Breakout At Stalingrad
by Carsten Gansel /
2018 / English / Kindle, EPUB
2.5 MB Download
Stalingrad, November 1942. Lieutenant Breuer dreams of returning
home for Christmas. Since August, the Germans have been fighting
the Soviets for control of the city on the Volga. Next spring, when
battle resumes, the struggle will surely be decided in Germany's
favour. Between 19 and 23 November, however, a Soviet counterattack
encircles the Sixth Army. Some 300,000 German troops will endure a
hellish winter on the freezing steppe, decimated by Soviet
incursions, disease and starvation. When Field Marshal Paulus
surrenders on 2 February 1943, just 91,000 German soldiers remain
alive. A remarkable portrayal of the horrors of war, Heinrich
Gerlach's Breakout at Stalingrad also has an extraordinary story
behind it. Its author fought at Stalingrad and was imprisoned by
the Soviets. In captivity, he wrote a novel based on his
experiences, which the Soviets confiscated before releasing him.
Gerlach resorted to hypnosis to remember his narrative, and in 1957
it was published as The Forsaken Army. Fifty-five years later
Carsten Gansel, an academic, came across the original manuscript of
Gerlach's novel in a Moscow archive. This first translation into
English of Breakout at Stalingrad includes the story of Gansel's
sensational discovery. Breakout at Stalingrad offers a raw and
unvarnished portrayal of humanity in extremis. After seventy years,
a classic of twentieth-century war literature can at last be
enjoyed in its original version.
Stalingrad, November 1942. Lieutenant Breuer dreams of returning
home for Christmas. Since August, the Germans have been fighting
the Soviets for control of the city on the Volga. Next spring, when
battle resumes, the struggle will surely be decided in Germany's
favour. Between 19 and 23 November, however, a Soviet counterattack
encircles the Sixth Army. Some 300,000 German troops will endure a
hellish winter on the freezing steppe, decimated by Soviet
incursions, disease and starvation. When Field Marshal Paulus
surrenders on 2 February 1943, just 91,000 German soldiers remain
alive. A remarkable portrayal of the horrors of war, Heinrich
Gerlach's Breakout at Stalingrad also has an extraordinary story
behind it. Its author fought at Stalingrad and was imprisoned by
the Soviets. In captivity, he wrote a novel based on his
experiences, which the Soviets confiscated before releasing him.
Gerlach resorted to hypnosis to remember his narrative, and in 1957
it was published as The Forsaken Army. Fifty-five years later
Carsten Gansel, an academic, came across the original manuscript of
Gerlach's novel in a Moscow archive. This first translation into
English of Breakout at Stalingrad includes the story of Gansel's
sensational discovery. Breakout at Stalingrad offers a raw and
unvarnished portrayal of humanity in extremis. After seventy years,
a classic of twentieth-century war literature can at last be
enjoyed in its original version.