Bismarck wrote: "Never fight the Russians." And Bismarck never did that. What did those who fought with them say about the Russians? It is interesting to read their memoirs and impressions from meetings with the Russian army.
Patriotic War of 1812
The arrival of the Napoleonic army in Russia in 1812 ended in complete failure for it. According to the historian V.M. Bezotosny, Napoleon "expected that the whole campaign would fit within the framework of the summer - the maximum of the beginning of the autumn of 1812." The French emperor planned to spend the winter of 1812 in Paris. Napoleon in Russia hoped for a general battle, which he himself called the grand coup, but it was inexorably postponed.
Near Smolensk, the Russian armies united and further and further involved Napoleon deep into the vast country. The once victorious army entered the empty cities, having eaten the last supplies and panicking.
Let's go back to memories.
One of Napoleon's adjutants, General Rapp, wrote in his memoirs:
“Infantry, cavalry fiercely rushed at each other in an attack from one end of the battle line to the other. I have never seen such a massacre before.”
French captain Francois:
"I have participated in more than one campaign, but I have never participated in such a bloody affair and with such hardy soldiers as the Russians."
Crimean War
In terms of its scale, theater of operations, and the number of participants in the conflict, the Crimean War can be considered a world war. Russia defended itself on several fronts - in the Crimea, Georgia, the Caucasus, Sveaborg, Kronstadt, Solovki and Kamchatka.
Russia fought almost alone, on our side were insignificant Bulgarian forces (3000 soldiers) and the Greek legion (800 people). An international coalition consisting of Great Britain, France, Ottoman Empire and Sardinia, with a total number of more than 750 thousand.
20 years after the end of the Crimean War, in 1877, a book by a member of the Crimean expedition was published in Paris Charles Boche "Crimean Letters".
“The Russians are vastly superior to us. We have neglected their powers too much. We probably hoped to see the walls of Sevastopol fall, like the walls of Géricault, to the roar of our fanfare. A city equipped with eight hundred cannon barrels stacked on top of each other, with fifty thousand undaunted defenders under a brave command, cannot be taken so easily.
“Unfortunately, in this world, not everything goes according to the will of our desires. Now you need to abandon the direct attack. There is a combination that should ensure a happy ending to the campaign; but the arrival of large military reinforcements, which we expect, is needed. The Russians, it must be admitted, are leading an excellent defense. With them, the operation of the siege is not an easy task.
Russo-Japanese War
Russia lost the Russo-Japanese War. However, the heroism of Russian sailors and soldiers was repeatedly noticed by the Japanese, who knew how to appreciate the military fighting spirit.
The story of Private Vasily Ryabov, who was detained by the Japanese during a reconnaissance exit, became known. The Russian soldier withstood the interrogation and did not give out military secrets. Before the execution, he behaved with dignity.
The Japanese were so delighted with the courage of the Russian soldier that they sent a note to our command.
“Our army cannot but express our sincere wishes to the respected army that the latter educates more such truly beautiful, worthy of full respect warriors.”
As for the defense of Port Arthur, the Japanese lieutenant Tadeuchi Sakurai, a participant in the assault, wrote:
“...Despite all our bitterness against the Russians, we still recognize their courage and courage, 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: obviously already wounded in the head, after bandaging he again stood in the ranks of his comrades and continued to fight until a new bullet laid him to death ... ".
World War I
First World War is considered lost by Russia, but our troops showed considerable heroism on it. The capture of Przemysl, the Battle of Galicia, the Sarykamysh operation, the Erzemrum and Trebizond operations can be attributed to the number of Russian victories in the First World War. The Brusilovsky breakthrough received great fame. Troops of the Southwestern Front under the command of General. Brusilov, having broken the Austrian defense, again occupied almost all of Galicia and Bukovina. The enemy lost up to 1.5 million people killed, wounded and captured.
Even before the start of hostilities, the German General Staff compiled an analytical note describing the Russians as warriors:
“Human material should, in general, be considered good. The Russian soldier is strong, unpretentious and brave, but clumsy, lacking independence and mentally inflexible. He easily loses his qualities with a boss who is personally unfamiliar to him, and connections to which he is not used. The Russian soldier is relatively unreceptive to external impressions. Even after failures, the Russian troops will quickly recover and will be capable of stubborn defense.
The German historian General von Pozek also noted in his work “The German Cavalry in Lithuania and Courland”:
“The Russian cavalry was a worthy adversary. The personnel were magnificent... The Russian cavalry never avoided combat on horseback and on foot. The Russians often went on the attack on our machine guns and artillery, even when their attack was doomed to failure. They did not pay attention either to the strength of our fire or to their losses.
World War II
World War II was the bloodiest conflict in world history. It was attended by 62 states out of 73 that existed at that time, that is, 80% of the world's population.
The original plan for a lightning-fast German blitzkrieg in the USSR failed. If Napoleon was waiting for a general battle in Russia, but did not wait for it, then the Wehrmacht in the Soviet Union faced another extreme: the Red Army perceived each battle as the last. Many German memories of the war and their letters from the front have been preserved.
German Field Marshal Ludwig von Kleist wrote:
“The Russians showed themselves from the very beginning as first-class warriors, and our successes in the first months of the war were explained simply better preparation. Having gained combat experience, they became first-class soldiers. They fought with exceptional tenacity, had amazing endurance."
Otto Skorzeny:
“The Reich had a better war strategy, our generals had a stronger imagination. However, from the ordinary soldier to the company commander, the Russians were equal to us - courageous, resourceful, gifted camouflage. They fiercely resisted and were always ready to sacrifice their lives ... Russian officers, from the division commander and below, were younger and more determined than ours.
German General, Chief of Staff of the 4th Army Günther Blumentritt:
“The Russian soldier prefers hand-to-hand combat. His ability to endure hardship without flinching is truly astonishing. Such is the Russian soldier whom we recognized and respected a quarter of a century ago.”
