One runs out of words when trying to explain the thought process of a decorated Marshal of the Soviet Union dismissing the unlawful summary execution of at least nine Polish civilians as a “mistake and a misunderstanding” that took place against the backdrop of “combat operations and acute class struggle.” Another slap on the wrist, then.
Instead, I’ll just offer another translation of a Top Secret report from Moscow that serves to underscore the barbarity of a military that played the victim when they discovered that Hitler had used them like pawns.
TOP SECRET
9 November [1939]
CONTENTS: On improper actions by the Military Council of the 6th Army
On October 16, Comrade STALIN and I received a letter from the Military Prosecutor of the 6th Army, Comrade NECHIPORENKO, regarding improper actions by the command staff during military operations in the territory of Western Ukraine.
On my orders, the Political Directorate of the Red Army conducted an investigation and established that, during military operations, instances of reprisals against officers and personnel of the former Polish state’s police force, as well as against individual civilians, occurred within the 6th Army.
The Military Council of the 6th Army, represented by the Army Commander, Corps Commander Comrade GOLIKOV, and Member of the Military Council, Brigade Commissar Comrade ZAKHARICHEV, not only failed to adequately combat all manifestations of lawlessness and arbitrary conduct but also, on September 20, 1939, undertook a hasty and ill-considered ruling.
Upon receiving a report regarding the anti-Soviet activities of an arrested group — comprising gendarmes, officers, and Polish bourgeois nationalists who had perpetrated a massacre of the Ukrainian and Jewish populations — the Military Council issued a grossly erroneous, sweeping directive: “All 14 identified ringleaders of the pogromist gang are to be subjected to the supreme penalty — execution by shooting — within 24 hours.” Pursuant to this order, nine individuals were executed.
Instead of instructing military prosecutor’s office authorities to thoroughly investigate all instances of counter-revolutionary activity by the captured individuals and bring them before a military tribunal in accordance with established procedure, the Military Council of the 6th Army issued a general order to execute the gang leaders, without even listing the names of those to be executed. This action effectively incited subordinates to engage in unlawful conduct.
Up to 10 instances of unauthorized actions have been recorded in the units of the 2nd Cavalry Corps, which is part of the 6th Army.
Given that there was no malicious intent in the actions of those responsible for the unlawful conduct, that these events took place amidst combat operations and acute class and ethnic struggle, and that the order issued was the result of a mistake and a misunderstanding, it is hereby ordered:
1. Draw the attention of the entire command staff to the impermissibility of any future recurrence of unauthorized actions contrary to the spirit and principles of the Red Army.
2. I hereby issue a reprimand to the Military Council of the 6th Army — specifically, Corps Commander GOLIKOV and Brigade Commissar ZAKHARICHEV — for issuing hasty, ill-considered orders that run counter to the spirit of the Red Army.
3. I hereby issue a reprimand to those directly responsible for the unlawful actions: the Commander of the 131st Cavalry Regiment, Major DEDEOGLU; the political instructor of the 131st Cavalry Regiment, CHERKASOV; Lieutenant KOLTSOV of the same regiment; and the commissar of the 2nd Cavalry Corps’ independent signals battalion, Senior Political Instructor BEZNOSENKO.
4. The Military Council of the Ukrainian Front is to identify the individuals directly responsible for the unauthorized actions within the 6th Army and impose disciplinary penalties upon them on its own authority.
5. The Political Directorate of the Ukrainian Front is to explain the nature of the errors committed to the individuals who carried out acts of summary justice.
PEOPLE’S COMMISSAR OF DEFENSE OF THE USSR
MARSHAL OF THE SOVIET UNION K. VOROSHILOV
Translation © 2026 by Michael Estes and TranslatingHistory.org
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