Who are the German veterans? Question: I wonder how our veterans live in Germany German veterans second
In the middle of the last century, a secret group of Wehrmacht and SS veterans was operating in the FRG, preparing to repel the invasion of the USSR
The German Federal Intelligence Service (BND) has declassified a 321-page document describing the activities of an underground Nazi organization formed in 1949, Spiegel magazine writes. The paramilitary group included about two thousand veterans of the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS. Their goal was to protect the FRG from potential Soviet aggression.
The document fell into the hands of the historian Agilolf Kesselring by accident. The scientist studied the archives of the Gehlen Organization - the intelligence agency-predecessor of the BND. Kesselring was rummaging through the papers, trying to determine the number of employees hired by the intelligence service, and suddenly came across a folder called "Insurance". But instead of insurance documents, the dossier contained reports on the activities of the Nazi underground in West Germany.
The paramilitary organization was founded by Colonel Albert Schnetz, who consistently served in the Reichswehr, the Wehrmacht and the Bundeswehr. He took part in the formation of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany and was a member of the close circle of Defense Minister Franz Josef Strauss, and during the reign of the fourth chancellor Willy Brandt was promoted to lieutenant general and the position of army inspector.
The forty-year-old Schnetz thought about creating an underground organization after the end of the war. Veterans of the 25th Infantry Division, where he served, met regularly and discussed what to do if the FRG was invaded by Russians or GDR troops. Gradually, Schnetz began to mature a plan. At meetings, he said that in case of war, they should flee the country and wage a guerrilla struggle, trying to liberate West Germany from abroad. The number of his associates grew.
Albert Schnetz. Photo: German Federal Archives
Contemporaries describe Schnetz as an energetic manager, but at the same time selfish and arrogant person. He was in contact with the German Youth League, which also trained its members for partisan warfare. The German Youth League was banned in Germany in 1953 as an extreme right-wing extremist organization.
In 1950, a fairly large underground society was formed in Swabia, which included both former Wehrmacht soldiers and those who sympathized with them. Shnets received money from businessmen and former officers who also feared the Soviet threat. He worked diligently on a contingency plan to respond to the invasion of the Soviet Union and negotiated the deployment of his group with the Swiss from the northern cantons, but their reaction was "very restrained." Later he began to prepare a retreat to Spain.
According to archival documents, the ramified organization included entrepreneurs, salesmen, lawyers, technicians and even the mayor of a Swabian town. All of them were ardent anti-communists, some were driven by a thirst for adventure. The documents mention the retired Lieutenant General Hermann Holter, who "just felt unhappy working in the office." The archive cites the remarks of Schnetz, according to which over several years he managed to collect almost 10 thousand people, of which 2 thousand are Wehrmacht officers. Most of the members of the secret organization lived in the south of the country. In the event of war, the document says, Schnetz hoped to mobilize 40,000 soldiers. According to his idea, the command in this case would be taken by officers, many of whom later entered the Bundeswehr - the armed forces of the FRG.
Former infantry general Anton Grasser took care of the armament of the underground. He passed the First World War as the commander of an infantry company, in 1941 he fought in Ukraine, for extreme bravery in battle he received the Knight's Cross with oak leaves. In the early fifties, Grasser was called to Bonn to the Federal Ministry of the Interior, where he became responsible for coordinating the tactical units of the police. The ex-general planned to use the assets of the West German Ministry of Internal Affairs to equip Schnez's shadow army.
Otto Skorzeny. Photo: Express / Getty Images
The Stuttgart branch of the army was commanded by retired General Rudolf von Bunau (also a knight's cross with oak leaves). The unit in Ulm was headed by Lieutenant General Hans Wagner, in Heilbronn - by Lieutenant General Alfred Hermann Reinhardt (Knight's Cross with oak leaves and swords), in Karlsruhe - by Major General Werner Kampfhenkel, in Freiburg Wilgel by Major General Nagel. The organization's cells existed in dozens of other settlements.
Most of all, Schnetz was proud of his intelligence department, which checks the biographies of recruits. This is how his scouts describe one of the candidates: "smart, young, half-Jew." Schnetz called this espionage service the "Insurance Company". The colonel also negotiated with the famous SS Obersturmbannfuehrer Otto Skorzeny, who became famous for successful special operations during the Second World War. Skorzeny became a real hero of the Third Reich after the mission to free the deposed Benito Mussolini from prison. The leadership of this operation was entrusted to him personally by Adolf Hitler. In February 1951, Skorzeny and Schnetz agreed to "immediately begin cooperation in the Swabian region," but the archives do not mention exactly what they agreed on.
The creation of the underground army was supported by Hans Speidel, who in 1957 became the Supreme Commander of the Allied Ground Forces of NATO in Central Europe, and Adolf Heusinger, the first inspector general of the Bundeswehr, then chairman of the NATO military committee.
In search of funding, on July 24, 1951, Schnetz turned to the Gehlen Organization. The archives emphasize that between Albert Schnez and the head of intelligence Reinhard Gehlen "there have been friendly relations for a long time." The leader of the underground army offered the services of thousands of soldiers "for military use" or "just as a potential ally." His organization was classified by intelligence officers as a "special unit" with an unattractive code name "Schnepf" - "snipe" in German.
