Operation Barbarossa: Brutal Reality of Eastern Front Exposed by Lost German Diaries | Part One

These are the Diaries of Loiten and Friedrich Zander. He was born on August 31, 1916 in Groudens, then a small market town in German West Prussia, on the banks of the Fistula River and today located in north-central Poland. Zonda was apprenticed to a merchant at Osner Brook in northwestern Germany, but like many his age, he would spend six months in the Reich Labor Service before beginning his military training in early November 1937, volunteering to serve in Vermont as a signalman or radio operator in a Panzer Regiment quickly rose through the ranks becoming an entry officer in late 1938, underwent training as a tank commander the following year and was commissioned as an officer in 1940.

He did not see Front Line service in Poland and France and spent the years of 1939 and 1940 training troops for the regiment's replacement battalion during its service on the Eastern Front. He was decorated with both classes of the Iron Cross, the Gold German Cross and the Tank Destruction Badge. His

front

-line service ended in December 1942, on the outskirts of Stalingrad, when he was wounded. during an attack intended to relieve the surrounded troops of the Sixth Palace Army in the summer of 1941, he was only 24 years old and commander of a platoon of Panzer 35 tees; In June of that year he would become one of three million soldiers marching into the Soviet Union as

part

of Operation Barbarossa, the largest military invasion in history in which the 11th Panzer Regiment would fight as

part

of six Panzer Divisions. in Army Group North.

It is through his words that we will see the

reality

of nature's unbreakable and relentless nature. of war on the Eastern Front On June 17, 1941, in the morning, at 9:30, the company was gathered in the parking lot, ready to leave behind the fence of the school yard, where the vehicles had been stopped since three months ago due to the dense crowd of people has risen, many school children, among them had been given a day off just to see us go, this piece makes its report and then the bus arrives not too early as it usually does in exercises and I report to Uber as if the boss then briefly addresses the company after which we are dismissed and we assemble our vehicles and then our old and reliable LT skoda 35t rolls again the old hubs work admirably in September 1939 the Germans launched their attack on Poland in response to this act of German aggression Great Britain and France declared war on Nazi Germany World War II had begun on September 17, 1939 The Soviet Union invaded

eastern

Poland, sealing the fate of the country The last Polish

operation

al unit surrendered on October 6 after Poland's defeat Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union divided the country according to a secret clause of the Soviet-German non-aggression pact that had just been signed a few days before the line demarcation line for the partition of German-Soviet occupied Poland ran along the Bug River almost two years later Vietnam Sander found himself in a West Prussian town of Freestat just seven kilometers from the Soviet border prepared to be part of an armored Vanguard that would destroy the Molotov tape through the pact June 17, 1941 the debate in the tank is excellent there is a bottle of champagne in my luggage that I will break open to baptize the first attack Outback plays the harmonica Herring is also sitting in the tower and reads a funny book a collection of jokes drawings caricatures and humorous anecdotes every time he reads a particularly juicy story he laughs out loud while we take a look at the contents of his shoulder, leaving that aside, I also have to keep an eye on my Society as I look at our surroundings.

The summer landscape with all its lakes is quite pleasant and the towns and villages give a tidy impression after dark on a clear night. technical stop when the trip continues they settle down to get some sleep the little Earthwick sits in the combat compartment between boxes of ammunition luggage bags and fuel canisters sleeping the dream of just below the care of the weapon he spreads out next to the canisters fuel in At the top of one of the hatches above the engine, wonderful fan-driven heat radiates from the other open hatch, sending my wireless operator into a blissful slumber for Zonda and many of his fellow soldiers.

The previous year would have been quiet in 1939 and 1940. Poland Denmark Norway Netherlands and France the British expeditionary force had fallen and the French army had been defeated in a matter of weeks most of Western Europe was under the Nazi yoke in the shadows without However Hitler was planning a new war that he had always wanted and one that had been in play from the beginning, the war against the Soviet Union on June 18, 1941, seven kilometers east of Weiss Island. I'm sitting in a meadow in rastram 1 hoping to be safe here from the huge swarms of mosquitoes in the forest where the tanks are it's just unbearable we spend the rest of the night sleeping next to the tank after having been very careful in camouflage everything now we have finally stored everything correctly we are afraid and we have carried out the last technical check In the afternoon, the journey continues further and further east, like yesterday, many planes passed over us.

It's a nice and comforting feeling to know that, in the worst case scenario, we can always firmly count on our heads from above. June 21, 1941 in Preparation in the deployment area at the same time when the chief returned a dispatch Rider brought the address of the fever to the soldiers of the Eastern Front was read by uttarovitia vasmud with his distinctive voice standing in the carriage Chief Kubel's entire company was gathered around him, everyone eagerly listening to the serious faces during Furioso's deliberations and as his last words were read, it was clear that the show would continue. foreign foreign Hitler had announced his decision to go to war with Russia on July 31, 1940.

Plans had been drawn up. Hitler issued directive number 21 to the Joint Chiefs of Staff of the Armed Forces in the German High Command ordering the three Vermont branches to prepare an attack against the Soviet Union no later than May 1941 to overthrow Soviet Russia even sooner. At the end of the war against England, the company received the code name Neyman Barbarossa or Case Barbarossa. It would be a military enterprise of unprecedented scale consisting of three enormous army groups advancing along a

front

line almost 3,000 kilometers long, the German army and its allies. It would go deep into the heart of Russia.

Army Group North was tasked with annihilating enemy forces in the Baltic states to seize the Baltic ports and then capture the cities of Leningrad and achieve the initial objective of the Center armored group, the strongest and most powerful of the three. was the capture of Smolensk, while the South armored group would attack the Russian southwest and the southern front through Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. Their strategic objectives were the advance towards Danipa, the conquest of kyiv and then an advance towards the Danette basin as in previous successful invasions. The key would be speed and aggression, while the tip of the spear would once again be formed by the Panzer divisions that would cross the Russian lines before beginning to chew up hundreds of kilometers of enemy territory commanding a platoon of one of those Transit formations. .

Lloyd and Friedrich Wilhelmsander the Baltic offensive

operation

on June 22, 1941. Wake-up call at 2:30. It's been cold and we've been bothered by mosquitoes, but it doesn't matter, it's Sunday and today is showtime. 250 shoot and forward. Locked gear. China and her platoon in front of her, then the boss and the heavy platoon and me, the new guy and this rabbit in the rear, as soon as we get out of the woods all hell breaks loose. I can't see anything at all, but I can hear some of our guys finally open up. Me and my group also reached the point where it seems like nothing is moving forward because a long anti-tank obstacle is stopping progress.

