In war and in captivity. Memoirs of a German soldier. 1937-1950 Becker Hans
Chapter 3 EASTERN FRONT
EASTERN FRONT
Like any uninvited guest on Russian soil, it took me some time to understand that, like representatives of other peoples, Russians could not be treated with the same brush. My first impression was that they were all vicious beggars and looked more like animals than people. In battle, they did not know pity, like a herd of hungry wolves.
However, somehow an incident occurred that I will not be able to forget for the rest of my life. Nothing like this has ever happened to me before or since. And I still remember him like a nightmare. There may be skeptics who will not believe me, but as a witness, I am ready to swear on anything that this really happened. If it is true that those who have been on the verge of death are not capable of lying, then this fully applies to me: after all, I have experienced this feeling several times, therefore, I have long lost all taste for embellishing what happened with me actually.
I ended up on the Eastern Front immediately after the war with Russia began. And in my opinion, we were confronted by an enemy who belonged to some other, terrible breed of people. Fierce fighting began literally from the very first days of our offensive. The blood of the invaders and defenders flowed like a river on the blood-thirsty land of "Mother Russia": she drank our blood, and we disfigured her face with machine-gun and artillery fire. The wounded screamed a terrible cry, demanding the help of orderlies, the rest continued to move forward. "Farther! Even further!" - so we were ordered. And we didn't have time to look back. Our officers drove us eastward like evil demons. Each of them, apparently, decided for himself that it was his company or his platoon that would win all conceivable and unimaginable awards.
A big tank battle near Ternopil, and after it - another, near Dubno, where we did not have to rest for three days and three nights. Replenishment of ammunition and fuel supplies here was carried out not as part of units, as usual. Separate tanks were withdrawn one after another to the nearby rear, which hastily returned back to throw themselves into the heat of battle again. I happened to disable one Russian tank in the battle near Ternopil and four more near Dubno. The terrain in the battle area turned into a disorderly hell. Our infantry soon ceased to understand where the enemy was and where ours were. But the enemy was in an even more difficult position. And when the fighting here ended, many Russians had to either stay dead on the battlefield or continue on their way in endless columns of prisoners of war.
The prisoners had to be content with a watery stew and several tens of grams of bread a day. I personally had to witness this when I was wounded near Zhytomyr and received an assignment for the period of recovery to the warehouse of spare parts for armored vehicles in order to provide me, as it was believed, with a more “gentle treatment”. There I once had to visit a prisoner-of-war camp to select twenty prisoners for a work team.
The prisoners were housed in the school building. While the non-commissioned officer - an Austrian - was picking up workers for me, I examined the territory of the camp. What were they doing here, I asked myself, how good or bad were their conditions?
So I thought in those days, unaware that not much time would pass and I myself would have to fight for survival in exactly the same circumstances, ignoring all the obvious signs of human degradation. For several years, all my vitality and aspirations went into such a struggle. I often thought with a grin about how radically my convictions had changed after that day in the camp near Dubno. How easy it is to condemn others, how insignificant their misfortunes seem, and how noble, own opinion, we would behave if we were in their desperate situation! Come on, I teased myself afterwards, why don't you die of shame now, when no self-respecting pig will agree to change places with you and settle in the mud in which you live?
And so, when I stood at the threshold of the camp barracks, thinking about what strange creatures these “Mongols” must have been, this happened. A wild cry came from the far corner of the room. A clump of bodies burst through the darkness, snarling, grappling furiously, seemingly ready to tear each other apart. One of the human figures was pressed against the bunks, and I realized that one person had been attacked. Opponents gouged out his eyes, twisted his arms, tried to scratch pieces of flesh out of his body with their nails. The man was unconscious, he was practically torn to pieces.
Dumbfounded by the sight, I called out to them to stop, but to no avail. Not daring to enter the room, I froze in horror at what was happening. The killers were already stuffing chunks of torn flesh down their throats. I managed to make out the bare skull and ribs of a man on the bunk, while in the other corner of the room two people fought for his hand, each with a crunch pulling it towards himself, as if in a tug-of-war competition.
Security! I shouted.
But no one came. I ran to the head of the guard and excitedly told him what had happened. But it made no impression on him.
This is nothing new to me,” he said with a shrug. - This happens every day. We have long ceased to pay attention to this.
I felt completely empty and exhausted, as if after a serious illness. Loading my batch of workers into the back of a truck, I hurried away from this terrible place. After driving about a kilometer, I sharply increased speed, realizing that the heavy feeling gradually began to let go. If only I could eradicate memories as easily!
The selected prisoners were closer to us Europeans. One of them spoke well German and I had the opportunity to chat with him while working. He was a native of Kyiv, and, like many Russians, his name was Ivan. Later I had to meet him again under very different circumstances. And then he satisfied my curiosity about the "Mongols" - Central Asians. It seems that these people used some kind of password word. As soon as it was pronounced, they all rushed together at the one who was destined to replenish their meat diet. The poor man was immediately killed, and the other inhabitants of the barracks saved themselves from hunger, which could not be satisfied with a meager camp ration.
The clothing of the locals was made of plain, undyed fabric, mostly homespun linen. In the village, their shoes were something like slippers made of straw or wood shavings. Such shoes were suitable only for dry weather, but not everyone could afford to buy rough leather boots that were worn in bad weather. Homespun socks were also worn on the legs, or they were simply wrapped from the feet to the knees with pieces of coarse fabric, which were fixed with thick twine.