It is likely, Spiegel notes, that Schnetz would have been able to impose his company on Gehlen if he had come a year earlier, when the war on the Korean Peninsula had just started. In 1950, in Bonn, he considered an attractive idea of "gathering former German elite units in case of a disaster, arming them and transferring them to the Allied forces." But in 1951, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer had already abandoned this plan, starting to create the Bundeswehr, for which the secret paramilitary formation was terrorists. Therefore, Schnetz was denied large-scale support. And yet, paradoxically, Adenauer decided not to take any measures against the underground, but to leave everything as it is.
Perhaps the first leader of the FRG tried to avoid conflict with the veterans of the Wehrmacht and the Waffen-SS. Adenauer realized that it would be several years before the creation and start of normal operation of the Bundeswehr, so he needed the loyalty of Schnetz and his fighters in the event of the worst-case scenario of the Cold War. As a result, the department of the Federal Chancellor insistently recommended that Gehlen "watch over the group" of Schnez. Adenauer reported it to the American allies and the opposition. At least the papers indicate that the member of the National Executive Committee of the SPD Carlo Schmid "was in the know."
Gehlen's organization and Schnetz's faction regularly contacted and exchanged information. Once Gehlen even praised the colonel for a "particularly well-organized" intelligence apparatus - the very same "Insurance Company". Schnetz's network became essentially street intelligence, reporting on everything they thought deserved attention: for example, about the misbehavior of former Wehrmacht soldiers or about "residents of Stuttgart suspected of being communists." They spied on left-wing politicians, including Social Democrat Fritz Erler, one of the key players in reforming the SPD after WWII, and Joachim Pekert, who later became a diplomat at the West German embassy in Moscow.
Schnetz never received the money he had hoped for, with the exception of a small amount that ran out by the fall of 1953. Two years later, the first 100 Bundeswehr volunteers swore allegiance. With the emergence of the regular armed forces, the need for Wehrmacht spies disappeared. The declassified archive does not say a word exactly when Schnetz's secret service was disbanded. He himself died in 2007, never once speaking publicly about the events of those years.
A Few More Historical NotesRecently I visited the son of the famous noble family of the Stakhovichs - Mikhail Mikhailovich. Four years ago, he, who had lived all his life in Austria and the United States, returned to his ancestral home, which during the October Revolution his parents left - the village of Palna-Mikhailovka, Stanovlyansky district of the Lipetsk region.
I will not hide, despite the conflicting feelings that some facts of his biography cause, such as, for example, service in the ranks of the German Wehrmacht from 1939 to 1945, it is interesting for me to communicate with this old man.
True, not always, the language turns to call him an old man, because at 88 years old, Mikhail Stakhovich looks like a good fellow - fit, athletic and, most importantly, in his right mind and strong memory.
Stakhovich never ceases to amaze. During our last meeting, he stunned me by the fact that he had just returned from a road trip in Europe, having wound ten and a half thousand kilometers on the speedometer of his Renault minivan. I went to Austria by car, visited my daughter in Sweden, rested with my young wife in Croatia, and traveled half of Europe in transit. At 88 years old!
To my surprise, he said that it is very convenient for him to travel while driving. “I can drive for 12 hours and I don’t get tired a single gram,” Stakhovich says.
And I look at his Russian peers and am just amazed. Comparisons are far from in our favor. And rarely do we live up to this age. Moreover, "this age" defended our country from the Nazis, the war for the most part wiped out them.
Once I told about this to his wife Tatyana, who is half his age and she told me one interesting detail.
When we registered the marriage in Salzburg, during our honeymoon, I got to a meeting of Mikhail's classmates, - said Tatiana. - Can you imagine all his classmates are alive. And they feel great. They danced for so long! At the same time, all the guys from his class, like Mikhail, served in the Nazi army. There are those who survived at Stalingrad ...
Frankly, I asked Mikhail Mikhailovich different questions... And inconvenient for him, it seems to me, including. Somehow he reproached that it was difficult for our country to recover after what the brave soldiers of Adolf Hitler had done here. So I tried to justify all the disorder in our country. He, of course, agrees with this, but ... Once he said, as if by chance, while trying not to offend me: “Berlin was destroyed by Soviet troops almost to the ground. Dresden too. And such a fate befell 60 cities in Germany. The Germans rebuilt everything almost from scratch in 12 years. And then there was only development, and you know what Germany has become ... ".
Mikhail Stakhovich is not trying to make excuses for his past, service in the Wehrmacht. It is not his fault that the 1917 Revolution forced his father, the tsarist diplomat, to stay in Europe, where Mikhail Stakhovich was already born in 1921. And how did he, an 18-year-old boy, a citizen of Austria, know, when he volunteered for the Hitlerite army, what the Fuhrer had in mind and what fate he was preparing for his historical homeland. Stakhovich was driven by another interest - the volunteers had the advantage of choosing a place of service and a branch of the military. He enlisted in the army a little later, upon the call, it is not known how his fate would have turned. However, I will not repeat myself, about this in ...
