Soldiers of Barbarossa

Today we’re following a diary entry from a front line infantry soldier serving with the 268. ID during the decisive battle for Yelnia in August of 1941. Our group can claim to have been the forward most boot of the German Wehrmacht for approximately 14 days. Since the end of last month we have been an irritating thorn in the pelt of the Russian bear, which he has been trying to attack with all his might. Despite all of his artillery, he doesn’t succeed in removing this thorn, and his bloody infantry losses are unimaginable. The town El’nia, which we surrounded will one day be an important name in the history of the campaign. Yes, these battles are tough, and in our ranks, too, death tears a hole in the ranks of our best every day. But in these battles, the soldiers have learned to become tough, too, and shown that he is also equal to “storms of steel,” just like his fathers in the World War. The grandeur of many an expression from that time now becomes clear. The incessant metallic hammering off the artillery, the crashing explosions of the shells, and the yipping and humming of shrapnel makes its own music. And when that can be heard constantly from morning till night in any sector of the front, unending, without any indication that they are having to pause for breath over there, then you can put yourself in the position of the fighter in the World War. But our guys have become tough in all this and have an admirable level of self-confidence, and if the Russian comes with infantry and tanks, then a bloody reception awaits him. And it matters not at all if one or two tanks break through the lines, because one of our Paks was destroyed and no other weapon can stop it. For then the infantryman leaps from his foxhole with hand grenade, Molotov cocktail, and a concentrated charge, and finishes it off as matter-of-factly as if he were conducting a peacetime demonstration. Our Ostmarkers have particularly proved themselves here, defending a commanding elevation (125.6), which the Russian attacks again and again. And here is laid bare the spirit of the fighter in the current war, he who knows for what he fights and, if necessary, dies, in contrast to the stupid cannon fodder which is only whipped forward over and again by the Reds’ pack of lies and a pistol or machine gun.

SOLDIERS OF BARBAROSSA Text is on page 196 7.10.41 Lieutenant Hans-Joachim Breitenbach (Sixteenth Army, Army Group North) This is fantastic footage showing the 250th Infantry Division, more commonly known as the volunteer Spanish Blue Divisions. The German 16th Army, being led by Fieldmarsal Ernst Busch, held the right flank of AGN. The army was made up of 7 infantry divisions and had no panzer groups assigned to it. The area to the south east of Lake Ilmen was mostly swamp which is depicted in the map by the horizontal blue lines. Since the territory was difficult to move through it was an excellent location for Soviet soldiers whose units had been wiped out to hide and therefor became a center of partisan activity. Moving past on their way towards the Leningrad front was the 250. ID. Having not yet been in combat their experiences to date couldn’t have contrasted more. At the time the SS Totenkopf Division was operating here also. In this clip we see its commander Lieutenant General Theodor Eicke speaking with General Busch at the Totenkopf field headquarters. There was a hodgepodge of remnants and full soviet units in this area of operation. October 7 was the day it first snowed along the eastern front. Although the snow quickly melted, the standing water resulted in the start of Rasputitsa, the month-long muddy period. This rare film footage of the 250 ID, more commonly known as the Spanish Blue Division, fits in well with today’s video. TEXT But now it has become a bit quieter, even if all kinds of things do frequently come our way. In the first days it was still around 1,000-1,500 shells daily. Almost every square meters here has been plowed up. During the day it’s impossible to be outside. It’s dread to have to lie here and just be shot up like this. The food, ammunition, and mail only get to the front at night; the food is usually sour, and in any case always cold; often, only the bottoms of the pans are covered, the rest of the food has tipped out as a result of constantly being put down while under fire. And that means going dog-hungry again. We’re all pretty low. I was at the front for 17 days before I was relieved for a few days. But what that means, to be at the front in this hell for 17 days, nobody can imagine! 