German Nazis about Russians. How Wehrmacht soldiers spoke about Soviet soldiers. “The soldiers of the Red Army shot, even burning alive”

From Robert Kershaw's book "1941 Through German Eyes":

“During the attack, we came across a light Russian T-26 tank, we immediately shot it straight from the 37mm. When we began to approach, a Russian leaned out waist-high from the tower hatch and opened fire on us with a pistol. It soon became clear that he had no legs; they were torn off when the tank was hit. And, despite this, he fired at us with a pistol!” /Anti-tank gun gunner/

“We took almost no prisoners, because the Russians always fought to the last soldier. They didn't give up. Their hardening cannot be compared with ours...” /Tankman of Army Group Center/

After successfully breaking through the border defenses, the 3rd Battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment of Army Group Center, numbering 800 people, was fired upon by a unit of 5 soldiers. “I didn’t expect anything like this,” admitted the battalion commander, Major Neuhof, to his battalion doctor. “It’s pure suicide to attack the battalion’s forces with five fighters.”

"On Eastern Front I have met people who can be called a special race. Already the first attack turned into a battle for life and death.” /Tanker 12th tank division Hans Becker/

“You simply won’t believe this until you see it with your own eyes. The soldiers of the Red Army, even burning alive, continued to shoot from the burning houses.” /Officer of the 7th Tank Division/

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

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

71 years ago, Nazi Germany attacked the USSR. How did our soldier turn out in the eyes of the enemy - the German soldiers? What did the beginning of the war look like from someone else's trenches? Very eloquent answers to these questions can be found in the book, the author of which can hardly be accused of distorting the facts. This is “1941 through the eyes of the Germans. Birch crosses instead of iron ones” by the English historian Robert Kershaw, which was recently published in Russia. The book consists almost entirely of memories of German soldiers and officers, their letters home and entries in personal diaries.

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

But not everyone was so optimistic. Erich Mende, a lieutenant from the 8th Silesian Infantry Division, recalls a conversation with his superior that took place in these last peaceful moments. “My commander was twice my age, and he had already fought with the Russians near Narva in 1917, when he was a lieutenant. “Here, in these vast expanses, we will find our death, like Napoleon,” he did not hide his pessimism... Mende, remember this hour, it marks the end of the old Germany.”

At 3:15 a.m., advanced German units crossed the border of the USSR. Anti-tank gunner Johann Danzer recalls: “On the very first day, as soon as we went on the attack, one of our men shot himself with his own weapon. Clutching the rifle between his knees, he inserted the barrel into his mouth and pulled the trigger. This is how the war and all the horrors associated with it ended for him.”

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

“Soon, somewhere between 5.30 and 7.30 in the morning, it became completely clear that the Russians were fighting desperately in the rear of our forward units. Their infantry, supported by 35-40 tanks and armored vehicles that found themselves on the territory of the fortress, formed several centers of defense. Enemy snipers fired accurately from behind trees, from roofs and basements, which caused heavy losses among officers and junior commanders.”

“Where the Russians were knocked out or smoked out, new forces soon appeared. They crawled out of basements, houses, sewer pipes and other temporary shelters, fired accurately, and our losses continually grew.”
The report of the Wehrmacht High Command (OKW) for June 22 reported: “It seems that the enemy, after initial confusion, is beginning to put up more and more stubborn resistance.” OKW Chief of Staff Halder agrees with this: “After the initial “tetanus” caused by the surprise of the attack, the enemy moved on to active action.”

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

The most successful actions of the Wehrmacht troops were the operation to encircle and defeat Soviet divisions in the “cauldrons” of 1941. In the largest of them - Kiev, Minsk, Vyazemsky - Soviet troops lost hundreds of thousands of soldiers and officers. But what price did the Wehrmacht pay for this?

General Gunther Blumentritt, Chief of Staff of the 4th Army: “The behavior of the Russians, even in the first battle, was strikingly different from the behavior of the Poles and the Allies who were defeated in Western Front. Even when surrounded, the Russians steadfastly defended themselves.”