Austrians aspired to the Third Reich with great desire
This time I asked Mikhail Mikhailovich about what I had forgotten to ask before: "Have you seen Hitler?"
One single time, - Stakhovich began his story. - It was in 1938, during the Anschluss of Austria by Germany. On March 13, our entire class was brought from Salzburg to Vienna, where the Reich Chancellor was to arrive. I remember we were led to some kind of bridge, under which he was supposed to pass. The people gathered on the streets of Vienna - darkness. All with flowers, flags with a swastika. And at some point, a real hysteria began, my ears were filled with enthusiastic screams - a car appeared on which Hitler stood at full height and waved his hand to the crowns meeting him. I saw him ...
It was the famous, triumphant entry of Adolf Hitler into Vienna, accompanied by the Chief of the Supreme Command of the German Armed Forces, Wilhelm Keitel. On the same day, the law “On the reunification of Austria with the German Empire” was published, according to which Austria was declared “one of the lands of the German Empire” and became known as “Ostmark”.
I must say that the absolute majority of the Austrians, and this is confirmed by the witness of those events, Mikhail Stakhovich, accepted the Anschluss with approval. As Stakhovich said, and this is confirmed by history, during the so-called plebiscite about the Anschluss, which took place after the fact, on April 12, 1938, the overwhelming majority of Austrian citizens supported him (official data - 99.75%).
But there were also those who opposed the Anschluss and Hitler. There were very few of them, and after the reunion, their fate was unenviable. The concentration camp was waiting for them.
The plebiscite was not secret, the Austrians voted by name, and the opponents, as they say, everyone knew by sight. Real repressions began against such people. Two Austrians, persecuted for their beliefs, were hiding in the attic of the Stakhovichs' house. Mikhail Mikhailovich himself learned about this from his mother only many years later.
Of course, if the police found out about this, the fate of my family could have changed dramatically, ”he says now. - I think that we, the Russians, who sheltered the opponents of Austria's annexation to Germany, would hardly have managed to avoid repression.
But, the absolute majority of Austrians really wanted reunification with Germany, - recalls Mikhail Stakhovich. - The Austrians lived very poor then, there was terrible unemployment. And next to it was the already rich Germany, where there was no unemployment and the Germans lived very decently. Austria just longed for reunification with Germany. This was actually the case.
How can you not trust old man Stakhovich? This is good known facts... The Germans, who lost in the First World War, whose national pride was trampled by the terms of the Treaty of Versailles and subsequent events, with the advent of Hitler, revived their spirits and under him Germany gained unprecedented economic power.
It must be admitted that the evil genius of Adolf Aloizovich Schicklgruber did the impossible.
Therefore, Germany adored him so much, and the people followed him on all his adventures. An ordinary German did not need to know that the entire economic power of the country rose mainly on loans from American and British banks. And in order to pay off the bills, and at the same time try to conquer world domination, Hitler plunged the world into the most terrible meat grinder in the history of mankind.
It seemed to me that after four years of acquaintance with Stakhovich, I already know the biography of this living witness of the terrible events of the past XX century. It was foolish to think so. No one knows his life better than himself. And apparently there is a lot of unknown in it. During my recent visit to Stanovoe, Mikhail Mikhailovich again showed his photo archive. I have already seen some of the photographs, and it was possible to reshoot them. This time, among the heap of photos, one card flashed, which seemed to me very interesting and promising new pages in the story from the life of Mikhail Stakhovich. On it, Mikhail Mikhailovich stands next to the American soldiers. He himself, noticing my interest in this photo, explained: “This is me after the war, in the USA, at an American military base. There I taught the Americans lessons in radio communication and encryption ... ".
Hell! It looks like another "series" of narration is brewing. We'll have to "try" it about the soldiers of the Hitlerite army who ended up in the hands of the Americans after the war, and, apparently, who brought considerable benefit to their military clique.
There are veterans' unions in almost all countries. And in Germany, after the defeat of Nazism in 1945, all traditions of honoring and perpetuating the memory of veterans were cut short. In the words of Herfried Münkler, professor of the theory of politics at Humboldt University, Germany is a "post-heroic society." If memory is commemorated in Germany, it is not the heroes, but the victims of the First and Second World Wars. At the same time, the Bundeswehr, within the framework of NATO and UN peacekeeping missions, is participating in military operations abroad. Therefore, a discussion began among servicemen and politicians: who should be considered veterans?
Bundeswehr veterans
After the war, until 1955, there was no army at all in Germany, both in East and West. Veterans' unions were banned. What kind of glorification of heroism, when German soldiers participated in the criminal war of conquest? But even in the Bundeswehr, founded in 1955, no veteran traditions emerged during the Cold War. The functions of the army were limited to the defense of its own territory, there were no hostilities.
context
IN last years the Bundeswehr is involved in operations abroad, for example, in the former Yugoslavia, in Afghanistan. In total, it is estimated that about 300 thousand soldiers and officers have completed this service. Until very recently, they did not dare to call these operations directly "war" or "military actions". It was about "assistance in establishing a peaceful order", humanitarian actions and other euphemisms.