17 days without hot food - if any provisions got to the front at all. 17 days of almost no sleep, 17 days of icy cold, lots of rain, damp things, wet feet, no blankets. 17 days unwashed, unshaven, always thirsty - some drank the dirty muddy water that collected in the foxholes - and constantly artillery, aircraft bombs, mortars, tanks, heavy machine guns, sharpshooters: fire from forward, from the left, from the right, from half to the right, below and above! You’ve got to have nerves like barbed wire! There were lots of fatalities and casualties. What I saw for the first time here as well was nervous breakdowns of all levels of severity right through to imbecility, My platoon leader, an old Master sergeant also suffered such a severe shock to his nerves that he had to be transported by plane back to Germany. The young soldiers who had come as reserves, fresh from home, were so done in that they cried and screamed. I had to bring them back to the artillery individually. They near enough clung to me and didn’t want toleave me, as if it was safer with me. And then you’re supposed to keep your nerves together as well.S

Episode 177 Soldiers of Barbarossa Pg 24 22.6.41 Leutnant Heinz Doll, 18. PzD, PzG 2, AGC At exactly 0310 on 22 June 1941 we were ready to fire. Somewhat restively I followed the minute and second hands of my watch until the firing order came. At 0315 a lightning bolt of gigantic dimensions tore through the night. Thousands of artillery pieces shattered the silence. I will never forget those seconds. But just what they signified for the world, for Germany - that was beyond comprehension… The artillerymen told me about an unbelievable experience. At our crossing point, they said, tanks dived into the Bug river like U-boots and then reappeared on the east bank. Must be pretty strong tobacco they’re smoking I thought to myself, but it was true. Soldiers of Barbarossa Pg 24 22.6.1941 Walther Loos, 45th ID, PzG2, AGC It seemed that a curtain over the terrors of the underwood rose above our heads. At first we were still hearing the discharges, the thunder and howling of wailing shells passing overhead, streaking in death-dealing trajectories toward the opposite bank from hundreds of barrels ranging from the smallest to the largest caliber. Involuntarily ducking our heads, we were almost forgetting to breathe. However, a second later the artillery fire of a different heavy gun gathered such a deafening and breathtaking strength like I never experienced later. Even those participants in the First World War among us later acknowledged that at that time, they had never experienced fire of such concentrated power. The sky turned red, and even though it was night, it became as light as day. Large trees fringing the Bug swayed wildly and were torn to pieces as if from an invisible force by the atmospheric pressure of the passing shells. Soldiers of Barbarossa Pg 30 22.6.41 Unknown Soldier 45. ID, PzG 2, AGC The storming of the fortress of Brest-Litovsk… Already in the morning the way to the East is fee for our panzers, but the most difficult fighting for the fortress goes on.

In part 8 in the series from this wonderful book, we’ll follow an He 111 crew member from Kampfgeschwader or Bomber Wing 55 who took part in the Aug. 6, 1941 bombing raid on Moscow. At the end of the video I’ll show more from that raw Luftwaffe private reels so stick around, it’s worth it. This outstanding private footage showing a forward Luftwaffe airbase was taken in the Summer of 1941. At this point in the war the 55th Bomber Wing was made up of a Headquarters unit or “Stab” and 4 Bomber Groups. Each Group was made up of 3 squadrons containing about 12 aircraft each. With the German army’s quick advance into the Soviet Union, in July the 55th Bomber Wing was transferred to airfields farther to the east which allowed striking targets far behind enemy lines including Moscow. The Bomber Wing’s most forward airfield was situated in Smolensk only about 20 km from the heavily contested front and 400 km from Moscow. Key targets during the August 6th Moscow bombing raid were factories associated to the Soviet aircraft industry. As the formation flew over the front, they gained a bird’s-eye-view of the intense combat taking place below In this interesting clip we