Eastern Inferno

by Christine Alexander

  Heavy mortars and long-barrel cannons have been put into position and covered with camouflage netting. And there are shells, lots of shells. We have never seen that many in such a large pile.

  We reach Wassilkow in the afternoon. There, the first thing we do is have a feast and drink some alcohol. After that there is some thorough grooming. Only when you are clean-shaven and washed do you qualify for one of these precious corner lots in the mass grave. Meanwhile, we desperately wait for our attack orders.

  16 September: The attack has been rolling since 0500 hours. The main goal is to establish a good attack position for the general attack. A raiding patrol to Gatnoje, which had already incurred bloody casualties six weeks ago, delivers important intelligence. It appears that the Russians almost abandoned their most forward line. Did they retreat to a better fortified line?

  Gatnoje is taken by storm. During the course of the afternoon, Potschtowaja is run over and we are back to our previous front line. With this we accomplish the requirements necessary for the general attack. We dig in, which turns out to be a good idea, for the Russian fire curtain begins soon after we are finished. Our own ordnance returns the fire. Some hundred cannons fire in order to make use of the remaining daylight to zoom in on the targets. Only a few large calibers arrive from positions far behind our lines. However, wherever these stinking sweaty schweine are, there is death!

  17 September: We are still in our initial position for the general attack. The neighboring division is only making slow progress. Despite heavy Russian artillery fire, we experienced frontline soldiers are able to get some rest. Our well-honed instincts tell us that the Russians are preparing for a defensive posture and will not attack.

  Budenny’s swallows appear by surprise around noon. However, the situation is different than the last time in Terempki. FlaKs, calibers of 8.8 and 2cm, have been arranged in masses to maintain the attack. The scenes that follow are awesome.

  The Bolsheviks perform two laps of honor. Our FlaKs don’t fire a single shot. Great! The Russians, who were unable to see our camouflaged anti-aircraft cannons, feel like they own the sky. They return with just as much force as they did during the initial days of August. And then it starts: the tack-tack-tack of the 2cm FlaKs and the tinny sounds of the 8.8cms. Eighteen Martin bombers crash to the ground in flames within the next 20 minutes. Well, now it’s really serious, Father Budenny!

  18 September: Our 21 and 30.5cm cannons have been firing onto the Russian defense lines around the outskirts of the city for the last 24 hours. There are rolling attacks from our Stukas. A dark, black cloud hangs over the city after a few hours. These guys deliver precision work. According to orders, the residential neighborhoods of the city are not to be attacked. They are to attack the fortress, the train stations, ammunition depots, and the Dneipr bridges. Orders for the general attack arrive in the afternoon. Tomorrow is the day. Guys, prepare for the mass grave! You can live out your hatred against this city that has been right in front of your faces for weeks, though as of yet unattainable. Tomorrow—finally, finally!!!!

  Hans Roth with his comrades in front of a Sd.Kfz. 232 Schwerer Panzerspähwagen. (Photo courtesy Christine Alexander and Mason Kunze)

  JOURNAL II

  MARCH TO THE EAST AND THE WINTER OF 1941–42

  Editors’ Note:

  Unknown to Hans Roth, while his infantry division had waged a bloody confrontational combat before Kiev, a huge debate had raged among the German high command that would have profound consequences for Operation Barbarossa as well as the entire course of World War II.

  By early August von Kleist’s First Panzer Group of Army Group South had advanced 150km east of Kiev along the lower Dniepr, while Guderian’s Second Panzer Group of Army Group Center had reached a similar point to the north. Budenny’s million-man Southwest Front now looked like a salient, capable of being bitten off should the two panzer groups advance toward each other behind the Soviet concentration. However, to strip Guderian from Army Group Center would mean calling a temporary halt to its drive on Moscow.

  Hitler was the main champion of eliminating the Kiev salient, since he believed that by erasing the main Soviet grouping in the south it would gain him the Donetz industrial region as well as the Caucasus oil fields. He may have also had an instinctive reluctance to follow the path of Napoleon, who had marched straight for the Russian capital, only to find himself holding a worthless prize with the true strength of Russia swarming on his flanks.