Now it has been decided to call a spade a spade. German Defense Minister Thomasde Maiziere brought back the word "veteran" last September. Speaking in the Bundestag, he said that "if there are veterans in other countries, then in Germany he has the right to speak of" veterans of the Bundeswehr. "
This discussion was unleashed by the soldiers themselves - those who returned from Afghanistan with wounds or mental trauma. In 2010, they founded the "Union of German Veterans". Critics say the very term "veteran" has been discredited by German history and is therefore unacceptable.
But who is considered a "veteran"? Anyone who wore the uniform of the Bundeswehr for a while, or only those who served abroad? Or maybe only those who participated in real hostilities? The "Union of German Veterans" has already decided: who served abroad is a veteran.
Defense Minister Thomas de Mezieres, for his part, is trying to avoid a split on this issue. Many military officials believe that military service during the Cold War was fraught with risk, so it would be inappropriate to assign the status of "veteran" exclusively to those who had a chance to smell gunpowder in Afghanistan.
Will there be a "veteran's day"?
For soldiers of the Bundeswehr who have been in battles, special awards have been established - "Cross of Honor for Courage" and a medal "For participation in hostilities. "However, many military personnel believe that society does not sufficiently appreciate their willingness to risk their lives. participation in operations abroad, the Bundestag, that is, the elected representatives of the people, takes over. Consequently, the soldiers also participate in dangerous operations at the will of the people. So why isn't society showing them the respect they deserve?
Now the possibility of establishing a special "Veteran's Day" is being discussed. This idea is also supported by the influential Union of Bundeswehr Servicemen, which unites about 200,000 active and retired military personnel. But there is also a proposal to honor on this day the work of not only soldiers, but also rescuers, police officers and employees of development assistance organizations.
Defense Secretary de Maizières is also considering establishing a special commissioner for veterans affairs, and, following the American example, special homes for veterans. But the increase in benefits for veterans is not provided. The Minister of Defense believes that in Germany the social security of active and retired military personnel is already at a fairly high level.
My name is Artyom. More than a year has passed since that day, May 16, 2012, but all the hands did not reach to write. Finally, vacation, the sea and the wind blowing at a speed of 13-16 m / s, exhausting all forces in 2-3 hours in the water, left a lot of time for writing this story.
I'll tell you about a day in Germany on the route Kassel - Leutsendorf - Olnitz - some kind of gas station near Stuttgart.
I am engaged in interviewing veterans and have long wanted to interview our opponents. It is curious to look at the events of that time from the side of the Germans, to learn the realities of the life of German soldiers, their attitude to the war, to Russia, to frost and mud, to victories and defeats. In many ways, this interest was fueled by the experience of interviews with our veterans, in which a different story was opened than the one emasculated, set out on paper.
Rolled text and 28 photos
However, I had absolutely no idea how to approach this. For several years I have been looking for partners in Germany. Periodically, Russian-speaking Germans appeared, who seemed to be interested in this topic, but time passed and it turned out that things did not go beyond declarations. And so in 2012 I decided that it was time to get down to business myself, since there was no time to wait. Starting this project, I understood that it would not be easy to implement it, and the first, most obvious problem was finding informants. On the Internet, a list of veteran organizations was found, compiled probably back in the 70s. They started calling and it turned out that, firstly, all these organizations are one person, a coordinator, from whom it was sometimes possible to find out about his fellow soldiers, but basically the answer was simple: "everyone died." For almost a year of work, about 300 telephones of such veteran coordinators were called, of which 96% turned out to be incorrect, 3% died and half a percent were those who either refused to be interviewed for various reasons or agreed.
So on this day we are going to two who agreed. The first of them, who lives in the city of Loznits, is some 340 kilometers away, the second is 15 kilometers from it, then I still need to get to Stuttgart, because in the morning of the next day I have a plane to Moscow. In total, about 800 kilometers. Fine.
Climb. Morning exercise.
It is necessary to transfer the recording and photos from the previous interview. In the evening there was no more strength. For the interview, I drove 800 kilometers. And what did you get? Marazmatik, whose older brother died, and who tells his stories, flavored with gleaned from books. I define it in a folder called "Hans-racer" and I will not return to it again.
Why do you have to travel so much? Because informal veteran associations in Germany (meaning her Western part, since they were generally banned in Eastern) have practically ceased to exist since 2010. This is primarily due to the fact that they were created as a private initiative. No material or other assistance was provided through veteran organizations, and membership in them did not give any advantages, in contrast to similar associations in the former USSR and Russia. In addition, there were practically no associations of veteran organizations, with the exception of the veteran organization of mountain rifle units and the organization of the Knight's Cross. Accordingly, with the departure of the bulk of the veterans, and the weakness of the rest, ties were severed, the organizations were closed. The absence of such associations as a "city" or "regional" council led to the fact that after interviewing an informant in Munich for the next interview, it was possible to leave 400 kilometers to Dresden, and then return back to Munich, because the informant in Dresden gave the phone number of his Munich friend ... Thus, in the few weeks that I spent in Germany, I covered about 20,000 kilometers by car.
