Yakov Kreizer - Before The War

Before The War

Kreizer's Jewish parents were granted permission to live outside the Jewish pale of settlement because his grandfather was a cantonist soldier in the Russian imperial army. Kreizer enlisted in the Red Army in 1921, volunteered to the school for infantry officers in Voronezh (1923) and rose to Colonel and commander of 172nd Rifle Division (1939–1940). His rapid promotion, like that of other senior Soviet officers of his generation, was made possible because Stalin's great purge had decimated the Red Army officers of the Civil War generation. During these years Kreizer continued his military education: in 1931 he graduated from the Higher Officer Training School "Vystrel" and in 1941 from the elite Frunze Military Academy. In March 1941 Kreizer was appointed commander of 1st Moscow Motorized Rifle Division.