Grigory Zass

Grigory Khristoforovich von Zass (Russian: Григорий Христофорович фон Засс; German: Georg Otto Ewald Freiherr von Saß; 1797–1883) was an Imperial Russian general who commanded Russian cavalry troops in the Napoleonic Wars and Russo-Circassian War, initially gaining prominence for his genocidal actions against the Circassians, whom he reportedly saw as a "lowly race". He was the founder of the city of Armavir, Russia. In 2003, the Russian Federation erected his statue on former Circassian territories, infuriating Circassians and Circassian nationalist establishments worldwide.

Biography

Early life Zass (Georg Otto Ewald von Sass or Saß in German) was born into a Baltic German noble family. His ancestors were nobles from Westphalia who in the 15th century moved to the Baltic region, fought under the banner of the Order of the Sword, and in 1710, was among the 52 chivalric families, including the Ungern-Sternbergs and Wrangel family, which took a solemn oath of allegiance to the Russian sovereign, Peter the Great. In 1813 at the age of fifteen, he entered military service as a cadet in the Grodno Hussar Regiment. He rose through the ranks of the Russian army and first saw action in the 1813 Battle of Leipzig. He was transferred to the Novgorod division in 1820.

Military career

Napoleonic Wars Zass took part in the War of the Sixth Coalition with the Russian army in 1813–1814, in German campaign of 1813. He fought at Dresden, Kulm and Leipzig, was awarded the insignia of the Military Order and promoted to cornet, then participated in the battles in the 1814 campaign in north-east France at Brienne, Bar-sur-Aube, Arcis-sur-Aube, Metz, and Fère-Champenoise, and ended the fighting under the walls of Paris. In 1815 he was part of the Russian troops during the second campaign in France in the Hundred Days and took part in the famous parade near Vertus. After the end of the Napoleonic Wars, he served in the Pskov Cuirassier Regiment.

Russo-Turkish War (1828–1829) In 1820 he transferred to the Nizhny Novgorod Dragoon Regiment, which fought in the Caucasus. He took part in the Russo-Turkish War of 1828–1829.

Russo-Circassian War In 1830 Zass received command of the Mozdok Cossack Regiment as a result of his success in the Russo-Turkish War. With this regiment he undertook several successful expeditions against the Caucasian natives. In a 1832 battle against the Chechens, he was severely wounded while attempting to burn a village and consequentially promoted to colonel. In 1833, he was appointed commander of the Batalpashinsky section of the Kuban Line. Having studied the military traditions of Caucasian natives and having mastered the tactics of mountain warfare, he tried to seize the initiative and began to carry out regular preventive measures, based on data received from numerous scouts. Active defense was complemented by cruel punitive expeditions, which ended, as a rule, with the extermination of villages. He was appointed as chief commander and given full authority. In August, he led the first expedition into Circassian territory, destroying as many villages and towns as possible. This was followed by a series of other expeditions. He attacked the Besleney region between November and December, destroying most villages, including the village of the double agent Aytech Qanoqo. Zass spent a significant amount of money on espionage. During attacks on Circassian land, he never forgot about reconnaissance tasks: his men thoroughly investigated all wooden beams that could serve as enemy shelter, demolished farms, and killed farmers so the enemy would not be able to get food. He made a list of all the Circassians he personally killed. His fearlessness and incredible awareness of the affairs of the Caucasians brought him an otherworldly status among the Circassians, who called Zass "Shaytan" (Satan). Circassian mothers reportedly frightened their children with the name of Zass. In 1834, Zass sent a report to Georg Andreas von Rosen, a general in the Russian army, detailing his campaign into Circassia. He talks about how he killed three Circassian civilians:

I captured three Circassians from carriages that were on their way to fetch grass, other than the thirteen we already had, who did not wish to surrender to us voluntarily, so I ordered to kill them. He then talks about how he destroyed a neighborhood:

The savages panicked and started fleeing from their homes, leaving their weapons behind attempting to escape to the forest but most of them were killed by the Cossacks ... with the soldiers lined up ready to fight, the cleansing continued with artillery shells, and I sent there two infantry brigades, but they could only capture 11 more people, and since the fire was in flames in many places, the rest were either killed or burned after attempting to escape by hiding on the roofs of their homes or by the manure. So like this, we destroyed and destructed the neighborhood. Zass' main strategy was to intercept and retain the initiative, terrorize the Circassians, and destroy Circassian settlements. After a victory, he would usually burn several villages and seize cattle and horses to show off, acts which he proudly admitted. He paid close attention to the enemy's morale. In his reports, he frequently boasted about the destruction of villages and glorified the mass murder of civilians. The military successes of the regiments led by him were highly appreciated by the high command. He received as a reward several prestigious orders and a golden weapon with the inscription "For Bravery".

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