In the Fire of the Eastern Front: The Experiences of a Dutch Waffen-SS Volunteer, 1941-45 (Stackpole Military History Series) by Verton Hendrick C

Author:Verton, Hendrick C. [Verton, Hendrick C.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780811750547
Publisher: Stackpole Books
Published: 2010-02-01T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 16

Festung Breslau

After weeks of varied fighting to the north-west of Breslau, our SS Regiment Besslein was moved back to the outskirts of the city. There we were to learn that the 6th Soviet Army had completed their encirclement on 15 February 1945, and with that my private fears became reality.

Seven well-equipped divisions then stood on a front that surrounded Breslau, with another six as reserves. In total 150,000 Russian soldiers waited to besiege the Silesian capital. They were experienced ‘Red’ fighters who had not been defeated in many a battle on their way to the west. On top of that, they had support from numerous aircraft.

Altogether the Armed Forces, i.e. the Waffen SS, Volkssturm and Hitler Youth, had a third of their expected strength. There were 50,000 men and an odd assortment of members of the Navy and Air Force, mostly with no fighting experience. With that lack of experience, plus the disproportionately older age of the Volkssturm, an assignment for them, on the front-line, was out of the question. A death-defying battle began with only 200 artillery pieces, 7 tanks and 8 assault guns, in an unequal fight against an appalling opponent. In that situation we had to fight for five extra men, get dug-in without sleep, and always keep changing our positions from one place to another. Meanwhile nearly 240,000 citizens, mostly the elderly, and mothers with children, waited expectantly for better or worse.

Instead of attacking from the east, the Red Army attacked from the south. Supported by Stalin tanks, they managed to advance 2—3 kilometres into the southern villa district of the city. The Hitlerjugend fought by our side on that tough assignment. For some it was their first fight, and many of those very brave young men lost their lives. After three weeks of street fighting, that lovely district, with its villas, parks, gardens and lakes, was reduced to dust and rubble.

The mercilessness of the fighting was recorded by Russian war correspondent W.J. Malinin. On 24 February 1945 he described it as follows: “Every house bears the mark of the bitter fighting. The streets, in which one or two of the larger houses have been deliberately demolished by the ‘Hitlerites’, are barricaded with stones and gun emplacements to obstruct our path. Every barricade is defended with machine-guns and with mortars. Our Soviet soldiers must find new routes for our infantry. Our engineers have to blow holes into the walls of other houses through which our artillery can push their guns in order to advance. Our soldiers have to fight from floor to floor in the remaining houses. Yesterday, Sergeant Ivannikov with his men fought in one house for an hour and a half. In it the ‘Hitlerites’ had destroyed the stairs. His men attacked with anti-tank rifles, through a hole in the first floor. They killed five of the sixteen men above, who were dropping grenades on them. The remainder surrendered. 1st Lieutenant Odinkov managed to clear four blocks of houses inside two days, killing 300 Hitlerites.

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