Amazing every day! Seized letters from German soldiers Letters from Germans from the front during the Second World War
October 25, 1941
We are located 90 km from Moscow, and this cost us many killed. The Russians are still putting up very strong resistance, defending Moscow, this can be easily imagined.
(From the letters of a soldier Sim 3.12.1941
(From a letter from soldier E. Seygardt to his brother Friedrich, Mr. Hofsgust.) She is Baumer.)
November 30, 1941
My beloved Tsylla. This, to be honest, is a strange letter, which, of course, no mail will send anywhere, and I decided to send it with my wounded fellow countryman, you know him - this is Fritz Sauber. We were in the regimental hospital together, and now I am returning to duty, and he is going home. I am writing a letter in a peasant hut. All my comrades are sleeping, and I am on duty. It’s terrible cold outside, the Russian winter has come into its own, the German soldiers are very poorly dressed, we wear caps in this terrible frost and all our uniforms are summer. Every day brings us great sacrifices. We are losing our brothers, but the end of the war is not in sight and, probably, I will not see it, I don’t know what will happen to me tomorrow, I have already lost all hopes of returning home and staying alive. I think that every German soldier will find a grave here. These snow storms and vast fields covered with snow fill me with mortal horror. It is impossible to defeat the Russians, they...
(From a letter from Wilhelm Elman.)
5.12.1941
This time we will celebrate Christmas in Russian “paradise”. We are again on the front lines, these are difficult days for us. Just think, Ludwig Franz has been killed. He got hit in the head. Yes, my dear Fred, the ranks of the old comrades are thinning and thinning. On the same day, December 3, I lost two more comrades from my squad... They’ll probably let us go soon; My nerves were completely gone. Neugebauer was obviously not killed, but seriously wounded. Sergeant Major Fleisig, Sarsen and Schneider from the old first company were also killed. Also the old sergeant major Rosterman. On 3.12 our last battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Walter, also died. Anft is also wounded. Bortusch and Koblishek, Muszczyk, Kasker, Leibzel and Kanrost were also killed.
(From a letter from non-commissioned officer G. Weiner to his friend Alfred Schaefer.)
5.12.1941
Dear aunt, send us more cookies, because the worst thing here is bread. My feet are already a little frostbitten, the cold here is very strong. Many of my comrades are already wounded and killed, there are fewer and fewer of us. One fragment hit my helmet, and I also managed to run into a mine. But for now I got off happily.
(From a letter from soldier Emil Nykbor.)
12/8/1941
Because of the lice bite, I scratched my body to the bone and so much that it took a long time for it all to heal. The worst thing is lice, especially at night when it’s warm. I think that advancing forward will have to be stopped during the winter, since we will not be able to launch a single offensive. We tried to advance twice, but received nothing but dead. The Russians sit in their huts with their guns so that they do not freeze, but our guns stand day and night on the street, freeze and as a result cannot fire. Many soldiers had frostbite in their ears, legs and arms. I thought there was a war
will end by the end of this year, but, as you can see, the situation is different... I think that in relation to the Russians we miscalculated.
(From a letter from Corporal Werner Ulrich to his uncle in Arsendorf)
9.12.1941
We are moving forward extremely slowly, because the Russians are stubbornly defending themselves. Now they are directing attacks primarily against villages - they want to take away our shelter. When there is nothing better, we go to the dugouts.
(From a letter from Corporal Eckart Kirchner)
12/11/1941
For more than a week now we have been standing on the street and sleeping very little. But this cannot continue for a long time, since not a single person can stand it. Nothing during the day, but the night gets on your nerves...
Now it has become a little warmer, but there are snowstorms, and this is even worse than frost. Lice can make you mad, they run all over your body. Catch them in the morning, catch them in the evening, catch them at night, and you still won’t catch them all. The whole body itches and is covered with blisters. Will the time soon come when you will get out of this damned Russia? Russia will forever remain in the memory of the soldiers.
(From a letter from soldier Hasske to his wife Anna Hasske)
12/13/1941
My treasure, I sent you some materials and a few days ago a pair of shoes. They are brown, with rubber soles, leather ones are hard to find here. I will do my best and send everything that is of any use.
(From a letter from Corporal Wilhelm Bauman to his wife)
12/26/1941
Christmas has already passed, but we did not notice or see it. I never thought I'd have to be alive for Christmas. Two weeks ago we were defeated and had to retreat. We left most of our guns and vehicles behind. Only a few comrades were able to save their very lives and remained in the clothes that were on their bodies. I will remember this all my life and would never want to live it again...
Please send me a soap dish, as I have nothing left.
(From a letter from Corporal Utenlem to his family in Foritzheim, Baden)
12/27/1941
Due to the events of the last 4 weeks I have not had the opportunity to write to you... Today I lost all my belongings, I still thank God that I still have my limbs. Everything that has happened so far pales in comparison to what I experienced in December. Christmas has passed and I hope that I will never have to experience a Christmas like this again in my life. It was the most unhappy time of my life... I can’t even think about a vacation or a shift, I lost all my things, even the most necessary things for my last use. However, do not send me anything unnecessary, since we must now carry everything on ourselves, like infantrymen. Send only some writing paper and a razor, but a simple and cheap one. I don't want to have anything valuable with me. What good things I had and everything went to hell!... Tormented by lice, we are freezing and leading a miserable existence in primitive conditions, moreover, without rest in battles.
