Privacy Policy. We are slowly advancing. The Russians are defending themselves with insane stubbornness. These historians hoped that the published interviews would mobilize readers for the war. We have never been through anything like this. I did the same to another who pretended to be dead.'. The entire German. November 19. . At that time This is simply unbelievable. The victory came at a high cost; about two-fifths of the American planes were shot down. Does that get to you? He described how the mood in his tank was excellent with one colleague playing the harmonica as they advanced. by Oleg Grigoryev 21 Aug 2003, 22:48, Return to Holocaust & 20th Century War Crimes. Unfortunately, I cant write everything to you. How and with what are we going to fill our empty stomachs, which, apart from 3%-7 ozs of bread, receive virtually nothing at all? . We can already see the smoking town. We had no peace all night from the Russian artillery and aero planes. All are fleeing in panic. The pincer movement that would break through both flanks of the extended Axis front and encircle more than 300,000 of their soldiers was a daring maneuver and testified to the Red Armys tactical learning curve. . September 16. What were the conditions that made the violence and the loss of life so immense? If only the days and nights would pass more quickly . . Leutnant Sander served in the 6th Panzer Division which invaded the Soviet Union by rolling over the border of Lithuania in June 1941. Hitler's soldiers stormed the city in September 1942 in a bid to complete the conquest of Europe. World War II was a total war, in which civilians as much as soldiers were part of the war. BERLIN: A guilt-ridden account of an ordinary German soldier's experiences in World War two is countering a recent trend among historians to portray Germans as victims of the war. . What drew you to study World War II in your book and, in particular, to the Battle of Stalingrad? November 10. Even civilians were considered vital defenders of Fortress Stalingrad and not allowed to evacuate until several days after the beginning of the bombardment. A German newspaper described Stalingrad as the most fateful battle of the war that was in early August 1942, even before Hitlers soldiers began their assault on the city. . We are advancing towards Stalingrad along the railway line. After five months of unrelenting battle, the retreat of the Nazis became the turning point of World War II.. . Diary of a German Soldier (161 results) The majority of the writings date from November . In the blocks captured two days ago Russian soldiers appeared from somewhere or other and fighting has flared up with fresh vigour. At the end of February,the Russian 3D film, Stalingrad,will have a one-week engagement in theaters across the United States; Stalingrad became Russias box office record holder in 2013, grossing $66 million in its six-week run. During the day the Germans managed to accupy only two blocks. Diary of a German Soldier William Hoffman 4.50 4 ratings2 reviews Want to read Buy on Amazon Rate this book The following entries in the diary of William Hoffman, a German soldier who perished at Stalingrad, reveal the decline in German confidence as the battle progressed. " 30 men in the company. Contemporary observers, German as well as Soviet, agreed that the Red Army troops at Stalingrad fought with enormous fervor. That has a tremendous impact.'. . . Problem solved. We dont have a single officer, and the hellish place once and for all. . Two days of non-stop fighting. enormous field post office of the adversary, along with diaries and other This was before the tide turned. Story When the Russian pincers snapped in November 1942, 300,000 soldiers of Hitler's army were trapped in Stalingrad, the legendary city on the Volga that they sought to conquer for the Nazi empire. We have been told we are soon going to be withdrawn to be brought back up to strength. Bernd Wegner, professor of history of the Bundeswehr Academy: "Stalingrad is perhaps the only battle of the Second World War, at the mention of which every German will tremble even today. December 26. Making up for colossal losses in people, equipment and ammunition sustained by the German armed forces as a result of the perishing of the 6th Army will require huge effort and a lot of time. Entdecke Blutroter Schnee: Die Memoiren eines deutschen Soldaten an der Ostfront, Gunter K. in groer Auswahl Vergleichen Angebote und Preise Online kaufen bei eBay Kostenlose Lieferung fr viele Artikel! But now we have to roam around this horrible Hetti, I have already cut up four dogs, yet my comrades cant eat their fill. . October 27.Our troops have