The author of the book writes: “The experience of the Polish and Western campaigns suggested that the success of the blitzkrieg strategy lay in gaining advantages through more skillful maneuvering. Even if we leave resources aside, the enemy’s morale and will to resist will inevitably be broken under the pressure of enormous and senseless losses. This logically follows the mass surrender of those surrounded by demoralized soldiers. In Russia, these “elemental” truths turned out to be turned on their heads by the desperate, sometimes reaching the point of fanaticism, resistance of Russians in seemingly hopeless situations. That’s why half of the Germans’ offensive potential was spent not on advancing towards the set goal, but on consolidating existing successes.”

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

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

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

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

The campaign, which dragged on for a long time with the destruction of the encircled Soviet troops, evoked more and more associations with Napoleon's army and fears of the Russian winter. One of the soldiers of Army Group Center complained on August 20: “The losses are terrible, cannot be compared with those in France.” His company, starting from July 23, took part in the battles for “Tank Highway No. 1”. “Today the road is ours, tomorrow the Russians take it, then we take it again, and so on.” Victory no longer seemed so close. On the contrary, the desperate resistance of the enemy undermined morale and inspired far from optimistic thoughts. “I have never seen anyone more evil than these Russians. Real chain dogs! You never know what to expect from them. And where do they get tanks and everything else from?!”

During the first months of the campaign, the combat effectiveness of the tank units of Army Group Center was seriously undermined. By September 1941, 30% of the tanks were destroyed, and 23% of the vehicles were under repair. Almost half of all tank divisions intended to participate in Operation Typhoon had only a third of the original number of combat-ready vehicles. By September 15, 1941, Army Group Center had a total of 1,346 combat-ready tanks, while at the beginning of the Russian campaign this figure was 2,609 units.

Personnel losses were no less severe. By the beginning of the offensive on Moscow, German units had lost about a third of their officers. Total manpower losses by this point reached approximately half a million people, equivalent to the loss of 30 divisions. If we consider that only 64% of the total strength of the infantry division, that is, 10,840 people, were directly “fighters”, and the remaining 36% were in the rear and support services, then it becomes clear that the combat effectiveness of the German troops decreased even more.

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

About Russian soldiers

The initial idea of the population of Russia was determined by the German ideology of the time, which considered the Slavs to be “subhuman.” However, the experience of the first battles made adjustments to these ideas.
Major General Hoffmann von Waldau, chief of staff of the Luftwaffe command, wrote in his diary 9 days after the start of the war: “The quality level of Soviet pilots is much higher than expected... Fierce resistance, its massive nature do not correspond to our initial assumptions.” This was confirmed by the first air rams. Kershaw quotes one Luftwaffe colonel as saying: “Soviet pilots are fatalists, they fight to the end without any hope of victory or even survival.” It is worth noting that on the first day of the war with Soviet Union the Luftwaffe lost up to 300 aircraft. Never before had the German Air Force suffered such large one-time losses.

In Germany, the radio shouted that shells from “German tanks were not only setting fire to, but also piercing through Russian vehicles.” But the soldiers told each other about Russian tanks, which were impossible to penetrate even with point-blank shots - the shells ricocheted off the armor. Lieutenant Helmut Ritgen from the 6th Panzer Division admitted that in a clash with new and unknown Russian tanks: “... the very concept of tank warfare has radically changed, KV vehicles marked a completely different level of armament, armor protection and weight of tanks. German tanks instantly became an exclusively anti-personnel weapon...” Tanker of the 12th Panzer Division Hans Becker: “On the Eastern Front I met people who can be called a special race. Already the first attack turned into a battle for life and death.”

An anti-tank gunner recalls the lasting impression the desperate Russian resistance made on him and his comrades in the first hours of the war: “During the attack, we came across a light Russian T-26 tank, we immediately shot it straight from the 37 graph paper. When we began to approach, a Russian leaned out waist-high from the tower hatch and opened fire on us with a pistol. It soon became clear that he had no legs; they were torn off when the tank was hit. And, despite this, he fired at us with a pistol!”

The author of the book “1941 Through the Eyes of the Germans” cites the words of an officer who served in a tank unit in the Army Group Center sector, who shared his opinion with war correspondent Curizio Malaparte: “He reasoned like a soldier, avoiding epithets and metaphors, limiting himself to argumentation, directly related to the issues discussed. “We took almost no prisoners, because the Russians always fought to the last soldier. They didn't give up. Their hardening cannot be compared with ours...”