Don't think I'm going to whine, you know I'm not, but I'm giving you the facts. Indeed, it takes a lot of idealism to maintain a good mood, seeing that there is no end to this condition.
(From a letter from Chief Coroner Rusk to his family in Weil, Baden)
09/06/1942
Today is Sunday and we can finally do laundry. Since my underwear was all lice, I took new ones, as well as socks. We are 8 km from Stalingrad, and I hope we will be there next Sunday. Dear parents, all this can drive you crazy: there are Russian pilots at night, and during the day there are always over 30 bombers from our side. In addition, the thunder of guns.
(From a letter from soldier 71st Infantry Division Gerhardt (last name illegible))
09/08/1942
We are in positions in a fortified ravine west of Stalingrad. We have already advanced to the walls of the city's outskirts, while in other areas German troops have already entered the city. Our task is to capture the industrial districts of the northern part of the city and advance to the Volga. This should complete our task for this period. From here there are still 10 km left to the Volga. We hope, of course, that in a short time we will take a city that is of great importance to the Russians and which they defend so stubbornly. Today the offensive was postponed until tomorrow; I hope that the soldier’s happiness will not betray me, and I will come out of this offensive alive and unharmed. I put my life and health in the hands of the Lord God and ask him to preserve both. A few days ago we were told that this would be our last offensive, and then we would go into winter quarters. God grant that this be so! We are so physically exhausted, so weakened in health, that it is absolutely necessary to withdraw our unit from the battle. We had to go through great hardships and ordeals, and our food was completely inadequate. We are all exhausted and completely starved, and therefore powerless. I don’t think that our little Jutchen is starving at home, like her dad in this nasty Russia. In my life, I had to go hungry several times during my student years, but I did not know that hunger could cause such suffering. I didn't know it was possible to think about food all day when there was nothing in the bread bag.
(From an unsent letter from Corporal Jo Schwanner to his wife Hilde)
October 26, 1941
I'm sitting on the floor in a Russian peasant house. In this cramped space, 10 comrades from all units gathered. You can imagine the noise here. We are located on the Moscow-Smolensk highway, not far from Moscow.
The Russians fight fiercely and furiously for every meter of land. Never before have the battles been so cruel and difficult, and many of us will no longer see our loved ones.
(From a letter from soldier Rudolf Rupp to his wife.)
***
11/15/1941
We've been here for five days now, working two shifts, and the prisoners are working with us. We have a lot of lice. First you catch one, sometimes three, but yesterday I raided them. What do you think, dear mother, how many of them did I catch in my sweater? 437 pieces...
I keep remembering how my father talked about the war of 1914-1918 - the current war is even worse. I can’t write everything, but when I tell you about it, your eyes will pop out of your head...
(From a letter from Sergeant Major Otto Kliem.)
3.12.1941
I have been in Russia for more than three months now and have already experienced a lot. Yes, dear brother, sometimes your heart sinks when you are just a hundred meters away from the damned Russians and grenades and mines are exploding near you.
(From a letter from soldier E. Seygardt to brother Friedrich, Hofsgust.)
3.12.1941
I want to inform you, dear sister, that on December 26 I shot down a Russian plane. This is a great merit, for this I will probably receive the Iron Cross of the first degree. So far I was lucky to take a parachute from this plane. It is made of pure silk. I'll probably bring it home whole. You will also get a piece from it, it will make excellent silk linen... From my squad, which had 15 people, there are only three left...
(From letters from non-commissioned officer Müller to his sister.)
This is how the Nazis described their advance across Belarusian soil in 1941 in their diaries and letters home:
Private 113th Infantry Division Rudolf Lange:
“On the road from Mir (village) to Stolbtsy (district center of the Brest region), we speak to the population in the language of machine guns. Screams, groans, blood, tears and many corpses. We don't feel any compassion. In every town, in every village, when I see people, my hands itch. I want to shoot a pistol at the crowd. I hope that SS troops will come here soon and do what we didn’t manage to do.”
Record of Corporal Zochel (Wiesbaden, field post 22408 B):
Another fascist, Chief Corporal Johannes Herder, wrote:
“25 August. We throw hand grenades at residential buildings. Houses burn very quickly. The fire spreads to other huts. A beautiful sight. People cry, and we laugh at the tears.”
1941-1942. Liberation of Kaluga. Bloody trail of fascist robbers
1942. Liberated Soviet territories. Civilians shot by the Nazis
From the diary of non-commissioned officer of the 35th Infantry Regiment Heinz Klin:
“On September 29, 1941...The sergeant major shot each one in the head. One woman begged for her life, but she was also killed. I am surprised at myself - I can look at these things completely calmly... Without changing my facial expression, I watched as the sergeant major shot Russian women. I even felt some pleasure at the same time...”