captured the whole of the Barrikady factory, but we cannot break through to theVolga. More than three and a half million German and other Axis troops attacked along a 1,800-mile front. From 1942 to 1945, they interviewed close to 5,000 people most of them soldiers, but also partisans, civilians who worked in the war economy or fought in the underground, and Soviet citizens who had survived Nazi occupation. The most informative letters were published in 1944 by the The Russians lauded the 'everyday heroism' of their troops, while the Germans cast the Soviet soldiers as subhuman beings who fought without any respect for life, even their own. His 'unique and amazing' diaries that run to 150,000 words have been unearthed by German military historian Robin Schaefer. 10521 V, dated December 29, 1942 toHetti Kaminskaya: . . The following entries in the diary of William Hoffman, a German soldier who perished at Stalingrad, reveal the decline in German confidence as the battle progressed. The Germans were being rounded up prior to marched to death. He believed that he needed the east in order to win the war and secure the long-term prosperity of his county. . If we lose this war, theyll take revenge on us for everything we did. A letter from Elsa today. Among the trophies of the Soviet troops was an injured and frostbitten men; more than 30 men have escaped; there is only Wherever you look is fire and flames. The Russians are not men, but some kind of cast-iron creatures; they never get tired and are not afraid of fire. Thats what the Russians need, to stop them from resisting . The company commander says the Russian troops are completely broken, and cannot hold out any longer. . The author, Gottlob Bidermann, an 18-year-old private in the 132d Infantry Division takes us through the invasion of the Soviet Union in 1941, across the Dnieper and battles in the Crimea, engagements around Leningrad and retreat through Riga to the Baltic (Kurland Pocket). There are barely The ruthlessness of the German advance was borne out on June 27, 1941, when his crew spotted a Russian soldier who played dead before opening fire on the passing German infantry. At a communist youth meeting held in her memory a few days later, several young women spoke, vowing to fight the Germans just as Lyolya had. . . The soldiers on record dont know what will come next, and when and how the war will end. Who would have thought three months ago that instead of the joy of victory we would have to endure such sacrifice and torture, the end of which is nowhere in sight? attacked German positions north and south of Stalingrad, and by November 23 they had surrounded the German, forces. December 23.Still no orders. a magpie and cooked it. .. . While the German army was penetrating deeply into Russia, he believed that victory was not far away and dreamed of returning home with medals. Soviet soldiers found the diary in December 1942 or January 1943, probably among the possessions of its deceased owner. . Historian Omer Bartov has argued that for the Wehrmacht, with rising casualty rates and the destruction of the bands of brothers in front-line units, military commanders increasingly relied on ideological indoctrination to mold troop cohesion. It's these diary entries for a German soldier in 1942, named William Hoffmann. . They no longer take cover from Russian shells; they havent the strength to walk, run away and hide. The global media reports pushed both sides onward. What role did Bolshevism play in the fighting? He can hardly speak. Fritz is telling me about a conversation he heard: the soldiers prefer to defect or surrender to captivity. The following entries in the diary of William Hoffman, a German soldier who perished at Stalingrad, reveal the decline in German confidence as the battle progressed. They describe shocking violence. "German Soldiers World War II letters"--Vermit in Stalingrad - Dieter Peeters 2005 Am 2. He goes by the name of William Hoffman and I feel that his writing really captures the initial enthusiasm of the German forces on their . Let the generals and officers fight the war themselves. October 14. . I was struck by how they made this decision as early as fall 1941, when the Soviet Union seemed to be teetering under the German assault. . . . enough ammunition to last until evening; the soldiers have not eaten at all in . 'They have only recently been discovered, clearly they were not meant to be seen by anyone as much of the content could have gotten the author into severe trouble.'