In such shoes, local residents, men and women, walked many kilometers through the fields to the market with a bag over their shoulders and a thick stick on their shoulders, on which they hung two containers of milk. It was a heavy burden even for the peasants, despite the fact that for them it was an integral part of their harsh life. However, men were in a more privileged position: if they had wives, then they did not have to endure hardships so often. In most cases, Russian men preferred vodka to work, and going to the market turned into a purely feminine duty. They went there under the weight of their simple goods intended for sale. The first duty of a woman was to sell the products of rural labor, and the second was to buy alcohol for the male part of the population. And woe was to that woman who dares to return home from the market without the coveted vodka! I heard that under the Soviet system, the procedure for marriage and divorce was greatly simplified and, probably, this was often used.
Most people worked on collective farms and state farms. The first were collective farms that united one or more villages. The second were state-owned enterprises. But in both cases, earnings were barely enough to make ends meet. The concept of "middle class" was absent, only poor workers and their wealthy leaders lived here. I got the impression that the entire local population did not live, but was hopelessly floundering in the eternal swamp of the most miserable poverty. The definition of "slave" was most suitable for them. I never understood what they were fighting for.
Several of the major roads were well maintained, but the rest were just awful. On the rutted uneven surface lay up to half a meter of dust in dry weather and, accordingly, the same amount of viscous mud during the rainy season. The most common mode of transport on such roads was undersized Russian horses. Like their owners, they showed miracles of unpretentiousness and endurance. Without a murmur, these horses covered distances of twenty to thirty kilometers in any weather, and at the end of the journey they were left under the open sky, without any hint of a roof over their heads, despite the wind, rain or snow. That's who you could take survival lessons from!
The hard life was brightened up by music. The national instrument, the famous three-stringed balalaika, was probably in every home. Some, as an exception, preferred the accordion. Compared to our harmonicas, Russians have a lower tone. Probably, this is the reason for the effect of sadness, which is invariably heard in their sound. In general, every single Russian song that I heard was in the highest degree sad, which, in my opinion, is not at all surprising. But the audience, as it turned out, liked to sit still, surrendering to the aura of sounds that personally caused unbearable sadness in me. At the same time, national dances required from each dancer the ability to move quickly and make complex jumps. So only a person with innate grace and plasticity could reproduce them.
Unexpectedly, I had to interrupt these private studies of my life in a foreign country: I was ordered to return to the front. I left the warehouse of tank spare parts and turned out to be one of those who advanced through Zhitomir to Kyiv. By the evening of the third day of the journey, I rejoined my comrades. Among them I saw many new faces. Gradually, the pace of our offensive became lower and lower, and the losses higher and higher. During my absence, it seemed that half of the personnel of the unit managed to go to the hospital or to the grave.
Soon I myself had to witness the heat of the fighting. We were sent into battle the same evening as I returned to my unit. In close combat in the forest, the crew of my tank acted with such skill that we managed to knock out six Russian T-34s. Hell raged among the pines, but we didn't get a scratch. I was already silently thanking God for this miracle, when suddenly the right skating rink of our Pzkpfw IV was smashed by a direct hit from an enemy shell, and we stopped.
We did not have time to think long about this misfortune: under the fire of enemy infantry, only lightning swiftness could save us. I gave the order to evacuate, and myself, as the captain of the ship, was the last to leave my tank. Saying goodbye to an old tank comrade, I disabled the cannon by firing a double charge, as well as the tracks, which I blew up with Teller's mines. It was all I could do to damage the car as much as possible.
By that time my crew was already safe and I had more than enough time to join my comrades. They were waiting for me in a relatively safe shelter, hiding in a ditch. I quickly crawled towards them, and everyone greeted me with joyful exclamations. We were all pleased with the result. The score was six - one in our favor; while not a single member of the crew received a scratch.
My next duty was to write a report to the platoon leader. We have not forgotten the deep-rooted sense of discipline in each of us, although those fierce battles turned even platoon leaders into our best comrades. This is how it should be at the front, where the general threat of death hovering over everyone eliminates ranks and positions. Therefore, I could write a report in a simple form, without much formality:
“Six enemy tanks destroyed, my commander. Our tank lost speed and was blown up by us. The crew returned safely to their positions.
I handed the commander this sparse description of that battle. He stopped me, smiled broadly and, shaking my hand, let me go.
Good job, my young friend, - the commander praised me. “Now you can go and get some sleep. You deserve a rest, and even before the start of tomorrow, it may turn out that it is not in vain.
He was right about the second part of the phrase. It was not yet dawn when the alarm sounded. Everyone ran to their tanks to be ready at any moment to go where ordered. Everyone, but not me and my crew: our tank remained in no man's land. But we could not allow our comrades to go into battle without us, and I persuaded the commander to provide us with one of the reserve vehicles. He gave his consent.
Unfortunately, we did not have time to draw the number of our victories on the barrel of the cannon. This tradition of indicating the number of destroyed enemy vehicles with rings on the cannon meant a lot to the crew. Without this distinction that was rightfully ours, we felt somewhat out of place. In addition, the new tank, even though it was the same model as the previous one, was unfamiliar to us due to its small details. And apart from everything else, we are all still experiencing the consequences of last night's battle.
But all these inconveniences, worries and anxieties were instantly forgotten as soon as shots were heard again. Our attack continued without interruption for four and a half hours, and during this time I managed to set fire to two enemy tanks. Later, when we began to turn around to go “home”, there was suddenly a heart-grabbing clap, followed by a blow. So the morning's bad premonitions were justified. This time it was not limited to the loss of the ice rink. Our tank received a direct hit in the stern on the right. The car was engulfed in flames, and I lay inside in a half-conscious state.
I was brought out of this state by the terrible realization that we were on fire. I looked around to try to assess the damage and the chances of rescue, and found that a Russian shell had killed two of my subordinates. Bloodied, they crouched in a corner. And we, the survivors, quickly jumped out, and then dragged the bodies of our comrades through the hatch so that they would not burn.
