Scho-Ka-Kola

Scho-Ka-Kola is a German brand of bitter-sweet dark chocolate consumed for its strong caffeine and kola nut mix. The chocolates have a caffeine content of about 0.2 percent, which is derived from the cocoa content of 58 percent and the addition of 2.6 percent roast coffee and 1.6 percent kola nut. The chocolate is divided into wedges held in a round metal canister. The red-and-white container design and recipe have changed very little since the original launch in 1936.

Scho-Ka-Kola (for Scho kolade – Ka ffee – Kola nuss) was created in 1935 and patented by the Hildebrand, Kakao- und Schokoladenfabrik manufacturer, established by chocolatier Theodor Hildebrand (1791-1854) in Alt-Berlin. 

It was introduced at the 1936 Summer Olympics as a performance-enhancing energy "Sport Chocolate" (German Sportschokolade). It was also produced by the chocolate manufacturer B. Sprengel & Co. in Hannover, who in 1936 was recognized as an important pre-war economy operation, as well as produced by other German chocolate manufacturers.

In World War II, Scho-Ka-Kola was colloquially known as the "Aviator Chocolate" (German Fliegerschokolade), as it was commonly provided with Luftwaffe pilot and crew rations, to induce or extend wakefulness and alertness , especially on night-bombing missions, and was also issued to flight-crews in blue canisters as emergency sea-survival rations (German Seenotpackung).


Original retail canister in 1941, scho-ka-kola printed in lowercase Fraktur calligraphy.
Scho-Ka-Kola was also issued during World War II to German tank crews, as well as German U-boat crews and the German Army. During the occupation period it was also distributed to the German population by the Allies. German Wehrmacht -issue World War II Scho-Ka-Kola tin containers are highly sought after by collectors.

Scho-Ka-Kola is mentioned three times in Johann Voss's World War II autobiography, Black Edelweiss. "Johann Voss", real name unknown, joins the Waffen-SS in 1943 at only 17. He ends up in Northern Finland as an SS mountain ranger, and participates in heavy fighting against the Russians. When things go particularly bad, round tin boxes of Scho-Ka-Kola are issued to the troops. He also claims that during the Battle of the Bulge (particularly, the town of Reipertsweiler, in which Voss participated in a German victory), Scho-Ka-Kola was given to captured American troops as an act of respect for their bravery. Voss details Scho-Ka-Kola in the footnotes, calling the chocolate "pure luxury" and explains that each round tin contains two discs of dark chocolate, laced with caffeine from coffee beans.

In 1969 German chocolate producer Hans Imhoff took over the Hildebrand chocolate company, and in 1972 also bought the beleaguered Stollwerck chocolate manufacturer from Deutsche Bank for distribution. On July 1, 2005, the German Genuport company gained all brand and distribution rights to the product. Currently it is made by a subsidiary in Berlin and available across Germany and distributed in a limited number of foreign countries.

Paul Maitla

Paul Maitla (born Paul Mathiesen; March 27, 1913 – May 10, 1945) was an Estonian commander in the German Waffen-SS during World War II. He is one of the four Estonians who received the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. He received his award for leading the recapture of the central hill of the Sinimäed during the Battle of Tannenberg Line, effectively breaking the Soviet offensive in that sector.

Paul was the youngest of three children of the family. His brother died in the Estonian War of Independence, 8 years older sister had died in Estonia a few years after World War II. Paul Maitla attended elementary school in Sipe from 1921, Tartu Kommertsgümnaasium from 1927, graduating from the Poeglaste secondary school in 1934. After graduation he changed his name to Maitla. 

In September 1934 Maitla entered the Estonian Military School and specialised in pioneering . Maitla then entered officer training in 1937, graduating in August 1938. He was then assigned to the 3rd Infantry battalion in Valga. On Independence Day, 1939, he was commissioned by the President of Estonia to the rank of lieutenant. During 1939 and 1940 he was the State defence instructor in the secondary schools of Tartu.

