Boris Shteifon Boris Aleksandrovich Shteifon ( December 6 , 1881 – April 30 , 1945 ) ( ) was a general in the Imperial Russian Army , who subsequently served as a general in the Russian anti - communist White army , and as the leader of the Nazi - allied Russian Corps in Serbia during World War II . Biography . Shteifon was born on December 6 , 1881 in the city of Kharkiv ( currently Ukraine ) . His father was a Jewish merchant ( converted to Orthodox Christianity ) , his mother was the daughter of a Russian Orthodox deacon . Shteifon graduated from the Chuguyivske Junker Infantry School , one of the premier schools of the Imperial Russian Army , and went to serve as a second lieutenant in the 124th Infantry Regiment based at Voronezh . He first saw combat during in the Russo - Japanese War of 1904 – 1905 , during which he was injured with a concussion . He was also awarded for bravery and excellence five times , receiving the Order of St . Vladimir along with other decorations . He was promoted to lieutenant in September 1905 . In 1911 , Shteifon completed the Imperial Nikolaevsky Military Academy with the rank of captain . He was subsequently assigned to serve in Russian Turkestan , and was a staff officer of the 2nd Turkistan Army Corps in 1914 . With the start of World War I , Shteifon served on the Caucasus front against the forces of the Ottoman Empire . He was Assistant Chief of Intelligence in the staff of the Russian Caucasian Army , and was promoted to lieutenant colonel in 1915 . He played a key role in the Battle of Erzurum under General Nikolai Yudenich and was awarded the Order of St . Anne and Order of St . George for conducting intelligence operations . In January 1917 he was appointed Chief of Staff of the 161 Infantry Division and then in August of that year , the head of the Finnish 3rd Infantry Division . In 1917 he was promoted to colonel . In the wake of the October Revolution and the collapse at the Russian front , Shteifon returned to his native Kharkov where he headed an underground organization to recruit and relay officers who want to join the Volunteer Army . In the fall of 1918 he arrived at Volunteer Army headquarters in Ekaterinodar . He became Chief of Staff of the 3rd Infantry Division of the Volunteer Army in April 1919 , and commander of the 13th Infantry Regiment from July . He was active in operations throughout the Ukraine and parts of Poland and Romania through the end of the year . In January 1920 Shteifon was promoted to the rank of lieutenant general . However , with the growing collapse of the White movement , he was forced to evacuate into Poland with his men , then arrived in Crimea to continue active duty under General Pyotr Wrangel . He evacuated with the remnants of Wrangel ' s forces to Constantinople and arrived to the Gallipoli camp for White Russian refugees . On April 25 , 1921 , he was put in charge of the exiled 1st Army Corps , and relocated to Bulgaria . In 1922 , the Bulgarian government expelled Shteifon , and he found refuge in the Kingdom of Serbs , Croats , and Slovenes . Living in Belgrade , he actively participated in the Officers ' Union , but was removed by General Wrangel for insubordination . During the 1920s and 1930s , Shteifon published a series of military tactical and historical works , and became a professor of military sciences . With the occupation of Yugoslavia by Nazi Germany in World War II , Shteifon was offered a position as chief of staff of the Russian Corps organized by former Russian general Mikhail Skorodumov in 1941 , becoming its commander three days later . Under his command the Russian Corps fought with Yugoslav partisans , and then with the regular units of the Red Army after their entry in late 1944 to the Balkans . Over the lifetime the Russian Corps , Shteifon attempted to win the maximum amount of independence and better equipment from the Germans . He managed to send its representatives to the occupied areas of the Soviet Union , and recruited around 5 , 000 new volunteers . Shteifon , who suffered from liver disease , died of a heart attack in Zagreb , Croatia , on April 30 , 1945 . He was buried in Ljubljana , Slovenia , at a German military cemetery ( block VIII , row 6 , grave 16 ) .