The following episodes also made a depressing impression on the advancing troops: after a successful breakthrough of the border defense, the 3rd battalion of the 18th infantry regiment of Army Group Center, numbering 800 people, was fired upon by a unit of 5 soldiers. “I did not expect anything like this,” admitted the battalion commander, Major Neuhof, to his battalion doctor. “It’s pure suicide to attack the battalion’s forces with five fighters.”

In mid-November 1941, one infantry officer of the 7th Panzer Division, when his unit broke into Russian-defended positions in a village near the Lama River, described the resistance of the Red Army. “You simply won’t believe this until you see it with your own eyes. The soldiers of the Red Army, even burning alive, continued to shoot from the burning houses.”

Winter '41

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

High Wehrmacht losses, lack of winter uniforms and the unpreparedness of German equipment for combat operations in the Russian winter gradually made it possible to seize the initiative Soviet troops. During the three-week period from November 15 to December 5, 1941, the Russian Air Force flew 15,840 combat sorties, while the Luftwaffe carried out only 3,500, which further demoralized the enemy.

In the tank forces, the situation was similar: Lieutenant Colonel Grampe from the headquarters of the 1st Panzer Division reported that his tanks were not ready for combat due to low temperatures (minus 35 degrees). “Even the towers are jammed, optical instruments are covered with frost, and machine guns are only capable of firing single cartridges...” In some units, losses from frostbite reached 70%.

Josef Deck from the 71st Artillery Regiment recalls: “Loaves of bread had to be chopped with an axe. First aid packages turned to stone, gasoline froze, optics failed, and hands stuck to the metal. In the cold, the wounded died a few minutes later. A few lucky people managed to acquire Russian uniforms taken from the corpses they had warmed up.”

Corporal Fritz Siegel wrote in his letter home on December 6: “My God, what are these Russians planning to do to us? It would be good if up there they at least listened to us, otherwise we will all have to die here."

From the diary of a soldier of Army Group Center, August 20, 1941. After such an experience, the saying “Better three French campaigns than one Russian” quickly came into use among the German troops: “ The losses are terrible, they cannot be compared with those in France... Today the road is ours, tomorrow the Russians take it, then we do it again, and so on... I have never seen anyone more evil than these Russians. Real chain dogs! You never know what to expect from them. And where do they get tanks and everything else from?!»

Erich Mende, Lieutenant of the 8th Silesian Infantry Division, about a conversation that took place in the last peaceful moments of June 22, 1941: “My commander was twice my age, and he had already fought with the Russians near Narva in 1917, when he was with the rank of lieutenant. " Here, in these vast expanses, we will find our death, like Napoleon, - he did not hide his pessimism. - Mende, remember this hour, it marks the end of the old Germany».

Alfred Durwanger, Lieutenant, commander of the anti-tank company of the 28th Infantry Division, advancing from East Prussia via Suwalki: " When we entered the first battle with the Russians, they clearly did not expect us, but they could not be called unprepared either. We had no trace of enthusiasm! Rather, everyone was overcome by a sense of the enormity of the upcoming campaign. And the question immediately arose: where, near what settlement will this campaign end?»

Anti-tank gunner Johann Danzer, Brest, June 22, 1941: “ On the very first day, as soon as we went on the attack, one of our men shot himself with his own weapon. Clutching the rifle between his knees, he inserted the barrel into his mouth and pulled the trigger. This is how the war and all the horrors associated with it ended for him.».

General Günther Blumentritt, Chief of Staff of the 4th Army: « The behavior of the Russians, even in the first battle, was strikingly different from the behavior of the Poles and allies who were defeated on the Western Front. Even when surrounded, the Russians steadfastly defended themselves».

Schneiderbauer, Lieutenant, commander of a platoon of 50-mm anti-tank guns of the 45th Infantry Division about the battles on the South Island of the Brest Fortress: “The battle for capturing the fortress was fierce - numerous losses... Where the Russians were knocked out or smoked out, new forces soon appeared. They crawled out of basements, houses, from sewer pipes and other temporary shelters, conducted aimed fire, and our losses were continuously growing." composition against the 8,000-strong garrison of the fortress taken by surprise; in the first day of fighting in Russia alone, the division lost almost as many soldiers and officers as in the entire 6 weeks of the campaign in France).