Paul Maitla
Paul Maitla in 1944
Nickname(s)	"Kugelblitz" ("Ball Lightning")
Born	March 27, 1913 Kärkna , Tartu County , Estonia
Died	May 10, 1945 (aged 32) Nymburk , Czechoslovakia
Allegiance	Estonia  Soviet Union  Nazi Germany
Service/ branch	Estonian Army (1938–1940) Red Army (1940-1941) Wehrmacht (1941-1943) Waffen-SS (1943–1945)
Years of service	1938–1945
Rank	Sturmbannführer
Unit	1938, 3rd Infantry battalion, Estonian Army 1939, Estonian state defence instructor 1940, 171st Infantry Battalion, Red Army 1941, 37th Police Battalion, Wehrmacht 1943, Estonian Legion 1944, 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian)
Battles/wars	World War II Battle of Narva (1944) Battle of Tannenberg Line Battle of Oppeln
Awards	Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross

Iron Cross 2nd & 1st class

Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross on 23 August 1944 as Waffen- Hauptsturmführer and leader of the I./Waffen-Grenadier-Regiment 45 of the SS (estn. Nr. 1)

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World War II 
After the Soviet occupation of Estonia in 1940, Maitla was drafted into the Red Army , where he served until he was captured by the Germans in July 1941. Maitla was then interned by the Germans until November 1941, when he was released and joined the 37th Police Battalion, and tasked with guarding German airfields. 

In the autumn of 1942. Maitla was promoted to lieutenant. In October, he joined the Estonian Legion. He and 113 men were sent to Poland for training. From there, he was sent to Bad Tolz for additional officer training. Maitla returned from training in 1943 and was promoted to commander of the 3rd Company of the 1st Battalion of the 45th Regiment. In April 1943, the Estonian Waffen SS brigade participated in the battles in Nevel, and he received the Iron Cross II class on 8 December for bravery. 

Maitla was appointed Hauptsturmführer and in April 1944 he was commander of the 1st Battalion of the 45th Regiment of the newly formed 20th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS (1st Estonian). In the same year, Maitla with his battalion succeeded in stopping the Red Army offensive at Auvere and received the Iron Cross I class. On 29 July, he and his battalion led a counter-attack at the Battle of Tannenberg Line for which he was awarded the Knights Cross on 23 August. 

In August, Maitla was assigned to Combat group Vent, but fell ill again shortly afterwards and admitted into Tartu Hospital. He was then relocated to a hospital in Bregenz , Germany until January 1945. Maitla then rejoined the 45th regiment, which had by this time been relocated to central Europe. On April 20, 1945, he was promoted to Sturmbannführer. 

The fate of Paul Maitla was uncertain for number of decades, until some information was discovered in 2005 in the city archives of the Czech town of Nymburk . These archives show that Maitla was arrested on May 9, 1945 and murdered together with 4 other Estonian soldiers on May 10 (on the first day of peace after World War II had ended) by Czech communists. 

Quote 
“ Every little kid learns history at school, studying the history of our nation, but later forgets, how the entire history of Estonians consists only of the struggle for our existence, the struggle against our strong and big neighbors. No other nation's history is like this, no one has fought over so many generations and suffered so much as we, Estonians.


When Pearu of Vargamäe says in Anton Hansen Tammsaare 's Truth and Justice , that there is a heroic kind of people at Vargamäe, it's actually said about all Estonians, a heroic kind of people on the shore of the Baltic Sea. We shall fight until we have our lost liberty back and we shall defend it to the last man. 
These are the Estonians!

Some wagons...

                                 Mikkeli (city and province) and Tankhill 

                      
                               Kockum Landswerk

I hope these links worked

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f5/T-28_tank_in_Mikkeli_20130531_001.jpg

http://www.heppu.jossain.com/jalbum/museot/Mikkeli/Panssarikumpare/index.html

                      
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Parola Armory Museum, some new shelters

Panssarimuseo /  Parola Tank Museum

                      

Armenian Battalion

The 812th There were a number of other units that Armenians also served in aside from the 812th Battalion, their total number, according to Joris Versteeg, reaching 33,000. Of these, 14,000 were placed in field battalions, while another 7,000 served in logistical and other non-combat units. Ailsby puts the number of Armenians in "the legions and replacement battalions" closer to 11,600.  

