1. Grigory Khristoforovich von Zass was an Imperial Russian general who commanded Russian cavalry troops in the Napoleonic Wars and Russo-Circassian War, initially gaining prominence for his actions against the Circassians, whom he reportedly saw as a "lowly race".
Grigory Zass was the founder of the city of Armavir, Russia.
Grigory Zass's ancestors were nobles from Westphalia who in the 15th century moved to the Baltic region, fought under the banner of the Order of the Sword, and in 1710, was among the 52 chivalric families, including the Ungern-Sternbergs and Wrangel family, which took a solemn oath of allegiance to the Russian sovereign, Peter the Great.
Grigory Zass rose through the ranks of the Russian army and first saw action in the 1813 Battle of Leipzig.
Grigory Zass was transferred to the Novgorod division in 1820.
Grigory Zass fought at Dresden, Kulm and Leipzig, was awarded the insignia of the Military Order and promoted to cornet, then participated in the battles in the 1814 campaign in north-east France at Brienne, Bar-sur-Aube, Arcis-sur-Aube, Metz, and Fere-Champenoise, and ended the fighting under the walls of Paris.
In 1830 Grigory Zass received command of the Mozdok Cossack Regiment as a result of his success in the Russo-Turkish War.
Grigory Zass was appointed as chief commander and given full authority.
Grigory Zass made a list of all the Circassians he personally killed.
In 1834, Grigory Zass sent a report to Georg Andreas von Rosen, a general in the Russian army, detailing his campaign into Circassia.
Grigory Zass received as a reward several prestigious orders and a golden weapon with the inscription "For Bravery".
Grigory Zass continued to exterminate the Circassian population between 1834 and 1835, particularly in the Abdzakh, Besleney, Shapsug, and Kabardian regions.
Grigory Zass loved spreading rumors about himself by exploiting Circassian tribal superstitions.
Grigory Zass was known as a magical man who could do anything he wanted to do.
General Grigory Zass sent Circassian commander Jembulat Boletoqo word in October 1836 that he wanted to make peace.
Grigory Zass wrote him a letter and instructed him to come on a specific date when he would undoubtedly be in his residency.
The murderer was a Russian sniper employed by Grigory Zass, who was hiding in the forest on the Russian bank of the Kuban River, at the confluence with the Urup River.
In 1838, Grigory Zass spread false rumors about his serious illness, then staged his own death, weakening the Circassians' vigilance.
In 1841, during the Russo-Circassian War, Grigory Zass led a Russian military expedition between the Belaya and Pshikh rivers in the Caucasus, aiming to subdue the Circassian tribes.
In 1842, Grigory Zass was removed from service in the Caucasus and because of the quarrel in 1842 with superiors, including Pavel Grabbe, he was forced to leave the Caucasus forever, and ultimately to resign in 1848.
In 1849 Grigory Zass returned to service and took part in the campaign in Hungary, commanding the Vanguard of the 3rd Corps.
In recognition of his previous services, Emperor Alexander II ordered Grigory Zass to be enlisted in the service nominally in the Caucasian Army, and in 1877 he was promoted to the rank of general of cavalry.
Emperor Alexander II, wishing to honor the military exploits of Grigory Zass, called him back into service and promoted him to general of cavalry, commanding him to be listed in the Caucasian Army with the right to live wherever he wanted.
Grigory Zass died at the age of 86 in Skede Manor, Courland Governorate, Russian Empire.
Grigory Zass considered Circassians to be subhumans inferior to the "European Race", particularly Germans and Russians.
Grigory Zass kept a box under his bed with his collection of severed Circassian body parts.
Colonel Grigory Zass was a key figure in the Circassian genocide through ethnic cleansing, which included methods such as burning entire Circassian villages, and deliberately causing epidemics.
Grigory Zass believed that there was no need to try to negotiate with the Circassians.
Grigory Zass sent severed Circassian heads to his friends in Berlin who were professors and used them to study anatomy.
The Decembrist Nikolai Ivanovich Lorer said that Grigory Zass cleaned and boiled the flesh off the heads after storing them under his bed in his tent.
Grigory Zass had Circassian heads outside of his tent impaled on lances on a hill.
Grigory Zass erected Circassian heads on poles outside of his tent and witnesses report seeing wind blow their beards.
Grigory Zass worked with another German officer in the Russian army named Georg Andreas von Rosen during the genocide against the Circassians.
Grigory Zass wrote letters to Rosen proudly admitting he ordered Cossacks to slaughter Circassian civilians.
Grigory Zass especially sent severed Circassian heads to professors in Berlin, who used them to study anatomy.
Grigory Zass is said to have washed and cooked Circassian heads' flesh before putting them under his bed in his tent.
Grigory Zass had Circassian heads impaled on lances on a hill near his tent.
Grigory Zass erected Circassian heads on poles outside of his tent and witnesses saw the wind blowing the beards of the heads.
Grigory Zass kept his personal collection of decapitated Circassian heads and body parts in a box under his bed.
Besides cutting Circassian heads off and collecting them, Grigory Zass used a premeditated policy of annihilating Circassians en masse, burning entire Circassian towns with their inhabitants and inciting the abuse of Circassian women and children.
Grigory Zass is depicted as the Devil or Satan in Circassian folklore.
Grigory Zass developed a plan to strengthen the left bank of the Belaya River, to create powerful strongholds for the Russian army.