William Craig - Enemy at the Gates

“Much evil was done.

“This much is true: German troops invaded Russia. And this much is true: Much evil was done. But this is true, too: Russian armies invaded Germany—in defense, I admit without hesitation—and many horrible things also happened in Germany during the war. I think, if we enter into a new period of our relations—and this we want seriously—we should not take too close a look into the past, for then we only start putting up obstacles.” Premier Nikita Khrushchev vehemently attacked Adenauer’s position: “Mr. Chancellor, you said at the end of your declaration that the Soviet troops, when they crossed the Soviet borders and penetrated deeper into your country, also committed crimes; I refuse this categorically, as this was not the case and the German party cannot submit any evidence as to this (author’s note—here Khrushchev ignored the truth). The Soviet troops drove away the others from this country and persecuted them, as they did not surrender. If we had left these troops alone, they could have prepared for another invasion. We could not stop halfway, but had to destroy the enemy who dared to raise his weapons against us. That is why the Soviet soldiers fulfilled their holy duty toward their homeland by continuing this war and sacrificing their lives. Are these horrors? If any troops had invaded Germany and Germany had defended herself and destroyed the enemy— would you call that horrors? It would be Germany’s holy duty. For these reasons, I am of the opinion that an insulting remark has been made as to the Soviet troops. And this forced me to make such a statement.”

On September 14, Adenauer held a press conference in Moscow:

“…The Soviet Government—Mr. Bulganin and Mr. Khrushchev—expressly declared during the negotiations that the Soviet Union has no longer any German prisoners of war, but only 9,626 convicted war criminals—as they put it.

“All of them will leave the Soviet Union in the near future. They will partly be amnestied and released; as far as the Soviet Union believes that really serious crimes were committed they will be extradited to Germany to be treated according to the laws of our land. I think this will ease a lot of grief—not only of those nearly 10,000 people here in the Soviet Union but also of the numerous relatives in our home country. Now I may also inform you that Prime Minister Bulganin said to me—and he authorized me to tell you this—that the entire action will be under way even before we have arrived in Bonn…”

In this manner, the last of the Stalingrad prisoners began their final journey home from Soviet prison camps.

Abganerovo, 33, 38, 42, 45, 48, 74

Abrusovka, 276

Acktuba, 307

Adam, Col. Wilhelm, 367-368, 372, 376-377, 396, 434

Ademeit, Lt. Gottfried, 51

Adenauer, Konrad, 435-437

A Farewell to Arms (Hemingway), 15

Africa, see North Africa

Air Corps, German Eighth, 193

aircraft: bomber, 32, 40, 42, 44, 58, 60, 70, 91, 93, 134, 245; British, 88; German lost at Stalingrad, 303, 339; fighter, 346; reconnaissance, 53, 167; Russian, 136-137, 139, 162, 233; transport, 237, 297, 299, 351, 355, 399. See also He-111; Ju-52; Ju-88; Stuka

Air Fleet, German Fourth, 131

Air Force, Soviet Eighth, 54

airlift: German, 193, 199, 206-207, 213, 216, 217, 221-222, 229, 233, 237, 246, 247, 254, 302-303, 330, 336, 345; Russian, 162

air raids: Allied, 153; German, 32, 33, 57-60, 65-67. See also air strikes

air-raid shelters, 59, 60, 365

air strikes, tactical: German, 93; Russian, 77, 130-131

Akimovski, 114, 184, 189, 190

Aksai River, 213, 234, 243, 293

Albania, 15

Algeria, Allied landings in, 153

Alt, Capt., 341

Alter, Wilhelm, 115-116, 360, 405

ambushes: German, 40, 43, 264, 320; Russian, 44, 133

ammunition, German: brought into Stalingrad, 125-126; rationing of, 224; stockpiles, 164, 274; supplies exhausted, 240, 339, 355

amputations, 223, 305, 313

Anderson, Lale, 295

antiaircraft guns: German, 64; Soviet, 57-58, 233, 303

anti-Communism, 42, 78, 321

anti-Semitism, 10-11, 336, 398

antitank defenses, 9, 38, 45, 86; ditches, xv, 33, 54, 60. See also artillery,

air raids: Allied, 153; German, 32, 33, antitank

Antonescu, Marshal Ion, 213

Anzio, landing at, 401

artillery: antitank, 49, 137, 188, 194, 224, 240; German, 73, 79, 94, 101, 123, 125, 133, 335; Russian, 36, 39, 46, 104, 112, 151, 171-172, 306, 315; surrendered to Germans, 75. See also mortars