From the diary of Chief Corporal Hans Rittel:
“October 12, 1941. The more you kill, the easier it becomes. I remember my childhood. Was I affectionate? Hardly. There must be a callous soul. In the end, we are exterminating Russians - they are Asians. The world should be grateful to us... Today I took part in clearing the camp of suspicious people. 82 people were shot. Among them was a beautiful woman, fair-haired, northern type. Oh, if only she were German. We, me and Karl, took her to the barn. She bit and howled. 40 minutes later she was shot”...
1942. Gallows of the Nazi occupiers for Soviet citizens. And there are also idiots who believe that the Germans came to us during the war in 1941 to feed us our fill of Bavarian sausages and make us drunk with Bavarian beer...
Entry in the notebook of Private Heinrich Tivel:
“10/29/1941: I, Heinrich Tivel, set myself the goal of exterminating 250 Russians, Jews, Ukrainians, indiscriminately, during this war. If each soldier kills the same number, we will destroy Russia in one month, everything will go to us, the Germans. I, following the call of the Fuhrer, call on all Germans to this goal... From a letter found with Lieutenant Gafn: “It was much easier in Paris. Do you remember those honey days? The Russians turned out to be devils, we have to tie them up. At first I liked this fuss, but now, when I’m all scratched and bitten, I do it easier - a pistol at my head, it cools the ardor... A story unheard of in other places happened between us here: a Russian girl blew herself up and Chief Lieutenant Gross. Now we strip naked, search, and then... After which they disappear into the camp without a trace.”
From a letter from Corporal Meng to his wife Frieda:
“If you think that I am still in France, then you are mistaken. I'm already on the eastern front... We eat potatoes and other products that we take from the Russian inhabitants. As for the chickens, they are no longer there... We made a discovery: Russians bury their property in the snow. Recently we found a barrel of salted pork and lard in the snow. In addition, we found honey, warm clothes and material for a suit. Day and night we are looking for such finds... All our enemies are here, every Russian, regardless of age and gender, whether he is 10, 20 or 80 years old. When they are all destroyed, it will be better and calmer. The Russian population deserves only destruction. They all must be exterminated, every single one of them.”
The order issued by Hitler five days before the attack on the Soviet Union, which approved the right of German soldiers to rob and exterminate the Soviet population, charged officers with the duty to destroy people at their own discretion, they were allowed to burn villages and cities, and drive away Soviet citizens to hard labor in Germany.
Here are the lines from this order:
“You have no heart, no nerves, they are not needed in war. Destroy pity and sympathy in yourself - kill every Russian, Soviet, do not stop if in front of you is an old man or a woman, a girl or a boy. Kill! By doing this you will save yourself from death, secure the future of your family and become famous forever,” said the appeal of the Nazi command to the soldiers.
From the order of the commander of the 123rd German Infantry Division dated August 16, 1941:
“It is recommended to resort to the strictest measures of punishment, such as hanging those executed in public squares for public viewing. Report this to the civilian population. On the gallows there should be tables with inscriptions in Russian with the approximate text “so-and-so was hanged for so-and-so.”
Ivan Yuryev, grodno-best.info
In April 1945, in the Gardelegen concentration camp, the SS forced about 1,100 prisoners into a barn and set them on fire. Some tried to escape but were shot by guards. Only 12 prisoners managed to survive.
European democracy against the USSR. Fragment from the film “Come and See”:
Film: "Come and See":
These letters never reached their recipients. The German command confiscated them. After reading them, you will understand why.
In the photograph, a Soviet soldier is escorting a captured German officer.
“No, father, God does not exist, or only you have him, in your psalms and prayers, in the sermons of priests and pastors, in the ringing of bells, in the smell of incense, but in Stalingrad he is not. And here you are sitting in the basement, drowning someone’s furniture, you’re only twenty-six, and seem to have a head on your shoulders, just recently you were happy with your shoulder straps and shouted “Heil Hitler!” with you, but now here are two options: either die or go to Siberia"
“Stalingrad is a good lesson for the German people, it’s just a pity that those who completed the training are unlikely to be able to use the knowledge they acquired in later life”;
“Russians are not like people, they are made of iron, they do not know fatigue, they do not know fear. Sailors, in the bitter cold, go on the attack in vests. Physically and spiritually, one Russian soldier is stronger than our entire company”;
“Russian snipers and armor-piercers are undoubtedly disciples of God. They lie in wait for us day and night, and do not miss. For 58 days we stormed one and only house. We stormed in vain... None of us will return to Germany unless a miracle happens. And in miracles I don’t believe anymore. Time has turned to the side of the Russians";
“I’m talking with Chief Sergeant V. He says that the fight in France was more fierce than here, but more honest. The French capitulated when they realized that further resistance had become useless. The Russians, even if it is in vain, continue to fight... In France or Poland they would have given up long ago, says Sergeant G., but here the Russians continue to fight fanatically";
“My beloved Tsylla. This, to be honest, is a strange letter, which, of course, no mail will send anywhere, and I decided to send it with my wounded fellow countryman, you know him - this is Fritz Sauber... Every day brings us great sacrifices. We are losing our brothers, but the end of the war is not in sight and I probably won’t see it, I don’t know what will happen to me tomorrow, I have already lost all hopes of returning home and staying alive. I think that every German soldier will find himself. here is a grave. These snow storms and vast fields covered with snow bring mortal horror to me. It is impossible to defeat the Russians...”;