. We have lost many men; every time you move you have to jump over bodies. This diary covers the period from April 1942 to March 1943, the momentous year when the tide of battle turned in the East. The Fiihrer has ordered the whole of Stalingrad to be taken as rapidly as possible. . After weeks of desperate fighting 100,000 surviving Germans went into Russian captivity. Germans fire the 105 mm howitzer leFH 18 in the area of the grain elevator. He was so disillusioned that he predicted that Germany would lose the Second World War by as early as December 1941. backward. . In this cauldron, 22 divisions and more than 160 separate number of soldiers cemeteries is growing .. We decided to give ourselves up to capture in order to save our soldiers lives. Our troops are advancing towards theVolga. . From a letter from Senior Lance Corporal Joseph Tzimach, no. by Lawrence Tandy 21 Aug 2003, 20:32, Post 1942. . The film is the second German movie to portray the Battle of Stalingrad. The remarkable 'lost' diaries of German tank commander Leutnant Friedrich Sander, who went from being a hardened Nazi to a broken soldier in just a few weeks of fighting in the Second World War . By that time, he had already shot 60 enemy soldiers; that number would reach 242 by the end of the battle. . Click to reveal An excerpt from a letter of soldier Otto Zechtig, 1st Company of the 1st Battalion of the 227th Infantry Regiment of the 100th Light Infantry Division, no. the personnel army "lost weight", total mobilization was announced in all spheres of German life. I own many books about WW2; the personal accounts are always the best. . My previous work had explored personal diaries written in the Soviet Union under Stalin. 'Written during the fighting, on long marches and often after terribly gut-wrenching events, Sander's diaries offer a frank and honest assessment of the German situation in 1941 and the unforgiving nature of war on the Eastern Front. The Most Awesome Men's Entertainment Site On The Internet. There was in addition ample violence within the Red Army, perpetrated against soldiers who were unwilling to risk their lives. A question looms before us: what should be done? The German veterans refer to Stalingrad as traumatic break in their biography, whereas the Russians tend to underscore the positive aspect of their self-realization in war, even as they confide memories of painful personal loss. . But the army resisted this overt intrusion of the political into the military realm. We paid dearly for our victory. Ironically, Stalins death and demise [in 1953] dealt another blow to the defenders of Stalingrad. . Fanaticism. Harry Howard For Mailonline He was part of 6th Army at Stalingrad. 1943. Are the Russians really thinking of holding out in the city itself? Every soldier sees himself as a condemned man. 'For the first time in a documentary series we are letting the voice of a soldier be the narrator. 22-25 November. The gruesome acts were enough to tip the highly decorated Panzer commander over the edge. In the daytime we can see the smoke of fires, at night time the bright glow. In them, Leutnant Sander described in harrowing detail the barbaric deaths of both German comrades and Russian soldiers, with as many as 15 men executed before his eyes on one occasion. An unlucky number. Credit: Museum of the Battle of Stalingrad, My Aunt Had a Dinner Party, and Then Took Her Guests to Kill 180 Jews, Germany Marks Munich Massacre With Memorial, but Still Avoids Taking Responsibility, How a neo-Nazi Group Recruited Her Majestys Soldiers. Over 1.8 million became casualties. His tone changes from exicted and hopeful to a darker tone toward the end. Its just terrible. The Nazi's loss at Stalingrad was the turning point in the war and Zaitsev played a key role in demoralising the Germans which lead to their ultimate defeat. . What is so remarkable about the interviews that I discovered in the archive is that they were recorded during the battle and in its immediate aftermath. . Up to a thousand wounded soldiers a day are taken back to the rear from Stalingrad. .. everything we did. Our battalion, plus tanks, is attacking the [grain storage] elevator, from which smoke is pouring-the grain in it is burning, the Russians seem to have set light to it themselves. . The Russians are firing on allsides. Let the generals and officers fight the war That, for instance, is how sniper Zaitsev talked about how he got inducted into the party. The documentary 'Barbarossa: The Lost Diaries' will be coming soon via History Hit TV. From the testimony of Lieutenant General Alexander von On the morning of January 10 we read a pamphlet that contained an ultimatum. . If we lose this war, theyll take revenge on us for proceeds. Do we even know? 1st Battalion of the 227th Infantry Regiment of the 100th Light Infantry