From Robert Kershaw's 1941 Through the Eyes of the Germans:

“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! / Artilleryman of an anti-tank gun /

“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 ... ” / Tanker of the Army Group Center /

After a successful breakthrough of the border defenses, the 3rd Battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment of the Army Group Center, numbering 800 people, was fired upon by a unit of 5 soldiers. “I did not expect anything like this,” the battalion commander, Major Neuhof, admitted to his battalion doctor. “It’s pure suicide to attack the forces of the 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 this until you see it with your own eyes. The soldiers of the Red Army, even burning alive, continued to shoot from the blazing houses. /Officer of the 7th Panzer Division/

“The quality level of Soviet pilots is much higher than expected ... Fierce resistance, its massive nature does not correspond to our initial assumptions” / Major General Hoffmann von Waldau /

“I have never seen anyone angrier than these Russians. Real chain dogs! You never know what to expect from them. And where do they get tanks and everything else?!” / One of the soldiers of Army Group Center /

“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 being in the encirclement, the Russians staunchly defended themselves. /General Günther Blumentritt, Chief of Staff of the 4th Army/

71 years ago, Nazi Germany attacked the USSR. What was our soldier like 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 a book whose author can hardly be accused of distorting the facts. This is “1941 through the eyes of the Germans. Birch Crosses Instead of Iron Crosses” by the English historian Robert Kershaw, which was recently published in Russia. The book almost entirely consists of the memoirs of German soldiers and officers, their letters home and entries in personal diaries.

Non-commissioned officer Helmut Kolakowski recalls: “Late in the evening, our platoon was gathered in the sheds and announced: “Tomorrow we have to enter the battle with world Bolshevism.” Personally, I was simply amazed, it was like a bolt from the blue, but what about the non-aggression pact between Germany and Russia? I kept thinking of that issue of Deutsche Wochenschau that I saw at home and in which the contract was announced. I could not even imagine how we would go to war against the Soviet Union.” The Fuhrer's order caused surprise and bewilderment among the rank and file. “We can say that we were taken aback by what we heard,” admitted Lothar Fromm, a spotter officer. “We were all, I emphasize this, were amazed and in no way prepared for this.” But bewilderment was immediately replaced by relief from the incomprehensible and tedious waiting on the eastern borders of Germany. Experienced soldiers, who had already captured almost all of Europe, began to discuss when the campaign against the USSR would end. The words of Benno Zeiser, who was then studying to be a military driver, reflect the general mood: “All this will end in some three weeks, we were told, others were more careful in their forecasts - they believed that in 2-3 months. There was one who thought that it would last a whole year, but we laughed at him: “And how long did it take to get rid of the Poles? And with France? Have you forgotten?

But not everyone was so optimistic. Erich Mende, Oberleutnant of the 8th Silesian Infantry Division, recalls a conversation with his superior during those last moments of peace. “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.

At 3 hours 15 minutes, the advanced German units crossed the border of the USSR. Johann Danzer, an anti-tank gunner, recalls: “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. Thus ended the war and all the horrors associated with it.

The capture of the Brest Fortress was entrusted to the 45th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht, numbering 17,000 personnel. The garrison of the fortress is about 8 thousand. In the first hours of the battle, reports were pouring in about the successful advance of the German troops and reports of the capture of bridges and fortress structures. At 4 hours 42 minutes "50 people were taken prisoners, all in the same underwear, the war found them in cots." But by 10:50 the tone of the combat documents had changed: "The battle for the capture of the fortress was fierce - numerous losses." 2 battalion commanders have already died, 1 company commander, the commander of one of the regiments was seriously injured.

“Soon, somewhere between 5.30 and 7.30 in the morning, it became completely clear that the Russians were fighting desperately in the rear of our forward units. Their infantry, with the support of 35-40 tanks and armored vehicles, found themselves on the territory of the fortress, formed several centers of defense. Enemy snipers fired accurately 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 smoked out, new forces soon appeared. They crawled out of basements, houses, from sewer pipes and other temporary shelters, conducted aimed fire, and our losses continuously grew.
The summary of the High Command of the Wehrmacht (OKW) for June 22 reported: "It seems that the enemy, after the initial confusion, is beginning to offer more and more stubborn resistance." OKW Chief of Staff Halder agrees with this: “After the initial “tetanus” caused by the suddenness of the attack, the enemy moved on to active operations.”

For the soldiers of the 45th division of the Wehrmacht, the beginning of the war turned out to be completely bleak: 21 officers and 290 non-commissioned officers (sergeants), not counting the soldiers, died on its very first day. During the first day of fighting in Russia, the division lost almost as many soldiers and officers as during the entire six weeks of the French campaign.

The most successful actions of the Wehrmacht troops were the operation to encircle and defeat the Soviet divisions in the "cauldrons" 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 were defeated on the Western Front. Even being in the encirclement, the Russians staunchly defended themselves.

The author of the book writes: “The experience of the Polish and Western campaigns suggested that the success of the blitzkrieg strategy lies in gaining advantages by more skillful maneuvering. Even if we leave out the resources, the morale and the will to resist the enemy will inevitably be broken under the pressure of huge and senseless losses. From this logically follows the mass surrender of the demoralized soldiers who were surrounded. In Russia, however, these "primary" truths were turned upside down by the desperate resistance of the Russians, sometimes reaching fanaticism, in seemingly hopeless situations. That is why half of the offensive potential of the Germans went not to advance towards the goal, but to consolidate the successes that had already been achieved.

The commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, during the operation to destroy Soviet troops in the Smolensk "cauldron" wrote about their attempts to break out of the encirclement: "A very significant success for the enemy who received such a crushing blow!". The encirclement was not continuous. Two days later, von Bock lamented: "Until now, it has not been possible to close the gap in the eastern section of the Smolensk pocket." That night, about 5 Soviet divisions managed to get out of the encirclement. Three more divisions broke through the next day.

