“No, father, God does not exist, or only you have him, in your psalms and prayers, in the sermons of priests and pastors, in the ringing of bells, in the smell of incense, but in Stalingrad he is not. And here you are sitting in the basement, drowning someone’s furniture, you are only twenty-six, and seem to have a head on your shoulders, until recently you were happy with your shoulder straps and shouted “Heil Hitler!” with you, but now here are two options: either die or die. Siberia";
“Stalingrad is a good lesson for the German people, it’s just a pity that those who completed the training are unlikely to be able to use the knowledge they acquired in later life”;
“Russians are not like people, they are made of iron, they do not know fatigue, they do not know fear. Sailors, in the bitter cold, go on the attack in vests. Physically and spiritually, one Russian soldier is stronger than our entire company”;
“Russian snipers and armor-piercers are undoubtedly disciples of God. They lie in wait for us day and night, and do not miss. For 58 days we stormed one - only house. They stormed in vain... None of us will return to Germany unless a miracle happens. And I don't believe in miracles anymore. Time has turned to the side of the Russians”;
“I’m talking with Chief Sergeant V. He says that the fight in France was more fierce than here, but more fair. The French capitulated when they realized that further resistance was futile. The Russians, even if it is to no avail, continue to fight... In France or Poland they would have given up long ago, says Sergeant G., but here the Russians continue to fight fanatically”;
“My beloved Tsylla. This, to be honest, is a strange letter, which, of course, no mail will send anywhere, and I decided to send it with my wounded fellow countryman, you know him - this is Fritz Sauber... Every day brings us great sacrifices. We are losing our brothers, but the end of the war is not in sight and, probably, I will not see it, I don’t know what will happen to me tomorrow, I have already lost all hopes of returning home and staying alive. I think that every German soldier will find a grave here. These snow storms and vast fields covered with snow fill me with mortal horror. It is impossible to defeat the Russians...”;
“I thought that the war would end by the end of this year, but, as you can see, the situation is different... I think that we miscalculated regarding the Russians”;
“We are 90 km from Moscow, and it cost us a lot of people killed. The Russians are still putting up very strong resistance, defending Moscow... By the time we get to Moscow, there will be more fierce battles. Many who do not even think about this will have to die... During this campaign, many regretted that Russia is not Poland or France, and there is no enemy stronger than the Russians. If another six months pass, we are lost...”;
“We are located on the Moscow-Smolensk highway, not far from Moscow... The Russians are fighting fiercely and furiously for every meter of land. Never before have battles been so cruel and difficult, and many of us will no longer see our loved ones...”;
“I have been in Russia for more than three months now and have already experienced a lot. Yes, dear brother, sometimes your soul really sinks when you are just a hundred meters away from the damned Russians...”;
From the diary of General Blumentritt: “Many of our leaders greatly underestimated the new enemy. This happened partly because they did not know the Russian people, much less the Russian soldier. Some of our military leaders spent the entire First World War on the Western Front and never fought in the East, so they did not have the slightest idea about the geographical conditions of Russia and the fortitude of the Russian soldier, but at the same time ignored the repeated warnings of prominent military experts on Russia... The behavior of the Russian troops, even in this first battle (for Minsk), was strikingly different from the behavior of the Poles and the troops of the Western allies in conditions of defeat. Even when surrounded, the Russians did not retreat from their lines.”
In order not to sow panic, such letters did not reach the relatives of the soldiers; they were confiscated by the command during forwarding.
Russian devils
“Yesterday we spent the whole day killing Russians... I didn’t write for a long time because I was on the road... When I arrived at the front line, I took part in the battle that same day. It was not just scary, it was monstrous, the Russians do not value their lives at all, my hands are tired of killing the soldiers who came at us with their chests.
The worst thing is that there are a lot of them and they don’t end. It’s also very cold here, and at night the bombers prevented us from sleeping, we were told that it would be very simple, we were deceived.”
Photos by German photojournalists
Letter to Father
“Hello, dear dad, yesterday I wondered if there is a God in the world? Yes, I really sincerely believed in him when we lived in our big house in our village and attended church together, but now I began to seriously doubt.
Why did they bring us here, why do they want to kill us?
I can’t get used to the idea that I won’t see you and my mother again... We have no chance, I’ve seen Russians who are not afraid of death, but I’m afraid, I don’t want to die, I just turned 25 years old and I don’t have children yet and now it definitely won’t be.
Yesterday my friends were killed before my eyes. We went together to fight the damned communists, but it turned out that we were forced to kill the most ordinary and ordinary people who defend their land, defend it in a way that maybe I could not. I feel that the truth is behind them, and what is behind us?
Where is the god you told me about?"