The other units included:
808th Battalion
Formed in July 1942 in Poland . Consisted of 916 Armenians and 41 Germans. Participated in the battles in the area of Tuapse . In October 1942, the battalion was disarmed and reformed into road construction.
809th Battalion "Zeytun"
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Armenische Legion oli natsi-Saksan puolella toisessa maailmansodassa taistellut armenialaisista koottu pataljoona joka koostui lähinnä sotavangeiksi jääneistä neuvostosotilaista. Pataljoonaa johti Drastamat Kanayan. Pataljoonan joukoilla oli SS-koulutus. Legioona aloitti toimintansa 1942 ja se lopetettiin kesäkuun 8. 1944.

Armenialainen pataljoona koottiin noin 18 000 armenialaisesta vangiksi jääneestä sotilaasta. Halukkaita riitti sillä armeijapalveluksen vaihtoehtona oli huonomaineiset saksalaiset sotavankileirit. Pataljoonan johtoon tuli ensimmäisen maailmansodan jälkeen Yhdysvaltoihin paenneita armenialaisia sotaveteraaneja.

Legioona otti osaa Saksan armeijan Kaukasuksen offensiiviin. Kuten muutkin vapaaehtoiset yksiköt, he taistelivat lähinnä partisaaneja vastaan. Armenialaiset olivat natseja myötämielisempiä juutalaisia kohtaan ja auttoivat juutalaisia sotavankeja karkuun saksalaisilta. Hitler ei luottanut vapaaehtoisiin yksiköihin joten monet niistä lähetettiin länsirintamalle, armenialaiset joutuivat Belgiaan ja Alankomaihin. 
Sodan lopussa he antautuivat länsiliittoutuneille jotka luovuttivat heidät Neuvostoliittoon. 
Neuvostoliitossa he joutuivat sotavankileireille joissa monet kuolivat.
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Formed on 29 August 1942 in Poland. Consisted of 913 Armenians and 45 Germans. Part of the 128th Grenadier Regiment, 48th Infantry Division. Commander was Hermann Becker. On 18 November 1942, was sent to join operations in the Caucasus. Participated in the battles in the areas of Nalchik , Mozdok , Kuban and the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula . Later served in the Netherlands, and on 16 October 1943 the battalion arrived in Belgium.

From 29 November to 20 December 1943, the battalion conducted training exercises at the training ground in Sissonne. On 8 January 1944, it was moved to South Beveland and occupied a defensive line for the defense of the Atlantic Wall. The number of all personnel at the beginning of February 1944 the year was 844, consisting of 792 Armenians.

The battalion was transferred to Normandy in August 1944, where as a result of the Allied Operation Overlord ceased to exist due to large losses.

810th Battalion
Formed in 1942 in Poland.

812th Engineering Battalion
Began organization on 25 November 1942 and was finally formed on 1 February 1943 in the city of Puławy , Poland. The battalion service in the Polish city of Radom . It was relocated on 10 March 1943 to the Netherlands in order to strengthen the defense capability of the Atlantic Wall and was placed near the town of Bergen op Zoom . The battalion had its own priest and the ability to carrying out religious activities. 
Strictly in accordance with the Armenian calendar, the battalion observed Christian holidays and baptisms were held.

813th Battalion
Formed in February 1943 in Poland. Served on protecting the Atlantic Wall.

814th Battalion
Formed in the summer of 1943 in Poland.

815th Battalion
Formed in August 1943 in Poland.

816th Battalion
Formed in late 1943 in Poland.

I / 125 Battalion
Formed in February 1943 in Ukraine.  Was transferred to the Western Front to defend the south of France, located 30 kilometers north of the city of Marseille, near the town of Aix-en-Provence.

I / 198 Battalion
Formed in September 1942 in the Ukraine. Was transferred to the Western Front to defend the south of France, located on the south-west of Toulon.

II / 9 Battalion
Formed in September 1942 in the Ukraine. Was transferred to the Western Front to defend the south of France, located in the small town of Hyères , in the direction of Saint-Tropez by the coast. (German: Armenische Legion; Armenian: Հայկական լեգիոն Haykakan legion), also known as the Armenian Legion , was a military unit in the German Army during World War II . It primarily consisted of Soviet Armenians , who had been taken prisoner by the Nazis, and commanded by General Drastamat Kanayan.

