The Russians are firing on allsides. It may just be me, but every time people start to realize that maybe the Germans were not a race of butchers and that maybe Germans were also subjected to the horrors of total war, that something like this comes out of left field to paint them all as murdering scum again. The soldiers are calling Stalingrad the mass grave of the Wehrmacht [German army]. Hetti, I have already cut up four dogs, yet my comrades cant eat their fill. He is still sitting in the driver's seat. As World War IIs pivotal battle, Stalingrad deserves equal recognition. This news brought hope to the soldiers hearts. Founded in 1999. The work of Hellbeck, who was awarded a 2017 John Simon Guggenheim fellowship in the humanities, continues to focus on wartime efforts to record German atrocities committed on Soviet soil. . . What were the conditions that made the violence and the loss of life so immense? by Whisper 21 Aug 2003, 18:52, Post 17189, to However, many German military records provide very few details about individuals other than those who served as officers. . He wrote of the terrible injuries suffered by two men in particular. In them, Leutnant Sander described in harrowing detail the barbaric deaths of both German comrades and Russian soldiers, with as many as 15 men executed before his eyes on one occasion. . His 'unique and amazing' diaries that run to 150,000 words have been unearthed by German military historian Robin Schaefer. December 1 . Stretching more than 20 miles from north to south, but less than three miles wide at its broadest, Stalingrad clung to the Volga's western bank and was defended by the Red Army's 62nd Army. The retreat of the Nazis in that particular battle is seen by many historians as the turning point of WWII. . A German soldier rests at Stalingrad. [Quoting Zaitsev]: Or another time you see young girls, children hanging from trees in the park. .. Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941 with the aim of invading the Soviet Union to secure future German interests. Story When the Russian pincers snapped in November 1942, 300,000 soldiers of Hitler's army were trapped in Stalingrad, the legendary city on the Volga that they sought to conquer for the Nazi empire. Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox. The Russian victory was a major turning point in the war. December 7.Rations have been cut to such an extent that the soldiers are suffering terribly from hunger; they are issuing one loaf of stale bread for five men. The soldiers look like corpses or lunatics, looking for something to put in their mouths. Portion of the testimony of captured Captain Kurt Mandelhelm, commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 518th Infantry Regiment of the 295th Infantry Division, and his adjutant, Lieutenant Karl Gottschaldt, January 15, 1943: . North Africa, the Nazis invade France (again), the Wehrmacht in big trouble in the Caucasus and further up north at Stalingrad. In his memoirs, Chuikov writes that he issued a sharp rebuke to his cowardly officers. . we actually cut up a dog, and the vodka really came in handy. . There are barely 30 men in the company. We decided to give ourselves up to capture in order to save our soldiers lives. September 28. . . The Russians have stopped surrendering at all. They say that the city is on fire; on theFhrer'sorders our Luftwaffe [air force) has sent it up in flames. There is no way out, nor will there be a way out, of the cauldron. . He tells about the case that happened to him at the very beginning of the war in July 1941.<br><br>"We and the other Kamrads hurried to see who had caused us such damage, and . The elevator is occupied not by men but by devils that no flames or bullets can destroy. Diary of a German Soldier William Hoffman 4.50 4 ratings2 reviews The following entries in the diary of William Hoffman, a German soldier who perished at Stalingrad, reveal the decline in German confidence as the battle progressed. This consisted of around 3,400 tanks which were supported by 2,700 of the Luftwaffe. backward. But now we have to roam around this horrible Russia, and for what? While the German army was penetrating deeply into Russia, he believed that victory was not far away and dreamed of returning home with medals. 44111, dated November 18, 1942 to his brother: . At the time of the invasion German combat effectiveness had reached its peak and the forces invading Russia represented the best it had to offer. Daniel, commander of the German 376th Infantry Division. This could not fail to influence our decision. 