The level of German losses is evidenced by the message of the headquarters of the 7th Panzer Division that only 118 tanks remained in service. 166 vehicles were hit (although 96 were repairable). The 2nd company of the 1st battalion of the "Grossdeutschland" regiment in just 5 days of fighting to hold the line of the Smolensk "cauldron" lost 40 people with a regular company strength of 176 soldiers and officers.

Gradually, the perception of the war with the Soviet Union among ordinary German soldiers also changed. The unbridled optimism of the first days of the fighting was replaced by the realization that "something is going wrong." Then came indifference and apathy. The opinion of one of the German officers: “These vast distances frighten and demoralize the soldiers. Plains, plains, there is no end to them and never will be. That's what drives me crazy."

The troops were also constantly worried by the actions of the partisans, whose number grew as the “boilers” were destroyed. If at first their number and activity were negligible, then after the end of the fighting in the Kiev "cauldron", the number of partisans in the sector of the Army Group "South" increased significantly. In the sector of Army Group Center, they took control of 45% of the territories occupied by the Germans.

The campaign, which dragged on for a long time to destroy 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, not to be compared with those that were in France." His company, starting from July 23, participated in the battles for the "tank highway No. 1". “Today the road is ours, tomorrow the Russians take it, then we again, and so on.” Victory no longer seemed so close. On the contrary, the enemy's desperate resistance undermined the morale and inspired by no means optimistic thoughts. “I have never seen anyone angrier than these Russians. Real chain dogs! You never know what to expect from them. And where do they get tanks and everything else?!”

During the first months of the campaign, the combat effectiveness of the tank units of Army Group Center was seriously undermined. By September 1941, 30% of the tanks were destroyed, and 23% of the vehicles were under repair. Almost half of all tank divisions intended for participation in the Typhoon operation had only a third of the initial number of combat vehicles. By September 15, 1941, Army Group Center had a total of 1346 combat-ready tanks, while at the beginning of the campaign in Russia this figure was 2609 units.

Personnel losses were no less heavy. By the beginning of the attack on Moscow, the German units had lost about a third of their officers. The total losses in manpower by this point reached about half a million people, which is equivalent to the loss of 30 divisions. If we take into account that only 64% of the total composition of the infantry division, that is, 10840 people, were directly "fighters", and the remaining 36% were in the rear and support services, it becomes clear that the combat effectiveness of the German troops decreased even more.

This is how one of the German soldiers assessed the situation on the Eastern Front: “Russia, only bad news comes from here, and we still don’t know anything about you. And in the meantime, you are absorbing us, dissolving in your inhospitable viscous expanses.

About Russian soldiers

The initial 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 battles made its own adjustments to these ideas.
Major General Hoffmann von Waldau, Chief of Staff of the Luftwaffe Command, 9 days after the start of the war, wrote in his diary: “The quality level of Soviet pilots is much higher than expected ... Fierce resistance, its mass character does not correspond to our initial assumptions.” This was confirmed by the first air rams. Kershaw cites the words of a 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 the Soviet Union, the Luftwaffe lost up to 300 aircraft. Never before had the German Air Force suffered such large one-time losses.

In Germany, the radio was shouting that the shells of "German tanks not only set fire to, but also pierced Russian vehicles through and through." But the soldiers told each other about Russian tanks, which could not be penetrated even with point-blank shots - the shells ricocheted off the armor. Lieutenant Helmut Ritgen from the 6th Panzer Division admitted that in a collision with new and unknown Russian tanks: “... the very concept of tank warfare changed radically, the KV vehicles marked a completely different level of armament, armor protection and tank weight. German tanks instantly moved into the category of exclusively anti-personnel weapons ... " Tankman of the 12th Panzer Division Hans Becker: "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.

An anti-tank gunner recalls the indelible impression on him and his comrades that the desperate resistance of the Russians made 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 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!

The author of the book “1941 through the eyes of the Germans” cites the words of an officer who served in a tank unit in the sector of Army Group Center, who shared his opinion with war correspondent Curizio Malaparte: “He reasoned like a soldier, avoiding epithets and metaphors, limiting himself only to argumentation, directly related to the issues under discussion. “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 ... "

The following episodes also made a depressing impression on the advancing troops: after a 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 by a unit of 5 soldiers. “I did not expect anything like this,” Major Neuhof, the battalion commander, confessed to his battalion doctor. “It’s pure suicide to attack the forces of the battalion with five fighters.”

In mid-November 1941, an infantry officer of the 7th Panzer Division, when his unit broke into Russian-defended positions in a village near the Lama River, described the resistance of the Red Army. “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 blazing houses.

Winter 41st

In the German troops, the saying "Better three French campaigns than one Russian" quickly came into use. “Here we lacked comfortable French beds and were struck by the monotony of the area.” "The prospect of being in Leningrad turned into an endless sitting in numbered trenches."

The high losses of the Wehrmacht, the lack of winter uniforms and the unpreparedness of German equipment for combat operations in the conditions of the Russian winter gradually allowed the Soviet troops to seize the initiative. During the three-week period from November 15 to December 5, 1941, the Russian Air Force made 15,840 sorties, while the Luftwaffe only 3,500, which further 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 will all have to die here"

80 years ago the Nazis set fire to the Reichstag. Dora Nass (née Pettin) was seven years old at the time and remembers how Hitler's dictatorship was established

Dora Nass in her Berlin apartment

I was born in 1926 near Potsdamerplatz and lived on Königetzerstrasse. This street is located next to the Wilhelmstrasse, where all the ministries of the Third Reich and the residence of Hitler himself were located. I often go there and remember how it all began and how it all ended. And it seems to me that it was not yesterday or even five minutes ago, but is happening right now. I have very poor eyesight and hearing, but everything that happened to me, to us, when Hitler came to power, and during the war, and in its last months, I can see and hear perfectly. But I can’t see your face clearly, only separate fragments ... But my mind is still working. I hope (laughs).

