The Greatest Battle

by Andrew Nagorski

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  INTERVIEWS

  Anufriyev, Yevgeny

  Bogolyubskaya, Irina

  Braginskaya, Ella

  Buchin, Aleksandr

  Bylinina, Tamara

  Chegrinets, Yegor

  Chernyavsky, Viktor

  Dolgov, Vyacheslav

  Druzhnikov, Yuri

  Dudkina, Olga

  Edelman, Vladimir

  Eremko, Slava

  Geykhman, Mikhail

  Godov, Boris

  Gordon, Abram

  Kagan, Boris

  Kharlamov, Vyacheslav

  Khokhlov, Nikolai

  Koneva, Natalya

  Kravchenko, Natalya

  Kumanev, Georgy

  Labas, Yuli

  Maklyarsky, Boris

  Mikoyan, Sergo

  Mikoyan, Stepan

  Myagkov, Mikhail

  Nevzorov, Boris

  Palatov, Andrei

  Petrova, Tatyana

  Pokarzhevsky, Dmitry

  Prokhorova, Valeria

  Romanitchev, Nikolai

  Rzhevskaya, Elena

  Sarnov, Benedikt

  Safonov, Dmitry

  Saprykin, Pavel

  Shaidayev, Magomed-Ganifa

  Shchors, Igor

  Shchors, Natalya

  Shevelev, Leonid

  Sobolevskaya, Faina

  Stepanova, Vera

  Sudoplatov, Anatoly

  Suslov, Maxim

  Teleguyev, Yevgeny

  Timokhin, Semyon

  Tsessarskaya, Tatyana

  Tsessarsky, Albert

  Vidensky, Boris

  Vinitsky, Ilya

  Wernicke, Richard

  Yakovlev, Nikolai

  Zarubina, Zoya

  Zbarsky, Ilya

  Zevelev, Aleksandr

  Zhukova, Ella

  Acknowledgments

  The prerequisites for a nonfiction book are obvious: a good idea, good research and good reporting. In the case of The Greatest Battle, my agent Robert Gottlieb first suggested the idea, insisting that the story of the battle for Moscow hasn’t ever been done justice. He also assured me that his Trident research team in Moscow could provide me with all the assistance I’d need to make this work. Since I was traveling to Moscow regularly anyway, he urged me to ask his people there to line up a few preliminary interviews to see what I might discover that I hadn’t heard before about this chapter of history and to get a sense of how I might go about learning more.

  Those first interviews left no doubt in my mind that there was a remarkable story to tell here, and that Zamir Gotta and Irina Krivaya would know how to get to the people and the newly available sources, especially previously secret documents, that could bring it to life. Zamir and Irina proved to be incredibly hardworking, skillful and imaginative research partners, amassing huge amounts of materials and hunting down people who in many cases hadn’t told their stories in decades, if at all. Along with the indefatigable Olga Nikiforova and Anna Zaitseva, who joined the effort later, they patiently fielded my steady stream of requests for more interviews, more transcripts, more information, more details about this or that episode. There is no way I could have written the book without this incredible team.

  Many others volunteered suggestions for people to interview and helped me locate them. In some cases they suggested older family members or friends, and in others simply people they’d heard of who had lived through this period. Among those who put me in touch with people who appear in these pages are Vladimir Voinovich, Valery Bazarov, Sergei Severinov, Owen Matthews, Christian Wernicke and David Gonnerman. Cameron Sawyer, an American friend in Moscow with an impressive grasp of Russian and German history, not only introduced me to the searchers Yegor Chegrinets and Andrey Palatov, who took me to the killing fields of Vyazma, but also served as the organizer and driver of our expedition.

  Then, of course, there are the veterans, civilians and sons and daughters of the military and political leaders who figure in this story. Their names appear in these pages and in the Sources section. I’d like to say more about so many of them, but I’ll limit myself to one generalization. Maybe because they survived when so many others didn’t and then went on to live long lives in a country with an appallingly low life exp
ectancy, they are a formidable lot. By and large, they are tough, and they are willing to confront painful memories with an honesty that perhaps only comes with the passage of time and the recognition that the Soviet system is no more, even if many of its myths still persist. They also were gracious and hospitable, inviting me into their homes and sharing whatever memories or experiences I asked them about. I can’t thank them enough.

  I also owe a tremendous debt to the Hoover Institution, which is well known for its impressive collection of documentation about the Soviet Union in its archives. Dave Brady and Mandy MacCalla of the media fellows program, along with Dave’s predecessor Tom Henriksen, provided me with generous invitations to spend time there on several occasions, and Carol Leadenham offered invaluable help in the archives, as did Molly Molloy in the library. The chapters on diplomacy and the foreign community in Moscow are largely a product of that research.

  None of this would have mattered if I hadn’t had the support and encouragement for this project from Alice Mayhew at Simon & Schuster. Along with her talented colleague Roger Labrie, she took to the idea of a book about the battle for Moscow right away, and as always, offered invaluable advice on how to structure the story and keep the most important themes in focus. Alice isn’t just an incredibly skillful editor; she’s an inspiration every step of the way. At Simon & Schuster, I also want to thank Serena Jones and Victoria Meyer, and everyone else who was involved in the various stages of this project.

  A former Newsweek colleague, Steve Shabad, did his usual punctilious job of checking the transliterations of Russian names. I had learned to rely on him when I was filing stories from Moscow during my earlier stints there, and I was delighted when he agreed to help me out again. At Newsweek, many editors and colleagues offered occasional advice and frequent encouragement. Among them: Rick Smith, Jon Meacham, Fareed Zakaria, Ron Javers, Jeff Bartholet, Fred Guterl, Nisid Hajari, Jon Alter, and Susan Szeliga. I also want to thank James Price, Simon Barnett and Leah Latella for their help with photos.

  Many friends have provided additional support. In particular, I want to mention David Satter, who helped me immensely in Moscow when I first arrived there in 1981, and Ardith and Steve Hodes, who have been the best friends anyone could wish for since we met three decades ago.

  It’s hardest to express my gratitude to my family. My parents, Marie and Zygmunt, diligently read every chapter as soon as I wrote it, providing their valuable critiques. All my children—Alex, Adam, Sonia, Eva and her irrespressible husband, Taylor—also served as readers, sounding boards and providers of suggestions. Above all, they kept my spirits high. A special mention in that category goes to Sonia’s daughter, our granddaughter, Stella.