see a number of Hilfsfreiwilliger, or Hiwi’s, which were Russian POWs that were willing to do physical labor for the Germans in exchange for better living conditions. Much of the road repair work in occupied territory was done for example by groups of organized Hiwis. Just as we are flying along the edge of the Moscow cauldron, still rather hazy with cloud, dozens of powerful light sources flare up down below. Searchlights spin the Red capital into a gigantic net intended to ensnare our He 111. For several seconds, the white light, after restless searching, licks the belly of the bomber, but is unable to hang on to it. The Red gunners put up an iron curtain barricade [eisernen Sperrvorhang] from a multitude of flak barrels. No matter! We penetrate it! Now we are above the city precincts. Moscow has already received heavy blows. Three large fields of fire are the result of the first contingent of high explosive and incendiary bombs that are to fall in their tens of thousands over the course of the night. In one of these fields, eight large fires are raging. That was where the first heavy caliber bombs

In part seven in the series covering diary entries and letters from this wonderful book, well go through a letter written by a soldier who served with the German 52nd infantry division from the front near Briansk in late September of 1941. In your letter from the 23.8. you ask whether we carry guns. But, Bobi, what do you think? What do you really think? Do you think we’re throwing stones out here? Of course every soldier has his gun, and even a pistol as well. Don’t worry. . . And now I’ll tell you a bit about our work. You wanted to know what we do. This was the day before yesterday. We had the task of storming the village occupied by the enemy, taking prisoners, and getting back unharmed if at all possible. So it all kicked off at 2:30 a.m. I took another two men from the section with me, because during the attack we were always laying a telephone line so that we could stay connected with the front behind us. A railway line goes through the middle of the village. The same one runs from our section to the Russian front. So 40 men advance on the left, and 40 men on the right of the railway line. At 4:20 a.m. our artillery begins hammering. At 5:00 a.m. the last shell falls. Now the path is clear for us. During the darkness, we have come, unnoticed, to within 200 meters of the first buildings with our telephone then our machine guns and our mortars begin barking. The enemy infantry race for cover into the first buildings. The shooting intensifies, there’s whistling and shooting all round our heads. The Russians are firing wildly about the place. They were very rudely awakened from their sleep and don’t know where they should run to and even less where they should be shooting. At this stage in the campaign the 52. ID was part of the 12 AK in the 4th Army which was positioned on the Briansk front. The division was being led by General Lothar Rendulic. He went on to command the 35th Army Corps in 1943 at Kursk and then in 1944 lead anti partisan forces in Yugoslavia against Tito. As we can see, in late September the Briansk Front was being held by infantry formations with the 10th Pz, part of PzG 4 held back in reserve. You see, a surprise attack, has a particular strength. You should have seen their stupid faces. A surprise like that must be dreadful. That’s nothing new for us; we don’t notice it any more. But their fear, their stubborn ignorance [sture Verbohrtheit], that we’re going to shoot them, it just makes us shake our heads. Well, that’s Soviet propaganda. The poor people get told, if you are captured, then the Germans will shoot you. You see, my little Bobel, at 7:00 a.m. we had finished our work. There was death there, too. We quickly set about our withdrawal so that we wouldn’t immediately attract the attention of the Russian artillery. Just on the short way back that the three of us took, we counted 90 dead Russians. All together the Russians lost 150 prisoners and just as many dead on this raiding party. An antitank gun was also destroyed. On our side there were one fatality and seven casualties. The enemy had placed their mortars rounds dangerously close but nothing else they did was significant. On our way back the three of us now had to roll up the telephone line unnoticed. At 8:00 a.m. we were back sitting in our bunker and really enjoying the hot ground coffee.

