The Battle of Stalingrad
On a stretch of the mighty Volga river lies the city of Volgograd (formally Stalingrad), an industrial city located in the South-West region of Russia. It is also the city known for one of the bloodiest Battles in World War Two. 75 years after the battle ended, bodies are still getting exhumed from the site where approximately 2 million German and Russian forces lost their lives. Capture Stalingrad and Russia may well have fallen, so Stalin threw everything he had to safeguard his country’s survival. Stalin’s barbarous methods heavily contributed including executing soldiers who retreated and the pairing of soldiers – one holding the rifle, one holding the ammunition. The purpose was that if one fell, the other would pick up the fallen soldiers gun or ammo.
The Germans failed miserably in the harsh frozen winter land of the Soviet Union as many before them had, including Napoleon. Ill equipped for the brutality of a Russian Winter (due to Hitler’s deluded belief in a quick and decisive victory), the German’s failure to capture the city of Stalingrad is often regarded as the beginning of the end their success on the Eastern front. Thus began the slow and steady decline and retreat of German Occupation in Eastern Europe until the eventual unconditional surrender on the 2nd May, 1945.
Today is the 75th anniversary of the withdrawal of the German forces from the city. As a history buff and WWII addict I’ve often wished to visit the fields and buildings were so many were tragically slain. My first introduction to this section of the theatre of war was in my High School History classes. Our teacher, Mrs Akhurst had an enthusiasm and passion for history which only increased mine. With one term dedicated to Russian history and participation in the war, I became intrigued and a follower of that country’s history since. Since then I’ve immersed myself in the many books and films relating to historical events in that part of the world.
I finally had the opportunity to visit Volgograd in 2012 during my three month Europe adventure. At the time I was travelling with my two mates Andy and Cam. We were on one of our many visits to Prague (we went back 7 times) and had booked flights to Russia, departing from Berlin (a 3 hour drive from Prague) and Cameron returning back to Australia. The night before our drive to Berlin we went out for a night of frivolity with our favourite pub crawl The Drunken Monkey.
I awoke early the next morning still in a foggy haze from all the alcohol we consumed. I looked at the time on my phone. OH SHIT!!! My alarm didn’t go off. We were running dangerously close to missing our flights if we didn’t leave Prague within the hour. I woke Cameron and he hurriedly threw everything into our suitcases and rushed all our bags downstairs to put into the car. I suddenly heard shouting from the street. It was Cam, in our panic he’d forgotten the key and locked himself out of the building. I had to go to the room of the person we were staying with so he could unlock the door, and let’s just say he was errr “busy”. After solving that problem and 20 minutes of finding Andy on the other-side of the city, we sped all the way to Berlin, just making our check-in to Moscow before the flight closed.
We flew to one of Moscow’s three airports on Transaero….don’t worry I’d never heard of them either. We then had to transfer to another airport before flying Aeroflot to Volgograd. Now Aeroflot is renowned for it’s poor safety record with multiple incidents and crashes, but I was happy to take the risk. My opinion quickly changed after our 2 hour flight and are probably one of the better airlines I’ve ever flown with. We were greeted at the airport by our tour host for the next two days, Mikhail.
He shuttled us to our hotel, assisted us in checking in and then let us be before the beginning of the tour the following day. Mikhael arrived early the next day as we set off on our sightseeing tour of the city. The first stop was to the Mamayev Hill and the colossal Родина-мать зовёт! (Motherland Calls) statue that watches over the city. At 52m height, the statue can be seen for miles. The figure of a woman stepping forward with a raised sword is a representation of the “Motherland” calling on both sons and daughters of Russia to repel the invading enemies.
Motherland Calls
As we walk away from the looming statue we pass through the heroes square with various sculptures of battles, soldiers and acts of heroism. Further along our walk we come to a square where the site of the memorial complex is located. The outer wall has patriotic engraving of Russian soldiers and German prisoners with various inscriptions. Passing through the entry of this wall leads to Hall of War Glory. An open domed structure with a spiral ramp leading to the bottom where sits a marble hand holding onto an Eternal Flame. Banners line the walls of the dome with the names of those who died inscribed on each one. Guards of honor line the paths and some take turns in laying wreaths to honor their fallen heroes.
Couldn’t find my photo so here is one from Google
The memorial complex also homes the grave of Vasily Zaytsev, the famous Russian sniper. Often regarded as one of the greatest snipers in history, Zaytsev was a key marksman in battle and was awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. Many of the stories of the man are pure myth which has only increased the legend of his exploits in the Battle of Stalingrad. The film Enemy at the Gates only increased the myth perception.
As we traveled through the city I noticed how revered the Soviet Era still is. Every streetlamp and drain is imprinted with the Hammer and Sickle and statues of Lenin in prominent positions in the city. Whether these are just leftovers from a bygone era who can say, but you don’t remove over 70 years of communism from the peoples psyche in the space of a generation.
