1. Mikhail Oktan described himself to German officers as an engineer, and was, according to historian Alexander Dallin, said by some peers to have studied economics.
23 Facts About Mikhail Oktan
1. 2.
Mikhail Oktan further tied himself ideologically to Nazism, while simultaneously claiming that Germany did not wish to ideologically dominate Russia, saying instead that the restoration of a "normal life", including pre-Communist policies on land and religion.
3.
Mikhail Oktan retreated with German troops, first to Bryansk and later to Babruysk, in eastern Belarus.
4.
In Babruysk, Mikhail Oktan re-established himself as a local leader, participating in local culture and continuing to pursue women.
5.
Mikhail Oktan was additionally given permission in mid-April 1944 to recruit in Western Belorussia, and German reports noted that the Union deliberately eschewed a clear political position, a move Germany supported.
6.
Simultaneously with the work of the Union, Mikhail Oktan directed the "Russian Youth Movement," an organisation which participated actively in the Heuaktion, or kidnapping of children aged 10 to 14.
7.
Mikhail Oktan continued to actively promote himself as a collaborationist leader to the war's end, continuing his lavish lifestyle in spite of the war's worsening state, and additionally unsuccessfully sought an alliance with Belarusian collaborators.
8.
However, following the recapture of Babruysk by Soviet forces, Mikhail Oktan abandoned all that he had for Germany.
9.
Little is known about Mikhail Oktan's fate following the recapture of Babruysk, save for that he was a participant in the suppression of the Warsaw Uprising.
10.
Author John Loftus claimed in his book The Belarus Secret that Mikhail Oktan was a naturalised United States citizen after the founding of the Office of Special Investigations in 1979, and that the OSI was pursuing his denaturalisation.
11.
Loftus additionally claimed that Mikhail Oktan was working for Mykola Lebed at the time of OSI's investigation.
12.
Mikhail Oktan was described by the wartime police chief of Mogilev as a "habitual drunkard", and it was recounted by a young officer that when he visited the offices of Rech, all seven of the newspaper's employees were inebriated.
13.
Mikhail Oktan was known to have two assistants, an adjutant and a valet.
14.
The latter acted as a treasurer for Mikhail Oktan, paying Mikhail Oktan's expenses for him.
15.
In Babruysk, Mikhail Oktan was known to award local artistic figures and actresses, and additionally assisted in the establishment of local orphanages, chess clubs, and businesses.
16.
Mikhail Oktan was known to impress audiences with carefully-choreographed displays at dinners, with one account describing the course of events as such:.
17.
Mikhail Oktan makes the acquaintance of his guests, introduces his aides, and invites all to the table.
18.
Mikhail Oktan was regarded as relatively independent among the collaborators, often debating with German officers and charting a course independently from that of other collaborators.
19.
Mikhail Oktan had fraught relations with other collaborators, particularly Bronislav Kaminski and the National Alliance of Russian Solidarists.
20.
Mikhail Oktan had generally negative, though more ambivalent, views towards Andrey Vlasov.
21.
Mikhail Oktan repeatedly stated that 'Vlasovite ideals' were banned in areas under his control, and expressed the view that he could have exceeded Vlasov in terms of building a collaborationist military force.
22.
Nonetheless, following the establishment of the Russian Liberation Army, Mikhail Oktan became a lieutenant, though he never actively participated in the ROA.
23.
Mikhail Oktan claimed that he was willing to "cede" the 70,000 men of the Union to the ROA in return for a significant position within the army, but was turned down.