August Kork

August Ivanovich Kork (, also Аугуст Яанович Корк; 12 June 1937) was an Estonian Soviet Red Army commander (Komandarm 2nd rank) who was tried and executed during the Great Purge in 1937.

Kork became an officer of the Imperial Russian Army and graduated from the General Staff Academy. He served as a staff officer during World War I and in February 1917 was at the Western Front headquarters. Kork became a Bolshevik and joined the Red Army. He fought in the Russian Civil War, initially as chief of staff of the Bolshevik-sponsored Estonian Red Army and then as assistant commander of the 7th Army. In July 1919 Kork became commander of the 15th Army, defeating Nikolai Yudenich's Northwestern Army and defending Petrograd. He led the army in the Polish–Soviet War and in October 1920 became commander of the 6th Army, which defeated the last White Army in Crimea, led by Pyotr Nikolayevich Wrangel.

After the end of the campaign, Kork took command of the Kharkov Military District and later became the assistant commander of the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the Crimea. In October 1922 he took command of the Turkestan Front, fighting against Basmachi rebels. During the late 1920s, Kork commanded the Caucasus Army, several military districts, and was the Soviet military attaché in Germany between 1928 and 1929. Returning from Germany, Kork became commander of the Moscow Military District. In 1935 he became head of the Frunze Military Academy with the rank of Komandarm 2nd rank. At this time he was the highest-ranking Estonian Red Army officer. During the Great Purge, Kork was arrested and shot as part of the Case of Trotskyist Anti-Soviet Military Organization. He was acquitted twenty years later.

Early life and career Kork was born on 2 August 1887 in the village of Aardla in the Governorate of Livonia to a peasant family. After graduating from four years of college in Tartu in 1905, Kork entered the Vilna Cadet School on 31 August. In 1907, he transferred to the Chuguyev Military School after the educational system was reorganized. Kork graduated on 15 June 1908 as a Podporuchik and served in the 98th Yuryevsky Infantry Regiment in Dvinsk. On 14 June 1911, he was promoted to Poruchik. In 1911, he entered the General Staff Academy, from which he graduated in 1914 in the first class. For his academic achievements, Kork received the Order of Saint Stanislaus 3rd class on 8 May. He was seconded to the Vilno Military District headquarters.

Kork fought in World War I on the Northwestern Front and the Western Front. In October 1914, he was awarded the Order of Saint Anna 3rd class with Swords. On 1 April 1915, he was awarded the Order of Saint Stanislaus 2nd class with Swords. Kork became an adjutant on the staff of the 3rd Siberian Army Corps and was promoted to Staff captain on 14 June. On 16 November, Kork received the Order of Saint Anna 4th class. At the same time, he became an adjutant at the headquarters of the 8th Siberian Rifle Division. On 25 or 30 December he was transferred to the 10th Army headquarters. He also served with the 20th Army Corps and the Office of the Quartermaster General on the Staff of the Western Front. On 15 August 1916, he was promoted to captain. In 1917, he graduated from the Observer-Pilot Military School. On 25 February, Kork became an officer for Aircraft Orders on the Staff of the Western Front. He was promoted to lieutenant colonel. On 31 March, Kork was awarded the Order of Saint Anna 2nd class with Swords. Between August 1917 and February 1918 he was chairman of the Soldiers' Committee of the Western Front.

Personal life Kork married Yekaterina Mikhailovna (born 1894). In June 1937, after Kork's arrest, Yekaterina was exiled to Astrakhan, where she was arrested on 5 September. She and other wives of executed military leaders were moved back to Moscow and subjected to torture and interrogation. On 13 July 1941 she was sentenced to death and was shot at the Kommunarka shooting ground on 28 July.