It was the most powerful formation of the whole 'Heer' (German Army). But the historians drew confidence from history, notably the War of 1812, when the Russian people had been able to defeat a technologically superior invader. . . worse and worse. . around us. . units of the German 6th Army and part of the 4th Panzer Army amounting to A new book has finally laid bare the full horrors of the Battle Of Stalingrad in the words of ordinary Russian soldiers, whose memories were suppressed by the Soviet authorities for 70 years. Spirits were so high that Leutnant Sander even took a bottle of champagne with him to toast his division's first attack. Up to that point, German propaganda had confidently predicted a new order for Europe under Germanic rule; after Stalingrad, it began to sound alarms about the future of Germany, Europe, and civilization.. That has a tremendous impact.. It first details the unit's combat in the great German victory at Kharkov, then the advance to the Caucasus, and finally the brutal winter of 1942-43. .. superiority in the Pacific. Russian cannon and machine-guns are firing out of the burning city. Did he survive the war? We shall obviously be seeing them next in the other world. They say that the city is on fire; on the Fiihrers orders our Luftwaffe [air force] has sent it up in flames. It was announced this morning that the Fuhrer has said: The army can trust me to do everything necessary to ensure supplies and rapidly break the encirclement.. It follows a platoon of German Army soldiers transferred to the Eastern Front of World War II, where they find themselves fighting in the Battle of Stalingrad . . The 83-year-old remembers exactly how he opened the letter, reading with amazement that his father's remains had finally been found. non-commissioned officer had to take over the command of the division. The Battle of Stalingrad ended seventy one years ago on February 2, 1943 after exactly five months, a week and three days of incessant fighting. Then aged 24, he recalled the moment he and his colleagues stood around to listen to Adolf Hitler's address at the start of the operation that would result in almost one million deaths. Battle of Stalingrad, seen as the bloodiest fights in WWII, and perhaps, in whole history of war. Realizing that the Sixth Army, exhausted and short of weapons, ammunition, food, and medical supplies, faced annihilation, German generals pleaded in vain with Hitler to permit withdrawal before the Russians closed the ring. Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941 with the aim of invading the Soviet Union to secure future German interests. For more information, please see our Army will require huge effort and a lot of time. Our old soldiers have never experiencedsuch bitter fighting before. The horses have already been eaten. .. Gossler doesn't want to stay still, he has gone insane. Military church records [Kirchenbcher]. Your IP: The prevailing notion in scholarship is that Stalin was politically bankrupt when the war began duped by the Germans, on the defensive, and deeply unpopular. formed by the Red Army in the Stalingrad region. With the help of an arctic wstopped just before Moscow. The Russian artillery at the other side of theVolgawont let you lift your head. December 21.We are waiting for the order, but for some reason or other it has been a long time coming. From the testimony of captured Captain Kurt Mandelhelm, He is still sitting in the driver's seat. It was the most ferocious battle in human history, claiming the lives of hundreds of thousands. 'Again and again it is damn hard to get my own head around the fact that everything we are being ordered to do here is right.'. Seventy-one year ago, February 2, 1943, the The Battle of Stalingrad, finally ended. August 27.A continuous cannonade on all sides.We are slowly advancing.Less than twenty miles to go to Stalingrad.In the day-time we can see the smoke of fires, at nighttime the bright glow. sustained by the German armed forces as a result of the perishing of the 6th . There have been many accounts regarding the inhumanisation that soldiers go through during war. He wrote them throughout the battle of Stalingrad. His journal provides a firsthand account of what the German 6th Army was experiencing and how they were coping . Answer (1 of 8): I only know this, when the army was strong enough to break out, Hitler ordered it to stay so the rest of the German army could break in to relieve it. Its a happy thought that the end of the war is getting nearer. September 11 . . But, the Germansseverely underestimated their opponent and the weather they would face on their journey to Moscow. turned dramatically in 1942. 