Photos by German photojournalists
A letter from a private soldier to his wife
“Darling, I’m writing to you because I can’t sleep, I’m very scared, as soon as I close my eyes, I see the boy I killed the day before standing in front of me, looking straight into his eyes. He reminded me of our son and it tears me up inside, I can no longer hide my tears. I’ve already lost count, hundreds of prisoners and Jews are brought here every day, when will this finally end?”
Photos by German photojournalists
An excerpt from a letter from an officer who talks about the events that took place in the town of Babi Yar.
“...they come here on their own, information leaflets are posted in the villages for Jews calling on them to come with their belongings for deportation. Before being shot, they are asked to put all their valuables in one direction and their clothes in the other. Yesterday I saw this picture: a little girl, just before the execution, comes up to her parents and asks if she needs to take off her stockings...”
An extremely entertaining read and very, very educational. In all senses. But it is especially interesting to observe how the mood of the “white kulkhlyts” changes over time.
Hello dear friend!
Sorry I haven't written for so long. We haven’t been in contact since I left our quiet Sh... (the name of the country, unfortunately, has not been preserved - A.K.). Do you remember those damned years - crisis, poverty, unemployment. And then our family had the opportunity to repatriate to Germany. You know that my paternal grandmother was German. Although some aspects of the policies of the new National Socialist regime did not cause us enthusiasm, Germany is still a country with a dynamically developing economy, and its brilliant military successes evoke a sense of pride in everyone who has even a drop of German blood. Do you remember E. Grossarsch? The same NSDLP activist whom the damned Social Democrats put in prison 20 years ago for National Socialism and attempting to hijack a plane to Germany? So now he is a big shot in the Reich, the editor of a major newspaper. He did a lot to ensure that our family moved within the framework of the Fuhrer’s special program for the repatriation of Germans to the Reich.
True, at first we encountered some difficulties in Germany. We were provided with housing in a small town in the east of the country. Work was more difficult. We encountered problems obtaining a certificate of Aryan origin. Without it, it is impossible to get a decent job. Dad was forced to work as a janitor, mom spent a long time washing the floors. I admit, sometimes we thought about going back or moving to Canada, but we no longer had the strength and means for this. But oh well, this is all nonsense, because we are Germans, we live on German soil! Now, by the way, we live better. Dad became the head of the street cleaning brigade, and mom, through the care of our blockführer, Herr Kuk, who was very kind to her, got a permanent job as a waitress in a cabaret.
Then the war began. The Poles attacked our border radio station. The Anglo-Saxons and the French declared war on us. In Yugoslavia, as a result of a coup, a bandit regime came to power [In the spring of 1941, a pro-German government was overthrown in Yugoslavia as a result of a military coup. This led to Nazi intervention]. You know that we Germans live surrounded by lower races who hate us and incited by the Jews. If they could, they would have destroyed us long ago. The terrible Jewish-Bolshevik tyrant Stalin planned a treacherous strike in order to destroy Germany and conquer the whole world. But the wise Fuhrer (a great politician who is respected even by his enemies) was ahead of him and on June 22, 1941 we struck first. This was not just a war. Germany led a powerful coalition of European countries in order to free the world and the peoples of Russia from the plague of terrorist Bolshevism. I was also drafted into the army. I didn’t get into the Wafen-SS, although I really asked, and now I’m serving in one of the rear units of the Wehrmacht on the territory of Belarus.
As Hauptmann (captain) told us, about 1200 years ago, ancient Germans lived in these places and these lands will undoubtedly go to the Reich after the war. The first German colonies had already appeared here. The colonists here receive land and housing from the German authorities on very favorable terms [During the Second World War, the Germans created a number of similar colonies in western Poland. In Ukraine, the Germans also tried to create several large German enclaves by concentrating the local German population. It is unknown whether similar colonies existed in Belarus. These settlements were an important stronghold of German power (See Vershigora “People with a clear conscience”)].
It is possible that after the war we will move here too. Now life here is still very difficult and dangerous. The colonists stick together in their settlements and are all armed. I'll explain why later.
We have difficulties in relations with the local population. Of course, we freed them from the Jewish Bolshevik yoke, from terrible slave labor. Of course, you know about these terrible collective farms and the Gulag? Every honest European dreamed of destroying this nightmare. By capturing the eastern lands, we took a huge step towards realizing this dream. True, collective farms are still functioning, since it is more convenient for our civil authorities to collect from the peasants the food necessary to fight for their freedom through them. We will also mobilize a number of local youth to work in the Reich, where they will become acquainted with the benefits of German civilization.
