Arabey, Pavel Grigorievich

Born on January 13, 1901 in the village of Zapolye, now the Krasnensky Village Council in the Korelichi district of the Grodno region , Belarus .

Civil War

In the Civil War in February 1920, he voluntarily entered the 9th Vladimir command courses. Upon completion of training in 1921, he was placed at the disposal of the assistant commander-in-chief for Siberia and assigned to the 53rd infantry battalion of the 8th brigade of the Cheka’s troops in the city of Barnaul , where he served as platoon commander and assistant company commander.

The interwar period

In December 1924 he was transferred to the 9th Siberian Regiment of OGPU troops in the city of Novosibirsk , where he held the positions of platoon commander and assistant commander of the training division for combatant unit.

In August 1925 he was appointed assistant commander for the combatant unit of the 77th separate division of the OGPU troops in the city of Irkutsk . In September 1927 - July 1928, Irkutsk underwent training at the Siberian re-training courses for command personnel, after which he was appointed to the 9th Siberian Regiment of the OGPU troops as assistant chief and wreed of the head of the regimental school.

In the summer of 1929 he was sent to the western border as an instructor in combat training of the 12th Bigosovsky border detachment of troops of the OGPU of the Belarusian District, since November he was simultaneously the head of the maneuver group.

In 1929 he joined the CPSU (b) .

In March 1930, he was appointed assistant commander for the combatant unit of the 18th Zhitkovsky border detachment, and since June 1933 he served in the same position in the 14th border detachment in the town of Pleschenitsy.

In October 1933 he was sent to Moscow to study at the Higher Border School of the NKVD . After completing his studies in May 1935, he was left in it as the commander of a cadet division and a teacher of fire training. In the fall of the same year he entered the evening department of the Military Academy of the Red Army. M.V. Frunze . In March 1939 he graduated from the Academy and was appointed head of the training department of the Ordzhenikidze military school of the NKVD named after S.M. Kirova, from March 1940, he served as an assistant to the head of the school for combat training.

World War II

With the outbreak of war, Colonel P. Arabei at the end of June 1941 was sent to the city of Serpukhov to form the 259th Infantry Division . He served as chief of staff of the division.

On July 15, 1941, the division entered the Borodino area and became part of the 33rd Army . On July 25, she was redeployed to the 34th Army on the North-Western Front and conducted offensive battles to destroy the enemy’s group in the area of Demyansk and Staraya Russa, to prevent his advance to Valdai and access to Oktyabrskaya Railway. After passing about 150 km with battles, its units crossed the Lovat River and reached the Lychkovsky District of the Leningrad Region , where it was forced to go on the defensive. In early October, she was surrounded and for 8 days made her way in the direction of Demyansk. As part of a group of 250 people, he entered the defense sector of the 27th Army in the area of ​​Lake Seliger . After checking, his detachment departed for the 34th Army and, by order, took up defense in the vicinity of Lake Velje.

A few days later he was seconded to the commander of the 34th Army, then the North-Western Front and was appointed chief of staff of the 241st Infantry Division . Its units occupied the defense between the lakes Velje and Seliger. On December 25, the division was transferred to the 34th Army and in January 1942 participated with it in the Demian offensive operation . On May 7, she was reassigned to the 53rd Army and, until the end of the year, held defense in the area of ​​Vatolino - Lake. Seliger.

June 29, 1942 was appointed commander of this division. In February 1943, the division participated in the offensive operation to eliminate the Demyan bridgehead, acting in the direction of the main attack of the army. At the end of May, she was included in the 27th Army as part of the Steppe Military District and, by early July, had advanced to the Kursk region. In August, during the Belgorod-Kharkov offensive operation, she fought up to 100 km and liberated 32 settlements, including Grayvoron and Pisarevka.

In the period from August 21-24, in the Yablichnoye area, its units defeated the SS Panzer Division "Great Germany" and threw the enemy back to Akhtyrka. In September - November, the division fought to liberate the Left-Bank Ukraine, participated in the Kiev offensive operation . In mid-November, she transferred to the 17th Guards Rifle Corps of the 38th Army of the 1st Ukrainian Front and took part in the Kiev defensive and Zhytomyr-Berdichev offensive operations. During the last part of it, together with the 1st Panzer Army liberated the city of Kazatin . During the Proskurov-Chernivtsi offensive operation, the division liberated the city of Vinnitsa on March 20, for which it was given the name Vinnitsa.

In June 1944, during the redeployment of the division during a night march, in a car accident, Major General P. Arabei was injured and was treated in a hospital. After recovering in November, he was sent to study at the Higher Military Academy. K.E. Voroshilova . At the end of her crash course, in April 1945 he was appointed head of the formed Kuibyshev advanced training courses for officers of local military command bodies.

Post-War Career

After the war, in October 1947 he was appointed commander of the 120th Guards Rifle Rogachev Red Banner Order of the Suvorov and Kutuzov BVI Division.

In January 1951 he was transferred to ArkhVO as the commander of the 25th Separate Rifle Sevsk twice Red Banner Order of the Suvorov and Kutuzov Brigade.

From December 1953 to February 1955 he passed training at the Higher Attestation Commission at the Higher Military Academy. K.E. Voroshilova, then appointed commander of the 85th Infantry Division of the Western Siberian Military District .

On April 2, 1956, he was transferred to the reserve.

USSR

• Order of Lenin (02.21.1945)
• Three Orders of the Red Banner (06/06/1943, 11/03/1944, 1950)
• Order of Suvorov II degree (01/10/1944)
• two orders of World War I degree (01/03/1944, 04/06/1985)
  • Medals, including:
  • "XX years of the Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army" (1938)
  • “For the victory over Germany in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945” (1945)
  • "Veteran of the Armed Forces of the USSR"

Foreign Awards

• Order of the Legion of Honor, degree of commander (USA, August 1944) ^[2] .

He was awarded the title "Honorary Citizen of Vinnitsa " ^[3] .

In honor of P.V. Arabia in the city of Vinnitsa named street.

• Public electronic document bank “Feat of the People in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945”

• Team of authors . World War II: Divisional Commanders. Military Biographical Dictionary / Ed. Coll .: N. B. Akberdin, I. I. Basik, S. A. Botzvin, n. I. Nikiforov, I. A. Permyakov, M. V. Smyslov . - M .: “Kuchkovo Field”. Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation , General Directorate of Personnel, State Institution for Work with Personnel, Institute of Military History of the General Staff Military Academy. The Central Archive ., 2014 .-- T. III. Commanders of rifle, mountain rifle divisions, Crimean, polar, Petrozavodsk divisions, Rebolsky divisions, fighter divisions. - S. 110-111. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 978-5-9950-0382-3 , UDC 94, BBK 63.3 (3) 722.78.