'His voice unbiased by the horrors that were to come.'. The letters penned by the German soldiers as the Battle of Stalingrad raged on around them were infused with candor. At the time of the invasion German combat effectiveness had reached its peak and the forces invading Russia represented the best it had to offer. Yet Nazi leaders could not stay silent about the rout of the Sixth Army, which Hitler had once declared could storm the heavens. . 'And if we fail to stop them, then this will be the beginning of the end. We marched all night and by dawn had reached Voroponovo Station. . . Here it is: http://imgur.com/a/22mHD . Confessions of the Enemy. The print run was not specified, and the book was . Schwarz, 10th Company of the 131st Infantry Regiment of the 44th Infantry Iain MacGregor reveal previously unpublished testimonies from Roske's diary, and the grim . Three questions are obsessing every soldier and officer: When will the Russians stop firing and let us sleep in peace, if only for one night? Reddit and its partners use cookies and similar technologies to provide you with a better experience. He wrote: 'That isn't a good idea when facing tank men like us - floor the accelerator, turn left and run over him. Most of the writings were dated from November to December 1942 and the first two weeks of January 1943. Letters containing the most information were published by thethe military publishinghouse of the Peoples Commissariat of the Defense of the USSR in 1944 the released volume was condensed bearing the titleThe Defeat of the Germans at Stalingrad. ', He went on: 'Some of the gunned down Russians in front are still moving. Wilhelm Hoffman was a soldier in the 267th Infantry Regiment, 94th Infantry Division of the German 6th Army who chronicled the Battle of Stalingrad in his journal, and is cited in many documentaries and books concerning that topic. "Yes, we all together are not worth two of these Russians !"<br><br>Records from the diary of a German soldier who died at Stalingrad.<br>In the published diary of a German soldier who fought in the army group "North". Stalingrad Soldier - Read online for free. The fighting in Stalingrad, lasting from August 1942 to February 1943, and ending with the surrender of Hitler 's army, changed the course of World War II and world history. Sixth Army of 300,000 men was lost. . Only as Army Group South advanced toward Maikop and Grozny did Hitler order a separate attack on Stalingrad. By accepting all cookies, you agree to our use of cookies to deliver and maintain our services and site, improve the quality of Reddit, personalize Reddit content and advertising, and measure the effectiveness of advertising. the war. In Germany everyone believes we already hold Stalingrad. . by Whisper 21 Aug 2003, 18:52, Post When we got to Stalingrad, there were 140 of us, but by September 1, after two weeks of battle, only 16 remained. Surely, though, even though this may be form the diary of a sociopathic soldier, he was still, not the norm in the army. . 6 Wilhelm Hoffman was a Wehrmacht soldier trapped in Stalingrad, whose diary survived the war and provides a rare look at what it was like to be an average German soldier on the Eastern Front. He expects victory of us. 'He has started to sing with a slurring voice, so great is his pain. Lots of wounded are being brought by. During the most ferocious battle in human history, Soviet historians interviewed over 200 Red Army soldiers about the 1943 fighting that helped seal Nazi Germany's fate. We have entered a new area. December . Russian soldiers stood at the entrance to the basement of the. . Fanatics. A curse on this war! thousand wounded soldiers a day are taken back to the rear from Stalingrad. The book became a bibliographic rarity. The economy, culture and society were fully mobilized by governments. The Germans became very impressed with this. 15. September 1942. Ive had my fill. 55 was specifically designed to encourage Germans to desert, and, although the stark injunction - 'If German soldiers and officers give themselves up, the Red Army must take them prisoner and spare their lives' - was not exactly reassuring, Red Army propaganda did become more sophisticated in the course of the battle of . Every day I write two or three reports about them. The victory at Stalingrad was not simply a matter of enormous human sacrifice. Yesterday we got vodka. The Russians are fighting desperately like wild beasts, dont give themselves up, but come up close and then throw grenades. He wrote: 'In total more than 20 corpses lay around the destroyed tank. Im sick of this. .. The Russians are so close to us that our planes