Unfortunately, not all natives do not understand the goals of our mission. These Belarusian or Russian (the devil knows them!) men are wild creatures. They are bearded, unkempt, their houses do not have central heating, they don’t even know what toilet paper is! How do they treat women? It is not surprising that many of them become easy prey for Jewish-Bolshevik propaganda. They go into the forests and join bandits who attack soldiers, civil servants and local civilians. From time to time we have to carry out actions to pacify these scoundrels. I know that living in a neutral country, you sometimes hear accusations spread by enemies about alleged crimes committed by the Wehrmacht. Let me assure you that this is all slander. I have been living in Germany for 10 years and have not seen any so-called “Nazi crimes.” (Of course there was the sad incident of Kristallnacht. We all condemn this display of emotion, and the police quickly restored order). Even captured bandits and their accomplices are treated humanely by the soldiers of my platoon (in my opinion, even too humanely!). They are arrested and handed over to the Gestapo for questioning.
Of course, there are also honest Russians. Today I spoke with the headman of the Russian village in which our battalion is located. He was a prisoner of war in Austria during the last war and can speak a little German. He assured me that all peasants hated Stalin and the commissars, and that they had never lived as well as under the Germans. True, people are afraid to say this openly, fearing reprisals from bandits. This man seemed to me like a real son of Mother Russia. However, later at dinner, Chief Sergeant Major Karl told me that you shouldn’t trust everything that the Russians tell you. Many of them are friendly only in words, but in reality they are informants for bandits. I still don’t believe in this; it cannot be that these people do not feel gratitude to their liberators.
But you know, some of my Genosse believe that all Belarusians are infected with Bolshevism and that all of them are bandits and terrorists. This is not to say that this point of view has no basis. Recently a terrible incident occurred. Returning from vacation, a group of our soldiers mistakenly drove into a village located in the so-called “liberated area” (i.e., an area controlled by bandits). They were great guys, one of them, Peter Schultz, a sweet 19 year old boy, musician, was my best friend. And imagine that a crowd of these wild Russian non-humans pulled our guys out of the car, beat them to death and drowned them in a well... I can’t calmly write about this... However, details about this can be found in the Red Cross report. The Sonderkommando sent to the village, of course, burned a couple of houses and punished several dozen perpetrators, but what will this change... Human life is priceless. And for Russians this is still not a punishment; they have a different attitude towards human life than we do. Recently, our patrol tried to detain a young bandit contact, but the brat blew himself up with a grenade [Attempts are now being made to find out the name of this young hero. Several teenagers accomplished such a feat during the Great Patriotic War, for example, the young Belarusian partisan Marat Kozei (posthumously awarded the Order of the Patriotic War, First Class)]. Three soldiers were slightly injured. You see, they don’t even spare their own children. Just two days ago, a peaceful settlement of German colonists was fired at with mortars from a Russian village. The shooters were destroyed by artillery fire from the armored train on duty and bombs from Luftwaffe aircraft. The houses from which the fire came were burned. Today we went to look at the ruins of this partisan lair.
Yes, war, this is a terrible thing, my friend... And we suffer as always, we are Germans - our families are sitting under bombs, our soldiers are dying here in the East. Unfortunately we have no choice. We must either win, or the German people will face complete destruction. Our enemies do not hide this. Their main Jewish propagandist Ehrenburg writes: “Kill the German.” Their newspapers openly call for the destruction of fascism (These idiots do not understand the difference between German National Socialism and Mussolini's movement) But I believe that sooner or later, despite temporary difficulties, we will deal with the Jewish-Bolshevik terrorists and ensure a lasting and lasting peace, which we crave so much... (At this point the letter breaks off)
October 25, 1941
We are located 90 km from Moscow, and this cost us many killed. The Russians are still putting up very strong resistance, defending Moscow, this can be easily imagined. By the time we get to Moscow, there will be more fierce fighting. Many who don’t even think about it yet will have to die. So far we have two killed by heavy mines and one shell. During this campaign, many regretted that Russia was not Poland or France, and there was no enemy stronger than the Russians. If another six months pass, we are lost, because the Russians have too many people. I heard that when we finish with Moscow, they will let us go to Germany."
3.12.1941
(From a letter from soldier E. Seygardt to brother Friedrich)
November 30, 1941
My beloved Tsylla. This, to be honest, is a strange letter, which, of course, no mail will send anywhere, and I decided to send it with my wounded fellow countryman, you know him - this is Fritz Sauber. We were in the regimental hospital together, and now I am returning to duty, and he is going home. I am writing a letter in a peasant's hut. All my comrades are sleeping, and I am on duty. It’s terrible cold outside, the Russian winter has come into its own, the German soldiers are very poorly dressed, we wear caps in this terrible frost and all our uniforms are summer. Every day brings us great sacrifices. We are losing our brothers, but the end of the war is not in sight and, probably, I will not see it, I don’t know what will happen to me tomorrow, I have already lost all hopes of returning home and staying alive. I think that every German soldier will find a grave here. These snow storms and vast fields covered with snow fill me with mortal horror. It is impossible to defeat the Russians, they...