The Israeli scholar Yair Auron has noted that Turkish nationalist efforts to thwart recognition of the Armenian Genocide have resulted in the dissemination of various Turkish propaganda publications in regard to the Armenian Legion, aimed at portraying Armenians in negative light.

The short-lived Republic of Armenia , established in 1918, was conquered by the Russian Bolsheviks in 1920 and incorporated shortly after into the Soviet Union. This was something which members of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF; Dashnaks) political party never reconciled themselves with, as many of them were imprisoned, killed, or expelled by Soviet authorities following the Soviet takeover.

In 1942, in order to fight Turkey's anti-Armenian politicking, a number of Dashnaks entered into negotiations with Berlin, and reluctantly agreed to participate in the formation of a military legion. This was a move, however, that was officially repudiated by ARF party organs. 

The majority of the soldiers in the 812th Battalion legion were drawn from the ranks of the Red Army , prisoners of war who had opted to fight for the German Army rather than face the brutal conditions of the Nazi POW camps, [6] though a number of Armenian veterans who had escaped to the United States after World War I also came back to Europe to join it. Command of the unit was given to a former Defense Minister of Armenia , General Drastamat Kanayan (Dro). Kanayan was among the minority in the legion who volunteered, under the hope of freeing Soviet Armenia from the control of Moscow. 

French genocide scholar Yves Ternon, who has studied the battalion, suggests that while there were no "substantial" fascistic inclinations among the Armenians in general, Kanayan was an exception. Ternon characterized Dro as possessive of substantial "fascist deviation.
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Through the span of active service, the 812th Battalion participated in the occupation of the Crimean Peninsula and the North Caucasus . One unit comprising a part of the Armenian Legion, was the 4th Battalion of the 918th Grenadier Regiment, 242 Infanterie-Division, one of the few Eastern Legion units to be given German insignia after March 18, 1944. The battalion participated in the unsuccessful defense of Toulon.

At the end of the war, morale among the men in the unit began to collapse many in the legion deserted or defected.  Hans Houterman reported that in one case a battalion in the Netherlands where the legion was stationed even revolted. Many men surrendered to the Western Allied forces . If not detained by them, they were turned over to Soviet authorities who, in accordance with an order proclaimed by Joseph Stalin , sent them to camps in Siberia as punishment for surrendering to Axis forces and "allowing themselves to be captured," a fate suffered by nearly all of the former Soviet prisoners of the war. 

It is interesting to note that several Jewish Red Army POWs were saved by some of the Armenians in the Legion and there were several instances of Jews being sent to the battalion to evade detection by the Nazis. Josef Moisevich Kogan, a Red Army soldier captured by the Germans, for example, stated that he received help by an Armenian doctor in the 812th Battalion when he was sneaked into the battalion itself, later escaping with the help of Dutch underground. Other examples included Jews being sent to the battalion to evade detection by the Nazis. 

Nazi perspective 
In spite of Nazi Germany acknowledging the Armenians as an Aryan people, Adolf Hitler personally did not trust them,  and as a result the Armenian battalion was mainly stationed in the Netherlands. Speaking about military units from Soviet peoples, Hitler said: "I don't know about these Georgians. They do not belong to the Turkic peoples...I consider only the moslims to be reliable...All others I deem unreliable. For the time being I consider the formation of these battalions of purely Caucasian peoples very risky, while I don't see any danger in the establishment of purely Moslim units...In spite of all declarations from Rosenberg and the military, I don't trust the Armenians either."


Minister of the Occupied Territories and Racial Theorist Alfred Rosenberg declared that the Armenians were Indo-European , or Aryans , and thus they were immediately subject to conscription. According to Versteeg, however, "Although Armenians officially were considered 'Aryans', the notion of them being 'Levantine traders', similar to the Jews, was deep-seated in Nazi circles, and racial 'purists' along with Hitler himself were prone to look upon the Armenians as 'non-Aryans.'" 
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There were a number of other units that Armenians also served in aside from the 812th Battalion, their total number, according to Joris Versteeg, reaching 33,000. Of these, 14,000 were placed in field battalions, while another 7,000 served in logistical and other non-combat units. Ailsby puts the number of Armenians in "the legions and replacement battalions" closer to 11,600.  

