 1977. In memory of the heroic biography of General Zhadov and his merits to the country, he named one of the squares in Moscow, and a memorial plaque was installed on the house where he lived in recent years (Leningradsky Prospekt 75).
personal information
According to some reports, the wife and daughter of General Zhadov, when he changed his name, received new passports the very next day.
His daughter, Larisa Alekseevna Zhadova, is a famous Soviet art critic and expert on the Russian avant-garde. She was married to the front-line poet Semyon Gudzenko. Aleksey Semenovich, because of his Jewish origin, his son-in-law stopped providing financial support to his daughter. Gudzenko joked about this that it was due to his semi-presidency (he only has a Jewish mother), while the general himself had recently been a complete "Zhidov". After the death of Semyon, Larisa married the famous poet Konstantin Simonov, becoming his fourth and last wife.