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Background history
In the enormous mass of POWs remaining in the German captivity during World War II, honorary POWs distinguished themselves in being treated in a special manner and supervised with taking particular precautions. They were the so-called prominent persons, officers of the highest ranks, well-known politicians or their nearest relatives, who potentially could be exchanged by the Germans. One of them was Senior Lieutenant of artillery Yakov Dzhugashvili (1907-1943), the eldest son of Joseph Stalin. The collections of the Museum include a precious item relating to his stay in the German captivity. This is an inconspicuous sheet of paper with his photograph, bearing a dedication which conceals a sad secret. By contrast with the other children of Stalin, Yakov – the son born in Stalin’s first marriage – used his father’s real surname. Before the war he managed to complete his studies in engineering, yet obeying his father’s explicit wish, he entered a school of artillery. After the Third Reich’s invasion of the Soviet Union, he fought at the front. However, as early as on 16 July 1941, he was taken captive near Vitebsk. Germans undertook in vain to make use of this fact in their propagandist actions and force him to collaborate with the Third Reich. Dzhugashvili was first sent to Oflag XIII D Hammelburg in Bavaria, and following his failed attempt to escape, he was transferred to Oflag X C Lübeck in May 1942. The Polish POWs – soldiers of the 1939 Defensive War – who were staying there, extended their help to him then by sharing the content of food packets sent in by the Red Cross. The Soviet Dictator’s son was bereft of this form of aid. Still, as a heavy smoker, he was treated to cigarettes by the Poles. He even had his orderly appointed – Corporal Władysław Chmieliński. Some POWs played chess with Dzhugashvili. He usually won as he was an excellent chess player. Lieutenant Aleksander Sałacki (1904-2008), the last living defender of Lvov against the Ukrainians in 1918 and the Bolsheviks in 1920, paid him several visits. In return for his help, on 23 May 1942, Yakov presented him with a commemorative card with his personal dedication and a fragment of Alexander Pushkin’s poem entitled To the Decembrists. Fearing an attempt to escape through a tunnel dug by Polish POWs, in 1943, the Germans transferred Yakov Dzhugashvili to KL Sachsenhausen, that is Zellenbau sector arranged there for “high-ranking officials” (which accommodated, among others, the Chief Commander of the Home Army – General Stefan Rowecki “Grot”, the French Prime Minister – Eduard Daladier, or the Chancellor of Austria – Kurt Schuschnigg). The circumstances of Yakov Dzhugashvili’s death are not clear. According to one version, on 14 April 1943, the young Lieutenant threw himself onto an electrified barbed wire fence and was shot dead by a guard, or got killed by electrocution. According to another one, upon Stalin’s rejecting the offer of exchanging his son for Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus (the famous: “I don’t exchange a lieutenant for a marshal”) the Germans murdered him.
Prepared by: Piotr Stanek
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Dedication from Joseph Stalin’s son
Source of acquisition
The item was given over to the Museum by Aleksander Sałacki, a former POW.
Description of the item
A card of 14cm x 13cm, in black. At the bottom left – a photograph of a man; in the central part – a small card was glued on, bearing a fragment of Alexander Pushkin’s poem handwritten by Yakov Dzhugashvili, below a dedication.
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