Asia, Russian expansion into, 29

Astrakhan, 3, 67

atrocities: German, 43, 143, 321, 436; Russian, 282, 321, 362

Austria, 151; troops, 224, 226, 334

autopsy, 318-319

Azov, Sea of, 3, 179, 203

Babi Yar, 436

Baburkin, 286, 304, 353

Badanov, Gen., 301, 302

Baden-Baden, 401

Bad Gotesburg, 396

Baku, 78

Balkan States, 13

Banco Nazionale del Lavore, 397

Barmantsak, Lake, 187

Barrikady Gun Factory, 36, 99, 123, 125, 135, 155, 156, 162, 208, 261, 270, 399, 400; battle for, 137, 138-142, 144, 150, 151, 186, 225-226, 242

Batov, Gen., 368

Batum, 78

Batyuk, Col. Nikolai, 103, 120, 127, 168, 396

Beaulieu, Col., 372

Beer Hall Putsch, 153

Behr, Capt. Winrich, 175, 176, 182, 185, 186, 299, 335-336, 340, 344-345, 356, 382, 396, 405

Beketovka, 67, 80, 149, 151, 171, 187, 241, 378, 390

Below, Col. Gunter von 100-101, 114-115, 329-330, 367, 396, 405

Below, Col. Nikolaus von, 100, 229, 335-336, 382, 396

Berlin, 118, 121, 398, 401, 402; airlift, 394

Bezditko, Lt. Ivan, 168

Big Saturn offensive, 229, 301

Billert, Oberleutnant, 353

Binder, Karl, 112, 142, 184, 189-190, 220-221, 288-289, 313-314, 333-334, 359-360, 387, 388-389, 396-397, 405

“Black Crows,” 11

Black Sea, 78, 147, 301

Blinov, 183, 185

blitzkrieg, 4, 76, 90, 118

Boblingen, 268, 288, 397

Bock, Gen. Fedor von, 8, 18, 19

BODO line, 48, 61, 83, 187

Boguchar, 282

Bolshe Nabotoff, 184, 189

Bolshevik Revolution, 29-30, 58-59, 83, 152

bombing, see air raids; Stuka aircraft

Boris, Oberleutnant, 339

Bormann, Martin, 206, 344

Bracci, Lt. Felice, 15, 262, 275-276, 281, 304-306, 327, 328, 390, 397, 405

Branco (Italian prisoner), 327

Brandt, Pvt. Willi, 133

Breining, Lt. Friedrich, 115, 166, 209, 405

Brezhnev, Leonid, 404

bridges, see Don River; Kalach

British Army, Eighth, 153

British Expeditionary Force, 4

Brunnert, Pvt. Ekkehart, 164-165, 239, 268-269, 288, 322-324, 397, 405

Brunnert, Irene, 288

Bulganin, Nikolai, 436, 437

Bund Deutsche Offiziere, 396

Bundeswehr, 401

Businovka, 192, 196, 247, 252

Byelorussia, 106

cannibalism, xiii, 390-392

Capone, Dr. Cristoforo, 15-16, 257-258, 259, 276-277, 329, 362, 390, 392-393, 397, 405

Caspian Sea, 3, 70, 78

casualties, xiv-xv; in air raids, 65-67; civilian, 61; German, 92, 111, 114, 131, 132, 145, 155, 157, 205, 229, 260, 280, 293, 309, 335, 344, 359; Italian, 259; among prisoners 388, 389, 390; Rumanian, 201-202, 213; Russian, 40, 68, 82, 101, 105, 110, 120, 125, 135, 136, 150, 157, 171, 241, 285, 368

Catherine the Great, 29

Caucasus Mountains, 15, 19, 29, 44, 85, 86, 152, 183, 203, 214, 229, 266, 310; German headquarters in, 79; oil fields, objective in German offensive, 24, 78, 118, 119

cavalry, see horses

cemeteries, military, 6, 114, 314

censors, military, 311, 312-313, 361, 386-387

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), 398

Changar, Capt. Ignacy, 143-145, 324-325, 387, 397, 405