Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942–1943

  INTERVIEWS AND UNPUBLISHED ACCOUNTS

  Yelena Filippovna Albert (Stalingrad anti-aircraft defences); Winrich Behr (Hauptmann, HQ Sixth Army and Sonderstab Milch); Lev Aleksandrovich Bezyminsky (Senior Lieutenant, Red Army Intelligence, Don Front HQ); Gottfried von Bismarck (Leutnant, 76th Infantry Division); C. M. Bogomolov (Lieutenant, NKVD, Don Front HQ); Alexander Fürst zu Dohna-Schlobitten (Rittmeister, HQXIV Panzer Corps); Nikolay Dmitrevich Dyat-lenko (Major, NKVD, Don Front HQ); Josef Farber (Soldat, 305th Infantry Division); Generalleutnant a.D. Bernd Freiherr von Freytag-Loringhoven (Hauptmann, 16th Panzer Division and Sonderstab Milch); Zinaida Georgevna Gavrielova (Lieutenant, Medical Services, 62nd Army); Prof. Dr Hans Girgensohn (pathologist, Sixth Army); Aleksandr Vladimirovich Glichov (Lieutenant, 24th Army, then 65th Army); Professor Nikolay Viktorovich Goncharov (Stalingrad civilian); Nina Grigorevna Grebennikova (Stalingrad civilian); Dr Yevgeny Aleksandrovich Grigorev (Stalingrad civilian); Klemens Graf von Kageneck (Hauptmann, 3rd Panzer Division); Viktor Ivanovich Kidyarov (Sergeant, 62nd Army); Lazar Ilich Lazarev (Lieutenant, Marine Infantry); Henry Metelmann (Soldat, 22nd Panzer Division); Valentina Ivanovna Nefyodova (Stalingrad civilian); Oberstleutnant a.D. Gert Pfeiffer (Hauptmann, 60th Motorized Infantry Division); Hans Schmieder (Hauptwachtmeister, 9th Flak Division, Luftwaffe); Aleksandr Sergeevich Smirnov (Sergeant, 64th Army); Klavdia Vasilevna Sterman (Private, Red Army Aviation); Aleksandr Vasilevich Tsygankov (Lieutenant, 62nd Army); Boris Nikolaevich Ulko (Corporal, 1st Guards Army); Heinz Wischnewski (Leutnant, 22nd Infantry Division)

  Three other veterans wanted their contributions to remain anonymous.

  Source Notes

  PREFACE

  p. xiv 13,500 executions, Institute of Military History, 21 Jan. 1993, quoted in Erickson, ‘Red Army battlefield p. xiv p. xiv performance’, p. 244

  p. xiv ‘former Russians’, Dobronin to Shcherbakov, 8 Oct. 1942, TsAMO 48/486/24, p. 81

  CHAPTER 1

  p. 3 ‘an important clarification’, Berezhkov, In diplomatischer Mission bei Hitler,p. 63

  p. 3 ‘thirty-nine aircraft…’, Maslennikov, RGVA, 38652/1/58.