“I thought that the war would end by the end of this year, but, as you can see, the situation is different ... I think that we miscalculated regarding the Russians”;
“We are 90 km from Moscow, and this cost us many killed. The Russians are still putting up very strong resistance, defending Moscow... Until we get to Moscow, there will be more fierce battles. Many who don’t even think about it yet should will die... In this campaign, many regretted that Russia is not Poland or France, and there is no enemy stronger than the Russians. If another six months pass, we are lost...";
“We are located on the Moscow-Smolensk highway, not far from Moscow... The Russians are fighting fiercely and furiously for every meter of land. Never before have the battles been so cruel and difficult, and many of us will no longer see our loved ones...”;
“I’ve been in Russia for more than three months now and I’ve already experienced a lot. Yes, dear brother, sometimes my soul sinks into my boots when you’re just a hundred meters away from the damned Russians...”;
From the diary of the commander of the 25th Army, General Gunther Blumentritt:
“Many of our leaders greatly underestimated the new enemy. This happened partly because they did not know the Russian people, much less the Russian soldier. Some of our military leaders were on the Western Front throughout the First World War and never fought in the East, so they did not have the slightest idea about the geographical conditions of Russia and the fortitude of the Russian soldier, but at the same time they ignored the repeated warnings of prominent military experts on Russia... The behavior of the Russian troops, even in this first battle (for Minsk) was strikingly different from the behavior of the Poles and troops of the Western allies in conditions of defeat, even when surrounded, the Russians did not retreat from their lines."
Some of these letters were found on the chests of Wehrmacht soldiers killed in Stalingrad. They are kept in the “Battle of Stalingrad” panorama museum. The author of the book, Doctor of Historical Sciences, Professor of the Department of History of Volgograd State University Nina Vashkau, found most of the messages yellowed by time to relatives and friends from the war in the archives of Frankfurt am Main and Stuttgart.
“Letters from Wehrmacht soldiers show the evolution of the consciousness of ordinary “pawns of war”: from the perception of the Second World War as a “tourist walk around the world” to the horror and despair of Stalingrad. These letters do not leave anyone indifferent, although the emotions evoked by them may be ambiguous. The author deliberately did not include in the collection letters from fascist scumbags who wrote with pleasure about the rape and murder of civilians in Stalingrad. “So as not to shock the public.”
Like a true historian, having copied everything she could from the archives and libraries of Germany, Nina Washkau appeared at the border with a suitcase of papers. The weight was eight kilograms. The German customs officer was very surprised when he opened the suitcase and saw only a bunch of papers there: “What is this?” The history professor explained. And... here it is - respect for history in modern Germany! The German customs officer, who strictly observed the letter of the law, let the excess through for free. As a member of the Russian-German Historical Commission for the Study of Contemporary History of Russia and Germany, Nina Washkau, at the invitation of the German side, took a group of VolSU students to Berlin. They ended up at the photo exhibition “German Soldiers and Officers of the Second World War.”
Black and white photos from family archives show smiling Wehrmacht officers hugging French, Italian, mulatto and Greek women. Then came the huts of Ukraine and dejected women in headscarves. And that’s all... “How can this be! Where is Stalingrad?! - Nina Vashkau began to be indignant, - Why isn’t there at least an inscription on a white sheet of paper: “And then there was Stalingrad, in which so many soldiers were killed, so many were captured - so many?” She was told: “This is the position of the curator of the exhibition. But we can’t call the curator: he’s not here right now.”
In letters from the Stalingrad cauldron, German soldiers write that war is not a fun ride, as the Fuhrer promised them, but blood, dirt and lice: “Those who do not write about lice do not know the Battle of Stalingrad.” In the 90s, the Panorama Museum of the Battle of Stalingrad exhibited letters from German soldiers and officers that are in the museum collection. “I was amazed by the expression on the faces of the Germans who came from Rossoshki to this exhibition,” recalls Nina Vashkau. “Some of them read these letters and cried.” Then she decided to find and publish letters from German soldiers from Stalingrad.
Despite the fact that the soldiers knew about military censorship, some of them dared to say the following lines: “Enough, you and I did not deserve such a fate. If we get out of this hell, we will start life again. I’ll write you the truth for once, now you know what’s going on here. The time has come for the Fuhrer to free us. Yes, Katya, the war is terrible, I know all this as a soldier. Until now I have not written about this, but now it is no longer possible to remain silent.”
The chapters of the book are named with quotes from letters: “I have forgotten how to laugh,” “I want to get away from this madness,” “How can a person endure all this?”, “Stalingrad is hell on Earth.”
And here is what one of the German Wehrmacht officers writes about the women of Stalingrad:
“The moral principles of local women are amazing, which testify to the high values of the people. For many of them, the word “Love” means absolute spiritual devotion; few agree to fleeting relationships or adventures. They demonstrate, at least as far as female honor is concerned, a completely unexpected nobility. This is true not only here in the North, but also in the South. I spoke with one German doctor who came from Crimea, and he noticed that in this even we, the Germans, need to take an example from them....”