There are some bunkers behind, built with wood and sand. Very solid work. The boss and the Panzer 4. With Uber closed and Leonard driving up to the wooden crates and shooting directly at the firing slits from a distance of five meters or less, the guys inside didn't come out and kick the bucket, instead That's right, they were Mongols. Army Group North was assigned 20 infantry divisions, three. Panzer divisions and three motorized infantry divisions were organized into two 16th and 18th infantry armies. And Panzer group Juan, Panzer group four, Panzer group 4 were ordered to break through the enemy border zone between Naaman and Tilsit Riga Road and in a short time the dubsier. sector between the mouth of the river and zala the Panzer group 4 will advance towards Divina Occidental and establish bridgeheads between dunburg and jakobstadt the main point of effort, to the extent that the situation allows, will be the duneburg area, the orders for Future operations will be sent later issued by the army group on June 23, 1941.

I am sitting in the turret, with binoculars hanging from my neck, headphones on and a microphone at my throat, in front of us, something is burning, It must be a bigger place, russini. I assume the address is correct. Giant columns of smoke are the best signal to announce that we are here, much better than any flare, they appear wherever there is enemy resistance. If you shoot his gun at one of those Lithuanian wooden huts, they caught fire immediately yesterday morning, we could see clearly. Smoke rose from Taubach and was thick enough to block the sun. Now here on the road I can see the smoke rising along the entire horizon.

The first day of the German fantasy of crossing the Russian border. The Spencer division had advanced further. the Erzville Cass a respectable distance of about 90 kilometers but failed to reach the objective the tubsia crossing northeast of Racine the main reason for this was the unexpected and fierce defense of the Red Army soldiers who often fell to the last bullet Preferring to die rather than be taken prisoner, the fierce resistance offered, especially during the first days of fighting, cost the German army dearly, with more than 42,000 men killed, wounded and taken prisoner in the first eight days of fighting for men like Logan and Sander's death became a constant companion, a part of everyday life, something that was dealt with and welcomed but that never eased the traumatic effect of losing friends.

Has fallen. I have seen his grave. Panzer 2 Number 601 was on the edge of the road, facing his right side. As if it were a 4.7 centimeter anti-tank gun, he received a shell in the back and one can only thank God for this immediately, as the next shell tore off both of his hands, short saluting hands in salute to the cap and our Panzer. rode on his parents will receive a letter from the company commander who is heartbroken just like us there will be a death notice in the local newspaper and his little blonde sister will cry for him we will nevertheless carry on with him in our thoughts he will He will fight at our side and his death will not go unpunished Friedrich Sander and for many other young soldiers like him, tankers, infantrymen and air crews, the combat was the first in their military careers, they had all heard stories of heroism from their comrades more experienced soldiers who had already seen action in Poland, Norway and France, now was Sandra's chance to prove herself in combat.

The Red Army soldiers, however, did not make this task easy. The German army faced a new enemy that fought fiercely. Propaganda Soviet denounced all Germans as murderers, violent beasts and cannibals. Hatred towards the Germans was actively and openly encouraged. Many Red Army soldiers who fought bravely in defense of their homeland believed that the Germans took no prisoners, which had the desired effect. On June 27, 1941, we were finally deployed to counterattack on a long journey. to the burning barn in front of us, taking the riflemen with us, a few shots at the gigantic tank suddenly starting to burn and then a few shots at an armored target on our hard journey not visible to the driver and affecting, therefore, without be watched, the company is getting in our way.

We drive around the edge of the forest where the Russian field kitchens are, the infantry is only a few meters in front of us when suddenly, to the left of our tank, a Russian stands up, the swinat pretended to be dead as our infantry passed by him, that's an old classic to pretend to be dead and then shoot from behind, but that's not a good idea when we're facing tank men like us, step on the accelerator, turn left and run him over. Problem solved, that man won't hurt anyone anymore. We were moving forward when suddenly. There was a very loud and terrifying metallic bang in thesame moment.

I feel a sharp pain in the back of my head for a moment. My vision darkens and then turns red. I'm trying to find out a little about what has happened to my sky above me. A piece of the edge of the turret surround is missing. The observation mirror is broken. The leather padding on the inside of the hatch is torn. There is a hole in the light signal apparatus in the turret. Small slivers of metal cover the gun opening and the rest of the turret. The turret is covered in leather fragments and similar splinters. I feel the back of my skull and there is blood on my fingers.

Everything seems fine, however, otherwise there would be more blood. I confirm that there are only a few small scratches on the skin. Fortunately. won the tanks of the six Panzer divisions had advanced another 290 kilometers constantly harassed attacked ambushed bombed and shelled by the Red Army on little sleep and in

brutal

heat the strain of the rapid advance was taking an enormous toll both mentally and physically 28 June 1941 The demand on men not only in battle but also on the March is enormous, sometimes the doctor gives us a few pills that keep us awake and then we continue forward, more and more, without clear eyes, almost glued by sweat and dust, and tired and unwashed.

At two in the morning we came upon a stream over whose bridge no cargo could be carried and where Uber parked and played and its gentlemen directed traffic. It is not necessary to describe the resulting chaos on the other bank. The local Jews had been put to work by the locals serve those brothers right cut beards can now repair the roads for many in the Baltic states the German conquerors were welcomed as liberators from the occupation of the USSR and its repressions Lithuania, Latvia and dystonia, all of which had been absorbed by force by the Soviet Union in the mid-1940s.

For the Jewish communities, the German invasion brought not freedom, but unspeakable horror, fear, violence and death that began in Lithuania one day after the German invasion of the Soviet Union, broke out murderous anti-Semitic riots even as the first German troops arrived, urged and encouraged by the Germans. Thousands of Jews would be murdered in the early summer of the 19th century. 220,000 Jews lived in Lithuania when the Germans invaded on June 22, 1941. More than 195,000 were murdered in the Holocaust. When we passed through the Yemegala area, we noticed that Lithuanians were waving their old national colors from their houses, green, yellow, red.

In the smaller towns and cities there were men in olive green uniforms and swastika armbands in Lithuanian colors. I asked one of those men who, to my surprise, even greeted me with a superior Hitler, of what kind of wild association he was a member of with a beaming Smiley explaining that he was a Lithuanian partisan. Some of these strange little guys from the woods even carried rifles and kept an eye on some scruffy Jews working the streets. The streets, by the way, deserve their own chapter unpaved, only covered with a layer of gravel and in dry weather.