On the eve of Germany's invasion of the USSR, Hitler's propaganda created an impartial image of Russians, portraying them as backward, devoid of spirituality, intellect, and even incapable of standing up for their Fatherland. Having entered the Soviet land, the Germans were amazed that the reality did not at all correspond to the ideas imposed on them.
And one warrior in the field
The first thing that the German troops encountered was the fierce resistance of the Soviet soldier literally on every patch of their land. They were especially shocked that the "crazy Russians" are not afraid to engage in battle with forces several times greater than their own. One of the battalions of Army Group Center, consisting of at least 800 people, having overcome the first line of defense, was already confidently moving deep into Soviet territory, when it was suddenly fired upon by a detachment of five people. “I did not expect anything like this! This is pure suicide, attacking a battalion with five fighters! Major Neuhof commented on the situation.
The British historian Robert Kershaw, in his book “1941 Through the Eyes of the Germans,” cites a case where Wehrmacht soldiers, having shot a Soviet T-26 light tank from a 37-mm gun, approached him without fear. But suddenly his hatch suddenly opened up and a tanker leaning out to the waist began to shoot the enemy with a pistol. Later, a shocking circumstance became clear: the Soviet soldier was without legs (they were torn off during the explosion of the tank), but this did not prevent him from fighting to the last.
An even more striking case was described by Lieutenant Hensfald, who ended his life near Stalingrad. The case was not far from the Belarusian town of Krichev, where on July 17, 1941, senior sergeant Nikolai Sirotinin for two and a half hours alone with the help of an artillery gun held back the advance of a column of German armored vehicles and infantry. As a result, the sergeant managed to fire almost 60 shells, which destroyed 10 German tanks and armored personnel carriers. Having killed the hero, the Germans nevertheless buried him with honors.
Heroism in the blood
German officers have repeatedly admitted that they took prisoners extremely rarely, since the Russians preferred to fight to the last. “Even burning alive, they continued to shoot back.” “Sacrifice is in their blood”; “The hardening of the Russians cannot be compared with ours,” the German generals did not get tired of repeating.
During one of the reconnaissance flights, the Soviet pilot discovered that there was no one on the way of the German column moving towards Moscow for tens of kilometers. It was decided to throw into battle a completed Siberian regiment that had been at the airfield the day before. The German military recalled how suddenly low-flying aircraft appeared in front of the column, from which “white figures fell in clusters” onto the snowy field. These were Siberians who became human shields in front of the German tank brigades, they fearlessly threw themselves under the tracks of tanks with grenades. When the first batch of troops perished, the second one followed. Later it turned out that about 12% of the fighters crashed during the landing, the rest died, having entered into an unequal battle with the enemy. But the Germans still managed to stop.
Mysterious Russian soul
The Russian character for the German soldiers remained a mystery. They could not understand why the peasants, who must have hated them, greeted them with bread and milk. One of the Wehrmacht soldiers recalled how in December 1941, during a retreat in a village near Borisov, an old woman brought him a loaf of bread and a jug of milk, lamenting in tears: "War, war."
Moreover, often civilians treated both the advancing Germans and the defeated with the same good nature. Major Küner noted that he often witnessed how Russian peasant women wailed over the wounded or killed German soldiers, as if they were their own children.
War Veteran Dr. historical sciences Boris Sapunov said that when passing through the outskirts of Berlin, they often came across empty houses. The thing is that local residents, under the influence of German propaganda, which painted the horrors that the advancing Red Army allegedly did, scattered through the nearby forests. However, those who still remained were surprised that the Russians did not try to rape women or take out property, but, on the contrary, offered their help.
They even pray
The Germans who came to Russian soil were ready to meet with crowds of militant atheists, as they were convinced that Bolshevism was extremely intolerant of the manifestation of religiosity. Therefore, they were greatly struck by the fact that icons hang in Russian huts, and the population wears miniature crucifixes on their chests. The civilian Germans, who met the Soviet Ostarbeiters, also faced the same. They were sincerely surprised by the stories of Russians who came to work in Germany, who told how many old churches and monasteries there are in the Soviet Union, and how carefully they keep their faith, performing religious rites. “I thought Russians had no religion, but they even pray,” said one German worker.
As the staff doctor von Grevenitz noted, during medical examinations it turned out that the vast majority of Soviet girls were virgins. “Shine of purity” and “active virtue” radiated from their faces, and I felt the great power of this light, the doctor recalled.
No less than the Germans were struck by the fidelity of the Russians to family duty. So, in the town of Sentenberg, 9 newborns were born and another 50 were waiting in the wings. All but two belonged to Soviet couples. And although 6-8 couples huddled in one room, there was no licentiousness in their behavior, the Germans recorded.
Russian craftsmen are cooler than Europeans
The propaganda of the Third Reich assured that, having exterminated all the intelligentsia, the Bolsheviks left a faceless mass in the country, capable of performing only primitive work. However, employees of the German enterprises where the Ostarbeiters worked were convinced of the opposite over and over again. In their memos, the German craftsmen often pointed out that the technical knowledge of the Russians baffled them. One of the engineers of the city of Bayreuth remarked: “Our propaganda always presents the Russians as stupid and stupid. But here I have established the opposite. Russians think while they work and don't look so stupid at all. It is better for me to have 2 Russians at work than 5 Italians.”
In their reports, the Germans stated that the Russian worker could eliminate the malfunction of any mechanism by the most primitive means. For example, at one of the Frankfurt-on-Oder enterprises, a Soviet prisoner of war in a short time managed to find the cause of an engine failure, repair and start it, and this despite the fact that German specialists could not do anything for many days.
From Robert Kershaw's 1941 Through the Eyes of the Germans:“During the attack, we stumbled upon a light Russian T-26 tank, we immediately clicked it right from the 37-graph paper. When we began to approach, a Russian leaned out of the hatch of the tower to the waist and opened fire on us with a pistol. It soon became clear that he was without legs, they were torn off when the tank was hit. And despite this, he fired at us with a pistol! (artilleryman of an anti-tank gun).