The closer it gets to Christmas, the more often German soldiers write about how they dream of homemade pies and marmalade and describe their “holiday” diet:
“Tonight we cooked horse meat again. We eat this without any seasoning, even without salt, and the dead horses lay under the snow for maybe four weeks...” « Rye flour with water, without salt and sugar, like an omelette, baked in oil - excellent in taste With".
And about “Christmas troubles”:
On the proximity of Soviet soldiers:
“The Russians rattle their spoons on the pot. So, I have a couple of minutes to write you a letter. They became quiet. Now the attack will begin...”
About the spirit and strength of the enemy:
« Soldier Ivan is strong and fights like a lion».
And in the end, many regretted their lives being ruined for unknown reasons, they wrote in farewell letters that they hid on their chests:
“Sometimes I pray, sometimes I think about my fate. Everything seems meaningless and purposeless to me. When and how will deliverance come? And what will it be - death from a bomb or from a shell? »
"My favorites!
It's Christmas Eve and when I think about home, my heart breaks. How bleak and hopeless everything is here. I haven't eaten bread for 4 days and I'm only alive with a ladle of lunch soup. Morning and evening, a sip of coffee and every 2 days 100 grams of stew or a little cheese spread from a tube - hunger, hunger. Hunger and also lice and dirt. Day and night, air raids and artillery shelling almost never cease. Unless a miracle happens soon, I will die here. The bad thing is that I know that your 2-kilogram parcel of pies and marmalade is somewhere on the way...
I think about it all the time, and I even have visions that I will never get it. Although I am exhausted, I cannot sleep at night, I lie with my eyes open and see pies, pies, pies. Sometimes I pray, and sometimes I curse my fate. But everything doesn’t make any sense - when and how will relief come? Will it be death by bomb or grenade? From a cold or from a painful illness? These questions incessantly occupy us. To this we must add constant homesickness, and homesickness has become a disease. How can a person endure all this! If all this suffering is God's punishment? My dears, I don’t need to write all this, but I no longer have a sense of humor left, and my laughter has disappeared forever. All that was left was a bundle of trembling nerves. The heart and brain are painfully inflamed, and trembling, as with a high fever. If I am court-martialed and shot for this letter, I think it will be a blessing for my body. With heartfelt love, your Bruno."
Letter from a German officer sent from Stalingrad on January 14, 1943.
Dear uncle! First, I want to cordially congratulate you on your promotion and wish you continued success as a soldier. By a lucky coincidence, I again received mail from home, albeit from last year, and in that letter there was a message about this event. Mail now occupies a sore spot in our soldiers' lives. Most of it from last year hasn't arrived yet, not to mention a whole stack of Christmas letters. But in our current situation this evil is understandable. Maybe you already know about our current fate; it is not rosy, but the critical point has probably already been passed. Every day the Russians create chaos on some part of the front, throw a huge number of tanks into battle, followed by armed infantry, but the success compared to the forces expended is small, at times not worthy of mention at all. These battles with heavy losses are very reminiscent of the battles of the World War. Material support and mass are the idols of the Russians, with the help of this they want to achieve a decisive advantage. But these attempts are frustrated by the stubborn will to fight and the tireless strength in defense in our positions. There is simply no way to describe what our excellent infantry accomplishes every day. This is a high song of courage, bravery and endurance. Never before have we looked forward to the coming of spring as much as we do here. The first half of January will soon be over, it will still be very difficult in February, but then a turning point will come - and there will be great success. Best wishes, Albert T.
Here are more excerpts from the letters:
August 23, 1942: “In the morning I was shocked by a wonderful sight: for the first time, through the fire and smoke, I saw the Volga, calmly and majestically flowing in its bed... Why did the Russians rest on this bank, are they really thinking of fighting on the very edge? This is madness.”
November 1942: “We hoped that before Christmas we would return to Germany, that Stalingrad was in our hands. What a great delusion! Stalingrad is hell! This city has turned us into a crowd of senseless dead... We attack every day. But even if in the morning we advance twenty meters, in the evening they throw us back... Russians are not like people, they are made of iron, they do not know fatigue, they do not know fear. Sailors, in the bitter cold, go on the attack in vests. Physically and spiritually, one Russian soldier is stronger than the whole. our department."
January 4, 1943: “Russian snipers and armor-piercers, undoubtedly, are disciples of God. They lie in wait for us day and night, and do not miss. For fifty-eight days we stormed a single house. We stormed in vain... None of us will return to Germany, unless a miracle happens... Time has turned to the side of the Russians"
Wehrmacht soldier Erich Ott.
“The behavior of the Russians, even in the first battle, was strikingly different from the behavior of the Poles and the allies who were defeated on the Western Front. Even when they were surrounded, the Russians steadfastly defended themselves.”
General Günther Blumentritt, Chief of Staff of the 4th Army
From a letter from Lieutenant General von Hamblenz to his wife. November 21, 1942
"...Three enemies make our life very difficult: Russians, hunger, cold. Russian snipers keep us under constant threat..."