A layer of fine, white, flower-like dust, and if it rains a little, these roads, which are already marked in red on our maps, turn into a mud bath like no one in Germany could imagine, but once The people of the Baltic countries rejoiced. During the expulsion of the Soviets from their lands, Barbarossa was far from a normal invasion. Territories within the Soviet Union were crucial to the Nazi plans to acquire the kingdom of Lieben. Living space for Germans and Aryans with continental Western Europe firmly under German control. Hitler's ultimate goal in the war against the Soviet Union was to make the most of the newly gained territories in the east.

To achieve this goal, the supposedly inferior races, the Slavs and Jews living there, had to be eliminated and the ethnic Germans They were established in its place by Friedrich Wilhelms Ander, who would apply to join the SS in 1936 and believed strongly in National Socialist ideas. The war against Russia was a noble crusade against communism that would not only benefit him but also Europe and the rest of the world. Every soldier on our side knows it. The great point of all this is not only that everyone has grasped the deeper meaning of it, just look at all that rich soil and there are acres and acres of it, but it is also poorly cultivated if these people here are incapable of cultivating the land then they have no right over it bringing German settlers here they know about farming and animal husbandry there are many things to see here for the Lancer although life is not the same as in France however it is a great political education for them because You can learn about the larger floors of the fair You can witness the difference between German culture and the situation in Lithuania You can see the women here going to church in their dirty gray dresses Most of them walk barefoot Some have wooden shoes that they usually carry in their hand even when they go to church the hats seem unknown the best the women wear a white scarf on their head but even this is usually dirty, gray and unkempt cats many of them and many Alonso cannot help it by comparing them with the French women we met last year as June turned to July.

The German forces had made incredible progress. Elements of Army Group South had crossed the Horim River and were rapidly approaching Tarnapal, which would fall on 2 July by 30 July. In June, in the Army Group Center sector, the 2nd Panzer Group under General Oberst Heinz Guderian and the 3rd Panzer Group under General Hermann Hoth decimated the Soviet border defenses, defeated several Soviet counterattacks, and surrounded four Soviet armies near the Allied stock and Minsk in total. 420,000 men would march into German captivity about a week later, in the north German forces were in the process of capturing Riga and the Baltic coast, while the 11th Panzer Regiment had turned north and established a bridgehead over Degava and Livani. and was approaching the villainy of one of the final objectives before crossing the border into Russia it seemed that the conquest of the Soviet Union would be only a matter of time but even in the rapid pace of the advance and in the midst of the fighting there were brief moments of respite on July 1, 1941. in the GIF the tents were dismantled and packed our equipment prepared for the night march and the vehicles prepared corporals and people fed in the yard were in the bustling movement amidst other jokes and nonsense someone suddenly He began to hum a melody one man after another joined in and soon everyone was singing loudly the song of Marushka, the Polish girl, then countless people staying in China, the driver fired a harmonica between his lips, which sounded in the filters, the The farmer who owned the farm we had moved to with our company was a Latvian who during the World War had been imprisoned for seven months in Limburg and Elan was standing at the door with his wife and listening to the music.

Their eldest daughter, an intelligent and squeaky-clean girl of about 17 whom I found exceptionally attractive, was standing with them during the That day I had ample opportunity to see her work even with all the heavy agricultural work in the fields and stables she kept well. groomed and some of the more curious infantry men even managed to observe the girl through their binoculars while she was bathing. herself in a stream now that beautiful girl that I carry in my heart suddenly approached me with a bouquet of sweet smelling wild roses, she said something in her own language that I did not understand, however, I realized that there was something good And pleasant. and I felt it too because she continued to hold my hand in hers for quite some time in an affectionate way.

I have no idea why these people here suddenly wish us a good trip and good luck, the man, of course, had learned a little German during Apart from that, during my time as a prisoner I have noticed that all the Area on the Latvian side is much cleaner and more cultivated than on the Lithuanian side. The cattle in the fields are top quality brown breeding cattle, which is quite a contrast to their ugly little ones. and non-efficient goats raised in Lithuania the wooden houses are clean and not covered with rotten straw but with adequate roof tiles in general the properties here are more spacious, cleaner and better looking the farmer offered us fresh cow's milk as soon as we arrived and soon after He took out two finely carved glasses which he filled with home-brewed beer taken from a pretty ceramic vessel.

In exchange, he asked me for some cigarettes because he would love to smoke but he could never get tobacco. He was very happy when Winterhagaman handed him two large packages. of Russian cigarettes then we went out in the pouring rain the white roses that the girl had given me stuck to the front of my tank now it is Friday July 4, 1941. a truly hellish concert an mg34 to my right shoots first it must be Overlord and Eggert in the same second I also pull the trigger and continue shooting belt after bed there are many massive targets on the road to my left the Panzer two of the light platoon of the staff company poor flanking guns shoot at the trucks more at more than 500 meters away the Russians in front of my vehicle fell as if they had been shot with one side a little further back the Russians try to take cover in some bushes on the edge of the road some high explosive projectiles for them now they are trying to get out of the bushes across the field towards a forest about 400 meters away on a sports field, it takes about a minute to run 400 meters running for a minute until the stream of fire from the three MG-34 of the Panzer Two will probably be your end and trying to cover the distance in the crawl is pure madness, none of them make it to the safety of Woods the Lorry's column, yet it is ours, the vehicles are mostly undamaged, some have been abandoned with the engines running and part of the gun. -below the Russians in front keep moving chapansky finishes them off with a rifle on the right there is a hopeless case that can't walk a little further on top another hasn't stiffened yet damn the dog has just pretended to be dead I kick him hit him in the ass and then push him back to the farm where a large number of prisoners are gradually gathering while I take a closer look at a Russian who shot himself.

The boss and Leonard have discovered a Russian who is still breathing. a water well ahead we are trying to get the poor bastard out, the boss is bending over and at the same moment the unfortunate man pulls a pistol, a revolver from the water and shoots the boss who looks at us with a face of hatred contorted into a satanic face mask throws himself to the ground and the shot misses him. I draw my pistol and send the bullet into the Russian skull but at the same time he collapses under a volley of bullets coming from under Officer Butler's machine gun.

I'm livid with anger, those pigs. We are trying to help the wounded and they shoot us, this is the price we pay for our damn Humanity, that's why we are treating these scum too gently. I take my pistol and shoot another wounded man in the head. with a strong breath the pigs collapse. I am an idiot after preaching to my men over and over again that we are the nation of culture and that we have to act gently, but here we get what we deserve for being soft on July 6, 1941. Here they don't allow us to swim .