Ignoring the dense fire of the enemy infantry, we dragged our dead colleagues away from the flaming tank in order to bury them with dignity if the battlefield was left behind us. Ammunition inside the burning tank could explode at any moment. We dived for cover and waited for the earth to shake from a powerful explosion that would raise pieces of hot metal into the air and notify us that our tank was no more.
But there was no explosion, and after waiting a little longer, we took advantage of the temporary lull in enemy fire and hurried back to our own. This time everyone walked with their heads down, the mood was bad. Two of the five crew members were dead, and the tank, for unknown reasons, did not explode. And this meant that the ammunition and, possibly, the gun would fall intact into the hands of the enemy. Lost in gloom, we trudged three or four kilometers back to our location, smoking one cigarette after another to calm our nerves. After the explosion of an enemy shell, we were all spattered with blood. I had shrapnel stuck in my face and arms, and my identification badge miraculously protected me from a deep shrapnel wound to my chest. I still have a small indentation in the place where this token, about the thickness of a large coin, entered my sternum. The fact that this small token helped me save my life, once again strengthened my confidence that I was destined to survive this war.
The platoon had already reported the rest of the casualties. Two tank crews were completely killed, and the platoon commander himself was seriously wounded. But he was still there, and I managed to bitterly report to him about our misadventures on that unfortunate day for us, until an ambulance arrived and he was taken to the hospital.
Later that day, I was called to the divisional headquarters, where I and two surviving comrades from my crew received Iron Crosses 1st Class. And a few days later I was awarded the medal promised for the first successful battle for the destruction of enemy tanks. Three weeks later I received a sign for participation in close combat, which, when I was in the hands of Russian soldiers, caused me to receive new wounds. (Obviously, this was the “General Assault” badge (Allgemeines Sturmabzeichen), established on January 1, 1940, in particular, it was awarded to military personnel who destroyed at least eight units of enemy armored vehicles. - Ed.)
Victory honors after the battle! I was proud, but not particularly cheerful. Glory grows brighter over time, and the biggest battles have long since taken place.
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From Robert Kershaw's 1941 Through the Eyes of the Germans:
"During
attacks we stumbled upon easy russian tank T-26, we immediately clicked it
straight out of 37 millimeter paper. When we began to approach, from the hatch of the tower
a Russian leaned out to the waist and opened fire on us with a pistol. Soon
And despite this, he fired at us with a pistol! /artilleryman
anti-tank gun/
"We hardly took
prisoners, because the Russians always fought to the last soldier. They are not
gave up. Their hardening cannot be compared with ours ... ” / Army Group Tanker
"Centre"/
After a successful breakthrough of the border defense, the 3rd
battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment of Army Group Center, numbering 800
man, was fired upon by a unit of 5 soldiers. "I didn't expect anything
similar, - the battalion commander, Major Neuhof, admitted to his
battalion doctor. - It's pure suicide to attack the forces
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 not for life, but for death. / Tanker of the 12th Panzer
Division Hans Becker/
“You just won’t believe in this until your
you can't see with your eyes. Soldiers of the Red Army, even burning alive,
continued to shoot from the blazing houses. /Officer of the 7th Panzer Division/
"Qualitative
level Soviet pilots much higher than expected… Fierce
resistance, its massive character does not correspond to our
initial assumptions " / Major General Hoffmann von Waldau /
"No one
I have never seen angrier than these Russians. Real chain dogs! Never
know what to expect from them. And where do they get tanks and that's all
rest?!" / One of the soldiers of Army Group Center /
"Behavior
Russians, even in the first battle, was strikingly different from the behavior of the Poles and
Allies defeated on the Western Front. Even being in
encirclement, the Russians defended stubbornly. /General Gunther
Blumentritt, Chief of Staff of the 4th Army /
71 years ago Hitler
Germany attacked the USSR. What was our soldier in the eyes of the enemy -
German soldiers? What did the beginning of the war look like from other people's trenches? Very
eloquent answers to these questions can be found in the book, the author
which can hardly be accused of distorting the facts. It's 1941
German eyes. Birch crosses instead of iron ones" by an English historian
Robert Kershaw, which was recently published in Russia. The book is practically
consists entirely of memoirs of German soldiers and officers, their letters
home and entries in personal diaries.
Recalls
non-commissioned officer Helmut Kolakowski: “Late in the evening, our platoon was assembled in
sheds and announced: “Tomorrow we have to enter the battle with the world
Bolshevism." Personally, I was just amazed, it was like snow on my head, and
What about the non-aggression pact between Germany and Russia? I always
recalled that issue of Deutsche Wohenschau that he saw at home and in which
the agreement was announced. I couldn't imagine how we
let's go to war against the Soviet Union." The Fuhrer's order caused surprise and
bewilderment of the rank and file. "You could say we were taken aback
heard, - admitted Lothar Fromm, a spotter officer. - All of us, I
I emphasize this, they were amazed and not prepared for this in any way. But
bewilderment was immediately replaced by relief from getting rid of the incomprehensible and
anxious waiting for eastern borders Germany. experienced soldiers,
already captured almost all of Europe, began to discuss when the
campaign against the USSR. The words of Benno Zeiser, then still studying at
military driver, reflect the general mood: “All this will end in
some three weeks, we were told, others were more careful in
forecasts - they believed that in 2-3 months. There was one who thought
that it will last a whole year, but we laughed at him: “And how much
did it take to deal with the Poles? And with France? Are you
forgot?"
But not everyone was so optimistic. Erich Mende,
Oberleutnant of the 8th Silesian infantry division recalls a conversation with
his boss, held in these last moments of peace. "My
the commander was twice my age, and he had already had to fight with
Russians near Narva in 1917, when he was in the rank of lieutenant.
"Here, in these vast expanses, we will find our death, as
Napoleon,” he did not hide his pessimism ... Mende, remember this hour, he
marks the end of the old Germany."