  p. 4 ‘is not here…’, Berezhkov, op. cit., p. 64

  p. 5 ‘Disinformation has…’, quoted in Andrew and Gordievsky, p. 212

  p. 6 ‘In the course…’, quoted in Erickson, The Road to Stalingrad,p. 110

  p. 6 ‘Reichsminister von Ribbentrop…’, Berezhkov, op. cit., p. 65

  p. 7 ‘barely five feet tall…’, Andrew and Gordievsky, p. 195

  p. 7 ‘like a caged…’, ‘statesmanlike…’, ‘The Führer…’, Schmidt, pp. 212, 234

  p. 7 ‘His face was scarlet…’, Berezhkov, op. cit., p. 67

  p. 8 ‘The Soviet Government’s…’, Schmidt, pp. 234–5

  p. 8 ‘The Führer…’, Berezhkov, op. cit., p. 67

  p. 8 ‘You’ll regret…’, Berezhkov, op. cit., p. 68

  p. 9 ‘Even if you retreat…’, Volkogonov, p. 413

  p. 10 ‘It was as if…’, Gavrielova, conversation, 22 Nov. 1995

  p. 10 ‘fought in four wars’, Goncharov, conversation, 23 Nov. 1995

  p. 10 ‘We thought…’, Nefyodova, conversation, 22 Nov. 1995

  p. 11 ‘Propaganda fell…’, Grigorev, conversation, 22 Nov. 1995

  CHAPTER 2

  p. 12 ‘Nothing is impossible…!’ Reichstag speech of 4 May 1941, Völkischer Beobachter, 5 May 1941

  p. 12 ‘to establish a defence…’, Führer Directive No. 21, 18 Dec. 1940

  p. 13 ‘The war with Russia…’, Gefreiter, 24th Pz. Div., interrogation, 12 Aug. 1942, TsAMO 48/453/13, p. 32

  p. 13 305th Inf. Div. motor transport, BA-MA, RH19 VI/1, p. 129

  p. 14 ‘Our optimism…’, Freytag-Loringhoven, conversation, 23 Oct. 1995

  p. 14 ‘the final encounter…’, IMT ND-447-PS

  p. 14 ‘that the downfall of 1918…’, BA-MA, RW4/577

  p. 14 ‘That would be…’, Stahlberg, p. 159

  p. 15 ‘battle between…’, quoted in Messerschmidt, p. 214

  p. 16 ‘Many tens of millions…’, IMT ND 221-L

  p. 16 ‘It makes one’s hair…’, Hassell, 8 Apr. 1941, p. 173

  p. 16 ‘The annihilation of those same Jews…’, quoted in Jürgen Förster, ‘Motivation and indoctrination in the Wehrmacht, 1933–1945’, in Addison and Calder, p. 270

  p. 17 ‘The jewish-bolshevik…’, 11th Army HQ 20 Nov. 1941, quoted in Klee and Dressen, pp. 41–44

  p. 17 ‘Thegenerals…’, paulus,2iJuly 1951,’DasVerhalten der Generalität unter Hitler’, BA-MA, N372/9, p. 1

  p. 17 ‘For us…’, Edgar Klaus, p. 36, and Beiträge zur Geschichte der 60. Infanterie Division (mot.), TS, MGFA-P, 1979, p. 3

  p. 17 ‘Instead of…’, Kroll, conversation, 6 May 1996

  p. 18 ‘Within the regiment…’, Kageneck, conversation, 24 Oct. 1995

  p. 18 ‘of the three…’, Dr Alois Beck, ÖStA-AdR 522

  p. 18 ‘You could not…’, anonymous conversation, 16 May 1996

  p. 18 ‘the Wehrmacht should not…’, Theo Schulte, ‘The German soldier in occupied Russia’, in Addison and Calder, p. 279

  p. 18 ‘shocked by…’, Dohna-Schlobitten, pp. 213–14, and conversation, 16 Oct. 1995

  p. 19 ‘handed over…’, RGVA, 38652/1/8

  p. 19 ‘The bombs were falling…’, Col. I. T. Starinov, ‘The frontier aflame’, in Bialer, p. 225

  p. 20 ‘Of course I’ll be there…’, Schmidt, p. 233

  p. 20 ‘approximately 160…’, quoted in Domarus, vol. ii, p. 1731

  p. 20 ‘European Crusade…’, Völkischer Beobachter, 28 June 1941

  CHAPTER 3

  p. 21 ‘I know! It has already…’, Starinov, op. cit., in Bialer, p. 222

  p. 22 ‘impetuous dash…’, Erich von Manstein, Lost Victories,p. 187

  p. 22 ‘Our pilots feel…’, 4 Oct. 1942, TsAMO 48/486/24, p. 48

  p.23 ‘The Germans are coming…’, Erickson, The Road to Stalingrad,p. 121

  p. 23 ‘the study of the…’, Erickson, ‘The development of Soviet military doctrine’, p. 7