Some spearmen are standing there and tell us that swimming is prohibited because the other side has not been cleared of the enemy. The small stream forms the border between Latvia and the former Soviet Union. Nobody knows what is. called something unpronounceable finally we bathe in the stream between Latvia and the union just like our soldiers stationed in the English Channel and we are proud of it we have the body of the lightning Klein Young on the bow of the tank that responds almost knocks me down if I start to cry if I start cursing and shouting I feel bad and I walk towards the tank and there lies young Klein right under the machine gun he was shot in the head after having abandoned his vehicle the poor thing still has some life in this gurgling lung I will do Let the Russians pay for that I call a doctor and a Sanka or Mayan doctor climbs on a blanket and bandages the head from which a thick mass of brain oozes, soon there will be time for revenge.

The Soviet Russians today live damned miserable lives. I entered the house of one of these collective farmers. There is no way to get rid of the stench found in these one-room checks, not even with hours of ventilation. Roofed stairs lead to the house. The saddlebag lives in the belly of the Taj while all his livestock lives in the sutera. The Botukudo and other jungle tribes live in the same way. The conditions in the one true Homeland are farmers and workers. even dirtier and more degenerate than those in Lithuania. The catalyst serves as auxiliary heating in case the huge furnace is not enough.

The shelters for theMulti-headed family members are usually behind the oven. Finally we found all the cattle here near Borgino, which is as far as the panya has a Russian shell. which exploded in the middle of the herd but no cattle were injured the Russian projectiles are much less effective than ours but their tanks are superior and they have good snipers a lot of Russians had approached waving leaflets launched by us about which the German government guaranteed In order to treat all the Red Army soldiers willing to surrender well, I personally interrogated three of them to the best of my ability.

They told me they were members of a rifle regiment. The Germans had fired a lot, which had caused their regime to disperse the The commander had escaped, one of them speaking in a mix of Russian and Yiddish told me that they had had 40 tanks to support them, but these had a lifetime. Avec tanks with strange things, not with tracks, he explained to me. I guess we'll meet those soon. Anyway, we are continuing as a reserve platoon. One of Leonhardt's Panzers is stopped in front of some bushes where several Russians are hiding. Our rifleman was the first to detect the danger, but by that time the unfortunates had already shot down two of them.

Feige is angry. He shouts and gets angry and orders his men to stop attacking, perhaps he has finally understood that the terrain must always be thoroughly searched and the other rifleman brothers say that that is not their job, that is why now two of their riflemen are missing, but who? By mid-July 1941, the German advance was advancing at a good pace along the entire front. The Vitabs had fallen and Smolensk was finally within reach of the Panzer groups of Army Group Center in the south. German troops were slowly advancing towards the denipper in the north, the Second City of the Soviet Union, Leningrad, seemed to be within reach of the exhausted tank crews of the 11th Panzer Regiment, who had behind them a combat advance of more than 1,000 kilometers during which they not only fought against the Red Army troops but also against nature itself.

July 15, 1941. Initially the plan had been that we, together with the Infantry, would form a Vanguard in the Advance on Leningrad. It is a maximum of 150 kilometers until we reach our objective. I have no idea why they let us sleep until six in the morning but Then I desperately needed to sleep. There was a storm in the night and it was pouring rain. Sorry to those who didn't set up a tent. Once we were surprised by that rain and since then we set up a tent every time. As far as possible, the tudash and the Japanese ski drive away the mosquitoes by smoking a bit of puppy rossis or a cigar after the rain, however, the masses of mosquitoes that swarm around the beasts know how to find even the smallest piece of bare skin on the ground and then you can hear the distinctive snap of a hand, often followed by some juicy curse, but now we have reached an area where not only mosquitoes bite flies, corpse flies and horseflies fat and all of them are determined to stab you, it is not uncommon to see men with swollen hands, cheeks and eyes, the beasts are everywhere, I hope there are none in Leningrad, yes, Leningrad, all the soldiers are looking forward to it. to this metropolis of Russian Europe and inside I feel the same.

I look forward to the end of this period of fighting here in the east. What will happen next, no one knows, but we will have achieved an important goal and that makes me happy when I talk about Leningrad, although the average Lancer hopes for more mundane things. All the Lancers in my platoon have already been talking to me. There will surely be moonshine factories in Leningrad. Leningrad too we will finally have food other than pea soup and blood sausage the women here are also dirty they will wash them in the big city yes, bow the goal of the dreams of all comrades we are about 150 kilometers from there and progress in the terribly bad The advanced paths are slow the war in the Soviet Union was not just about leibensarm, it was about German racial purity and a political crusade against Bolshevism in the words of Hitler, a Velton sounds Creek, a war of peoples' ideologies and a race war with objective. to annihilate those who were seen as ethnically inferior and also politically dangerous.

Soviet troops captured by the German army suffered hunger, cold, forced labor, and abuse. Gestapo and SD personnel searched their ranks for Jews. State officials and other intolerable or dangerous individuals like those political commissars. who had somehow managed to survive the effects of the infamous commissar order issued by the German army in June 1941, which ordered their immediate execution, as the forces of Judeo-Bolshevik ideology intended, were then taken to extermination camps where They were usually killed immediately. Between 140,000 and 500,000 Soviet prisoners of war died in concentration camps, most of whom were shot or gassed. 5.7 million Soviet soldiers who were in German captivity. 3.3 million did not survive the war on July 19, 1941.

The scene at the crossroads is terrible. Dead Russians everywhere you look, the whole area is full of them, dead horses among them and vehicles locked up on the side of the road. Never before have I seen so many mangled corpses lying on the road, in the ditches and in the fields of Ledinki. In front of our vehicles there were a lot of bodies, but not as many as here. The few kilometers between the crossing and Gidau are full of cars, carriages, limbus wagons, gun trucks and all kinds of equipment. Then we enter the city through the fog we can see Lake Pipers on our right you can also see some ships apparently Russian that are evacuating troops fleeing north towards territory still unoccupied the Russians have delivered it here I decide not to stay with the vehicles and walk to a square open space next to the lake where prisoners are kept under trees there are a large number of wounded being treated by women dressed in boots and jodhpurs a russian surgeon who looks more like a butcher is standing among them with hands in hands pocket doing absolutely nothing here we do not have enough material to treat the wounded the Russians themselves do not carry any swords a woman in a civilian robe under which you can see the uniform of the Russian women's battalions approaches He wants to have a passport showing that we have been discharged here and asks to be allowed to stay with the wounded.