At 3 hours 15 minutes advanced
German units crossed the border of the USSR. Anti-tank gunner
Johann Danzer recalls: “On the very first day, as soon as we went to
attack, as one of ours shot himself with his own weapon. holding a rifle
between his knees, he inserted the barrel into his mouth and pulled the trigger. So for him
The war and all the horrors associated with it are over.
capture
Brest Fortress was assigned to the 45th infantry division of the Wehrmacht,
with 17,000 personnel. Fortress garrison -
about 8 thousand. In the first hours of the battle, reports of a successful
the advance of German troops and reports of the capture of bridges and structures
fortresses. At 4 hours 42 minutes "50 prisoners were taken, all in one
underwear, the war found them in cots. But by 10:50 the tone of combat documents
changed: "The battle for the capture of the fortress is fierce - numerous
losses". 2 battalion commanders, 1 company commander, commander
one of the regiments was seriously wounded.
"Soon, somewhere between
5.30 and 7.30 in the morning, it became completely clear that the Russians were desperately
fighting in the rear of our forward units. Their infantry supported by 35-40
tanks and armored vehicles that ended up on the territory of the fortress, formed
several points of defense. Enemy snipers were aiming fire from behind
trees, from roofs and basements, which caused heavy losses among officers and
junior commanders.
“Where the Russians managed to be knocked out or
smoke, new forces soon appeared. They crawled out of basements, houses,
from sewer pipes and other temporary shelters, aimed
fire, and our losses were constantly growing.
Summary of the Supreme
command of the Wehrmacht (OKW) for June 22 reported: “It seems that
that the enemy, after initial confusion, begins to provide
ever more stubborn resistance. The Chief of Staff of the OKW agrees with this.
Halder: "After the initial 'tetanus' caused by suddenness
attack, the enemy went over to active operations.
For soldiers
45th division of the Wehrmacht, the beginning of the war turned out to be completely bleak: 21
an officer and 290 non-commissioned officers (sergeants), not counting the soldiers, died in her
the very first day. During the first day of fighting in Russia, the division lost almost
as many soldiers and officers as in all six weeks of the French
campaigns.
The most successful actions of the troops
Wehrmacht were an operation to encircle and defeat the Soviet divisions in
"boilers" of 1941. In the largest of them - Kiev, Minsk,
Vyazemsky - Soviet troops lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers and officers. But
what price did the Wehrmacht pay for this?
General Günther Blumentritt,
Chief of Staff of the 4th Army: “The behavior of the Russians even in the first battle
was strikingly different from the behavior of the Poles and allies who suffered
defeat on the Western Front. Even being in the ring of encirclement,
Russians staunchly defended.
The author of the book writes: “The experience of the Polish and
Western campaigns suggested that the success of the blitzkrieg strategy lies
in taking advantage of more skillful maneuvering. Even
leave out resources, morale and the will to resist
the enemy will inevitably be broken under the pressure of huge and
senseless loss. Hence the mass surrender logically follows
surrounded by demoralized soldiers. In Russia, these
"ABC" truths were turned upside down by desperate,
the resistance of the Russians, sometimes reaching fanaticism, seemed to
hopeless situations. That's why half of the offensive
potential of the Germans and went not to advance towards the goal, but to
building on past successes.
Army Group Commander
"Center" Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, during the operation on
the destruction of Soviet troops in the Smolensk "cauldron" wrote about their attempts
break out of the environment: “A very significant success for one who received such
crushing blow of the enemy! The encirclement was not continuous. Two
days later, von Bock lamented: “Until now it has not been possible to close the gap on
eastern section of the Smolensk boiler. That night, from the encirclement, they managed
withdraw about 5 Soviet divisions. Three more divisions broke through
the next day.
The level of German losses is evidenced by
message from the headquarters of the 7th Panzer Division that only 118 remained in service
tanks. 166 vehicles were hit (although 96 were repairable). 2nd company
1st Battalion of the Grossdeutschland Regiment in just 5 days of fighting on
holding the line of the Smolensk "cauldron" lost 40 people with a regular
company strength of 176 soldiers and officers.
gradually changed and
perception of the war with the Soviet Union among ordinary German soldiers.
The unbridled optimism of the first days of fighting was replaced by the realization that
"something is going wrong". Then came indifference and apathy. One's opinion
from German officers: “These vast distances frighten and demoralize
soldier. Plains, plains, there is no end to them and never will be. This is what brings it down to
mind."
Constant anxiety brought the troops and actions
partisans, whose number grew as the "cauldrons" were destroyed. If
at first their number and activity were negligible, then after
fighting in the Kiev "cauldron" the number of partisans in the sector of Army Group "South"
has increased significantly. On the sector of the Army Group "Center" they took under
control of 45% of the territories captured by the Germans.
Campaign,
protracted by the long destruction of the encircled Soviet troops, caused
more and more associations with Napoleon's army and fears of the Russian winter.
One of the soldiers of the Army Group "Center" on August 20 complained: "The losses are terrible,
cannot be compared with those in France. His company, starting from July 23,
participated in the battles for the "tank highway number 1". "Today our road
tomorrow the Russians take her, then we again, and so on.” Victory is no longer
seemed so close. On the contrary, the desperate resistance of the enemy
undermined morale, inspired by no means optimistic thoughts. "No one
I have never seen angrier than these Russians. Real chain dogs! You never know,
what to expect from them. And where do they get tanks and that's all
rest?!"
During the first months of the campaign was seriously undermined
the combat effectiveness of the tank units of Army Group Center. By September 41st
30% of the tanks were destroyed, and 23% of the vehicles were under repair. Nearly
half of all tank divisions provided for participation in the operation
"Typhoon", had only a third of the original number of combat-ready
machines. By September 15, 1941, Army Group Center had a total
complexity of 1346 combat-ready tanks, while at the beginning of the campaign in
In Russia, this figure was 2609 units.
