If you look closely at this military beauty, you can imagine it with teeth, and the gaps - clogged with human meat. Yes, it was so: any military beauty is human death.

(Total 45 photos)

1. Defensive line "Siegfried" on the western border of Germany. Very powerful and beautiful line. The Americans stormed the line for more than six months. We somehow coped with the lines much faster - a well-known case: we did not stand behind the price.

2. German soldier with children in the occupied Soviet village. The two smallest boys are tarring cigarettes. The German, as a distinctly kind person, was embarrassed by his kindness

3. Irma Hedwig Silke, employee of the Abwehr cipher department. Beautiful perky girl. It would be the happiness of a man of any nationality. And looks like!!! ... If kissed, her eyes would be closed.

4. German mountain rangers in the Narvik region in Norway. 1940 Brave soldiers, they really saw death. To us, without combat experience, their knowledge "didn't even dream of", no matter how much they read. However, they have not changed. Maybe not for long, the new experience did not have time to settle into the changes recorded by wrinkles, but now, they survived and look at us from there, from their own. The easiest way to dismiss: "fascists." But they are fascists - in the second, and even fourth place (like the commander of the "Graf von Spee", who bought the lives of his people at the cost of his life), - in the first place they are people who have just survived and won. And others lay down forever. And this is the experience we can only borrow. Yes, and it's good that we only borrow, not receive. For ... - it's understandable.

5. The crew of the twin-engine Messer - 110E Zerstörer after returning from a sortie. They are glad, not because they are alive, but because they are very young.

6. Eric Hartmann himself. Eric drifted in the first flight, lost his leader, was attacked by a Soviet fighter, barely pulled away and, finally, landed the car in a field, on his belly - he ran out of fuel. He was attentive and careful, this pilot. and learned quickly. Only and everything. Why didn't we have these? Because they flew on shit, and we were not allowed to study, but only to die.

7. ... How easy it is to distinguish the best fighter even among war professionals. Find here Dietrich Hrabak, the Hauptmann who shot down 109 planes on the Eastern Front and 16 more on the Western, as if getting enough to remember for the rest of his life. In this photo, taken in 1941, on the tail of his car (Me 109) there are only 24 coffins - signs of victory.

8. The radio operator of the German submarine U-124 writes something in the log of receiving telegrams. U-124 is a German Type IXB submarine. Such a small, very strong and deadly vessel. For 11 campaigns, she sank 46 transports with a total displacement. 219 178 tons, and 2 warships with a total displacement of 5775 tons. The people in it were very lucky and those with whom she met were unlucky: death at sea is a cruel death. But no sweeter would have awaited the submariners - just a little bit different fate lay down for them. It's strange that we, looking at this photo, can still say anything about them. About those who survived there, behind the "100" mark, hiding from depth charges, one can only remain silent. They lived, and, oddly enough, they were saved. Others died, and their victims - well, that was what the war was for.

9. Arrival of the German submarine U-604 at the base of the 9th submarine flotilla in Brest. Pennants on the cabin show the number of ships sunk - there were three of them. In the foreground on the right is the commander of the 9th flotilla, Lieutenant Commander Heinrich Lehmann-Willenbrock, a well-fed, cheerful man who knows his job well. Very accurate and very hard work. And it's deadly.

10. The Germans in the Soviet village. It's warm, but the soldiers in the cars don't relax. After all, they can be killed, and almost all of them were killed. Tea is not a western front.

12. German and dead horses. The smile of a soldier is a habit of death. But how could it be otherwise when such a terrible war was going on?

15. German soldiers in the Balkans play snowballs. Beginning of 1944. In the background, a Soviet T-34-76 tank covered in snow. Who needs him now? And does anyone remember now, chasing the ball, that each of them killed?

16. The soldiers of the division "Grossdeutschland" sincerely cheer for their football team. 1943-1944. Just people. This is the leaven from a peaceful life

18. German units, which include captured Soviet tanks T-34-76, are preparing for an attack during the Battle of Kursk. I posted this photo because it shows better than many that only madmen on thrones, and badges on armor, indicated the polar poles. A stencil phrase, but now, stenciled Soviet tanks, under other icons drawn on a stencil, are ready to go to fight brothers with other icons from other stencils. Everything is done for a sweet soul. Managed not by people in iron boxes, by others, but hardly by people at all.

19. Soldiers of the SS Regiment "Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler" rest during a halt near the road towards Pabianice (Poland). The scarführer on the right is armed with an MP-28 assault rifle, although what difference does it make what the soldier is armed with. The main thing is that he is a soldier and agreed to kill.

20. German paratrooper with Flammenwerfer 41 backpack flamethrower with horizontal tanks. Summer 1944. Cruel people, terrible their deeds. Is there a difference with a machine gunner, or a shooter? Don't know. Perhaps the propensity to shoot burning and rushing enemies from service weapons would solve the matter? To not suffer. After all, you see, it is not the duty of a flamethrower to shoot down the flames with a tarpaulin and save them. But shooting is more merciful. Seems.

21. Look, what a thick-legged. ... A good-natured, hard worker, - the wife, go, was not overjoyed. A tanker means a mechanic, the family's hope. If he survived, and most likely survived, the photo was taken in the Balkans, then after the war he raised the modern giant of Germany.