The other units included:
808th Battalion
Formed in July 1942 in Poland . Consisted of 916 Armenians and 41 Germans. Participated in the battles in the area of Tuapse . In October 1942, the battalion was disarmed and reformed into road construction.
809th Battalion "Zeytun"

Formed on 29 August 1942 in Poland. Consisted of 913 Armenians and 45 Germans. Part of the 128th Grenadier Regiment, 48th Infantry Division. Commander was Hermann Becker. On 18 November 1942, was sent to join operations in the Caucasus . Participated in the battles in the areas of Nalchik , Mozdok , Kuban and the Battle of the Kerch Peninsula . Later served in the Netherlands , and on 16 October 1943 the battalion arrived in Belgium.

From 29 November to 20 December 1943, the battalion conducted training exercises at the training ground in Sissonne . On 8 January 1944, it was moved to South Beveland and occupied a defensive line for the defense of the Atlantic Wall . The number of all personnel at the beginning of February 1944 the year was 844, consisting of 792 Armenians.
The battalion was transferred to Normandy in August 1944, where as a result of the Allied Operation Overlord ceased to exist due to large losses.

810th Battalion
Formed in 1942 in Poland.

812th Engineering Battalion
Began organization on 25 November 1942 and was finally formed on 1 February 1943 in the city of Puławy , Poland. The battalion service in the Polish city of Radom . It was relocated on 10 March 1943 to the Netherlands in order to strengthen the defense capability of the Atlantic Wall and was placed near the town of Bergen op Zoom . The battalion had its own priest and the ability to carrying out religious activities. 
Strictly in accordance with the Armenian calendar, the battalion observed Christian holidays and baptisms were held.

813th Battalion
Formed in February 1943 in Poland. Served on protecting the Atlantic Wall .

814th Battalion
Formed in the summer of 1943 in Polannd.

815th Battalion
Formed in August 1943 in Poland.

816th Battalion
Formed in late 1943 in Poland.

I / 125 Battalion
Formed in February 1943 in Ukraine . Was transferred to the Western Front to defend the south of France, located 30 kilometers north of the city of Marseille , near the town of Aix-en-Provence .

I / 198 Battalion
Formed in September 1942 in the Ukraine. Was transferred to the Western Front to defend the south of France, located on the south-west of Toulon .

II / 9 Battalion

Formed in September 1942 in the Ukraine. Was transferred to the Western Front to defend the south of France, located in the small town of Hyères , in the direction of Saint-Tropez by the coast.

Vasily Blokhin

Vasily Mikhailovich Blokhin ( Russian: Васи́лий Миха́йлович Блохи́н; 7 January 1895 – 3 February 1955) was a Soviet Russian Major-General who served as the chief executioner of the Stalinist NKVD under the administrations of Genrikh Yagoda, Nikolai Yezhov, and Lavrentiy Beria.

Hand-picked for the position by Joseph Stalin in 1926, Blokhin led a company of executioners that performed and supervised numerous mass executions during Stalin's reign, mostly during the Great Purge and World War II. 

He is recorded as having executed tens of thousands of prisoners by his own hand, including his killing of about 7,000 Polish prisoners of war during the Katyn massacre in spring 1940,  making him the most prolific official executioner and mass murderer in recorded world history. 

Forced into retirement following the death of Stalin, Blokhin died in 1955, officially reported as a suicide.

Blokhin's most infamous act was the April 1940 execution by shooting of about 7,000 Polish prisoners interned in the Ostashkov prisoner of war camp in the Katyn forest. The majority were military and police officers who had been captured following the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939. (The event's infamy also stems from the Stalin regime's orchestration of the murders and subsequent propaganda campaign in order to blame Nazi Germany for the massacres.)
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In fact, Katyn did not have a camp. Victims (about 4,400) were delivered from Kozelks monastery, which served in war prison camp.