  The chief of the German General Staff, as well as all the generals of Army Group Center, argued that Moscow had to remain the Schwerpunkt of the offensive, since for political, economic, and communications reasons it was far more important in 1941 than it had been in 1812, and that Stalin’s war effort could not survive its loss.

  Hitler won the argument, and in late August the Second Panzer Group peeled off from Army Group Center to drive south. A few days later the First Panzer Group drove north, and on September 14 the two forces met at Romny, east of Kiev. When German tanks marked with “G” (Guderian) met tanks marked with “K” (Kleist) it meant that Budenny’s Southwest Front holding the capital of the Ukraine was doomed. It turned out to be the largest single victory in the history of land warfare, with 665,000 prisoners taken, and the entire south of the Soviet Union apparently laid open for further advances.

  In his contemporaneous journal Hans Roth appears unaware of the strategic machinations, only seeing that Soviet resistance during his final attack on Kiev (his division was one of the first to enter the city) seemed to have evaporated. In fact, Budenny had begun to evacuate the salient as soon as he learned of the movements of the panzer groups behind him, but Stalin had countermanded his orders and demanded that he hold fast. Budenny was relieved of command and his successor was killed in the pocket.

  Sixth Army’s von Reichenau, though doubtless an excellent commander, was also the most “Nazified” of all the senior German generals in the East at this time, and issued orders to his troops to be ruthless with the civilian population. During his time in Kiev, Roth’s journal describes him witnessing, with horror, an Einsatzkommando action, which may well have been Babi Yar.

  After the reduction of Kiev, Army Group Center retrieved its Second Panzer Group (the Third had been dispatched north to assist around Leningrad) and resumed its drive on Moscow in early October. At first huge victories were won, at Vyazma and Bryansk, but then the Soviets were able to call on their strongest ally—which Roth well describes in person—General Winter.

  Now deep into Russia across a front of a thousand miles, the Germans found the late-autumn roads behind them collapsing into mud. Supplies and ammunition could no longer reach the frontline troops. When the ground froze the vehicles could move again, but then it turned out to be the earliest and most severe winter in memory, rendering German Soldaten—still in their summer uniforms—almost helpless against frostbite, with many of their weapons useless in the bitter cold. The worst development was that the Soviets appeared to possess unlimited reserves, including entire divisions of Siberian troops, well clothed and equipped for winter warfare. Stalin commenced a counteroffensive all along the front.

  During this period when German troops were obviously at the end of their tether, Hitler sacked a number of generals who demanded to withdraw to more defensible lines. Among these were Guderian and von Rundstedt, commander of Army Group South, the latter replaced by von Reichenau, Hitler’s most fanatic general, though he quickly realized that his predecessor had been correct. (Reichenau himself died of a heart attack within weeks.)

  Hans Roth’s Panzerjäger unit appears to act as a “fire brigade” during the winter of 1941–42, dispatched from crisis to crises, though his main battles take place at Oboyan (Obojan), near the crucial rail link between Kursk and Kharkov (Charkow) at the apex of Sixth Army’s advance.

  Somehow surviving the winter, he seems both mystified and relieved when fresh German reinforcements come pouring into the front with the advent of spring, though
he concludes this journal with simply wishing to see his wife and young child again.

  Hans Roth’s depiction of the Kiev pocket and the Red Army’s attempts to break through the German encirclement, September 17–19, 1941.

  23 September: Heavy fighting is to our rear. Early on September 19 we penetrated the heavily armed outer ring of the city. The enemy, by far not as strong as we had assumed, was defeated in a bloody, close combat, and by 0900 hours we had already reached the western part of the city. The Reds have quit their attempts at heavy street fighting. At the same time, strong assault parties attacked the citadel from the direction of Lysa-Hora, and by 1100 hours Nazi swastikas were raised there.