He has sent to search and find white clothing that can be used as bandage material. There are 1,500 prisoners next to a fence separated from the others. There are some. 20 more Volga Germans who have been forced to serve in the Russian army, it is true that the creatures are not very sure to inspire, but anyway they have at least some German blood in their veins and therefore They have been separated from the Mongols. Caucasians and Russians only speak broken German. mixed with Russian and they find it difficult to understand our High German after all their ancestors were Swabians who had come to the Volgais settlers for me they are Bolsheviks like the others they also took up arms against us and fought in the ranks of the Red Army, but the party knows better what to do with those people, the other men of the Red Army look savage, among them there are some civilians, communists in civilian clothes, caught carrying weapons, two more men in civilian clothes are servants, they had tried to set fire to a captured gasoline tank and then the process had shot at our men the question about what to do with the pigs receives a brief answer from a staff adjutant shoots them the two are led behind the house a few minutes later Some pistol shots were heard from a couple of fanatical Bolsheviks.

Less July 23, 1941 Many things have happened today. Several Russian bombers closed in and landed some direct hits on the 1st Infantry Division's artillery column. the gunners some of them dead 15 soldiers more or less seriously injured 12 horses dead and tamchick my radio operator injured when a Splinter bomb hit a scarf which is the result of an attack by five Russian SB2 bombers and some screaming clowns they are German they They are Germans without having clearly identified them Tanchik was in great pain he could not put any weight on his right leg with a splinter inside the boy made a brave face however and tried not to show how much he hurt when Barbarossa entered his fifth week Millions of Men along the huge front wondered when the campaign in the north, where Russian resistance seemed to be weakening, would come to an end.

Desperate counterattacks, ambushes and air strikes. They left no time to rest, the advance had to continue further and further towards Leningrad through dusty roads and through the infernal summer heat July 27, 1941 yesterday for the third time while I was sitting in the lightning box a mosquito bit me on my most delicate parts how bad is that mosquito infestation he's just crazy at home no one can imagine what it's like here where you automatically beat all the Buzzy beasts with your hands just like the horses and cattle do with their tears and then the dust and heat even though we don't have 72 degrees Celsius in the sun inside our iron.

The coffins easily reach that temperature and it is not unusual for one to spend 20 hours from three in the morning until night inside our cubes, when one needs to relieve himself outside, another man has to take his place next to the cannons, all We have experienced something like this and if one I have saved myself a small sip of coffee that is often shared with a crew or with some poor thirsty foot soldiers. Those poor bastards are getting even less than what we supposedly will soon be able to enjoy the roads of Soviet paradise again. Never in my life will I be able to forget that dust makes one look like a Miller flower, someone who wears sexual flowers and not a black uniform, but anyway everything is fine, if we only capture Leningrad, we must take possession of Leningrad on the 30th.

July 1941. 8 pm. The town seems to be home to huge swarms of mosquitoes, but it doesn't matter, we are not getting used to them, in addition to many of the fifth, there are also Uber like Eggert with three Panzer fours and a lot done, the spokesman with his pioneers, his men They have just carried out a search for men in 14 years of age, they turn out to be a man, a one-eyed hydrocephalus, about 30 years old, and five old scratchy men, one of them with crutches, all of them have long beards and unkempt hair, almost no one has any teeth left in their mouths, all of them.

They gathered in the town square, where our tanks are, none of them have any idea what was going on, they laugh at my attempts to speak Russian and immediately relax a little, then I asked them where the partisans are and suddenly everyone gets excited again. I guess they've misunderstood what I said they'd be too old, they explained as they pointed to their toothless Shark, the water head showing me the dark red eye socket. The partisans are all Naz lujba serving in Leningrad. They told me that it seems that the Russians are rounding up everyone who was there like two. legs and is able to pull a trigger there in Leningrad the rapid German advance on a huge front the lack of infrastructure and terrible road conditions turn the supply of food to the troops Fuel and ammunition into a logistical nightmare the supply lines were Overstretched and vulnerable to partisans and small pockets of regular enemy troops still fighting far behind the German front line, the hastily retreating Red Army troops were no longer receiving supplies and, like their opponents on the other side, They were forced to live off the land in their After local people abandoned their farms taking with them the rest of the livestock and supplies in the scorching July summer heat, the lack of drinking water in particular was becoming a problem always present for the German troops.

On Thursday, July 31, 1941 we realized that The old houses here so close to Leningrad show more traces of culture than those we have seen further southwest. Here the wooden buildings rest on stone foundations, while inside there are sometimes two or three rooms. Inside we often find traces of small items such as photographs that link to a bygone cultural era before 1917. There are no traces of any cultural achievements of the Soviet period, the people here are also a little better dressed than in the villages and not all they have the bearing of the international proletariat many women still notice the short hairstyles that I remember seeing in Germany during the communist marches in general their clothes instead of the Germany of 1926 27. when our propaganda claims that the Bolsheviks have proletarianized everyone here by converting the town into a large herd of submissive cattle, the outside is absolutely right.

Only theappearances prove it, we have also observed that the collectives and groups are either hiding their kettle or are moving it away from us towards the north, which puts us at a great disadvantage, since this means that, in addition to oil and ammunition, our Supply The units also have to lug large quantities of food over enormous distances, but in general there is nothing to complain about, there is enough bread and crusty bread and that is quite appropriate, we just have to be careful with what we have and take the rest of the earth if Now we can find something, the thoughtless foot soldiers take away entire Fiats of potatoes just to find enough to fill a small basket with potatoes and in winter we are the ones who can feed the population and now we have all Europe hanging from our shirt sleeves. campaigning in hellish heat on difficult terrain and abysmal roads.

The strain was also beginning to affect the machines, engines, gearboxes, brakes, suspensions, tracks and other mechanical parts began to fail in increasing numbers. The march distances far exceeded the regular inspection intervals required to keep the division's tanks operational. road, in particular, spare parts for the Checkmate Panzer 35t, which were increasingly difficult to find, but Leningrad was already almost on the horizon on Friday, August 1, 1941. As I write here, my driver is testing our new brakes right in front of me. I just installed new brake pads and now it comes and goes with the engine howling and it's quite distracting.

Suit particles from the exhaust rain down on the paper, but I'm more than willing to tolerate that if just the old bucket is used. It can still lead us to the strategic objective of Leningrad. Leningrad Hill is in La Saskina, where he is trying to educate the men about the Bongard situation in Iowa, sitting in the next room and the map was hanging on the door, so what do you think are the strategic objectives here in the e-star we are standing behind the map our heads sticking out left and right and we both look at the empty faces of the Lancers in front of us they are all silent and look at us with big eyes hello lose patience and shout from the Volga river someone asks no one wants to believe it in other states that with our old cards we can be happy if we reach Leningrad that would be all for us on August 7, 1941. finally it starts again thank God that there are no more endless waits here at the crossroads we are waiting for the artillery section with its neighbor to which we are assigned today.

