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Grigory Khristoforovich von Zass (; ; 1797–1883) was an Russian Empire general who commanded Russian cavalry troops in the Napoleonic Wars and Russo-Circassian War, Щербина Ф. А. История Армавира и черкесо-горцев. — Екатеринодар: Электро-тип. т-во «Печатник», 1916. initially gaining prominence for his actions against the Circassians, whom he reportedly saw as a "lowly race". He was the founder of the city of Armavir, Russia.
In 2003, the Russia erected his statue on former Circassia territories, infuriating Circassians and Circassian nationalist establishments worldwide.
In 1833, he was appointed commander of the Batalpashinsky section of the Kuban Line. Having studied the military traditions of Caucasian natives and having mastered the tactics of mountain warfare, he tried to seize the initiative and began to carry out regular preventive measures, based on data received from numerous scouts. Active defense was complemented by cruel punitive expeditions, which ended, as a rule, with the extermination of villages. He was appointed as chief commander and given full authority.
In August, he led the first expedition into Circassian territory, destroying as many villages and towns as possible. This was followed by a series of other expeditions. He attacked the Besleney region between November and December, destroying most villages, including the village of the double agent Aytech Qanoqo.
Zass spent a significant amount of money on espionage. During attacks on Circassian land, he never forgot about reconnaissance tasks: his men thoroughly investigated all wooden beams that could serve as enemy shelter, demolished farms, and killed farmers so the enemy would not be able to get food. He made a list of all the Circassians he personally killed. His fearlessness and incredible awareness of the affairs of the Caucasians brought him an otherworldly status among the Circassians, who called Zass "Shaitan" (Satan). Circassian mothers reportedly frightened their children with the name of Zass.
In 1834, Zass sent a report to Georg Andreas von Rosen, a general in the Russian army, detailing his campaign into Circassia. He talks about how he killed three Circassian civilians:Colonel Grigory Zass. Letter to Baron Rosen. 25 February 1834. P. Boutkov, Materials for the New History of the Caucasus – Part I
He then talks about how he destroyed a neighborhood:
Zass' main strategy was to intercept and retain the initiative, terrorize the Circassians, and destroy Circassian settlements. After a victory, he would usually burn several villages and seize cattle and horses to show off, acts which he proudly admitted. He paid close attention to the enemy's morale. In his reports, he frequently boasted about the destruction of villages and glorified the mass murder of civilians. The military successes of the regiments led by him were highly appreciated by the high command. He received as a reward several prestigious orders and a golden weapon with the inscription "For Bravery". He continued to exterminate the Circassian population between 1834 and 1835, particularly in the Abzakhs, Besleney, Shapsugs, and Kabardians regions. In 1835, he was promoted. The entire Kuban line was entrusted to his command, in 1836 he was promoted to major general, and in 1840 – to lieutenant general and appointed chief of the right flank of the Caucasian line. On his initiative, new fortifications began to be laid (one of them is called "Zassovsky") and new Orthodox Slavic villages were arranged, which was the beginning of the creation of the Labinskaya line.
Zass loved spreading rumors about himself by exploiting Circassian tribal superstitions. Using various tricks and cutting-edge technology, he was able to convince and deceive the Circassians into thinking that he had various magical abilities, including being bulletproof and able to turn gunpowder into gold. He was known as a magical man who could do anything he wanted to do. As a result, when he attacked, the Circassians believed they had no chance and suffered a significant loss of morale; knowing Zass's cruel methods, they mostly attempted to save their lives rather than fighting.В. Немировича-Данченко «Рыцари гор» (Москва, 1911)
On 18 August, the Russian army burned the residency of Hajji Tlam, a Circassian elder from the Abzakhs region, and killed his family. As revenge, Circassian commander Jembulat Boletoqo made plans for a new campaign. General Zass sent Circassian commander Jembulat Boletoqo word in October 1836 that he wanted to make peace. Boletoqo considered the offer and decided to go.