  By noon we are in the center of the city, no shots are heard; the wide streets and squares are abandoned. It is eerie. The silence is making us nervous, for it is hardly believable that such a large city has fallen into our hands in such a short amount of time. Is this a ruse? Is the city a trap covered in mines? Are we standing on a volcano?

  These are the questions that everyone is currently asking. Today we have an answer to all of these questions. In order to lure the occupying armies out of the city, which was to be spared at all costs from combat, a German offensive was simulated east of Kiev back on September 17, with huge artillery preparations. Budenny issued orders for a devastating counteroffensive, which in doing so removed troops from the wellequipped defense circle, and in turn nearly completely exposed the city. Approximately 120km east of the thin German line, the location of the mock operation, is the supposed outflanking army. Made drunk by victory—as they hardly encountered any resistance—Budenny’s troops chase the “fleeing” Germans. They advance farther and farther east, and by September 19, are many, many kilometers away from Kiev. At this moment, the fate of several hundred thousand of Budenny’s Bolsheviks is sealed. What irony of fate! Budenny, who up until now, intoxicated from his victory, believes that he is herding before him a panic-stricken, fleeing German army, pushes with tremendous pressure, though only into nothingness, for the enemy has vanished overnight. Only against one flank corps is there a minor exchange. Regardless, he believes he has cut the enemy to pieces (bad lines of communication were perhaps the main reason for his devastating defeat).

  An irony of fate: in these days of victory celebrations, Stalin, who believes Budenny to still be in Kiev, gives orders to prepare the city for a winter defensive. And then, that afternoon, it hits HQ like the crack of a whip: Kiev is in German hands. Lost, everything lost! The drama has begun!

  What does this western defense line, which Budenny depended upon just like the French did with the Maginot Line, look like? It’s not a common line of bunkers; no, it is a collection of diabolic resources, which can only be conceived by the brain of a paranoiac. I will try and describe some of these horrific death zones that we passed through while intensely fighting on September 17, 18, and 19:

  To the rear of Gatnoje, there are fields of cooperatives, vast vegetable farms. They lie there harmlessly in the sun. Who would believe that hiding among those plants is the most horrific death: a high voltage current! Atop the vegetation is a webbing of fine caliber wire the length of several kilometers. This rests on thin, isolated metal poles, which are all painted green; a deadly net of high voltage current, which is run by a power plant in a bunker. It is so well camouflaged that we recognize it unfortunately much too late, only after the continued accumulation of losses.

  Then there are the devil’s ditches, lined up in great depth, several hundred meters long. They are mined, and when a single land mine is tripped, entire fields, which are connected underground by detonation channels, explode. At the same time, water pipes explode and rapidly flood the area two meters deep.

  There are even a few more goodies that happen to be just lying on the ground, seemingly random objects that are interesting to every soldier: watches, packs of cigarettes, pieces of soap, etc. Each of these objects is connected to a hidden detonator. If the soldier picks any of these objects up, he starts the ignition and detonates a mine or an entire minefield.

  In this category also belong well-hidden trip wires, which cause contact mines to explode. These monsters jump up 3/4 of a meter and explode, showering burning oil everywhere. There are other areas where hidden among trip wires are thousands of knife-sharp steel spikes, which are poisoned and cause the injured to die a horrible death ten minutes later. All of the defensive belts are littered with automatic flame-throwers, which are activated by pressure.

  Well—just imagine, among all these devilish things there are still the normal battle installations: two-story bunkers, automatic weapons stands, ditches, tank ditches, kilometers of barbed wire, tank barriers, in addition to the average mined streets and paths. Add to that infantry mines, booby traps, ban mines, vehicle mines. And now, just imagine this whole hellish apparatus during combat; this is their defense against our attack.

  Initially there is the usual shell fire. The infantry is firing their weapons, tank artillery, anti-aircraft artillery, mortars, and trench mortars. Then there is the 7.7 bunker artillery, the field guns, the 122mm long barrel artillery, the heavy artillery from 15 to 22cm, and finally, the artillery mounted on railroad cars and the heavy mortar battalions in the Kiev fortress.