Good morning Nastya! Nastya is primarily an assistant and, most importantly, a translator, since I myself speak German, except for "Spreichen s Deutsch?" and "Nicht Schissen!" I can’t say anything. I was fabulously lucky with her, because besides the fact that the level of her language is such that the Germans were interested in where she studied Russian, it was also easy with her to be in the car for several hours at a time. But we have been on the road for a week, yesterday's drive and the senile have done their job - it is simply hard to force ourselves to go somewhere at 6 in the morning.
There is frost on the roof of the car - frost.
And here is our car. Diesel Citroen. Dumb, but economical.
Nastya turns on Syoma - we are nowhere without a navigator.
Sleepy Kassel
Shell gas station. Why the heck did I pick the most expensive one?
Interview at 10.00. In principle, they should arrive at 9.32, but it is good to have half an hour in stock - it is not customary to be late at all.
Bears are our everything. I can't go without them - it makes me sick. The pack is over, you have to go to a gas station and buy a new one.
Morning landscape.
By 10 o'clock, leaving 340 km behind, we are in place. Houses in the village.
So the first grandfather. Meet
Heinz Bartl. Born in 1928 from the Sudeten Germans. Peasant son.
“In October 1938, the Sudetes were incorporated into the German Empire. I must say that our area was purely German. Only the head of the railway station, post office and bank (Shparkassi) were Czechs. At that moment I was only 10 years old, but I remember the conversations that the Czechs were firing Germans from factories, squeezing them out.
What has changed in school curriculum after the annexation of the Czech Republic to Germany?
Absolutely nothing. The Hitler Youth organization has just appeared.
From the age of eight, the boys went to the "pymphs", and from the age of 14 they were admitted to the Hitler Youth. We had meetings after lunch, we went hiking, went in for sports. But I did not have time for all this - I had to help at home with the chores, since in 1940 my father was drafted into the army. He fought in Russia and Italy, was captured by the British. "
Father in the cowshed
He's on vacation with his wife and son. Wehrmacht soldiers were entitled to a three-week vacation once a year.
“I stayed at home, my mother and my grandparents. Nevertheless, at the age of 14 I joined the motorized Hitler Youth. We had a small motorcycle with a 95 cc engine. So we rode it. During school holidays we went to camp for a few days. The atmosphere was great. We also did shooting sports. I loved shooting. "
Heinz with his schoolmate in the Hitler Youth uniform
I must say that we practically did not notice the war in Okenau. Many villagers provided their own food, and did not depend on the rationing system introduced in 40-41. Although we had to give about half of the harvest to the needs of the state, the rest was enough to feed ourselves, hired workers and sell on the market. Only sad news that one or another soldier again died for his homeland by the "death of a hero" on the battlefield in Russia, Africa or France came to our village.
On February 20, 1945, we became soldiers of the Wehrmacht. A couple of days later, a full-fledged drill began for us. We were given a uniform and 98k carbines.
On April 18, 1945, the company set off for the Eastern Front. During a stop in Lobau on April 20th (Hitler's birthday), everyone received a pot lid full of rum as a gift. The next day, the march continued in the direction of Goerlitz. But this city was already occupied by the Red Army, so we took up positions in the forest in the direction of Herrnhut. On this stretch, the front had been standing still for two days.
At night, I stood guard and demanded that the approaching person give the password or I would shoot. The man said in German: "Camerad, don't shoot." He came closer and asked: "Do you know me?" In the semi-darkness, I saw wide red stripes on my trousers and answered: "No, Mr. General!" He asked, "How old are you?" I replied: "16, Mr. General." He swore: "What disgusting!" and left. The same night our unit was removed from the front. As it turned out later, it was Field Marshal Schoerner, commander of the Eastern Front. We returned to Dresden - it was destroyed to the ground. It was awful ... awful. There was only scrap metal, only destroyed houses.