From the diary of Corporal M. Zur. 8.XII.1942
"...We are in a rather difficult situation. The Russian, it turns out, also knows how to wage war, this was proven by the great chess move that he made in recent days, and he did it with the forces of not a regiment or a division, but much larger... "
From a letter from Corporal Bernhard Gebhardt, p/n 02488, to his wife. December 30, 1942
“During the attack, we came across a light Russian tank T-26, we immediately shot it straight from the 37-mm film. When we began to approach, a Russian leaned out of the turret hatch waist-deep and opened fire on us with a pistol. It soon became clear that he He had no legs, they were torn off when the tank was hit. And, despite this, he fired at us with a pistol!
Wehrmacht anti-tank gunner
“We almost didn’t take prisoners, because the Russians always fought to the last soldier. They didn’t give up. Their hardening cannot be compared with ours...”
Tanker of Army Group Center of the Wehrmacht
After successfully breaking through the border defenses, the 3rd Battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment of Army Group Center, numbering 800 people, was fired upon by a unit of 5 soldiers. " “I didn’t expect anything like this,” admitted the battalion commander, Major Neuhof, to his battalion doctor. - This is pure suicide - to attack the forces of the battalion with five fighters".
“On the Eastern Front I met people who can be called a special race. Already the first attack turned into a battle for life and death.”
Tankman of the 12th Panzer Division Hans Becker
“You simply won’t believe this until you see it with your own eyes. The soldiers of the Red Army, even being burned alive, continued to shoot from the burning houses.”
Officer of the 7th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht
“The quality level of Soviet pilots is much higher than expected... Fierce resistance and its massive nature do not correspond to our initial assumptions.”
Major General Hoffmann von Waldau
“I’ve never seen anyone more evil than these Russians. Real watchdogs! You never know what to expect from them. And where do they get tanks and everything else from?!”
One of the soldiers of Army Group Center of the Wehrmacht
"The last few weeks have been characterized by the most serious crisis that we have ever experienced in the war. This crisis, unfortunately, has struck ... all of Germany. It is symbolized in one word - Stalingrad."
Ulrich von Hassell, diplomat, February 1943
From a letter from an unknown German soldier:
And now our situation has become so worse that they are loudly saying that we will very soon be completely cut off from the outside world. We have been assured that this mail will most likely be sent. If I were sure that another opportunity would present itself, I would wait a little longer, but I’m not sure about this and therefore, whether it’s bad or good, I have to say everything.
For me the war is over…»
A famous German song about a soldier who is waiting to meet his girlfriend. "Lily Marlene."
PAULUS ABOUT THE BATTLE OF STALINGRAD
[September 1945]
The Stalingrad complex consists of three successive phases.
1. Advancement to the Volga.
In the general framework of the [Second World] War, the summer offensive of 1942 meant another attempt to achieve what had not been achieved in the autumn of 1941, namely, a victorious end to the campaign in the East (which was a consequence of the attack on Russia, which was in the nature of an attack), so that decide the outcome of the entire war.
In the minds of the command authorities, a purely military task was in the foreground. This basic attitude regarding Germany's last chance to win the war completely dominated the minds of the high command in both subsequent phases.
2. Since the beginning of the Russian offensive in November and the encirclement of the 6th Army, as well as units of the 4th Panzer Army with a total strength of about 220,000 people, despite all the false promises and illusions of the OKW, the fact that now, instead of a “victorious end” campaign in the East,” the question arises: how to avoid complete defeat in the East, and thereby the loss of the entire [World War II] war?
This idea permeated the actions of the command and troops of the 6th Army, while the higher command bodies (the command of the army group, the chief of the general staff of the ground forces and the OKW) still believed, or at least pretended to believe, in the chances of victory.
Therefore, views regarding command measures and methods (of conducting military operations) arising from this situation diverged sharply. Since the higher command authorities, based on the above considerations, rejected a breakthrough, which was still possible in the first phase of the encirclement, all that remained was to hold on to their positions in order to not to allow disorganization to arise as a result of unauthorized actions, and thereby the collapse of the entire southern part of the Eastern Front. In this case, not only hopes for victory would be lost, but in a short time the possibility of avoiding a decisive defeat, and thereby collapse, would be destroyed. Eastern Front.
3. In the third phase, after the failure of the relief attempts and in the absence of the promised assistance, it was only about gaining time in order to restore the southern part of the Eastern Front and save the German troops located in the Caucasus. In case of failure, the entire war would have been lost due to the expected scale of defeat on the Eastern Front.
So, therefore, the higher command authorities themselves operated with the argument that through “stubborn resistance to the last opportunity” the worst that threatens the entire front should be avoided. Thus, the question of the resistance of the 6th Army at Stalingrad was posed extremely acutely and boiled down to the following: as the situation seemed to me and as it was depicted to me, total defeat could be prevented only by stubborn resistance of the army to the last opportunity... In this direction they their impact and radiograms received in recent days: “It is important to hold out every extra hour.” There have been repeated requests from the neighbor on the right: “How long will the 6th Army hold out?”
Therefore, from the moment the pocket was formed, and especially after the collapse of the relief attempt undertaken by the 4th Tank Army (late December), the command of my army found itself in a state of severe contradiction.
