Editing Lev Dovator (section)

==Life==
Born in 1903, Dovator came from a [[Belorussians|Belarusian]] Jewish [[peasant]] family.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YM-f5CfdhrQC|title=Агитатор армии и флота|date=1991|publisher=Красная звезда|location=Moscow|pages=26|language=ru|oclc=5332056}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XRUsAQAAMAAJ|title=Навечно в сердце народном. К 30-летию победы над фашистской Германией|date=1975|publisher=Белорусская советская энциклопедия|location=Minsk|pages=121|language=ru|oclc=30335590}}</ref> In 1922, he was elected to be Secretary of Komsomol Committee of Khotino village. He joined the Red Army in 1924 and went on to become an officer after graduating from cavalry school and a military academy.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=13czAAAAIAAJ|title=Мои однополчане|last=Khandazhanov|first=Sodnom|date=1980|publisher=Buriat. kn. izd-vo|location=Ulan-Ude|pages=17|language=ru|oclc=500181079}}</ref> In 1926 he attended Borisoglebsk-Leningrad Cavalry Commanders School, graduating in 1929 to become a platoon commander in the 27th Cavalry regiment, [[5th Cavalry Division (Soviet Union)|5th Cavalry Division]]. In October 1933, he was posted with the 1st Cavalry Regiment, [[1st Cavalry Division (Soviet Union)|1st Cavalry Division]], as a commissar. From May 1935 to May 1936, Colonel Dovator was commissar of the Independent Reconnaissance Battalion of the [[93rd Rifle Division (1936 formation)|93rd Rifle Division]]. He attended [[Frunze Military Academy]] in 1939, and during the early months of the war, Dovator was with the Western Front Headquarters.<ref name="Harrel">{{Cite book|title = Soviet Cavalry Operations During The Second World War: The Genesis Of The Operational Manoeuvre Group|publisher = Pen & Sword Military|date = 2019-10-16|isbn = 978-1526743022
|language = en|first = John|last = Harrel}}</ref> At the outbreak of the [[Second World War]] he was a colonel in charge of a brigade of [[Cossack]] cavalry.<ref>Soviet Calendar 1917-1947: December</ref>