Personnel losses
were no less difficult. By the beginning of the offensive on Moscow, the German units
lost about a third of the officers. General losses in manpower to
approximately half a million people have reached this point, which is equivalent to
loss of 30 divisions. If we take into account that only 64% of the total composition
infantry division, that is, 10840 people, were directly
"fighters", and the remaining 36% fell on the rear and auxiliary
service, it will become clear that the combat effectiveness of the German troops has decreased even
stronger.
So the situation on the Eastern Front was assessed by one of the German
soldier: “Russia, only bad news comes from here, and we still
we don't know anything about you. And in the meantime you are absorbing us, dissolving in
their inhospitable viscous expanses.
About Russian soldiers
Initial
the idea of the population of Russia was determined by the German ideology of that
time, which considered the Slavs "subhuman". However, the experience of the first
Boev made his own adjustments to these ideas.
Major General Hoffman
von Waldau, Chief of Staff of the Luftwaffe Command 9 days after
the beginning of the war, wrote in his diary: “The qualitative level of Soviet
pilots much higher than expected ... Fierce resistance, his
massive character does not correspond to our initial assumptions.
This was confirmed by the first air rams. kershaw leads
the words of one Luftwaffe colonel: “Soviet pilots are fatalists, they
fight to the end without any hope of victory or even
survival". It is worth noting that on the first day of the war with Soviet Union
the Luftwaffe lost up to 300 aircraft. Never before had the German Air Force
suffered such large one-time losses.
in germany radio
shouted that the shells of "German tanks are not only set on fire, but also
Russian cars are pierced through and through. But the soldiers told each other about
Russian tanks, which could not be penetrated even with point-blank shots -
shells ricocheted off the armor. Lieutenant Helmut Ritgen of the 6th Panzer
division admitted that in a collision with new and unknown tanks
Russians: “... the very concept of waging a tank war has changed radically,
KV vehicles marked a completely different level of weapons, armor protection and
tank weights. German tanks instantly moved into the category of exclusively
anti-personnel weapons ... " Tanker of the 12th Panzer Division Hans Becker:
“On the Eastern Front, I met people who can be called
special race. Already the first attack turned into a battle not for life, but for
death".
An anti-tank gunner recalls
what an indelible impression on him and his comrades
desperate resistance of the Russians in the first hours of the war: “During the attack, we
stumbled upon a light Russian T-26 tank, we immediately clicked it right from
37 millimeters. When we began to approach, he leaned out of the hatch of the tower
waist-deep Russian and opened fire on us with a pistol. Soon
it turned out that he was without legs, they were torn off when the tank was hit.
And despite this, he fired at us with a pistol!
book author
"1941 through the eyes of the Germans" quotes the words of an officer who served in a tank
unit in the Army Group Center sector, who shared his
opinion with war correspondent Curizio Malaparte: “He reasoned how
soldiers, avoiding epithets and metaphors, limiting themselves only to argumentation,
directly related to the issues under discussion. "We hardly
they took prisoners, because the Russians always fought to the last soldier.
They didn't give up. Their hardening cannot be compared with ours ... "
depressing
The following episodes also made an impression on the advancing troops: after
successful breakthrough of the border defense, the 3rd battalion of the 18th infantry
regiment of the army group "Center", numbering 800 people, was fired upon
unit of 5 soldiers. “I didn’t expect anything like this,” admitted
battalion commander Major Neuhof to his battalion doctor. - Same
pure suicide to attack the forces of the battalion with five fighters.
IN
mid-November 1941, one infantry officer of the 7th Panzer Division,
when his unit broke into the positions defended by the Russians in
village near the Lama River, described the resistance of the Red Army. "In such
You just won't believe it until you see it with your own eyes. Soldiers of the Red
The armies, even burning alive, continued to shoot from the blazing houses.
Winter 41st
IN
German troops quickly came into use saying "Better three French
campaigns than one Russian." “Here we lacked comfortable French
beds and struck by the monotony of the area. "The prospect of being in
Leningrad turned into an endless sitting in numbered trenches.
High
losses of the Wehrmacht, lack of winter uniforms and unpreparedness
German technology to combat operations in the conditions of the Russian winter gradually
allowed to seize the initiative Soviet troops. For a three-week
the period from November 15 to December 5, 1941, the Russian Air Force made 15,840
sorties, while the Luftwaffe only 3500, which is even more
demoralized the enemy.
Corporal Fritz Siegel in his letter
home on December 6 wrote: “My God, what are these Russians planning to do with
us? It would be nice if they at least listened to us up there, otherwise
we're all going to have to die here."
Too many books? You can refine the books on the query "Memoirs of German soldiers" (in brackets the number of books for this refinement is shown)
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On a tank through hell. German tanker on the Eastern Front
When the half-educated schoolboy Michael Brunner volunteered for the Wehrmacht, he believed that only victorious fanfare awaited him ahead, but he found himself in the pitch hell of the Eastern Front. The Germans call people like him Schlaumeier (literally: “cunning”), and the Russians would say: “smart-assed” - cynical, on his own mind ...
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On the combat account of the author of this book, 257 lives of Soviet soldiers. This is the memoir of one of the best Scharfschutze (snipers) of the Wehrmacht. These are the cynical revelations of a ruthless professional about the horrendous brutality of the war on the Eastern Front, in which there was no place for chivalry or compassion. In July 1943...
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352 downed enemy aircraft (the last victory won on May 8, 1945). 825 air battles. More than 1400 sorties. The highest award of the Reich is the Knight's Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds. The glory of the best ace not only of the Second World War, but of all times and peoples, whose record score is with ...
