Soviet soldiers found the diary in December 1942 or January 1943, probably among the possessions of its deceased owner. Victory is not far away. Surely, though, even though this may be form the diary of a sociopathic soldier, he was still, not the norm in the army. October 28. . "Yes, we all together are not worth two of these Russians !"<br><br>Records from the diary of a German soldier who died at Stalingrad.<br>In the published diary of a German soldier who fought in the army group "North". The Russians are not men, but some kind of cast-iron creatures; they never get tired and are not afraid of fire. A German prisoner of war escorted by a Soviet soldier with a PPSh-41, 1943. While the German army was penetrating deeply into Russia, he believed that victory was not far away and dreamed of returning home with medals. Soviet forces launched a counteroffensive against the Germans arrayed at Stalingrad in mid-November 1942. . December 1 . defect or surrender to captivity. . Iain MacGregor reveal previously unpublished testimonies from Roske's diary, and the grim . In Germany everyone believes we already hold Stalingrad. He wrote: 'I tell my men that this is about the reshaping of Europe, the absolute defeat of Bolshevism, the enemy of the people. At that time This is worse than any torture. Who were the interviewees of these Stalingrad transcripts? Fanaticism. The Fiihrer knows where the Russians weak point is. November 3. . December 23.Still no orders. What were the conditions that made the violence and the loss of life so immense? They evidently decided to bury us in this 15. . November 29. . The Russians have gone over to the offensive along the whole front. I don't understand how this makes german world war two soldiers look any worse than any other soldiers in REAL WAR. In this sense, too, Stalingrad marked a turning point in world history. the German 6th Army is a strategic masterpiece. It must be mothers prayersthat have taken me away from the companys trenches . We dont have a single officer, and the non-commissioned officer had to take over the command of the division. A Soviet soldier waving the Red Banner over the central plaza of Stalingrad in 1943. If fate allows it, someday I Post There are not more than sixty men left in each company. During the day the Germans managed to accupy only two blocks. 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. Ive had my fill. We are apparently going to attack the factories, the chimneys of which we can see clearly. Diary entries of Field Gendarmerie Sergeant Helmut Megenburg: . 10521 V, dated December 29, 1942 toHetti Kaminskaya: . This was before the tide turned. Up to a thousand wounded soldiers a day are taken back to the rear from Stalingrad. 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 . by Whisper 21 Aug 2003, 18:52, Post Stalingrad: The City that Defeated the Third Reich: Hellbeck, Jochen, Tauchen, Christopher: 9781610397186: Amazon.com: Books Books History Military Buy new: $12.19 List Price: $18.99 Details Save: $6.80 (36%) Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns FREE delivery Sunday, March 5 if you spend $25 on items shipped by Amazon Our regiment is attacking the Barrikady settlement. 'His voice unbiased by the horrors that were to come.'. .. But, the Germansseverely underestimated their opponent and the weather they would face on their journey to Moscow. The soldiers look like corpses or lunatics, looking for something to put in their mouths. Ultimately, the invasion forced Adolf Hitler's troops to fight a war on two fronts, leading to their defeat in the Second World War. In the opening months of the campaign German forces dug deep into Soviet occupied territory - led by Panzer armies which encircled large Soviet forces at Minsk and Smolens. Trapped inside this crucible were the 22 divisions and over 160 different units of the German 6th Army and part of the 4th Panzer Army, numbering to about 330,000 soldiers. Our regiment is involved inconstant heavy fighting. Seventy-one year ago, February 2, 1943, the The Battle of Stalingrad, finally ended. 17189, dated November 13, 1942 to Private First Class Karl Weitzel: . I was struck by how they made this decision as early as fall 1941, when the Soviet Union seemed to be teetering under the German assault. Yet Nazi leaders could not stay silent about the rout of the Sixth Army, which Hitler had once declared could storm the heavens. On the morning of January 10 we read a pamphlet that 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. . by Oleg Grigoryev 21 Aug 2003, 18:17, Post . All are fleeing in panic. A soldier would crawl out of an occupied position only when the ground wans on fire under him and his clothes were smouldering. It was the most ferocious battle in human history, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands. We have never been through anything like this. . BERLIN: A guilt-ridden account of an ordinary German soldier's experiences in World War two is countering a recent trend among historians to portray Germans as victims of the war. When, as part of the campaign to fight Stalins cult of personality, his city was renamed Volgograd in 1961, many veterans objected: With Stalingrad gone, they felt written out of history as well. . The horses have already been eaten. . . . and rage. what should be done? To this day, the Russian state and the Russian people commemorate the battle intensely. There have been many accounts regarding the inhumanisation that soldiers go through during war. We have never been through anything like this. Russian. Then the terrible struggles in . Further along the road he encountered more Russian prisoners of war (PoWs) who had been summarily executed by their German captors. Februar 1943 endet die Schlacht von Stalingrad. Answer (1 of 8): I only know this, when the army was strong enough to break out, Hitler ordered it to stay so the rest of the German army could break in to relieve it. After five months of unrelenting battle, the retreat of the Nazis became the turning point of World War II.. . I have been sent to work at battalion H.Q. Get the week's best stories straight to your inbox. On November 30 he described coming across the sight of eight partisan fighters, including two women, who had been hanged by the Germans. The number of soldiers cemeteries is growing .. 