The camp was supposed to be suddenly empty because Stalin's idea and purpose was planned bring Finland, the new customers to the camp and same destiny's 

This was Stalin's idea and purpose that was not realized, immediately after Winter War's
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In 1990, as part of Glasnost, Gorbachev gave the Polish government the files on the massacres at Katyn, Starobelsk and Kalinin (now Tver), revealing Stalin's involvement. Based on the 4 April secret order from Stalin to NKVD Chief Lavrentiy Beria (as well as NKVD Order № 00485 , which still applied), the executions were carried out over 28 consecutive nights at the specially constructed basement execution chamber at the NKVD headquarters in Kalinin, and were assigned, by name, directly to Blokhin, making him the official executioner of the NKVD. 

Blokhin initially decided on an ambitious quota of 300 executions per night; and engineered an efficient system in which the prisoners were individually led to a small antechamber —which had been painted red and was known as the "Leninist room"—for a brief and cursory positive identification, before being handcuffed and led into the execution room next door. The room was specially designed with padded walls for soundproofing, a sloping concrete floor with a drain and hose, and a log wall for the prisoners to stand against. Blokhin would stand waiting behind the door in his executioner garb: a leather butcher's apron, leather hat, and shoulder-length leather gloves. 

                      
                                           Walther P-38 / 9mm
                     
                      
                                        Walther model 9 / cal 2.25 acp.

Then, without a hearing, the reading of a sentence or any other formalities, each prisoner was brought in and restrained by guards while Blokhin shot him once in the base of the skull with a German Walther Model 2.25 ACP pistol. He had brought a briefcase full of his own Walther pistols, since he did not trust the reliability of the standard-issue Soviet TT-30 for the frequent, heavy use he intended. ....
The use of a German pocket pistol, which was commonly carried by German police and intelligence agents, also provided plausible deniability of the executions if the bodies were discovered later.

An estimated 30 local NKVD agents, guards and drivers were pressed into service to escort prisoners to the basement, confirm identification, then remove the bodies and hose down the blood after each execution. Although some of the executions were carried out by Senior Lieutenant of State Security Andrei Rubanov, Blokhin was the primary executioner and, true to his reputation, liked to work continuously and rapidly without interruption. In keeping with NKVD policy and the overall "wet" nature of the operation, the executions were conducted at night, starting at dark and continuing until just prior to dawn. 

The bodies were continuously loaded onto covered flat-bed trucks through a back door in the execution chamber and trucked, twice a night, to Mednoye , where Blokhin had arranged for a bulldozer and two NKVD drivers to dispose of bodies at an unfenced site. Each night, 24–25 trenches, measuring eight to 10 meters (24.3 to 32.8 feet) total, were dug to hold that night's corpses, and each trench was covered up before dawn. 


Blokhin and his team worked without pause for 10 hours each night, with Blokhin executing an average of one prisoner every three minutes. At the end of the night, Blokhin provided vodka to all his men. On 27 April 1940, Blokhin secretly received the Order of the Red Banner and a modest monthly pay premium as a reward from Joseph Stalin for his "skill and organization in the effective carrying out of special tasks". 

His count of 7,000 shot in 28 days remains the most organized and protracted mass murder by a single individual on record, and saw him being named the Guinness World Record holder for 'Most Prolific Executioner' in 2010. 

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Vasili Mihailovitš Blohin (7. tammikuuta 1895 – 3. helmikuuta 1955) oli neuvostoliittolainen kenraalimajuri, joka toimi NKVD:n pääteloittajana Stalinin vainojen ja toisen maailmansodan aikana. 

Hänen on arvioitu ampuneen omakätisesti 7 000 puolalaista sotavankia Katynin joukkomurhassa ja ehkä useita tuhansia muita Neuvostoliiton sisäisissä puhdistuksissa. 

Blohin on Guinnessin ennätystenkirjan mukaan kaikkien aikojen tuotteliain pyöveli. Hän on eniten yksitellen tehtyjä murhia toteuttanut henkilö maailmanhistoriassa.