(From a letter from Wilhelm Elman.)
5.12.1941
This time we will celebrate Christmas in Russian “paradise”. We are again on the front lines, these are difficult days for us. Just think, Ludwig Franz has been killed. He got hit in the head. Yes, my dear Fred, the ranks of the old comrades are thinning and thinning. On the same day, December 3, I lost two more comrades from my squad... They’ll probably let us go soon; My nerves were completely gone. Neugebauer was obviously not killed, but seriously wounded. Sergeant Major Fleisig, Sarsen and Schneider from the old first company were also killed. Also the old sergeant major Rosterman. On 3.12 our last battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Walter, also died. Anft is also wounded. Bortusch and Koblishek, Muszczyk, Kasker, Leibzel and Kanrost were also killed.
(From a letter from non-commissioned officer G. Weiner to his friend Alfred Schaefer.)
5.12.1941
Dear aunt, send us more cookies, because the worst thing here is bread. My feet are already a little frostbitten, the cold here is very strong. Many of my comrades are already wounded and killed, there are fewer and fewer of us. One fragment hit my helmet, and I also managed to run into a mine. But for now I got off happily.
(From a letter from soldier Emil Nykbor.)
12/8/1941
Because of the lice bite, I scratched my body to the bone and so much that it took a long time for it all to heal. The worst thing is lice, especially at night when it’s warm. I think that advancing forward will have to be stopped during the winter, since we will not be able to launch a single offensive. We tried to advance twice, but received nothing but dead. The Russians sit in their huts with their guns so that they do not freeze, but our guns stand day and night on the street, freeze and as a result cannot fire. Many soldiers had frostbite in their ears, legs and arms. I thought there was a war
will end by the end of this year, but, as you can see, the situation is different... I think that in relation to the Russians we miscalculated.
(From a letter from Corporal Werner Ulrich to his uncle in Arsendorf)
9.12.1941
We are moving forward extremely slowly, because the Russians are stubbornly defending themselves. Now they are directing attacks primarily against villages - they want to take away our shelter. When there is nothing better, we go to the dugouts.
(From a letter from Corporal Eckart Kirchner)
12/11/1941
For more than a week now we have been standing on the street and sleeping very little. But this cannot continue for a long time, since not a single person can stand it. Nothing during the day, but the night gets on your nerves...
Now it has become a little warmer, but there are snowstorms, and this is even worse than frost. Lice can make you mad, they run all over your body. Catch them in the morning, catch them in the evening, catch them at night, and you still won’t catch them all. The whole body itches and is covered with blisters. Will the time soon come when you will get out of this damned Russia? Russia will forever remain in the memory of the soldiers.
(From a letter from soldier Hasske to his wife Anna Hasske)
12/13/1941
My treasure, I sent you some materials and a few days ago a pair of shoes. They are brown, with rubber soles, leather ones are hard to find here. I will do my best and send everything that is of any use.
(From a letter from Corporal Wilhelm Bauman to his wife)
12/26/1941
Christmas has already passed, but we did not notice or see it. I never thought I'd have to be alive for Christmas. Two weeks ago we were defeated and had to retreat. We left most of our guns and vehicles behind. Only a few comrades were able to save their very lives and remained in the clothes that were on their bodies. I will remember this all my life and would never want to live it again...
Please send me a soap dish, as I have nothing left.
(From a letter from Corporal Utenlem to his family in Foritzheim, Baden)
12/27/1941
Due to the events of the last 4 weeks I have not had the opportunity to write to you... Today I lost all my belongings, I still thank God that I still have my limbs. Everything that has happened so far pales in comparison to what I experienced in December. Christmas has passed and I hope that I will never have to experience a Christmas like this again in my life. It was the most unhappy time of my life... I can’t even think about a vacation or a shift, I lost all my things, even the most necessary things for everyday use. However, do not send me anything unnecessary, since we must now carry everything on ourselves, like infantrymen. Send only some writing paper and a razor, but a simple and cheap one. I don't want to have anything valuable with me. What good things I had and everything went to hell!... Tormented by lice, we are freezing and leading a miserable existence in primitive conditions, moreover, without rest in battles.
Don't think I'm going to whine, you know I'm not, but I'm giving you the facts. Indeed, it takes a lot of idealism to maintain a good mood, seeing that there is no end to this condition.
(From a letter from Chief Coroner Rusk to his family in Weil, Baden)
09/06/1942
Today is Sunday and we can finally do laundry. Since my underwear was all lice, I took new ones, as well as socks. We are 8 km from Stalingrad, and I hope we will be there next Sunday. Dear parents, all this can drive you crazy: there are Russian pilots at night, and during the day there are always over 30 bombers from our side. In addition, the thunder of guns.