“We almost did not take prisoners, because the Russians always fought to the last soldier. They didn't give up. Their hardening cannot be compared with ours ... ”(tanker of the Army Group“ Center ”).
After a successful breakthrough of the border defenses, the 3rd Battalion of the 18th Infantry Regiment of the Army Group Center, numbering 800 people, was fired upon by a unit of 5 soldiers. “I did not expect anything like this,” the battalion commander, Major Neuhof, admitted to his battalion doctor. “It’s pure suicide to attack the forces of the battalion with five fighters.”
“On the Eastern Front, I met people who can be called a special race. Already the first attack turned into a battle not for life, but for death ”(tankman of the 12th Panzer Division Hans Becker).
“You just 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 blazing houses ”(officer of the 7th Panzer Division).
“The quality level of Soviet pilots is much higher than expected ... Fierce resistance, its massive nature does not correspond to our initial assumptions” (Major General Hoffmann von Waldau).
“I have never seen anyone angrier 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).
“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 once in the encirclement, the Russians staunchly defended themselves ”(General Günter Blumentritt, Chief of Staff of the 4th Army).
71 years ago, Nazi Germany attacked the USSR. What was our soldier like in the eyes of the enemy - German soldiers? What did the beginning of the war look like from other people's trenches? Very eloquent answers to these questions can be found in a book whose author can hardly be accused of distorting the facts. This is “1941 through the eyes of the Germans. Birch Crosses Instead of Iron Crosses” by the English historian Robert Kershaw, which was recently published in Russia. The book almost entirely consists of the memoirs 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 sheds and announced: “Tomorrow we have to enter the battle with world Bolshevism.” Personally, I was simply amazed - it was like snow on the head, but what about the non-aggression pact between Germany and Russia? I kept thinking of that issue of Deutsche Wochenschau that I saw at home and in which the contract was announced. I could not 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. “We can say that we were taken aback by what we heard,” admitted Lothar Fromm, a spotter officer. “We were all, I emphasize this, were amazed and in no way prepared for this.” But bewilderment was immediately replaced by relief from the incomprehensible and tedious waiting 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, who was then studying to be a military driver, reflect the general mood: “All this will end in some three weeks, we were told, others were more careful in their forecasts - they believed that in 2-3 months. Found one who thought it would last whole year, but we laughed at him: “And how much did it take to get rid of the Poles? And with France? Have you forgotten?"
But not everyone was so optimistic. Erich Mende, Oberleutnant of the 8th Silesian Infantry Division, recalls a conversation with his superior during those last moments of peace. “My commander was twice my age, and he had already had to fight the Russians near Narva in 1917, when he was in 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 former Germany.
At 3 hours 15 minutes, the advanced German units crossed the border of the USSR. Johann Danzer, an anti-tank gunner, recalls: “On the very first day, as soon as we went on the attack, one of ours shot himself with his own weapon. Clutching the rifle between his knees, he inserted the barrel into his mouth and pulled the trigger. Thus ended the war and all the horrors associated with it.
The capture of the Brest Fortress was entrusted to the 45th Infantry Division of the Wehrmacht, numbering 17,000 personnel. The garrison of the fortress is about 8 thousand. In the first hours of the battle, reports were pouring in about the successful advance of the German troops and reports of the capture of bridges and fortress structures. At 4 hours 42 minutes "50 people were taken prisoners, all in the same underwear, the war found them in cots." But by 10:50 the tone of the combat documents had changed: "The battle for the capture of the fortress was fierce - numerous losses." 2 battalion commanders have already died, 1 company commander, the commander of one of the regiments was seriously injured.
“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, with the support of 35-40 tanks and armored vehicles, 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 managed to be 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 continuously grew.
The summary of the High Command of the Wehrmacht (OKW) for June 22 reported: "It seems that the enemy, after the initial confusion, is beginning to offer more and more stubborn resistance." OKW Chief of Staff Halder agrees with this: “After the initial “tetanus” caused by the suddenness of the attack, the enemy moved on to active operations.”For the soldiers of the 45th division of the Wehrmacht, 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. During the first day of fighting in Russia, the division lost almost as many soldiers and officers as during the entire six weeks of the French campaign.
The most successful actions of the Wehrmacht troops were the operation to encircle and defeat the 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 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 being in the encirclement, the Russians staunchly defended themselves.
The author of the book writes: “The experience of the Polish and Western campaigns suggested that the success of the blitzkrieg strategy lies in gaining advantages by more skillful maneuvering. Even if we leave out the resources, the morale and the will to resist the enemy will inevitably be broken under the pressure of huge and senseless losses. From this logically follows the mass surrender of the demoralized soldiers who were surrounded. In Russia, however, these “primary” truths were turned upside down by the desperate resistance of Russians, sometimes reaching fanaticism, in seemingly hopeless situations. That is why half of the offensive potential of the Germans was spent not on advancing towards the goal, but on consolidating the successes that had already been achieved.
The commander of Army Group Center, Field Marshal Fedor von Bock, during the operation to destroy Soviet troops in the Smolensk "cauldron" wrote about their attempts to break out of the encirclement: "A very significant success for the enemy who received such a crushing blow!". The encirclement was not continuous. Two days later, von Bock lamented: "Until now, it has not been possible to close the gap in the eastern section of the Smolensk pocket." That night, about 5 Soviet divisions managed to get out of the encirclement. Three more divisions broke through the next day.
The level of German losses is evidenced by the message of 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 "Grossdeutschland" regiment in just 5 days of fighting to hold the line of the Smolensk "cauldron" lost 40 people with a regular company strength of 176 soldiers and officers.
Gradually, the perception of the war with the Soviet Union among ordinary German soldiers also changed. The unbridled optimism of the first days of the fighting was replaced by the realization that "something is going wrong." Then came indifference and apathy. The opinion of one of the German officers: “These vast distances frighten and demoralize the soldiers. Plains, plains, there is no end to them and never will be. That's what drives me crazy."