Do you remember how you and your loved ones reacted when Hitler came to power?

Do you know what happened in Germany before 1933? Chaos, crisis, unemployment. The streets are homeless. Many were starving. Inflation is such that my mother took a bag of money to buy bread. Not figuratively. A real little bag of banknotes. It seemed to us that this horror would never end.

And suddenly a man appears who stops Germany's fall into the abyss. I remember very well how excited we were during the first years of his reign. People got jobs, roads were built, poverty was disappearing…

And now, remembering our admiration, how we all and I with my girlfriends and friends praised our Fuhrer, how we were ready to wait for hours for his speech, I would like to say this: you need to learn to recognize evil before it becomes invincible. We failed, and we paid the price! And made others pay.

Didn't think...

My father died when I was eight months old. The mother was completely apolitical. Our family had a restaurant in the center of Berlin. When SA officers came to our restaurant, everyone avoided them. They behaved like an aggressive gang, like proletarians who have gained power and want to recoup their years of slavery.

There were not only Nazis in our school, some teachers did not join the party. Until November 9, 1938*, we did not feel how serious everything was. But that morning we saw that the windows in the shops that belonged to Jews were broken. And everywhere there are inscriptions - “Jew's shop”, “do not buy from Jews” ... That morning we realized that something bad was beginning. But none of us suspected the scale of the crimes that would be committed.

You see, there are so many means now to find out what is really going on. Then almost no one had a telephone, rarely anyone had a radio, and there is nothing to say about TV. And Hitler and his ministers spoke on the radio. And in the newspapers - they are. I read newspapers every morning because they were for customers in our restaurant. They did not write anything about the deportation and the Holocaust. And my friends didn't even read newspapers...

Of course, when our neighbors disappeared, we couldn't help but notice it, but we were told that they were in a labor camp. Nobody talked about the death camps. And if they did, we didn't believe it... A camp where people are killed? Can't be. You never know what bloody and strange rumors do not happen in the war ...

Foreign politicians came to us, and no one criticized Hitler's policy. Everyone shook his hand. We agreed on cooperation. What were we to think?

Thousands of Dora's peers were members of the National Socialist "Union of German Girls"

Did you and your friends talk about the war?

In 1939, we had no idea what kind of war we were unleashing. And even then, when the first refugees appeared, we did not particularly indulge in reflections - what all this means and where it will lead. We had to feed them, clothe them and give them shelter. And of course, we absolutely could not imagine that the war would come to Berlin ... What can I say? Most people don't use the mind, that's how it used to be.

Do you think that you also did not use the mind in your time?

(After a pause.) Yes, I didn’t think about much, I didn’t understand. I didn't want to understand. And now, when I listen to recordings of Hitler's speeches - in some museum, for example - I always think: my God, how strange and scary what he says, and yet I, young, was among those who stood under balcony of his residence and shouted with delight ...

It is very difficult for a young person to resist the general flow, to think what it all means, to try to predict what it might lead to? At the age of ten I, like thousands of my peers, joined the Union of German Girls, which was created by the National Socialists. We had parties, looked after the elderly, traveled, went out into nature together, we had holidays. Summer Solstice, for example. Bonfires, songs, joint work for the good of great Germany... In a word, we were organized on the same principle as the pioneers in the Soviet Union.

There were girls and boys in my class whose parents were communists or social democrats. They forbade their children to take part in Nazi holidays. And my brother was a little boss in the Hitler Youth. And he said: if someone wants to join our organization, please, if not, we will not force them. But there were other little Fuhrers who said: whoever is not with us is against us. And they were very aggressive towards those who refused to take part in the common cause.

Pastors in uniform

My friend Helga lived right on the Wilhelmstrasse. Hitler's car often drove along this street, accompanied by five cars. And once her toy fell under the wheels of the Fuhrer's car. He ordered to stop, let her come up and get the toy from under the wheels, and he got out of the car and stroked her head. Helga is still telling this story, I would say, not without trepidation (laughs).

Or, for example, in the building of the Ministry of Air Transport, which was headed by Goering, a gym was built for him. And my friend, who knew someone from the ministry, could easily go to Goering's personal gym. And they let her through, and no one searched her, no one checked her bag.

We felt like we were all a big family. You can't pretend it didn't happen.

And then the madness began - the whole country fell ill with megalomania. And that was the beginning of our disaster. And when German-friendly politicians arrived at the Anhalter Bahnhof station, we ran to meet them. I remember how they met Mussolini when he arrived ... But what about? Was it possible to miss the arrival of the Duce? It's hard for you to understand, but every time has its heroes, its delusions and its myths. Now I am wiser, I can say that I was wrong, that I should have thought deeper, but then? In such an atmosphere of general excitement and conviction, reason ceases to play a role. By the way, when the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was signed, we were sure that the USSR was not our enemy.

Did you not expect a war in 1941?

We rather did not expect the war to start so soon. After all, all the rhetoric of the Fuhrer and his ministers boiled down to the fact that the Germans needed land in the east. And every day on the radio, from newspapers, from speeches - everything spoke of our greatness ... Great Germany, great Germany, great Germany ... And how much this great Germany is missing! An ordinary person has the same logic: my neighbor has a Mercedes, and I have only a Volkswagen. I want too, because I'm better than a neighbor. Then I want more and more, more and more ... And somehow all this did not contradict the fact that most of us were believers ...

There was a church near my house, but our priest never talked about the party and about Hitler. He wasn't even in the party. However, I have heard that in some other parishes, pastors speak in uniform! And they say from the pulpit almost the same thing that the Fuhrer himself says! These were quite fanatical Nazi pastors.