  p. 24 ‘political demands…’, captured document, APRF 3/58/451

  p. 25 ‘I was with the troops…’, Starinov, op. cit., in Bialer, p. 237

  p. 25 ‘a number of conclusions’, APRF, 45/1/478

  p. 26 ‘I am dying…’, TsMVS

  p. 26 ‘nearly always stubborn…’, APRF, 3/58/451

  p. 27 ‘shocking and in comprehensible’, Gavrielova, conversation, 22 Nov. 1995

  p. 27 ‘The hatred Fascism…’, Grossman, Life and Fate,p. 34

  p. 27 ‘The Motherland Calls!’, TsMVS

  p. 28 ‘Our aim is to defend…’, quoted in N. D. Dyatlenko MS.

  p. 28 ‘Tomorrow, or…’, Ehrenburg collection, RGALI 1204/2/3453

  p. 29 ‘the greatest battle…’, Sommerfeldt, pp. 95–6

  p. 30 ‘Look closely…’, Malaparte, p. 61

  CHAPTER 4

  p. 31 ‘The vastness…’, 12 August 1941, quoted in Messenger, p. 150

  p. 32 ‘up to forty miles…’, Gottfried von Bismarck MS.

  p. 32 ‘the knights of modern warfare’, Podewils, p. 32

  p. 35 ‘What a great…’, letter, 11 Oct. 1941, quoted in Paulus, p. 144

  p. 35 ‘Strong-point after…’, letter, Lt-Gen. Himer, 2 Oct. 1941, quoted in Paulus, p. 143

  p. 37 ‘rubbish’, quoted in Volkogonov, p. 422

  p. 38 ‘with his impassive…’, Werth, The Year of Stalingrad,p. 104

  p. 38 ‘Was the military parade…’, conversation, Ulko, 22 Nov. 1995

  p. 39 ‘If they want a war of extermination…’, Werth, Russia at War,p. 246

  p. 39 ‘There can be…’, Erickson, The Road to Stalingrad,p. 258

  p. 40 ‘Many of the men…’, Gen. d. PZ. Tr. Rudolf Schmidt, XXXIX Panzer Corps, 13 Nov. 1941, quoted in Paulus, p. 145

  p. 40 ‘This is no longer…’, quoted in Bartov, Hitler’s Army,p. 41

  p.44 ‘a small army…?
??, Melnikov to Beria, 25 Sept. 1943, TsKhIDK, 451P/2/6

  p. 44 ‘The German people…’, Hitler, quoted in Seydlitz, p. 114

  p. 44 ‘You could see…’, Pabst, p. 54

  p. 44 ‘photographing of executions…’, German reference: W 283/11.41c, 28 Nov. 1941, RTsKhIDNI 17/125/96

  p. 45 ‘destroy and burn to ashes’, quoted in Volkogonov, p. 456

  p.45 ‘Suicide in…’, order entitled ‘Suicide and Attempted Suicide’ of 17 Jan. 1942, TsAMO 48/453/21, p. 29

  p. 45 ‘Christmas will not take place…’, TsAMO 206/294/48, p. 468

  p. 46 ‘You are under…’, TsAMO 206/294/48, p. 346

  p.46 ‘Notes for Those…’, TsAMO 206/294/48, pp. 471–4

  p.47 ‘We want to return…’, Reichenau to XXIX Army Corps, 25 Dec. 1941, 01348/41, RTsKhIDNI 17/125/96

