Meet the reports of German generals from fights on Fro …
The “Eastern Front. We fought in hell – reports of German generals” is a publication that fully reflects the entire tragedy of the fighting on the Eastern Front, where two military powers at that time clashed during World War II: the Third Reich and the Soviet Union. It was a completely different war than the one that German officers and soldiers knew so far. After quick wins in Poland, France, as well as in the Balkans, Wehrmacht collided with the Red Army and although he was initially successful on an unprecedented scale, each subsequent year of the war brought more and more losses. We know about how warfare of the Eastern Front were on the Eastern Front, we know the Red Army thanks to the reports of German generals. Four of them: General Erhard Raus, General Waldemar Erfurth and General Hans von Greiffenberg are included in the publication “Eastern Front. We fought in hell – reports of German generals.” Each of them shows the hell of war, which consumed millions of victims on both sides of the conflict …
Four priceless, detailed reports from the Eastern Front contained in the book published by the RM Publishing House from Warsaw were written by German commanders at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s as part of the American program of documenting strategies and tactics used by the Germans during World War II. All the authors of the report were participants of the described fights, and in their reports they honestly admitted that the German army fighting in the Soviet Union was not properly prepared for fights, especially in the autumn and winter, which thus prevented the face of the local nature.
The book was divided into four parts: “Soviet combat methods during World War II” and “The impact of climate on the fight in the European part of the Soviet Union” – both by General Erhard Raus, as well as “War in the far north” by General Waldemar Erfurth and “Fight in Soviet forests and in swamps”, whose author was General Hans von Greiffenberg. In these reports, German generals not only describe what the fights on the Eastern Front looked like, which German soldiers struggled with every day, but a lot of information also includes the opponent with which Wehrmacht soldiers struggled. Reports show how hard soldiers were red -harm, as evidenced by the entries of German general as:
“During the winter campaign of 1941, the Soviet regiment was surrounded in the forest on the Wołochow River and because of the weakness of German forces, it was hungry. After a week, reconnaissance patrols encountered the same fierce resistance as the first day “
“None of them / soldiers of the Red Army / did not happen to give up because of hunger, and the frost (-35c) had no influence on them “
German generals also paid attention to the participation of women in the uniforms of the Red Army, which did not stand out from men fighting, among others near Sevastopol or Lenningrad, but also on the character of Soviet martial art, about which General Erhard Raus wrote:
“Four factors that decide about the nature of Soviet martial art – higher command, soldiers, commissioners and terrain – were so fitted to each other that their combination ensured effectiveness and great successes “
In addition to tactics, fighting methods and types of Red Army troops, German generals also devoted a lot of information to the natural conditions in which wehrmacht soldiers had to fight. This is perfectly reflected in the report of General Erhard Raus “The impact of the climate on the fights in the European part of the Soviet Union”, where the German commander described the individual seasons and their influence on warfare, including Air operations, transport and movements of troops, German and Soviet tactics and the impact of weather on morale.
In the last two parts of “War in the far north” by General Waldemar Erfurth and “Fight in Soviet forests and in the swamps” by General Hans von Greiffenberg, the authors do not hide that the German troops were not prepared for both winter conditions that prevailed in the far north, but also in the extensive swamp-trash areas of the Soviet Union. He mentions this, among others The following fragment:
“In 1941, the Germans had no practical knowledge about the impact of strong frost on people, animals, weapons and engine vehicles. People in Berlin were not sure what kind of military clothing would provide the best protection against Arctic frost … “
It is also worth adding that German generals emphasize in their descriptions, such as nature, terrain, but also changing weather conditions favored partisans. The activity of partisans at the back of the German troops had a huge impact on the losses of the Wehrmacht, and it seems that this topic is hardly exposed to the descriptions of the fights on the Eastern Front in publications on the aggression of the Third Reich to the Soviet Union. That is why it is so important that the authors of the report have included the topic, which in their conviction played an important role in the fighting on the Eastern Front.
Author: Peter G. Tsouras;
Title: “Eastern Front. We fought in hell. Reports of German generals”;
Publisher: RM publisher;
Place and year of release: Warsaw 2015;
Number of pages: 408;
Price: PLN 44.99
The book can be bought on the website RM publishing houses