There were also pastors who fought Nazism. They were sent to camps.

Destroyed Berlin. 1945

Did they write in textbooks that the German race is the highest?

Now I will show you my school textbook (he takes a 1936 school textbook from the bookshelf). I keep everything: my textbooks, my daughter's textbooks, the things of my late husband - I love not only the history of the country, but also a small, private, my history. Look here - a textbook published in 1936. I am ten years old. Read one of the texts. Please listen.

Der fuhrer kommt (the advent of the Fuhrer).

Today, Adolf Hitler will fly to us by plane. Little Reinhold wants to see him very much. He asks dad and mom to go with him to meet the Fuhrer. They walk together. A lot of people have already gathered at the airport. And everyone let the little Reinhold pass: “You are small - go ahead, you must see the Fuhrer!”

The plane with Hitler appeared in the distance. Music plays, everyone freezes in admiration, and now the plane has landed, and everyone hails the Fuhrer! Little Reinhold shouts in delight: “He has arrived! Arrived! Heil Hitler! Unable to withstand the delight, Reinhold runs to the Fuhrer. He notices the baby, smiles, takes his hand and says: “It's good that you came!”

Reinhold is happy. He will never forget this.

As a class, we went to see anti-Semitic films, to Jew Süss**, for example. In this movie, they proved that the Jews are greedy, dangerous, that they are only evil, that our cities must be freed from them as soon as possible. Propaganda is a terrible force. The most terrible. So I recently met a woman my age. She lived all her life in the GDR. She has so many stereotypes about West Germans! She says and thinks about us like that (laughs). And only after meeting me, she began to understand that the West Germans are the same people, not the most greedy and arrogant, but just people. How many years have passed since the merger? And we do belong to the same people, but even in this case, the prejudices inspired by propaganda are so tenacious.

Did you believe?

When the leaders of the country tell you the same thing every day, and you are a teenager… Yes, I believed. I did not know a single Slav, Pole or Russian. And in 1942 I went - voluntarily! — from Berlin to work in a small Polish village. We all worked without pay and very much.

Did you live in the occupied territory?

Yes. The Poles were evicted from there, and the Germans arrived, who had previously lived in Ukraine. My names were Emma and Emil, very good people. Good family. German was spoken as well as Russian. I lived there for three years. Although in 1944 it became obvious that we were losing the war, I still felt very good in that village, because I benefited the country and lived among good people.

Were you not embarrassed that the people who used to live there were expelled from this village?

I was not thinking about it. Now, perhaps, it is difficult, even impossible to understand ...

Where does the train go

In January 1945 I had an attack of appendicitis. Illness, of course, found its time! (Laughs.) I was lucky that I was sent to the hospital and operated on. Chaos was already beginning, our troops were leaving Poland, and therefore the fact that I was given medical assistance is a miracle. I was in bed for three days after the operation. We, the sick, were evacuated.

We didn't know where our train was going. We understood only the direction - we are going west, we are running from the Russians. Sometimes the train stopped and we didn't know if it would go on. If they had demanded my documents on the train, the consequences could have been terrible. I could be asked why I am not where my homeland sent me? Why not on a farm? Who let me go? What does it matter if I'm sick? Then there was such fear and chaos that I could be shot.

But I wanted to go home. Only home. To Mom. Finally, the train stopped near Berlin in the city of Uckermünde. And there I got off. An unfamiliar woman, a nurse, seeing in what condition I was - with stitches that had not yet healed, with an almost open wound that was constantly in pain - bought me a ticket to Berlin. And I met my mom.

And a month later, still ill, I went to Berlin to get a job. So strong was the fear! And along with it - education: I could not leave my Germany and my Berlin at such a moment.

It is strange for you to hear this - both about faith and fear, but I assure you that if a Russian person of my age heard me, he would perfectly understand what I am talking about ...

I worked in the tram depot until April 21, 1945. On that day, Berlin began to be shelled so terribly, as they had never been shelled before. And I, again without asking anyone for permission, ran away. Weapons were scattered on the streets, tanks were burning, the wounded were screaming, corpses were lying, the city was beginning to die, and I could not believe that I was walking in my Berlin ... it was a completely different, terrible place ... it was a dream, a terrible dream ... I didn’t see anyone came up, I didn’t help anyone, I, like a bewitched one, went to where my house was.

And on April 28, my mother, grandfather and I went down to the bunker - because the Soviet army began to capture Berlin. My mother took only one thing with her - a small cup. And until her death, she drank only from this cracked, tarnished cup. When I left home, I took my favorite leather bag with me. I was wearing a watch and a ring - and that's all I have left from my past life.

And so we went down to the bunker. It was impossible to take a step there - there were people all around, the toilets were not working, there was a terrible stench ... No one had any food or water ...

And suddenly, among us, hungry and frightened, a rumor is circulating: parts of the German army have taken up positions in the north of Berlin and are starting to recapture the city! And everyone had such hope! We decided to break through to our army at all costs. Can you imagine? It was obvious that we had lost the war, but we still believed that victory was still possible.

And together with my grandfather, who was supported from both sides, we went through the metro to the north of Berlin. But we did not walk for long - it soon turned out that the subway was flooded. There was knee-deep water. The three of us stood together - and around it was darkness and water. Above are Russian tanks. And we decided not to go anywhere, but just hide under the platform. Wet, we lay there and just waited...

On May 3, Berlin capitulated. When I saw the ruins, I couldn't believe that this was my Berlin. It seemed to me again that this was a dream and I was about to wake up. We went to look for our house. When we came to the place where he used to stand, we saw the ruins.

Russian soldier

Then we began to look for just a roof over our heads and settled in a dilapidated house. Having settled there somehow, they left the house and sat down on the grass.