22. Shooter-motorcyclist of the 3rd SS Panzer Division "Totenkopf". 1941 Totenkopf - Dead head. The SS soldiers really fought better than ordinary units. And officers of any level were not called "sir" there. Just a position: "Scharführer ...", or "Gruppenführer ..." The German Social Democrats emphasized that it was a party of equals.

23. And they fell on the ice the same way. (soldiers of the police battalion)

24. Homemade and tireless pommel of an officer's dagger, made in a military campaign. They had time underwater. Shot and - time. ... Or there are screws on top and - immediately there is nothing.

25. My favorite, one of the humane generals of World War II, one of the best generals at that time who retained humanity in the war, is Erwin Rommel. Like it or not, namely that a hardened human being.

26. And Rommel. With a knight's cross, somewhere in France. The tank stalled, and the general is right there. Rommel was famous for his unexpected trips to the troops, where even the staff rats lost him, but Erwin Rommel did not get lost and overturned the enemy defenses again and again, being next to his soldiers.

27. Adored by them. ... Subsequently, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel was forced to die, as he participated in the assassination attempt on Hitler and the poison he took was the price that the Gestapo backed down from his family.

28. ... At work. It was their job, like that of our soldiers - the same. Knocked-out or, under fixation, teeth grinned in the same way. War is hard work with increased mortality involved.

29. Brave. Before the start of the Western Campaign, SS Gruppenführer Reinhard Heydrich, Chief of the Security Police and SD, completed flight training and took part in dogfights in France as a fighter pilot in his Messerschmitt Bf109. And after the fall of France, Heydrich made reconnaissance flights over England and Scotland on the Messerschmitt Bf110. During his service in the Air Force, Heydrich shot down three enemy aircraft (already on the Eastern Front), received the rank of major in the Luftwaffe in the reserve and earned the Iron Cross 2nd and 1st classes, the Observation Pilot Badge and the Fighter Badge in silver.

30. German cavalry in the classroom before the Second World War. Window dressing, 99 percent of window dressing, however, characterizes "their Kubans." It should be the same thing, to be proud, to prancing among the riders of any tribe is common. We... They... Is there a difference? Isn't the difference limited to just one direction of the weapon's muzzle?

31. English soldiers taken prisoner in Dunkirk, in the city square. Later, these soldiers received assistance through the International Red Cross. The USSR also abandoned the Geneva Convention, declaring its prisoners of war traitors. After the war, Soviet soldiers who survived in German concentration camps ended up in our camps. Where did not get out. "Okay, rush..."

A collection of photographs that have mysteriously appeared in the south of France were taken at a camp in Bavaria that the Nazis advertised to show that they honored human rights.

The Polish prisoners in the photographs are dressed up in costumes. Some are dressed in make-believe uniforms adorned with imposing medals, mustaches and pince-nez. Others squeezed into women's dresses, painted their eyelashes and hid their hair under blond wigs. They laugh and dance on the stage. In the orchestra pit, in front of the scores, other prisoners sit, fascinated by playing their violins, flutes and trumpets.

These are scenes from the daily life of the Nazi Oflag (short for the German word Offizierslager, prisoner of war camp for officers) in Murnau, in the far south of Bavaria, during World War II.

Polish officers imprisoned in Murnau were allowed to put on performances and operettas for entertainment. Men took on women's roles.

The photos don't quite fit the usual picture of a Nazi camp, which is associated with forced labor and massacres. Indeed, reports of prisoners acting in plays, libraries, exhibitions, sporting events and academic lectures behind barbed wire and prison walls have always sounded farfetched. Reasonable skepticism persisted even after the end of the war, when the prisoners returned home and talked about the rich cultural life in the POW camp.

In Germany, most people still know little about the living conditions of the Polish officers held in Oflag. One reason is the language barrier. Memoirs of former Polish prisoners of war, published for years, as a rule, appeared exclusively in Polish.

These photographs tell a completely different story. Although more than a decade passed before the general public in Murnau became aware of an unusual collection of photographs found in the south of France documenting events in Oflag VII-A, at the foot of the Alps, in amazing detail, shortly before the end of World War II.

Wooden box in the trash can

It was a winter night in 1999 when 19-year-old Olivier Rempfer was returning to his city of Cagnes-sur-Mer in southeastern France after spending an evening with friends in nearby Saint-Laurent-du-Var. Then he caught the eye of a wooden box on a dumpster. Out of curiosity, Olivier opened the box and saw cylindrical objects wrapped in paper.

At home, he unfolded them and found that they were rolls of black and white 35mm film. In the light it was possible to make out the stage, uniforms, barracks, watchtowers and people in suits. Rempfer decided that the tapes must be from the shooting of some film about the war, and the men in them are actors. With this thought, he put the box aside and forgot about it, and the old house next to which he found it was demolished by bulldozers a couple of days later.

Years later, his father, Alain Rempfer, stumbled upon this belongings. The elder Rempfer, a photographer, was also in no hurry to show the negatives to anyone until 2003. But then he bought a film scanner and finally found the time to take a closer look at about 300 frames from the collection. “I quickly realized that these were real historical photographs taken during the war in POW camps,” Rempfer said. “The brand name “Voigtländer” (Vogtländer) was written on the edges of the film. It was not familiar to me from the films, but I knew that Voigtländer was a German camera manufacturer.”