At the end of April, the company commander ordered us to throw away our weapons and try to be captured by the Americans, because the war ended anyway. We escaped. We went through Chemnitz and the Ore Mountains home to Czechoslovakia. But on May 8 the Russians were already there. On May 11, a patrol stopped us, the officer said that wojna kaput (hereinafter, the words spoken in Russian are indicated in Latin) and sent us under guard to the assembly point. So I became woennoplennyi. The first two days we did not receive any food and were not even allowed to drink. Only on the third day did I receive my first biscuit and water. As for the rest, they treated me personally well - they did not beat me or question me. At the Sagarn camp, our hair was shaved off, which was very sad. From there we were taken to Poland. We were stationed at a large airfield. Soon we were loaded into wagons and driven east. We drove for a week. 40 people in the car. There was a hole in the floor as a toilet. They fed, giving out a can of soup - each of us had spoons. We were scared - we thought that we were all being taken to Siberia. We did not know anything about Russia, except that there is Siberia, where it is very cold. The train stopped in Vladimir, the sun rose and golden domes glittered. Then we said it would be nice if we stayed here and did not go to Siberia. "
“In Vladimir, in the city camp, everyone who was released was gathered. We were given new white cloth boots, although there was still knee-deep snow in Vladimir, and new quilted jackets. We also received money. In the camp we had to earn 340 rubles a month, in my opinion, and if we earned more, then this money was credited to the account. When we were released, they were paid to us. Rubles could not be taken with you. A shop came to the camp, some of the prisoners bought watches and suits for themselves with money, and I filled my wooden suitcase with Kazbek cigarettes for my grandfather. At the end of March 1949, we were loaded onto a train. For almost eight days we traveled by train from Vladimir to Germany. On April 1st, 1949, I was at home with my family in Gross Rosenburg. "
View from the window of his house
We left him at about one o'clock in the afternoon. There were still four hours until the next interview. I took a little nap in the car. We ate on the way in a Chinese restaurant, like I even took pictures, but I could not find any photos, except for a few with clouds.
Let's go to Oelnitz. We left the car and went to look for the street of August Bebel 74. We found the street - there is no such house - after 20 the numbering ends. We call grandfather. We ask where his home is, he begins to explain. Everything seems to fit, but there is no home. We cannot understand anything. Then the grandfather asks: "What Olnitsa are you in?" Oops! It turned out that there are Oelsniz \ Erzgebirge and Oelsnitz \ Vogtland in this area. We are in the first, and he is in the second. There are 70 kilometers between them. We say that we will be in an hour, and he graciously agrees to receive us. We jump into the car and in 40 minutes we are on the spot.
Silesian Erich Burkhardt. Born in 1919. Truck driver in the 6th Army.
He remembers the beginning of the war like this:
“In Ukraine, the civilian population greeted us with flowers. One Sunday before lunch we arrived at the square in front of a church in a small town. Women in smart clothes came there, brought flowers and strawberries. I read so that if Hitler, that idiot, gave the Ukrainians food and weapons, we could go home. The Ukrainians themselves would have fought against the Russians. Later it became different, but in Ukraine in 1941 it was as I said. The infantry did not know about what they were doing with the Jews, what the police services, the SS, the Gestapo did. "
I must say that this position “I know nothing, I saw nothing”, I met in all 60+ interviews I conducted. It seems that all those arts that the Germans did both at home and in the occupied territories were made by aliens in human form. Sometimes it got to insanity - a soldier awarded the Iron Cross of the 1st degree and a badge for close combat declares that he did not kill anyone, well, he can only wounded. This is explained largely by the attitude of society towards them. In Germany, veterans are almost officially considered criminals and murderers. It is not very sweet for them to live there. It's as if an anecdote about the fact that if we lost, we would drink Bavarian became the official position of our society.
Until November 19, 1942, he was a truck driver. Then the gasoline ran out, the cars were abandoned and he became the messenger of the battalion commander. Delivered messages to companies and regiment headquarters.
“When you walked forward in the summer of 1942, did you think you would win now?
Yes Yes! Everyone was convinced that we would win the war, it was obvious, it could not be otherwise!
When did this triumphant mood begin to change, when did it become clear that this would not be the case?
Here, in Stalingrad, it was before Christmas 1942. On November 19-20 we were surrounded, the boiler closed. The first two days we laughed at this: "The Russians surrounded us, ha-ha!" But it quickly became clear to us that this was very serious. Before Christmas we had hoped all the time that the southern army, General Goth, would pull us out of the cauldron, but then we learned that they themselves had to retreat. On January 8, a Russian plane dropped leaflets calling on the generals, officers and soldiers of the 6th Army to surrender, since the situation was hopeless. It was written there that in captivity we would receive good treatment, accommodation and food. We didn't believe it. It was also written there that if this proposal is not accepted, then on January 10, the battle of destruction will begin. I must say that at the beginning of January the fighting died down and we were only occasionally fired upon from cannons.
And what did Paulus do? He replied that he remains faithful to the order of the Fuehrer and will fight to the last bullet. We froze and died of wounds, the infirmaries were overcrowded, there were no bandages. When someone died, no one, sadly enough, did not even turn in his direction to help him somehow. These were the last, saddest days. No one paid attention to either the wounded or the dead. I saw two of our trucks driving, comrades hitting on them and driving behind the trucks on their knees. One comrade fell off, and the next truck crushed him, because it could not brake in the snow. It was not something amazing for us then - death became commonplace. What has been happening in the cauldron for the last ten days, with the last ones left there, is impossible to describe. We took grain in the elevator. At least there were horses in our division, which we used for meat. There was no water, we melted the snow. There were no spices. We ate fresh boiled horse meat with sand, because the snow was dirty from the explosions. When the meat was eaten, a layer of sand remained at the bottom of the pot. That's nothing, and the motorized units could not cut anything edible from the tanks. They starved terribly because they only had what they were officially given, and that was very little. Bread was brought by airplanes, and when the airfields of Nursery and Gumrak were liquidated and occupied by the Russians, then we received only what we dropped from the planes. At the same time, two of these three bombs landed at the Russians, who were very happy about our food.