I remember that when we saw Rusini detonate his rockets, howling through us towards the dubisa, many Lancers threw themselves to the ground. My knees were on me and it was an eerie feeling as we saw the detonation clouds rising ahead. I hope to witness the spectacle again today while on the south field Marshal Von Runstead's troops were clearing the deniper. The leading formations of Army Group Center were transferred to the north. To support the final advance on Leningrad, Loknan Sander with forward elements of the 6th Panzer Division was now only 130 kilometers from the city center after their advance had been slowed for some time to allow the forward elements of the other approaching armies would approach.

A moment that gave the Soviet high command a much-needed respite to organize and strengthen the city's defenses, between August 11 and 13, the division had been involved in intense fighting north of the Luca River and was now preparing to launch its final advance towards Leningrad. August 1941. Soon we will also cross the bridge where men of the touring organization are currently repairing damage caused by Russian long range fire batteries that attempted to hit the bridge. There are huge craters that have surely been excavated. the ground by 2,000-pound Russian bombs I remember that morning when we returned from Bridgehead and when everything was shrouded in a dense fog, the beams of the Black Bridge, the anger rising to the sky, the ground full of bomb and shell craters and the road lined with white birch wooden crosses marking the graves of fallen comrades and the mass graves of the Russians, then the site of burnt forest, burnt heaths and closed houses, we retreated and then had to wait until the other wings of the army in the northwest would have approached Leningrad in those After four weeks of waiting, the Russian had entrenched itself so well that each of its excellent positions can only be taken with heavy casualties.

The scorching heat of summer gave way to more moderate temperatures. Scattered showers and storms turned sandy roads into sticky quagmires that made movement of vehicles increasingly difficult. The heat of the sun still had enough strength to drive The road surfaces quickly The night temperatures fell rapidly, a worrying sign of things to come Thursday August 14, 1941. 10 Leningrad 6:00 p.m. It is raining again and thick clouds hang low in the sky really without looking Great, the division's meteorologists have said that night frosts are not uncommon in this area of ​​Russia from mid-August onwards schmalt. I received a thick Albert coat.

I have collected a fine Russian blanket of which he has several in his As far as I am concerned, the Frost May vehicle now arrived on Sunday, August 17, 1941. There was great chaos on the road as, by order of the boss, everyone The platoons had abandoned their defensive positions to go see him in the center of town. now they were all being thrown by Soviet heavy artillery, two of the riflemen were right at the place where a Russian heavy shed exploded, not a single piece of them could be found anymore, the third had both legs blown off, the infantry climbed up our tanks and slowly advance towards our objective.

We had advanced about a kilometer through Rye and Old Fields when the enemy defensive fire became so intense that the infantry had to dismount, they then advanced behind our tanks using them as cover against the hail of shells supporting us from the Russian defensive positions. , a savage hand-to-hand combat soon ensued. I had to give some of our hand grenades to the Infantry. We are always about 20 meters in front of the Infantry or directly with them, the Russians closest to us. I often had to use my pistol to shoot down several guys with hot shoes near my tank along a path leading in the direction of our attack.

It was a group of approximately 20 Russians who surrendered when we stopped, the Infantry took them all prisoner. is delighted, our progress is excellent, suddenly another group of 10 Russians slowly stood up from the tall grass, the red ones knelt down and raised their hands, but among them was a pig who suddenly took out a hand grenade and threw it at my tank I shot the man with my pistol, the machine gun opened and took down the entire group. Now the Russian artillery starts firing and is sending 10.5 centimeter shells into the town. Wow, one of them crashes directly into the first one's tank engine and in this case.

It was really a classic soldier's luck that he was still alive. Michelle was a failure or better, a kind of exercise shell filled with a concrete-like substance, the upper half with the fuse broken off by the lower half with the bottom of the shirt. destroyed through the armor before being stopped by the engine block, if it had been a live show, not much would have been left out of the tank and, just as the weather was changing, so did the nature of combat operations when Swift armored thrusts and maneuvers were replaced by

brutal

hand-to-hand combat in the forest and bitter fights for every village and hill.

Nerves were

exposed

and mistakes were made. Monday August 18. Contact with the enemy. The rifleman dismounted. Advance on foot. The enemy tanks in front, three of them large cubes are reported to be standing still. Next to a bar, one of the Panzer Forces opens fire. Venture is sending one radio message after another. All Panzer Forces now roll to the edge of the forest and begin firing shortly after the shot in the direction of the bar and one of the big ones. Russian tanks another according to Fayetteville venture has retreated few Russians have escaped running across the field to the right and suddenly the adventure reports that there is an anti-tank gun firing from the bushes to the right Oswald rolls forward and opens fire into the bushes where Apparently enemy movement has now been observed, no one realizes that they are firing at our own advancing riflemen and because of that they are directing an inferno of fire at them.

They angrily ask us to take advantage of the gunshots in the bushes when I run towards them. Oscar to tell him that the pig is criticizing me, he says that I should concentrate on leading my platoon, I wouldn't shoot to the right. Later I found out that down there on the right, German soldiers had been killed and wounded by our tanks, where and the anti-tank gun turned out to be a mine obstacle in which Vince's tank had almost ended up in wooden mine boxes. buried in the ground and covered with grass, easy to miss if we are not very careful and if we are not careful.

You could have seen that the tank in the barn was actually a threshing machine. Over 1,000 rice marks were wasted on ammunition shooting at bleeding farm equipment and only because of Vince's idiocy do I take a moment to look around and discover that there are two Russian soldiers in the trench right next to my tank, I take out my pistol and shot the rookie at the Bros, Village table, however, one of them is raising his rifle. I work quickly on both of them and empty a full pistol clip on them, they won't. hurt no one further ahead to my left another Russian plays dead I take the machine gun from inside the turret and shoot a few bullets in the back of the pig's head while he bites the dust a hand grenade escapes from the pig's hand Despite arduous efforts during the campaign, the difficulties, suffering and traumatic experiences of combat meant that Nintendo's belief that it was acting for the good of the Führer and the Fatherland did not waver, and the loss of friends and comrades only It robbed him of his determination to finish the campaign victoriously and make The Russians pay on August 19, 1941.