"It was like a silent movie"

Rempfer was looking for clues as to where these photographs might have been taken. In one shot, he saw a truck with several men. On the back of the car, “PW Camp Murnau” was written in white paint, and “PL” on the right. A small study showed that from 1939 to 1945 there was a camp for Polish prisoners of war officers in the German city of Murnau.

This shot of a truck with "PW Camp Murnau" written on it was a clue to the location.

Father and son studied the photographs intently and enthusiastically. “These young people who lived in the camp were looking straight at us from the tapes,” Rempfer Sr. said. “We don't know their names, we don't know their lives, we don't know anything about their hopes and their feelings. It was a strange impression that someone turned off the sound and left watching a silent movie.

“Olivier and I thought that perhaps we should donate the photographs to a museum or library. But we were afraid that they would be forgotten again for many years,” says Rempfer. The father and son decided that a website would be the best way to show the photos to the world. They hoped that the images would reach anyone who might be interested in them, especially family members of former prisoners of war who might recognize someone in the photographs. Collection of digitized images published online. The site also constantly adds new personnel-related information.

Forgotten chapter of history

The Remphers were contacted by relatives of many Polish POWs whose families now live in the US, Australia, Canada or England. “Some recognized their fathers, grandfathers or uncles in the photographs,” Alain said. Former prisoners of war, after their release, as a rule, did not say much about the years spent in captivity. For many descendants, this was the first opportunity to learn about the life of officers in camp conditions.

The Remphers did not even hope to find the photographers who took the pictures. "It was too difficult." But one of them was identified. It turned out to be a Polish soldier Sylvester Budzinsky.

Efforts have also been made in Murnau over the years to collect information about the camp, but few publications on the subject have reached readers outside the region. In 1980, the Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper published an article by the German historian Alfred Schickel "Polish prisoners of war in German officer camps - a forgotten chapter of history." Later, however, Schickel became associated with right-wing extremism. In a 1980 article, he lamented the lack of interest on the part of "historians both here and elsewhere in the West" in the fate of some 18,000 Polish officers who became German prisoners of war.

model camp

Of the 12 Nazi POW camps for officers, Murnau held the highest-ranking prisoners. Others included the Commander-in-Chief of the Polish Navy, Vice Admiral Józef Unrug, as well as General of Division Juliusz Rummel, who led the defense of Warsaw in 1939.

“The prisoners were treated well, at least as far as was possible under the circumstances,” says Marion Hruska, head of the Murnau Historical Association. She studied the history of the camp for many years and organized an exhibition dedicated to it. Hrushka says Oflag VII-A Murnau held over 5,000 prisoners and was set up as a "model camp". It was regularly inspected by representatives of the International Red Cross. The historian explains that by doing so, the Nazis intended to show that they adhere to international law and the Geneva Conventions.

But that was far from the case, says Hrushka. There were cases when prisoners were shot. And in general, the allegedly correct treatment of prisoners instantly stopped when faced with the racist ideology of the Nazis. For example, Polish officers of Jewish origin were kept separately from other prisoners in the camp ghetto. [Note that the Soviet prisoners of war in any of the camps were treated inhumanly. Joseph Goebbels explained this by the fact that the USSR did not sign the Geneva Convention and did not follow its provisions.]

But how did the photographs from the Murnau POW camp end up in the south of France?

Hrushka says that in the last days of the war, several hundred Allied soldiers arrived in Murnau, among them the French military. It is quite possible that there is a relationship, but there are other versions. For example, a Polish officer could move to France after the war and bring back the film footage.

Who was allowed to take pictures?

It is impossible to say who might have taken the photographic films from the camp. Among them are footage of the liberation of Oflag by American troops and images of the blown up Munich. Apparently, several photographers took them.

However, the value of the find is undeniable. “I was overwhelmed by so many photos. I always thought that only Germans were allowed to take pictures in the camp,” says Hrushka.

She knew that there was a German photographer inside the camp. His photographs, after being censored, were printed as postcards, which the prisoners were allowed to send home. Most of these are photos of theatrical productions or sporting events. Some of those shots ended up in the city archives of Murnau.

But Hrushka does not believe that the photographs found in France were taken by a German. She is sure that during the liberation of the camp by the Allies, not a single German photographer stood next to the camera in his hands.

Eyewitness Tom Wodzinski, who contacted the Rempfers after the photographs were released, said the photograph likely showed quarters for junior officers and enlisted men in Blocks E, F, G, H, and K.

Most of the imprisoned Polish officers belonged to the military elite and were spared the forced labor common in Nazi camps. Apparently, the officers were given enough free time.

Theatrical scene.

The Oflag in Murnau also included an orchestra. The audience consisted of German soldiers in the camp, who occasionally brought their families to the performances.

On the stage of the camp theater.

According to eyewitness Tom Wodzinsky, this photo shows a laundry room for junior officers and ordinary soldiers.

A prisoner in front of the camp administration door.

You might think that this is a picture from a sanatorium. But it is not known whether the captives or only the guards were allowed to swim in the pool.

On the afternoon of April 29, 1945, American soldiers approached Murnau from the north when a car with SS officers drove by.

After a skirmish, most of the German soldiers turned to flee.

The German soldiers retreated in the direction of Murnau. Eyewitnesses say that some prisoners climbed the fences and shot at the Americans.