cannot bomb them. What Was It Like To Be Shipped To A Concentration Camp? What was the role of world media before and during this battle? All Rights Reserved By February 1943, German forces in the Soviet Union were back to their po-, sitions of June 1942. But by February 2, 1943, when the Germans trapped in the city surrendered, it was clear that the momentum on the Eastern Front had shifted. You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked. . While some of these things indeed happened, they did not signal an abdication of communist rule, quite to the contrary. Portion of a letter from Senior Lance Corporal Joseph Tzimach, no. Stalin's order no. German intelligence did notice suspicious troop movements, but the German army command did not take these reports seriously, as it was convinced that the Soviets had run out of available human reserves. 'As soon Rob came to us with an unpublished multi-volume wartime diary that he had discovered we knew we had found our approach. In just the last two days, our battalion has lost 60 killed, injured and frostbitten men; more than 30 men have escaped; there is only enough ammunition to last until evening; the soldiers have not eaten at all in three days, and many of them have frostbitten feet. Up to a Force of the 212th Regiment. We go in a direction on Surovikino. North Africa, the Nazis invade France (again), the Wehrmacht in big trouble in the Caucasus and further up north at Stalingrad. . 'Both legs are only attached to the body by thin strips of sinew and flesh. . As the battle wore on, many read it as an indication that Germany would lose the war. After five months of unrelenting battle, the retreat of the Nazis became the turning point of World War II. January 5. Frozen potatoes are the best meal, but toget them out of the ice-covered ground under fire from Russian bullets is not so easy. Russian resistance in the elevator has been broken. Why Do Some People Look Totally Different In Pictures Than In Real Life? But the regime took further steps: Visiting the Treblinka death camp in eastern Poland just one month after the defeat at Stalingrad, Heinrich Himmler ordered the exhumation and cremation of all the bodies of the 700,000 Jews who had been killed there. In just the last two days, our battalion has lost 60 killed, January 15. August 12. 44111, to his brother, November 18, 1942. By the end he is starving to death as is everyone around him. The above diary entry comes from Wilhelm Hoffman, a soldier in the 94th Infantry Division of the German Sixth Army. . "German WWII soldiers get proper burial after 60 years", The Age (2008) The German War Graves Commission's (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgrberfrsorge) . Soon her home was destroyed in the . . General Friedrich Paulus, the commander of the 6th Army, was ordered to capture Stalingrad, a city that controlled the rail and waterway communications of southern Russia. Our attack with tanks yesterday had no success. There are barely 30 men in the company. already cut up four dogs, yet my comrades cant eat their fill. A haunting sense of loss and defeat marks the recollections on the German side, whereas Russian storytelling about Stalingrad is imbued with a spirit of national pride and sacrifice. People who are now sent from Portion of the testimony of captured Captain Kurt Mandelhelm, commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 518th Infantry Regiment of the 295th Infantry Division, and his adjutant, Lieutenant Karl Gottschaldt, January 15, 1943: . The following entries in the diary of William Hoffman, a German soldier who perished at Stalingrad, reveal the decline in German confidence as the battle progressed. The Russian victory was a major turning point in the war. The idea was to mobilize the German population through an intense propaganda of fear. . At that time we actually cut up a dog, and the vodka really came in handy. We attack on a daily basis. The interviews were recorded in Stalingrad, during the final stage of the battle and its immediate aftermath. In some sense, the counter-offensive copied the stunningly successful German Blitzkrieg model of 1941. . On February2, 1943, the remnants of the Sixth Army surrendered. The stash showed how they tried to communicate their impressions to their loved ones, how they wanted them to see their situations as they fought in the Stalingrad region and how they see the Red Army. To another who pretended to be withdrawn to be taken as rapidly as possible ] dealt another to. An arctic wstopped just before Moscow evening ; the personal accounts are always the best meal, but some. 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