  p. 47 ‘Front Letter No. 3’, TsAMO 206/294/12, pp. 17–19

  CHAPTER 5

  p. 52 ‘roughneck…’, quoted in Messenger, p. 61

  p. 53 ‘more like a scientist…’, Kageneck, conversation, 24 Oct. 1995

  p. 54 ‘Even his…’, letter, 11 Feb. 1942, quoted in Paulus, p. 164

  p. 54 ‘punitive measures’, VOTsDNI 113/14/306, quoted in Epifanov, p. 135

  p. 55 SS-Obersturmführer August Häfner, quoted in Klee and Dressen (eds.), p. 111

  p. 55 ‘In various places…’, reproduced in Heer (ed.), p. 75

  p. 55 ‘dishonourable for officers…’, Paget, p. 173

  p. 56 ‘We cannot…’, quoted in Groscurth, p. 91

  p. 56 ‘You should bring with you…’, quoted in Heer, p. 78

  p. 56 more than 30,000, R. W. M. Kempner, SS im Kreuzverhör, Munich, 1964, p. 29

  p. 56 Reichenau’s order, quoted in Klee and Dressen (eds.), p. 39

  p. 57 village of Komsomolsk, TsAMO 206/294/48

  p. 57 ‘Interrogations should end…’, TsAMO 48/453/21, p. 32

  p. 57 ‘The Landsers go…’, 5 July 1942, TsAMO 206/294/48, p. 485

  p. 58 ‘Führer’s Birthday’ and other examples all in BA-MA, N395/10

  p. 58 ‘dead men lying…’, Kageneck, p. 30

  p. 59 ‘We were afraid…’, Kageneck, pp. 32–3

  p. 59 ‘Most of them…’, Malaparte, p. 121

  p. 59 600 Soviet prisoners, Goldhagen, p. 157

  p. 59 ‘should be left to starve’, BA-ΜA, N159/4, quoted in Messerschmidt, pp. 221–2

  p. 59 ‘of cold, of starvation…’, Erickson, The Road to Stalingrad,p. 328

  p. 59 Maximov, NKVD report, 4 Mar. 1943, TsAMO 226/335/7, p. 364

  p. 60 ‘Their information on…’, 29 Mar. 1942, RTsKhIDNI 17/125/96

  p. 60 ‘work only if…’, 16 Mar. 1942, RTsKhIDNI 17/125/96

  p. 60 ‘My ambulance had…’, Dr Hans Heinz Schrömbgens, quoted in Schneider-Janessen, p. 136

  p. 61 Feodosia, BA-MA, RW2/V. 151, 152, quoted in de Zayas, p. 181

  p. 62 ‘Morale was…’, Freytag-Loringhoven, conversation, 23 Oct. 1995

  p. 62 ‘Just be happy…’, Bruno Gebele, in Beck, p. 102

  p. 63 ‘qualitative superiority…’, Förster, ‘Evolution and development of erman doctrine 1914–1945’, p. 7

  p. 63 ‘My great concern…’, Bock diary, 8 May 1942, quoted in Paulus, p. 176

  p. 63 ‘that it was a farewell…’, Seydlitz, p. 147

  p. 63 ‘The buildings…’, Seydlitz, p. 148

  p. 65 ‘shells bounced…’, Kageneck, conversation, 24 Oct. 1995

  p. 66 ‘The fighting methods…’, Uffz. Hans Urban, 389th I.D., BA-MA, RW4/V 264, p. 89

  p. 67 ‘the German searchlights…’, MS. by unknown soldier in Ehrenburg papers, RGALI 1204/2/3453

