Dmitry Karbyshev Dmitry Mikhaylovich Karbyshev ( ) ( , Omsk — February 18 , 1945 , Mauthausen , Austria ) was an officer of the Russian Imperial Army , a Red Army general , professor of the Soviet General Staff Academy ( Doctor of Military Sciences ) , and Hero of the Soviet Union ( posthumously ) . He is better known for being left outside to freeze to death as a role model of patriot in the Soviet propaganda . Biography . Early years . Karbyshev was born in Omsk to the well - known Siberian Cossack starshyna family of Kryashen origin and spoke both Russian and Kryashen dialect of Tatar . His father died when he was twelve , and he was raised by his mother . Despite financial difficulties , he graduated from the Siberian Cadet Corps ( today Omsk Cadet Corps of Ministry of Defense ) in 1898 and went on to attend the Saint - Petersburg Nikolaev Military Engineering College ( Uchilishche ) , from which he graduated in 1900 . He was assigned to serve in the 1st East Siberian Sapper Battalion , in charge of battlefield telegraph operations ( chief of cable section of a telegraph company ) , and was stationed in Manchuria . Russo - Japanese War and World War I . During the Russo - Japanese War 1904 - 1905 ) , Karbyshev was responsible in building bridges , and conducting reconnaissance patrols , as well as telegraph operations . He was at the Battle of Mukden and was decorated for bravery . He was promoted to Lieutenant ( " poruchik " ) at the end of the war . Karbyshev subsequently served in Vladivostok . He returned to St . Petersburg to graduate from the Nikolaev Military Engineering Academy in 1911 ( present - day Saint Petersburg Military Engineering - Technical University ) . Promoted to Staff Captain , he was then sent to Brest - Litovsk as commander of a sapper company , and participated in the construction of fortifications for the Brest Fortress . At the start of World War I , Karbyshev was involved in combat operations in the Carpathians under General Aleksei Brusilov ’ s 8th Army on the Southwestern Front . At first he was the divisions ' engineer for the 78th and the 69th Infantry Divisions , later chief of engineer service for the 22nd Finland Riflemen Corps . In early 1915 , he was at the Siege of Przemyśl , where he was wounded in the leg . He was decorated with the Order of St . Anne for bravery and promoted to Lieutenant Colonel . In 1916 , he participated in the Brusilov Offensive . With the February Revolution and the collapse of the Russian Empire , Karbyshev joined the local Red Guard in December 1917 while stationed at Mogilev - Podolsky ( today Ukraine ) . From 1918 , he was an officer in the Bolshevik Red Army . Civil War . During the Russian Civil War , Karbyshev oversaw the construction of numerous fortifications , particularly the " Kakhovka Platzdarm " , and held senior positions at the headquarters of the North Caucasus Military District . In 1920 , he was chief engineer of the Soviet 5th Army and the assistant of chief engineer of the Southern Front ( second formation ) . Karbyshev supervised engineering support for the assaults on Chongar fortifications and Perekop against the White movement in the Crimea . Interbellum period in Academy . From 1923 - 1926 , Karbyshev was chairman of the Engineering Committee of the Main Military Engineering Administration of the Red Army . From 1926 , he became an instructor at the Frunze Military Academy , and from 1936 he joined the General Staff Academy . In 1929 Karbyshev was appointed as the project author of the " " Line of Molotov and Stalin " " . In February 1934 he was appointed to the Head of Department of Military - Engineering Science of the General Staff Academy . Since 1936 Karbyshev was an assistant to the Head of Department of Large Formations ' Tactics of the Academy . He was awarded the academic title of professor in 1938 , and the military rank of Lieutenant General in the Corps of Engineers in 1940 , followed by a doctorate in military sciences in 1941 . He published over 100 scientific papers on military engineering and military history . His speciality was in the construction and destruction of barriers , and on the issues involved in forcing rivers and other water hazards . His articles and manuals on the theory of engineering and battlefield operations and tactics were required reading for the commanders of the Red Army in the prewar years . He was also a consultant for the restoration of the Trinity Lavra of St . Sergius outside of Moscow . World War II . During the Winter War of 1939 – 40 between the Soviet Union and Finland , as a member of the group to the assistant of chief of the Main Military - Engineering Administration in fortification construction Karbyshev travelled to the front lines to advise troops on engineering support in breaching the Mannerheim Line . In the beginning of June 1941 , Karbyshev was assigned to the Soviet 3rd Army in Grodno as part of the Western Special Military District , followed by ( just in two days ) the headquarters of the Soviet 10th Army . On June 27 , 1941 the army became encircled and eventually destroyed during the Battle of Białystok – Minsk . In August 1941 , Karbyshev has suffered a post - concussion syndrome in combat at the Dnieper River in what is now the Shklow Raion , Mogilev Region , and while unconscious was captured by the Nazis . Karbyshev was held at a succession of concentration camp s , including Hammelburg , Flossenbürg , Majdanek , Auschwitz , Sachsenhausen and Mauthausen . Refusing repeated offers from the Nazis to solicit his cooperation , and despite his advanced age , he was one of the most active leaders of the camp resistance movement . On the night of February 17 , 1945 , he was one of 500 prisoners doused with cold water and left to expire in the frost . He was posthumously awarded the title Hero of the Soviet Union on August 16 , 1946 . Personal life . Was married twice . He met his first wife Alisa Karlovna Troyanovich ( 1874 - 1913 ) of German descent , while serving in Vladivostok . After six years of married life Alisa tragically died in 1913 and was buried in Brest at the Trishin ' s Cemetery . While in Belarus , in 1916 Karbyshev married again a military nurse Lidiya Vasilyevna Opatskaya ( 1891 – 1976 ) , who outlived her husband by 30 years . They had three children together - Yelena ( 1918 - 2006 ) , Tatiana ( 1926 — 2003 ) , and Aleksey ( 1929 — 1988 ) . Yelena followed in her father ' s footsteps and became a military engineer , having been awarded several orders and medals for her outstanding contributions . Tatiana worked as an economist , whereas Aleksey earned a Ph . D . in Economics and was a chairholder at the Moscow Financial Institute . Legacy . A minor planet 1959 Karbyshev discovered in 1972 by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Zhuravlyova is named after him . The Soviet Union issued a commemorative postage stamp in his honor in 1961 and in 1980 . There are also streets in numerous cities in the former Soviet Union named after Karbyshev .