Filipp Golikov

Filipp Ivanovich Golikov (July 30, 1900 – July 29, 1980) was a Soviet military commander. As chief of the GRU (Main Intelligence Directorate), he is best known for not taking seriously the abundant intelligence about Nazi Germany's plans for an invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941, either because he did not believe them or because Joseph Stalin made it very clear he did not want to hear them. During World War II, he commanded the Bryansk Front (1942) and Voronezh Front (1942–43), before being appointed Assistant Minister of Defense (April 1943), at which post he was responsible for the repatriation of Soviet citizens. He was promoted to the rank of Marshal of the Soviet Union in 1961.

Quotes

 * There are also many instances where people hostile to the Soviet state are attempting by means of deceit and provocation to poison the minds of our citizens and compel them to believe in monstrous lies.
 * Quoted in "Behind the Iron Curtain" - by George Moorad - Soviet Union - 1946


 * I admit I distorted intelligence to please Stalin because I feared him.
 * 1965. Quoted in "What Stalin Knew: The Enigma of Barbarossa" - Page 249 - by David E. Murphy - History - 2005


 * We still have many shortcomings and failures to fulfill the Party's demands, especially as regards the liquidation in some of our people of survivals of the accursed past in consciousness and conduct and the fulfillment of the demands of our Soviet ethics and military discipline.
 * Quoted in "Bulletin" - Page 9 - History - 1962

About Golikov

 * Golikov was a perfect choice. While he himself likely saw Stalin as a guardian angel, Stalin surely saw in him an individual on whom he could rely completely.
 * David E. Murphy