The troops were also constantly worried by the actions of the partisans, whose number grew as the “boilers” 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 the Army Group "South" increased significantly. In the sector of Army Group Center, they took control of 45% of the territories occupied by the Germans.
The campaign, which dragged on for a long time to destroy the encircled Soviet troops, caused more and more associations with Napoleon's army and fears of the Russian winter. One of the soldiers of the Army Group "Center" on August 20 complained: "The losses are terrible, not to be compared with those that were in France." Starting from July 23, his company took part in the battles for the “tank highway No. 1”. “Today the road is ours, tomorrow the Russians take it, then we again, and so on.” Victory no longer seemed so close. On the contrary, the enemy's desperate resistance undermined the morale and inspired by no means optimistic thoughts. “I have never seen anyone angrier 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 for participation in Operation Typhoon had only a third of the initial number of combat vehicles. By September 15, 1941, Army Group Center had a total of 1346 combat-ready tanks, while at the beginning of the campaign in Russia this figure was 2609 units.
Personnel losses were no less heavy. By the beginning of the offensive on Moscow, the German units had lost about a third of their officers. Total losses in manpower by this time reached about half a million people, which is equivalent to the loss of 30 divisions. If we take into account that only 64% of the total composition of the infantry division, that is, 10840 people were directly "fighters", and the remaining 36% were in the rear and support services, 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. And in the meantime, you are absorbing us, dissolving in your inhospitable viscous expanses.
About Russian soldiers
The initial idea of the population of Russia was determined by the German ideology of that time, which considered the Slavs "subhuman". However, the experience of the first battles made its own 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 mass character does not correspond to our initial assumptions.” This was confirmed by the first air rams. Kershaw cites the words of a Luftwaffe colonel: "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 was shouting that the shells of "German tanks not only set fire to, but also pierced Russian vehicles through and through." But the soldiers told each other about Russian tanks, which could not be penetrated even with point-blank shots - the shells ricocheted off the armor. Lieutenant Helmut Ritgen from the 6th Panzer Division admitted that in a collision with new and unknown Russian tanks: “... the very concept of tank warfare changed radically, the KV vehicles marked a completely different level of armament, armor protection and tank weight. German tanks instantly moved into the category of exclusively anti-personnel weapons ... ". 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 not for life, but for death.
An anti-tank gunner recalls the indelible impression on him and his comrades made by the desperate resistance of the Russians in the first hours of the war: “During the attack, we stumbled upon a light Russian T-26 tank, we immediately clicked it right from the 37-graph paper. When we began to approach, a Russian leaned out of the hatch of the tower to the waist and opened fire on us with a pistol. It soon became clear that he was without 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 sector of Army Group Center, who shared his opinion with war correspondent Curizio Malaparte: “He reasoned like a soldier, avoiding epithets and metaphors, limiting himself only to argumentation, directly related to the issues under discussion. “We almost did not take 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 defenses, the 3rd battalion of the 18th infantry regiment of the Army Group Center, numbering 800 people, was fired upon by a unit of 5 soldiers. “I did not expect anything like this,” Major Neuhof, the battalion commander, confessed to his battalion doctor. “It’s pure suicide to attack the forces of the battalion with five fighters.”
In mid-November 1941, an 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 just 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 blazing houses.
Winter 41st
In the German troops, the saying "better three French campaigns than one Russian" quickly came into use. “Here we lacked comfortable French beds and were struck by the monotony of the area.” "The prospect of being in Leningrad turned into an endless sitting in numbered trenches."
The high losses of the Wehrmacht, the lack of winter uniforms and the unpreparedness of German equipment for combat operations in the conditions of the Russian winter gradually allowed the Soviet troops to seize the initiative. During the three-week period from November 15 to December 5, 1941, the Russian Air Force made 15,840 sorties, while the Luftwaffe only 3,500, which further demoralized the enemy.
Corporal Fritz Siegel, in his letter home on December 6, wrote: “My God, what are these Russians planning to do with us? It would be nice if they at least listened to us up there, 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 in the German troops: “ The losses are terrible, not to be compared with those that were in France... Today the road is ours, tomorrow the Russians take it away, then we again and so on... I have never seen anyone angrier than these Russians. Real chain dogs! You never know what to expect from them. And where do they get tanks and everything else?!»
Erich Mende, Lieutenant of the 8th Silesian Infantry Division, about a conversation that took place in the last moments of peace on June 22, 1941: “My commander was twice my age, and he had already had to fight the Russians near Narva in 1917, when he was in the rank of lieutenant. " Here, in this vast expanse, 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 Dürwanger, lieutenant, commander of an anti-tank company of the 28th Infantry Division, advancing from East Prussia via Suwalki: " When we entered into the first battle with the Russians, they clearly did not expect us, but they could not be called unprepared either. We didn't have any enthusiasm! Rather, everyone was seized by a sense of the grandeur of the forthcoming campaign. And then the question arose: where, at 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 ours shot himself with his own weapon. Clutching the rifle between his knees, he inserted the barrel into his mouth and pulled the trigger. Thus ended the war and all the horrors associated with it.».
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 once in the encirclement, the Russians staunchly defended».
Schneiderbauer, lieutenant, platoon commander of 50-mm anti-tank guns of the 45th Infantry Division about the battles on south island Brest Fortress: “The battle for the capture of the fortress is fierce - numerous losses ... Where the Russians managed to knock out or smoke 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 constantly growing "" (from combat reports of the 45th Wehrmacht Infantry Division, which was entrusted with the capture of the Brest Fortress; the division consisted of 17 thousand people of personal 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 all 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 was already destroyed almost to the ground, there was no stone left from 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 put them in 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 settled in strong basements, and the fire of our artillery did not harm them. You look, 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 is almost certain that no cultured Westerner will ever understand the character and soul of Russians. Knowledge of the Russian character can serve as a key to understanding the fighting qualities of the Russian soldier, his advantages and methods of his struggle on the battlefield. The stamina and mentality of a fighter have always been paramount factors in the war and often turned out to be more important in their meaning than the number and armament of the troops ...