And suddenly we noticed a wagon in the distance. There was no doubt: these were Russian soldiers. Of course, I was terribly frightened when the wagon stopped and a Soviet soldier walked in our direction. And suddenly he spoke German! In very good German!

And so the world began for me. He sat down next to us and we talked for a very long time. He told me about his family, I told him about mine. And we were both so glad there was no more war! There was no hatred, there was not even fear of the Russian soldier. I gave him my photo and he gave me his. His postal front number was written on the photograph.

For three days he lived with us. And he hung a small notice on the house where we lived: "Occupied by tankers." So he saved our home, and maybe life. Because we would be kicked out of a habitable home, and it is completely unknown what would happen to us next. I remember meeting him as a miracle. He turned out to be a man in an inhuman time.

I want to especially emphasize: there was no romance. It was impossible to even think about it in that situation. What a novel! We just had to survive. Of course, I also met other Soviet soldiers… For example, a man in military uniform suddenly approached me, abruptly snatched my bag from my hands, threw it on the ground and immediately, right in front of me, urinated on it.

We heard rumors of what Soviet soldiers were doing to German women, and we were very afraid of them. Then we found out what our troops were doing on the territory of the USSR. And my meeting with Boris, and the way he behaved, is a miracle. And on May 9, 1945, Boris never returned to us. And then I looked for him for many decades, I wanted to thank him for the act that he did. I wrote everywhere - to your government, to the Kremlin, to the general secretary - and invariably received either silence or refusal.

After Gorbachev came to power, I felt that I had a chance to find out if Boris was alive, and if so, find out where he lives and what happened to him, and maybe even meet him! But even under Gorbachev, the same answer came to me again and again: the Russian army does not open its archives.

And only in 2010, a German journalist conducted an investigation and found out that Boris died in 1984, in the Bashkir village in which he had lived all his life. So we never saw him.

The journalist met with his children, who are now adults, and they said that he talked about meeting with me and told the children: learn German.

Now in Russia, I read, nationalism is rising, right? It's so strange... And I read that you have less and less freedom, that there is propaganda on television... I really want our mistakes not to be repeated by the people who freed us. After all, I perceive your victory in 1945 as a liberation. You then liberated the Germans.

And now, when I read about Russia, one gets the impression that the state is very bad, and the people are very good… How do you say it? Mutherchen russland, "mother Russia" (with an accent, in Russian), right? I know these words from my brother - he returned from Russian captivity in 1947. He said that in Russia he was treated like a human being, that he was even treated, although they might not have done so. But they were engaged in it, spent time and medicines on the prisoner, and he was always grateful for this. He went to the front as a very young man - he, like many other young men, was taken advantage of by politicians. But then he realized that the guilt of the Germans was enormous. We unleashed the most terrible war and are responsible for it. There can be no other opinions here.

Did the realization of “German guilt”, the guilt of an entire people, come immediately? As far as I know, this idea met resistance in German society for a long time.

I can't say about all the people... But I often thought: how did this become possible? Why did this happen? And could we stop it? And what can one person do if he knows the truth, if he understands what kind of nightmare everyone is walking so cheerfully into?

And I ask again: why were we allowed to acquire such power? Was it really clear from the rhetoric, from the promises, curses and calls of our leaders, where everything was going? I remember the 1936 Olympics—no one said a word against Hitler, and the international sports delegations that walked through the stadium greeted Hitler with the Nazi salute. No one knew then how it would all end, even politicians.

And now, now I'm just grateful for every day. This is a gift. Every day I thank God that I am alive and that I lived the life that he gave me. Thank you for meeting my husband, giving birth to a son ...

My husband and I moved into the apartment where we are talking now in the fifties. After the cramped, dilapidated houses where we lived, it was happiness! Two rooms! Separate bath and toilet! It was a palace! See the photo on the wall? This is my husband. Here he is old. We are sitting with him in a cafe in Vienna - he laughs at me: "Dora, you are filming me again." This is my favorite photo. Here he is happy. He has a cigarette in his hands, I eat ice cream, and the day is so sunny ...

And every evening, passing by this photo, I say to him: “Good night, Franz!” And when I wake up: "Good morning!" You see, I pasted on the frame Albert Schweitzer's saying: "The only trace we can leave in this life is the trace of love."

And it is incredible that a journalist from Russia came to me, we are talking and I am trying to explain to you what I felt and what other Germans felt when they were crazy and won, and then when our country was destroyed by your troops, and how me and my family was saved by a Russian soldier Boris.

I think what would I write in my diary today if I could see? What a miracle happened today.

Otto Carius(German Otto Carius, 05/27/1922 - 01/24/2015) - German tank ace during the Second World War. He destroyed more than 150 enemy tanks and self-propelled guns - one of the highest results of the Second World War along with other German tank battle masters - Michael Wittmann and Kurt Knispel. He fought on tanks Pz.38, "Tiger", self-propelled guns "Jagdtigr". Book author " Tigers in the mud».
He began his career as a tanker on a light tank "Skoda" Pz.38, from 1942 he fought on a heavy tank Pz.VI "Tiger" on the Eastern Front. Along with Michael Wittmann, he became a Nazi military legend, and his name was widely used in Third Reich propaganda during the war. Fought on the Eastern Front. In 1944, he was seriously wounded, after recovering, he fought on the Western Front, then, by order of the command, he surrendered to the American occupying forces, spent some time in a prisoner of war camp, after which he was released.
After the war, he became a pharmacist, in June 1956 he acquired a pharmacy in the city of Herschweiler-Pettersheim, which he renamed Tiger Apotheke. He headed the pharmacy until February 2011.