“These meters turned into a continuous fierce battle for us, which did not subside from the first day. Everything around had already been destroyed almost to the ground, no stone was left of the buildings... The sappers of the assault group climbed onto the roof of the building just opposite us. They had explosive charges on long poles, they thrust them into the windows of the upper floor - they suppressed the enemy's machine-gun nests. But almost to no avail - the Russians did not give up. Most of them were holed up in strong basements, and our artillery fire did not harm them. Look, there’s an explosion, another one, everything is quiet for a minute, and then they open fire again.”

Chief of Staff of the 48th Tank Corps, later chief of staff of the 4th Tank Army: “ It can be said with almost certainty that no cultured Westerner will ever understand the character and soul of the Russians. Knowledge of the Russian character can serve as the key to understanding the fighting qualities of the Russian soldier, his advantages and methods of fighting on the battlefield. The perseverance and mental makeup of a fighter have always been the primary factors in war and often turned out to be more important in their importance than the number and armament of troops...

You can never tell in advance what a Russian will do: as a rule, he rushes from one extreme to the other. His nature is as unusual and complex as this huge and incomprehensible country itself... Sometimes the Russian infantry battalions were in confusion after the very first shots, and the next day the same units fought with fanatical tenacity... The Russian as a whole is, of course, an excellent soldier and with skillful leadership is a dangerous opponent».

Hans Becker, tankman of the 12th Panzer Division: « On the Eastern Front I met people who could be called a special race. Already the first attack turned into a battle for life and death».

From the memoirs of an anti-tank gunner about the first hours of the war: “During the attack, we came across a light Russian T-26 tank, we immediately shot it straight from the 37 graph paper. When we began to approach, a Russian leaned out waist-high from the tower hatch and opened fire on us with a pistol. It soon became clear that he had no legs; they were torn off when the tank was hit. And, despite this, he fired at us with a pistol!”

Hoffmann von Waldau, Major General, Chief of Staff of the Luftwaffe Command, diary entry dated June 31, 1941: “The quality level of Soviet pilots is much higher than expected... Fierce resistance, its massive nature do not correspond to our initial assumptions.”

From an interview with war correspondent Curizio Malaparte (Zuckert), an officer of the tank unit of Army Group Center: “We almost took no prisoners, because the Russians always fought to the last soldier. They didn't give up. Their hardening cannot be compared with ours...”

Erhard Routh, Colonel, commander of the Kampfgruppe "Raus" about the KV-1 tank, which shot and crushed a column of trucks and tanks and an artillery battery of Germans; In total, the tank crew (4 Soviet soldiers) held back the advance of the Raus battle group (about half a division) for two days, June 24 and 25:

«… Inside the tank lay the bodies of the brave crew, who had previously only received injuries. Deeply shocked by this heroism, we buried them with full military honors. They fought until their last breath, but it was just one little drama great war. After the only heavy tank blocked the road for 2 days, it began to operate…»

From the diary of Chief Lieutenant of the 4th Panzer Division Henfeld: “July 17, 1941. Sokolnichi, near Krichev. In the evening, an unknown Russian soldier was buried (we are talking about a 19-year-old senior artillery sergeant). He stood alone at the cannon, shot at a column of tanks and infantry for a long time, and died. Everyone was surprised at his courage... Oberst said before his grave that if all the Fuhrer’s soldiers fought like this Russian, we would conquer the whole world. They fired three times in volleys from rifles. After all, he is Russian, is such admiration necessary?

From the confession of the battalion doctor of Major Neuhof, commander of the 3rd battalion of the 18th infantry regiment of Army Group Center; Having successfully broken through the border defenses, the battalion numbering 800 people was attacked by a unit of 5 Soviet soldiers: “I did not expect anything like this. It’s pure suicide to attack the battalion’s forces with five fighters.”

From a letter from an infantry officer of the 7th Panzer Division about the battles in a village near the Lama River, mid-November 1941: “ You simply won’t believe this until you see it with your own eyes. The soldiers of the Red Army, even burning alive, continued to shoot from the burning houses».