One can never say in advance what a Russian will do: as a rule, he rushes from one extreme to another. His nature is as unusual and complex as this huge and incomprehensible country itself ... Sometimes the Russian infantry battalions were confused after the very first shots, and the next day the same units fought with fanatical stamina ... The Russian as a whole, of course, is an excellent soldier and with skillful leadership is a dangerous adversary».
Hans Becker, tanker of the 12th Panzer Division: « On the Eastern Front, I met people who can be called a special race. Already the first attack turned into a battle not for life, but for death».
From the memoirs of an anti-tank gunner about the first hours of the war: “During the attack, we stumbled upon a light Russian T-26 tank, we immediately clicked it directly from a 37-graph paper. When we began to approach, a Russian leaned out of the hatch of the tower to the waist and opened fire on us with a pistol. It soon became clear that he was without 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, entry in the diary dated June 31, 1941: "The quality level of Soviet pilots is much higher than expected ... Fierce resistance, its mass nature does not correspond to our initial assumptions."
From an interview with military correspondent Curizio Malaparte (Zukkert), an officer in the tank unit of the Army Group Center: “We almost did not take prisoners, because the Russians always fought to the last soldier. They didn't give up. Their hardening cannot be compared with ours ... "
Erhard Raus, colonel, the commander of the Kampfgruppe "Raus" about the KV-1 tank, which shot and crushed a convoy of trucks and tanks and a German artillery battery; in total, the tank crew (4 Soviet soldiers) held back the advance of the Raus battle group (about half a division) for two days, on June 24 and 25:
«… Inside the tank lay the bodies of the brave crew, who until then had received only wounds. Deeply shocked by this heroism, we buried them with full military honors. They fought to the 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 act…»
From the diary of Lieutenant of the 4th Panzer Division Henfeld: “July 17, 1941. Sokolnichi, near Krichev. In the evening they buried an unknown Russian soldier (we are talking about a 19-year-old senior artillery sergeant). He alone stood at the cannon, shot a column of tanks and infantry for a long time, and died. Everyone was amazed at his bravery... Oberst before the grave said that if all the soldiers of the Fuhrer fought like this Russian, we would conquer the whole world. Three times they fired volleys from rifles. After all, he is Russian, is such admiration necessary?
From a confession to the battalion doctor of Major Neuhof, commander of the 3rd Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, Army Group Center; The 800-man battalion, which had successfully broken through the border defenses, was attacked by a unit of 5 Soviet fighters: “I did not expect anything like this. This is pure suicide to attack the forces of the battalion with five fighters.
From a letter from an infantry officer of the 7th Panzer Division about the fighting in a village near the Lama River, mid-November 1941: “ You just won't believe it until you see it with your own eyes. The soldiers of the Red Army, even burning alive, continued to shoot from the blazing houses».
Mellenthin Friedrich von Wilhelm, Major General of the Panzer Troops, 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 massive Russian attacks are more effective than ever before. The attack made 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 irresistibly forward. 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 with us? It would be nice if they at least listened to us up there, otherwise we will all have to die here.
From the diary of a German soldier: “October 1st. Our assault battalion went to 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 3rd. Very strong fire resistance, we can not overcome these 500 meters. We are standing on the border of some grain elevator.
10 October. Where do these Russians come from? The elevator is no longer there, but every time we approach it, fire is heard from under the ground.
October 15th. Hooray, we overcame the elevator. 100 people remained 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 consisted of about 800 people).
Joseph Goebbels: « Courage is courage inspired by spirituality. The stubbornness 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 education. Russians have always been like this and, most likely, always will remain so.».
Hubert Coralla, Corporal sanitary 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 near them. One Russian sergeant, unarmed, with a terrible wound in his shoulder, rushed at our people with a sapper shovel, but he was immediately shot. Madness, real madness. They fought like beasts and died by the dozens».
From a mother’s letter to a Wehrmacht soldier: “My dear son! Maybe you can still find a piece of paper to make yourself known. Yesterday I received a letter from Yoz. He is fine. He writes: “Before, I wanted so badly to take part in the attack on Moscow, but now I would be glad to get out of all this hell.”
The material offered to readers is excerpts from diaries, letters and memoirs of German soldiers, officers and generals who first encountered the Russian people during the Patriotic War of 1941-1945. In essence, we have before us evidence of mass meetings of people with people, of Russia with the West, which do not lose their relevance today.
Germans about Russian character
It is unlikely that the Germans will emerge victorious from this struggle against the Russian land and against Russian nature. How many children, how many women, and all give birth, and all bear fruit, despite war and robbery, despite destruction and death! Here we are fighting not against people, but against nature. At the same time, I again have to admit to myself that this country is becoming dearer to me every day.
Lieutenant K. F. Brand
They think differently than we do. And don't bother - you'll never understand Russian anyway!
Officer Malapar
I know how risky it is to describe the sensational "Russian man", this is a vague vision of philosophizing and politicizing writers, which is very suitable for being hung like a clothes hanger with all the doubts that arise in a person from the West, the further he moves to the East . Yet this "Russian man" is not only a literary fiction, although here, as elsewhere, people are different and irreducible to a common denominator. Only with this reservation will we talk about the Russian people.
Pastor G. Gollwitzer
They are so versatile that almost each of them describes the full range of human qualities. Among them you can find everything from a cruel brute to St. Francis of Assisi. That is why they cannot be described in a few words. To describe Russians, one must use all the existing epithets. I can say about them that I like them, I don’t like them, I bow before them, I hate them, they touch me, they scare me, I admire them, they disgust me!
A less thoughtful person is pissed off by such a character and makes him exclaim: Unfinished, chaotic, incomprehensible people!