28329 D, to his We are on hunger rations and waiting for the rescue that the Fuhrer promised. The only hope is to be wounded and taken back to the rear. . The following entries in the diary of William Hoffman, a German soldier who perished at Stalingrad, reveal the decline in German confidence as the battle progressed. The Battle of Stalingrad ended seventy one years ago - on February 2, 1943 - after exactly five months, a week and three days of incessant fighting. Two Soldiers, Two Lost Fronts: German War Diaries of the Stalingrad and North Africa Campaigns by Don A. Gregory; William R. Gehlen and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at AbeBooks.com. He believed that he needed the east in order to win the war and secure the long-term prosperity of his county. If we take any prisoners its because they are hopelessly wounded, and cant, move by themselves.Stalingrad is hell. Making up for colossal losses in people, equipment and ammunition sustained by the German armed forces as a result of the perishing of the 6th Army will require huge effort and a lot of time. the personnel army "lost weight", total mobilization was announced in all spheres of German life. . . Leutnant Sander served in the 6th Panzer Division which invaded the Soviet Union by rolling over the border of Lithuania in June 1941. I want to scream. .. August 12. It was the most powerful formation of the whole 'Heer' (German Army). by Oleg Grigoryev 21 Aug 2003, 22:05, Post Part of Senior Lance Corporal Arno Bitzs letter, 87th Artillery Regiment of the 113th Infantry Division, no. There is no way out, nor 27800, dated November 20, 1942 to his parents: . . 22-25 November. Look at the confidence and aggression on the face of the soldiers. Portion of a letter from Senior Lance Corporal Joseph Tzimach, no. . On November 8, Hitler, announced that the German Sixth Army had taken Sta-, lingrad, but in fact, on November 19 and 20, the Soviets. Those who are merely wounded are lucky; they will doubtless be at home and celebrate victory with their families. We can already see theVolga; firing is going on all the time. a magpie and cooked it. July 29 1942. . The weather is getting He wrote: 'That isn't a good idea when facing tank men like us - floor the accelerator, turn left and run over him. The Russian artillery at the other side of theVolgawont let you lift your head. The ruthlessness of the German advance was borne out on June 27, 1941, when his crew spotted a Russian soldier who played dead before opening fire on the passing German infantry. At a communist youth meeting held in her memory a few days later, several young women spoke, vowing to fight the Germans just as Lyolya had. The Russians are fighting desperately like wild beasts, dont give themselves up, but come up close and then throw grenades. . We are advancing towards Stalingrad along the railway line. We have entered a new area. 173.236.223.132 On this sector also the Russians wont let you lift your head. The Battle of Stalingrad was amongst the bloodiest battles ever fought in the history of . 'This is the first instalment. But they speak with palpable pride about their victory over Hitlers army, which had an aura of being unstoppable. When looking for confirmation of this fact the Britannica article on Stalingrad lists that the lifespan for a Soviet . I read the ultimatum, and a burning malice toward our generals boiled up in me. I want to scream. Even civilians were considered vital defenders of Fortress Stalingrad and not allowed to evacuate until several days after the beginning of the bombardment. After the elevator was taken the Russians continued to defend themselves just as stubbornly. The prevailing notion in scholarship is that Stalin was politically bankrupt when the war began duped by the Germans, on the defensive, and deeply unpopular. If we lose this war, theyll take revenge on us for and December of 1942 and the first half of January 1943. Born in Bonn, West Germany, Prof. Hellbeck, 51, is also founder of an online project, facingstalingrad.com, at the heart of which is a series of in-depth interviews conducted jointly in 2009-2010 with photographer Emma Dodge Hanson with surviving veterans of the fateful battle from both Germany and Russia. Just weeks before, in response to the Germans rapid advance toward Stalingrad, Stalin had issued the Not A Step Back order that forbade his soldiers to retreat under any circumstances. But the regime took further steps: Visiting the Treblinka death camp in eastern Poland just one month after the defeat at Stalingrad, Heinrich Himmler ordered the exhumation and cremation of all the bodies of the 700,000 Jews who had been killed there. Her research deals with World War II, gender and the history of psychology in the 20th century. After weeks of desperate fighting 100,000 surviving Germans went into Russian captivity. Our old soldiers have never experiencedsuch bitter fighting before. I have been sent to work at battalion H.Q. . Stalingrad: Directed by Fedor Bondarchuk. Every soldier sees himself as a condemned man. In July 1942, the Germans resumed their advance into the U.S.S.R. begun the previous summer, seeking to conquer Stalingrad, a vital transportation center located on the Volga River. .. The turning point of World War II came at Stalingrad. But what I find most striking about the memory of Stalingrad is how little, by comparison, it seems to affect state leaders and publics outside of Russia. Spirits were so high that Leutnant Sander even took a bottle of champagne with him to toast his division's first attack. Several told the affecting story of Lyolya Novikova, a young woman who did not immediately inspire confidence because she looked more like a ballerina and wore high heels during combat training. She worked as a draftsman, but was eager to work as a medic to carry the wounded back from the front line. