Grigory Karizhsky

Grigory Ivanovich Karizhsky
Karizhsky, 1960s
Native name	Григорий Иванович Карижский
Born	21 November 1895 Fitinino village, Kamyshinsky Uyezd, Saratov Governorate, Russian Empire
Died	5 February 1971(1971-02-05) (aged 75) Kyiv, Ukrainian SSR, Soviet Union
Allegiance	Russian Empire (1915–17)  Soviet Union (1918–58)
Service / branch	Imperial Russian Army (1915–17) Red Army (Soviet Army from 1946) (1918–58)
Years of service	1915–38; 1939–40; 1941–58
Rank	Major general
Commands	18th Guards Rifle Division 30th Guards Mechanized Division
Battles / wars	World War I Russian Civil War World War II Gumbinnen Operation East Prussian Offensive
Awards	Hero of the Soviet Union Order of Lenin (2) Order of the Red Banner (3) Order of Suvorov 2nd class

Grigory Ivanovich Karizhsky (Russian: Григорий Иванович Карижский; 21 November 1895 – 5 February 1971) was a Soviet Army Major general and Hero of the Soviet Union. In 1915, he was drafted into the Imperial Russian Army and graduated from warrant officer school before being demobilized after the October Revolution. Karizhsky joined the Red Army soon after and became a cavalry commander, fighting in the Russian Civil War. He eventually became a regimental commander by 1932, and was still in that position at the beginning of the Great Purge. In 1938 he was dismissed from the army and imprisoned but was reinstated in December 1939. He was rearrested a month later but reinstated in the spring of 1941. After Operation Barbarossa, Karizhsky became commander of the 32nd and then 202nd Airborne Brigades in the Far East. He was appointed 15th Army deputy commander, still in the Far East, in August 1942.

After graduating from tactical courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff Karizhsky became deputy commander of the 36th Rifle Corps in the 3rd Belorussian Front in September 1944. After participating in the Gumbinnen Operation he was given command of the 18th Guards Rifle Division and led it during the East Prussian Offensive and Battle of Königsberg. For his leadership, Karizhsky was awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union. After the war the division became the 30th Guards Mechanized Division. Karizhsky continued to serve postwar and held various staff posts. He retired in 1958 and lived in Kiev until his death in 1971.^[1]