Mellenthin Friedrich von Wilhelm, Major General of the Panzer Forces, chief of staff of the 48th Tank Corps, later chief of staff of the 4th Tank Army, participant in the Battles of Stalingrad and Kursk:

« Russians have always been famous for their contempt for death; The communist regime has further developed this quality, and now the massive Russian attacks are more effective than ever before. The attack undertaken twice will be repeated for the third and fourth time, regardless of the losses incurred, and both the third and fourth attacks will be carried out with the same stubbornness and composure... They did not retreat, but rushed forward uncontrollably. Repelling this kind of attack depends not so much on the availability of technology, but on whether the nerves can withstand it. Only battle-hardened soldiers were able to overcome the fear that gripped everyone».

Fritz Siegel, corporal, from a letter home dated December 6, 1941: “My God, what are these Russians planning to do to us? It would be good if up there they at least listened to us, otherwise we will all have to die here.”

From the diary of a German soldier: “October 1st. Our assault battalion reached the Volga. More precisely, there are still 500 meters to the Volga. Tomorrow we will be on the other side, and the war is over.

October 3. Very strong fire resistance, we cannot overcome these 500 meters. We are standing on the border of some kind of grain elevator.

October 10. Where do these Russians come from? The elevator is no longer there, but every time we approach it, fire is heard from underground.

October 15. Hurray, we made it through the elevator. There are only 100 people left from our battalion. It turned out that the elevator was defended by 18 Russians, we found 18 corpses” (the Nazi battalion that stormed these heroes for 2 weeks numbered about 800 people).

Joseph Goebbels: « Courage is courage inspired by spirituality. The tenacity with which the Bolsheviks defended themselves in their pillboxes in Sevastopol is akin to some kind of animal instinct, and it would be a deep mistake to consider it the result of Bolshevik convictions or upbringing. Russians have always been like this and, most likely, will always remain like this.».

Hubert Coralla, corporal medical unit of the 17th Panzer Division, about the battles along the Minsk-Moscow highway: “ They fought to the last, even the wounded did not let us get close to them. One Russian sergeant, unarmed, with a terrible wound in his shoulder, rushed at our people with a sapper's shovel, but he was immediately shot. Madness, real madness. They fought like animals and died in dozens».

From a letter from a mother to a Wehrmacht soldier: “My dear son! Maybe you can still find a piece of paper to let me know. Yesterday I received a letter from Yoz. He is fine. He writes: “I used to really want to take part in the attack on Moscow, but now I would be glad to get out of all this hell.”

It’s not enough to kill a Russian soldier, he must also be knocked down!
Frederick the Second the Great

The glory of the Russian knows no bounds. The Russian soldier endured what the soldiers of the armies of other countries never endured and will never endure. This is evidenced by the entries in the memoirs of Wehrmacht soldiers and officers, in which they admired the actions of the Red Army:

“Close communication with nature allows Russians to move freely at night in the fog, through forests and swamps. They are not afraid of the dark, endless forests and cold. They are no stranger to winter, when the temperature drops to minus 45. The Siberian, who can be partially or even fully considered an Asian, is even more resilient, even stronger... We already experienced this ourselves during the First World War, when we had to face the Siberian army corps"

“For a European accustomed to small territories, the distances in the East seem endless... The horror is intensified by the melancholic, monotonous nature of the Russian landscape, which has a depressing effect, especially in the gloomy autumn and painfully long winter. The psychological influence of this country on the average German soldier was very strong. He felt insignificant, lost in these endless spaces."

“The Russian soldier prefers hand-to-hand combat. His ability to endure hardship without flinching is truly amazing. This is the Russian soldier whom we came to know and respect a quarter of a century ago.”

“It was very difficult for us to form a clear picture of the equipment of the Red Army... Hitler refused to believe that the Soviet industrial production may be equal to German. We had little information regarding Russian tanks. We had no idea how many tanks Russian industry was capable of producing per month.

It was difficult to even get maps, since the Russians kept them a great secret. The maps we had were often incorrect and misleading.

We also did not have accurate data about the combat power of the Russian army. Those of us who fought in Russia during the First World War thought it was great, and those who did not know the new enemy tended to underestimate it.”

