25. Juni 1943
| GEO & MIL INFO | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berestjanka | 
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| Woljwenkowo |
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| detached to Field Replacement Battailon 257 | ||||
I am detached to the Field Replacement Battailon[3], which is building artillery emplacements on the plateau behind our swamp position. At last I get out of this swamp forest into free, open terrain. I had fetched a horse from our train in Petrovskaya and am now riding across the wide, summer-warm plateau towards my new destination. I enjoy the open space up here. In front of me is the dirt road that winds gently into the distance. On both sides of the path stretch huge large fields that have already been cultivated. After riding for a while, the terrain begins to slope down into a depression overgrown with shrubbery. The path turns sharply to the left and slowly descends into the depression. A row of bushes now runs along the edge of the path. In the shade of the bushes lies a group of women and girls who are doing the field work here and are now taking their lunch break. I recognise one of them. It is my neighbour from Sagorodnoye, the young woman from Vladivostok. She is lying stretched out in the grass with her eyes closed. The sound of my horse’s hooves draws her attention, she opens her eyes, recognises me and smiles at me. I greet her back with a smile. What long distances these girls have to walk to work in these huge fields. But they are used to it and they are a strong people.
In this context, Max Müller once told us about the daughter of his landlady. It was the summer of 1941 near Slavyansk. One day the girl had disappeared and only returned after a week. When Max asked her where she had been for so long, she replied: “In Kharkov. I was with my aunt for three days.” Max was flabbergasted. Kharkov is over 160 kilometres away. He then held it against her that she must have walked 40 to 50 kilometres a day. Her laconic reply was only, “Noo da!”[4] (meaning: “So what?” - what’s 50 kilometres!).
At a crossroads there is a directional sign pointing to the regimental command post.[5] I have to report there first. The regiment’s bunkers are in a small forest. There is also a small village nearby.
I descend into the stable bunker and stand before the regimental commander. According to the regulations, officers who change their post must be informed of any disadvantages from their evaluation. Haarhaus skims over my papers and then looks at me. “One finds fault with you for a certain tendency to be a loner.” I say nothing and just look at him questioningly. I thought there was more to come, for surely my battalion commander, that creep, had put more on me. But Haarhaus says nothing more about it. Maybe he had a point. I neither boozed nor played cards with certain officers, because I can’t and don’t like both. But that, if you like, can perhaps be seen as loner behaviour. On top of that, I’m too modest, too reserved and sometimes too shy. I don’t force myself on people. I simply lack the skill to make myself important. After a few remarks, Haarhaus concludes, “You’ll have to drop that habit.”
I continue on my way. Again it goes over wide, treeless expanses, and then I am at my destination. In front of me is another shallow depression overgrown with bushes and small trees. In the shade of the bushes I can make out a few vehicles. I dismount and report to the battalion commander, a quiet, friendly captain with a good-natured face. He is a senior official in his civilian profession. Since the battalion had only recently arrived here[6], no accommodation is yet available. The soldiers camp in leaf huts they have made from tree branches. Some have dug a small hole in the ground, others have thrown up a mound of earth and laid a few boards over it. I myself spend the first night on the bare earth under a horse-drawn caravan. On this night of all nights it rains[7] but otherwise it is bearable.
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- ↑ 1,0 1,1 reconstruktion of the original map in KTB 1.PzA, NARA T-313 Roll 58 Frame 7294538 by help of Heereskarte Rußland 1:100 000 M-37-98 Petrowskaja, which has a newer date, however
- ↑ photo from the region of Smolensk, 1942, source: Facebook/S. Amielin
- ↑ On 15 June 1943 the Field Replacement Battailon 257 was newly formed. On 18 June 1943 H.Gr. Süd notes Soviet offensive intentions (KTB OKW 1943 p. 662 f.); on 24 Juine the plan for the construction of positions for Tank Hunter Battalion B was available (KTB 1.PzA, NARA T-313 Roll 58 Frame 7294538). It must be these emplacements that the Field Replacement Battailon was called in to build; the author most likely came to emplacement group “B6” east of Woljwenkowo, located on the plateau and scheduled for completion by 4 July. The way there from Sagorodnoye or Petrovskaya has many of the features described.
- ↑ ну да? Oh yeah?
- ↑ So the regimental command post must have been near Berestyanka; in mid-May it was still in Petrovskaya.
- ↑ It had only been established on 15 June 1943 (LdW)
- ↑ On the 21st it rained at night (KTB 1.PzA, NARA T-313 Roll 58 Frame 7293581), on the 25th there was scattered rain (7293585),