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Otto Skorzeny, SS Obersturmbannführer, professional intelligence officer who carried out Hitler's secret missions in different countries, is one of the most famous and mysterious personalities of the Second World War. In his memoirs, he talks about participation in the battles on the Eastern Front, about how he became the leader ...
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The author of these scandalous memoirs, which were originally titled "Punalentäjien Kiusana" ("How We Beat the Red Pilots"), was recognized as the best Finnish ace of the Second World War and twice awarded the highest award Finland - Mannerheim Cross. He has 94 air victories on his combat account (one and a half times more than ...
Corporal and later sergeant major Hans Roth began to keep his diary in the spring of 1941, when the 299th division, in which he fought, as part of the 6th army, was preparing to attack the Soviet Union. In accordance with the plan of Operation Barbarossa, the division advanced south of the Pripyat swamps during stubborn battles. IN …
German military historian, Wehrmacht officer and Major General of the Bundeswehr Eike Middeldorf analyzes the features of the German and Soviet armies in 1941-1945, the organization and armament of the main branches of the troops of the belligerents and the tactics of subunits and units. The book is full of...
Erich Kubi, a well-known German publicist, participant in the Second World War, analyzes the military and political situation in the international arena in the spring of 1945, on the eve of the Battle of Berlin. Describes the process of the fall of the capital of the Third Reich and the consequences of these events for Germany and all of Europe…
The author of the memoirs, Hans Jakob Göbeler, served as a minder second class on the German submarine U-505 during World War II. With German thoroughness and accuracy, Goebeler made notes about the structure of the submarine, about his service, about the life of the crew in the limited space of the submarine, ...
Horst Scheibert, a former company commander of the 6th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht, analyzes the events that took place in the winter of 1942/43 on the Eastern Front as a result of operations to break through significant German forces that were surrounded during the offensive of the Red Army, as well as the participation of German allied formations in them. …
Erwin Bartmann's memoirs are a frank account of a German soldier's participation in World War II as part of a regiment, later the Leibstandarte division. Possessing an undoubted literary gift, the author vividly and vividly describes how he passed a tough selection, after which he enthusiastically joined the ranks ...
Wehrmacht soldier Wilhelm Lübbecke began military service in 1939 as a private and graduated from it as a company commander with the rank of chief lieutenant in 1945. He fought in Poland, France, Belgium, Russia, where he participated in battles on the Volkhov River, in the corridor of the Demyansk boiler, near Novgorod and Ladoga lakes. And in 1944 in ...
In his personal notes, the famous general does not refer to either the ideology or the grandiose plans that were developed by German politicians. In each battle, Manstein found a successful solution to the combat mission, realizing the potential of his military forces and minimizing the enemy's capabilities. In the war about...
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The memoirs of Erich von Manstein are one of the most important works published in Germany on the history of the Second World War, and their author is perhaps the most famous of Hitler's military leaders. The memoirs of the Field Marshal are written in vivid, figurative language and contain not only a list of facts, but also ...
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This book is based on the memoirs of German tankers who fought in Guderian's illustrious 2nd Panzer Group. This edition contains testimonies of those who, under the command of "Schnelle Heinz" ("Swift Heinz") carried out Blitzkrieg, participated in the main "Kesselschlacht" (encirclement battles ...
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Tank aces of the Wehrmacht. Memoirs of officers of the 35th Tank Regiment. 1939–1945
https://www.site/2015-06-22/pisma_nemeckih_soldat_i_oficerov_s_vostochnogo_fronta_kak_lekarstvo_ot_fyurerov
"Soldiers of the Red Army fired, even burning alive"
Letters from German soldiers and officers from the Eastern Front as a cure for the Fuhrers
June 22 is a sacred, sacred day in our country. The beginning of the Great War is the beginning of the path to the great Victory. History does not know a more massive feat. But even more bloody, expensive for its price - perhaps, too (we have already published terrible pages from Ales Adamovich and Daniil Granin, stunning frankness of front-line soldier Nikolai Nikulin, excerpts from Viktor Astafiev "Cursed and Killed"). At the same time, along with inhumanity, military skill, courage and self-sacrifice triumphed, thanks to which the outcome of the battle of peoples was a foregone conclusion in its very first hours. This is evidenced by fragments of letters and reports from soldiers and officers of the German armed forces from the Eastern Front.
“Already the first attack turned into a battle not for life, but for death”
“My commander was twice my age, and he had already had to fight the Russians near Narva in 1917, when he was in the rank of lieutenant. “Here, in these vast expanses, we will find our death, like Napoleon,” he did not hide his pessimism ... “Mende, remember this hour, it marks the end of the former Germany” ”(Erich Mende, Lieutenant of the 8th Silesian infantry division about the conversation that took place in the last minutes of peace on June 22, 1941).
“When we entered the first battle with the Russians, they clearly did not expect us, but they could not be called unprepared either” (Alfred Dürwanger, lieutenant, commander of an anti-tank company of the 28th Infantry Division).
“The quality level of Soviet pilots is much higher than expected ... Fierce resistance, its massive nature does not correspond to our initial assumptions” (diary of Hoffmann von Waldau, Major General, Chief of Staff of the Luftwaffe Command, June 31, 1941).
"On the Eastern Front, I met people who can be called a special race"
“On the very first day, as soon as we went on the attack, one of ours shot himself with his own weapon. Clutching the rifle between his knees, he inserted the barrel into his mouth and pulled the trigger. This is how the war and all the horrors associated with it ended for him ”(anti-tank gunner Johann Danzer, Brest, June 22, 1941).
“On the Eastern Front, I met people who can be called a special race. Already the first attack turned into a battle not for life, but for death ”(Hans Becker, tanker of the 12th Panzer Division).