SUPPORT THE CHANNEL and get access to exclusive film footage www.Patreon.com/Military1945 Episode 165 23.9.41: Gefreiter Hans Roth (299th Infantry Division, Sixth Army, Army Group South) Early on September 19 we penetrated the heavily armed outer ring of the city. The enemy, by far not as strong as we had assumed, was defeated in bloody, close combat, and by 0900 hours we had already reached the western part of the city. The Reds have quite their attempts at heavy street fighting. At the same time strong assault parities attacked the citadel from the direction of Lysa-Hora, and by 1100 hours Nazi swastikas were raised there. By noon we are in the center of the city, no shots are heard; the wide streets and squares are abandoned. It is eerie. The silence is making us nervous, because it’s hardly believable that such a large city has fallen into our hands in such a short amount of time. . . What does this western defense line, which Budenny depended upon just like the French did with the Maginot Line, look like? It’s not a common line of bunkers; no, it’s a collection of diabolic resources, which can only be conceived by the brain of a paranoiac. I will try and describe some of these horrific death zones that we passed through while intensely fighting on September 17, 18 and 19: To the rear of Gatnoje, there are fields of cooperatives, vast vegetable farms. They lie there harmlessly in the sum. Who would believe that hiding among those plants is the most horrific death: a high voltage current! Atop the vegetation is a webbing of fine calibre wire the length of several kilometers. This rests on thin, isolated metal poles, which are all painted green; a deadly net of high current, which is run by a power plant in a bunker. It is so well camouflaged that we recognize it unfortunately much too late, only after a continued accumulation of losses. Then there are the devil’s ditches, lined up in great depth, several hundred meters long. They are mined, and when a single land mine is tripped, entire fields, which are connected underground by detonation channels, explode. At the same time, water pipes explode and rapidly flood the area two meters deep. There are even a few more goodies that happen to be just lying around, seeming random objects that are interesting to every soldier: watches, packs of cigarettes, pieces of soap, etc. Each of these objects is connected to a hidden detonator. If the soldier picks any of these objects up, he starts the ignition and detonates a mine or an entire minefield. In this category also belong well-hidden trip wires, which cause contact mines to explode. These monsters jump up ¾ of a meter and explode. . . There are other areas where hidden among trip wires are thousands of knife-sharp steel spikes, which are poisoned and cause the injured to die a horrible death ten minutes later. All of the defensive belts are littered with automatic

SUPPORT THE CHANNEL and get access to exclusive film footage www.Patreon.com/Military1945 Episode 168 This footage shows a rare submersible tank from the 18th PzD. The division was formed in October of 1940 in order to take part in Operation Sea Lion, the planned invasion of the United Kingdom. In the Summer of 1941 instead of crossing the English Channel, the division as part of Army Group Center, advanced into the Soviet Union. In Part 3 in the series covering letters and diary entries from this wonderful book we’ll follow the experiences of a young Lieutenant who served in the 18th PzD. Using rare film footage we’ll bring his story to life and with OKW situational maps we’ll add context. You can find the entries from today’s episode on pg. 37 & 38 of the book. We are looking at the situational map for June 24th 1941 two days after Operation Barbarossa began. The 18th PzD, part of PzG 2 being lead by General Heinz Guderian, was thrusting to the north east in the direction of Minsk. Army Group North would make up the left pincer of this massive envelopment maneuver which would eventually create the Bialystock Minsk pocket. The 18th Panzer Division, at the tip of the spearhead thrust was facing the brunt of desperate Soviet resistance and so clearing the way for the 3rd PzD to continue racing forwards. At the end of this video we’ll take a look at the June 25th situational map, the second diary entry that we’ll cover today, to see how things have developed so stick around. The triple crossed Y is the unit insignia of the 18th PzD and this signifies that it was part of PzR 18 that was made up of so-called Tauchpanzer, As fate would have it that operation was sidelined. 24.6.41: Leutnant Georg Kreuter (18 Panzer Division, 2 Panzer Group, Army Group Center)[1] Um 22 Uhr wurde ich zum Gefechtsstand gerufen... At 2200 hours, I am summoned to the division. I take another five motorcycle messengers with me. The road is blocked by vehicle columns and it takes a long time for me to get through. At the head of the column, I discover that the divisional command post is surrounded and decide to continue on alone. It is pretty dark, and now and then I come across one of our soldiers. Suddenly I have the impression that Russian tanks may be attacking and with a few hastily organized people we establish a hedgehog defensive position. When a rifle company continues ahead, I join them. We meet the commander of the combat engineer battalion, Major Rahl. He seems to think that there are absolutely no Russians there at all and that we are simply shooting at each other. When I continue onward, I meet my chief, who is going to get help. I go with him to the divisional command post. We can’t go along the road and must take a long detour. A crazy shoot-out [tolle Schiesserei] is underway and there’s nothing to be seen. Close to the location of the command post, we come across some Russians, who are lying ahead of us in the grass. . . It looks like everything has gone totally berserk at the command post. A Russian column coming from the west had thrust directly onto our march route. They probably wanted to get out of the cauldron. A few trucks were shot into flames by a tank that just happened to be standing by for repairs. The enemy dismounted from the rest and attacked. It was a strange group of people. There were even a few German Communists among them. Most of them were in civilian clothes! Even women and children were there. They wore steel helmets, too, and shot at us. Everything around us was in flames. Russian trucks and German gasoline trucks! If only day would come so that we can get some help. The shooting is coming from everywhere!. . . My chief now has command here. The division commander isn’t here, he’s out with reconnaissance. 25.6.41: Leutnant Georg Kreuter (18 Panzer Division, 2 Panzer Group, Army Group Center)[1] Even the longest night finally comes to an end! Now we can see clearly! Russians are still being pulled out of the trucks, some of them are hidden under the axles; there are even some in our [vehicles]. It is quite a considerable number coming together here. The woman who wailed so madly through the night has now become quieter. She has an infant with her. Her wailing made everyone nervous all night long; she must be mad, because she pounds away and talks as if making a grand speech. Around 20 of the worst renegades and those who have passed themselves off as German soldiers are executed. And the woman is among them! I am pleased that this chapter is closed. If it is to go on like this, then we’ll have to receive fresh supplies of nerves!