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. My nerves can't take any more.'. What is so remarkable about the interviews that I discovered in the archive is that they were recorded during the battle and in its immediate aftermath. What Was It Like To Be Shipped To A Concentration Camp? The soldiers on record dont know what will come next, and when and how the war will end. Credit: Das Bundesarchiv / Wikimedia Commons. His commitment was so strong that he sent a huge number of troops to carry out the invasion. ', As the Germans advanced towards Leningrad (St Petersburg) in July 1941, the young officer is convinced of the Nazis' goal to end Bolshevism, calling the local population a 'big herd of submissive cattle.'. In just the last two days, our battalion has lost 60 killed, This is an apolitical forum for discussions on the Axis nations and related topics hosted by the Axis History Factbook in cooperation with Christian Ankerstjernes Panzerworld and Christoph Awender's WW2 day by day. Click to reveal 'They tell the story of the campaign through the eyes of a German junior officer in a way in which it has never been told before. 'Written during the fighting, on long marches and often after terribly gut-wrenching events, Sander's diaries offer a frank and honest assessment of the German situation in 1941 and the unforgiving nature of war on the Eastern Front. Archival documentation tells me that at least some Soviet historians read the interviews, but it seems that they were at a loss about how to integrate individual, subjective voices, as they called them, into a mandated objective (communist) history of the war, and so the documents were overlooked and forgotten. There are not more than sixty men left in each company. .. . It was all a bluff with Manstein. .. . Lots of wounded are being brought by. The fighting in Stalingrad, lasting from August 1942 to February 1943, and ending with the surrender of Hitlers army, changed the course of World War II and world history. By rejecting non-essential cookies, Reddit may still use certain cookies to ensure the proper functionality of our platform. Battle of Stalingrad, (July 17, 1942-February 2, 1943), successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Russia, U.S.S.R., during World War II. My nerves can't take any more.'. . There was in addition ample violence within the Red Army, perpetrated against soldiers who were unwilling to risk their lives. Fighting is going on inside the elevator. trenches and bunkers. Hitler commanded General Friedrich Paulus to, stand firm with his Sixth Army and forbade attempts to, break out of the encirclement. We dont have a single officer, and the Note that Holocaust denial is not allowed. 'But have I myself really taken these slogans to heart? We have never been through anything like this. There have been many accounts regarding the inhumanisation that soldiers go through during war. On her second day out on the battlefield, while dressing and recovering wounded soldiers, Novikova was killed. an effort to communicate impressions to relatives, an effort to share the truth An extract for August 24 described the horrific aftermath of one fight his crews engaged in. The global media reports pushed both sides onward. military publishing house of the Peoples Commissariat of the Defence of the Maj. Gen. Ivan Burmakov and Lt. Col. Leonid Vinokur, two of the Russian officers interviewed after the Battle of Stalingrad. already cut up four dogs, yet my comrades cant eat their fill. What was the role of world media before and during this battle? Seventy-one year ago, February 2, 1943, theThe Battle of Stalingrad, finally ended. December Further along the road he encountered more Russian prisoners of war (PoWs) who had been summarily executed by their German captors. We have never been through anything like this. . Why did Stalingrad become important to the Nazis and the Soviets in 1942? A letter from Elsa today. From the diary of Officer F. P. of the 8th Light Small-Arms Fritz is telling me about a conversation he heard: the soldiers prefer to Februar 1943 endet die Schlacht von Stalingrad. . We have lost many men; every time you move you have to jump over bodies. We havent eaten or slept in three What is also remarkable is how the Soviet military command was able to secretly deploy an army of 1 million soldiers along these flanks in the weeks leading up to the operation. Privacy Policy. To reach the Volga and takeStalingrad is not so difficult for us. We can already see the smoking town. In a total war for refusing to . I believe that the Fuhrer will carry the thing through to a successful end. . The majority of the writings date from November . The Russians lauded the everyday heroism of their troops, while the Germans cast the Soviet soldiers as subhuman beings who fought cruelly and without any respect for life even their own. Force of the 212th Regiment. After months of fierce fighting and heavy casualties, German forces (numbering now only about 91,000 surviving soldiers) surrender at Stalingrad on the Volga. In the daytime we can see the smoke of fires, at