Major K. Kuehner
Germans about Russia
Russia lies between East and West - it's an old idea, but I can't say anything new about this country. The twilight of the East and the clarity of the West created this dual light, this crystal clarity of mind and the mysterious depth of the soul. They are between the spirit of Europe, strong in form and weak in deep contemplation, and the spirit of Asia, which is devoid of form and clear outline. I think their souls are drawn to Asia more, but fate and history - and even this war - bring them closer to Europe. And since here, in Russia, there are many uncountable forces everywhere, even in politics and economy, there can be no single opinion either about her people or about their life ... Russians measure everything by distance. They must always reckon with him. Here often relatives live far from each other, soldiers from Ukraine serve in Moscow, students from Odessa study in Kyiv. You can drive here for hours without getting anywhere. They live in space like stars in the night sky, like sailors on the sea; and just as space is boundless, so is man boundless - everything is in his hands, and he has nothing. The breadth and expanse of nature determine the fate of this country and these people. In larger spaces, history flows more slowly.
Major K.Küner
This opinion is confirmed by other sources. The German staff soldier, comparing Germany and Russia, draws attention to the incommensurability of these two quantities. The German offensive against Russia appeared to him as a contact between the limited and the limitless.
Stalin is the ruler of the Asian boundlessness - this is an enemy that the forces advancing from limited, dissected spaces cannot cope with ...
Soldier C. Mattis
We entered into battle with an enemy whom we, being in captivity of European life concepts, did not understand at all. In this rock of our strategy, it is, strictly speaking, completely random, like an adventure on Mars.
Soldier C. Mattis
Germans about the mercy of Russians
The inexplicability of the Russian character and behavior often baffled the Germans. Russians show hospitality not only in their homes, they go out to meet them with milk and bread. In December 1941, during the retreat from Borisov, in a village abandoned by the troops, an old woman brought out bread and a jug of milk. “War, war,” she repeated in tears. Russians with the same good nature treated both the victorious and the defeated Germans. Russian peasants are peace-loving and good-natured... When we feel thirsty during the crossings, we go into their huts, and they give us milk, as if they were pilgrims. For them, every person is in need. How often have I seen Russian peasant women wailing over wounded German soldiers as if they were their own sons...
Major K. Kuehner
It seems strange that a Russian woman does not have enmity towards the soldiers of the army her sons are fighting against: Old Alexandra from strong threads ... knits socks for me. In addition, a good-natured old woman boils potatoes for me. Today, in the lid of my pot, I even found a piece of salted meat. She probably has some hidden supplies somewhere. Otherwise, one cannot understand how these people live here. Alexandra has a goat in her barn. Many don't have cows. And with all that, these poor people share their last good with us. Do they do it out of fear, or do these people really have an innate sense of self-sacrifice? Or do they do it out of good nature or even out of love? Alexandra, she is 77 years old, as she told me, she is illiterate. She cannot read or write. After the death of her husband, she lives alone. Three children died, the other three left for Moscow. It is clear that both of her sons are in the army. She knows that we are fighting against them, and yet she knits socks for me. The feeling of enmity is probably unfamiliar to her.
Orderly Michels
In the first months of the war, village women ... hurried with food for prisoners of war. "Oh poor!" they said. They also brought food for the German guards who sat in the center of small squares on benches around the white statues of Lenin and Stalin thrown into the mud ...
Officer Malapart
Hatred for a long time ... is not in the Russian character. This is especially clear from the example of how quickly the psychosis of hatred disappeared in ordinary people. Soviet people towards the Germans during World War II. At the same time, sympathy, the maternal feeling of a Russian rural woman, as well as young girls in relation to the prisoners, played a role. A Western European woman who met with the Red Army in Hungary is surprised: “Isn’t it strange that most of them do not feel any hatred even for the Germans: where do they get this unshakable faith in human goodness, this inexhaustible patience, this selflessness and meek humility ...
Germans about Russian sacrifice
Sacrifice has been noted more than once by the Germans in the Russian people. From a people that officially does not recognize spiritual values, it is as if one cannot expect either nobility, or a Russian character, or sacrifice. However, a German officer is amazed during the interrogation of a captured partisan:
Is it really possible to demand from a person brought up in materialism so much sacrifice for the sake of ideals!
Major K. Kuehner
Probably, this exclamation can be attributed to the entire Russian people, who apparently retained these traits in themselves, despite the breaking of the internal Orthodox foundations of life, and, apparently, sacrifice, responsiveness, and similar qualities are characteristic of Russians to a high degree. They are partly emphasized by the attitude of the Russians themselves towards the Western peoples.
As soon as Russians come into contact with Western people, they briefly define them with the words "dry people" or "heartless people". All the egoism and materialism of the West lies in the definition of "dry people"
Endurance, mental strength and at the same time humility also attract the attention of foreigners.
The Russian people, especially the vast expanses, steppes, fields and villages, is one of the most healthy, joyful and wise on earth. He is able to resist the power of fear with his back bent. There is so much faith and antiquity in it that the most just order in the world can probably come out of it.
Soldier Matisse
An example of the duality of the Russian soul, which combines both pity and cruelty at the same time:
When soup and bread were already given to the prisoners in the camp, one Russian gave a piece of his portion. Many others did the same, so that we had so much bread in front of us that we could not eat it ... We just shook our heads. Who can understand them, these Russians? Some they shoot and can even laugh at it contemptuously, others they give plenty of soup and even share with them their own daily portion of bread.
German M. Gaertner
Looking closer at the Russians, the German will again note their sharp extremes, the impossibility of fully comprehending them:
Russian soul! She moves from the most tender, soft sounds to wild fortissimo, it is difficult to predict only this music and especially the moments of its transition ... The words of one old consul remain symbolic: “I do not know Russians enough - I have lived among them for only thirty years.
General Schweppenburg
Germans about the shortcomings of Russians
From the Germans themselves, we hear an explanation for the fact that Russians are often reproached for their tendency to steal.
Those who survived the post-war years in Germany, like us in the camps, became convinced that poverty destroys a strong sense of ownership even among people who have been alien to theft since childhood. An improvement in living conditions would quickly correct this shortcoming in the majority, and the same would happen in Russia, as it was before the Bolsheviks. It is not shaky concepts and insufficient respect for other people's property that has not appeared under the influence of socialism that make people steal, but need.
