Yan Gamarnik

Yan Gamarnik
Ян Гамарник
Gamarnik on a 1964 Soviet stamp
First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia
In office 4 December 1928 – 3 January 1930
Preceded by	Vilgelm Knorinsh
Succeeded by	Konstantin Gey
First Secretary of the Kyiv Regional Committee of the Communist Party of Ukraine (Bolsheviks)
In office 25 April 1921 – July 1923
Preceded by	Post established
Succeeded by	Hryhoriy Hrynko
Head of the Political Directorate of the Red Workers' and Peasants' Army
In office 1 October 1929 – 31 May 1937
President	Kliment Voroshilov
Preceded by	Andrei Bubnov
Succeeded by	Pyotr Smirnov
Full member of the 15th, 16th Orgburo
In office 17 November 1929 – 10 February 1934
Personal details
Born	Jakov Tzudikovich Gamarnik 14 June [O.S. 2 June] 1894 Zhytomyr, Volhynian Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	31 May 1937(1937-05-31) (aged 42) Moscow, Soviet Union
Nationality	Soviet
Political party	Russian Communist Party (1917–1937)
Children	Viktoria Kochneva
Alma mater	St Petersburg Psychoneurological Institute
Awards	Order of the Red Banner (1928) Order of Lenin (1933)
Signature
Military service
Allegiance	Soviet Union
Branch/service	Army
Years of service	1919–1937
Rank	Army Commissar of 1st rank
Unit	58th Rifle Division
Commands	Army Political Administration (1929–37)

Yan Gamarnik (birth name Jakov Tzudikovich Gamarnik (Russian: Я́ков Цу́дикович Гама́рник), sometimes known as Yakov Gamarnik (Russian: Я́ков Гама́рник; 14 June [O.S. 2 June] 1894 – 31 May 1937), was the Chief of the Political Department of the Red Army from 1930 to 1937, Deputy Commissar of Defense 1930—1934 and First Secretary of the Communist Party of Byelorussia 1928–1930.

Biography

Gamarnik speaking to sailors on parade, 1933

Gamarnik was born in Zhytomyr in a Jewish family as Jakov Tzudikovich Gamarnik. He attended the St Petersburg Psychoneurological Institute and the Law School of Kyiv University. In 1917 he became a member and the secretary of the Kyiv Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. From 1921 to 1923 Gamarnik was a chairman of the Kyiv city council (see Mayor of Kyiv). During his administration, Kyiv was divided into five districts. He went through many Communist Party positions, both civil and military, e.g. a First Secretary of the Belarusian Communist Party of Belorussia from December 1928 to October 1929.

He was instrumental in preparing the 10-year development plan for the Far-Eastern region of the USSR. He was a member of the Central Committee elected by the 17th Congress of the All-Union Communist Party (Bolsheviks). He attended the Plenum of 23 February 1937.

An idealist, Gamarnik was a staunch supporter of Marshal Tukhachevsky's drive to make USSR a military superpower. In 1937 Gamarnik was accused of participating in an anti-Soviet conspiracy after the Case of Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization; however, shortly before the trial, he had actually been called upon by the Soviet government to be one of the judges for the accused. He insisted on Tukhachevsky's innocence and later committed suicide before he could be punished for his actions. Only after this was he added to the list of conspirators. He was rehabilitated posthumously by the CC CPSU and Nikita Khrushchev in 1955.

Family

Gamarnik's sister, Klaudia (born 1905) left school at 14, joined Komsomol in Kyiv in 1921, joined the communist party in 1927, and was working in the prosecutor's office in Moscow when she was expelled from the party on 13 June 1937, arrested on 13 August, and sentenced to eight years in labour camps. Her husband, Andrei Bogomolov, (1902–38), a secretary of the Moscow party committee, was arrested on 17 August 1937, sentenced to death on 25 April 1938, and shot the same day. They had two children, who were aged eight and two in 1937. In 1953, she appealed to have her criminal record removed, but the appeal was turned down on the grounds that she had consorted with 'enemies of the people', inclduing her husband.

Honours and awards

• Order of Lenin (22 February 1933)
• Order of the Red Banner (20 February 1928)
• The town Suchan was named Gamarnik in his honour (1932–1937)

Sources

• Robert Conquest, The Great Terror: A Reassessment, Oxford University Press, May 1990, hardcover, ISBN 0-19-505580-2 pp 201–202;
• Several versions of Gamarnik biography
• Gamarnik in the Fleet, with photo
• Trotsky about Gamarnik and others
• Profile at Handbook on the history of the Communist Party and the Soviet Union 1898 – 1991