Maltsev, Viktor Ivanovich
From OnAirpower.org
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[edit] Biography
In the early 1920s, Maltsev served as an instructor at the Egorevsk Military Pilot's School. From 1925-1927 he was commander of the Central Airfield outside of Moscow. Starting in 1927 he was deputy commander of the Siberian Military District's air forces, and then moved up to the position of commander of the District's air forces in 1931. He entered the reserves, and in 1937 was named commander of the Turkmenistan Directorate of the Civil Air Fleet[1].
He was arrested on March 11, 1938 by the NVKD but found not guilty and released on September 5, 1939[1].
Shortly after his release, in December 1939 he was named commander of the Aeroflot sanitarium in Yalta[1].
After the German invasion of Russia and occupation of Yalta, Maltsev offered his services to the Germans in November, 1941 to fight against the Bolsheviks. The Germans initially sent him to a POW camp, but later freed him and used his assistance to find Communist Party members in Yalta. Maltsev served briefly as the mayor (burgermeister) of Yalta in 1942[2].
Starting in December, 1942 Maltsev began to be involved in the formation of anti-Soviet combat units, including the "Russian Eastern Aviation Group" for which he recruited Soviet POWs. Amongst the duties of the former Soviet pilots was ferrying aircraft from German factories to front-line units. Starting in fall of 1944, he began formation of air units in the city of Cheb (located in today's Czech Republic) that eventually became the air forces of the Committee for the Liberation of the Peoples of Russia (KONR). In February, 1945 Maltsev was made commander of the KONR air forces, with the rank of Major General. He had about 5,000 people under his command, formed into an air regiment of 40-45 aircraft, an anti-aircraft regiment, a parachute battalion, and a communications company. Two former Heroes of the Soviet Union, Semyon Bychkov and Bronislav Antilevskii, served as pilots in the unit[2].
On April 30, 1945, Maltsev and his forces surrendered to the American 3rd Army. In August, 1945, Maltsev was transferred to Soviet authorities. He attempted to commit suicide but was unsuccessful. He was tried by the Soviets and executed on August 1, 1946[2].
[edit] Publications
- Conveyor of the GPU, 1942, is Maltsev's description of his arrest and imprisonment at the hands of the Soviet GPU (former name of the KGB), which was printed in a run of 50,000 copies and used by the Germans as anti-Soviet propaganda
[edit] Sources
- Maltsev, Viktor Ivanovich at Khronos (in Russian)