The frame was taken by an unknown photographer from the window of one of the camp buildings.

Two dead SS men. Tom Wodzinski identified them as Colonel Teichmann and Captain Widmann.

The American soldiers hurried to detain the rest of the German soldiers and guards in the camp.

Apparently, the photographer left his position in the camp in order to get a closer look at the dead German officers, whose bodies had by then been moved to the roadside.

Entrance to Oflag VII-A Murnau on the day the camp was liberated by American troops on April 29, 1945.

The mysterious photographer apparently took photographs in the camp both before and after his release.

Polish officer after the liberation of the camp.

On April 29, 1945, American troops liberated about 5,000 prisoners from the officer prisoner of war camp at Murnau.

The people with their hands up may be surrendered German camp guards.

Prisoners are preparing to be released from Murnau.

Polish officers in the camp.

After the camp was liberated in 1945. In front of the barracks, former prisoners sit on sun loungers.

This photo was taken after the release of the captives. Apparently, they are waiting for trucks to leave.

The abbreviated name of the Murnau camp, Oflag VII-A, is carved on the stone.

Red Cross van and officers released from the camp.

Who these people are and what prompted the photographer to capture them is unknown.

Among the photographs of prisoners of war in the camp there are shots from Munich, in which the Germans stand in line for milk.

A few more photos with the ruins of Munich after the bombing by the allied forces. This picture shows the towers of the Church of St. Maximilian.

Munich's Reichenbach Bridge with destroyed houses behind it.

Another shot from Munich.

The subject of the history of the Great Patriotic War is multifaceted. For many years, the war was described in terms of political leadership, the state of the fronts in relation to "manpower" and equipment. The role of the individual in the war was highlighted as part of a gigantic mechanism. Particular attention was focused on the ability of the Soviet soldier to fulfill the order of the commander at any cost, the readiness to die for the Motherland. The prevailing image of the war was questioned during the Khrushchev "thaw". It was then that the memoirs of war veterans, notes of war correspondents, front-line letters, diaries began to be published - sources that are least affected. They raised "difficult topics", revealed "white spots". The theme of man in war came to the fore. Since this topic is vast and diverse, it is not possible to cover it within the framework of one article.

On the basis of front-line letters, memoirs, diary entries, as well as unpublished sources, the authors nevertheless try to highlight some of the problems of front-line life during the Patriotic War of 1941-1945. How a soldier lived at the front, in what conditions he fought, how he was dressed, what he ate, what he did in short breaks between battles - all these questions are important, it was the solution of these everyday problems that largely ensured victory over the enemy. At the initial stage of the war, soldiers wore a tunic with a fold-down collar, with special overlays in the elbow area. Usually these linings were made of tarpaulin. The gymnast was worn with pants that had the same canvas lining around the knees. On the feet are boots and windings. It was they who were the main grief of the soldiers, especially the infantry, since it was this kind of troops that went to them. They were uncomfortable, fragile and heavy. This type of shoe was driven by cost savings. After the Molotov-Ribbentrop pact was published in 1939, the army of the USSR increased to 5.5 million people in two years. It was impossible to put everyone in boots.

They saved on leather, boots were sewn from the same tarpaulin 2. Until 1943, a rolling over the left shoulder was an indispensable attribute of an infantryman. This is an overcoat, which, for mobility, was rolled up and put on so that the soldier did not experience any inconvenience when shooting. In other cases, the roll gave a lot of trouble. If in the summer, during the transition, infantry was attacked by German aircraft, then because of the roll, the soldiers were visible on the ground. Because of it, it was impossible to quickly run away to the field or shelter. And in the trenches they simply threw her under her feet - it would not have been possible to turn around with her. The soldiers of the Red Army had three types of uniforms: everyday, guard and weekend, each of which had two options - summer and winter. In the period from 1935 to 1941, numerous minor changes were made to the clothes of the Red Army.

The field uniform of the 1935 model was made from matter of various shades of khaki. The main distinguishing element was the tunic, which, in cut, the same for soldiers and, resembled a Russian peasant shirt. The gymnasts were also summer and winter. Summer uniforms were made of cotton fabric of a lighter color, and winter uniforms were made of woolen fabric, which was distinguished by a richer, darker color. The officers girded themselves with a wide leather belt with a brass buckle adorned with a five-pointed star. The soldiers wore a simpler belt with an open buckle. In the field, soldiers and officers could wear two types of tunics: everyday and weekend. The output gymnast was often called French. The second main element of the uniform was trousers, also called riding breeches. Soldiers' bloomers had rhombic reinforcing stripes on their knees. As shoes, officers wore high leather boots, and soldiers wore boots with windings or tarpaulin boots. In winter, military personnel wore an overcoat made of brownish-gray cloth. The soldier's and officer's overcoats, which were identical in cut, nevertheless differed in quality. The Red Army used several types of headgear. Most of the units wore budyonovki, which had a winter and summer version. However, at the end of the 30s, the summer Budyonovka

everywhere superseded by a cap. Officers wore caps in the summer. In units stationed in Central Asia and the Far East, wide-brimmed panamas were worn instead of caps. In 1936, a new type of helmet began to be supplied to the Red Army. In 1940, significant changes were made to the design of the helmet. Officers everywhere wore caps, the cap was an attribute of officer power. Tankers wore a special helmet made of leather or canvas. In summer, a lighter version of the helmet was used, and in winter they wore a helmet with a fur lining. The equipment of Soviet soldiers was strict and simple. A common was a canvas duffel bag of the 1938 model. However, not everyone had real duffel bags, so after the start of the war, many soldiers threw away gas masks and used gas mask bags as duffel bags. According to the charter, each soldier armed with a rifle had to have two leather cartridge bags. The bag could store four clips for the Mosin rifle - 20 rounds. Cartridge bags were worn on the waist belt, one on the side.