Boletoqo visited Zass at his residence. For his initial visit, Zass was not present. Zass wrote him a letter and instructed him to come on a specific date when he would undoubtedly be in his residency. At the said date, Boletoqo was killed on non-warzone territory while on his way to the Prochnyi Okop fortress. The murderer was a Russian sniper employed by Zass, who was hiding in the forest on the Russian bank of the Kuban River, at the confluence with the Urup River. After this, in 1836, Zass was promoted again.
In 1838, Zass spread false rumors about his serious illness, then staged his own death, weakening the Circassians' vigilance. On the same night, when the Circassians were celebrating their oppressor's death, the suddenly "resurrected" Zass launched a raid that destroyed two villages.
In 1841, during the Russo-Circassian War, Zass led a Russian military expedition between the Belaya (Shaguash) and Pshikh rivers in the Caucasus, aiming to subdue the Circassian tribes. The operation targeted the Jemtlokh Forest, a sacred site for the Circassians dedicated to the god Tkhagalegu, where annual rituals and sacrifices were held.
Circassian forces ambushed the Russians, using guerrilla tactics and their knowledge of the terrain to inflict heavy casualties. Zass himself was wounded in the battle. The Circassians believed this was divine punishment for desecrating their holy land. Despite this temporary Russian setback, the broader campaign against Circassian resistance continued.
Between 1840 and 1841, he burned his last villages and built Russian villages on top of them. The punitive strategy of Zass and other Caucasian generals alienated the population and caused discontent in St. Petersburg. In 1842, 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.
Zass then again left the service in 1864.
Zass advocated ruthless military methods predicated on this notion, including burning people alive, cutting off heads for enjoyment, burning populated villages to the ground, spreading epidemics on purpose, and mass rape of children.А. М. Эльмесов (1991). 9785867780661, Кабардино-Балкарское Отд. Всероссийского Фонда Культуры. . ISBN 9785867780661
Zass believed that there was no need to try to negotiate with the Circassians. His reports regularly say the following – "the village was exterminated to the ground", "those who resisted together with the village were committed to fire and sword", "the inhabitants of the village perished."
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 Zass cleaned and boiled the flesh off the heads after storing them under his bed in his tent. He also had Circassian heads outside of his tent impaled on lances on a hill. Circassian men's corpses were decapitated by Russian-Cossack women on the battlefield after the battles were over for the heads to be sent to Zass for collection.
Zass erected Circassian heads on poles outside of his tent and witnesses report seeing wind blow their beards. Russian soldiers and Cossacks were paid for sending Circassian heads to Zass. Mamedov, Mikail. “‘Going Native’ in the Caucasus: Problems of Russian Identity, 1801–64.” The Russian Review, vol. 67, no. 2, 2008, pp. 275–295. JSTOR, accessed 28 May 2021. Besides cutting Circassian heads off and collecting them, Zass employed a deliberate strategy of annihilating Circassian en masse, burning entire Circassian villages with the people in them and encouraging the rape of Circassian women and children. Zass' forces referred to all Circassian elderly, children, women and men as "bandits", "plunderers" or "thieves" and the Russian empire's forces were commanded by officers who commanded political dissidents and criminals.
Zass worked with another German officer in the Russian army named Georg Andreas von Rosen during the genocide against the Circassians. Zass wrote letters to Rosen proudly admitting he ordered Cossacks to slaughter Circassian civilians.
In 2003, a monument to General Zass, as the founder of the city, was unveiled in the city of Armavir, Krasnodar Territory. The installation of the monument caused a sharply negative reaction of the Circassian society.
By 1843, he founded the villages of Urupskaya, Voznesenskaya, Chemlykskaya and Labinskaya. Zass's plans, however, extended even further. He developed a plan to strengthen the left bank of the Belaya River, to create powerful strongholds for the Russian army.
On August 26, 1904, the 1st Labinsky Regiment of the Kuban Cossack Army began to bear his name.
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