night time the bright glow. Michal Shapira spoke with Hellbeck following a visit by him to Tel Aviv University earlier this year. Does that get to you? . . .. He was wounded, but asserted that the Russians would fight for Stalingrad to the last round. We paid dearly for our victory. His tone changes from exicted and hopeful to a darker tone toward the end. I would eat a cat; they say its meat is also tasty. What was womens role in the Battle of Stalingrad? We are all by Christmas. If in the The company commander says the Russian troops are completely broken, and cannot hold out any longer. Bernd Wegner, professor of history of the Bundeswehr Academy: "Stalingrad is perhaps the only battle of the Second World War, at the mention of which every German will tremble even today. Maybe they should start a travelling museum showing cities firebombed or discussing the rapes of their own women, daughters and grandmothers. By the end of February, Stalingrad, the Russian 3D film which became Russias box-office holder for 2013 and grossed $66 million in its one-and-a-half run, will be shown in US theaters for a week. In September 1942, German lieutenant colonel Friedrich Roske declared himself "the master of the centre of Stalingrad" after his troops had smashed their way into the heart of the city. to no avail. Hitler saw the Soviet Union as his natural enemy and aimed to destroy its armies, capture its vast economic resources and enslave its population. January 15. . We are apparently going to attack the factories, the chimneys of which we can see clearly. The Russians are defending themselves with insane stubbornness. Stalingrad is a 1993 German anti-war film directed by Joseph Vilsmaier. morning we manage to advance 20 metres, in the evening the Russians throw us Winter privations and Soviet, attacks, however, forced the Germans to surrender on, February 2, 1943 (see the box above). Most of the writings were dated from November to December 1942 and the first two weeks of January 1943. Letters containing the most information were published by thethe military publishinghouse of the Peoples Commissariat of the Defense of the USSR in 1944 the released volume was condensed bearing the titleThe Defeat of the Germans at Stalingrad. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. Two Soldiers, Two Lost Fronts : German War Diaries of the Stalingrad and North Africa Campaigns by Gregory, Don A., Gehlen, William R. and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at AbeBooks.com. Stalingrad, and the final desperate battles inside Germany at the end of the war. themselves. Fragment of Lieutenant General Alexander von Daniels testimony, commander of the German 376th Infantry Division: . The stash showed how they tried to communicate their impressions to their loved ones, how they wanted them to see their situations as they fought in the Stalingrad region and how they see the Red Army. . The diaries were discovered by Mr Schaefer in an estate clearance in Germany in 2018, with work on the documentary starting in 2020. . With virtually all men of fighting age serving in the Red Army, it fell to women to run the Soviet war economy. That was one reason why these interviews could not be published at the time. proceeds. The following entries in the diary of William Hoffman, a German soldier who perished at Stalingrad, reveal the decline in German confidence as the battle progressed. Let the generals and officers fight the war themselves. October 27.Our troops have captured the whole of the Barrikady factory, but we cannot break through to theVolga. fiance, December 29, 1942. People who are now sent from transport units to the infantry are as good as sentenced to death. As Stalingrad was about to fall into German hands in September 1942, the Red Army came up with a plan for a counter-attack that would eventually smash the enemy. The Russians inside are condemned men; the battalion commander says: The commissars have ordered those men to die in the elevator. If all the buildings of Stalingrad are defended like this then none of our soldiers will get back toGermany. Today, after wed had a bath, the company commander told us that if our future operations are as successful, well soon reach the Volga, take Stalingrad and then the war will quickly end. . . werent for this damned war! The commander has congratulated us on our victory. Unfortunately, I cant write everything to you. The Russians are so close to us that our planes cannot bomb them. Hosted by David Thompson. Our regiment has lost many men from [he katyushi, which belch out terrible fire. Two men then carefully lift him out. The Russians are throwing in their last forces, Captain Werner explained to me. Sergeant-Major Nuschke waskilled today running across a street. October 5, 1942.<br>Our battalion finally reached the Volga. . . Swansong 1945: A Collective Diary of the Last Days of the Third Reich - Walter Kempowski 2015-04-13 . 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Performed triggered the security solution she worked as a draftsman, but was eager to work as a medic carry... From exicted and hopeful to a successful end themselves.Stalingrad is hell the Note that denial!