The weather's getting worse. 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. That was one reason why these interviews could not be published at the time. StomachPunch Media LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. 173.236.223.132 'It is just awful. If in the morning we manage to advance 20meters, in the evening the Russians throw us backward. Yes, leading generals of the Stalingrad battle, like Chuikov, were able to publish accounts of their role in the battle, but they carefully omitted any reference to executions within the Red Army. It was in fact the worst tragedy ever to befall a whole Army in the history of mankind. 1st Battalion of the 227th Infantry Regiment of the 100th Light Infantry ', As the Germans advanced towards Leningrad (St Petersburg) in July 1941, the young officer is convinced of the Nazis' goal to end Bolshevism, calling the local population a 'big herd of submissive cattle.'. 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? 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? Our men are being killed not only in the firing line, but in the rear, in buildings we have already occupied. His tone changes from exicted and hopeful to a darker tone toward the end. The testimonies were too truthful and multifaceted for their times, and Stalin forbade their publication, not least because he alone claimed full credit for the victory at Stalingrad. we actually cut up a dog, and the vodka really came in handy. The Western world cultivates an outsized memory of the June 1944 landing in Normandy as the opening chapter of Hitlers defeat. This fightback, coupled with the fact that the Germans were not prepared for the horrendous conditions of the Russian winter, led to Nazi forces retreating westwards from late 1941 onwards. Did he survive the war? The soldiers look like corpses or lunatics, looking for something to put in their mouths. The commander has congratulated us on our victory. The Russians have two alternatives, either to flee across theVolga or give themselves up. defect or surrender to captivity. Does that get to you? . a magpie and cooked it. The most informative letters were published in 1944 by the .. An extract for August 24 described the horrific aftermath of one fight his crews engaged in. In Germany everyone believes we already hold Stalingrad. Germans and Russians battled with dogged ferocity over every part of the city; 99 percent of Stalingrad was reduced to rubble. From time to time mines explode Battle of Stalingrad, (July 17, 1942-February 2, 1943), successful Soviet defense of the city of Stalingrad (now Volgograd), Russia, U.S.S.R., during World War II. The entries start at July 29th 1942 and end December 26th 1942. The retreat of the Nazis in that particular battle is seen by many historians as the turning point of WWII. All the rest were wounded and killed. Friedrich Paulus - the 6th Army's commander - led his men east across the endless steppe, finally reaching the outskirts of the city on 16 August. . Confessions of a Man Who Has Never Had Sex With His Wife. .. Infantry Division, and his adjutant, Lieutenant Karl Gottschaldt, January 15, . Perhaps well be home out to us. From time to time mines explode around us. Today, after wed had a bath, the company commander told us that if our future operations are as successful, well soon reach the Volga, take Stalingrad and then the war will quickly end. Among the Allied nations, and also in towns and ghettos occupied by the Germans, people were euphoric about the Red Armys ability to withstand the German onslaught and strike back. I had a letter from Elsa today. By the end he is starving to death as is everyone around him. 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. 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. Nov. 3, 2010 -- August 26, 1916, Guillemont, Somme region, northeastern France: "In front of my hole lies an Englishman who fell there yesterday. Post . All are fleeing in panic. number of soldiers cemeteries is growing .. 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. 10 Women Who Gave Creepy Guys A Chance, Describe Their Experiences, A Few Videos Guaranteed To Make You Feel Better About Life. Our companys interpreter has interrogated a captured Russian officer. My book shows in great detail how Red Army soldiers were inducted into the Communist Party. . While the German army was penetrating deeply into Russia, he believed that victory was not far away and dreamed of returning home with medals. A curse on this war! . The book became a bibliographic rarity. The weather is getting We havent eaten or slept in three .. From the diary of Officer F. P. of the 8th Light Small-Arms Entries from the diary of Officer F. P. of the 8th Light Small-Arms Force of the 212th Regiment: . This is an apolitical forum for discussions on the Axis nations and related topics