(From a letter from soldier 71st Infantry Division Gerhardt (last name illegible))
09/08/1942
We are in positions in a fortified ravine west of Stalingrad. We have already advanced to the walls of the city's outskirts, while in other areas German troops have already entered the city. Our task is to capture the industrial districts of the northern part of the city and advance to the Volga. This should complete our task for this period. From here there are still 10 km left to the Volga. We hope, of course, that in a short time we will take a city that is of great importance to the Russians and which they defend so stubbornly. Today the offensive was postponed until tomorrow; I hope that the soldier’s happiness will not betray me, and I will come out of this offensive alive and unharmed. I put my life and health in the hands of the Lord God and ask him to preserve both. A few days ago we were told that this would be our last offensive, and then we would move to winter quarters. God grant that this be so! We are so physically exhausted, so weakened in health, that it is absolutely necessary to withdraw our unit from the battle. We had to go through great hardships and ordeals, and our food was completely inadequate. We are all exhausted and completely starved, and therefore powerless. I don’t think that our little Jutchen is starving at home, like her dad in this nasty Russia. In my life, I had to go hungry several times during my student years, but I did not know that hunger could cause such suffering. I didn't know it was possible to think about food all day when there was nothing in the bread bag.
(From an unsent letter from Corporal Jo Schwanner to his wife Hilda)
October 26, 1941
I'm sitting on the floor in a Russian peasant house. In this cramped space, 10 comrades from all units gathered. You can imagine the noise here. We are located on the Moscow-Smolensk highway, not far from Moscow.
The Russians fight fiercely and furiously for every meter of land. Never before have the battles been so cruel and difficult, and many of us will no longer see our loved ones.
(From a letter from soldier Rudolf Rupp to his wife.)
***
11/15/1941
We've been here for five days now, working two shifts, and the prisoners are working with us. We have a lot of lice. First you catch one, sometimes three, but yesterday I raided them. What do you think, dear mother, how many of them did I catch in my sweater? 437 pieces...
I keep remembering how my father talked about the war of 1914-1918 - the current war is even worse. I can’t write everything, but when I tell you about it, your eyes will pop out of your head...
(From a letter from Sergeant Major Otto Kliem.)
3.12.1941
I have been in Russia for more than three months now and have already experienced a lot. Yes, dear brother, sometimes your heart sinks when you are just a hundred meters away from the damned Russians and grenades and mines are exploding near you.
(From a letter from soldier E. Seygardt to brother Friedrich, Hofsgust.)
3.12.1941
I want to inform you, dear sister, that on December 26 I shot down a Russian plane. This is a great merit, for this I will probably receive the Iron Cross of the first degree. So far I was lucky to take a parachute from this plane. It is made of pure silk. I'll probably bring it home whole. You will also get a piece from it, it will make excellent silk linen... From my squad, which had 15 people, there are only three left...
(From letters from non-commissioned officer Müller to his sister.)
My favorite!
It's Christmas Eve and when I think about home, my heart breaks. How bleak and hopeless everything is here. I haven't eaten bread for 4 days and I'm only alive with a ladle of lunch soup. Morning and evening, a sip of coffee and every 2 days 100 grams of stew or a little cheese paste from a tube - hunger, hunger. Hunger and also lice and dirt. Day and night, air raids and artillery shelling almost never cease. Unless a miracle happens soon, I will die here. The bad thing is that I know that your 2-kilogram parcel of pies and marmalade is somewhere on the way...
I think about it all the time, and I even have visions that I will never get it. Although I am exhausted, I cannot sleep at night, I lie with my eyes open and see pies, pies, pies. Sometimes I pray, and sometimes I curse my fate. But everything doesn’t make any sense - when and how will relief come? Will it be death by bomb or grenade? From a cold or from a painful illness? These questions incessantly occupy us. To this we must add constant homesickness, and homesickness has become a disease. How can a person endure all this! If all this suffering is God's punishment? My dears, I don’t need to write all this, but I no longer have a sense of humor left, and my laughter has disappeared forever. All that was left was a bundle of trembling nerves. The heart and brain are painfully inflamed, and trembling, as with a high fever. If I am court-martialed and shot for this letter, I think it will be a blessing for my body. With heartfelt love, your Bruno.