Tunnettuja Blohinin ampumia ihmisiä olivat Moskovan näytösoikeudenkäynneissä tuomitut korkea-arvoiset neuvostojohtajat sekä marsalkka Mihail Tuhatševski. Samoin Blohinin entiset esimiehet Genrih Jagoda ja Nikolai Ježov heidän menetettyään asemansa.
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Itse Katynissä ei ollut leiriä. Uhrit (noin 4400) toimitettiin Kozelskissa sijaitsevasta luostarista joka toimi sotavanki leirinä.

Kozelskin leiri oli saatava nopeasti tyhjäksi koska leirille oli tarkoitus tuoda uusia vankeja Suomesta talvisodan jälkeen. Tämä oli Stalinin tarkoitus joka ei toteutunut
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Stalinin kuoleman ja Nikita Hruštšovin valtaannousun jälkeen Blohin erotettiin nopeasti kaikista tehtävistään ja hänen sotilasarvonsa julistettiin menetetyksi. Hän alkoholisoitui vakavasti.

Virallisen tiedon mukaan Blohin teki itsemurhan vuonna 1955.
-----------------------------------------
Blokhin, born into a peasant family on 7 January 1895, served in the Imperial Russian Army during World War I , and joined the Soviet state security agency Cheka in March 1921. Though records are scant, he was evidently noted for both his pugnaciousness and his mastery of what Joseph Stalin termed chernaya rabota (" wetwork *, or literally, "black work"): assassinations, torture, intimidation, and executions conducted clandestinely. Once he gained Stalin's attention, he was quickly promoted and within six years was appointed the head of the purposefully created Kommandatura Branch of the Administrative Executive Department of the NKVD. This branch was a company-sized element created by Stalin specifically for wetwork. Headquartered at the Lubyanka in Moscow , its members were all approved by Stalin and took their orders directly from him, a fact that ensured the unit's longevity despite three bloody purges of the NKVD.

Vasily Blokhin
Chief Executioner and Commander Kommandatura Branch Main Administrative-Economic Department, Moscow Oblast People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs (NKVD)
In office 1926–1952
Personal details
Born	Vasily Mikhailovich Blokhin  Василий Михайлович Блохин 7 January 1895 Suzdal , Vladimir Governorate , Russian Empire
Died	3 February 1955 (aged 60) [1] Moscow , Russian SFSR , Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Nationality	Russian
Political party	Communist Party of the Soviet Union
Awards

As senior executioner, Blokhin had the official title of commandant of the internal prison at the Lubyanka, which allowed him to carry out his duties with a minimum of scrutiny and no official paperwork. Although most of the estimated 828,000 NKVD executions conducted in Stalin's lifetime were performed by local Chekists in concert with NKVD troikas, mass executions were overseen by specialist executioners from the Kommandantura. In addition to overseeing the mass executions, Blokhin personally pulled the trigger in all of the individual high-profile executions conducted in the Soviet Union during his tenure,  including those of the Old Bolsheviks convicted at the Moscow Show Trials; Marshal of the Soviet Union Mikhail Tukhachevsky (convicted at a secret trial); and two of the three fallen NKVD Chiefs (Genrikh Yagoda in 1938 and Nikolai Yezhov in 1940) he had once served. He was awarded the Badge of Honor for his service in 1937. 

Blokhin was forcibly retired in 1953 following Stalin's death that March, although his "irreproachable service" was publicly noted by Beria at the time of his departure.
After Beria's fall from power in June of the same year, Blokhin's rank was stripped from him in the de-Stalinization campaigns of Nikita Khrushchev . He reportedly sank into alcoholism , went insane, and died on 3 February 1955, with the official cause of death listed as "suicide". 


Vasily Blokhin was married to Natalia Aleksandrovna Blokhina (1901–1967), and had a son, Nikolai Vasilievich Baranov (1916–1998). 

Lafayette G. Pool

Lafayette Green Pool (July 23, 1919 – May 30, 1991) was an American tank-crew and tank-platoon commander in World War II and is widely recognized as the US tank ace of aces, credited with 12 confirmed tank kills and 258 total armoured vehicle and self-propelled gun kills, over 1,000 German soldiers killed, and 250 more taken as prisoners of war  all of which took place in a combat career that covered only 81 days in action from 27 June to 15 September 1944 with three different Shermans.  He received many medals, including the Distinguished Service Cross, the Legion of Merit, the Silver Star, the Purple Heart, the Belgian Fourragère, and the French Légion d'honneur. 