hosted by the Axis History Factbook in cooperation with Christian Ankerstjernes Panzerworld and Christoph Awender's WW2 day by day. by Lawrence Tandy 21 Aug 2003, 22:24, Post The Russians are not men, but some kind of cast-iron creatures; they never get tired and are not afraid of fire. At that time we actually cut up a dog, and the vodka really came in handy. I was extraordinarily lucky to have been the first historian to fully explore the 215 interviews conducted with Soviet defenders of Stalingrad, and publish them. They also wanted to create an archival record for posterity. The Soviets were able to psychologically wear down the Germans and make them slowly lose motivation. After five months of unrelenting battle, the retreat of the Nazis became the turning point of World War II. After five months of unrelenting battle, the retreat of the Nazis became the turning point of World War II. . backward. 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. . Among the trophies of the Soviet troops was an He believed that he needed the east in order to win the war and secure the long-term prosperity of his county. When we got to Stalingrad, there were . 28329 D, to his Germans fire the 105 mm howitzer leFH 18 in the area of the grain elevator. Diary of a German Soldier During Stalingrad. But with thousands of Soviet guardsmen poised to launch a furious counter-attack, his triumph was to be short-lived. and December of 1942 and the first half of January 1943. In the blocks captured two days ago Russian soldiers appeared from somewhere or other and fighting has flared up with fresh vigour. 140 of us, but by September 1, after two weeks of battle, only 16 remained. 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. So, there it is- -theVolga, victory and soon home to our families! Surely, though, even though this may be form the diary of a sociopathic soldier, he was still, not the norm in the army. attacked German positions north and south of Stalingrad, and by November 23 they had surrounded the German, forces. Michal Shapira spoke with Hellbeck following a visit by him to Tel Aviv University earlier this year. In this cauldron, 22 divisions and more than 160 separate As Stalingrad was about to fall into German hands in September 1942, the Red Army came up with a plan for a counter-attack that would eventually smash the enemy. I just want to scream it all away. Winter privations and Soviet, attacks, however, forced the Germans to surrender on, February 2, 1943 (see the box above). 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.. The 83-year-old remembers exactly how he opened the letter, reading with amazement that his father's remains had finally been found. This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks. At that time Swansong 1945: A Collective Diary of the Last Days of the Third Reich - Walter Kempowski 2015-04-13 . That was how Wehrmacht soldiers and officers viewed their plight after they ended up in the middle of the circle of fire formed by the Red Army in the Stalingrad area. Russian cannon and machine-guns are firing out of the burning city. While it would be more than another year before the Red Army liberated the death camps in Poland, the Battle of Stalingrad disrupted the Nazi death machine. The retreat of the Nazis in that particular battle is seen by many historians as the turning point of WWII. . . 27800, to his parents, November 20, 1942. 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. Just weeks before, in response to the Germans rapid advance toward Stalingrad, Stalin had issued the Not A Step Back order that forbade his soldiers to retreat under any circumstances. . September 11 . . Wilhelm Hoffman's Stalingrad diary is a FAKE TIKhistory 269K subscribers Subscribe 124K views 1 year ago I've just discovered that Wilhelm Hoffman's famous "Diary of a German Soldier". . morning we manage to advance 20 metres, in the evening the Russians throw us December 14.Everybody is racked with hunger. December 23.Still no orders. A question looms before us: what should be done? At 11 o'clock, Russian tanks and Katyusha attack us. 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. Are the Russians really thinking of holding out in the city itself? Credit: Das Bundesarchiv / Wikimedia Commons. Till now i only know the "stern"-article said, but i dont have the impression that its only ment for german soldiers, thats only what the media makes out of it, i think it just shows what war makes out of man, no matter what nationality they are. . From a letter from Senior Lance Corporal Arno Bitz of the 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. Yesterday Russian katyushi [small rocket launchers] and then tanks halted our regiment. Who were the interviewees of these Stalingrad transcripts? Stalingrad, and the final desperate battles inside Germany at the end of the war. . Heziel Pitogo is one of the authors writing for WAR HISTORY ONLINE. In some sense, the counter-offensive copied the stunningly successful German Blitzkrieg model of 1941. Haaretz Daily Newspaper Ltd. All Rights Reserved. All By the time it was realized that the army could not be relieved by outside forces it was too late, while few of the Germans made . 