"The battalion is suffering heavy losses. There are not more than 60 men left in each company and we have no company Commander. We are fighting in the suburbs and the Russians are so close to us that our planes cannot bomb them.
It took us 4 days to take over a grain elevator. They fought to the last man. If all the buildings of Stalingrad are defended like this, then none of our soldiers will get back to Germany.
They have established themselves in houses and cellars and are firing from all sides, including from our rear. They defend blocks we captured two days ago. The Russians have stopped surrendering at all. If we take any prisoners it’s because they are hopelessly wounded, and can’t move by themselves.
Every time you move you have to jump over bodies. You can scarcely breathe in the daytime: there is nowhere and no one to remove the bodies, so they are left there to rot.
Every soldier sees himself as a condemned man. The only hope is to be wounded and taken back to the rear. There have been a number of cases of suicide among the men. I report about 4 a day.
Rations have been cut to such an extent that the soldiers are suffering terribly from hunger; they are issuing one loaf of stale bread for five men.
The horses have already been eaten. I would eat a cat; they say its meat is also tasty. We all look like corpses or lunatics, looking for something to put in our mouths. We no longer take cover from Russian shells; we don't have the strength to walk, run away or hide.
Everyone expects us home for Christmas. In Germany, everyone believes we already hold the city...how wrong they are. If they could only see that it's nothing but a mass grave." -William Hoffman, 267th Inf. Reg., 94th Inf. Div, 6th Army, Stalingrad, Russia, Dec 7, 1942. #ww2 #stalingrad #war #reality #stayzero #zerofoxtrot