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. commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 518th Infantry Regiment of the 295th The operation to surround and liquidate the German 6th Army is a strategic masterpiece. From the very beginning, observers on all sides were fixated on the gigantic clash at the edge of Europe. Friedrich Paulus - the 6th Army's commander - led his men east across the endless steppe, finally reaching the outskirts of the city on 16 August. When the Germans resumed their offensive, in spring 1942, their strategic target was the oil fields of the Caucasus. Our battalion, plus tanks, is attacking the [grain storage] elevator, from which smoke is pouring-the grain in it is burning, the Russians seem to have set light to it themselves. While it would be more than another year before the Red Army liberated the death camps in Poland, the Battle of Stalingrad disrupted the Nazi death machine. It is pure hell here. This is how soldiers and officers of They no longer take cover from Russian shells; they havent the strength to walk, run away and hide. Stalingrad: Directed by Fedor Bondarchuk. After the defeat of the Germans in the Battle of Stalingrad, the Soviets counted among their trophies the formers large field post office along with the diaries and other writings of the captured German troops. . October 14. . He didn't react when I ordered him to raise his arms. We havent eaten or slept in three days. The Russian artillery at the other side of theVolgawont let you lift your head. Does that get to you? Confessions of a Man Who Has Never Had Sex With His Wife. During the most ferocious battle in human history, Soviet historians interviewed over 200 Red Army soldiers about the 1943 fighting that helped seal Nazi Germany's fate. That has a tremendous impact.. number of soldiers cemeteries is growing .. We shall obviously be seeing them next in the other world. This was around 80 per cent of the German army. I did the same to another who pretended to be dead.'. On June 4, at the Battle of Midway, Island, American planes destroyed all four of the attacking, Japanese aircraft carriers and established American naval. The devastating Panzer division was also deployed - seventeen in total. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. 30 men in the company. The Russians are defending themselves with insane stubbornness. From time to time mines explode Stalingrad is a grave for the German soldiers. by Odessa2 21 Aug 2003, 19:09, Post By Hosted by David Thompson. We can already see theVolga; firing is going on all the time. . Every day I write two or three reports about them. 17189, to The operation to surround and liquidate His tone changes from exicted and hopeful to a darker tone toward the end. From the testimony of Lieutenant General Alexander von Does that get to you? He can hardly speak. 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. After the Stalingrad campaign, Hitler ordered that Soviet-style political officers the so-called commissars be introduced into the Wehrmacht. 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. attacked German positions north and south of Stalingrad, and by November 23 they had surrounded the German, forces. The diary was turned over to the military intelligence unit of the 62nd Army, and several . In just the last two days, our battalion has lost 60 killed, I believe that for Stalingrad the Fiihrer will decorate evenme.. . . . If we lose this war, theyll take revenge on us for Tomorrow, exactly tomorrow, October 6, 1942, we will be on the other side of the river . January 15. . . 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. In the blocks captured two days ago Russian soldiers appeared from somewhere or other and fighting has flared up with fresh vigour. While the German army was penetrating deeply into Russia, he believed that victory was not far away and dreamed of returning home with medals. by tonyh 21 Aug 2003, 18:14, Post The problem with this memory is its insular nature: Most existing depictions of the battle that you can read in Germany or other Western countries tell the story predominantly from a German viewpoint. . backward. . writings by captured soldiers. Our companys interpreter has interrogated a captured Russian officer. Diary of a German Soldier During Stalingrad. the rest were wounded and killed. .. Have we really lost so many men? There are very few men left in the companies. sustained by the German armed forces as a result of the perishing of the 6th Or has he been defeated at the approaches to Stalingrad? and our It was the most ferocious battle in human history, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands. . The film is the second German movie to portray the Battle of Stalingrad. The book is based on interviews with Red Army soldiers that you found in the archives. But it is for Course Hero is not sponsored or endorsed by any college or university. I went on a Stalingrad tour in 2000 and one day we were taken out to see old dugouts and foxholes. testimonials about the war by those who were on the front line, beyond the Our regiment, and the whole division, are today celebrating victory. Nov. 3, 2010 -- August 26, 1916, Guillemont, Somme region, northeastern France: "In front of my hole lies an Englishman who fell there yesterday. Our division has a cemetery near Stalingrad where more Himmler was aware that the time of reckoning for Germany was drawing near. Diary of a German Soldier (161 results) Share with Email, opens mail client 330,000 people were trapped. He wrote: 'That isn't a good idea when facing tank men like us - floor the accelerator, turn left and run over him. . . , updated The entire German. Little changed after Stalins death. 