“The behavior of the Russian troops, even in the first battles, was in striking contrast with the behavior of the Poles and Western allies in defeat. Even surrounded, the Russians continued stubborn fighting. Where there were no roads, the Russians remained inaccessible in most cases. They always tried to break through to the east... Our encirclement of the Russians was rarely successful.”

“From Field Marshal von Bock to the soldier, everyone hoped that soon we would be marching through the streets of the Russian capital. Hitler even created a special sapper team that was supposed to destroy the Kremlin.

When we came close to Moscow, the mood of our commanders and troops suddenly changed dramatically. We discovered with surprise and disappointment in October and early November that the defeated Russians had not ceased to exist as a military force. Over the past weeks, enemy resistance has intensified, and the tension of the fighting increased every day...”

Chief of Staff of the 4th Army of the Wehrmacht, General Günter Blumentritt

“The Russians don’t give up. An explosion, another, everything is quiet for a minute, and then they open fire again...”
“We watched the Russians in amazement. They didn’t seem to care that their main forces were defeated..."

“Loaves of bread had to be chopped with an axe. A few lucky people managed to acquire Russian uniforms..."
“My God, what are these Russians planning to do to us? We will all die here!..”

From the memories of German soldiers

“The Russians showed themselves to be first-class warriors from the very beginning, and our successes in the first months of the war were simply due to better training. Having gained combat experience, they became first-class soldiers. They fought with exceptional tenacity and had amazing endurance..."

Colonel General (later Field Marshal) von Kleist

“It often happened that Soviet soldiers raised their hands to show that they were surrendering to us, and after our infantrymen approached them, they again resorted to weapons; or the wounded man feigned death, and then shot at our soldiers from the rear.”

General von Manstein (also a future field marshal)

“It should be noted the tenacity of individual Russian formations in battle. There have been cases when garrisons of pillboxes blew themselves up along with the pillboxes, not wanting to surrender.” (Recorded June 24.)
“Information from the front confirms that the Russians are fighting everywhere to the last man... It is striking that when artillery batteries are captured, etc., few surrender.” (June 29.)
“The fighting with the Russians is extremely stubborn. Only a small number of prisoners were captured." (4th of July)

Diary of General Halder

“The uniqueness of the country and the unique character of the Russians gives the campaign a special specificity. The first serious opponent"

Field Marshal Brauchitsch (July 1941)

“About a hundred of our tanks, of which about a third were T-IVs, took up their starting positions for a counterattack. We fired at the Russian iron monsters from three sides, but it was all in vain...

The Russian giants, echeloned along the front and in depth, came closer and closer. One of them approached our tank, hopelessly stuck in a swampy pond. Without any hesitation, the black monster drove over the tank and crushed it into the mud with its tracks.

At this moment a 150 mm howitzer arrived. While the artillery commander warned of the approach of enemy tanks, the gun opened fire, but again to no avail.

One of the Soviet tanks came within 100 meters of the howitzer. The gunners opened fire on him with direct fire and scored a hit - it was like being struck by lightning. The tank stopped. “We knocked him out,” the artillerymen sighed with relief. Suddenly, someone from the gun crew screamed heart-rendingly: “He’s gone again!” Indeed, the tank came to life and began to approach the gun. Another minute, and the shiny metal tracks of the tank slammed the howitzer into the ground like a toy. Having dealt with the gun, the tank continued its journey as if nothing had happened."

Commander of the 41st Panzer Corps of the Wehrmacht by General Reinhart

Courage is courage inspired by spirituality. The tenacity with which the Bolsheviks defended themselves in their pillboxes in Sevastopol is akin to some kind of animal instinct, and it would be a deep mistake to consider it the result of Bolshevik convictions or upbringing. Russians have always been like this and, most likely, will always remain like this.”

On June 22, 1941, the Wehrmacht command assured that German soldiers would defeat the Red Army in 2-3 months, but from the first days of the battles the Germans realized that this war would be different from previous ones. Already at the height of the battle for Crimea, Joseph Goebbels will say: “The tenacity with which the Bolsheviks defended themselves in their pillboxes in Sevastopol is akin to a kind of animal instinct, and it would be a grave mistake to consider it the result of Bolshevik convictions or upbringing. Russians have always been like this and, most likely, will always remain like this.”