The officers used a small bag, which was made of either leather or canvas. There were several types of such bags, some of them were worn over the shoulder, some were hung from the waist belt. On top of the bag was a small tablet. Some officers wore large leather tablets, which were hung from a waist belt under the left arm. In 1943, the Red Army adopted a new uniform, radically different from that used until then. The system of insignia has also changed. The new tunic was very similar to the one used in the tsarist army and had a stand-up collar fastened with two buttons. Shoulder straps became the main distinguishing feature of the new uniform. There were two types of shoulder straps: field and everyday. Field shoulder straps were made of khaki fabric. On shoulder straps near the buttons they wore a small gold or silver badge, indicating the type of troops. Officers wore a cap with a black leather chinstrap. The color of the band at the cap depended on the type of troops. In winter, generals and colonels of the Red Army had to wear hats, and the rest of the officers received ordinary earflaps. The rank of sergeants and foremen was determined by the number and width of the stripes on shoulder straps.

The edging of shoulder straps had the colors of the military branch. Of the small arms in the early years of the war, the legendary “three-line”, the three-line Mosin rifle of the 1891 model, enjoyed great respect and love among the soldiers. Many soldiers gave them names and considered the rifle a real comrade-in-arms that never fails in difficult combat conditions. But, for example, the SVT-40 rifle was not loved because of its capriciousness and strong recoil. Interesting information about the life and way of life of soldiers is contained in such sources of information as memoirs, front-line diaries and letters, which are least of all subject to ideological influence. For example, it was traditionally believed that soldiers lived in dugouts and pillboxes. This is not entirely true, most of the soldiers were located in the trenches, trenches, or simply in the nearest forest without any regrets. It was always very cold in the pillboxes at that time there were no autonomous heating and autonomous gas supply systems that we now use, for example, to heat the dacha, and therefore the soldiers preferred to spend the night in the trenches, throwing branches on the bottom and stretching a cape on top.

The food of the soldiers was simple “Schi and porridge is our food” - this proverb accurately characterizes the ration of soldier's bowlers in the first months of the war and, of course, the best friend of a soldier is cracker, a favorite delicacy especially in field conditions, for example, on a military march. Also, a soldier's life during short periods of rest cannot be imagined without the music of songs and books that gave rise to a good mood and raised good spirits. But still, the most important role in the victory over fascism was played by the psychology of the Russian soldier, who is able to cope with any everyday difficulties, overcome fear, survive and win. During the war, the treatment of patients consisted in the use of various ointments, and the Demyanovich method was also widespread, according to which naked patients were rubbed into the body - from top to bottom - a solution of hyposulfite, and then hydrochloric acid.

At the same time, pressure is felt on the skin, similar to rubbing with wet sand. After treatment, the patient may feel itching for another 3-5 days, as a reaction to dead ticks. At the same time, many soldiers during the war managed to get sick with these diseases dozens of times. In general, washing in the bath and undergoing sanitization, both the “old men” and the replenishment arriving in the unit, took place, mainly being in the second echelon, that is, without taking a direct part in the battles. Moreover, washing in the bath was most often timed to coincide with spring and autumn. In summer, the fighters had the opportunity to swim in rivers, streams, and collect rainwater. In winter, it was not always possible not only to find a ready-made bathhouse built by the local population, but also to build it ourselves - a temporary one. When one of the Smershev heroes in Bogomolov's famous novel "The Moment of Truth (In August 1944)" pours freshly prepared stew before an unexpected transition to another place, this is a case typical of front-line life. The relocations of units were sometimes so frequent that not only military fortifications, but also amenity premises were often abandoned shortly after they were built. In the morning, the Germans bathed in the bathhouse, in the afternoon - the Magyars, and in the evening - ours. Soldier life can be divided into several categories related to where one or another unit was located. The greatest hardships fell on people on the front line, there was no usual washing, shaving, breakfast, lunch or dinner.

There is a common cliché: they say, war is war, but lunch is on schedule. In fact, such a routine did not exist, and even more so there was no menu. I must say that at that time it was decided not to let the enemy seize the collective farm cattle. They tried to bring him out, and where it was possible, they handed him over to military units. The situation near Moscow was completely different in the winter of 1941-1942, when it was forty degrees below zero. There was no talk of any dinner at that time. The soldiers either advanced or retreated, regrouped forces, and as such there was no positional war, which means that it was impossible even to somehow arrange life. Usually, once a day, the foreman brought a thermos with gruel, which was simply called "food." If this happened in the evening, then there was dinner, and in the afternoon, which happened extremely rarely, lunch. They cooked what was enough food, somewhere nearby, so that the enemy could not see the kitchen smoke. And each soldier was measured out with a ladle in a bowler hat. A loaf of bread was cut with a two-handed saw, because in the cold it turned into ice. The fighters hid their "soldering" under their overcoats in order to warm them up a little. At that time, every soldier had a spoon behind the top of his boot, as we called it, a "trench tool" aluminum stamping.