'The diaries are so powerful, so vivid and so rich that interviews with historians, presenters and re-enactment are all unnecessary. by Oleg Grigoryev 21 Aug 2003, 22:05, Post . It first details the unit's combat in the great German victory at Kharkov, then the advance to the Caucasus, and finally the brutal winter of 1942-43. Privacy Policy. by Weiss Wurst 21 Aug 2003, 18:01, Post Being German, I am of course also susceptible to Stalingrads towering place in German collective memory. From the testimony of captured Captain Kurt Mandelhelm, precisely this reason that we need to exert all our strength in order to win 27800, dated November 20, 1942 to his parents: . Mr Snow said: 'We have been searching to find a way to do this conflict justice, to get beyond the statistics, the tens of millions killed, wounded and brutalised and tell the story of what it was actually like. Haaretz.com, the online English edition of Haaretz Newspaper in Israel, gives you breaking news, analyses and opinions about Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish World. After five months of unrelenting battle, the retreat of the Nazis became the turning point of World War II. . We dont have a single officer, and the German Infantry in position for attack during the Battle of Stalingrad. Preached incessantly and targeting every recruit, it was made up of accessible concepts with an enormous emotional charge: love for the homeland and hatred of the enemy. The letters and diary entries were direct and animated testimonials of the Battle of Stalingrad from the front lines, a long way off from the trenches and the bunkers. . We are absolutely exhausted; our regiment now has barely the strength of a company. With Mariya Smolnikova, Yanina Studilina, Pyotr Fyodorov, Thomas Kretschmann. Sixth Army of 300,000 men was lost. 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. Part of Senior Lance Corporal Arno Bitzs letter, 87th Artillery Regiment of the 113th Infantry Division, no. The letters penned by the German soldiers as the Battle of Stalingrad raged on around them were infused with candor. The only hope is to be wounded and taken back to the rear. 'This is how I see it at least. The fighting in Stalingrad, lasting from August 1942 to February 1943, and ending with the surrender of Hitler 's army, changed the course of World War II and world history. Dr. Michal Shapira is a senior lecturer in history and gender studies at Tel Aviv University. Till now i only know the "stern"-article said, but i dont have the impression that its only ment for german soldiers, thats only what the media makes out of it, i think it just shows what war makes out of man, no matter what nationality they are. The YouTube channel is a generally reputable source but this fact made me skeptical. The victory at Stalingrad was not simply a matter of enormous human sacrifice. 140 of us, but by September 1, after two weeks of battle, only 16 remained. In pubs throughout England, the radio would be turned on for the start of the evening news only to be turned off after the report on Stalingrad had aired. On November 8, Hitler announced that the German Sixth Army had taken Sta- lingrad, but in fact, on November 19 and 20, the Soviets attacked German positions north and south of Stalingrad, and by November 23 they had surrounded the German forces. . . Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved. military publishing house of the Peoples Commissariat of the Defence of the The defeat of the German troops in the vicinity of Stalingrad will have a major influence on how the war proceeds. Hitler's soldiers stormed the city in September 1942 in a bid to complete the conquest of Europe. Only lets get it over. Russian snipers hit anyone who shows himself carelessly from behind shelter. I see that the wiki article states he was killed, but I'm not sure I trust it. . These historians hoped that the published interviews would mobilize readers for the war. 4 pages, ebook First published January 1, 1942 Book details & editions About the author William Hoffman Spirits were so high that Leutnant Sander even took a bottle of champagne with him to toast his division's first attack. . At 11 o'clock, Russian tanks and Katyusha attack us. Our regiment has failed to break into the factory. . Part of Heinrich Malchus letter, a soldier, no. On her second day out on the battlefield, while dressing and recovering wounded soldiers, Novikova was killed. It is pure hell here. 14 Therapist Reveal Unusually Common Things They Often Hear, That People Are Hesitant To Disclose, Confessions of a Man Who Shot Himself In The Head And Survived, Caveman Circus | Contact | Privacy Policy | DMCA Copyright 2023 StomachPunch Media, LLC. knew that the Germans would not defeat the Soviet Union. It has been fantastic since morning: our aeroplanes and artillery have been hammering the Russian positions for hours on end; everything in sight is being blotted from the face of the earth. days. 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. That, for instance, is how sniper Zaitsev talked about how he got inducted into the party. In a total war for refusing to . by PAK 21 Aug 2003, 22:11, Post 'And if we fail to stop them, then this will be the beginning of the end. I briefly jump onto the tank to look at Weigand. November 18. The Russians lauded the 'everyday heroism' of their troops, while the Germans cast the Soviet soldiers as subhuman beings who fought without any respect for life, even their own. It follows a platoon of German Army soldiers transferred to the Eastern Front of World War II, where they find themselves fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad . 87th Artillery Regiment of the 113th Infantry Division, no. 6. January 5. Who was conducting the interviews and why? . From the diary of Officer F. P. of the 8th Light Small-Arms . . The commander has congratulated us on our victory. Poor fellow, hes got three children. . We can already see the smoking town. On February2, 1943, the remnants of the Sixth Army surrendered. The author, Gottlob Bidermann, an 18-year-old private in the 132d Infantry Division takes us through the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, across the Dnieper and battles in the Crimea, engagements around Leningrad and retreat through Riga to the Baltic (Kurland Pocket). themselves. September 22. The Russians have two alternatives, either to flee across theVolga or give themselves up. Our battalion is fighting in the suburbs of Stalingrad. 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