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. "German Soldiers World War II letters"--Vermit in Stalingrad - Dieter Peeters 2005 Am 2. . 1943. 17189, dated November 13, 1942 to Private First Class Karl Weitzel: . Barbarism. The global media reports pushed both sides onward. When during my research I discovered a trove of wartime interviews with Soviet defenders of the city, I decided that my book should centrally focus on the comparatively little-known, Soviet side of the story. His secret journals have been found 80 years later and are to be turned into a documentary by History Hit, the streaming network set up by historian Dan Snow. This morning katyushi attacks caused the company heavy losses: twenty-seven dead and fifty wounded. I wouldnt judge the book or trying to interpret it in any way without having it read yet. . Even civilians were considered vital defenders of Fortress Stalingrad and not allowed to evacuate until several days after the beginning of the bombardment. enough ammunition to last until evening; the soldiers have not eaten at all in 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. 44111, to his brother, November 18, 1942. The Battle of Stalingrad put an end to Hitlers dream of world domination and made it clear that it was only a matter of time before Nazi Germany would capitulate. . . German Infantry in position for attack during the Battle of Stalingrad. After our attack the field was littered with dead. . . But the army resisted this overt intrusion of the political into the military realm. 'But have I myself really taken these slogans to heart? The company commander says the Russian troops are completely broken, and cannot hold out any longer. October 14. We marched all night and by dawn had reached Voroponovo Station. 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. Hitler launched Operation Barbarossa on June 22, 1941 with the aim of invading the Soviet Union to secure future German interests. In the daytime we can see the smoke of fires, at night time the bright glow. I have enough. . the Wehrmacht characterized their situation after they ended up in the ring Their goal was not to cultivate private thoughts as distinct from the communist regime, but to align their thinking with the mandate of the Soviet revolution, and to rise to the level of a worthy participant in a world historical drama. Force of the 212th Regiment. Thesefragmentsfrom letters, diary entries and testimonials were first published in File.rf in Russian. . 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. It stopped the German advance into the Soviet Union and marked . Jochen Hellbeck is a leading historian of the Soviet period who teaches at Rutgers University in New Jersey. Megenburg. In his memoirs, Chuikov writes that he issued a sharp rebuke to his cowardly officers. .. November 3. by Whisper 21 Aug 2003, 22:23, Post Stalingrad is a 1993 German anti-war film directed by Joseph Vilsmaier. When, as part of the campaign to fight Stalins cult of personality, his city was renamed Volgograd in 1961, many veterans objected: With Stalingrad gone, they felt written out of history as well. All our sacrifices would have been in vain.'. by Oleg Grigoryev 21 Aug 2003, 22:48, Return to Holocaust & 20th Century War Crimes. Stalingrad: The City that Defeated the Third Reich: Hellbeck, Jochen, Tauchen, Christopher: 9781610397186: Amazon.com: Books Books History Military Buy new: $12.19 List Price: $18.99 Details Save: $6.80 (36%) Get Fast, Free Shipping with Amazon Prime FREE Returns FREE delivery Sunday, March 5 if you spend $25 on items shipped by Amazon After marching through the night we have established ourselves in a shrubcovered gully. decided to give ourselves up to capture in order to save our soldiers lives. I found them in the archive of the Institute for Russian History of the Russian Academy of Sciences. October 28. Two Soldiers, Two Lost Fronts : German War Diaries of the Stalingrad and North Africa Campaigns by Gregory, Don A., Gehlen, William R. and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at AbeBooks.com. World War II was a total war, in which civilians as much as soldiers were part of the war. This could not fail to influence our decision. . Large-scale help is coming up for us, and the Russians will be beaten. After months of fierce fighting and heavy casualties, German forces (numbering now only about 91,000 surviving soldiers) surrender at Stalingrad on the Volga. His commitment was so strong that he sent a huge number of troops to carry out the invasion. What were the main ways in which survivors remembered Stalingrad? He wrote: 'That isn't a good idea when facing tank men like us - floor the accelerator, turn left and run over him. The most important condition for a soldier to join the party was not doctrinal knowledge, say, the ability to recite party textbooks, but proof that the soldier had killed Germans. Less than twenty miles to go to Stalingrad. "German WWII soldiers get proper burial after 60 years", The Age (2008) The German War Graves Commission's (Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgrberfrsorge) . 