On the one hand, there were categorical orders to hold out, constantly repeated promises of help and increasingly harsh references to the general situation. On the other hand, there were humane motives arising from the ever-increasing distress of my soldiers, which raised the question before me whether at a certain moment I should not stop the fight. While fully sympathetic to the troops entrusted to me, I nevertheless felt that I was obliged to give preference to the point of view of the high command. The 6th Army had to endure unheard of suffering and countless sacrifices in order - as it was firmly convinced - to give the opportunity to escape to a much larger number of comrades from neighboring formations.
Based on the situation that developed at the end of 1942 - beginning of 1943, I believed that holding positions at Stalingrad for a long time served the interests of the German people, since it seemed to me that the defeat on the Eastern Front was closing the path to any political exit.
Any independent departure from the general framework or a conscious action contrary to the orders given to me would mean that I take responsibility: in the initial stage, during a breakthrough, for the fate of my neighbors, and in the future, in the event of a premature cessation of resistance, for the fate of the southern section and thereby the entire Eastern Front. Thus, in the eyes of the German people, this would mean, at least outwardly, that it was my fault that the war was lost. It would not take long for me to be held accountable for all the operational consequences this caused on the Eastern Front.
And what convincing and solid arguments - especially in the absence of knowledge of the actual outcome - could be given by the commander of the 6th Army to justify his behavior contrary to the order in the face of the enemy? Does the essentially threatening or subjectively perceived hopelessness of a situation contain within itself the right for a commander to disobey an order? In the specific situation of Stalingrad, it was by no means absolutely possible to assert that the situation was completely hopeless, not to mention the fact that it was not subjectively recognized as such, except for the last stage. How could I or would I dare to demand in the future obedience from any subordinate commander in a similar difficult situation, in his opinion?
Does the prospect of one’s own death, as well as the probable death and capture of one’s troops, free the responsible person from soldier’s obedience?
Let everyone today find the answer to this question before themselves and their own conscience.
At that time, the Wehrmacht and the people would not have understood such a course of action on my part. It would have been, in its effect, a clearly expressed revolutionary act against Hitler. On the contrary, wouldn’t my unauthorized abandonment of positions, contrary to orders, have provided just the right argument in the hands of Hitler to pillory the cowardice and disobedience of the generals and thus attribute to them the blame for the increasingly clear military defeat?
I would create the ground for a new legend - about a stab in the back with a dagger at Stalingrad, and this would be detrimental to the historical concept of our people and the much-needed awareness of the lessons of this war.
The intention to carry out a coup, to deliberately cause defeat, thereby leading to the fall of Hitler, and with him the entire National Socialist system as an obstacle to the end of the war, I did not have myself and, as far as I know, did not manifest itself in any form my subordinates.
Such ideas were then outside the scope of my thoughts. They were also outside the sphere of my political character. I was a soldier and believed then that it was obedience to the cold of my people. As for the responsibility of the officers subordinate to me, from a tactical point of view, when carrying out my orders, they were in the same forced position as I was, within the framework of the general operational situation and the orders given to me.
Before the troops and officers of the 6th Army, as well as before the German people, I bear responsibility for the fact that, right up to the complete defeat, I carried out the orders given to me by the high command to hold out to the last.
Friedrich Paulus,
Field Marshal of the former German Army
"Paulus: "Ich stehe hier auf Befehl." Lebensweg des Generalfeldmarschalls Friedrich Paulus. Mil den Aufzeichnungen aus dem Nachlass, Briefen und Doliumerrten herausgegeben von Walter Gorlitz.
Frankfurt am Main. 1960, pp. 261-263.
Fascism is an epidemic of fanatical violence, blood and destruction. Hitler managed to bring the German nation to the point of wild fanaticism, plunging it into a state of psychosis. Convince the Germans that they are superior to other people on earth. A huge, cultured nation in the very center of Europe, a nation that gave the world famous philosophers, naturalists and poets, has darkened. She unleashed her basest, most bestial instincts. She has reached the extreme point of social degeneration, recklessness and blindness. The size and cruelty of the war unleashed by Hitlerism are a hundred times greater than anything that world history has known until now. And this is what the German soldiers wrote home.
Letters from German soldiers
Oberleutnant von Schirach is afraid of being passed over during the division. In an order for his unit, Schirach demands that the loot be put into one pile and distributed according to merit: “All booty,” explains the chief lieutenant, “is the property of the armed forces.”
Take note, prey! For example, the pants belonged to the boy Vanya, but now they are the property of the German armed forces. And Aunt Aksinya’s samovar. And a pig stolen from a collective farm pigsty. And a gold tooth knocked out from an old teacher. Thank you, Herr Oberleutnant, for the legal clarification of what robbery is. Seized by a brown frenzy, the fascists firmly believed in their right to plunder and plunder. They are even surprised, even indignant when we resist and beat them. According to the fascists, we are fighting completely against the rules.