  p. 67 ‘the success…’, 20 May 1942, quoted in Paulus, p. 166

  p. 67 ‘How refreshing it is…’, 12 July 1942, quoted in Paulus, p. 168

  CHAPTER 6

  p. 69 ‘If we don’t take…’, Paulus, p. 157

  p. 71 ‘the fateful place’, Podewils, p. 29

  p. 73 ‘The Russian tanks…’, Podewils, pp. 47–8

  p. 73 ‘shot them…’, TsAMO 230/586/1, p. 78

  p. 74 ‘During the…’, Bock diary, 3 July 1942, Paulus, p. 185

  p.75 ‘As far as the eye…’, Podewils, p. 47

  p. 75 ‘It was almost…’, Kageneck, conversation, 24 Oct. 1995

  p. 76 ‘an ocean that…’, Strecker, 19 July 1942, Haller, p. 44

  p. 76 ‘Black figures…’, Podewils, p. 44

  p. 77 ‘A really small boy…’, 5 July 1942, Bähr and Bähr, p. 137

  p. 77 ‘Germany, I have not…’, Bähr and Bähr, p. 139

  p.77 ‘Our lads have…’, Cpl István Balogh, diary entry, 24 July 1942, RTsKhIDNI 17/125/97

  p. 78 ‘We were starved…’, TsAMO 206/294/47, p. 147

  p. 80 Rattenhuber’s interrogation by SMERSH on 28 Nov. 1945, Voennye Arkhivi Rossii, No. 1, 1993, p. 357

  p. 81 ‘The constant…’, Haider, 23 July 1942, p. 489

  p.81 ‘a sun-ray cure’, quoted in Stahlberg, p. 308

  p. 81 ‘absolute League of Nations army’, quoted in Messenger, p. 149

  p. 82 ‘amid silent people…’, RTsKhIDNI 17/125/97

  p. 82 ‘enough to buy…’, interrogation 26 Sept. 1942, TsAMO 206/294/47, p. 561

  p. 82 ‘A man went to…’, RTsKhIDNI 17/125/97

  p. 83 98,000 casualties, Mark Axworthy, ‘The Romanian soldier at the siege of Odessa’, in Addison and Calder, p. 227

  p. 83 ‘The habit of looting…’, RTsKhIDNI 17/125/97

  CHAPTER 7

  p. 84 ‘They’ve forgotten…’, TsAMO 3/11 556/9, Volkogonov, p. 459

  p. 84 ‘anyone who removes…’, Order 270 of 16 Aug. 1941, TsAMO 298/2526/5a, quoted in Volkogonov, p. 427

  p. 85 ‘Panic-mongers…’, 16 Aug. 1942, TsAMO 48/486/28, p. 8

  p. 85 ‘to combat cowardice’, Zhukov to Stalin, quoted in Volkogonov, p. 469

  p. 85 ‘traitor to the…’, RTsKhIDNI 17/43/1774

  p. 85 422,700 Red Army men, Erickson, ‘Red Army battlefield performance’, in Addison and Calder, p. 236

  p. 85 ‘atone with…’, TsAMO 48/486/28, p. 15

  p.85 ‘already wounded…’, Dobronin to Shcherbakov, 29 Oct. 1942, TsAMO 48/486/24, p. 315

  p. 86 ‘pale because they…’, Nikolay Filin, ‘Kak i pochemu ya byl agentom SMERSh’, Vechernyaya Moskva, 25 Nov. 1995

  p. 86 ‘It is very difficult…’, Ehrenburg papers, RGALI 1284/2/3466

  p. 86 ‘of the treatment…’, order from Second Panzer Army, 9 Feb. 1942, RTsKhIDNI 17/125/96

  p. 87 ‘Most of the soldiers…’, 10 Aug. 1942, TsAMO 48/453/13, p. 10

  p. 87 ‘a sin against…’, TsAMO 48/453/13, pp. 4–7

  p. 87 ‘as hot…’, letter, 9 July 1942, quoted in Haller, p. 192; ‘53 degrees in the sun’, Groscurth, p. 527

  p. 87 ‘The Russians have…’, Gefr. H. S., 389th I.D., 10 Aug. 1942, BZG-S

  p. 87 ‘Soviet bombers…’, BA-MA, RH27-16/42

  p. 88 ‘the plague of flies…’, Dr Günther Diez, quoted in Schneider-Janessen, p. 130