Letter from a German officer sent from Stalingrad on January 14, 1943:
Dear uncle! First, I want to cordially congratulate you on your promotion and wish you continued success as a soldier. By a lucky coincidence, I again received mail from home, albeit from last year, and in that letter there was a message about this event. Mail now occupies a sore spot in our soldiers' lives. Most of it from last year hasn't arrived yet, not to mention a whole stack of Christmas letters. But in our current situation this evil is understandable. Maybe you already know about our current fate; it is not rosy, but the critical point has probably already been passed. Every day the Russians create chaos on some part of the front, throw a huge number of tanks into battle, followed by armed infantry, but the success compared to the forces expended is small, at times not worthy of mention at all. These battles with heavy losses are very reminiscent of the battles of the World War. Material support and mass are the idols of the Russians, with the help of this they want to achieve a decisive advantage. But these attempts are frustrated by the stubborn will to fight and the tireless strength in defense in our positions. There is simply no way to describe what our excellent infantry accomplishes every day. This is a high song of courage, bravery and endurance. Never before have we looked forward to the coming of spring as much as we do here. The first half of January will soon be over, it will still be very difficult in February, but then a turning point will come - and there will be great success. Best wishes, Albert.
Here are more excerpts from the letters:
August 23, 1942: “In the morning I was shocked by a beautiful sight: for the first time, through the fire and smoke, I saw the Volga, calmly and majestically flowing in its bed... Why did the Russians rest on this bank, are they really thinking of fighting on the very edge? This is madness.”
November 1942: “We hoped that before Christmas we would return to Germany, that Stalingrad was in our hands. What a great delusion! Stalingrad is hell! This city has turned us into a crowd of senseless dead... Every day we attack. But even if in the morning we advance twenty meters, in the evening they throw us back... Russians are not like people, they are made of iron, they do not know fatigue, they do not know fear. Sailors, in the bitter cold, go to attack in vests. Physically and spiritually, one Russian soldier is stronger than the whole our department."
January 4, 1943: “Russian snipers and armor-piercers are undoubtedly disciples of God. They lie in wait for us day and night, and do not miss. For fifty-eight days we stormed a single house. We stormed in vain... None of us will return to Germany, unless a miracle happens... Time has turned to the side of the Russians"
Wehrmacht soldier Erich Ott.
“The behavior of the Russians, even in the first battle, was strikingly different from the behavior of the Poles and allies who were defeated on the Western Front. Even when they were surrounded, the Russians steadfastly defended themselves.”
General Günther Blumentritt, Chief of Staff of the 4th Army
"...We are going through a big crisis here, and it is unknown how it will end. The situation in general is so critical that, in my humble understanding, things are similar to what happened a year ago near Moscow."
From a letter from Lieutenant General von Hamblenz to his wife. November 21, 1942
"...Three enemies make our life very difficult: Russians, hunger, cold. Russian snipers keep us under constant threat..."
From the diary of Corporal M. Zur. 8.XII.1942
"...We are in a rather difficult situation. The Russian, it turns out, also knows how to wage war, this was proven by the great chess move that he made in recent days, and he did it with the forces of not a regiment or a division, but much larger ones.. "
From a letter from Corporal Bernhard Gebhardt, p/n 02488, to his wife. December 30, 1942
“During the attack, we came across a light Russian tank T-26, we immediately shot it straight from the 37-mm film. When we began to approach, a Russian leaned out of the turret hatch waist-deep and opened fire on us with a pistol. It soon became clear that he "He had no legs, they were torn off when the tank was hit. And, despite this, he fired at us with a pistol!"
Wehrmacht anti-tank gunner
“We almost didn’t take prisoners, because the Russians always fought to the last soldier. They didn’t give up. Their hardening cannot be compared with ours...”
Tanker of Army Group Center of the Wehrmacht
After successfully breaking through the border defenses, the 3rd Battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment of Army Group Center, numbering 800 people, was fired upon by a unit of 5 soldiers. “I didn’t expect anything like this,” admitted the battalion commander, Major Neuhof, to his battalion doctor. “It’s pure suicide to attack the battalion’s forces with five fighters.”
“On the Eastern Front I met people who can be called a special race. Already the first attack turned into a battle for life and death.”
Tankman of the 12th Panzer Division Hans Becker
“You simply won’t believe this until you see it with your own eyes. The soldiers of the Red Army, even being burned alive, continued to shoot from the burning houses.”
Officer of the 7th Panzer Division of the Wehrmacht
“The quality level of Soviet pilots is much higher than expected... The fierce resistance and its massive nature do not correspond to our initial assumptions.”
Major General Hoffmann von Waldau
“I’ve never seen anyone more evil than these Russians. Real watchdogs! You never know what to expect from them. And where do they get tanks and everything else from?!”
One of the soldiers of Army Group Center of the Wehrmacht
"The last few weeks have been characterized by the most serious crisis that we have ever experienced in the war. This crisis, unfortunately, has struck ... all of Germany. It is symbolized in one word - Stalingrad."