At what point did discipline fall in the Stalingrad cauldron?
She did not fall, we were soldiers to the end.
On January 21st we were removed from our position and sent to the city center. There were 30 of us, and we were commanded by a senior sergeant-major. I don't know how I slept last days I don't remember if I slept at all. From the moment we were transferred from our position to the city center, I don't know anything else. There was nothing to eat, there was no kitchen, there was nowhere to sleep, a sea of lice, I don't know how I was there ... South of Red Square, there were such long ditches, we made a fire in them and stood and warmed ourselves near it, but it was a drop on hot stones - it did not help us to escape from the cold at all. The last night from January 30 to January 31, I spent on Red Square in the ruins of the city. I was on guard when it got light, at about six or seven in the morning, one comrade came in and said: "Drop your weapon and get out, we surrender to the Russians." We went outside, there were three or four Russians, we dropped our carbines and unfastened our bags of ammunition. We didn't try to resist. So we ended up in captivity. The Russians in Red Square have collected 400 or 500 prisoners.
The first thing the Russian soldiers asked was "Uri est"? Uri est "?" (Uhr - clock) I had a pocket watch, and a Russian soldier gave me a loaf of German soldier's black bread for it. A whole loaf I haven't seen in weeks! And I told him, with my youthful frivolity, that watches are more expensive. Then he jumped into a German truck, jumped out, and gave me another piece of bacon. Then they lined up us, a Mongol soldier came up to me and took my bread and bacon. We were warned that whoever fails will be immediately shot. And then, ten meters away from me, I saw the Russian soldier who gave me bread and bacon. I got out of line and rushed to him. The convoy shouted: "nazad, nazad" and I had to return to the ranks. This Russian approached me, and I explained to him that this Mongolian thief had taken my bread and bacon. He went to this Mongol, took the bread and lard from him, gave him a slap, and brought the food back to me. Isn't this a meeting with a Man ?! On the march to Beketovka, we shared this bread and lard with our comrades.
How did you perceive the captivity: as a defeat or as a relief, as the end of the war?
Look, I have never seen anyone voluntarily surrender, run over. Everyone feared captivity more than dying in a cauldron. On the Don we had to leave the chief lieutenant of the commander of the 13th company, wounded in the thigh. He could not move and went to the Russians. A couple of hours later we counterattacked and recaptured his corpse from the Russians. He accepted a cruel death. What the Russians did to him was horrifying. I knew him personally, so it made a particularly strong impression on me. Captivity terrified us. And, as it turned out later, rightly so. The first six months of captivity were hell, which was worse than in a cauldron. Then many of the 100 thousand prisoners of Stalingrad died. On January 31st, the first day of captivity, we marched from southern Stalingrad to Beketovka. About 30 thousand prisoners were collected there. There we were loaded onto freight wagons, a hundred people per wagon. On the right side of the car there were bunks for 50 people, in the center of the car there was a hole instead of a toilet, on the left there were bunks too. We were driven for 23 days, from February 9 to April 2. Six of us got out of the car. The rest died. Some wagons died out completely, in some there were ten to twenty people. What was the cause of death? We weren't starving - we didn't have water. All died of thirst. This was the planned extermination of German prisoners of war. The head of our transport was a Jew, what was to be expected of him? It was the worst thing that I have experienced in my life. We stopped every few days. The doors of the carriage opened, and those who were still alive had to throw the corpses out. There were usually 10-15 dead. When I threw the last dead from the carriage, he was already decomposed, his arm came off. What helped me survive? Ask me something easier. I do not know that…
Once in Orsk we were taken to a banja, in an open truck in a 30-degree frost. I had old shoes, and handkerchiefs were wound in place of socks. Three Russian mothers were sitting at the bathhouse, one of them walked past me and dropped something. These were German soldiers' socks, washed and darned. Do you understand what she did for me? This was the second, after the soldier who gave me bread and lard, meeting with a Man.
In 1945, for health reasons, I was in the third working group and worked in the kitchen as a bread slicer. And then the order came for the third working group to undergo a medical commission. I passed the commission, and I was assigned to transport. Nobody knew what kind of transport it was and where it was going, they thought it was to some new camp. My head of the kitchen, a German, also a "Stalingrad", said that he would not let me go anywhere, went to the medical commission, and began to insist that they leave me. A Russian doctor, a woman, yelled at him, told him: "Get out of here," and I left on this transport. Then it turned out that this was transport home. If I hadn't left then, I would have fed myself in the kitchen and would have remained in captivity for several more years. This was my third meeting with a Human. I will never forget these three human encounters, even if I live another hundred years.
War is the most an important event in your life?
