Soldiers of the 3rd Caucasus Rifle Regiment shot in Jēkabpils during World War I for incitement to disobey orders
On May 18, 1916, in the ruins of Ģegeri half-manor (~ 7 km to the south of Jekabpils behind Brody) at At 20.30, soldiers of the 3rd Caucasus Rifle Regiment were shot dead for inciting disobedience. The execution was led by Praporšchik Ravnyalichev.
1916 In March, fierce fighting took place at the Jēkabpils bridgehead. Here, the Commander-in-Chief of the Northern Front, N. Ruzskis, had planned to break up the German 8th Army front with far-reaching plans to occupy Panevezys. However, only at the beginning of the attack, parts of the 5th Army in some places in Jēkabpils district managed to move forward 2 to 3 km. The enemy's counterattack forced them to return to their starting positions.
Anti-war propaganda intensified in the 5th Army. In the Daugavpils district, the 6th Siberian Rifle Corps even refused to comply with the battle orders. Among the dissatisfied were also the soldiers of the 3rd Caucasus Rifle Regiment of the 5th Army located on the front of the Jēkabpils bridgehead. The messengers named the names of those who were most active against the war and encouraged them to follow the example of the Siberians and disobey the orders.
On the morning of May 18, 1916, the commander of the 3rd Caucasus Rifle Regiment, Colonel Arešev, ordered the arrest of the regiment's riflemen - Jeffrey Alexei Kuznetsov, conscripts Gerasim Serichenkov, Grigory Yalunin, Alexei Sokolov, Semyonies Sugar and extradition. By order No. 141, Colonel Arešev appointed Lieutenant Colonel Rudņeva as the chairman of the field war, Captains Ivanov and Vorontsov, and Captains Bek-Zeinalov and Petrov as members.
Jeffreitor A. Kuznetsov and rifleman G. Serichenkov were accused of deliberately spreading rumors among soldiers. The "crime" of the shooters G. Yalunin, A. Sokolov and S. Sugar was the same as that of the comrades, but it was stated that it was committed out of recklessness. The field meeting was short. The judges unanimously found the accused A. Kuznetsov, G. Serichenkov and G. Jalun guilty of inciting the soldiers with the intention of causing disorder in the regiment. Therefore, in accordance with Article 246 (1) of Volume XXII of the Code, they were sentenced to death by shooting. The shooters A. Sokolov and S. Sugar were acquitted because their guilt was not proved.
The verdict of the field war was immediately handed over to the regimental commander, and Colonel Archev wrote the resolution and the judgment: “I confirm the judgment of the court. I instruct Ravnaličev to do so. "
In 1917, after the overthrow of the tsar, the ashes of those killed were reburied by their fighting comrades in Jēkabpils cemetery, a monument was also erected, but it was not completed. The monument was restored in 1950.
Inscription on the monument:
3ГО КАВКАЗСКАГО
СТРЪЛКОВАГО ПОЛКА
СТРЪЛКИ
ГЕРАСИМ СЪРЕЧЕНКО
СЕМЁН КУЗНЕЦОВ
ГРИГОРИЙ ЯЛУНИН
Iluta Bērziņa, Jēkabpils History Museum
Related objects
The First World War Russian Soldiers' Graves of the Brothers
It is located at the beginning of Jēkabpils State Gymnasium Alley towards the main entrance to the school.
Installed above the grave in memory of the fallen Russian soldiers of the 3rd Caucasus Rifle Regiment in 1915. 139 soldiers and two officers who fell on September 1, 1915 near Jēkabpils, during the attack, with the aim of breaking the front towards Panevezys, are buried in the brothers' cemetery.
The inscription on the obelisk:
3rd CAUCASIAN RIFLE REGIMENT HEROES OF OFFICERS AND SHIFTERS. ЗА ВЕРУ ЦАРЯ И ОТЕЧЕСТВА В СЛАВУ РУССКОГО ОРУДИЯ НА ПОЛЕ БРАНИ ПАВШИМ 1-GO SENTYABRYA 1915 ГODA В ОКРЕСТНОСТЯХ ЯКОБШТАТА. THERE IS NOTHING MORE THAT I LOVE, THAT SOMEONE WOULD PUT THEIR SOUL FOR THEIR FRIENDS.
Inscription on the concrete base:
GLORIOUS SMERTH BESLAVIYA KRASHE.
There is a limestone plaque with the names of 78 fallen soldiers and officers
The monument is surrounded by concrete posts connected by cast iron chains.
The author of the monument is Jēkabpils stonemason J. Sieriņš.