Ulrich von Hassell, diplomat, February 1943
From a letter from an unknown German soldier:
“This letter is very difficult for me to write, how difficult it will be for you! Unfortunately, it contains bad news. I waited ten days, but the situation did not improve.
And now our situation has become so worse that they are loudly saying that we will very soon be completely cut off from the outside world. We have been assured that this mail will most likely be sent. If I were sure that another opportunity would present itself, I would wait a little longer, but I’m not sure about this and therefore, whether it’s bad or good, I have to say everything.
For me the war is over..."
"From Moscow to Stalingrad. Documents and letters of German soldiers 1941-1943."
October 25, 1941
We are located 90 km from Moscow, and this cost us many killed. The Russians are still putting up very strong resistance, defending Moscow, this can be easily imagined.
(From the letters of a soldier Sim 3.12.1941
(From a letter from soldier E. Seygardt to his brother Friedrich, Mr. Hofsgust.) She is Baumer.)
November 30, 1941
My beloved Tsylla. This, to be honest, is a strange letter, which, of course, no mail will send anywhere, and I decided to send it with my wounded fellow countryman, you know him - this is Fritz Sauber. We were in the regimental hospital together, and now I am returning to duty, and he is going home. I am writing a letter in a peasant's hut. All my comrades are sleeping, and I am on duty. It’s terrible cold outside, the Russian winter has come into its own, the German soldiers are very poorly dressed, we wear caps in this terrible frost and all our uniforms are summer. Every day brings us great sacrifices. We are losing our brothers, but the end of the war is not in sight and, probably, I will not see it, I don’t know what will happen to me tomorrow, I have already lost all hopes of returning home and staying alive. I think that every German soldier will find a grave here. These snow storms and vast fields covered with snow fill me with mortal horror. It is impossible to defeat the Russians, they...
(From a letter from Wilhelm Elman.)
5.12.1941
This time we will celebrate Christmas in Russian “paradise”. We are again on the front lines, these are difficult days for us. Just think, Ludwig Franz has been killed. He got hit in the head. Yes, my dear Fred, the ranks of the old comrades are thinning and thinning. On the same day, December 3, I lost two more comrades from my squad... They’ll probably let us go soon; My nerves were completely gone. Neugebauer was obviously not killed, but seriously wounded. Sergeant Major Fleisig, Sarsen and Schneider from the old first company were also killed. Also the old sergeant major Rosterman. On 3.12 our last battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Walter, also died. Anft is also wounded. Bortusch and Koblishek, Muszczyk, Kasker, Leibzel and Kanrost were also killed.
(From a letter from non-commissioned officer G. Weiner to his friend Alfred Schaefer.)
5.12.1941
Dear aunt, send us more cookies, because the worst thing here is bread. My feet are already a little frostbitten, the cold here is very strong. Many of my comrades are already wounded and killed, there are fewer and fewer of us. One fragment hit my helmet, and I also managed to run into a mine. But for now I got off happily.
(From a letter from soldier Emil Nykbor.)
12/8/1941
Because of the lice bite, I scratched my body to the bone and so much that it took a long time for it all to heal. The worst thing is lice, especially at night when it’s warm. I think that advancing forward will have to be stopped during the winter, since we will not be able to launch a single offensive. We tried to advance twice, but received nothing but dead. The Russians sit in their huts with their guns so that they do not freeze, but our guns stand day and night on the street, freeze and as a result cannot fire. Many soldiers had frostbite in their ears, legs and arms. I thought there was a war
will end by the end of this year, but, as you can see, the situation is different... I think that in relation to the Russians we miscalculated.
(From a letter from Corporal Werner Ulrich to his uncle in Arsendorf)
9.12.1941
We are moving forward extremely slowly, because the Russians are stubbornly defending themselves. Now they are directing attacks primarily against villages - they want to take away our shelter. When there is nothing better, we go to the dugouts.
(From a letter from Corporal Eckart Kirchner)
12/11/1941
For more than a week now we have been standing on the street and sleeping very little. But this cannot continue for a long time, since not a single person can stand it. Nothing during the day, but the night gets on your nerves...
Now it has become a little warmer, but there are snowstorms, and this is even worse than frost. Lice can make you mad, they run all over your body. Catch them in the morning, catch them in the evening, catch them at night, and you still won’t catch them all. The whole body itches and is covered with blisters. Will the time soon come when you will get out of this damned Russia? Russia will forever remain in the memory of the soldiers.
(From a letter from soldier Hasske to his wife Anna Hasske)
12/13/1941
My treasure, I sent you some materials and a few days ago a pair of shoes. They are brown, with rubber soles, leather ones are hard to find here. I will do my best and send everything that is of any use.
