10. Januar 1944
In the course of a small regrouping I have to change my bunker. The new shelter is two hundred metres to the left of the old one near an anti-tank gun emplacement.[1] It too is just a covered hole with a layer of straw on the floor and a blanket as a door. The rest of the equipment consists of two blankets and a field telephone. I now spend my days and nights here. The Russian is quiet. Hardly a shot is fired. Nevertheless, you have to pay close attention, because with Russian tactics you are never safe from surprises. That’s why I’m out and about a lot at night, walking from position to position, checking the sentries and taking reports.
Our GOC, General Schörner[2], has come up with something new. He issues regular reports on the situation, which are to be communicated to all company members immediately. But as these reports only arrive in the evening, it takes me half the night to read them out to all the bunkers. You can’t risk skipping these readings. Schörner often turns up at the front in the middle of the night, and failure to obey his orders means, among other things, the death penalty. According to hearsay, Schörner has already had soldiers shot for minor offences. The wildest rumours circulate about him. He is feared. But where Schörner is, there the front holds.
My nocturnal duties also include the regular night reports to the battalion, which have to be made three times at fixed times. The last one is due at 3 o’clock in the morning.
|
Editorial 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 Epilog Anhang |
|
January February March April May June July August September October November December Eine Art Bilanz Gedankensplitter und Betrachtungen Personen Orte Abkürzungen Stichwort-Index Organigramme Literatur Galerie:Fotos,Karten,Dokumente |
|
1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. 31. Erfahrungen i.d.Gefangenschaft Bemerkungen z.russ.Mentalität Träume i.d.Gefangenschaft Personen-Index Namen,Anschriften Personal I.R.477 1940–44 Übersichtskarte (Orte,Wege) Orts-Index Vormarsch-Weg Codenamen der Operationen im Sommer 1942 Mil.Rangordnung 257.Inf.Div. MG-Komp.eines Inf.Batl. Kgf.-Lagerorganisation Kriegstagebücher Allgemeines Zu einzelnen Zeitabschnitten Linkliste Rotkreuzkarte Originalmanuskript Briefe von Kompanie-Angehörigen |
- ↑ between 31 Dec 43 and 4 Jan 44 (KTB AOK 6, NARA T-312 Roll 1468 Frame 000227/37) the sector of III./477 had been shifted slightly to the left, because the neighbouring III./542 had been pulled out. In contrast to the ratrher similar situation maps of 4th, 6th and 10th (Frame 000237/41/45), the situation map of 14 Jan 44 (Frame 000248) shows the sector shifted slightly to the right, because the right neighbour A.A. 257 had been pulled out. The author may have confused this.
- ↑ In the original, erroneously, “Generaloberst”, he was only promoted to this rank on 1 March 1944