“The losses are terrible, not to be compared with those that were in France ... Today the road is ours, tomorrow the Russians take it, then again we and so on ... I have never seen anyone angrier than these Russians. Real chain dogs! You never know what to expect from them ”(diary of a soldier of Army Group Center, August 20, 1941).
“You can never say in advance what a Russian will do: as a rule, he rushes from one extreme to another. His nature is as unusual and complex as this vast and incomprehensible country itself ... Sometimes the Russian infantry battalions were confused after the very first shots, and the next day the same units fought with fanatical stamina ... The Russian as a whole, of course, is excellent a soldier and with skillful leadership is a dangerous adversary ”(Mellenthin Friedrich von Wilhelm, Major General of the Tank Forces, Chief of Staff of the 48th Tank Corps, later Chief of Staff of the 4th Tank Army).
"I have never seen anyone angrier than these Russians. Real watchdogs!"
“During the attack, we stumbled upon a light Russian T-26 tank, we immediately clicked it right from the 37-graph paper. When we began to approach, a Russian leaned out of the hatch of the tower to the waist and opened fire on us with a pistol. It soon became clear that he was without legs, they were torn off when the tank was hit. And despite this, he fired at us with a pistol! (memoirs of an anti-tank gunner about the first hours of the war).
“You just won’t believe this until you see it with your own eyes. The soldiers of the Red Army, even burning alive, continued to shoot from the burning houses ”(from a letter from an infantry officer of the 7th Panzer Division about the battles in a village near the Lama River, mid-November 1941).
“... Inside the tank lay the bodies of a brave crew, who had previously received only injuries. Deeply shocked by this heroism, we buried them with full military honors. They fought to the last breath, but it was just one little drama. great war"(Erhard Raus, colonel, commander of the Raus campfgroup about the KV-1 tank, which shot and crushed a convoy of trucks and tanks and a German artillery battery; a total of 4 Soviet tankers held back the advance of the Raus combat group, about half a division, for two days, 24 and 25 June).
“July 17, 1941… In the evening they buried an unknown Russian soldier [ we are talking about 19-year-old senior artillery sergeant Nikolai Sirotinin]. He alone stood at the cannon, shot a column of tanks and infantry for a long time, and died. Everyone marveled at his bravery... Oberst before the grave said that if all the Fuhrer's soldiers fought like this Russian, we would conquer the whole world. Three times they fired volleys from rifles. After all, he is Russian, is such admiration necessary? (Diary of Lieutenant of the 4th Panzer Division Henfeld).
"If all the Fuhrer's soldiers fought like this Russian, we would conquer the whole world"
“We almost did not take prisoners, because the Russians always fought to the last soldier. They didn't give up. Their hardening cannot be compared with ours ... ”(interview with war correspondent Curizio Malaparte (Zukkert), officer of the tank unit of Army Group Center).
“Russians have always been famous for their contempt for death; the communist regime has further developed this quality, and now massive Russian attacks are more effective than ever before. The attack made twice will be repeated for the third and fourth time, regardless of the losses incurred, and both the third and fourth attacks will be carried out with the same stubbornness and composure ... They did not retreat, but rushed forward uncontrollably ”(Mellenthin Friedrich von Wilhelm, General major of tank troops, chief of staff of the 48th tank corps, later chief of staff of the 4th tank army, participant in the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk).
"I'm so furious, but I've never been so helpless"
In turn, the Red Army and the inhabitants of the occupied territories at the beginning of the war faced a well-prepared - and psychologically too - invader.
"25-th of August. We are throwing hand grenades at residential buildings. Houses burn very quickly. The fire is transferred to other huts. A beautiful sight! People cry and we laugh at tears. We have already burned ten villages in this way (diary of Chief Corporal Johannes Herder). “September 29, 1941. ... The sergeant-major shot everyone in the head. One woman begged to be spared her life, but she was also killed. I am surprised at myself - I can look at these things quite calmly ... Without changing my facial expression, I watched the sergeant-major shoot Russian women. I even experienced some pleasure at the same time ... ”(diary of a non-commissioned officer of the 35th rifle regiment, Heinz Klin).
“I, Heinrich Tivel, set myself the goal of exterminating 250 Russians, Jews, Ukrainians, indiscriminately, in this war. If each soldier kills the same number, we will destroy Russia in one month, we Germans will get everything. I, following the call of the Fuhrer, call all Germans to this goal ... ”(soldier’s notebook, October 29, 1941).
"I can look at these things quite calmly. I even feel some pleasure at the same time"
The mood of the German soldier, like the back of the beast, broke Battle of Stalingrad: the total losses of the enemy killed, wounded, captured and missing amounted to about 1.5 million people. Self-confident treachery gave way to despair, similar to what accompanied the Red Army in the first months of the fighting. When in Berlin they decided to print letters from the Stalingrad front for propaganda purposes, it turned out that out of seven bags of correspondence, only 2% contained approving statements about the war, in 60% of the letters the soldiers called to fight rejected the massacre. In the trenches of Stalingrad, a German soldier, very often briefly, shortly before his death, returned from a zombie state to a conscious, human one. It can be said that the war as a confrontation of equally large troops was over here, in Stalingrad - primarily because here, on the Volga, the pillars of the soldier's faith in the infallibility and omnipotence of the Fuhrer collapsed. So - this is the justice of history - it happens to almost every Fuhrer.
“Since this morning, I know what awaits us, and it has become easier for me, so I want to free you from the torment of the unknown. When I saw the map, I was horrified. We are completely abandoned without any outside help. Hitler left us surrounded. And this letter will be sent if our airfield has not yet been captured.
“At home, some people will rub their hands - they managed to keep their warm places, but in the newspapers there will appear pathetic words circled in black: eternal memory to the heroes. But don't let yourself be fooled by that. I am so furious that I think I would destroy everything around me, but I have never been so helpless.