Yes, this does not happen every day. When I was called, I was not yet 20 years old. When I returned home I was 27 years old. I weighed 44 kilograms - I had dystrophy. I was a sick and emaciated person, I could not pump up a bicycle wheel, I was so weak! Where is my youth ?! The best years of my life, from 18 to 27 years old ?! There are no just wars! Every war is a crime! Each! "
He came out to see us off
And we went to Stuttgart. I usually do not fall asleep while driving, but simply cut myself down - it starts to seem to me that the road goes to the left, that there are houses on the right side of the road, from which you need to turn away and other glitches. The speed drops from the usual 150 to 120, or even 100 kilometers per hour. At some point, I realized that that was all - I had to stop and sleep, at least for an hour I wouldn't get there. We stopped at a gas station
And in the sump I passed out.
The project is generally completed, one book is out, the second will be out next year. The interviews conducted will be gradually published on the site (these two are published). Several German memoirs will be translated into Russian. Summing up what can be said. It was also unexpected that in Germany, in contrast to countries the former USSR there is practically no difference between written and oral speech, which is expressed in the line: "some words for kitchens, others for the streets." There were practically no fighting episodes in the interviews. In Germany, it is not customary to take an interest in the history of the Wehrmacht and the SS apart from their crimes, concentration camps or captivity. Almost everything that we know about the German army, we know thanks to the popularizing activities of the Anglo-Saxons. It is no coincidence that Hitler considered them a people close to "race and tradition". The war unleashed by the criminal leadership took away from these people best time life is youth. Moreover, according to its results, it turned out that they were not fighting for those, and their ideals were false. The rest, most of their lives, they had to justify themselves, the victors and their own state, for their participation in this war. All this, of course, was expressed in the creation of their own version of events and their role in them, which a reasonable reader will take into account, but will not judge.
The word "veteran" itself has long been a taboo in Germany. The soldiers of the Second World War united in the unions of former prisoners of war. Now the Bundeswehr soldiers call themselves "veterans". However, the word has not yet caught on.
There are veterans' unions in almost all countries. And in Germany, after the defeat of Nazism in 1945, all traditions of honoring and perpetuating the memory of veterans were cut short. In the words of Herfried Münkler, professor of the theory of politics at Humboldt University, Germany is a "post-heroic society." If memory is commemorated in Germany, it is not the heroes, but the victims of the First and Second World Wars. At the same time, the Bundeswehr, within the framework of NATO and UN peacekeeping missions, is participating in military operations abroad. Therefore, a discussion began among servicemen and politicians: who should be considered veterans?
Bundeswehr veterans
After the war, until 1955, there was no army at all in Germany, both in East and West. Veterans' unions were banned. What kind of glorification of heroism, when German soldiers participated in the criminal war of conquest? But even in the Bundeswehr, founded in 1955, no veteran traditions emerged during the Cold War. The functions of the army were limited to the defense of its own territory, there were no hostilities.
In recent years, the Bundeswehr has been involved in operations abroad, for example, in the former Yugoslavia, in Afghanistan. In total, it is estimated that about 300 thousand soldiers and officers have completed this service. Until very recently, they did not dare to call these operations directly "war" or "military actions". It was about "assistance in establishing a peaceful order", humanitarian actions and other euphemisms.
Now it has been decided to call a spade a spade. German Defense Minister Thomas de Maiziere brought back the word "veteran" last September. Speaking in the Bundestag, he said that "if there are veterans in other countries, then in Germany he has the right to talk about" veterans of the Bundeswehr. "
This discussion was unleashed by the soldiers themselves - those who returned from Afghanistan with wounds or mental trauma. In 2010, they founded the "Union of German Veterans". Critics say the very term "veteran" has been discredited by German history and therefore unacceptable.
But who is considered a "veteran"? Anyone who wore the uniform of the Bundeswehr for a while, or only those who served abroad? Or maybe only those who participated in real hostilities? The "Union of German Veterans" has already decided: who served abroad is a veteran.
Defense Minister Thomas de Mezieres, for his part, is trying to avoid a split on this issue. Many military officials believe that military service during the Cold War was fraught with risk, so it would be inappropriate to assign “veteran” status exclusively to those who had a chance to smell gunpowder in Afghanistan.
Will there be a veteran's day?
For the soldiers of the Bundeswehr who have been in the battles, special awards have been established - the "Honorary Cross for Courage" and the medal "For participation in hostilities". However, many in the military believe that society does not appreciate their willingness to risk their lives. After all, decisions on participation in operations abroad are made by the Bundestag, that is, the elected representatives of the people. Consequently, the soldiers also participate in dangerous operations at the will of the people. So why isn't society showing them the respect they deserve?
Now the possibility of establishing a special "Veteran's Day" is being discussed. This idea is supported by the influential Union of the Bundeswehr Servicemen, which unites about 200 thousand active and retired military personnel. But there is also a proposal to honor the work of not only soldiers, but also rescuers, police officers and employees of development assistance organizations on this day.
Defense Secretary de Maizières is also considering establishing a special commissioner for veterans affairs, and, following the American example, special homes for veterans. But the increase in benefits for veterans is not provided. The Minister of Defense believes that in Germany the social security of active and retired military personnel is already at a fairly high level.
InoSMI materials contain assessments exclusively of foreign media and do not reflect the position of the InoSMI editorial board.