  As for the infantry combat, first the expected: gun and machine gun fire; then the Bolsheviks’ dum-dum bullets, fire grenades, Molotov cocktails, air mines, and mine dogs. I have more to tell about these exquisite Bolshevik contraptions: we are familiar with the dummy shells from the West; I don’t need to talk about them. As for the fire grenades—we call them that—in reality they have nothing in common with grenades. From the outside, it looks like a normal infantry missile with tracer. Once the phosphorus has burned out, the missile explodes into several splinters. Those who have seen the injuries caused by these monsters will never take any prisoners over them. These devilish projectiles are supposed to be banned by the Geneva Convention, as if these Red schweine waste a thought on this!

  Molotov cocktails are essentially burning bottles which are thrown like hand grenades during trench combat. The effect is the following: upon impact the bottle explodes, the liquid inside ignites in the air and burns with a bright flame; a temperature of 800 to 100 degrees Celsius is reached and white smoke develops in large quantities. Imagine how nicely such a flame would burn your uniform jacket! The second application is firing them from normal infantry guns. With the aid of a middle piece, a shooting cup is mounted. The pressure of the powdered gases throws the fire bottles up to 200 meters. And by the way, they also shoot egg-sized hand grenades in this manner.

  Mine dogs: we shot about a dozen of these German shepherds alone near Schuljany. The animals carry a device with explosives on their back. According to a prisoner who has trained these dogs, they are made to attack tanks and other vehicles with their load of 3 kilos of ammunition. By means of a wooden lever on the device, the load explodes after two safety latches are removed. According to other sources, these dogs are also trained to viciously attack people, and have caused serious damage to marching troops.

  At various locations along the Potschtowaja front, the Reds are dropping air mines. This mine has wings and a propeller, and is attached to a red balloon half a meter in radius which detaches once it touches ground. Those dirty buggers [dreckdingen] rip holes into the earth that reach as far down as the water table.

  This was only a small sampling, a very small one. What is this though, compared to the atrocities which the criminal gang in Kiev have themselves concocted, and of which only very little is known so far? Supposedly all public buildings are rigged with mines. Already two days after the conquest, three barracks have exploded, one of which was occupied by German soldiers. From then on, nearly hourly explosions have been ripping through the air; factory after factory, warehouses, hospitals, and schools, all exploding in huge jets of flames.

  The civilians are starting to come out of their homes and are slowly becoming more trusting. There are many gorgeous peopl
e among the Ukrainians. Touching scenes play out on the street: surrounded by them, we are caressed, kissed, and all this, with a tremendous amount of crying. These poor people must have truly suffered a great deal under the Bolshevik reign of terror. Through their tears they stammer, trying to talk. Many of them speak broken German, and so we learn of many devastating fates. They are thankful for each bite of bread. Many of them have not eaten for days, the Reds having systematically destroyed all provisions in the city. At noon, the streets are as busy as they would be in peacetime. On the motorway, vehicle after vehicle rolls eastward. Supply lines, small echelons, and tanks: Kiev has never seen so much life on its streets. The sidewalks are black with curious onlookers.

  Suddenly the unspeakable happens: a terrible explosion, and at three different places on the main road there are flames higher than a house. Huge rocks and ripped iron beams are flying through the air; and then, nothing but stench and smoke fills the street. Cries and moans, in a wild panic the mass retreats. Many are crushed against the walls of buildings or stampeded to death on the asphalt. With weapons in hand, we finally manage to force the headless crowd to a side street. What happened?

  After the smoke dissipates, we see the horrible results: the wide street has been ripped open over a length of 100 meters. Once where there was a monument to Lenin there is now nothing but a gaping, deep crater; the walls of the 4-story houses on both sides of the street are caved in. Under the smoking debris, there must be hundreds of people.