                      

Lafayette G. Pool was drafted into the United States Army on June 14, 1941 from Fort Sam Houston in his native Texas and assigned to the new 3rd Armored Division . Pool married Evelyn Wright while on leave in December 1942. While in training at the Desert Training Center and Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania, Pool was noted as a very aggressive commander, always wanting the best from his men; Pool even refused a commission as an officer so he could remain close to the front. Pool was promoted to Staff Sergeant and deployed overseas with the 3rd Armored Division in September 1943.

Pool served with the 3rd Platoon of Company I, 32nd Armored Regiment, 3rd Armored Division in France between June and September 1944. He successively commanded three Sherman tanks ; an M4A1, and two M4A1(76)Ws, all of which bore the nickname "IN THE MOOD" (they were not suffixed with a letter or Roman numeral) He kept the same crew throughout the majority of the war. Corporal Wilbert "Red" Richards was the driver, Private First Class Bertrand "School Boy" Close was the assistant driver and bow gunner, Corporal Willis "Ground Hog" Oller was the gunner, and Technician Fifth Grade Delbert "Jailbird" Boggs was the loader. 

Pool's first tank, an M4A1, lasted from June 23 until June 29, when Combat Command A attacked for the first time at Villiers-Fossard . It was hit by a Panzerfaust, causing Pool and his crew to bail out of the stricken tank. Pool's second tank, his first M4A1(76)W, lasted from around July 1, 1944 to August 17, when he was leading CCA in the process of clearing remaining German forces from the village of Fromental. This tank was knocked out by friendly fire from a P-38. 

Pool's third and last tank, another M4A1(76)W, was destroyed on the night of September 15, 1944 while CCA was attempting to penetrate the Siegfried Line at Munsterbusch, Germany, southwest of Aachen. The tank was hit by an ambushing Panther, and while Pool's driver was trying to back his damaged Sherman up, the Panther hit it a second time. Positioned precariously on the edge of a ditch, the force of the second round caught the tank and tipped it over. 

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Awards	Distinguished Service Cross  Silver Star  Legion of Merit  Purple Heart  Army Good Conduct Medal  American Campaign Medal  European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal  World War II Victory Medal  National Defense Service Medal  French Légion d'honneur  French Croix de Guerre  United Nations Korea Medal Belgian fourragere Bronze Saint George Awards

Lafayette Green Pool was born in Odem, Texas, on July 23, 1919 to John K. (1894-1979) and Mary Lee (née Laycock) Pool (1899-1950) [6] He had a twin brother, John Thomas, (who served in the Navy during World War II)  and a sister, Tennie Mae.  Lafayette attended high school in Taft, Texas, graduating in 1938; he later attended Texas College of Arts and Industries in Kingsville, Texas , studying engineering and participating very successfully in amateur boxing. Pool left college after one year when he was inducted into military service in the summer of 1941.

The round killed Pool's replacement gunner, Private First Class Paul King, (Corporal Oller had been temporarily transferred back to the United States) and threw Pool out of the commander's hatch, severely injuring one of his legs with shrapnel. The leg was so badly mangled that it later had to be amputated eight inches above the knee. As a result, Pool would not return to amateur boxing after the war.

After 22 months of rehabilitation and being fitted with a prosthesis, Pool opened a filling station and garage at his home in Sinton, Texas, followed by several other businesses, before he was sent to the Transportation Corps. With the intervention of General Roderick R. Allen, he finally managed to "come home" to the 3rd Armored Division in 1948, where he became an instructor in automotive mechanics. 


Lafayette G. Pool retired from the US Army on September 19, 1960 with the rank of Chief Warrant Officer Second Class at Ft. Sam Houston , Texas. Afterwards he went to business college, followed by a job as a preacher for $25.00 a week. He also coached little league baseball. Pool died in his sleep on May 30, 1991, in Killeen, Texas, at the age of 71. Pool is interred at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, Texas. He was survived by his wife Evelyn, three sons, (Captain Jerry Lynn Pool was declared missing in action in Vietnam in 1970) and four daughters.