Interesting excerpts from the book "Tigers in the Mud"
the book can be read in full here militera.lib.ru

On the offensive in the Baltics:

“It’s not bad at all to fight here,” Sergeant Dehler, the commander of our tank, said with a chuckle after once again pulling his head out of a tub of water. It seemed that this washing would never end. The year before, he had been in France. The thought of this gave me self-confidence, because I entered the fighting for the first time, excited, but also with some fear. We were greeted enthusiastically everywhere by the people of Lithuania. The people here saw us as liberators. We were shocked by the fact that before our arrival, Jewish shops were destroyed and destroyed everywhere..»

On the attack on Moscow and the arming of the Red Army:

“The attack on Moscow was given preference over the capture of Leningrad. The attack choked in the mud, when the capital of Russia, which opened before us, was a stone's throw away. What then happened in the infamous winter of 1941/42 cannot be conveyed in oral or written reports. The German soldier had to hold out in inhuman conditions against those accustomed to winter and extremely well-armed Russian divisions.»

About T-34 tanks:

“Another event hit us like a ton of bricks: Russian T-34 tanks appeared for the first time! The astonishment was complete. How could it happen that up there, they did not know about the existence of this excellent tank?»

The T-34, with its good armor, perfect shape and magnificent 76.2-mm long-barreled gun, made everyone in awe, and all German tanks were afraid of him until the end of the war. What were we to do with these monsters thrown against us in multitudes?

About heavy IS tanks:

“We examined the Joseph Stalin tank, which, to a certain extent, was still intact. The 122-mm long-barreled gun aroused our respect. The disadvantage was that unitary shots were not used in this tank. Instead, the projectile and powder charge had to be loaded separately. The armor and uniforms were better than those of our "Tiger", but we liked our weapons much more.
The Joseph Stalin tank played a cruel joke on me when it knocked out my right drive wheel. I did not notice this until I wanted to back away after an unexpected strong blow and explosion. Feldwebel Kerscher immediately recognized this shooter. He also hit him in the forehead, but our 88-mm gun could not penetrate the heavy armor of "Joseph Stalin" at such an angle and from such a distance.

About the Tiger tank:

“Outwardly, he looked handsome and pleasing to the eye. He was fat; almost all flat surfaces are horizontal, and only the front slope is welded almost vertically. The thicker armor made up for the lack of rounded shapes. Ironically, just before the war, we supplied the Russians with a huge hydraulic press with which they were able to produce their "T-34" with such elegantly rounded surfaces. Our armaments experts did not consider them valuable. In their opinion, such thick armor could never be needed. As a result, we had to put up with flat surfaces.”

“Even if our “tiger” was not handsome, his margin of safety inspired us. He really drove like a car. With just two fingers, we could control a 60-ton giant with 700 horsepower, drive at a speed of 45 kilometers per hour on the road and 20 kilometers per hour over rough terrain. However, taking into account the additional equipment, we could only move on the road at a speed of 20-25 kilometers per hour and, accordingly, at an even lower speed off-road. The 22 liter engine ran best at 2600 rpm. At 3000 rpm it quickly overheated.

On successful Russian operations:

« With envy, we watched how well equipped the Ivans were compared to us.. We experienced real happiness when several replenishment tanks finally arrived to us from the deep rear.

“We found the commander of the Luftwaffe field division at the command post in a state of complete despair. He did not know where his units were. Russian tanks crushed everything around before the anti-tank guns had time to fire even one shot. Ivans captured the latest equipment, and the division fled in all directions.

“The Russians attacked there and took the city. The attack followed so unexpectedly that some of our troops were caught on the move. Real panic set in. It was quite fair that the commandant of Nevel had to answer before a military court for a flagrant disregard for security measures.

About drunkenness in the Wehrmacht:

“Shortly after midnight, cars appeared from the west. We recognized them as ours in time. It was a motorized infantry battalion that did not have time to connect with the troops and advanced to the highway late. As I found out later, the commander was sitting in the only tank at the head of the column. He was completely drunk. The disaster happened with lightning speed. The whole unit had no idea what was happening, and moved openly through the space being shot through by the Russians. A terrible panic arose when machine guns and mortars began to speak. Many soldiers were hit by bullets. Left without a commander, everyone ran back to the road instead of looking for cover south of it. Any kind of mutual assistance is gone. The only thing that mattered was every man for himself. The cars drove right over the wounded, and the freeway was a picture of horror.

On Russian heroism:

“When it began to get light, our infantrymen approached the T-34 somewhat inadvertently. He was still standing next to von Schiller's tank. With the exception of a hole in the hull, no other damage was visible on it. Surprisingly, when they approached to open the hatch, he did not give way. Following this, a hand grenade flew out of the tank, and three soldiers were seriously wounded. Von Schiller again opened fire on the enemy. However, until the third shot, the commander of the Russian tank did not leave his car. Then he, seriously wounded, lost consciousness. The other Russians were dead. We brought a Soviet lieutenant to the division, but it was no longer possible to interrogate him. He died of his wounds on the way. This incident showed us how careful we must be. This Russian sent detailed reports to his unit about us. He only had to slowly turn his turret to shoot von Schiller point-blank. I remember how we resented the stubbornness of this Soviet lieutenant at the time. Today I have a different opinion about it ... "

Comparison of Russians and Americans (after being wounded in 1944, the author was transferred to the Western Front):

“In the midst of the blue sky, they created a screen of fire that left no room for imagination. It covered the entire front of our bridgehead. Only Ivans could arrange such a barrage of fire. Even the Americans, whom I later met in the West, could not compare with them. The Russians fired in layers with all types of weapons, from continuously firing light mortars to heavy artillery.

“Sappers were active everywhere. They even reversed the warning signs in the hope that the Russians would drive in the wrong direction! Such a ploy sometimes worked later on the Western Front against the Americans, but did not pass with the Russians.»

“If I had two or three tank commanders and crews from my company that fought in Russia with me, then this rumor could well turn out to be true. All my comrades would not fail to fire on those Yankees who were marching in "ceremonial formation". After all, five Russians were more dangerous than thirty Americans.. We have already noticed this in the last few days of fighting in the west.