“People are dying of hunger, severe cold, death here is just a biological fact, like food and drink. They are dropping like flies and no one takes care of them and no one buries them. Without arms, without legs, without eyes, with torn bellies, they lie everywhere. A film should be made about this in order to forever destroy the legend of the “beautiful death”. This is just a bestial breath, but someday it will be raised on granite pedestals and ennobled in the form of "dying warriors" with their heads and hands tied with a bandage.
"Novels will be written, hymns and hymns will be heard. Mass will be celebrated in churches. But I've had enough"
Novels will be written, hymns and hymns will be heard. Mass will be celebrated in churches. But I've had enough, I don't want my bones to rot in mass grave. Do not be surprised if there is no news from me for some time, because I am determined to become the master of my own destiny.
“Well, now you know that I will not return. Please inform our parents as discreetly as possible. I am deeply confused. I used to believe and therefore was strong, but now I don't believe in anything and am very weak. There's a lot I don't know about what's going on here, but even the little that I have to participate in is already so much that I can't handle it. No, no one will convince me that people die here with the words "Germany" or "Heil Hitler." Yes, they die here, no one will deny this, but their last words dying people turn to their mother or to the one they love the most, or is it just a cry for help. I saw hundreds dying, many of them, like me, were members of the Hitler Youth, but if they could still scream, they were cries for help, or they were calling for someone who could not help them.
“I looked for God in every crater, in every ruined house, in every corner, with every comrade, when I lay in my trench, I looked in the sky. But God did not show himself, although my heart cried out to him. Houses were destroyed, comrades brave or cowardly like me, hunger and death on earth, and bombs and fire from the sky, only God was nowhere to be found. 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 there is none in Stalingrad ... I no longer believe in the goodness of God, otherwise he would never allow such a terrible injustice. I no longer believe in this, for God would have cleared the heads of the people who started this war, while they themselves were talking about peace in three languages. I no longer believe in God, he betrayed us, and now see for yourself how you should be with your faith.
"Ten years ago, it was about ballot papers, now you have to pay for it with such a "trifle" as life"
"For each reasonable person the time will come in Germany when he will curse the madness of this war, and you will realize how empty your words were about the banner with which I must win. There is no victory, Mr. General, there are only banners and people who die, and in the end there will be no more banners, no people. Stalingrad is not a military necessity, but a political madness. And your son, Mr. General, will not participate in this experiment! You block his path to life, but he will choose another path for himself - in the opposite direction, which also leads to life, but on the other side of the front. Think about your words, I hope that when everything collapses, you will remember the banner and stand up for it.
“Liberation of the peoples, what nonsense! The peoples will remain the same, only the authorities will change, and those who stand aside will again and again argue that the people must be freed from it. In 1932 it was still possible to do something, you know that very well. And you also know that the moment was lost. Ten years ago, it was about ballot papers, and now you have to pay for it with such a “trifle” as life.”
Behind the front line. Memoirs
The former commander of the submarine fleet of Nazi Germany, Werner, introduces the reader in his memoirs to the actions of German submarines in the water area. Atlantic Ocean, in the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel against the British and American fleets during the Second World War.
Herbert Werner
Foreword
Evaluation of the book by an American war veteran
Who would not be embarrassed by the opportunity to write, as I did, an introduction to a book by a foreigner, and even a soldier of a former hostile state, whose military fate almost exactly repeats the own fate of the author of the preface? We studied in 1939 at the higher naval schools, both completed the training course for submariners and first came to the duty station in 1941. Both of us served throughout the war, from lower ranks to submarine commanders. Each of us heard the bursts of enemy depth charges, although we avoided them, unlike some of our fighting friends. Obviously, however, these explosions sound surprisingly the same whether the bombs are British, American or Japanese. Both of us took part in torpedo attacks on combat and merchant ships. Each of us has seen how large ships sink when torpedoes pierce their bottoms - sometimes majestic, sometimes unsightly. The German submarines used the same tactics as we did. Both Werner and I futilely heaped curses on our adversary just for doing his duty conscientiously.
So, between Herbert Werner and I had a lot in common, although I knew nothing about him before getting acquainted with his book. But, stating all this, it is necessary to avoid two pitfalls. The first is a respect for professionalism, which can obscure important differences between us, stemming from the contrast between the conditions in which we found ourselves and the goals we pursued. The second is that the objective assessment of the past, which we strive for today, may voluntarily or involuntarily interfere with the feelings and moods of wartime. By avoiding these traps, we will eventually find the right approach to the problem. Because it is possible to admire the people who fought for Germany, even if we condemn Hitler and the Nazis. For a correct assessment of the book, it is important to keep this in mind and take into account the positions of the parties in each specific case.
In the preface, Werner explains why he found it necessary to write his book. According to him, he thus fulfilled a long-standing commitment and wanted to pay tribute to the thousands of fighting friends who are forever buried in steel coffins in the depths of the sea. Political predilections are completely absent both in his narrative and in the interpretation of professional tasks. Werner does not indulge in sharp attacks against the enemy, although it is clear that at times he, like all of us, is capable of experiencing bouts of irritation. In such cases, Werner's book acquires great dramatic power and the bestial, bestial essence of war comes to the fore. It may sound strange, but think about this: Submariners, regardless of affiliation to any of the warring parties, most of all admired the time when they went out to sea and were in the steel shells of boats, in the cramped confined space of which the noise of working diesel plants did not weaken, and with a lack of oxygen in the stale air, there was a stench from human excrement and rotting food. In such conditions, the crews of submarines in a frenzy attacked the enemy with torpedoes, carried out a grueling search for his sea convoys, or waited in fear for the end of the attack with enemy depth charges.