Beginning of the war

Back in July 1941, Field Marshal Brauchitsch wrote about the Russians: “The first serious enemy.” General Halder, Chief of the General Staff of the Wehrmacht Ground Forces, Colonel General Franz Halder, noted in his diary that in the summer battles of 1941, Soviet soldiers fought fiercely and often blew themselves up in pillboxes.

A week after the start of the war, the chief of staff of the Luftwaffe, Major General Hoffmann von Waldau, wrote in his diary: “The quality level of the Soviet pilots is much higher than expected... Fierce resistance, its massive nature do not correspond to our initial assumptions.” The Germans were especially shocked by the aircraft rams and the huge level of losses. On June 22, 1941 alone, the Luftwaffe lost 300 aircraft, which was not the case in battles with the Allies.

In his book “1941 through the eyes of the Germans. Birch crosses instead of iron ones,” the English historian Roberta Kershaw collected the memories of Wehrmacht soldiers about the first year of the war. The researcher claimed that at this time a saying appeared in the Wehrmacht army: “Better three French campaigns than one Russian.”

Kleist and Manstein

Field Marshal Kleist wrote: “The Russians showed themselves to be first-class warriors from the very beginning, and our successes in the first months of the war were simply due to better preparation. Having gained combat experience, they became first-class soldiers. They fought with exceptional tenacity and had amazing endurance..."

The desperation of the Red Army soldiers also struck Field Marshal Manstein. In his memoirs, he marveled: “The Soviet soldiers raised their hands to show that they were surrendering to us, and after our infantrymen approached them, they again resorted to weapons; or the wounded man feigned death, and then shot at our soldiers from the rear.”

In the book “Lost Victories,” Manstein described a revealing episode of the battle for Crimea, when 5,000 Soviet soldiers broke out of the quarries. “In a dense mass, leading individual soldiers by the arms so that no one could fall behind, they rushed towards our lines. Often in front of everyone were women and girls Komsomol members, who, also with weapons in their hands, inspired the fighters.”

“Even surrounded they continue to fight”

The Chief of Staff of the 4th Army of the Wehrmacht, General Günter Blumentritt, left his thoughts on the Red Army. In his diaries, the military leader came to the conclusion that the enemy’s strength lies in his close contact with nature. That is why the Red Army soldier moves freely at night and in the fog and is not afraid of frost. The general wrote: “The Russian soldier prefers hand-to-hand combat. His ability to endure hardship without flinching is truly amazing. This is the Russian soldier whom we came to know and respect a quarter of a century ago.”

Blumentritt also compared the Russians with Germany's previous opponents: “The behavior of the Russian troops, even in the first battles, was in striking contrast with the behavior of the Poles and Western allies in defeat. Even surrounded, the Russians continued stubborn fighting. Where there were no roads, the Russians remained inaccessible in most cases. They always tried to break through to the east... Our encirclement of the Russians was rarely successful.”

Tenacity and knowledge of strategy

After the war, Colonel General of the Panzer Forces and military theorist Heinz Guderian wrote the article “The Experience of the War with Russia.” In this work, he analyzed the attempts of foreigners to conquer Russia and came to the conclusion that: “The Russian soldier has always been distinguished by special tenacity, strength of character and great unpretentiousness. In the Second World War it became obvious that the Soviet high command also had high capabilities in the field of strategy.”

On February 28, 1915, the rearguard 20th Corps of the 10th Russian Army died in the German ring in the Augustow forests of East Prussia. The soldiers and officers, having used up their ammunition, launched a bayonet attack and were shot almost point-blank by German artillery and machine guns. More than 7 thousand of those surrounded died, the rest were captured. The courage of the Russians delighted the Germans. German war correspondent Brandt wrote: “The attempt to break through was complete madness, but this holy madness is heroism, which showed the Russian warrior as we have known him since the days of Skobeleva, the storming of Plevna, the battles in the Caucasus and the storming of Warsaw! The Russian soldier knows how to fight very well, he endures all sorts of hardships and is able to be persistent, even if he inevitably faces certain death!