  p. 88 ‘To be honest…’, 19 July 1942, TsAMO 206/294/48, p. 485

  p. 89 horsebrush, TsAMO 48/486/28, p. 15

  p. 89 ‘about this senseless task’, Podewils, p. 98

  p. 90 ‘hiding in a ditch’, 31 July 1942, TsAMO 206/294/47, p. 251

  p. 90 ‘They had a longer range…’, Freytag-Loringhoven, conversation, 23 Oct. 1995

  p. 91 ‘They would have quickly…’, Simonov, Raznye dni voiny,p. 180

  p. 92 ‘Russians resisting…’, 2, 3, 5 and 6 Aug. 1942, TsAMO 206/294/48, p. 486

  p. 92 night-fighter regiment, Sterman, conversation, 7 Nov. 1995

  p. 94 ‘Papa Hube’, BA-MA, RH27-16/42

  p. 94 ‘consuming so many…’, Behr, conversation, 25 Oct. 1995

  p. 94 ‘old warhorse’, Dohna-Schlobitten, conversation, 16 Oct. 1995

  p. 94 ‘too pessimistic’, Freytag-Loringhoven, conversation, 23 Oct. 1995

 
p. 94 ‘Not an encouraging sight…’, Podewils, p. 85

  p. 95 ‘whenever a Russian…’, Metelmann, conversation, 12 Apr. 1996

  p. 95 ‘an enormous herd of elephants’, Seydlitz, p. 158

  p. 96 ‘The Russians are…’, quoted Paulus, p. 187

  p. 96 ‘höchst primitiv’, Podewils, p. 95

  p. 96 181st Rifle Division, conversation, Tsygankov, 22 Nov. 1995

  p. 97 ‘the many, many…’, Sold. H. R., 9 Aug. 1942, 389th I.D., BZG-S

  p. 97 seventy-two corpses, 24 Sept. 1942, TsAMO 62/335/7

  p. 97 ‘The Russians can…’, Gefr. W. V., 9 Aug. 1942, 305th I.D., BZG-S

  p. 97 ‘The only consolation…’, Sold. B. B., 389th I.D., 14 Aug. 1942, BZG-S

  p. 97 ‘workers’columns’, RTsKhIDNI 17/43/1773

  p. 98 petroleum-storage tanks, Nefyodova and Grebennikova, conversation, 23 Nov. 1995

  p. 98 ‘Do you want to defend…?’ Albert, conversation, 23 Nov. 1995

  p. 98 high-school pupils, RTsKhIDNI 17/43/1774

  p. 99 Traitor to the Party…’, RTsKhIDNI 17/43/1774

  p. 99 ‘special attention to the investigation…’, Dobronin to Shcherbakov, 18 Nov. 1942, TsAMO 48/486/25, p. 240

  p. 99 ‘advising him to…’, RTsKhIDNI 17/43/1774

  p. 99 ‘political and moral degeneracy…’, RTsKhIDNI 17/43/1774

  p. 100 ‘the end of the world…’, Lazarev, conversation, 13 Nov. 1995

  p. 100 ‘After the Don…’, TsAMO 206/294/48, p. 485

  CHAPTER 8

  p. 103 ‘a very exhilarating…’, Freytag-Loringhoven, conversation, 23 Oct. 1995

  p. 103 ‘General Paulus…’, Richthofen diary, 20 Aug. 1942, Paulus, p. 188

  p. 103 ‘to cripple…’, Richthofen diary, 23 Aug. 1942, Paulus, p. 188

  p. 103 ‘Make use of today!’ Podewils, p. 107

  p. 104 ‘in tightly packed groups’, BA-MA, RH27-16/42

  p. 104 ‘Stalingrad, the city of Stalin…’, BA-MA, RH20-6/216

  p. 104 ‘a day which…’, Gavrielova, conversation, 22 Nov. 1995

  p. 104 ‘Comrades, an air-raid…’, Nekrassov, p. 82