POW Gollwitzer
Most often you ask yourself helplessly: why is the truth not being told here? ... This could be explained by the fact that it is extremely difficult for Russians to say "no". Their “no”, however, has become famous all over the world, but this seems to be more Soviet than Russian feature. The Russian does his best to avoid the necessity of refusing any request. In any case, when sympathy stirs in him, and this often happens with him. Disappointing a needy person seems unfair to him; in order to avoid this, he is ready for any lie. And where sympathy is lacking, lying is at least a convenient way to save yourself from annoying requests.
In Eastern Europe, mother vodka has been performing a great service for centuries. It warms people when they are cold, dries their tears when they are sad, deceives their stomachs when they are hungry, and gives that drop of happiness that everyone needs in life and which is difficult to obtain in semi-civilized countries. In Eastern Europe, vodka is theater, cinema, concert and circus, it replaces books for the illiterate, makes heroes out of cowardly cowards and is the consolation that makes you forget all worries. Where in the world to find another such iota of happiness, and such a cheap one?
The people ... oh yes, the glorified Russian people! .. For several years I carried out the issuance of wages in one work camp and came into contact with Russians of all strata. There are fine people among them, but it is almost impossible to remain an impeccably honest person here. I was constantly amazed that under such pressure this people retained so much humanity in all respects and so much naturalness. In women this is noticeably more than in men, in the old, of course, more than in the young, among the peasants more than among the workers, but there is no stratum in which this is completely absent. They are a wonderful people and deserve to be loved.
POW Gollwitzer
On the way home from Russian captivity, the impressions of the last years in Russian captivity emerge in the memory of the German soldier-priest.
Military priest Franz
Germans about Russian women
A separate chapter can be written about the high morality and morality of a Russian woman. Foreign authors left a valuable monument to her in their memoirs of Russia. For a German doctor eirich the unexpected results of the examination made a deep impression: 99 percent of girls aged 18 to 35 turned out to be virgins ... He thinks that in Orel it would be impossible to find girls for a brothel.
The voices of women, especially girls, are actually non-melodious, but pleasant. There is some kind of strength and joy hidden in them. It seems that you hear some deep string of life ringing. It seems that constructive schematic changes in the world pass by these forces of nature without touching them...
Writer Jünger
By the way, the staff doctor von Grevenitz told me that during the medical examination, the vast majority of girls turned out to be virgins. This can also be seen from the physiognomies, but it is difficult to say whether it can be read from the forehead or from the eyes - this is the brilliance of purity that surrounds the face. Its light does not have the glimmer of active virtue, but rather resembles the reflection of moonlight. However, this is precisely why you feel the great power of this light…
Writer Jünger
About feminine Russian women (if I can put it that way) I got the impression that they, with their special inner strength, keep under the moral control of those Russians who can be considered barbarians.
Military priest Franz
The words of another German soldier sound like a conclusion to the topic of the morality and dignity of a Russian woman:
What did the propaganda tell us about the Russian woman? And how did we find it? I think that there is hardly a German soldier who has been in Russia who has not learned to appreciate and respect a Russian woman.
Soldier Michels
Describing a ninety-year old woman who never once left her village during her life and therefore did not know the world outside the village, the German officer says:
I even think that she is much happier than we are: she is full of the happiness of life, flowing in close proximity to nature; she is happy with the inexhaustible power of her simplicity.
Major K.Küner
We find about simple, integral feelings among Russians in the memoirs of another German.
I am talking to Anna, the eldest daughter, he writes. - She's not married yet. Why won't she leave this poor land? I ask her and show her photos from Germany. The girl points to her mother and sisters and explains that she is best among her relatives. It seems to me that these people have only one desire: to love each other and live for their fellow men.
Germans about Russian simplicity, intelligence and talent
German officers sometimes do not know how to answer the simple questions of ordinary Russian people.
The general with his retinue passes by a Russian prisoner grazing sheep destined for German cuisine. “That’s stupid,” the prisoner began to express his thoughts, “but peaceful, and people, sir? Why are people so unpeaceful? Why are they killing each other?!”… We couldn't answer his last question. His words came from the depths of the soul of a simple Russian person.
General Schweppenburg
The immediacy and simplicity of the Russians make the German exclaim:
Russians don't grow up. They remain children... If you look at the Russian masses from this point of view, you will understand them and forgive them a lot.
By proximity to a harmonious, pure, but also harsh nature, foreign eyewitnesses are trying to explain the courage, endurance, and undemandingness of Russians.
The courage of Russians is based on their undemanding to life, on their organic connection with nature. And this nature tells them about deprivation, struggle and death to which a person is subject.
Major K.Küner
Often the Germans noted the exceptional efficiency of the Russians, their ability to improvise, sharpness, adaptability, curiosity for everything, and especially for knowledge.
The purely physical performance of Soviet workers and Russian women is beyond any doubt.
General Schweppenburg
The art of improvisation among the Soviet people should be especially emphasized, no matter what it concerns.
General Fretter-Pico
On sharpness and the interest shown by Russians in everything:
Most of them show a much greater interest in everything than our workers or peasants; they all differ in speed of perception and practical mind.
Non-commissioned officer Gogoff
The reassessment of the knowledge acquired at school is often an obstacle for a European in his understanding of the "uneducated" Russian ... Astounding and beneficial for me, as a teacher, was the discovery that a person without any school education can understand the deepest problems of life in a truly philosophical way and at the same time has such knowledge in which some academician of European fame can envy him ... Russians, first of all, lack this typically European fatigue in front of the problems of life, which we often only overcome with difficulty . Their curiosity knows no bounds... The level of education of the real Russian intelligentsia reminds me of the ideal types of people of the Renaissance, whose lot was the universality of knowledge, which had nothing in common, “a little about everything.
