Israfil Israfilov

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Israfil Israfilov
Other name(s)Israfil bey Yadigar
Born(1888-08-07)August 7, 1888
Tiflis, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire
DiedJuly 11, 1945(1945-07-11) (aged 56)
Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, USSR
Allegiance Russian Empire
DRG
ADR
Republic of Poland
Nazi Germany
Service/branch Wehrmacht
Schutzstaffel
Years of service1943–1945
RankSS-Standartenführer
Battles/warsWorld War I
Battle of Baku
Armeno-Georgian War
Soviet-Georgian War
World War II

Israfil Israfilov (full name: Israfil Mahammadnabi oglu Israfilov)[1] Israfil bey Mohammad,[1] Israfil bey Yadigar (Polish: Israfil Bek Jedigar),[2] Yadigar bey (Polish: Jedigar Bek)[2] and Israfil Bey Israfilbeyli[1] (7 August 1888, Tbilisi, Tiflis Governorate, Russian Empire —  11 July 1945, Baku, Azerbaijan SSR, USSR) was Azerbaijani Polkovnik of the Imperial Russian Army, podpułkownik of the Polish Army,[2] Standartenführer of the Waffen-SS. He fought in the First and Second World Wars.[1]

In 1920, Israfil Bey refuged in Turkey after the Red Army invasion of Azerbaijan. Then he graduated from the Wyższa Szkoła Wojenna and served in the Polish Army. From the summer of 1943 to 1944 he worked as the head of the Azerbaijani committee in Berlin. From September 1943, he commanded the 314th Regiment of the Wehrmacht's 162nd Turkestan Division. From 12 January 1944, he headed the "Azerbaijan" Waffen-Gruppe in the Kaukasischer Waffen-Verband der SS.[3] In March 1945, he was appointed military adviser to the National Committee of Azerbaijan.[1]

After World War II, he was handed over to the USSR by the United States Armed Forces, and on 11 July 1945, he was sentenced to death by the Baku Military District Tribunal.[4][5][6]

Early life

Israfil Israfilov's autobiography, which he wrote while serving in the Polish army in 1924, states that he was born on 7 August 1888 in Tbilisi (now Georgia).[7]

Imperial Russian Army

He is believed to belong to the Yadigarov family, which has given several high-ranking officers to the Russian army. After graduating from the Tbilisi Cadet Corps, he began his military service in 1910 with the rank of podporuchik.[1]

He fought against the Austro-Hungarian Army near Warsaw in World War I. In 1915, he was sent to the Caucasus campaign as a squadron commander. Later, he fought in various places, like Odessa and the Persian Gulf, and in the latter, he fought side by side with the British. In 1916, he was sent to the Romanian Front as a rotmistr in the Caucasian Native Cavalry Division.

Azerbaijani and Georgian Armies

In the spring of 1918, he began to serve in the newly formed Azerbaijani army. There are reports that he served in the Georgian Army at about the same time and even participated in the Armeno-Georgian War in December 1918.[1] He was one of the first professional servicemen of the Azerbaijani National Army, which was established in the latter half of 1918. He was involved in the Battle of Baku.[1] Israfil Bey left for Turkey after the Bolshevik occupation.[1]

Interwar Poland

Israfil Israfilov (3rd from right) among Caucasian delegates before laying a wreath at the tomb of Marshal Jozef Pilsudski in Krakow, 1936

In 1924, he reached Poland after many struggles. There he began to serve in the Polish army on a contract basis. From 1926 to 1928 he studied at the Warsaw Higher Military School. He first served in the 36th Infantry Regiment, and in the spring of 1939 became a staff officer in the 29th Infantry Division in Grodno. On the eve of World War II, he served in the Polish Armed Forces with the rank of podpułkownik of the 11th Legions Uhlan Regiment.[1]

World War II

Hatred of the Bolshevik regime led a number of the former Russian army and national army officers to cooperate with Hitler's Germany. Colonel Israfil Bey was among them. For this purpose, from the summer of 1943 to 1944, he headed the Azerbaijani committee operating under the Ministry of the East in Berlin. At the same time, he was the commander of the 314th Infantry Regiment of the 162nd Turkestan Division, consisting of prisoners of war of Turkic origin. From December 1944, he was the commander of the "Azerbaijan" Waffen-Gruppe of the Kaukasischer Waffen-Verband der SS in the rank of Standartenführer.[3] On 17 March 1945, he was appointed military adviser to the National Committee of Azerbaijan in Berlin.[8]

Israfil Bey met the end of World War II in the American occupation zone. However, being in the neutral zone did not allow him to escape from the clutches of the KGB. The Americans returned the Azerbaijani officer to the USSR.[1] Israfil Bey was brought to Azerbaijan and tried at the Baku Military District Tribunal. He did not fully agree with the accusation of "treason"[9] because he did not consider the USSR or Soviet Azerbaijan as his homeland. Nevertheless, he was sentenced to death – the hasty sentence was carried out with the same haste. Israfil Bey was shot dead on 11 July 1945 in Baku.[1]

Private life

Israfil Bey divorced his wife in 1918. In September 1922, he married Zuleykha for the second time.[7]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Polkovnik İsrafil bəyin xatirələri – Azərbaycan Xalq Cümhuriyyəti-100" [Memories of Colonel Israfil Bey – Azerbaijan Democratic Republic-100]. 525-ci qəzet. Archived from the original on 17 February 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Lista imienna oficerów służ±cych w 11 Pułku Ułanów Legionowych". Smbit11.republika.pl.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  3. ^ a b Romanko 2009, p. 113.
  4. ^ Munoz 2001.
  5. ^ Neulen 1985, p. 332.
  6. ^ Romanko 2004b.
  7. ^ a b Yaqublu 2007.
  8. ^ Romanko 2004a.
  9. ^ Yaqublu 2005, p. 206.

Sources

  • Munoz, Antonio J. (2001). The East came West: Muslim, Hindu and Buddhist Volunteers in the German Armed Forces, 1941-1945. Axis Europa Books. ISBN 9781891227394.
  • Neulen, Hans Werner (1985). An deutscher Seite – Internationale Freiwillige von Wehrmacht und Waffen-SS [On the German side – international volunteers of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS] (in German). Universitas Verlag München.
  • Romanko, O.V. (2004a). "Əlavə (Appendix)". Müsəlman legionlar İkinci dünya müharibəsində [Muslim Legions in the Second World War]. Moscow: AST. ISBN 5-17-019816-7.
  • Romanko, Oleg (2004b). Мусульманские легионы Второй мировой войны [Muslim legions of the Second World War] (in Russian). ISBN 9785957805007.
  • Romanko, O.V. (2009). Sovet müsəlmanları SS qoşunlarının sıralarında [Soviet Muslims in the ranks of SS troops]. Qraal.
  • Yaqublu, N (2005). Azərbaycan legionerləri [Azerbaijani legionnaires]. Baku: Çıraq.
  • Yaqublu, N (2007). "Polşa ordusundakı azərbaycanlı zabitlər". Qarapapaqlar. 5. Tbilisi.
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