Rider dispatch had found Matoseek and taken him back to the company, where he reported that his crew was not heard among the other crew. However, winter officer Dalman had been slightly wounded and Bosman, his gunner, had been seriously wounded. Albert had been lucky and was completely unharmed there were Russians lying on the grass just 15 meters in front of his tank as soon as Massheuser had gotten out of trouble he had been shot in the head and died immediately a shootout developed in which Diamond and Albert They desperately tried to defend themselves with their Pistons, it was only when Albert shot one of the Russians that the situation changed, the Russian had been in the process of throwing a grenade and after being knocked down it detonated in his hand shattering his lower part of the abdomen. and getting the others to pick up more mail arrived on Tuesday we were staying in an old barn which we had furnished to a fairly comfortable standard earlier that day having taken rations out of the field kitchens.

Alvis and I walked to where the two destroyed tanks were. Stopping to find and bury Massheiser, a recovery vehicle had arrived from the Fiat workshop in Koppmann and Corn had already wrapped Massage's body in a tent. Square took out some private items from his pocket and had broken his nameplate. We took Massage back to the road and then he dug a grave for him under a tree next to a bunker, one of the tank mechanics had found some flowers in one of the houses shot up in Clubichi. We each threw three shovelfuls of dirt on the grave and then placed the black cap on top of it. the Birchwood cross and thus joins the many monuments that adorned the graves of a bold and brave paunchy.

He compares us even more. Relentless commitment his death will not go unpunished in one of the bushes there was the body of a Russian captain, a first lieutenant and that of a commissar in total more than 20 bodies lay around the destroyed tank a wounded Russian also lay there motionless with the rifle in the hand he did not react when I ordered him to raise his arms I shot him myself I did the same to another who was lying in a trench closer to the tank and he pretended to be dead when I told him to get up.

Are they acting that way because they are afraid of us or out of deception if it is the first reason then? The commissioners are to blame for the death of those men. If it is the letter, then they deserve it. August 25, 1941. Yesterday afternoon it was reported that Luga had fallen yet. I don't know if it is true. I wish it were. It would be nice. Last night the whole sky in that direction it was illuminated by a hugefire. The horizon was bathed in blood red colors. The good thing is that the war is not fought on German soil as it was in the 30 Years War.

Last night it was very cold again. I wonder how the climate will evolve in the future. I hope it rains less than during the last few days. The daytime heat is much better for Bear than the freezing cold at night. You can't sleep just tossing and turning in an attempt to keep us warm today is the 25th and I personally doubt that Leningrad will be completely surrounded in six days, maybe that's what they'll use us for, maybe we're the ones we're supposed to do. close the lock, but I need to stop thinking about it. If and when it doesn't make sense that we previously passed through a village that was inhabited by a surprisingly northern type of people, no doubt Finns or Germans, women and children with long beautiful faces, light blue eyes and white blonde hair who are clearly not Russians. nor Slavs.

On the way down we were amazed to see gardens including beautifully manicured gardens with beautifully painted fences. I wonder how these people managed to persist here their fears were the best we had seen in the entire region August 27, 1941. Yesterday I could not write anymore Lopez The other platoon leaders and I were called to a briefing with Uber Solenkopf to discuss the further deployment of our company. We are defending a line against defeated Russian troops returning from Luga. Our positions are widely dispersed in the spaces between Shpikarman, the leader of Southernkop. The pioneer platoon set up a series of fine mines booby traps Spring Guns yesterday afternoon after a strong artillery preparation about 600 Russians attacked from the direction of krasnog vadies as usual were repelled and suffered many casualties in general the casualties of the reds They are absolutely enormous and When you talk well with the workers here, they think the same way our workers think about the Lost War, the working population is the one who suffers the most.

Am I too materialistic if I claim that the upper levels of the population can endure the loss of ideas? much better values ​​than the working class can bear its material loss, that is putting it carefully. I do not want to be classified as a Bolshevik, but my socialist vaid anshawang is only strengthened by this war, only when it comes to me, the international social ideology is replaced by a strong nationalist direction with emphasis on the racial stance, the political perspective of The Lancers have expanded a lot with this particular campaign, even though it's a bit drafty out here, I've escaped the company of mutineers in my platoon. graph schweinberg or Burger freitamin four years of service the roofer one worse than the other graph in particular is one of the internally colorless ones quite a good comrade but politically not much less nor much less, there have always been people like this without a clear position especially after the last war, they have quickly taken advantage of a secure bourgeois existence, but they have gained as much as not much, especially when it comes to intellectual matters; in contrast, men like Bill Fight, Peter Goldhouse and Rudigaka have spent 14 years of their lives with one foot in a fortress prison cell have been despised by fed up citizens while they themselves have been forced to live hand to mouth, marked by society as feared existences, but it was they who had to shape and create. a huge new fight and that monumental thought and the satisfaction that comes from it is worth much more than calmly chewing the middle class cabbage bought with a secure Union salary, then enough politics, we have to leave soon for many German troops volunteers and conscripts alike and regardless of their personal thoughts and motivations, the campaign in Russia had not only taken them further from home than ever before, but had also brought them directly and often very personally into confrontation with the people they had come to conquer to conquer. survive. interact peacefully with the Russian people German soldiers were often housed in Russian houses they shared the table of a Russian family they had to buy their food and talk to them many German soldiers did so with great interest they wrote about these new cultural experiences and documented them in a large number of photographs Friday, August 29, 1941 Kurisa at 1:00 p.m. we inspected the positions of the rifle company and then, accompanied by Lopa and his tanks, we headed to the Glass Factory, the name of which I do not remember, it is located next to to the lake and was built by the Germans. much fact of the geheimer FED polizzai who had been born in that town was at that time visiting the house in which he had been born in the section that is in the hands of ubalat nunchtaka who was asleep and we arrived because he had carried him in his vehicles all night to get there one of his vehicles had gone into a ditch on the road and had gotten stuck there he didn't see the need to get up when we showed up and greeted us like samoble Lady lying in bed has always been a bit of a show-off We left the lot Lopez in another small town and then we headed to another place where Pharah and Hiller wanted to organize some meat, but they had not earned even a single egg, since the population of the town with a glass factory, who were all factory workers and they did not have land or livestock, they had to be supplied by In the surrounding towns, the situation in the area was similar to famine.

Hundreds of people queued for hours in front of the vehicles from which the bread was distributed. A stark contrast to our situation at home. No one in Russia had even wasted a thought on getting the supply. from the non-combatant population we spoke to a worker who spoke fluent German, he said that from the original German workforce only one old man of about 70 years old remained until recently, he had still been the highest paid worker, now he received a pension of 102 rubles , but then he had won 700 rubles, that is, 70 marks in German currency. We took a look at the church in the neighboring village, which had been converted into a kind of dance club, which the worker had also told us about, only the old people were still alive.