Swiss Ucker, who lived in Russia for 16 years
Another German from the people is surprised by the acquaintance of the young Russian with domestic and foreign literature:
From a conversation with a 22-year-old Russian who only graduated from a folk school, I learned that she knew Goethe and Schiller, not to mention that she was well versed in Russian literature. When I expressed my surprise about this to Dr. Heinrich W., who knew the Russian language and understood Russians better, he rightly remarked: “The difference between the German and Russian people lies in the fact that we keep our classics in luxurious bindings in bookcases. and we don’t read them, while the Russians print their classics on newsprint and publish them in editions, but they take them to the people and read them.
Military priest Franz
Talents that can manifest themselves even in an unfavorable situation are evidenced by a lengthy description by a German soldier of a concert arranged in Pskov on July 25, 1942.
I sat at the back among the village girls in colorful cotton dresses ... The entertainer came out, read a long program, made an even longer explanation for it. Then two men, one on each side, parted the curtain, and a very poor stage set for Korsakov's opera appeared before the public. One piano replaced the orchestra... Mainly two singers sang... But something happened that would have been beyond the power of any European opera. Both singers, full and self-confident, even in tragic moments sang and played with great and clear simplicity ... movements and voice merged into one. They supported and complemented each other: in the end, even their faces sang, not to mention their eyes. Wretched furnishings, a solitary piano, and yet there was a fullness of impression. No glittery props, no hundred instruments could make a better impression. After that, the singer appeared in gray striped trousers, a velvet jacket and an old-fashioned stand-up collar. When, so dressed up, with a kind of touching helplessness, he went to the middle of the stage and bowed three times, laughter was heard in the hall among the officers and soldiers. He began a Ukrainian folk song, and as soon as his melodious and powerful voice was heard, the audience froze. A few simple gestures accompanied the song, and the singer's eyes made it visible. During the second song, the lights suddenly went out throughout the hall. It was dominated only by the voice. He sang in the dark for about an hour. At the end of one song, the Russian village girls who were sitting behind me, in front of me and next to me, jumped up and began to applaud and stamp their feet. A flurry of applause began for a long time, as if the dark stage was flooded with the light of fantastic, inconceivable landscapes. I didn't understand a word, but I saw everything.
Soldier Mattis
Folk songs, reflecting the character and history of the people, attract the attention of eyewitnesses most of all.
In a real Russian folk song, and not in sentimental romances, the whole Russian “broad” nature is reflected with its tenderness, wildness, depth, sincerity, closeness to nature, cheerful humor, endless search, sadness and radiant joy, as well as with their undying longing for beautiful and kind.
German songs are full of mood, Russian songs are full of story. In its songs and choirs, Russia has great power.
Major K. Kuehner
Germans about Russian faith
A vivid example of such a state is provided for us by a rural teacher, whom a German officer knew well and who, apparently, maintained constant contact with the nearest partisan detachment.
Iya talked to me about Russian icons. The names of the great icon painters are unknown here. They devoted their art to a pious cause and remained in obscurity. Everything personal must yield to the demand of the saint. The figures on the icons are shapeless. They give the impression of the unknown. But they don't have to have beautiful bodies either. Next to the holy, the bodily has no meaning. In this art it would be inconceivable that beautiful woman was a model of the Madonna, as was the case with the great Italians. Here it would be blasphemy, since it is human body. Nothing can be known, everything must be believed. That is the secret of the icon. "Do you believe in the icon?" Iya didn't answer. “Why are you decorating it then?” She could, of course, reply, “I don't know. Sometimes I do it. I get scared when I don't. And sometimes I just want to do it.” How divided, how restless you must be, Oia. Attraction to God and resentment against Him in one and the same heart. "What do you believe in?" “Nothing.” She said it with such heaviness and depth that I was left with the impression that these people accept their unbelief as well as their faith. Backsliding man continues to carry the old legacy of humility and faith.
Major K. Kuehner
Russians are difficult to compare with other peoples. Mysticism in Russian man continues to question the vague concept of God and the remnants of Christian-religious feeling.
General Schweppenburg
We find other testimonies about young people who are looking for the meaning of life, who are not satisfied with schematic and dead materialism. Probably, the path of a Komsomol member who ended up in a concentration camp for spreading the Gospel became the path of some part of Russian youth. In the very poor material published by eyewitnesses in the West, we find three confirmations that Orthodox faith to some extent passed on to the older generations of youth and that the few and, undoubtedly, lonely young people who have found faith are sometimes ready to defend it courageously, not fearing either imprisonment or hard labor. Here is a rather detailed testimony of a German woman who returned home from a camp in Vorkuta:
I was very struck by the integral personalities of these believers. They were peasant girls, intellectuals different ages although the youth dominated. They preferred the Gospel of John. They knew him by heart. The students lived with them in great friendship, promised them that in future Russia there will be complete freedom in religious terms. The fact that many of the Russian youth who believed in God were waiting for arrest and a concentration camp is confirmed by the Germans who returned from Russia after the Second World War. They met believers in concentration camps and describe them as follows: We envied the believers. We considered them lucky. The believers were supported by their deep faith, which also helped them to easily endure all the hardships of camp life. No one, for example, could force them to go to work on Sunday. In the dining room before dinner, they always pray... They pray all their free time... One cannot help but admire such a faith, one cannot help but envy it... Every person, be it a Pole, a German, a Christian or a Jew, when he turned to a believer for help, always received it . The believer shared the last piece of bread….
Probably, in some cases, believers won respect and sympathy not only from the prisoners, but also from the camp authorities:
There were several women in their brigade who, being deeply religious, refused to work on major church holidays. The authorities and the guard put up with this and did not give them away.
The following impression of a German officer who accidentally entered a burned-out church can serve as a symbol of wartime Russia:
We enter, like tourists, for a few minutes into the church through the open door. Burnt beams and fragments of stones lie on the floor. From tremors or from a fire, plaster crumbled from the walls. Paints appeared on the walls, plastered frescoes depicting saints, and ornaments. And in the middle of the ruins, on the charred beams, two peasant women stand and pray.
Major K. Kuehner
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Text preparation - V. Drobyshev. According to the magazine " Slav»
