diary of a german soldier at stalingrad

I was extraordinarily lucky to have been the first historian to fully explore the 215 interviews conducted with Soviet defenders of Stalingrad, and publish them. . He was so disillusioned that he predicted that Germany would lose the Second World War by as early as December 1941. . 22-25 November. . 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. . Our men are being killed not only in the firing line, but in the rear, in buildings we have already occupied. 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. Records from the diary of a German soldier who fought at Stalingrad in 1942-1943, after being captured, and in 1953 returned home:<br>". Hitler commanded General Friedrich Paulus to, stand firm with his Sixth Army and forbade attempts to, break out of the encirclement. For more information, please see our Let the generals and officers fight the war themselves. After months of bitter fighting, 100,000 surviving Germans, huddled in the ruined city, surrendered to Soviet troops.During the battle and shortly after its conclusion, scores of Red Army commanders and soldiers . The interviews were conducted by historians from Moscow who responded to the German invasion in 1941 with a plan to document the Soviet war effort in its totality, and from the ground up. Damn this Stalingrad! 30 men in the company. . All Rights Reserved The Fuhrers orders were read inevitably soon be over. The testimonies were too truthful and multifaceted for their times, and Stalin forbade their publication, not least because he alone claimed full credit for the victory at Stalingrad. Does that get to you? September 22. . 'A wounded Russian was also lying there, still with his rifle in his hand. 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. From a letter from Senior Lance Corporal Arno Bitz of the In the Battle of the Coral Sea, on May 78, 1942, American naval forces stopped the, Japanese advance and temporarily relieved Australia of, the threat of invasion. For the socialist motherland! and For comrade Stalin! these were some of the slogans of those fighting in Stalingrad. Background to the Battle of Stalingrad: By mid-1942, the German invasion of the USSR had already cost Russia over six million soldiers, half killed a Furthermore, a large part of its territory and resources were under German control. We had no peace all night from the Russian artillery and aero planes. By the time it was realized that the army could not be relieved by outside forces it was too late, while few of the Germans made . . The Russians are fighting desperately like wild beasts, dont give themselves up, but come up close and then throw grenades. .. 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. Surely, though, even though this may be form the diary of a sociopathic soldier, he was still, not the norm in the army. Our regiment has lost many men from [he katyushi, which belch out terrible fire. I own many books about WW2; the personal accounts are always the best. What are your main findings? The Russians have stopped surrendering at all. While the German army was penetrating deeply into Russia, he believed that victory was not far away and dreamed of returning home with medals. .. The action you just performed triggered the security solution. Click here to find out more. . Diary entries of Field Gendarmerie Sergeant Helmut Megenburg: . December 18.The officers today told the soldiers to be prepared for action. Then the terrible struggles in . Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. But now we have to roam around this horrible Russia, and for what? 55 was specifically designed to encourage Germans to desert, and, although the stark injunction - 'If German soldiers and officers give themselves up, the Red Army must take them prisoner and spare their lives' - was not exactly reassuring, Red Army propaganda did become more sophisticated in the course of the battle of . everything we did. Discussions on the Holocaust and 20th Century War Crimes. Maybe they should start a travelling museum showing cities firebombed or discussing the rapes of their own women, daughters and grandmothers. These letters and diaries are lively and direct I want to scream. Im sick of this. October 14. 10521 V, dated December 29, 1942 toHetti Kaminskaya: . Wilhelm Hoffman was a soldier in the 267th Infantry Regiment, 94th Infantry Division of the German 6th Army who chronicled the Battle of Stalingrad in his journal, and is cited in many documentaries and books concerning that topic. Our division has a cemetery near Stalingrad where more than 1,000 people are buried. This is nothing new. 17189, dated November 13, 1942 to Private First Class Karl Weitzel: . When we got to Stalingrad, there were The company commander says the Russian troops are completely broken, and cannot hold out any longer. December 3. 'This is how I see it at least. by Whisper 21 Aug 2003, 18:52, Post But by February 2, 1943, when the Germans trapped in the city surrendered, it was clear that the momentum on the Eastern Front had shifted. 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. . He was wounded, but asserted that the Russians would fight for Stalingrad to the last round. .. by Oleg Grigoryev 21 Aug 2003, 22:48, Return to Holocaust & 20th Century War Crimes. The letters of the German soldiers are imbued with frankness, October 3. In addition, these records may include the soldier's age, birthplace, residence, occupation, and physical description as well as the names of family members. January 15. . Founded in 1999. Military church records [Kirchenbcher]. 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. The military history YouTube channel The Armchair Historian opens their episode on the Battle of Stalingrad with the line "The average lifespan of a soldier in Stalingrad was just 24 hours.". I briefly jump onto the tank to look at Weigand. . Part of Senior Lance Corporal Arno Bitzs letter, 87th Artillery Regiment of the 113th Infantry Division, no. . All are fleeing in panic. 1st Battalion of the 227th Infantry Regiment of the 100th Light Infantry . Asked by the historians about what motivated him to keep fighting to the point of exhaustion and beyond, he talked about scenes he had personally witnessed: of German soldiers dragging a woman out of the rubble, presumably to rape her, while he helplessly listened to her screams for help. . We have entered a new area. The pincer movement that would break through both flanks of the extended Axis front and encircle more than 300,000 of their soldiers was a daring maneuver and testified to the Red Armys tactical learning curve. . Im sick of this. . 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. The gruesome acts were enough to tip the highly decorated Panzer commander over the edge. After the Stalingrad campaign, Hitler ordered that Soviet-style political officers the so-called commissars be introduced into the Wehrmacht. In the blocks captured two days ago Russian soldiers appeared from somewhere or other and fighting has flared up with fresh vigour. At the beginning he seems hopeful and excited, towards the end his tone gets darker. Our troops are advancing towards theVolga. . December 27800, to his parents, November 20, 1942. .. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. Lieutenant Kraus was killed yesterday, and there is no company commander. . Hitler's soldiers stormed the city in September 1942 in a bid to complete the conquest of Europe. This fightback, coupled with the fact that the Germans were not prepared for the horrendous conditions of the Russian winter, led to Nazi forces retreating westwards from late 1941 onwards. If in the morning we manage to advance 20meters, in the evening the Russians throw us backward. 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November 19. . The Russians are so close to us that our planes cannot bomb them. . . "It is pure hell here." Diary entries of a German solider during the Battle of Stalingrad Discussion/Question The entries are written by William Hoffman and records the fighting and general situation around him from the 29th of July to the 26th of December 1942. Unfortunately, I cant write everything to you. This is simply unbelievable. for a long time. 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. There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase, a SQL command or malformed data. And the reaction will be unequivocal: this battle for us is a symbol of the madness of war, its senselessness. He is fat and bloated and has his full pack on and . . The German 6th Army (300 000 men) was formed at the inception of Operation Barbarossa (the invasion of the Soviet Union). 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. 'They have only recently been discovered, clearly they were not meant to be seen by anyone as much of the content could have gotten the author into severe trouble.'. In fact for some people, its essential that they become inhuman and numb to the daily horror that surrounds them, to block out the madness that threatens to engulf all the time. That has a tremendous impact.. a magpie and cooked it. This was before the tide turned. 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. 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