Pyotr Grigorenko

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Petro Grigorenko or Petro H. Hryhorenko or Pyotr G. Grigorenko (Ukrainian: Петро Григорович Григоренко, Russian: Петр Григорьевич Григоренко; 1907-1987) was a high-ranked Soviet Army commander of Ukrainian descent, later a prominent Soviet human rights activist, a dissident and a writer.

1 Early biography
2 Dissident activities
3 Name spelling versions
4 Books
5 External links

[edit] Early biography

Petro Grigorenko was born in a village of rural Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine. He went on a military career and reached high ranks during the World War II. After the war, being a decorated veteran, he left active career and taught at the Frunze Military Academy, reaching the rank of a Major General.

[edit] Dissident activities

In 1961 Grigorenko criticized Nikita Khruschev's policies and was transferred to Russian Far East as punishment. In 1963 he created the Union of Struggle for the Restoration of Leninism. In the 1960s Grigorenko became a member of the Moscow Helsinki Watch Group. The authorities sent him to a psikhushka (psychiatric imprisonment) in 1964-1965 and in 1969-1976. In 1964 he was stripped of his military rank, medals, and retirement benefits.

Grigorenko actively participated in the struggle for the Crimean Tatar autonomy, and demonstrated against the 1968 Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.

Grigorenko also was one of the first people who questioned the official Soviet version of World War II history. He pointed out that just prior to the German attack on June 22, 1941, vast Soviet troops were concentrated in the area west of Białystok, deep in occupied Poland, getting ready for a surprise offensive, but vulnerable to be encircled in case of surprise German attack. His ideas were later advanced by Viktor Suvorov.

In 1977, when Grigorenko left for medical treatment in the United States, he was stripped of his Soviet citizenship.

[edit] Name spelling versions

The different Latin spellings of Grigorenko's name exist due to the lack of the uniform spelling rule for the Ukrainian names in the middle of XX century, when he became internationally known. The correct modern spelling would be Hryhorenko. However, according to the American identification documents of the late general the official spelling of his name was established as Petro Grigorenko. The same spelling is engraved on his gravestone at the Ukrainian Orthodox Cemetery of St. Andrew in New Jersey, USA. The same spelling also retained by his surviving American descendants: son Andrew and granddaughters Tatiana and Olga.