SUPPORT THE CHANNEL and get access to exclusive film footage www.Patreon.com/Military1945 Episode 169 Gradually, a reaction of nervous tension made itself felt amongst us. Somewhat exhausted, we went a little way back along the road, up to a street attendant’s cottage, where we sat down on a bench to rest. From there we had a good overview of the battlefield in the sunken ground. We saw both our own and enemy tanks that had been put out of action, but none combat ready from either party. About 100 meters away from us stood a burning T-34 that, as was later ascertained, had been shot into flames by the commander of 6th Company. Half an hour later it blew sky high with a dull crack, flinging the turret 30 meters away. Further back at the forest edge we saw a T-34 that had rammed one of our Panzer IIs. It had even climbed up it and then not been able to free itself. From a distance it looked like the mating of two dinosaurs. This scene was later referred to in the regiment as the panzer wedding. Of course some of my men had suffered a shock, as they were taken completely by surprise and attacked right up close by [enemy tanks] clearly superior in terms of weapons and armor plating. And even more so when they discovered that they had hardly any impact with their own little tank guns [Kanönchen]. Who could hold that against them? One non-commissioned officer drove back into the area of Combat Echelon B with his tank, which had been severely damaged in the fight. There, sinking down exhausted next to Leutnant K., he told the following about his experience: “Herr Leutnant, it was terrible! One [of the Russian tanks] just advances up to me, I’m firing and firing, armor piercing shells, high explosive shells, with the machine gun. Hit after hit, but he doesn’t notice any of it. And he’s coming ever closer, his shots missing us by a hair’s breadth. Shoots again, the shot tears the track shield from my tank. I can calculate when he will have the next huge shell in his barrel, then he will hit home. I’m only 30 meters away from him, and then another tank comes at me from the side, its barrel pointed at me. That’s when my driver puts his foot down and we drive off between the two of them with gusto. They are better armored, better armed, and faster, what else could we have done? Look how I’m shaking! . . .”