She served not only as a cutlery, but was also a kind of "calling card". The explanation for this is as follows: there was a belief that if you carry a soldier’s medallion in your trouser pocket-piston: a small black plastic pencil case, in which there should be a note with data (last name, first name, patronymic, year of birth, where you were called from), then you will definitely be killed. Therefore, most of the fighters simply did not fill out this sheet, and some even threw away the medallion itself. But all their data was scratched out on a spoon. And therefore, even now, when the search engines find the remains of soldiers who died during the Great Patriotic War, their names are established precisely by spoons. During the offensive, dry rations of crackers or biscuits, canned food were given out, but they really appeared in the diet when the Americans announced their entry into the war and began to provide assistance to the Soviet Union.

The dream of any soldier, by the way, was fragrant overseas sausages in cans. Alcohol was given only at the forefront. How did it happen? The foreman came with a can, and in it there was some kind of cloudy liquid of light coffee color. A bowler hat was poured into the compartment, and then each was measured with a cap from a 76-mm projectile: it was unscrewed before the shot, releasing the fuse. It was 100 or 50 grams and no one knew what strength. I drank, “bite” on my sleeve, that’s all the “drinking”. In addition, from the rear of the front, this alcohol-containing liquid reached the front line through many, as they say now, intermediaries, so both its volume and “degrees” decreased. Films often show that a military unit is located in a village, where living conditions are more or less human: you can wash yourself, even go to the bathhouse, sleep on the bed ... But this could only be in relation to headquarters located at some distance from the front line.

And on the most advanced conditions were completely different, the most severe. The Soviet brigades formed in Siberia had good equipment: felt boots, ordinary and flannelette footcloths, thin and warm underwear, cotton trousers, and also wadded pants, a tunic, a quilted padded jacket, an overcoat, a balaclava, a winter hat and dog fur mittens. A person can endure even the most extreme conditions. Soldiers slept, most often, in the forest: you chop spruce branches, make a bed out of them, cover yourself with these paws from above and lie down for the night. Of course, there were also frostbite. In our army, they were taken to the rear only when there was almost nothing left of the unit, except for its number, banner and a handful of fighters. Then the formations and units were sent for re-formation. And the Germans, Americans and British used the principle of change: units and subunits were not always at the forefront, they were exchanged for fresh troops. Moreover, the soldiers were given leave to travel home.

In the Red Army, out of the entire 5 millionth army, only a few received vacations for special merits. There was a problem of lice, especially in the warm season. But the sanitary services worked quite effectively in the troops. There were special "washers" cars with closed van bodies. Uniforms were loaded there and treated with hot air. But this was done in the rear. And on the front line, soldiers kindled a fire so as not to violate the rules of disguise, took off their underwear and brought it closer to the fire. Lice only cracked, burning! I would like to note that even in such harsh conditions of unsettled life in the troops there was no typhus, which is usually carried by lice. Interesting facts: 1) A special place was occupied by the use of alcohol by personnel. Almost immediately after the start of the war, alcohol was officially legalized at the highest state level and included in the daily supply of personnel.

The soldiers considered vodka not only as a means of psychological relief, but also as an indispensable medicine in the conditions of Russian frosts. Without it it was impossible, especially in winter; bombing, shelling, tank attacks had such an effect on the psyche that only vodka was saved. 2) Letters from home meant a lot to the soldiers at the front. Not all soldiers received them, and then, listening to the reading of letters sent to their comrades, everyone experienced it as if they were their own. In response, they wrote mainly about the conditions of front-line life, leisure, simple soldier entertainment, friends and commanders. 3) There were also moments of rest at the front. There was a guitar or an accordion. But the real holiday was the arrival of amateur performances. And there was no more grateful spectator than a soldier who, perhaps in a few hours, had to go to his death. It was difficult for a man in the war, it was difficult to watch a dead comrade fall nearby, it was difficult to dig hundreds of graves. But our people lived and survived in this war. The unpretentiousness of the Soviet soldier, his heroism made the victory closer every day.

Literature.

1. Abdulin M.G. 160 pages from a soldier's diary. - M .: Young Guard, 1985.

2. Great Patriotic War 1941-1945: encyclopedia. - M.: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1985.

3. Gribachev N.M. When you become a soldier… / N.M. Gribachev. – M.: DOSAAF USSR, 1967.

4. Lebedintsev A.Z., Mukhin Yu.I. Fathers are commanders. - M.: Yauza, EKSMO, 2004. - 225 p.

5. Lipatov P. Uniform of the Red Army and the Wehrmacht. - M .: Publishing house "Technology - youth", 1995.

6. Sinitsyn A.M. Nationwide assistance to the front / A.M. Sinitsyn. - M.: Military Publishing House, 1985. - 319 p.

7. Khrenov M.M., Konovalov I.F., Dementyuk N.V., Terovkin M.A. Military clothing of the Armed Forces of the USSR and Russia (1917-1990s). - M .: Military Publishing House, 1999.