In their Orthodox religion, young people grew up without any religion and were fine with it. Inside the Red Club there were large canvases with the faces of Stalin Lenin or Ashiloff Kalini and other Soviet dignitaries hanging just above the old men and much smaller images of the saints. I was surprised by the unkempt appearance of the workers, even before 1933. No one in Germany looked so unkempt. We then drove back to the glass factory and stopped briefly at Lopez's position where someone had managed to obtain some pieces of glass. See fresh of which they gave me something here I took the time to rummage through some of the nearby houses Path kitchen Sports center a food and cleaning store all grouped there or very practical and in my opinion the right thing from a socialist perspective maybe it's because of the army that I am such a friend of the community kitchen, just enough for the community kitchen and the cooperative society, but there is no room for individualism, it is just one of the many arguments against all this.

On the way back we were surprised by Solinkov's assistant who told us that something was brewing in Civiosk, we returned as quickly as we could, but not without exchanging half a dozen eggs from a Finnish woman in exchange for half a loaf of bread from the army. The foreign population was simply struggling to survive and would happily barter. Whichever side was in control of their village at the time, there was another significant portion of the Soviet population who would be actively resisting. Behind enemy lines, the stress of not knowing who was a partisan fighter and who was a harmless civilian would put pressure on the side. mind of every German soldier on the entire Eastern Front on August 30, 1941.

This morning I was sitting in my tank drinking coffee when the mayor of the town walked by. He was distributing flour. I sent virenga to take a look at the Big Barn which had hitherto been locked, he returned and reported that the barn was more or less empty and only contained several radio headsets, some food supplies, some old rubber tires and old pots and pans. “I decided to take a closer look at the headphones,” the mayor explained. I learned that the members of the Red Club had left them, but by then I had changed my interest to the other barn and ordered it to be opened.

Here was a box of English machine gun ammunition and about 100 bottles of Molotov cocktails that the bastards had made themselves. The bottles contained an extra layer of very fine tobacco of the kind used to control pests in cabbage fields for Helping the combustion rubber straps made from old tires heard the long match lighter burning angrily in ordering that the man be brought before Comrade Halitat, being the commander of the village, he would have to decide the punishment after the interrogation. What a bloody disaster if one does not face soldiers, then one has to deal with partisans this very morning in the neighboring village of Novoskaya Two.

The women notified the Russians about one of our reconnaissance patrols. One of them has already been hung on the sports field. The town itself was turned into ashes and the population was cornered in the town square. More incredible things happened there. Throughout the Russian reconnaissance. The squads have spent the night there, the women have smuggled weapons for the partisans and we give them bread in exchange, although we barely have enough to feed ourselves and distribute the dispensable grain of coal, which means that among its workers only the kind Germans have issues. Like this one, someone should shoot many of them on September 6.

A decision of great importance for the further course of the campaign was made. Hitler suddenly dropped his interest in Leningrad and declared the North a secondary theater of war. In doing so, he gave in to the insistence of the General Staff and ordered the preparation of an attack on Moscow, moving all expendable forces from Army Group North to Army Group Center by 15 September (5 September 1941). The campaign should end soon. one way or another but for me now there is only one option: to hold on until the nseq is achieved, there is no need to think that the injured are better or if I had a wound like this I could at least get out of these A dirty and uncomfortable environment I have already I've overcome all that, only today a few letters from good and very dear friends on the high table, a few photos and the thought of my mother's next birthday have made me return to normal.

I will not give up now that the The end is already within and which side of Leningrad the thought of the NC and the knowledge that the people in the heimat are watching us and entrusting us with everything that will now stimulate us during the final attack on the Red Metropolis in the Cradle of the Red Revolution in Leningrad, September 1941. Looking at the map, we have just noticed that our entire flank is still open, the Russians are still stubbornly clinging to their anti-tank defenses, that is the goal of the Pulitzider vision of the SS and a from there.

The enemy is afraid of fire towards the sadesi. Wilhelm Loper was here to see me. He thinks we won't capture these tank obstacles. He thinks it's better to just close the shop here and then starve. Tilt the garage though that would take a bit. Any longer would cause us far fewer casualties we have already

lost

enough men I don't know what to think better to attack now drive away the enemy if we could look into the future The German high command was less willing than ever to accept high level material losses and human resources involved in the destruction of Leningrad, they would surround and besiege with the smallest amount of forces and starve the city.

The great city of Leningrad would be forced to surrender by starvation and the plan went even further when combined with considerations of letting the city's population starve even after the fall of Leningrad, already at the end of August, surely in consultation with the title of Field Marshal of Hitler, they had considered that the population of Leningrad could not be fed and therefore should be expelled. In their opinion, they followed the guidelines for economic policy in the occupied

eastern

territories that were had been drawn up before the campaign and which took into account the famine of a large part of the civilian population, but the UNI commanders on the ground were still unaware of these terrifying plans whether the city should be conquered or besieged, occupied or starved, preserved or destroyed yet.

It was an open question for them and Army Group North, which led to heated exchanges over the treatment of Leningrad, which was characteristic of the German relationship between war ideology and crime on September 20, however. He understood that 10 exhausted infantry divisions were no longer enough to conquer Leningrad. It was stipulated that Petersburg should not be attacked or occupied, surrounded and then destroyed with artillery fire and air strikes. They can besuspend all preparations for the occupation and use of the city. Lloyd and Xander would have no part in this and unbeknownst to him at the time, he would never see the streets of Leningrad.

Lloyd and Zander were heading south on December 22. The General House had issued an order hinting at spending the winter here. for further preparation the snow storm that hit today was so strong that even the pioneer horses perished in it we humans could barely survive out there, they are just horrible faces, frozen hands, feet, so we must also work and clean the snow covered roads. covers again as soon as one is finished, there are always several men who are sick December 27, 1941. During the night I had to think that we are supposed to stay here all winter, we will surely get replacements and new vehicles and when New operations are possible again next spring we will launch attacks that will destroy the East Siberian army.

I will be there until an anti-tank gun, an aerial bomb, a shell or a mine puts an end to the last sentence of my life story thank you for watching this video on the YouTube history channel, you can subscribe here to make sure you don't miss any of our great upcoming movies or, if you're a true history fan, check out our special channel dedicated to history. The story came to Dot TV, you will love it.