SUPPORT THE CHANNEL and get access to exclusive film footage www.Patreon.com/Military1945 Episode 171 2.12.41: Dr Hermann Türk (3 Panzer Division, 2 Panzer Group, Army Group Centre) Wind storms and snow. We can scarcely imagine that a reasonable [military] operation is still feasible. Things are very bad. How are we supposed to advance? And yet: we take Romanova. I move my vehicles forward. Motorcycle driver Ebel drives in front of us to show us the way. When we reach the high ground at Romanova there is suddenly a bang, a shock with a powerful blast wave. The motocycle is blown into a thousand pieces. The individual pieces fall slowly from the sky. Miraculously Ebel is lying on the ground. I approach cautiously. There is not much more to do. I would like to give him morphine, but it’s impossible. It doesn’t work. I carry the morphine in my pants pocket to keep it warm, but just as I am about to inject it, the morphine freezes in the cannula. In cold like this there is virtually nothing I can do. It is terrible for us. Our fingers are freezing. We take a closer look around [for the cause of the explosion]. I front of our car there is a large mine barrier. There are two mines just 1.5 meters away, directly in front of my front wheels. Again I have been saved by a miracle. A few seconds later and we would have had it. While we are busy recovering the wounded and turning our vehicles, we come under heavy mortar fire from a nearby wood. A round lands 20 meters to the right, the next 20 meters to the left. Time to get out of here. At that moment an explosion where my vehicle had been seconds earlier. Fragments whiz about our ears. Now I try to get [to Romanova] by another route. Outside Romanova there is a ravine with a river. It was dammed. The Russians have now opened the dam and the ice sags. There is only one place to cross and it is under continuous, accurate artillery fire. Several vehicles try to get across. One direct hit after another. Fourteen vehicles knocked out in short order. There are many killed and wounded. I have to leave the ambulance behind. The wounded are carried across the ice. The entire area is under mortar fire. Division ambulances also come. One is hit. II Battalion’s ambulance is also destroyed by a direct hit. There is pure chaos. One’s nerves are not what they were in the beginning. The regiment has 47 casualties. 5.12.41: Dr Hermann Türk (3 Panzer Division, 2 Panzer Group, Army Group Centre) It is minus 39 degrees. It is unbelieveable what the troops have to do. This can’t go on for long. . . the 17 Pz. Div. has been beaten back. It is already again twenty kilometres south of Kashira. We are supposed to go to its aid, but almost none of our vehicles are functional because of the frightful cold. In the tanks of the first company [6 Pz. Rgt.] boiling water is poured in above, by the time it reaches the radiator it is already ice. The oil is solid too. The transmission no longer turn. In almost all the tanks even the strering is frozen. The road to Moscow has also been abandoned again. The 4 Pz. Div. has had to face the most powerful attacks by fresh Siberian troops with tanks. Cavalry too. As they can’t get their vehicles going, many of them have had to be blown up. The men don’t understand what is happening. The Siberians are terrible. Now they have nailed a German officer to a board and thrown him into a hole in the river. One can’t describe this bestiality. It seems our operations here are through for the winter. The battalion is to be sent into action again tonight at 0200. . . suddenly someone pounding on the door of our shack. It is an officer, who came through the village on a motorcycle and saw my vehicle. The Russians are already at the edge of the village. It’s high time for us to go. . . But we are about to get away before the leading troops can catch us. Then we drive cross-country, navigating by compass alone.

SUPPORT THE CHANNEL and get access to exclusive film footage www.Patreon.com/Military1945 Episode 176 Today we’re following a diary entry from a front line infantry soldier serving with the 268. ID during the decisive battle for Yelnia in August of 1941. Our group can claim to have been the forward most boot of the German Wehrmacht for approximately 14 days. Since the end of last month we have been an irritating thorn in the pelt of the Russian bear, which he has been trying to attack with all his might. Despite all of his artillery, he doesn’t succeed in removing this thorn, and his bloody infantry losses are unimaginable. The town El’nia, which we surrounded will one day be an important name in the history of the campaign. Yes, these battles are tough, and in our ranks, too, death tears a hole in the ranks of our best every day. But in these battles, the soldiers have learned to become tough, too, and shown that he is also equal to “storms of steel,” just like his fathers in the World War. The grandeur of many an expression from that time now becomes clear. The incessant metallic hammering off the artillery, the crashing explosions of the shells, and the yipping and humming of shrapnel makes its own music. And when that can be heard constantly from morning till night in any sector of the front, unending, without any indication that they are having to pause for breath over there, then you can put yourself in the position of the fighter in the World War. But our guys have become tough in all this and have an admirable level of self-confidence, and if the Russian comes with infantry and tanks, then a bloody reception awaits him. And it matters not at all if one or two tanks break through the lines, because one of our Paks was destroyed and no other weapon can stop it. For then the infantryman leaps from his foxhole with hand grenade, Molotov cocktail, and a concentrated charge, and finishes it off as matter-of-factly as if he were conducting a peacetime demonstration. Our Ostmarkers have particularly proved themselves here, defending a commanding elevation (125.6), which the Russian attacks again and again. And here is laid bare the spirit of the fighter in the current war, he who knows for what he fights and, if necessary, dies, in contrast to the stupid cannon fodder which is only whipped forward over and again by the Reds’ pack of lies and a pistol or machine gun.