Five thousand six hundred and fifty-five letters from German soldiers, lifting the veil over Hitler's front and rear. Letters eloquently confirming the failure of the blitzkrieg. The Nazis were defeated near Moscow. They also failed to capture Leningrad on the move. The elite divisions were thoroughly stuck in the swamps. Hard times are coming for the fascist Reich, for its plunder army. They still swagger and perform bloody orgies, but in the drunken bandit songs one can feel anguish, pessimism, and sometimes hopeless despair. Here are excerpts from their letters:
“Once again we had to endure many difficult and terrible hours.”
“The Soviet artillery has been firing for the third day. Complete hell. Many killed."
“Lice. There is no escape from them."
“Our faces are covered in dirt and gunpowder. We haven’t washed our face for 18 days.”
“Today there will be no food again. The kitchen is broken."
"Countless guerrillas are causing us great losses."
“Unbearable cold. Minus thirty-five Celsius. Summer uniform."
“The Russians are raging all night. And today such a fire began, as if the end of the world had come.”
“You need to have happiness, even a lot of happiness, to survive this war.”
But happiness is not in sight. “For seven nights the Russians have been shelling from both sides. The shooting continues during the day. The place we lie in is a real hell. We are surrounded. Our platoon completely melted away. We are already missing the best of the best.”
Walter Schell, a soldier of the 506th regiment of the 291st division, writes to his homeland: “Dear Peguy and Hans, I inform you that I am still alive, but not entirely healthy. I have such diarrhea that I don't have to button my pants. I don’t know why this is because of nervousness or bad food. Going to a doctor is like going to a cow. He’s sitting in the dugout, and we’re in the snow.”
Yes, it's not fun. Stomachs get upset. My nerves are getting crazy. But in the beginning everything was painted in rainbow colors. Eastern Expedition? A simple walk. Victory march. Blitzkrieg. . Lieutenant Richard Topp thought so too. He begins his diary with his adventures in France. Those were truly heavenly days. Topp lists in detail the places he has visited. He writes what he did, who he met. He pedantically lists how much he ate and drank, how many girls he was nice to. The fascist invasion of the Soviet Union aroused in him an extraordinary surge of arrogance and fanfare: “Ambitious dreams, a desire for clarity, a search for an equation - all this for me is included in the concept - the field part.”
However, the closer to the front, the less clarity. Cats scratch my soul. There is a melancholic entry in the diary: “Who knows when my hour will strike!” Nevertheless, he braves: “We make our hearts hard and strong. We are ready!
At one of the stations he sees a train with Russian prisoners of war. Exhausted people make him furious: “No compassion. No humanity. Everything in me trembles with anger and indignation. My fingertips itch with the desire to grab the butt.”
The courage is mind-blowing. There were unarmed people in front of him, and he, you see, was not at all afraid of them. But here is the front. Bravado disappears, goes out like a match in the wind. On September 11, 1941, Topp notes: “The nights under the roof are over. Trench life begins."
It does not bode well, but he still argues: “Nowhere can inner greatness be seen to such an extent along with hidden cowardice as in the trenches.”
Day by day it gets worse and worse. There is no time to think, to philosophize, all you care about is saving your own skin. The entries are written in a spare telegraphic style: “We’re burying ourselves in the ground.” “We are lying in our trenches.” “Rain, raincoats don’t help.” "A cold, uncomfortable night is coming."
The badly battered unit is taken to rest. “It gives a feeling of happiness,” Topp notes in his diary.
Imaginary, ephemeral happiness. And again telegraph style. No desire for clarity, no search for balance. And ambition on the side. The main thing is to survive, to survive: “Many soldiers left their bones here.” “In the morning, our own planes will attack our positions.” "Hunger". "Withdrawal." “Spare long johns are urgently needed.” "Heavy losses." "We are under fire." “Lord, save and have mercy.” “But there is no salvation: hellfire!”
This is where the diary ends. Ambition? Thirst for distinctions and awards? Dreams of a brilliant career? About the magnificent parade on Nevsky Prospekt? Alas, dreams are unrealistic. Instead of iron ones, it turns out there are birch crosses and aspen stakes.
By the end of November 1941, the Nazis had lost 216 thousand killed and wounded near Leningrad. 1,484 aircraft were shot down and destroyed on the ground. 759 guns, 679 tanks, and a lot of small arms and ammunition were captured. Practice, in general, says that lofty thoughts about the Fuhrer do not save you from Russian hellfire.
Willy-nilly, one has to rush into mysticism; all kinds of amulets, amulet, and images of guardian angels are distributed among German military personnel. Corporal German Weivild, who received a birch cross at Voybokalo, kept his “Safety Certificate”. “Whoever has copied this and has it with him,” it appears in this sacramental document, “nothing will harm him. An enemy bullet will not hit him, for God protects him. Nothing will happen to him. Guns and swords, pistols and rifles - everything must be silent according to the instructions of the Archangel Michael. Anyone who has this letter with him is protected from all dangers. Anyone who doesn’t believe this should rewrite the letter, hang it around the dog’s neck and shoot it point blank. The dog will remain unharmed and the doubt will disappear. Whoever has this certificate will not be captured or wounded by the enemy. His body and entrails will not be damaged.”
Not very competent, but encouraging. Such are they, the Germans, robbers with the image of the Archangel Michael in their bosom. Superstitious, limited, fooled brains. Callous, cruel, forged from “German iron” hearts.