We have compiled a selection of characteristics of the fighting qualities of our soldiers and officers by their opponents.

1. Robert Wilson, English officer Patriotic War 1812:

“The bayonet is the true weapon of the Russians. Some Englishmen can argue with them about the exclusive right to these weapons. But since the Russian soldier gets out of large number people with great attention to their bodily qualities, then their regiments should have much greater superiority.

The bravery of the Russians in the field is unparalleled. The most difficult thing for the human mind (in 1807) was to control the Russians during the retreat. When the general Bennigsen, trying to avoid an attack by the enemy, retreated from Yankov, during the dark nights of the Polish winter, then, despite the superiority of the French forces, which stretched to 90 thousand people, the indignation of the Russian soldiers was so bold, the demand for battle was so strong and persistent, and the resulting chaos became so great that the general Bennigsen was forced to promise to fulfill their demand."

2. Tadeuchi Sakurai, Japanese lieutenant, participant in the assault on Port Arthur:

“...Despite all our bitterness against the Russians, we still recognize their courage and bravery, and their stubborn defense for 58 hours deserves deep respect and praise...

Among those killed in the trenches, we found one Russian soldier with a bandaged head: apparently already wounded in the head, after bandaging he again joined the ranks of his comrades and continued to fight until a new bullet killed him..."

3. French naval officer, witness to the battle between the Varyag and the Korean:

“The battle of the Varyag and the Korean, which met shells from six large Japanese ships and mines from eight destroyers, will remain an unforgettable event of the current century. The heroism of the Russian sailors not only prevented the Japanese from capturing both ships, but also prompted the Russians to leave the battle only after the enemy squadron had suffered sensitive defeats. One of the Japanese destroyers sank. The Japanese wanted to hide this and sent their men to saw off the masts and pipes that stuck out from under the water the next day after the battle, but the officers of the foreign ships were witnesses of this fact, and therefore the Japanese cannot deny it. From foreign ships they saw, in addition, that the battleship Assam suffered very serious damage: fire appeared between its pipes, and the ship then tilted heavily. Not wanting to leave anything to the Japanese, the crew The Russian merchant ship "Sungari" started a fire on it and asked for shelter on the "Pascal" (French ship), which accepted this crew."

4. Steiner, eyewitness to the death of the 20th Corps of the 10th Russian Army, World War I:

“He, a Russian soldier, endures losses and holds on even when death is inevitable for him.”

5. Von Poseck, General, World War I:

“The Russian cavalry was a worthy opponent. The personnel were magnificent... The Russian cavalry never shied away from battle on horseback or on foot. The Russians often attacked our machine guns and artillery, even when their attack was doomed to failure. They paid no attention either to the strength of our fire or to their losses."

6. German participant in the battles on the Eastern Front, World War I:

“...for several hours the entire Russian front line was under fire from our heavy artillery. The trenches were simply plowed up and leveled to the ground; it seemed that there were no survivors left there. But our infantry went on the attack. And suddenly the Russian positions come to life: here and there the characteristic shots of Russian rifles are heard. And now figures in gray greatcoats are appearing everywhere - the Russians have launched a swift counterattack... Our infantry, indecisively, slows down the pace of the advance... A signal to retreat is heard..."

7. Military columnist for the Austrian newspaper Pester Loyd, World War I:

“It would be funny to talk about Russian pilots with disrespect. Russian pilots are more dangerous enemies than French ones. Russian pilots are cold-blooded. The Russian attacks may lack systematicity, just like the French, but in the air, Russian pilots are unshakable and can endure heavy losses without any panic; the Russian pilot is and remains a terrible adversary.”

8. Franz Halder, Colonel General, Chief of the General Staff of the Ground Forces, World War II:

“Information from the front confirms that the Russians are fighting everywhere to the last man... It is striking that when artillery batteries are captured, etc., few surrender. Some Russians fight until they are killed, others flee, throw off their uniforms and try to get out of the encirclement under the guise of peasants.”

9. Ludwig von Kleist, Field Marshal, World War II:

10. Erich von Manstein, Field Marshal, World War II:

11. Gunther Blumentritt, General, Chief of Staff of the 4th Army, World War II: