Nikolay Schors
UkraineBiography of Nikolay Shchors
Nikolay Alexandrovich Shchors [May 25 (June 6), 1895, Snovsk, now Shchors, Chernigov Oblast, Ukrainian SSR - August 30, 1919, near Beloshitsa village, now Shchorskaya village, Korosten district, Zhitomir Oblast, Ukrainian SSR, buried in Samara, now Kuibyshev], was a military officer of the Russian Imperial Army during the wartime. He is known for his role in the Russian Civil War from 1918 to 1920 and was a member of the Communist Party from 1918.
Early Life and Military Career
Nikolay Shchors was born into a family of a railway engineer. He completed his military medical school in Kiev in 1914 and underwent an accelerated course at the Vilnius Military School in Poltava in 1916. He participated in the First World War from 1914 to 1918, initially serving as a military medic and later as a junior officer on the Southwest Front, where he was promoted to the rank of sub-lieutenant in 1917.
Involvement in the Russian Civil War
After the October Revolution of 1917, Shchors returned to his homeland and in February 1918, he created a partisan detachment in Snovsk. In March-April, he commanded a combined detachment of the Novozybkov district, which was part of the 1st Revolutionary Army and participated in battles against German interventionists.
In September 1918, Shchors formed the 1st Ukrainian Soviet Regiment named after Bogun in the region of Unecha, from separate partisan units. In October-November, he commanded the Bogun Regiment in battles against German occupiers and Hetman forces. From November 1918, he commanded the 2nd Brigade of the 1st Ukrainian Soviet Division (Bogun and Tarashcha Regiments), which liberated Chernigov, Kiev, and Fastov from the forces of the Ukrainian Directory.
On February 5, 1919, Shchors was appointed the commandant of Kiev and was awarded honorary weapons by the Temporary Workers' and Peasants' Government of Ukraine. From March 6 to August 15, 1919, he commanded the 1st Ukrainian Soviet Division, which, during a swift offensive, liberated Zhytomyr, Vinnitsa, and Zhymerinka, defeated the main forces of the Petliurists in the Sarny-Rovno-Brody-Proskurov area, and then steadfastly defended the Sarny-Novograd-Volynsky-Shepetovka region against the bourgeois Polish forces and Petliurists. However, under pressure from superior forces, the division was forced to retreat.
From August 21, 1919, Shchors became the commander of the 44th Rifle Division (which was formed by merging the 1st Ukrainian Soviet Division), which stubbornly defended the Korosten railway junction, ensuring the evacuation of Kiev and the escape of the Southern Group of the 12th Army. While being in the front lines of the Bogun Regiment, Shchors was killed.