May 09, 2015, 11:11

In addition to hostilities and the constant proximity of death, there is always another side to the war - the everyday life of army life. A man at the front not only fought, but was also preoccupied with an endless number of things that he needed to remember.

Without a good organization of the life of servicemen in a combat situation, it is impossible to count on the successful completion of the task. The morale of the fighters, as you know, was greatly influenced by the organization of life. Without this, a serviceman in the course of hostilities cannot restore the spent moral and physical strength. What kind of recuperation can a soldier expect if, for example, instead of healthy sleep during rest, he scratches fiercely to get rid of itching. We tried to collect interesting photos and facts of front-line life and compare the conditions in which Soviet and German soldiers fought.

Soviet dugout, 1942.

German soldiers waiting, Central Front, 1942-1943.

Soviet mortars in a trench.

German soldiers in a peasant's hut, Central Front, 1943.

Cultural service of the Soviet troops: front-line concert. 1944

German soldiers celebrating Christmas, Central Front, 1942.

The soldiers of Senior Lieutenant Kalinin dress after the bath. 1942

German soldiers at dinner.

Soviet soldiers at work in a field repair shop. 1943

German soldiers clean their shoes and sew up clothes.

First Ukrainian front. General view of the regimental laundry in the forest west of Lvov. 1943

German soldiers at rest.

Western front. Haircut and shaving of Soviet soldiers in the front-line barbershop. August 1943

Haircut and shaving of the soldiers of the German army.

North Caucasian front. Girls-fighters in leisure hours. 1943

German soldiers in their free time at rest.

Much in the life of a soldier, and even at the front, depended on uniforms. From the memoirs of a fighter of the Leningrad Front of the 1025th separate mortar company Ivan Melnikov: “We were given pants, a shirt, a cloth tunic, a padded jacket and wadded pants, felt boots, a hat with earflaps, mittens. In such uniforms it was possible to fight in forty-degree frosts. Germans from us were dressed extremely lightly. They were dressed in greatcoats and caps, boots. In especially severe frosts, they wrapped themselves in woolen scarves, wrapped their legs in rags, newspapers, just to save themselves from frostbite. So it was at the beginning of the war near Moscow and later - near Stalingrad. The Germans never got used to the Russian climate."

Western front. Soviet soldiers at leisure time on the front line. 1942

Correspondence (by correspondence) marriage of a German soldier. The ceremony is conducted by the company commander, 1943.

Operation in a Soviet field hospital, 1943.

German field hospital, 1942.

One of the main issues of military life was the supply of the army and military rations. It is clear that you won’t get much hungry. The daily rate of food distribution of the ground forces of the Wehrmacht per day as of 1939:

Bread................................................. ...................... 750 grams
Cereals (semolina, rice) .............................. 8.6 grams
Pasta................................................. .............. 2.86 grams
Meat (beef, veal, pork) .............. 118.6 grams
Sausage................................................. ................. 42.56 grams
Lard bacon .............................................................. ............... 17.15 grams
Animal and vegetable fats ............................... 28.56 grams
Cow butter .................................................................. ....... 21.43 grams
Margarine................................................. .............. 14.29 grams
Sugar................................................. .................... 21.43 grams
Ground coffee................................................ ......... 15.72 grams
Tea................................................. ....................... 4 grams per week
Cocoa powder ............................................... ......... 20 grams (per week)
Potato................................................. ............. 1500 grams
-or beans (beans) .............................................. 365 grams
Vegetables (celery, peas, carrots, kohlrabi) ........ 142.86 grams
or canned vegetables .......................... 21.43 grams
Apples................................................. ................... 1 piece per week
Pickles................................................ ..... 1 piece per week
Milk................................................. ................. 20 grams per week
Cheese................................................. ....................... 21.57 grams
Eggs................................................. ...................... 3 pieces per week
Canned fish (sardines in oil) .............................. 1 can per week

German soldiers at rest.

The daily ration was given out to German soldiers once a day, all at once, usually in the evening, after dark, when it becomes possible to send food carriers to the near rear to the field kitchen. The place of eating and the distribution of food for food during the day, the soldier determined independently.

During the Great Patriotic War, the fascist troops fighting on the Eastern Front revised the norms for the distribution of food, the supply of uniforms and footwear, and the consumption of ammunition. Their reduction and reduction played a certain positive role in the victory of the Soviet people in the war.

German soldiers during a meal.

Large containers equipped with shoulder straps were used to deliver food from the field kitchen to the fascist front line. They were of two types: with a large round screw cap and with a hinged cap, measuring over the entire cross section of the container. The first type was intended for the transport of drinks (coffee, compotes, rum, schnapps, etc.), the second - for dishes such as soup, porridge, goulash.