Next up was the Grain Elevator. This building was one of the key strategics points for both sides which saw intense fighting in an attempt to keep hold of the city. It swapped hands a few times as the bodies continued to pile up in and around this large strategic building. The final part of the day was the panoramic museum. This was fascinating. The museum contains hundreds and thousands of artifacts pulled from the battlefield as well as Vasily Zaytsev’s sniper rifle, contained in a glass cabinet. Even to this day, weapons and items are dragged up from the former battlefield sites so new antiques are added all the time. Many dioramas are scattered through the museum depicting different stages of the battle. Outside contains a large collections of tanks some in excellent condition and others not so much, for those military history lovers.
The museum sits atop the hillside overlooking the Volga River. When we where there it was a perfect sunny day and the view of the mighty river was visually stunning. The boats travelling up and down look so insignificant against the width of the river as I pictured the near frozen conditions met by the German army in 1943, as they slowly retreated back to Berlin, a deflated and defeated army.
After the museum we were dropped back to the hotel and had the afternoon to ourselves to explore. As Andy and I were relaxing in our room watching the football we heard a knock at the door. Andy opened the door and an older cleaning lady let herself into our room. Now she could barely speak a word of English. She noticed the open suitcase in the corner of the room with our clothes sprawling out. She looked horrified. She then proceeded to turn our TV off, walk over to the suitcase and repeatedly look back and forward to us saying the word “NO”. She began grabbing clothes and hanging them up in the cupboard, insisting that Andy help her with the task. She wasn’t satisfied until they were either hung up or folded properly. Andy and I just kept looking at her bewildered. Eventually another cleaner came in who spoke broken English. She apologised and took the older one out with her. It’s still one of the funniest things to happen to us.
Thinking that was the end of it, she marched herself back in about half an hour later with the hotel address and the number for the taxi and loudly saying “Go”. She wanted us to go out to the pubs and clubs from what we could gather, before she was once again escorted out of our room. Andy and I thought what the hell and decided to wonder the streets in search of a bar. This was a harder task than we had imagined. As we were walking through the streets we went past a big party happening at a restaurant. We asked if beers were available but no-one spoke English. It makes you empathise with those coming from foreign countries to English ones with no grasp on the local language and how isolating it feels. A young woman eventually came up to us and was able to speak very basic English and ordered a couple of beers for us. She introduced us to her family, in which some of whom were part of the Georgian Police. They offered us some of their Georgian Wine. Not wanting to offend, I guzzled it down. To this day I can still remember that foul taste and will forever be the worst wine I’ve ever drunk. We managed to make our excuses and make the trek home, constantly looking behind our backs with paranoia setting in thinking the KGB were after us.
Mikhail arrived the next morning and negotiated for us not to pay for the last night of our current hotel stay and moved us to Hotel Volgograd. Right in the middle of the city and where Stalin himself had stayed on occasion. Our first stop on the second day was to the Red October Factory and other similar buildings that are mostly in ruins. The Soviet forces were struggling to hold onto the factory and were gradually losing parts of the building. But they continued to defend as long as they had working weapons and ammunition despite wave after wave of attack and constant shelling.
We then went to the open fields themselves were constant fighting, shelling and destruction turned the ground into a bloody, muddy mess. There is still some evidence of the former trenches and battle lines with a huge memorial and cemetery of both German and Soviet forces. Two major enemies become foes no longer as they both share the same land in death. It was a solemn experience and one of the many tragedies and wasteful loss of life that comes from war. Walking through the battlefield we found some bullet casings (which we were able to take home) and a fenced area where all artifacts from the fields are placed and sorted. A powerful memorial statue has been created out of shrapnel and weapons marking the dates of the battle.
At the end of a long day, before Mikhail dropped us back at the hotel, he asked if we would like to attend a re-burial ceremony the next morning before he took us to the airport for our departing flight. With enthusiasm we both agreed immediately. We decided to go out for dinner and found a restaurant across the road from our hotel. With a Russian menu and wait staff with no English, we literally pointed at a menu item and hoped we were eating something normal. We guessed right and survived our meals haha.
The following morning with our bags all packed we were taken to our final site at for the ceremony. Re-burial ceremonies occur often for bodies pulled from the battlefield. Such was the sheer number of deaths on the battlefield that they are still pulling bodies out 75 years after it ended. With full military honors including speeches and current serving soldiers it was one of the biggest highlights of our tour. All the red coffins are lined up in rows up to the stage. A huge bell sits behind with the current Russian Flag and the old Soviet Union Flag flying in the breeze either side. After the speech the Soviet National Anthem is played over the loudspeakers. This was incredibly moving and the anthem playing stirred up an immediate sense of patriotism for the Motherland.
We had filmed it but have since lost it. I searched Youtube to find a video someone else may have filmed. Low and behold the first one I clicked on I saw the camera pan to Andy and I. Mikhail had obviously filmed. Here it is below.
This was such a powerful way to end our tour and our time in Russia. Mikhail was such a gracious and helpful host and highly recommend his company if anyone travels there. Seeing what I learned in history classes come to life was a dream come true. For the military and history fans this city is a must see place. Next chance I get I’ll definitely be going back there.