(From a letter from Corporal Wilhelm Bauman to his wife)
12/26/1941
Christmas has already passed, but we did not notice or see it. I never thought I'd have to be alive for Christmas. Two weeks ago we were defeated and had to retreat. We left most of our guns and vehicles behind. Only a few comrades were able to save their very lives and remained in the clothes that were on their bodies. I will remember this all my life and would never want to live it again...
Please send me a soap dish, as I have nothing left.
(From a letter from Corporal Utenlem to his family in Foritzheim, Baden)
12/27/1941
Due to the events of the last 4 weeks I have not had the opportunity to write to you... Today I lost all my belongings, I still thank God that I still have my limbs. Everything that has happened so far pales in comparison to what I experienced in December. Christmas has passed and I hope that I will never have to experience a Christmas like this again in my life. It was the most unhappy time of my life... I can’t even think about a vacation or a shift, I lost all my things, even the most necessary things for everyday use. However, do not send me anything unnecessary, since we must now carry everything on ourselves, like infantrymen. Send only some writing paper and a razor, but a simple and cheap one. I don't want to have anything valuable with me. What good things I had and everything went to hell!... Tormented by lice, we are freezing and leading a miserable existence in primitive conditions, moreover, without rest in battles.
Don't think I'm going to whine, you know I'm not, but I'm giving you the facts. Indeed, it takes a lot of idealism to maintain a good mood, seeing that there is no end to this condition.
(From a letter from Chief Coroner Rusk to his family in Weil, Baden)
09/06/1942
Today is Sunday and we can finally do laundry. Since my underwear was all lice, I took new ones, as well as socks. We are 8 km from Stalingrad, and I hope we will be there next Sunday. Dear parents, all this can drive you crazy: there are Russian pilots at night, and during the day there are always over 30 bombers from our side. In addition, the thunder of guns.
(From a letter from soldier 71st Infantry Division Gerhardt (last name illegible))
09/08/1942
We are in positions in a fortified ravine west of Stalingrad. We have already advanced to the walls of the city's outskirts, while in other areas German troops have already entered the city. Our task is to capture the industrial districts of the northern part of the city and advance to the Volga. This should complete our task for this period. From here there are still 10 km left to the Volga. We hope, of course, that in a short time we will take a city that is of great importance to the Russians and which they defend so stubbornly. Today the offensive was postponed until tomorrow; I hope that the soldier’s happiness will not betray me, and I will come out of this offensive alive and unharmed. I put my life and health in the hands of the Lord God and ask him to preserve both. A few days ago we were told that this would be our last offensive, and then we would move to winter quarters. God grant that this be so! We are so physically exhausted, so weakened in health, that it is absolutely necessary to withdraw our unit from the battle. We had to go through great hardships and ordeals, and our food was completely inadequate. We are all exhausted and completely starved, and therefore powerless. I don’t think that our little Jutchen is starving at home, like her dad in this nasty Russia. In my life, I had to go hungry several times during my student years, but I did not know that hunger could cause such suffering. I didn't know it was possible to think about food all day when there was nothing in the bread bag.
(From an unsent letter from Corporal Jo Schwanner to his wife Hilda)
October 26, 1941
I'm sitting on the floor in a Russian peasant house. In this cramped space, 10 comrades from all units gathered. You can imagine the noise here. We are located on the Moscow-Smolensk highway, not far from Moscow.
The Russians fight fiercely and furiously for every meter of land. Never before have the battles been so cruel and difficult, and many of us will no longer see our loved ones.
(From a letter from soldier Rudolf Rupp to his wife.)
***
11/15/1941
We've been here for five days now, working two shifts, and the prisoners are working with us. We have a lot of lice. First you catch one, sometimes three, but yesterday I raided them. What do you think, dear mother, how many of them did I catch in my sweater? 437 pieces...
I keep remembering how my father talked about the war of 1914-1918 - the current war is even worse. I can’t write everything, but when I tell you about it, your eyes will pop out of your head...
(From a letter from Sergeant Major Otto Kliem.)
3.12.1941
I have been in Russia for more than three months now and have already experienced a lot. Yes, dear brother, sometimes your heart sinks when you are just a hundred meters away from the damned Russians and grenades and mines are exploding near you.
(From a letter from soldier E. Seygardt to brother Friedrich, Hofsgust.)
3.12.1941
I want to inform you, dear sister, that on December 26 I shot down a Russian plane. This is a great merit, for this I will probably receive the Iron Cross of the first degree. So far I was lucky to take a parachute from this plane. It is made of pure silk. I'll probably bring it home whole. You will also get a piece from it, it will make excellent silk linen... From my squad, which had 15 people, there are only three left...
(From letters from non-commissioned officer Müller to his sister.)