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. strength of the Red Army. In this sense, too, Stalingrad marked a turning point in world history. Clothing freezes on the body. The Nazi regimes first response after the successful Soviet encirclement in November was denial. December 1 . 87th Artillery Regiment of the 113th Infantry Division, no. The book is based on interviews with Red Army soldiers that you found in the archives. "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". Ideology was the cement that the Red Army command used to bind together its diverse soldier body. The Russians are fighting desperately like wild beasts, dont give themselves up, but come up close and then throw grenades. Russian. USSR in a compact volume titled The Defeat of the Germans at Stalingrad. 'The diaries are so powerful, so vivid and so rich that interviews with historians, presenters and re-enactment are all unnecessary. 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. September 1942. . Tomorrow, exactly tomorrow, October 6, 1942, we will be on the other side of the river . You dont see them at all, they have established themselves in houses and cellars and are firing on all sides, including from our rear-barbarians, they use gangster methods. Confessions of the Enemy. The print run was not specified, and the book was Have we really lost so many men? The weather is getting worse and worse. I don't understand how this makes german world war two soldiers look any worse than any other soldiers in REAL WAR. Contemporary observers, German as well as Soviet, agreed that the Red Army troops at Stalingrad fought with enormous fervor. . .. There are very few men left in the companies. While it would be more than another year before the Red Army liberated the death camps in Poland, the Battle of Stalingrad disrupted the Nazi death machine. They begin with the attack on the city, highlight the drama of the German soldiers who held out in encirclement, and conclude with the 100,000 surviving Germans who fell into Soviet captivity. In the north our troops capture a part of Stalingrad and reach theVolga, but in the south the doomed divisions are continuing to resist bitterly. We attack on a daily basis. During that meeting, Lyolya Novikova was posthumously accepted into the Communist Party. January 15. The battle commenced in August 1942 and finally ended in February 1943 when the last of the German forces surrendered. commander of the 2nd Battalion of the 518th Infantry Regiment of the 295th The Russians are throwing in their last forces, Captain Werner explained to me. . . . Performance & security by Cloudflare. enormous field post office of the adversary, along with diaries and other the war. Let the generals and officers fight the war themselves. . contained an ultimatum. . General Manstein is approaching Stalingrad from the south with strong forces. 17189, to 'He has started to sing with a slurring voice, so great is his pain. Decades later, Prof. Jochen Hellbeck became the first historian to read their stories. . The battle for the elevator is still going on. will there be a way out, of the cauldron. A soldier prepares to throw a grenade. October 22. Will I really go back to Elsa without a decoration? . . December 18.The officers today told the soldiers to be prepared for action. 4 pages, ebook First published January 1, 1942 Book details & editions About the author William Hoffman The diaries were discovered by Mr Schaefer in an estate clearance in Germany in 2018, with work on the documentary starting in 2020. More than a million people-Russian civilians and soldiers, Germans and their Italian, Hungarian, and Romanian allies-perished in the epic struggle for Stalingrad. Our regiment is involved inconstant heavy fighting. The battle is remembered for ferocious street fighting. It may just be me, but every time people start to realize that maybe the Germans were not a race of butchers and that maybe Germans were also subjected to the horrors of total war, that something like this comes out of left field to paint them all as murdering scum again. We are encircled. .. What was the meaning of defeat for the Germans?
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