Stalin's first wife was Ekaterina Svanidze; they were only married for three years before she died in 1907. During her funeral, he reportedly told relatives that any warm feelings he had for other human beings died with Ekaterina because she was the only person capable of mending his heart. Yakov Dzhugashvili was the only son they had, and as the child grew up, Stalin and Yakov did not get along. He was sent to Georgia to be raised by family until he went to Moscow to join his father, where he finally began to speak Russian again in 1921. Yakov fell in love with a popular Jewish dancer from Odessa, Yulia Meltzer, but Stalin didn't approve. While Stalin and his wife were arguing about it, Yakov shot himself, but surprisingly survived. While he was in the hospital, the only thing Stalin commented was "He can't even shoot straight".
Yakov served in the Red Army during World War II. He was captured by the Germans, the circumstances were unclear as to how he was kidnapped. The Germans offered Stalin to exchange his son for Field Marshal Friedrich Paulus who had surrendered at Stalingrad, but he refused saying, "I do not exchange a lieutenant for a field marshal." He also said, "I have no son named Yakov." Yakov was not popular among the camps so he was yet again offered to be exchanged, this time for captured German officers. Stalin again denied that he had a son with his name. Yakov soon died in German captivity although the circumstances are not known. One theory states that he ran into an electric fence that surrounded the camp and was electrocuted. Another theory is that he was shot by a German guard, perhaps while he was running away from the officers he messed with, But it is widely believed that his death was a suicide. |
Stalin's third wife was Nadezhda Alliluyeva, she told him about the Ukrainian famine which he already knew about and caused in 1932. The result of her bringing this up was a fight between the two and a public scene of brutality, which made Nadezhda shoot herself. Svetlana, Stalin's favorite child of his, after years of her mother's death she claimed that Nadezhda left a suicide note which was 'partly personal, partly political'. It was reported publicly that she died of an illness, but other theories state that Stalin killed her himself. They had two children, a son and daughter, Vassili and Svetlana. Vassili made a career in the Red Air Force but later died an alcoholic in 1962. Svetlana fled to America to avoid the effects of her father.
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