Telegram to A.M. Vasilevsky, August 17, 1943

Source: Tom 18

To Comrade Vasilevsky

I am obliged to tell you that your failure to report to the Stavka daily on the situation and progress of operations is intolerable. You were sent to the front not as a passive observer but as the representative of the Stavka, and you are obligated to keep the Stavka informed of developments hour by hour, not when you see fit.

I warn you for the last time that if you permit yourself even once more to forget your duty to the Stavka, you will be removed from the post of Chief of the General Staff and recalled from the front.

Stalin

Note

A.M. Vasilevsky (1895-1977) was the Chief of the General Staff from 1942. Despite this harsh rebuke, Vasilevsky remained in his post and continued to serve as Stalin's key coordinator on the most important fronts for the rest of the war. In his memoirs, Vasilevsky wrote that he fully acknowledged the justice of the reprimand.