Stalin: The Court of the Red Tsar by Montefiore Simon Sebag

Author:Montefiore, Simon Sebag [Montefiore, Simon Sebag]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Europe, Presidents & Heads of State, Heads of State - Soviet Union, Soviet Union - History - 1925-1953, Russia & the Former Soviet Union, Political, Soviet Union, General, Stalin, Joseph, Nonfiction, Historical, Biography & Autobiography, Cyn Upload, Heads of state, History
ISBN: 9781400076789
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 2004-01-02T00:00:00+00:00

PART EIGHT

War: The Triumphant Genius 1942–1945

39

The Supremo of Stalingrad

During Stalingrad, the Supremo usually fell asleep wearing all his clothes on the metal camp bed that stood under the stairs that led to the second floor at Kuntsevo. If there was an emergency, the “bald philanthropist” Poskrebyshev, who slept in his office, would call. He awoke around eleven when Shtemenko called from the Operations Department to give him his first report of the day. The Politburo and Staff had already been working for hours since they not only had to share Stalin’s insomnia but also had their own onerous empires to run: Mikoyan worked from 10 a.m. until almost 5 a.m., napping in his office.

At noon, Stalin ate a light breakfast, served by Valechka, often remaining at home, whether at Kuntsevo or the Kremlin, to work in the early afternoon. But wherever he was, the Supremo, now sixty-three, would spend the next sixteen hours running the war. He now received bulletins from all his roving Stavka plenipotentiaries, who had to report twice a day, noon and 9 p.m.: Vasilevsky in Stalingrad was the most eagerly awaited that day. Stalin turned very nasty if his envoys neglected to report. When Vasilevsky once failed to do so, Stalin wrote:

It’s already 3:30 . . . and you have not yet deigned to report . . . You cannot use the excuse that you have no time as Zhukov is doing just as much at the front as you yet he sends his report every day. The difference between you and Zhukov is that he is disciplined . . . whereas you lack discipline . . . I am warning you for the last time that if you allow yourself to forget your duty . . . once more, you will be removed as Chief of General Staff and sent to the front.

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