« The Russians would never give us so much time! But how much it took the Americans to eliminate the "bag", in which there could be no talk of any serious resistance.

“... we decided one evening to replenish our fleet at the expense of the American one. It never occurred to anyone to consider this a heroic deed! The Yankees slept in the houses at night, as the "front-line soldiers" were supposed to. After all, who would want to disturb their peace! Outside, at best, there was one sentry, but only if the weather was good. The war began in the evenings only if our troops retreated, and they pursued them. If by chance a German machine gun suddenly opened fire, then they asked for support from the air force, but only the next day. Around midnight we set off with four soldiers and returned pretty soon with two jeeps. It was convenient that they did not require keys. One had only to turn on a small toggle switch, and the car was ready to go. It wasn't until we were back in our lines that the Yankees fired indiscriminately into the air, probably to calm their nerves. If the night were long enough, we could easily drive to Paris.”

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 we again, 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 only one small drama of the great war ”(Erhard Raus, colonel, commander of the Raus campfgruppe about the KV-1 tank, which shot and crushed a convoy of trucks and tanks and an artillery battery of the Germans; a total of 4 Soviet the tanker was held back by the advance of the Raus battle group, about half a division, for two days, on June 24 and 25).

“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 irresistibly rushed forward ”(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 backbone of the beast, was broken by the Battle of Stalingrad: the total losses of the enemy in 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 save 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 a 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 the dying people turn their last words 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 it, 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 every reasonable person in Germany, the time will come when he will curse the folly of this war, and you will realize how empty your words were about the banner with which I should 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.”

The letters of the Wehrmacht soldiers show the entire evolution of the consciousness of the "chosen race" from the perception of the Second World War as a "tourist walk around the world" to the horror and despair of the last days surrounded by Stalingrad. These letters leave no one indifferent. Although the emotions caused by them can be ambiguous.

First letter. Beginning of the Battle of Stalingrad. German offensive

“Dear uncle! First, I would like to sincerely congratulate you on your promotion and wish you continued good luck as a soldier. Maybe you already know about our present fate; it is not in pink colors, but the critical mark, probably, has already been passed. Every day, the Russians set up tar-tar-rams on some sector of the front, throwing into battle a huge number of tanks, followed by armed infantry, but the success is small compared to the forces expended. All their attempts are shattered by a stubborn will to fight and an indefatigable strength in the defense of our positions. It simply does not describe what our excellent infantry does every day. This is a high song of courage, bravery and endurance. Soon there will be a turning point - and there will be complete success. Best regards, Albert."

“Hello uncle. In the morning I was shocked by a wonderful sight: for the first time through the fire and smoke I saw the Volga, calmly and majestically flowing in its channel ... Why did the Russians rest on this bank, do they really think to fight on the very edge? This is madness!”

“We hoped that before Christmas we would return to Germany, that Stalingrad was in our hands. What a great delusion! Stalingrad is hell, uncle! This city has turned us into a crowd of insensitive dead... Every day we attack. But even if in the morning we advance twenty meters, in the evening we are thrown 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 on the attack in vests. Physically and spiritually, one Russian can sometimes be stronger than a whole squad!

Fourth letter. January 1943

“Dear uncle. 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 one - the only house. One single house! In vain they stormed ... None of us will return to Germany, unless a miracle happens ... Time has gone over to the side of the Russians.

Letter five. Last thing

“We are completely surrounded. And I must admit. On reflection, the behavior of the Russians, even in the first battle, was strikingly different from the behavior of the Poles and the allies. Even once in the encirclement, the Russians defended themselves and did not think about retreat. Now, having changed places, Stalingrad has finally become hell for us. I had to dig up comrades who were buried here eight weeks ago one by one. Although we get extra wine and cigarettes, I'd rather work at a slave quarry. First there was bravado, then doubts, a few months later fear, and now only animal panic remains.

Letters from German soldiers from the Eastern Front

“No, father, I am afraid that God no longer exists, or only you have him, in your prayers and psalms. It is probably also present in the sermons of priests, maybe it is in the ringing of bells, the smell of incense, or pastoral words, but in Stalingrad it is not even in sight. I am writing to you sitting in the basement, melting the fire with someone's furniture. I am only twenty-six, and until recently I was happy with shoulder straps and yelled “Heil Hitler!” with you. Now father, I have only two ways: either to die right here, or to end up in the camps of Siberia "...

“Stalingrad is a good lesson for the entire German people, the only pity is that those who have been trained by Russia are unlikely to be able to use their knowledge outside” ...

“Russians are not human, they are made of iron. Sometimes it seems that none of them knows fatigue, and knows no fear. The sailors, in the bitter cold, go on the attack in the same vests. Physically and spiritually, one Russian soldier is sometimes stronger than a whole company of German forcing "...

“Russian snipers and armor-piercers are undoubtedly disciples of God. They watch over us day and night. For 58 days we stormed one - the only house. The only one! And in vain they stormed ... None of us will return to Germany, unless a miracle happens. And I don't believe in miracles anymore. Success went over to the side of the enemy "...

“I spoke in the morning with Chief Sergeant V. He says that the struggle in France was more united for us. The French honestly capitulated as soon as they realized that further resistance was useless. The Russians, even if it is in vain, continue to fight ... In France or Poland, the soldiers would have surrendered long ago, Sergeant G. also believes, but here the Russians continue to fanatically fight ... "...

“My love, Zilla. This is, to be honest, a strange letter that no mail will send anywhere. Therefore, I decided to send him with my wounded brother. You know him - this is Fritz Sauber... Every day here brings us great sacrifices. We are losing our people, and there is no end in sight to this war. I probably won't see him either, I don't know. What will happen to me tomorrow? Nobody will answer. I have already lost all hope of returning home and remaining whole. I think that every German soldier will find a frozen grave here. These blizzards and vast fields covered with snow terrify me to death. The Russians simply cannot be defeated…”

“We believed that the war would end by the end of this year, but, apparently, the situation is different, or quite the opposite ... I think that we have mortally miscalculated with regard to the Russians” ...

