Ostfront 1944

[asnrobert]

I recently got this book from my Dad (someone at his job was getting rid of a bunch of books and he knows I'm a WW2 buff). It was written in 1991 by Paul Buchner, and covers the German defensive battles of 1944. It makes for depressing reading. The battles follow a monotonous pattern: Hitler declares a certain town a "fortified place" (which lacked defensive fortifications, adequate supplies and manpower, etc.) and insists it be held to the last man. Of course the Russians surround the place, and by the time der Fuehrer relents, its too late, and only a handful of men make it out (at Ternopol, only 55 soldiers out of a garrison of 4600 made it to German lines). Of course, such decisions probably shortened the war. Of particular interest were the stories of the "ruckkampfer," German soldiers who walked 100-200 miles, some times barefoot, to make it back to German lines.