Anatolii (Naftoli) Breido

Anatolii (Naftoli) Breido was born in 1903 in Kremenchug, Ukraine to a working-class Jewish family. In 1919, after completing 3-years of a 4-year Jewish vocational school, Naftoli began working as an apprentice locksmith. In 1920, during the Russian civil war (1918-1920), Breido began his military career when he volunteered to join the Red Army. Later he served in several artillery units and successfully completed his studies at Kiev's High Military School and the Sumy Artillery School. In 1932 Anatolii Breido graduated from the prestigious Frunze Military Academy in Moscow and, from 1939, served as a head of artillery of the 81th Infantry Division. In 1939 and 1940, following the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, Major Breido participated in the Soviet annexation of eastern Poland, North Bukovina, and Bessarabia. For his success as a commander he was promoted to the rank of colonel.

After the outbreak of war between the Soviet Union and Nazi Germany on June 22, 1941, Anatolii Breido served as chief of staff and deputy head of the artillery of the 9th Army. Later he headed the artillery of the 44th, 58th, and 39th Armies. From October 1943 Major-General Breido commanded the artillery of the 57th Army. During Operation Bagration (June-August 1944) artillery under the command of Breido played an important role in surrounding and destroying several German infantry and tank units in Belorussia. Later Breido's artillery men assisted Red Army units during the second Jassy (Iași)-Kishinev (Chișinău) Offensive (August 20 – 29, 1944) and during the Red Army Budapest and Vienna offensives (October 1944 - April 1945). The article "Major-General of Artillery Naftoli Breido" by Shmuel Persov, prepared for the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee (JAC) to be sent to the Western press in October 1944, stressed the Jewishness of Anatolii Breido by referring to his Jewish first name – Naftoli. Persov also emphasized this by noting that "Recently Major-General Breido had to fill out a form about himself [for the military record]. He wrote down in the column of 'mother tongue – Yiddish'" (GARF 8114-1-106, copy YVA JM/26117).

In April 1945 Anatolii Breido was promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general of the artillery. In the course of the war he was awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, 1st class, as well as several orders for high-ranking officers such as the Orders of Kutuzov, 2nd class, of Suvorov, 2nd class, and of Bogdan Chmielnitsky, 1st and 2nd classes.

After the war Anatolii Breido continued his military career, serving as assistant head of the Turkestan Military District. In 1953 he completed advanced courses at the Military Academy of the General Staff and, from 1959, served as head of the Rocket Forces and Artillery Department at the Military Armored Forces Academy. Breido retired from the Soviet army forces in January 1965.

Anatolii Breido died in Moscow in 1965. He was buried in the Novodevichie Cemetery, where many famous people are interred.