The daily norm for the issuance of food to the Red Army and the commanding staff of the combat units of the active army of the Soviet Union as of 1941:

Bread: October-March......................900 grams
April-September..............................800 grams
Wheat flour, 2nd grade............. 20 grams
Groats different ............................... 140 grams
Macaroni.................................30 grams
Meat.........................................150 grams
Fish............................................100 grams
Combined fat and lard ...................... 30 grams
Vegetable oil......................20 grams
Sugar ................................................35 grams
Tea............................................1 gram
Salt .................................................30 grams
Vegetables:
- potatoes.................................500 grams
- cabbage......................................170 grams
- carrots ........................................45 grams
- beets .......................................... 40 grams
- onion .................................. 30 grams
- greens ...................................... 35 grams
Makhorka ........................................20 grams
Matches..............................3 boxes per month
Soap.................................200 grams per month

June 1942. Sending freshly baked bread to the front line

It is worth noting that the food norms did not always reach the fighters in full - there was simply not enough food. Then the foremen of the units gave out instead of the established 900 grams of bread, only 850, or even less. Such conditions encourage the command of the unit to use the help of the local population. And in difficult conditions of battles, unit commanders often did not have the opportunity to pay due attention to the catering unit. Duty officers were not appointed, and elementary sanitary conditions were not observed.

Field kitchen of Soviet soldiers.

Soviet soldiers during a meal.

When writing the article, materials were used

November 26, 2014

Military history knows many cases of cruelty, deceit and betrayal.

Some cases are striking in their scale, others in their belief in absolute impunity, one thing is obvious: for some reason, some people who find themselves in harsh military conditions for some reason decide that the law is not written for them, and they have the right to control other people's destinies, forcing people to suffer .

Below are some of the most eerie realities that took place during wartime.

1. Nazi baby factories

The photo below shows the rite of baptism of a small child who was "bred out" by Aryan selection.

During the ceremony, one of the SS men holds a dagger over the baby, and the newly-made mother gives the Nazis an oath of allegiance.

It is important to note that this baby was one of tens of thousands of babies who participated in the project. Lebensborn. However, not all children received life in this children's factory, some were kidnapped, and they were only raised there.

Factory of true Aryans

The Nazis believed that there were few Aryans with blond hair and blue eyes in the world, which is why it was decided, by the way, by the same people who were responsible for the Holocaust, to launch the Lebensborn project, which dealt with breeding purebred Aryans, which in the future were to join the Nazi ranks.

It was planned to settle the children in beautiful houses, which were appropriated after the mass extermination of Jews.

And it all started with the fact that after the occupation of Europe, mixing with the indigenous people was actively encouraged among the SS. The main thing that the number of the Nordic race grew.

Pregnant unmarried girls, within the framework of the "Lebensborn" program, were placed in houses with all amenities, where they gave birth and raised their children. Thanks to such care during the war years, it was possible to grow from 16,000 to 20,000 Nazis.

But, as it turned out later, this amount was not enough, so other measures were taken. The Nazis began to forcibly take away from their mothers children who had the desired color of hair and eyes.

It is worth adding that many of the children assigned were orphans. Of course, the fair skin color and the absence of parents is not an excuse for the activities of the Nazis, but, nevertheless, at that difficult time, the children had something to eat and a roof over their heads.

Some parents gave up their children to avoid ending up in a gas chamber. Those who most suited the given parameters were selected literally immediately, without further persuasion.

At the same time, no genetic examinations were carried out, children were selected based only on visual information. Those selected were included in the program, or they were sent to some German family. Those who did not fit ended their lives in concentration camps.

The Poles say that because of this program, the country has lost about 200,000 children. But it is unlikely that you will ever be able to find out the exact figure, because many children have successfully settled down in German families.

Brutality during the war

2. Hungarian angels of death

Do not think that only the Nazis committed atrocities during the war. The pedestal of perverted war nightmares was shared with them by ordinary Hungarian women.

It turns out that to commit crimes it is not at all necessary to serve in the army. These dear guardians of the home front, having combined their efforts, sent almost three hundred people to the next world.

It all started during the First World War. It was then that many women living in the village of Nagiryov, whose husbands had gone to the front, began to take an interest in the prisoners of war of the allied armies who were located nearby.

Women liked this kind of affair, and prisoners of war, apparently, too. But when their husbands began to return from the war, something abnormal began to happen. One by one the soldiers died. Because of this, the village got the name "murder area".

The killings began in 1911, when a midwife named Fuzekas appeared in the village. She taught women who were temporarily left without husbands, get rid of the consequences of contact with lovers.

After the soldiers began to return from the war, the midwife suggested that the wives boil sticky paper designed to kill flies to get arsenic, and then add it to food.

Arsenic

Thus, they were able to commit a huge number of murders, and women remained unpunished due to the fact that the village official was the brother of the midwife, and in all the death certificates of the victims he wrote "not killed."

The method gained such strong popularity that almost any, even the most insignificant problem, began to be solved with the help of soup with arsenic. When the neighboring settlements finally realized what was happening, fifty criminals managed to kill three hundred people, including objectionable husbands, lovers, parents, children, relatives and neighbors.

Human hunting

3. Parts of the human body as a trophy

It is important to say that during the war, many countries conducted propaganda among their soldiers, in which they were implanted in the brain that the enemy is not a person.

Distinguished in this respect and the American soldiers, whose psyche was influenced very actively. Among them were the so-called "hunting licenses.

One of them went like this: Japanese hunting season is open! There are no restrictions! Hunters get rewarded! Free ammo and equipment! Join the US Marine Corps!

Therefore, there is nothing surprising in the fact that American soldiers during the battle of Guadalcanal (Guadalcanal), killing the Japanese, cut off their ears and kept them as souvenirs.

Moreover, necklaces were made from the teeth of the slain, their skulls were sent home as souvenirs, and their ears were often worn around the neck or on a belt.