“... We are located 90 km from Moscow, and it cost us incredible efforts. The Russians put up insane resistance, defending Moscow... Until we enter it, there will be more fierce battles. Many who do not think about it yet will have to die in this war ... In 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 in such a struggle, then we are lost ... "

“Now we are at the Moscow-Smolensk highway, not far from the damn capital ... The Russians are fighting fiercely and furiously for every meter of their land. Never before have battles been so brutal and difficult. Many of us will not see our relatives again ... "

“For more than three months I have been in Russia and have experienced a lot. Yes, dear brother, sometimes your soul goes straight to your heels when you are only a hundred steps from the damned Russians ... "

From the diary of General Blumentritt:

“Many of our leaders greatly underestimated this adversary. This happened partly because they did not know the Russian people, and even more so the Russian character. Some of our military leaders throughout the First World War were on the Western Front and never fought on the Eastern. This is probably why they had no idea about the geographical conditions of Russia and the stamina of Russian soldiers. They signed our death warrant by ignoring the repeated warnings of prominent military figures on Russia ... The behavior of the Russian troops, even in this first battle (for Minsk), is strikingly different from the behavior of the Poles and the troops of the Western allies in the face of defeat. Even when surrounded, exhausted, and without a chance to fight, the Russians never retreat. We won't be able to move forward quickly. Blitzkrieg lost."

Lieutenant K. F. Brand:

- “It is unlikely that the Germans will be able to emerge victorious from the struggle against the Russian land and against Russian nature. How many children, how many women, and everything around is bearing fruit, despite war and robbery, despite destruction and death! Here we are fighting not against people, but against nature itself. At the same time, I again have to admit to myself that this country is becoming dearer to me every day.

Pastor G. Gollwitzer:

- “I know how risky it is to describe the sensational “Russian man”, this is an unclear vision of philosophizing and politicizing writers, which is very suitable for being hung with all doubts like a clothes hanger. But here at the front, we, unlike all these characters, understand that the “Russian man” is not only a literary fiction, although here, as elsewhere, people are different and irreducible to a common denominator, but also a reality that sometimes freezes blood in my veins."

A. Orme:

- “They are so versatile that almost each of them describes the full range of human qualities. Among them you can find everything from a cruel brute to St. Francis of Assisi. That is why they cannot be described in a few words. To describe Russians, one must use all the existing epithets. I can say about them that I like them, I don’t like them, I bow before them, I hate them, they touch me, they scare me, I admire them, and frankly I’m afraid! One thing is clear, we are waiting for a completely different from what was expected, the finale of this campaign "...

K. Mattis:

- “Germany and Russia literally personify the incommensurability of two values. The German offensive on the Eastern Front sometimes seems to me to be the contact of the limited with the limitless. Stalin is the ruler of the Euro - Asian boundlessness - this is an enemy that the forces advancing from our limited, dissected spaces cannot cope with. We entered into battle with an enemy whom we, being in captivity of European life concepts, did not understand at all. This is the fate of our strategy, it is, strictly speaking, completely accidental, and therefore doomed.

Officer Malaparte:

- “My brother, from a people who officially do not recognize spiritual values, as if one could not expect either nobility or strength of character. But the Russians broke even these stereotypes. As soon as they come into contact with the Western people, they briefly define them with the words "dry people" or "heartless people". And it's true, all the egoism and materialism of the West is contained in this definition - "dry people". In the first months of the war, their village women... hurried with food for their prisoners of war. "Oh poor!" they said. And at the same time they also brought food for the German guards, sitting in the center of small squares on benches around the white statues of Lenin and Stalin, thrown into the mud. They hated us as invaders, but at the same time they pitied us as people and victims of the war started from above... Lord, how everything has changed. By 1943, I had seen enough of such atrocities from my own compatriots that I cannot describe them to you in words. Rape, murder of Russian girls, for nothing, old people, children, experiments in camps and work until death, believe me brother, it was after that that something switched in the Russians. You will not believe it, but they seem to have become a completely different nation completely devoid of its former compassion. Realizing that we did not deserve their human treatment, they became violent people in the same year. As if their entire nation rose up in unison to sweep us all out of their own territory. Bury here forever...

I saw that girl, brother... Which in '41, was taking food out of the house for us. She is in the partisan detachment. Recently she was caught, terribly tortured, but she did not tell them anything. She tried to bite her guard's throat. What are we doing here on this earth? And where did so much hatred come from in our people? I will say sedition, my brother, and you are unlikely to get even a line from this letter, but the Russian people, especially the vast expanses, steppes, fields and villages, are one of the most healthy, joyful and wise on our Earth. He is able to resist the power of fear even with his back bent. There is so much faith and antiquity in it that the most just order in the world can probably come out of it.

Not so long ago, a modern photo exhibition was held in Germany: "German soldiers and officers during the Second World War." There, in black-and-white photographs from the German family archives, smiling Wehrmacht officers are depicted in an embrace with French women, Italians, mulattos from Africa, and Greek women. Then there are photos with Ukrainian women happily meeting them in painted shirts, and then ... silence. That is, geographically, then the soldiers had to enter directly into the territory of Russia ... I would like to ask: where is Stalingrad ?!. Where are the inscriptions on a white sheet of paper: “Next was Stalingrad, in which we, the liberators, were met in exactly the same way.” Where is the photo of Rostov, Voronezh, and other cities of our country? Not?

This is probably surprising for modern Germans ...

Ruslan Khubiev (RoSsi BaRBeRa), POLITE RUSSIA