27. Januar 1945
| Field post letters/Red Cross cards | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ✉ to Carola (through Woock) |
A clear, ice-cold January day. Over at Ivan we see a couple of figures standing by a house. One of them now disappears into the front door, while the other goes around the corner and stops there. A Feldwebel grabs his rifle and shoots across. But he misses. The distance is too great, almost a kilometre. The Feldwebel, who wanted to be transferred away at the time, has now stayed after all. He now lies in the second bunker of my command post as the leader of my company reserve. He turned out to be quite a nice guy.
The Soviets begin to probe our new positions. They shoot to draw out our fire and in this way detect our fire emplacements. At the same time they take points under fire which they consider to be worthwhile targets. They particularly target the church. Although only the high foundation walls of the church are still standing, they keep firing at it so that stones and reddish brick dust swirl through the air with every impact.
At the front, a shot is fired from time to time. I stand in the emplacement and watch the front area a little through my binoculars. Just then the rations sledge, which had just been with the 1st Platoon, comes out of the woods and turns onto the road. As it passes over on the road near my bunker, I recognise Leutnant Harms, who is sitting on the back of the sledge. He smiles kindly at me and points to his foot. He is wounded and rides to the rear. It’s no loss for the company.
I stand in the twilight of the winter evening next to my bunker and observe the forefield. I also point my field-glasses at individual positions in my sector, which are close enough to touch through the lens. Behind me I hear the patter of horses. A large sledge is coming from the village at a brisk trot. It must be our rations. When it reaches my bunker, which is close to the road, I realise that the driver is a pioneer, standing tall in the box sledge and dashing along the road with his two magnificent horses. Well, he’s driving past! He has overlooked our positions in the darkness. I yell after him, but the driver can’t hear me because he’s wearing a thick hood. For God’s sake, he’s already beyond our lines! Now he rumbles over the small wooden bridge about fifty metres in front of our positions. Here the road crosses a small stream. And now the sledge is racing along the road through no-man’s land towards the Russian positions. It’s not long before I hear longdrawn- out cries for help. Clear and distinct, the cold winter air carries his cries all the way here: “Helllllpp - Helllllpp!” But we can’t help him any more.
|
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 Originalmanuskript |